36.

Confessions that should have been made sooner

It had been over a week since Dominic disappeared into the archives. Aster and Ian, neither of which were allowed inside, had their ears pressed up against the door, trying to figure out what was going on.

The guards by the door had already gotten used to their presence by now, and just let them loiter. There was very little traffic down there anyway, the archives being buried in several basement levels below the castle. And the two boys weren’t necessarily random people either. Aster had come along with Dominic, making him technically a guest of the king’s. Ian was a royal mage in training. The guards just sighed and ignored them.

The door finally opened, a surprisingly well-rested looking Dominic emerging. His hair was a bit messy and he had a bag full of copied manuscripts slung over his shoulder, but otherwise, no one would have guessed that he had been missing for more than a week. He had used healing magic to deal with the fatigue of not sleeping.

Aster and Ian stared at him for a moment, unsure what to say. Dominic glanced down at them.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“There…was nothing else to do,” Aster replied.

“You could’ve gone out and explored the capital.”

“That’s only fun for a couple days.”

There’s no way he finished touring every landmark in the gigantic capital in just a couple days. He had probably been waiting to go see them together. Dominic sighed.

“And what about you?” he asked, turning to Ian. “Don’t you have class?”

Ian froze, fidgeting with his fingers.

“…I don’t.”

“You were never good at lying, and you haven’t improved.”

“I don’t need to go,” he said. “Yana says I’m a good mage already.”

The boy pinched at the skin of his own palms absentmindedly as he spoke. Dominic reached down and separated his hands, the pink marks that had been left slowly beginning to fade.

“Good mages don’t skip class,” Dominic replied.

Ian pouted slightly, staring at his feet.

“Are you leaving again?” he asked.

“Not yet. I have some business left with the king.”

“Okay.”

He nodded to himself, then looked up.

“You have to come visit me before you leave, brother,” he said.

“…Alright,” Dominic answered.

The corners of Ian’s mouth just barely pricked upwards, and then he turned around and sped away back down the hall. He was getting better at using his magic. A layer of dust came off the wall lanterns in his wake.

He looked down at Aster.

“Did you teach him to say that?” he asked.

“Say what?”

“Nevermind.”

Dominic turned and began heading away from the archives.

“…Did you find what you were looking for?” Aster asked, tentatively glancing up towards him as he followed.

“Sort of,” he replied.

He hadn’t exactly been expecting anything in particular out of the books that had been there, considering Set hadn’t been able to make use of them either. But he had absorbed as much potentially helpful information as possible.

“I found some interesting things.”

Aster followed him through the halls, glancing around as he began to weave through unfamiliar parts of the castle.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“I don’t know.”

“What?”

Dominic didn’t know where they were either. The royal estate was massive. He was just following the scent of a single, distinct mana signature.

He glanced out through a window, spotting a familiar silhouette with silver hair and a black uniform. They were milling about in the garden, pruning a magnolia tree.

“I guess we’re going to the garden,” Dominic remarked.

Aster followed his gaze, then nodded. They headed down.

The butler, humming as he brushed a couple stray petals off of his sleeve, turned to them and smiled as they arrived.

“Good morning, Dominic,” he greeted. “I heard you were in the archives. Have you finished up your research?”

“I only managed to begin it,” Dominic replied. “I came out because I had some questions for you, Your Majesty.”

He froze. Aster paled like a ghost. They both stared at him incredulously before the butler dropped the garden shears in his hands and broke out into laughter.

“Oh dear,” he said, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, “was it that obvious?”

“It was,” Dominic replied. “You smell just like the rabbit you sent.”

The hare he’d met before had probably been something like a puppet operated by the king’s mana. Since the mana still connected it back to his main body, their signatures remained the same.

Dominic glanced down. Aster’s eyes were darting between them in a panic. He had never expected to meet the king himself.

“Aster,” he said, “do you want to go watch Ian’s magic lesson? You could learn something too.”

The boy nodded vigorously, glad to have an excuse to exit the situation.

“Sure!” he said, his voice going high pitched for a second as he feigned enthusiasm. “I’d love that! I love magic!”

“Go on then.”

He snapped back into the form of a crow immediately and shot off, becoming a black speck in the distance in an instant.

Set chuckled as he watched him disappear.

“What a funny kid,” he remarked.

He bent down to pick up his garden shears again.

“Now tell me, what did you want to ask?”

“There were quite a lot of records on archeological sites,” Dominic replied, “especially for Marshal temples.”

“Indeed,” Set replied. “I actually ordered most of those excavations myself.”

The shears went snip as a twig fell softly to the grass.

“There’s not much to do but look back at old things with the barrier around.”

Dominic watched the leaves that had broken off of it flutter to a stop.

“There were a few projects you abandoned,” he continued. “Why?”

“Oh, well…”

Set chuckled to himself as he thought back.

