"...Is anyone else thinking what I'm thinking?"
"I don't know, Gath. What are you thinking?" Az asked with feigned interest.
The teens sat on stumps around their area's firepit a few yards away from their tent. They were told they were sharing it with another squadron, making it almost fifteen in their tent in total, but the other group was currently out on a mission. It was unlikely they would have to encounter each other often. With that in mind, they didn't think the other squadron would mind it if they sectioned off a small portion of the tent for Milora. If they did have a problem, well, they'd have to face off against the six of them, all considered the prodigies of their generation. And an angry professor.
Nagan almost repeated Az's inquiry until Gath finally spat it out.
"Does anyone know if General Meixong is a man or woman?"
"Gath!" Milora gasped. "You can't say that!"
"I know, I know! But how am I supposed to address the general, then?" Gath gripped his hair as if he was having a crisis, which may have been true. "Our titles are gender specific, remember?"
Milora opened her mouth to reply, but her face slowly contorted into mild horror.
"What do we call her—him—oh dear..."
"Why don't we just ask General Meixong?" Nagan offered.
"But that feels rude..."
"The blond one's right, you could just ask me."
The teens nearly jumped out of their skins at the voice, and Aitor and Az even let out a yelp. Before they could even register what was really happening, a new log was added to the fire before the figure plopped down on an empty stump, crossing their legs with one ankle resting on the opposite knee. General Meixong then leaned forward with their hands folded in front of them, looking vaguely amused. They didn't have their Dragonmage cloak on.
"However, to answer your question, it's none of your business."
Gath immediately threw his arm up in a salute. "Yes, sir—ma'am! Wait, no—"
"General is acceptable."
"Yes, General!"
General Meixong snorted. "Perfect, I love it. But anyway, that's not the reason why I'm here. You can relax now."
The teens' shoulders dropped down, realizing they had tensed them up, and they forced themselves to relax. Gath dropped his arm, but his posture remained straighter than usual.
"I have a lot of information about you six," General Meixong began and sat up straight, the amusement wiped from their face. "All at the top of your classes or have special abilities. Maybe you fall into both categories. Prodigies, you're called, but some of you have been called that long before the war. But that means nothing to me because those things aren't what's going to keep you alive. So tell me, why are you here?"
The teens shifted uncomfortably, not really knowing what to say or to be the first to say why. Sensing the hesitation, General Meixong sighed.
"Well, no need to talk all at once," they muttered. "No one?"
More silence, so Meixong switched tactics.
"Here, I'll give you a few options. How about..." they looked at Gath, "Money?" To Milora and Aitor. "Opportunity?" To Az and Carth. "A chance to prove yourselves?" To Nagan. "Guilt?"
Gath was the first to speak, and the teens were surprised to see genuine anger from the normally optimistic boy.
"If you're only here to guilt-trip us and change our minds, I'm afraid you—"
"Again, I wasn't saying those things in a bad light." General Meixong sighed and rubbed their eyes, muttering something that sounded vaguely like, I need a translator and maybe a cup of decent coffee. Shaking their head, they continued. "Look, none of those things are bad. Everyone wants to provide for others well or to prove they're more than assumed or resolve a wrong. These aren't bad traits to have. In fact, I'd think you're all psychopaths if you didn't have at least one motive for being here. No one joins the army to have a good time, nor do they really tell you what you're getting into when receiving a dragon at thirteen. So that's why I'm here to tell you, to your face, that you don't know what you've gotten yourself into."
Nagan bristled. "Pardon my terseness, General, but what the hell do you want us to do about it?"
When there was no response, Nagan turned to demand an answer but stopped short. General Meixong wasn't paying attention to him. Instead, they were looking into the fire, deep in contemplation. While their expressions remained muted, it was thanks to the fire's harsh light that Nagan could distinguish a few emotions. Confusion, calculating, and turmoil, before landing on...nothing. The sudden blankness caught Nagan off guard so much that he didn't notice that General Meixong was now looking directly at him.
