(Jacob, 16)

I think we intimidated some of the non-royals and non-nobles with the dance. Most of them seemed surprised by us dancing with everyone, not just one person of the opposite sex. Is that really a difference between higher circles and lower? Do they really stick to a single partner of the opposite sex during a dance?

For us, it is nothing more than a custom and courtesy thing. Why should we only dance with one other person? That shows a preference for them and informs the other attendees that they are not worth our time or attention.

It was confusing.

Despite that, though, Lina, Tasha, and I had a good laugh with Jason and Alex's dance. They were obviously trying not to be too close to each other. The three of us discussed the fact that they really need to accept and admit their feelings for each other so that such awkwardness can end.

They were much more relaxed dancing with us other guys than with each other.

Now that the dancing is over, all of us have gathered outside, even all of the Sages except for Sage Harold, who is currently in Mar as the Sage keeping an eye on the situation there. A large bonfire is roaring, and we are waiting for someone to begin the Sending of Spirits.

The Sending of Spirits is a song which we sing at bonfire, which is said to help the spirits on this night, as the barrier between our world and the spirit realm begins to thicken once more. The words to it are, by no means, professionally-written like I would expect to hear in the palace courts, but they are not meant to enthrall, enrapture, or entrance. They are meant to help the spirits return and know that we will await them again when the barrier thins once more.

From an experienced view, the lyrics themselves are awful and could use a lot of reworking. They have no doubt been translated many times over the centuries, changed from one language to the next, and this is no doubt the source of the strange and terrible wording.

Sage Samuel is speaking with Jeddy, who all of us were wanting to lead it, as he is the youngest of us and only recently came of age. The Sending always begins with someone who is an adult, as the legends say that the voices of children are unheard by spirits, even if the spirits can see them and grant them insight and blessings.

When the Sage finishes speaking, he walks over to the other Sages, and Jeddy takes a deep breath, nodding.

"Spirits who've come again."

His voice is sweet and melodic, having yet to deepen, though it did crack once already in the song. That is not an issue, though, because voices of all types will help send the spirits.

We join in on the song, and I can feel the spirits around us gathering, as they have always done during the Sending of Spirits.

"We call out to you now,

"We thank you for the insights,

"We thank you for the blessings,

"So listen up and listen well,

"We wish you well for the coming time,

"Return to where you've come to us from,

"Return in peace and return in joy."

As we sing, there is a shift in the air, something new. The spirits are moving, gathering more, and yet… they are not the source of this feeling.

The Marran youth are singing with us, though in their native tongue rather than this foreign one, and yet their voices sound just the same as ours.

"We've chased away the evil,

"So return to home in peace,

"Until the time comes once more,

"For you to come again."

Our voices fill the air, some off-key, some in-tune. Some crack, some don't. All of our voices carry, though, and it's as I hear us sing that I realize what's causing that shift.

We Magi are. As we sing, another power bubbles forth, wrapping around us. I can feel the ten of us harmonizing our souls as we sing.

"We bid you well,

"We bid you peace,

"So leave in peace and leave in joy,

"For we are here, safe and well."

I can feel the souls of everyone around us as my sense for the spirits strengthen, and ten souls, including mine, feel unfathomably immense, overwhelming all others around. As I begin to feel this, I can feel the other spirits fading away, some slowly, some quickly.

"And we'll be here waiting for you again,

"So farewell to you, and come again,

"To hear our tales of joy again,

"But go on now, your time here is done,

"Travel safe and travel well,

"And the Great Creator will see you soon."

As we finish the Sending of Spirits, I feel the last of the nearby spirits fade, leaving behind only the feeling of the souls of those of us around. The souls which must be ordinary, and the souls of us Magi.

With the lack of other spirits around, muddling this sense, I realize that Jason's soul dwarfs even ours, with additional feelings accompanying it, some within the souls of the rest of we Magi, some unique to his own soul.

Is this his magic I'm feeling? Or is his soul simply that strong and powerful? What makes our souls different from others?

The feeling of our power in the air fades, and with it, the connection between us and my ability to sense the souls of others. Even so, everyone remains silent for several minutes, only the sound of the flames cracking creating any sound.

"That… was so weird," Jeddy breaks the silence. "I could feel the spirits. Not the way I normally do, but… as if they were more than just on the other side of a barrier between realms."

He shakes his head, confused.

"I felt that, too," one of the girls from the training group says, looking around, her eyes fixing on each of us Magi. "And it was as if I could feel the souls of everyone here, too. Including the ten of yours."