“Marshals were interesting people,” he answered. “Mars is the god of all things, but also the god of creation. Some denominations took that very seriously. They’d build contraptions beyond imagination. The temples that they left behind…”

Another small branch fell to the ground as he continued to prune.

“…they were just too dangerous to explore.”

“Even for you?”

“I can’t leave the capital unless I have a real reason,” he said. “Archeology is not one of them.”

Dominic pursed his lips. He hadn’t thought about it before, but it made sense. Considering the intricate magic he had built over the entire capital and beyond, there was no way he could just up and leave it all behind unless it was absolutely necessary.

“Were you interested in any of the abandoned sites?” Set asked. “I can give them to you, if you want. They’re of no use to me as they are.”

“You’d give me the land?” Dominic replied.

“Why not?” the king said, shrugging. “All of the abandoned ones are in places beyond civilization, otherwise we would have had the resources to forcefully continue excavation. Nobody wants them. I’d rather they end up in your hands than in anyone else’s.”

He glanced over with a slightly smug expression.

“Besides, then I can just dump the responsibility onto you.”

The king said it jokingly, but Dominic was seriously considering the offer. Even though the land itself was useless, if not dangerous, there weren’t any downsides to having it. There were no people living there that he had to manage.

“What do you think?” the king asked, turning back to his work on the magnolia tree.

“I think I’ll take you up on that,” Dominic responded.

Set smiled.

“Good. I’ll have the official paperwork done for you quickly. It shouldn’t take long.”

Another twig fell to the grass with a snip.

“In the meantime, why don’t you check out the city?” he suggested. “You’ve been shut in the archives since you got here, and you happened to come at a good time. The Midsummer Festival is in a little less than a week.”

Dominic nodded. Aster had been itching to go out anyway.

“Sure,” he said. “I’ll have a look around.”

∞

The days leading up to the festival were uneventful. He explored the city with Aster, visiting all the suggested tourist spots, the boy gorging himself on the regional specialties using the excessive allowance Set had dropped on them. They brought some souvenirs back for Ian, who hadn’t been cleared to leave the castle yet as a trainee, and instead focused his energy on beating his sparring opponents to a pulp every time Dominic showed up to see him in class. At one point, Yana had to toss Dominic out for being too disruptive even though he was helpful as a healer. He thought Ian was doing fine. He was only handing out broken noses and twisted arms—easily fixable things. The kid used to tear out hearts.

The day of the festival, the land transfer was finally made official. A butler—a real butler this time—came in the morning and handed Dominic the papers establishing his ownership of the small plots of land surrounding the three abandoned archeological sites he had pointed out to Set. They were his now, so he could do what he wanted with them. Dominic and Aster packed and left just after lunch on the same day.

The streets, the festival already in swing, were naturally bustling. Aster looked left and right at the stalls in awe, but strangely couldn’t find anything savory, like what he usually went for. The vendors were all selling sweets instead—things like rock candy or shaved ice, which were welcome considering the midday heat. It wasn’t horribly bad, but under the glaring Sun, inland from the ocean, it was definitely getting there.

Dominic bought a stick of candied strawberries while Aster ordered a bowl of shaved ice. The boy stuck a spoonful in his mouth and hummed in appreciation.

“How long will it take to get there?” he asked, referring to the site they had chosen to visit first.

“It’s hard to say,” Dominic replied. “The gate will bring us most of the way, but trekking to the actual location will take at least a few days. It’s in the middle of the jungle.”

Aster pursed his lips as he stared down at his snack, obviously reluctant to leave such luxuries behind.

“Will we even be able to get there?” he asked. “Do you know how to camp in a jungle?”

“No,” Dominic admitted, biting into the topmost strawberry. “But I don’t see anything stopping me.”

He was familiar with all the basics from working as a mercenary in Vaine. And with a reliable healer, there really wasn’t anything to worry about. Wild animals were never a threat to a mage, even if he had no idea what lived out there. It would just be much less comfortable than sleeping on a nice bed in the city.

“Ah, right.”

A thought struck him as he recalled about the days he’d spent roaming around Vaine, taking odd jobs to make a living. He stopped in his tracks, and Aster looked over with an eyebrow raised, confused as to why he was just standing there.

“I never told you, did I.”

“Told me what?”

“I’m not from Hesia.”

The boy tilted his head after taking a second to try and comprehend the words.

“What?”

“I’m from Vaine,” he said. “The Lost Continent.”

Aster’s grip on his bowl loosened, the snack slipping out of his fingers. Dominic leaned forward and caught it midair.

“Wait, you—well, no, that does make sense—I mean, you kept asking me those weird questions at the beginning, so I guess…”

He rambled on, thoughts a mess. He rubbed his eyes as he tried to sort them out.

“What did you call it again?” he said. “Bane?”

“Vaine,” Dominic replied.

“Vaine?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay…wait.”