"What are the limits on your time magic?"
Nagan jerked back as if he wanted as much distance between him and the general as possible. It took him a few moments to formulate his response.
"I can cast it a maximum of four times, each around ten seconds, or once and hold it for a minute. I'll collapse if I do any more than that. I've also figured out how to use different versions, such as freezing an area or a single thing, and I can control what I want frozen in that area. That takes more energy, too, though, and those maximums don't count if I'm casting normal magic."
"So the time magic is still the same as normal magic?"
"Uh..." Nagan never really thought about it before. "I think so?"
"Interesting. Do you happen to have your carrier's onyx on you?"
"How did you know—"
General Meixong waved him off. "I was looking through a shipment list from a couple years ago following a lead, and I remember seeing that they also were responsible for sending the alchemical crystals to Carvolier. Then I remembered a comment an alchemist said to me once, that Carvolier usually kept seventy carriers onyx. The shipment had one onyx on the list. So that meant an onyx was either lost or given away, and I'm pretty sure the one time I met Korma Grishi—she's still a teacher at Carvolier, right?—yes, anyway, she mentioned that on the rare occasion that students came to Carvolier with fully developed magic, she would give them a carrier's onyx to store that extra magic they've built up in their systems and to help them with expulsion control. Now, it just occurred to me that one of my teachers at Belanuk once told me that there was a kid a couple classes below her who exploded an amplific quartz who was announced—well, I don't need to pick at old wounds." General Meixong shook their head. "Nageth Elvar is your father, yes?"
"Y-Yeah?" Nagan's mind was still whirling at everything General Meixong said.
"Thought so. So that's why I assumed you had an onyx, and by your reaction, I was right. But that's not the point. What I'm trying to say is, why don't you try storing magic in a carrier's onyx so you have more to draw upon and possibly extend the amount of time you can use your time spells?"
"I'm afraid I sent the onyx back with the Arclovens when we left Carvolier," Nagan admitted.
"No worries, I'll make sure you have one by the time you start your next mission."
"We already have another mission?" Gath asked.
"Mn, in fact—"
A shadow approached from behind the general when the general suddenly tipped back, their eyes flying open in surprise and their hands reached behind their head where another hand pulled at their ponytail.
"Can you not traumatize my students?" Professor Fai said tiredly as he stepped into the fire's light, no longer pulling at General Meixong's hair, but in his hand was a black ribbon. Meixong, on the other hand, shook out their hair now that it was free before snatching the ribbon from Fai's hand and shoving it in their pocket. This was the most emotion the teens have seen on the stoic general, and they almost expected the general to blow a raspberry at the professor. Meixong did not, however.
"I'm not traumatizing them," General Meixong replied petulantly, standing abruptly. The previous annoyance had already been wiped from their face, instead leaving a slight smirk. "Just having a little chat, getting to know them and all. They're very interesting characters. But, if you insist, I'll take my leave."
Professor Fai didn't stop them as they walked away, nor did he take the now empty seat. Instead, he continued to stand.
"Sometimes I'm tempted to put a warning label on Meixong," Professor Fai groused.
"Have you known the general for long?" Milora asked.
"Yes and no. Sometimes there are long periods of time when I don't hear from them, and then I'd get a letter with very specific questions. I've learned it's safer to not question it, and I firmly believe a person would go insane if they tried to read their mind." Professor Fai sighed. "I was going to tell you in the morning, but then I realized Meixong took a left when they should've turned right to get back to their quarters a few minutes ago. As General Meixong said, you've been assigned to investigate a village that has reported suspicious activities in a certain area. They believe there's been some magical tampering or strange rituals going on. Before, those kinds of cases would've been pushed aside due to the war, now we have reasons to believe that this tampering was due to the work of the Kinsmen.