Other confirm they felt the same thing, which results in the other Magi here who had not revealed themselves being outed. No one here is stupid, and feeling the souls of every Magus present being immense, then several others just as large, would send an obvious message regarding the others.

That also reveals to me the other Magi present. There are ten of us total in Varil, just as Jason said, and I know he likely knows where the other two are located.

"Jason," Niko looks at Jason. "Why did our souls feel so great? And why did yours feel even more great?"

He asked the question most of us are probably wondering. When I look to my friend, the High Magus, I notice something else.

His eyes are grey. He reacted to whatever happened, as usual. Will his eyes remain grey for long, or will they revert back soon?

"I'm not sure," Jason scratches the back of his neck, which tells me that either he really does not know, or he has a theory, but does not want to share it. "It could have to do with us having been reincarnated before."

He shakes his head, then mutters under his breath, though I enhance my hearing enough to be able to hear the words.

"What would it have been like for all twelve of us to have done this together?"

"I'm calling a meeting of the Magi," Alex stand and stretches. "Sorry, those of you who aren't, but this feels like something important, so we'll be heading off for a little bit, okay? We should be back soon, though, and join you for the final rests before heading to bed tonight."

The Sages are reluctant to allow us to leave, but they do in the end, with Sage Samuel saying that he will come after us if we have not returned in an hour. Jason tells him something about being at his house, which sounds like a house not in Varil or where he grew up, the way he says.

He has his own house?

Jason opens a gate and allows the nine of us to pass through, and when I step through, I find myself at a log cabin with a fenced-in area around it, a pen of some sort attached to that by a small barn.

"Is this your house?" I ask.

"Yes," he answers. "Mama Alyssa and I built it when I was ten? Eleven? Somewhere around there. The barn and pen are for my horse, for when I'm staying out there."

"Where are we at now?" I note that Niko looks nervous, looking towards the west.

"Around five miles southwest of the training grounds' edge," Jason answers. "Niko, there are others here, he's probably not-"

Jason cuts off as he glances in that direction.

"Oh, I suppose he is," Jason says. "Hm. Maybe he only does it when there are only Magi present? But how would he know we're Magi?"

"Who?" Most of us ask as we look in that direction.

"Steven," Jason and Niko answer in unison, and a moment later, I see what they are talking about.

A black dragon, approximately a century and a half based on its size, is flying towards us. They knew this would happen? Is this a regular thing? How are they still alive?

It stops some fifty yards away, visible only due to the moonlight, and I realize too late that it is opening its mouth. Jason has already dismissed his gate, though, which means escape is impossible.

The great beast puffs out a fireball, and I do the only thing I can think of: I hit the ground, and it seems everyone but Jason and Niko had the same idea, all of us summoning up barriers over us, as useless as they will be against a dragon's magic.

I look up through the veil of orange and yellow shields to see the fireball soar over Jason and Niko, landing some dozens of yards past the back fence.

"Oi!" Jason yells. "We're having a meeting here!"

A lance of fire appears beside him, and he takes aim, then throws the lance. It soars towards the dragon as I feel utter shock and horror at what he did. I know you are a bit goofy, Jason, but do not attack a dragon! It missed on purpose! It was warning us before making its demands!

The lance of flames strikes against a grey barrier that forms just to stop it. The dragon snorts, a sound I can hear from here, and then the creature turns and flies back towards the mountain.

"Jeez," Jason looks at Niko.

"You are not going to chase after him!" Niko exclaims.

"He obviously knew we were here for a meeting!" Jason exclaims. "He antagonized us!"

"He said he would turn you into a toad if you chased after him again!"

"No," Jason draws out that word as he emphasizes it. "He said he would turn me into a toad if I went into his lair again. Big difference, Niko. I think he actually enjoyed our chase. And you know he was missing on purpose, if he had an issue with my game of Tag, his misses would have been a lot closer."

"What hell was that?" Alex jumps to his feet.

"Who, not what," Jason looks at him. "That's Steven, a dragon whose domain ends a few miles that way."

He gestures in the direction the dragon came from and left to.

"That's not his real name, by the way," Jason adds. "That's just what I call him because he has a habit of not talking."

"I meant," Alex says as the rest of us returns to our feet. "What the hell was that, Jason?"

