It wouldn't be for another week and a half that Luce got the chance to talk to Michaela. With roughly five weeks left until the first break of the year, the truth about her father seemed closer than ever, but at the same time, part of it was distant as well. It was just out of her grasp and would continue to be until she returned to Amity, and even then, true information was not guaranteed. It left her unsatisfied to think of, but until she went back home, there was nothing she could do about it. Luce's eager anticipation would have to be put aside for the time being.
After a long week of training in magical combat, Michaela decided to grant the class a break. "You've been doing so well up to this point. I understand sparring constantly can be exhausting, and we can't have any of you getting sick. Feel free to relax for the remainder of the period," she had declared before returning to her office tucked away behind a glass wall in the training area.
Luce had glanced briefly to her companions. They were busy doing homework in Sophia's case or playing around on a phone in Sylvia's situation. Luce watched them sit still for a few moments before darting over to where Michaela was. She approached her teacher hesitantly before tapping her on the shoulder. "Professor Apollo?" she managed to say despite the nerves rising. Luce was rarely a particularly nervous person, but this felt weird to her in a few ways. She was asking one of her teachers, who she scarcely spoke to as it was, about light magic when she could very possibly know nothing.
Michaela looked up and smiled upon seeing Luce. Her usual calming aura spread over Luce, settling her nerves slightly. "Hello, Luce. Is there something you wanted to ask me about?" she asked.
Luce internally told her fear to pipe down before speaking. "I wanted to talk to you about my magic," she frowned. "You said you have light powers, right?"
"I do, as a matter of fact. Let me guess... You're trying to figure out what type of magic you have at your disposal," Michaela said.
"How did you guess?" Luce questioned.
Michaela gestured to a nearby chair and had Luce sit. "When she isn't sparring, your friend Tanith is always scribbling in a notebook. I caught a glimpse of it once and saw names of light magic types," Michaela answered. "I figured it had to do with you given the mysterious circumstances under which you came to Alitia."
"Mysterious is one way of putting it... I've been trying to find the truth for ages, but we can't track anything down. It's almost like my light magic just doesn't exist. No matter what we do, nothing fits the description of my powers. It's irritating, to say the least," Luce sighed. "Since you have light magic, we figured you would know better than anyone what types people have."
"I don't know if I'll be able to provide you with an exact title, but I may be able to construct some ideas. I figured you were trying to find the truth, so I've been watching you closely in class. If you want the truth, your powers are seeming rather similar to mine," Michaela told her.
"Do you know the name of what you have then? I want to do some research about it on my own, if that's okay," Luce said eagerly. This was just the chance she had been waiting for. Michaela had an idea of what magic she had, which was the best news Luce had gotten in a while. Ever since talking to Tanith and hearing that her magic could be new, she had been on edge. Something inside of her leapt with joy at the mere prospect of finally having an idea on where to go next.
Michaela frowned. "I'm afraid I don't have much of anything for you. I've never found out the name of my magic. I've had access to it since I was a child and controlling it has never been much of an issue. I don't think I ever learned the name, or if I did, I simply forgot. I'm sorry for the inconvenience," she explained to Luce.
Luce nodded slowly, her happiness soon fading and giving way to hopelessness once again. "Thanks anyways," she said, hoping her voice didn't give away how awful she felt at hearing that. She had thought they were finally going to get somewhere, but in the end, she was right back to where they had started.
"I might not know the name of my magic, but I can still do my best to help you control it. If it is like mine, then I can teach you everything I know. Most other students here have an advantage over you in that their powers developed from a younger age. You're an odd exception to have learned the truth of your heritage so late in life," Michaela remarked.
"Yeah. It wasn't until I came here about a week before school started that anything happened. One person touched my ankle, and after that, everything started moving so fast... My magic developed and revealed itself, and I was brought here to figure out what was going on. Professor Ogun said he hadn't ever seen anything like it," Luce frowned.
Now that she was saying that last sentence out loud, it made sense that Tanith didn't seem to be able to find a match to her magic in the book. Alistair was a professional in investigation of magic. He was good enough to get into Alitia for his prowess in magical research. If he didn't know what was going on, there was a strong chance the magic didn't exist prior to Luce's birth. It was an unsettling thought, but it made a lot more sense than Luce would care to admit.
"It really is odd... But regardless, I want to try and help you to the best of my ability. I unfortunately can't do much alone with you during class since I need to focus on all my students. After school is becoming increasingly difficult with all these attacks as well. I have to be in meetings to decide what our next action will be should another student be attacked or if the school is invaded," Michaela murmured. "How about this? We can exchange phone numbers, and if you're ever available at the same time I am, I'll ask you to come and see me. We can go from there."