"You'll be expected to leave by this next week, and you will be staying at the Tale Top Inn. The innkeeper shouldn't ask you to pay a coin since the Council will be covering all expenses of your stay, but you should also keep your own records in case the innkeeper tries to charge more than was actually used." Professor Fai paused as he mentally went over everything he just said. "I believe that's the bulk of it. You should get a detailed report either tomorrow or the day after that, and I'll help you prepare for this the days after that. I'm afraid I can't accompany you, as I have my own duties to fulfill. Any questions?"
The teens all shook their heads, each muttering something along the lines of, "No, we understand," or, "We'll wait for the report." Professor Fai nodded at that.
"Then, I'll leave you alone for the night. Good night."
Once again, he heard the teens mutter various departures as he walked away, and even the hissing of a fire being put out as one of them muttered the incantation to summon water. He didn't move far, however, when a figure joined him on his right.
"Eavesdropping as usual?" Fai asked candidly.
"Funnily enough, it's my job to know things." Meixong paused before glancing up at him through their peripherals. "That, and it looked like you wanted to say something to me."
Fai didn't reply right away, nor did Meixong demand an answer. Instead, they both meandered around camp in silence, either occupied with their mind or enjoying a little moment of peace. The sun had set long ago, leaving the camp quiet as soldiers trickled to bed. There were the occasional cheers and shouts as late-night gambling games concluded or even the quiet sobs of lonely soldiers who had just lost a comrade on the field, but these were sounds that were familiar to the two of them.
"I'm glad you're here," Fai finally said, breaking the silence. "If anyone can protect those kids, it's you."
"Don't give me too much credit," Meixong nearly scoffed. "They aren't safe here. Despite my reputation for being all-knowing, I'm still only one person, and that's what scares me to have them here. Tch. At least the Council had enough sense to not send them directly to the front. They must be frothing at the mouth to have the Time Mage here. And I'm not all that surprised to have Honoria's son here, as well. I don't think Master Honoria realizes that he doesn't have any more sons to discard, but that's none of my business."
"Ei, you can't say those things," Fai warned. If he knew Meixong any less, he would've been surprised at the fierce glare he received from the shorter one.
"I'll say what I want! That boy needed help, not to be ostracized!" They huffed before their face relaxed, and they returned to an idle tone. "He's here, you know."
It was Fai's turn to be shocked. "What?"
"Yep."
"Valrin's here? In this camp?"
"Indeed."
"What—When did he join the army?"
"He didn't. I brought him back to Froshrinra to my family home. It wasn't hard to get Master Honoria's permission, and it's not like he would've noticed either way. He's much better now and works as my assistant."
Fai didn't know how he felt about that bit of information. He was glad that Valrin was alive, yes, but he wondered how the rest of the mage world would react. He never really had the opportunity to interact with the eldest of the main Honoria line, but he remembered seeing the silent, if not gaunt, boy wandering the halls of Carvolier between classes. The day Valrin didn't return to Carvolier, Fai assumed the worst. He didn't hear any missing person reports on the boy, nor did anyone really acknowledge the existence of Honoria's eldest after that. The focus was quickly shifted to their other son, Carthadeus, whom the Honorias promised would do great things.
The same things they once said about Valrin.
"Does Valrin know that Carthadeus is here?" Fai asked, his voice soft.
Meixong didn't reply right away. "He does—I didn't think it right to keep that from him—but it's up to him if he wants to talk to him. Carthadeus was too young to understand what was going on, but I doubt he's heard very good things about his 'estranged' older brother."
Fai only hummed in reply. They had arrived at Meixong's tent, and Fai wordlessly lifted the flap for them. Meixong slipped under his arm and inside, muttering a thanks but not a goodnight or goodbye. There never really were those kinds of sentiments between them.
As he strolled away, Fai begrudgingly remembered why he always hated parting ways with Meixong. He always left with more questions than he had in the first place.
He sat heavily on his cot once he arrived back at his tent, rubbing his temples to ward off the oncoming headache.
•________________________•
Do you ever just look between characters and go, "...Huh. This was unexpected."