"You mean our exchange of attacks?" Jason asks, and Alex nods in response. "I don't know. Steven shows up anytime I come out here and does that, and he waits until I attack him. He won't do it if others are here… or at least, that was initially. He never did it with my mamas or papas, or if they were with me. Then I took Niko here, and he did it. But he wouldn't show up if I took Niko and one of my papas or mamas. I actually had to train Aurum to not be affected by it. Ever dealt with a horse startled by a dragon? Not fun. I suppose he only does it if we Magi are here, though I'm not really sure how he knows we're Magi?

"Then again," Jason says. "If our souls really do feel that vast, he might be doing it because of the depths of our souls, or perhaps one of their marks. Dragons can read souls, after all."

Yes, they can. That was how the black dragon we met before knew you had killed a dragon by yourself.

"And you've chased him?" Alex asks, causing Jason to scratch the back of his neck as he looks uncertain.

"Yes," Niko answers. "Jason got the idea into his head to follow the dragon and launch an attack at him. Though the dragon did attack first every time after that. Jason would teleport or open a gate to a new spot, wait for Steven to show up, attack, then he would attack and flee to a new spot. It went on for hours."

Niko gives Jason a pointed glare.

"And your mamas and papas warned you against doing that again."

"It's not like Steven was bothered by it," Jason rolls his eyes. "He was obviously enjoying it, I don't get why everyone makes such a big deal out of that."

Because it is a big deal, Jason! You are attacking a dragon. Who even does that?

Ah, never mind. You do, so that question was obviously badly made.

Who in their right mind even attacks a dragon?

"Jason?" Alex says.

"Yeah?" Jason looks at him.

"Please don't ever do that again."

"I'll try," Jason shrugs.

Yes, because Alex definitely has a greater influence on you than your mamas and papas. Kiss him already!

"So," I look around the group. "The entire advanced training group consists of Magi?"

The only Magi here who are not within the training group are Adam and Elise, who have yet to begun to attend university due to the curse that prevented them from arriving in Varil. I remember hearing about people affected by that, and the resulting punishment for the man who cast that curse. I never did hear why he did that, though.

"By coincidence," Jason tells me. "You are all the ones who qualify for its standards already. Your friend Eden will qualify if he proves himself capable of following directions and rules, but I want to wait a month to a month and a half before determining that."

"Okay," I say. "And Eden and I are not friends, I was simply concerned about him."

Jason shrugs, then looks at Alex.

"You wanted a meeting of the Magi?" He asks.

"Yes," Alex nods. "Jason, you very clearly had a thought about why our souls were so immense, and yours as well. If it's important to the Magi-"

"I have a theory," Jason nods. "But I don't wish to share it."

"Why not?" Alex asks. "Jason, we-"

"It's complicated," Jason shakes his head.

He can resist Alex? Or his him interrupting Alex his way of resisting? Prevent the one he is interested in from actually asking the question or arguing a point, and it probably becomes a lot easier to resist the urge to answer or explain.

"I wish to know as well," Niko says. "The spirits have never left before during the Sending of the Spirits."

The rest of us agree with him. The spirits have always gathered around us, but they never left. I can feel the spirits around us here, spirits that are fading away in presence because of the thickening barrier, but were not affected by our song miles away.

But the ones where we sang gathered up, and then faded away as they listened to the song of the Magi. The way they faded felt different, too.

Jason thinks about his response, and I can tell he is going to word it carefully to avoid hinting at his suspicion.

"We were Magi three thousand years ago," he finally says. "What were we for the last three thousand years?"

"Spirits," the nine of us respond at once.

"Exactly," he says. "I believe that as a result of our three thousand years as spirits, our souls have become more sensitive to the spirit realm. As a result of that time as well, we can actually communicate with spirits – and possibly even hold control over them, even if in a minor way. When we sang that song, the ten of us harmonized together, and the resulting power filled the air and influenced the spirits, sending them away."

He shakes his head for a moment, as if trying to decide on if he should say something, then he looks up to the night sky.

"We didn't send them back to the spirit realm," he tells us. "Spirits, if my theory about them is correct, are souls that could not pass on, but instead remained behind in a more emotional state than sapient. They are drawn to the living, especially to sapience, with our emotions, both positive and negative.

"And when we harmonized our powers and souls together," he continues. "The spirits who heard our song became at peace as a result, and this caused them to actually move on. Those spirits are no longer in the spirit realm, but wherever souls go when they die and can move on. We assured them everything was fine and we were fine, and so they felt at peace. And when they became at peace, they moved on.

"Now," he sighs. "If you guys don't mind, I'm going to go soak in the hot springs. I think I can handle the spirits here enough for that."

"You have a hot springs?" I ask.

"Yes," Jason answers as he starts walking around the house.