Luce nodded. "That's a good idea. I'll go and get my phone so we can do that," she agreed.
Michaela waited as Luce dashed out into the gymnasium to grab her phone. Her companions shot her confused glances. Sophia looked between Luce and the office curiously. Sylvia merely stared. Luce ignored both of them and returned to Michaela's office, phone in hand. Luce told Michaela her phone number and tucked it away into her pocket. "Thanks again, Professor Apollo," she smiled, bowing her head forward ever so slightly.
"It's my pleasure, Luce. I'm here to help you, and so I shall. I'll be glad to help you control your magic. I hope that your search begins to look up from here on out," Michaela smiled, giving Luce another wave of calm to settle her mostly-relaxed nerves.
Luce began to fiddle with the edge of her hair, a typical nervous instinct she had developed over the course of the years. She had styled her hair this way many years ago, and it had simply stuck. She had been keeping her hair this way since she was about six, she realized.
"Hm... Can I see your eyes for a moment?" Michaela suddenly asked.
Luce found the question odd, but she saw no harm in it. "Alright," she shrugged. She pushed her hair away from her eye and looked into Michaela's gaze silently.
Michaela met her eyes and stared for a few moments. Luce could tell something was bothering her merely by the look on her face, but she didn't know how to approach the question. Michaela nodded a few seconds later. Luce returned her hair to normal, combing through her fingers through her blue strands at this cue.
"I believe that's all I have to say for the time being. You can stay in here if you like, but I don't have any other ideas for what to talk about," Michaela told her. Something serious was in her gaze, but Luce couldn't put a finger on it. It was frustrating her, to say the least.
"Alright," Luce nodded. She didn't want to stay in the office, as the area had grown heavy with tension since Michaela had looked into her eyes. A chill ran up her spine, so she turned on her heel and left the room behind, a frown appearing on her features.
Luce walked back to where her two friends were sitting and took her place against the wall. She leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling. What in the world had Michaela found so interesting about her eyes? It made very little sense to her, but she didn't know how to ask her about it. Something about the situation bothered her in a way she couldn't explain.
Sophia eyed Luce curiously when she sat down. "You're acting strange," she observed. "Is something on your mind?"
Luce shrugged. "I guess you could say that... I talked to Professor Apollo. I've got some good news and some bad news. Bad news is that Professor Apollo has no idea what magic I have at my disposal. It appears Tanith and I will have to go back to square one with figuring out what I have. There's no other option for us, it seems," she frowned.
"That's not good," Sylvia sighed. By some miracle, she was still conscious. It was surprising to Luce, seeing her awake and alert. She had been changed considerably since she was attacked in Millennium City a few weeks before. She was staying awake more often, but her shoulders were tense, her posture nearly perfect. It was unsettling after getting used to her old personality.
"She said she has good news too. What's the good news?" Sophia asked, turning to face Luce after briefly speaking with Sylvia.
"Professor Apollo said she'd be glad to talk to me on the side and help me hone my magic. We can train together and talk about my magic when we both have a free moment between working on other things. Let me tell you, that's a relief to hear. I was halfway worried I would have to deal with this on my own," Luce admitted.
Sophia shook her head. "You aren't dealing with anything alone. We'll all be right here and will gladly help you figure out what your magic is about. The seven of us will gladly stick by your side until we've found the truth," she assured Luce.
Luce smiled at her words. "Thank you, Sophia. It means a lot to me that you'd say that. Truly. I know a lot has been happening between school, homework, and the attacks, so the fact that you'd even offer is greatly appreciated," she told Sophia.
Sophia shrugged, her cheeks going pink slightly. "It's nothing... I'm just doing what anybody would do for their friends. I'm sure Sylvia feels the same way."
Sylvia nodded, though it seemed as if she had just entered the conversation after having been spacing out for a quite a while. She looked exhausted, even more than usual. Luce knew something must have happened to her while she was in Millennium City earlier in the year, as it had prompted these dramatic changes, but she didn't know what it was. She wouldn't be positive of what it was until Sylvia opened, which likely wouldn't happen for a while yet.
Sophia had picked up on the changes in Sylvia's demeanor as well. "What's going on? Are you feeling alright? You've been acting strangely recently," she commented, a frown appearing on her face. "You know you can always talk to us. We'll always be here for you if you need it."
