As Alexander walked with his new 'friends,' he noticed how ever since her recollection Kyra had been very silent and kept fumbling with her right thumb and left index finger while staring blankly at the ground ahead of her. "Is she gonna be okay?" Alexander asked James as they passed the Irvine Hall dormitories and exited through the campus' back gates.
"Yeah," he replied, "she's always this quiet."
"Yeah, but never this weird with it."Said Saiyan, emphasizing the 'weird.'
"What I'd like to know," said Pyro as he came over into the conversation, "is if what Kyra says is true, then who's the idiot who freed the Whisperers?"
"Now THAT is the big question isn't it?" The voice seemed to come from all around them just before a tall man in full-black corporate attire appeared before them with an expressionless look on his face. The students at the bus-stop by the back gate didn't seem to notice him at all.
"Oh no." said James in an obviously annoyed tone, "Why is it that the only time you show up is when the world is in danger and someone ends up writing some book about it afterwards?"
"Because my timing just happens to coincide with such events, Isken-Ra." The man replied. Then he looked at Alexander with curiosity, "And you must be the new Arch Mage. I'd say I expected someone taller but then I've heard that in so many mortal movies that it's become rather cliché."
Alexander stood still, bewildered at the man's sudden appearance and all that followed, "Does everyone know there's a new Arch Mage? And who are you anyway?"
"To answer your first question, yes. You may not have felt any different upon getting your power, but every magically aligned entity did, both good and bad. We all felt the change in the air, the same change that occurred when the Whisperers were freed from their imprisonment. As for your second question, I am known to all Above, Below and In-Between, as The Intervener. My actual name is of no relevance, not yet at least."
"The Intervener?" Alexander remained confused.
"Divine Intervention incarnated." Sapphira answered, "They say he was born from Chaos and Order themselves, appointed to maintain the relations with both good and evil, light and dark. Some say that because of his origin, he draws power from all the realms so neither the Heavens nor the Underworlds are dumb enough to take him on."
"And you'd all do well to bear that in mind." Said The Intervener, "Whether or not those or any other rumors are true however, I am not your enemy. So don't make yourselves mine." He turned to James, "The blood you carry destroys the universe as much as it may save it. Now, you..." he faced Alexander again, "...when you have finished your training you shall see me again, be sure to follow me." Then he vanished as suddenly as he had appeared.
"Cryptic much." said Alexander. "What's he talking about your blood for?" He asked James.
"I'm not sure yet, but it's really important." James replied. "Let's get out of here."
"The henge?" suggested Pyro.
"The henge." James agreed. Then suddenly there was a flash of fire again and James, Pyro and Alexander were in a meadow. Before them stood the Stonehenge of Britain. Kyra rose out of the monument's shadows, Sapphira appeared out of thin air with Marius, and Saiyan came with the strike of a lightning bolt.
Alexander was getting annoyed of the instant changes in location that held no warning, "Could one of you teach me how to do that?"
"We can't." Saiyan answered, "You have a different molecular structure from ours."
"Is there anyone who can?"
"Yeah," said James, "the same woman who's gonna train you. But first we need to figure out what The Intervener meant."
For what seemed like hours, Alexander paced around with the group trying to solve The Intervener's riddle. But nothing seemed to make sense. Then Nyxx appeared, startling them all into defensive positions, except Alexander who almost yelled.
The primeval goddess smiled and shook her head, "Calm down duckies ...then again, stay alert, times are dangerous now, and it is only going to get worst. Much worst."
"Well if it isn't my great-great-aunt Sunshine." said Saiyan sarcastically as they relaxed.
"Don't get it twisted, cub. We are in no way related but through the cause for which we fight." Nyxx turned to Alexander, "So what've you lot been pondering so hard on?"
"The Intervener said James' blood destroys the world as much as it may save It." said Alexander, "So we're trying to figure out what he meant."