"It is quite relaxing," Niko adds as he follows Jason. "I would like a soak as well."

Jason just shrugs in response, and I think the rest of us with to see these hot springs, so we follow. They rest within the ground, requiring us to descend stone steps to reach. Even in the chilly air, it becomes warm in the space around the springs.

The ten of us head into the changing rooms and strip and wash for the springs, then enter them, relaxing and talking, reminiscing about our time as the Magi and discuss how much we wonder how different we would be, had we been reincarnated with more than just memories, but also with our personalities, experiences, knowledge, and our power.

(Jason, 16)

Collapsing onto my bed at the training grounds, I stare up at the ceiling, thinking about my newest theory regarding the Magi. If I'm right, then everything changes.

If I'm right, our lives as the Magi were not the first lives we held.

Pulling out my Crystal Crests from both lives here on Midlaris, I examine them. When I received mine three years ago, I had thought they looked strange. Specifically, the golden energies.

That's because they were strange. After a lot of looking and reading the golden magics of the Crystal Crests and the crystal used for the ceremony, I came to a realization. They were only supposed to imitate a god's power.

In fact, only the King and Queen of the Gods possess golden magic, all other gods possess silver.

And when I look at the Crystal Crests and see their real magical power, it's grey. A pure, brilliant grey that matches the same grey as the dragon's veins of the world of Midlaris.

The reason the devices that create them still works, the reason the ceremony still works is because these aren't divine at all. They're worldly: Midlaris himself makes them. He is the one who tells people their future destinies.

Reading the names on the Crests, I rub my thumb over the name for my life as a Magus. I always thought it was 'Nolan', but after a lot of memories that returned, I've realized that it was my name before I became Nolan: Alorovos.

Many runes and words of the ancient tongue are similar, and can be easily mistaken for each other. One example is 'Father', 'Creator', and 'Master'. All three are barely different in both pronunciation and rune, and we Magi have mixed them up before.

Another case of that is 'Hero'. The rune is identical to another rune, but the pronunciation is different. So while my crests say 'Hero', if spoken, they might actually be saying 'Traitor'.

And Alorovos was a traitor. He betrayed his own people, and then he killed them. That last part was in an attempt to save his own life, as they had intentionally hunted him down, but still.

Alorovos was a traitor.

So are my crests saying I'm able to be a hero? Or a traitor? Did Midlaris pick that word for me intentionally because I am both? He could have used 'Savior', which is pronounced almost identical to 'Hero', but has a different rune from it.

Fingering the dragons on each Crystal Crest, I push those thoughts away as I think about my new theory about us once more.

My theory that the Magi weren't our first lives. We are still from Midlaris, if I'm correct. I don't have any memories of the constellations that represent the very same creatures upon our Crystal Crests.

The constellations identical to the beasts upon the Crystal Crests of the Magi.

Which means that the Queen of the Gods likely put them there after we passed on in that life. But why memorialize us like that and not as our human forms? Because there are already plenty of human form constellations throughout the universe?

Or because those were our first lives?

My current theory is that Midlaris reincarnated the twelve of us from beasts. One from each of the twelve that naturally possessed grey magical power at birth. He reincarnated us into humans, let the others suffer so that they would develop an even greater hatred for the war than they already possessed, and then sent me to collect them.

The Magi were chosen by Midlaris himself. We were creatures of the world reborn as humans to save humans. Was it our inaction that caused that? Or did he speak with us first, ask us if he could?

To explain why we had no memories of our lives as beasts, that could be because they were incompatible with human minds, that the human mind could not comprehend the senses and memories of a beast, and so we simply don't have memories of that time.

Much like our lack of memories of what happened to us over three thousand years.

And then, the Queen of the Gods decided to bring us together again, here on Midlaris. She chose to return us to the world of our birth. As a reward? Because the Gathering of Power would occur again? Or just because she's a meddler?

Sighing, I send my Crystal Crests back into my spatial storage, then close my eyes.

This is my best theory, and the one which makes the most sense, but something tells me I'm only partially correct. I really wish the Queen of the Gods hadn't messed with our memories, because I feel like something in them would reveal to me the truth.

I feel like I knew, as Nolan, the full truth of the Magi. That I had discovered it at some point during the war.

Sighing, I decide to think about something more pleasant than a war and a mystery I cannot unfold, and pull out a leviathan stuffie to cuddle as I fall asleep.