Sylvia's shoulders tensed. "I... Um..." she stammered, casting a brief glance at the clock on the wall. A few seconds later, the final bell of the day pierced the air. Sylvia threw herself to her feet. "Sorry. I need to get going." She seized her bag from the floor and ran quickly from the classroom.
Sophia turned to Luce and frowned. "Something is definitely wrong with her... What's going on?" Sophia asked softly. "She's been acting so oddly ever since she was ambushed in Millennium City... It almost seems like she's a different person entirely, if you know what I mean."
"I've noticed it too. I don't know what's going on, but I have a bad feeling about it. Do you think she's been feeling sick?" Luce questioned. She somehow doubted this was the case, but she wanted to propose it anyways. If they got rid of other possibilities, they could narrow in on what had happened and strike the issue down permanently.
"I don't think so... She acted more sickly before the attack than after it. Now, she's on her guard all the time. She stays awake more often and takes ages to fall asleep... It's an odd change, and I don't know what happened," Sophia frowned. "I'm positive it had something to do with the Millennium City attack. We've gone over what happened so many times now, but it always seems like there's something about it she wants to hide. I can't fathom why that would be. I like to believe she trusts us with any secrets she may hold, and yet, she's still stayed quiet..."
"We should talk to the others about it. If something really has gone wrong, we should talk to her about it and address it before it becomes a larger issue. I don't want her to suffer in silence. I'm sure they've noticed it too," Luce said. "When we get back to the room, we can talk to the others. I somehow doubt she's going back to the dorm just yet. I bet she's planning on avoiding us for a while until this whole thing blows over, but it isn't going to work. I won't let it work."
"Let's head on back then. We have a lot to take care of tonight with homework and such, and I would rather help Sylvia sooner rather than later. It won't do her any good to suffer for longer than she has to," Sophia suggested. "Plus, we want to finish discussing it before she gets back from wherever she's going off to."
Luce nodded her agreement and got to her feet. With that said, she and Sophia grabbed their bags and left the magical combat training area to head back to their dorm room.
~~~~~
A few hours later, Zylphia walked into the meeting room of Acadia. The other head teachers were inside waiting for her, frowns on their faces. Granted, it wasn't like they were a particularly happy bunch to begin with, as they had important duties to carry out as the leaders of the Millennium Six. However, it was unsettling to see Jin looking so solemn. It had been quite a while since Zylphia had seen her partner looking so severe.
"I guess the meeting can begin then," Fromir sighed, propping his head up in one hand. "What are we supposed to do about all that's been happening?"
"There isn't a chance these attacks are over now, right?" Jin asked.
"I highly doubt it. We've had lengthy breaks between these in the past, but they always come back. I somehow doubt our mysterious enemy is going to be willing to give up on his plans so easily," Minerva murmured with a shake of her head. "We need a real plan to track them down."
"The most recent attack was of the mastermind, as far as I can tell," Altina remarked. "He matches the description of the first culprit perfectly, and he bore no mark of possession. I'm positive he was the one behind everything taking place."
"So far, we think it's a Sierra student... However, I don't know who it could be. Nobody sticks out to me as a potential culprit at the moment. Perhaps I should look a bit closer, but the fact remains that I have no immediate ideas. I'm positive we'll find something eventually," Fromir told the group.
"The problem is that we might have more issues, like other attacks, before we find something. Eight Alitia students have had a few issues with being attacked, and I don't stand for it," Jin declared. "We can't let things escalate further."
"You don't need to cover it up, Jin. We know you're worried about Tanith," Caius frowned.
Jin didn't give a response, though he did open his mouth in an attempt to say something. Minerva spoke over him. "And then there's the matter of that young Alitia girl."
"Luce?" Zylphia questioned.
Altina nodded. "I've heard she can reverse the possessions," she said. "That's incredibly helpful, but it doesn't explain much."
"If I'm being honest, she shouldn't exist," Caius cut in bluntly. "We all know what happened. We just don't know what happened. It's something we need to look into, but I don't know how."
"I'm taking her presence at Alitia as a blessing. She can help us out significantly by reversing the possessions. I have a feeling I know the truth about her magic, though she is unaware. I can't be sure though. I haven't seen any marking on her skin," Zylphia frowned.
"Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it isn't there," Altina pointed out. "Markings can appear anywhere, even places regularly covered."
"I mean, just look at us. You'd never expect it," Jin agreed with a small nod.
"Is she aware of what is at her disposal?" Fromir questioned.
Zylphia shook her head. "She doesn't have a clue. She's been researching it, but as far as I'm aware, she doesn't know what her powers are capable of. That's probably for the best, at least for now. I'm sure the truth would be overwhelming, and that's probably putting it lightly," she answered.