"Hmmm... must be talking about who freed the Whisperers. Looks like a reunion is in order. Well, see ya!" Then Nyxx vanished, leaving the group even more puzzled than before.
They all resumed their hopeless brainstorming, until finally Alexander exclaimed, "I got it!"
"Dude," said Marius, "every time you say that you come up with some idea that's almost as farfetched as all Sapphira's."
"Hey!" Sapphira protested.
"No," Alexander pleaded, "I'm sure this time... almost at least. James, Nyxx told me your family saved the world for three generations, and then The Intervener shows up later saying that thing about your blood, but only just after Pyro had asked who freed the Whisperers. And just now, Nyxx said very clearly what I might have figured out. She basically connected the Whisperers' freedom to your family when she said the intervener was talking about it. And then she mentioned a reunion right before she disappeared!"
"So you're saying...?" Marius urged Alexander on.
"I'm saying: James, we need to talk to Kaiyen."
"At your service." A blue-lighted portal appeared and Kaiyen stepped out of it.
"Dad!" James seemed angered, "I thought we were hidden by the henge's magik! Nyxx I could understand cuz she's a Protogenoi. But you too?"
"My dear boy," said the elderly man as he looked upon James and smiled, "you travel with the Arch Mage, whose power is above all else and –unfortunately- yet to be cloaked." The portal remained open. "Now, you wanted to ask me something, son?"
James sighed, "Yeah. Is there something wrong with our family's blood?"
"Now why on earth would you ask me such a thing?"
Alexander then chipped in and regurgitated what The Intervener had said then explained his own theory to Kaiyen.
"Ah I see. Well, well, I see why you were chosen Arch Mage. And you are indeed correct with that hunch of yours. Out of all the valor and bravery with which our family is known to display, there was –and perhaps still is- one bad egg in particular. From my mother's sister was born a child, fathered by Azier (The Dragon of Darkness). That child grew up to be my nemesis, Draco. Last I checked though, he's dead, killed him myself after he nearly killed your mother, James. Though Draco's mother did escape."
"You never told me she escaped!" said James.
"We told you the story when you were young, son. It would've ruined a good ending."
"...Did she take Draco's body with her?"
"I believe so, yes"
"Then it's him."
"James he's dead." said Sapphira.
"Not anymore." James looked to his father, "Mom was killed by Draco remember. But you cried over her body after defeating him, and your tears brought her back to life. Phoenix tears. If Draco's mother took his body..."
"...then she could've restored him to life." Saiyan finished.
"Oh shit. Are you serious?" Marius was now paranoid.
"Oh dear." said Kaiyen, "you kids may be right. This makes it even more important that the Arch Mage's training begin as soon as possible. There's no way of telling when exactly Draco may have been resurrected. If it was immediately after his death, then he's been getting more powerful since the Dark Ages."
"Won't he be...?" Alexander struggled to find the right word.
"Old?" Kaiyen smiled, "My father is mortal. So I age as mortals do. Whereas both Draco's parents are powerful magical entities: A Phoenix and a Dragon. Not just any Dragon, but the Dragon of Darkness. Time will age him rather slowly I believe. With that said, you don't have millennia to train, but there is a place. Created by the fires that forged time itself, from which the first Phoenixes were hatched, it is called the Phoenix Isle. Find your mentor, and go there." Kaiyen looked on each of them and smiled before stepping back into the portal, which closed into a ball of light and ascended into the sky.
The group had decided to rest before they went on what now seemed as though it was going to be a very long quest. Alexander was returned to his home, it was exactly 7pm.
It felt strange to be there, walking through his parents' room to get to his as he bid them goodnight. Alexander couldn't shake the feeling that this was his last time in this place. So he did what he did best, he wrote. Alexander manifested his spiral-bound book into his hand and a pen in the other then sat on his bed and began writing a letter to no one in particular. Finally he finished and fell asleep, dreaming of seven silhouettes that chased him with magik in an endless maze of bones.