(Alex, 16)

The gate disappears behind me as I step through it, and rather than waiting for Jason to finish opening gates to everyone else's homes, I head to the wash room and take a shower, scrubbing away the camp. Even though we took one last night after the soak in the hot springs, I still feel like I was out camping for a week and need a good scrubbing.

Just as I'm stepping into the shower, I hear a throat clear and jump, looking around. There's no one here, though. Shaking my head, I turn to step back into the shower.

"You were looking too high up."

I look down and find Tiger Alpha standing beside me.

"Hi!" He greets me. "Boss water-proofed me, so I can now take showers without worrying about my stuffing getting all bad because of it. But, uh, I can't scrub myself. Can you help me? I wanna experience a real shower for once, rather than just the licking that we tigers do."

"Uh… sure," I step to the side to let him into the shower. "I'll wash myself first, though."

"That's fine!" He says.

It's weird, taking a shower with a stuffie golem in here, running around the shower space and standing under the spray anytime I step out of it. When I finish washing myself and rinsing off, I crouch down and grab the jar of 'stuffie shampoo' that appeared on the shelf sometime since my shower here Friday morning.

Opening it up, I dip two fingers in and scoop out some of the pinkish shampoo, then rub it between my palms, before scrubbing it into into Tiger Alpha's fur. He purrs in happiness at the scrubbing, and then I rinse him off and we step out of the shower. He shakes himself off as I dry myself with a towel, then I grab a dry towel and rub him down with it.

I wrap him up in the towel, then I dress, then pick up the bundle of tiger stuffie and towel and leave the wash room, making my way to the kitchen, where Jason is eating breakfast.

"I'm pretty sure I saw you eating with the rest of us," I tell him.

"I'm pretty sure I told Tiger Alpha to let me give him the showers, not you," Jason looks at the stuffie.

"Well, yeah," the stuffie golem says. "But you were gone for four days, and Alex showed up and went to take a shower. So I asked him."

"Stuffie shampoo?" I set the golem on the table, and he wiggles around in the towel, so I adjust it so he can get comfortable before I wrap him back up. "When did that get there?"

"I had to stop by on Friday before we left for the trip," Jason tells me. "So I put it in there. Tiger Alpha had been bothering me about not being able to experience real showers because of his stuffing, and I figured, let's make a soap that works for his fur. I added an enchantment to him as well so that he's waterproof, but not in a way that would hinder cleaning him. That'll help keep him clean, too, especially if I spill juice on him again."

"When did you spill juice on him?" I ask. "And what juice?"

"Technically, he spilled it on himself," Jason points at the stuffie golem. "He was climbing up on my workbench while I was doing something in my crafting room, and accidentally knocked over my glass of orange juice. I tried catching it and fumbled, and that resulted in most of it splashing onto him. Thankfully, I could just manipulate it with water magic and pull it out, but it's a good idea to have. The stuffie golems for kids will have the enchantment for sure, and it wasn't something we'd thought about. Not everyone can use magic to clean a stuffie."

I still think that having stuffie golems for kids is a bad idea.

"Are you looking forward to university today?" I ask him. "After the four-day weekend?"

"I'm sure most of you are," he grins. "Compared to what my mamas and papas and I put you all through, the only hard part of university is going to be the lectures and essays!"

"Yeah," I chuckle as he finishes his breakfast.

"I'm going to go take a shower," he informs me. "Then we're meeting Jacob and Lina at the palace, I'm opening a gate to the university for them today."

"Okay," I say. "When is the big announcement for the crystals?"

"We decided to move it to Felday," he answers. "We could do it Sorday, but decided that a lot of people would be getting off work or out of university and just wanting to relax for the evening. So we picked Felday instead."

"Got it," I say. "By the way, I think the practical experience group I'm in will be going out sometime in the next few weeks."

Because the D-Class is so large, and we only do the practical experience once per term, they split us up into groups. Unlike the S-Class students, which are paired one knight and one magician, there are four of each for the groups.

I really hope everything goes well, because I am the only member of Jason's training group in the D-Class, and am far above the rest of my peers in ability.

"That's fine," Jason says. "And it's in three weeks."

"How do you know that?" I ask.

"I asked the universities for the schedules for those within my group for this term," he answers. "Since I'm a training group leader, I'm entitled to the right of knowing when my members are going to be missing our sessions, so that I can adjust accordingly in advance."

I doubt that is something most know about.

"Alright," I roll my eyes, then look at Tiger Alpha. "Cozy?"

"Yep!" He responds.

"Shower time!" Jason hops up after checking the grandfather clock. "See you in fifteen!"