The kids were sitting in front of the fireplace wrapped in blankets. A huge old man was preparing warm soup for them. The Monster above all monsters preferred to stay upstairs. The trio was guessing whether he himself just didn't like being around them or didn't want to scare them.

- So, you knew about El and Deas? - Ada asked the old wizard.

- Sure. Do you think, after so many years she can hide something from me? - Arcada slightly laughed.

- And you are fine with it? - the little girl looked very serious.

- Well. I am not completely fine, but dealing with death is hard, one can easily go insane. El needed somebody who could help her understand her powers. And I am, unfortunately, no necromancer to do that.

- You are her teacher? - Sam, as always, had a whole palette of different questions.

The old man nodded. Only now the twins realized that in all the time they had known El, the woman had never mentioned her family. She only spoke about "the teacher, the man, who raised her".

- Are El's parents also magicians?

This was a brusque, unexpected question. Nick gave his brother a light slap on the back of the head.

- Her parents...Her mother is a human and her father...Yes, I guess, she inherited her powers from him.

A portal opened up in a flash of lightning. The redhead returned from Terra Maria.

- Okay, your parents think now that you two are home. - the woman looked at the twins.

Ada shivered. No spell was needed for her parents, they would have never noticed her absence anyway.

- So what were you doing at Terra Pluviae? - El squatted down.

- As you told us, we were looking for answers! - Ada gazed demanding at the witch.

- What did you tell them? The children have put themselves in danger! - Arcada said strictly.

- Eh! I said, they should think. I didn't say they should trudge to the most forgotten corners of all dimensions! - the woman waved her hands.

- I guess though, you have answers to all our questions. - Nick glanced at the witch very seriously.

El and Arcada looked at each other. Of course, they knew if not all the truth, then at least a significant part of it. Now it was the time to share those secrets with the kids. At least, the trio was convinced that they deserve to know the truth.

The redhead waved with her head, asking her teacher to leave her alone with the children. The old man took a deep breath and headed upstairs, in improvised exile to Deas.

- Well...Let's start with what did you three find out. - The woman's eyes suddenly filled with sadness.

- Terra Copia and the Bargal's Corporation are somehow connected. There are no documents in Nulla Archive about the forbidden land older than 250 years as well as about the Bargals. But we are pretty convinced; Terra Copia used the Bargal’s to transport their goods shortly before Deas came to power. Although, this Terra was marked as Kroblens partner. - Ada summed up.

- And somebody was at the abandoned mansion before us. Probably hiding something important. - Sam added – like in a spy movie!

El took a very deep breath and sat down at the table. This was one more long story to tell. In fact, three centuries of a story.

- 310 years ago Terra Copia was indeed partnering with the Kroblens. This Terra was a fertile blooming land rich in different resources back then and earned a lot by trading. There was a high price for its financial success, though. The monarchs of Terra Copia were cruel, greedy tyrants. People were enslaved and suffered a lot. Some of them couldn't stand it anymore and started rioting.

The Bargals were on the brink of ruin at that time and they suggested Terra Copia a deal. They would solve the problem with riots and the dimension will use their transport services, which could save Bargal’s business. The local kings agreed.

After that day a group of dark magicians, those who had already lost all their humanity and were filled with darkness, those with whom it was forbidden to deal, took control over the situation at the Terra Copia. They called themselves the silent guard. Their cruelty and bloodlust were uncontrolled. Deas met them when he was only 13. Those magicians brutally killed the whole population of the village, where he lived. They left only him and his younger brother alive to sell them later to slavery. Both boys had to serve the king’s brother who was famous for inhuman tortures of slaves. They had to see a lot of deaths, suffer a lot and lose a lot of friends during that time.

11 years later the silent guard killed D’s brother. Just like that. Just for fun. That was the day when all the pain and anger that Deas felt opened up his magical powers. That’s when The Monster above all monsters was born. He started gathering other magicians around him and opposed the silent guard and the Terra’s nobles. This was a short war, a year later Deas seized the power at Terra Copia and the council started the first war against him.

However, this war also didn’t last long. The council didn’t expect to meet such resistance and retreated. Shortly after that the silent guard secretly returned to Terra Copia. Their leader conducted a horrible dark ritual sacrificing other dark magicians and innocent people turning humans of the dimension into terrifying monsters. Later this crime was attributed to Deas and the second war against this time already Terra Terrorem began. As you already know, Iduna finished this war with a neutrality treaty when she became the head of the council. – El finished the story and took a sip of tea.

She knew: the twins were yet not familiar with the laws of council and dimensions, so they would barely find any inconsistency in this story. Ada, though, studied all the codes of laws already. She would ask the key question of this story.

- But how could it happen? Such cruelty and moreover dark magic? The council doesn’t accept those things. They must have felt this and must have done something about it! – the little witch looked confused.

- That’s the main question, my friend. We believe, there was somebody who helped the Bargals back then. Those people are brilliant businessmen but untalented magicians. Somebody made a deal with the silent guard, though. And somebody very powerful was hiding traces of their dark magic for decades. That could not be anybody from the Bargals family. But it was somebody who was close to them, also close to the council to be able to manipulate elders’ minds and close to the council’s finances because I bet, the deal with dark magicians must have cost a whole fortune. There is only one person, who suites all those parameters.

The redhead kept silent. The conclusion from this story was way too painful for one of her small friends.

- My grandmother worked at the council’s bookkeeping back then…And she gained her wealth on The Bargal’s shares around 300 years ago…Do you mean… - Ada glanced at El with her eyes full of tears.

- We have some reasons to believe that Iduna was involved in it. Back then she finished the war not to save innocent magicians, but to hide her involvement in this story. However, the only valid proof of this is the golden coin that Deas took from the leader of the silent guard after defeating him. The coin still has a clear trace of your grandmother’s magic.

- Why does she want a new war now? – the little witch asked.

- I guess, most proofs of her connection to those events are destroyed now. She has nothing to fear anymore except the only witness. – Sam said quietly.

- And the one who has sent the monsters we saw? He is working with Iduna and the Bargals? Because he definitely came to the mansion before us and needed something from the secret room. – Nick summed up all the information.

- I don’t know about this. I was also surprised that somebody attacked you there. Looks like they do work altogether. That means, they intentionally slander D.

- How can it be true? Why would my grandmother do something like that… - Ada still kept refusing to accept what she had heard.

- I’m sorry, my friend. You don’t have to believe me. You also don’t have to believe somebody, who is hated by all the dimensions out there. You are free to decide for yourself.

The little witch tried her best not to cry. It was very difficult, though. Of course, it was hard to believe El. It was almost impossible to believe D. But Ada believed herself. She desperately tried not to, tried to ignore one very important thing, thought that it could be just a mistake. But it wasn’t.

- The shield that blocked our magic and hid the necromancer at Terra Pluviae. I know this magic. Those were the powers of my grandmother… - Ada covered her face.

The redhead sat down near the little girl and hugged her.

- You know, people who are connected to us by blood are not always perfect. It hurts, yes, but you shouldn’t forget: your kinship doesn’t define you. You can choose your own way and you have nothing to do with the mistakes of other people. – the young woman tried to comfort the small witch. – The question of your safety is much more important now. This shield blocked your magic, as you said. That’s generalizing magic, so whoever put it wasn’t able to feel who you three are. But you should be careful in the future. Don’t risk yourself so much; don’t let them know you are involved.

El placed the kids on sofas downstairs. The day was already difficult enough for them, all three needed to rest. Ada spent few hours lying on her back and staring at the ceiling with her eyes full of tears. She could hear how El, D, and Arcada were moving heavy piles of books upstairs. They stayed awake almost the whole night long.