"You can't keep stalling forever. The sooner she knows, the sooner we can fight back reliably. Plus, she might be able to spread it," Jin said hopefully.
"Somehow, I doubt that. We've never seen a situation like this one. I don't know if it can be spread to begin with. If it can't be, we're going to have to use our powers to expose the corruption," Altina declared.
"I don't even think that's possible. Blessings wear down over time. We may be immune, but that doesn't mean we can reverse the work of our unknown enemy. Furthermore, she has a purer type than we do. We've got something that's indirect. Hers is direct, though it shouldn't even be possible," Zylphia frowned. "This is confusing, to say the least."
"Does she know at all where Dawn could be?" Minerva asked.
"Nobody knows. She doesn't have a clue who she even is," Zylphia remarked. "She didn't even know Cryon was involved with a woman named Dawn since she's been gone for so long. That should be all you need to know on the matter... Speaking of Cryon, he's not helping at all."
"Have any of you had luck with getting in contact with him?" Caius questioned.
"I've got nothing. I've been trying and trying to ask him for mercenary services, but he's been ignoring my request. I guess he knows I'm just trying to get him here so we can pester him about Dawn," Fromir sighed. "He has to know something. He was the last person who saw her before she disappeared twenty-five years ago. If he doesn't know where she's gone off to, we're in a heaping hunk of trouble."
"I can't be sure if he knows or not. They did leave together, but I'm starting to think they went their separate ways. Luce doesn't know who her mother is. Dawn hasn't been seen in ages... It does make you wonder... How did this even happen?" Zylphia questioned.
"It shouldn't be possible. By all logic, it can't be true, and yet, here we are. I feel like we're missing a crucial piece of the puzzle here," Jin murmured.
"There isn't much we can do to complete this puzzle until after we can finally talk to Cryon. He won't get into contact with any of us, so we'll have to rely on an outside source to talk to him or get him over here. Perhaps his daughter would be able to drag him out of that rock he's been hiding under for the past two and a half decades," Altina snorted.
"I don't know. The point is, we can't do much of anything about it now. We're getting sidetracked. Let's focus on what really matters here. We need to find a way to stop these attacks by figuring out who's under the hood. Whoever they are, they're repelled by Luce, and that can mean only one thing..." Minerva said, her voice trailing off.
Nobody said anything after that. They all knew what she was implying. It was a startling thought to Zylphia, who spoke up to break the silence. "And here I thought the priests said they'd keep something like this from happening again... Gods above are we unlucky," she grumbled.
"By this point, they'd be about twenty-five or so. I can't imagine they'd be at Sierra under regular circumstances... So maybe we aren't dealing with a student here. Perhaps it's somebody else, someone even more dangerous," Caius suggested.
"I don't think that's the case. Blessings still repel the opposite power. He only had to give our Sierra cantor some power for the repelling to work and serve its purpose. The burning is much less severe on our culprit in comparison to Luce, so the ratio of magic is in her favor. She has more to backfire against her when contact is made," Zylphia pointed out.
"We either need to take this cantor down or figure out who's giving him power. Either way, it'll cause a change in these attacks, lowering them drastically. Finding Dawn should be our next priority... Do you think she's on Amity? She'd be a massive help to taking him out," Fromir said.
"I don't know. Amity is her home, but there's no saying if she stayed there. Most Starlight Keepers return to Amity at some point in their lives, but Dawn was never normal. Some Keepers were violent warmongers who wanted all they deemed beneath them to perish. She was a pacifist. She's a unique girl, and there's no predicting her actions despite how long we've known her for," Minerva answered.
"This is a mess. Why can't we just drag Cryon out of Amity and get him to tell us everything? That will lead us to the place Dawn was last, which may be enough to find her," Jin suggested impatiently.
"She's been gone for sixteen years. That's a majority of the time the two have been away from us. That's longer than we've been head teachers. The chances of us tracking her down are slim at best if we follow that path. We're better off continuing our research on our own and hoping we can find something to track her location," Caius told him.
"I wish Keepers had DNA," Altina complained. "That would make things so much easier."
Zylphia nodded her agreement. Keepers had never been created with genetic material since they technically had no parents. They were beings of pure magic with nothing inside to code for their existences. It was for the same reason that Keepers were infertile and lacked any reproductive abilities.
Fromir hesitated before speaking up again. "What if we're going about this all wrong? What if we assumed incorrectly that Luce has a connection to Dawn? For all we know, there could be no link," he pointed out.