His gaze snapped back up as he remembered something.

“When you first got here, you kept asking me about demons, right?” he said. “Did you not know what a demon was?”

Dominic nodded.

“I didn’t,” he answered. “As far as anyone over there knows, they don’t exist.”

Aster’s jaw dropped.

“Huh?” he murmured in shock. “What the fuck?”

He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, then held out his hand.

“Shaved ice,” he said bluntly.

Dominic handed over the bowl and watched the boy shovel down a big mouthful.

“Man,” he said, still in disbelief, “that explains everything, and I don’t think you’d lie, but I still don’t really get it, to be honest.”

He chewed on the spoon as he thought.

“What is Vaine even? I don’t know. Oh, does that mean you’ve seen the ocean before?”

“…I have,” Dominic replied, pursing his lips. He had almost forgotten that nobody in Hesia had seen the shore in a thousand years.

“And what else?”

“What else?”

Aster made vague gestures with his hand.

“Like when you think of Vaine, what do you think of?” he said. “What is there?”

Dominic paused for a moment, then shrugged.

“I don’t think of much,” he replied. “It has mountains and forests and valleys just like Hesia does. It’s just…another place.”

“I guess it would,” Aster said, nodding. “I bet you were a big shot over there too.”

“Not at all. I was basically a mercenary.”

“What? Why? You’re a crazy good healer. Shouldn’t nobles have been falling over each other to hire you?”

“I…preferred not doing anything high profile,” Dominic replied.

“But you’re working with the king now?” Aster said, raising an eyebrow. “And Thelo too?”

“The circumstances are different.”

“I guess so.”

Aster picked up the pace again, heading down the street and towards a square at its end.

“This must be your first festival since coming to Hesia,” he said.

Dominic nodded.

“Then do you know about blessings?”

“Blessings, like, the ones priests give in ceremonies? Or the ones healers give for good health?”

“So you don’t.”

Aster drew his finger through the air. From his fingertip, silver mana emerged, hovering in the air. He drew a simple five-pointed star, then pushed it over to Dominic. The mana disappeared into a shower of sparks once it touched him.

“Ta-da!” he said. “A blessing. It doesn’t do anything, but they’re in every festival. If you get one, you have to pass it on, even between strangers.”

“So do I have to pass it on now?” Dominic asked.

“Ah, no,” Aster replied, “that didn’t count. I didn’t get it from anybody, so…”

In the square, people were sitting on the steps, eating the sweet festival snacks and talking with friends. It was a warm, gentle atmosphere. The city was celebrating, but it wasn’t rowdy or loud. The midday Sun beamed down on calm crowds. He glanced around, looking for a moment over Aster’s shoulder.

“So I’d need to pass on a blessing if you had gotten one yourself?” he asked.

“Yeah, that’s how it works.”

“Okay.”

Just then, an older woman, stout and with a jovial demeanor, snuck up from behind the boy and cast a big blessing over his head, her salmon pink mana showering down on him in the shape of a crudely drawn flower. Aster looked up in surprise.

“Gotcha!” she shouted, laughing.

“Grandma, stop bothering random people!” a voice called out, trailing from behind.

“Ah.” Aster stared at the mana raining down on him for a moment, then snapped out of it and turned to Dominic.

He cast the silver star again, but larger this time. It washed over Dominic, glittering as it dissipated at his touch. People were watching them curiously, wondering where it would go next.

“It can be anyone, right?” he asked one more time.

“Yeah,” Aster responded.

Dominic nodded, then held out his hand. From under his palm, mana gathered, a tight, unruly circle flickering with gold light, threatening to burst. A slow wind rose around them, then suddenly gusted upwards like a storm.

There were a couple shouts of surprise as his mana shot straight up, disappearing from sight for a moment before suddenly exploding like a firework. It spread in an instant, illusory rabbits drawn in the mana hopping through the vast blue of the sky, dancing as they slowly fell down and disappeared in a shower of gold.

The people in the square stared in shock at Dominic, but he hardly noticed their gazes.

“Not quite there, huh…” he murmured to himself.

Suddenly, from the royal castle, there was the sound of something almost like thunder, and a second ball of mana flew up, then exploded—the single blessing so large that it covered the entire capital. A magnolia tree appeared, sprouting and blooming in real time, the mana a beautiful pinkish white. The trunk then unraveled, the flowers falling from their branches, scattering across the city, a rain of petals floating down to the festive streets.

Dominic smiled and chuckled to himself at the sight. The message from the king was clear. This is how it’s really done, greenhorn.

“Woah…” Aster stared up as the petals continued to fall.

“Makes me look kind of small, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. Wait, I mean—well—”

He gestured wildly with his hands in a panic. Dominic laughed. It was a hot summer day, and it was worth celebrating.

The two of them stopped to see the sights of the festival as they went, and slowly—a little reluctantly—headed back up to the gates on the hill.