"I suppose that's true... Luce is the spitting image of her father. Maybe there's no link at all and Cryon's Blessing was passed on to her when she was born," Minerva agreed.
"I don't think that's the case. Blessings can be passed down to leaths, but a leath can't pass down a Blessing. They don't have the genetic makeup to pass it down to the next generation. These light abilities would have to be from the mother, and unless Dawn went behind our backs, it wouldn't work," Altina frowned.
"On top of that, if her mother had other magic, it would override the Blessing. It would be there, but it wouldn't be useable," Zylphia nodded. "There's only one possibility, and it can't be real. It goes against all the laws of the universe. I don't want to think about what this could lead to in the future if this impossibility is taking place."
"It isn't possible... But if it is happening... Then it could again," Caius said sternly.
The room was covered with a blanket of tension and nerves at his words. The implications were heavy and meant potentially negative things depending on the Keeper of Moonlight.
"You can't mean that the Sierra cantor causing all this is one of the scientific impossibilities. That isn't possible," Zylphia murmured, shaking her head. "It simply can't be..."
"Zylphia is right. The current Keeper would be twenty-five, and I highly doubt a twenty-five-year-old has a child that's seventeen or sixteen at the absolute youngest," Fromir pointed out. "Besides, I'm sure I would have noticed getting shocked by electricity when I touched somebody from the school."
"It's all so confusing... I don't like it. We need to do more investigating to figure out what's happening. I don't know where in the Magian Dimension we're going to find those answers, but there has to be something out there. There's a lot out there on a lot of different planets and realms. Surely something in a book somewhere will have the information we need," Altina declared, though Zylphia could sense her lack of confidence. It seemed like she was trying to convince herself as well as the people around her.
"I'm sure we'll come across the answer one day, but until then, we'll just have to wait and pray we get something fed to us on a silver platter. I don't know if it'll happen sooner or later, if ever, but what other options do we have? It all comes down to Dawn, but we can't find her. Cryon probably doesn't know where she is. If he doesn't know, we can't find out the truth easily either. He's our ticket to Dawn, but if he doesn't have the information we need, we're as good as screwed here," Jin sighed, frustration seeping into his voice.
"It's not going in our favor, that's for sure. I think it would be nice if the universe decided to be merciful, but at the moment, the chances of that are slim... The attacks all come back to the Keeper of Moonlight, and if we can't figure out who they are, we've got nothing," Caius said calmly to get Jin to back off slightly.
"We should visit the Church of Moonlight on Enmity soon. Maybe we can ask about the Keeper after Ragnor. If all goes according to plan, they'll be able to tell us who the next Keeper is, and from there, we can expose their plans against the Millennium Six and stop the attacks. If we can find the leader of the criminal group, we'll find their lackeys too," Minerva suggested.
"She makes a good point... At the same time, I think we would have figured out if another Keeper had been born. It would have made news somewhere or been recorded in a place one of us could access. We're the head teachers of the most influential schools in all of Magia. If we don't have the information, then I've got a bad feeling about it. Maybe the Church of Moonlight will have it, but there's no way to tell," Zylphia said.
"I don't know what the future holds for us, but it probably isn't good. It's a matter of time before another attack takes place, potentially in Millennium City or at one of our schools. It's been almost two weeks since the previous assault on an Alitia student named Sylvia. With the recent times we've been given, there are a few weeks between attacks. Here's to hoping the enemy isn't in the shadows planning our downfall or his next actions," Altina muttered with a shake of her head.
Nobody spoke for another few minutes. Zylphia got to her feet. "I'm going to head back to the school. I want to see Tanith before she goes to sleep for the night. Call another meeting if any of you need anything. I'll always be available to come and help you. See you later," she told them before heading for the door.
A chorus of quiet and unhappy farewells rose up from the group. Zylphia shut the door behind her and started the walk back to Alitia, a frown on her face. This situation seemed to raise more questions than it ever answered, a problem for everybody involved. She was tempted to grab the culprit the next time he appeared and unmask him herself, but if he really did have a Blessing, that would be a bad idea. His was likely of the variety that would degenerate Zylphia herself in a way.
Zylphia walked to Alitia in silence, thinking over the conversation once again. She was desperate for answers at this point, something she hadn't been in a long time. This was easily her worst year as the head teacher of Alitia, but she had no clue what she was supposed to do about it.
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We're almost completely caught up. I have chapter twenty done (releasing tomorrow on AO3 and in two days here), and from there on out every update will come on Tuesday! Cool!
-Digital