(Jacob, 16)

Papa is furious because we went to Kelrar to assist with things. Thankfully, my explanation and us pointing out that we were surrounded by soldiers calmed him a little. He did order us back as soon as things calmed down, though I will be returning shortly, as much as Papa dislikes that.

The Kelraran king died, but his son lives, and I will be visiting and speaking to him on behalf of Varil. Papa is just currently hand-picking the guards who will accompany me, as he wants to ensure only the best are here, though I think he is finished now. Sage Samuel and Sage Michael are here and will be accompanying me as well.

They will also be translating, as I do not know a single word of Kelraran.

At least, I did not. Sage Samuel just taught me how to greet someone in Kelraran.

Papa does not want me to make this trip, but the late Kelraran king requested our aid and we did step in, so it is best if one of us is also there as a representative. In addition to that, it is quite likely that Varil will have forces in Kelrar for awhile, both to train their own troops and to protect them against further sieges. According to Sage Samuel, while we did wipe out something like five thousand ogres, seven ogre lords, thirty thousand corrupted, and one god, there are still plenty of monsters in the northern mountains.

In addition to that, Kelrar is now weakened, and their neighbors may turn against them in addition to Mar. Papa has already informed me of what is and is not allowed for our aid, and what we will and will not do. My job is to reassure the Kelraran king of our aid and not our takeover, as well as to present him with a comm plate so that he may contact a trusted person, should he suspect anything foul.

That is another thing Papa is currently doing, as he wants to ensure the person in charge of Varilan relations in Kelrar for now is trusted. He dislikes relying on the Sages, who have had someone in Mar at all times ever since the church laid siege to them, but the Sages were only involved because of Jason.

Who was only involved because Mar is an ally of his friends and the home of another. Jason himself really has no diplomatic relations to the northern kingdoms, and nor do the Sages. We, however, do, and they are both our allies and the nation of my sister's betrothed.

So supporting them is only natural. And now that our actions and aid have resulted in problems for Kelrar, we have some responsibility in assisting them.

"You should go to bed," I tell Lina. "You have already exhausted yourself plenty today, and there is no need for you to stay up later."

"I will not manage to sleep," she smiles. "Niko seemed distant, and you are returning to what was a war zone not even an hour ago."

"Niko is exhausted," I smile back. "I am not even sure how he managed to use that last spell, but you did see the gargoyles holding him. He was not even able to sustain a flight spell, which we both know Jason taught him."

Our leader and trainer has yet to teach that to the rest of us, but we know Niko can use it, because he did during the last practical training for the first-year S-Class students.

"Once he rests," I say. "Niko will be just fine. And I will be fine. Papa is sending some of his strongest, and I will have two Sages with me."

She starts to protest more, but relents. I give her a kiss on the cheek, then bid her goodnight. I already did that for Tasha, who I am sure passed out from her exhaustion the moment her head touched her pillow. Possibly even before then.

My comm plate alerts me to someone attempting to contact me, so I take my gaze away from Papa and the guards he is inspecting to answer it. Alex is calling me? Is he attempting to contact Jason and failing? But he knows that Jason and Niko were together, so he would go to Niko if he could not contact Jason, so he must intentionally be calling me.

At least he has finally overcome that nervousness.

"Hello, Alex," I say.

"Hello, Jacob," his voice is panicked. "I wanted to contact your papa, but did not think it would be appropriate to contact the king directly."

"Why do you wish to speak with my papa?" I ask as Papa turns to look at me, raising an eyebrow in an unspoken question.

"While on my job," he explains. "We ran into a trio of people from the Dragon Clans. Rather than sending a message, Jacob, one of their elders is personally coming. And it is not to teach ya about the High Magus."

"Then what is it for?" I ask.

"To ask why ya are inquiring," he says. "About the one the Dragon Clans call 'the Traitor', and doing so using both of his old titles. She knows that ya know the truth of the Magi, Jacob, and she probably wants to know more, Jacob. Like why you know both of his titles as being him, and why you want to know about his life in the Dragon Clans. She figured out you were wanting information about that part of his life, Jacob."

"The Traitor?" I ask.

"Yes," he answers. "She called the High Magus 'the Traitor'. I think that alone tells us why Nolan never told us much about his past, right? They obviously ain't on good terms. And Jacob? She ain't just a powerful mage. She's grey, Jacob. She's more powerful than any current Magus."

Papa gestures for the comm plate, and I hand it to him.

"Alex," Papa says as he leaves the room.

Well, there goes me hearing what they are discussing, but this does not bode well. If she is grey, then she is no doubt more powerful than Jason is. If she finds out that Jason is the High Magus, and she considers him the traitor, that can become quite problematic.

Will she attempt to kill him the moment she learns Jason is the High Magus? And what did Nolan do to earn that title from his own people?

The most important question, however, is where is Jason?

After he left with Enamas, we became unable to contact him. Even his comm plate does not respond, the times we attempted to call him. It was as if his comm plate was broken. Sage Samuel can apparently track them directly, even while they're in a spatial storage, somehow, but Jason's comm plate would not register in the spell.

Niko is adamant that Jason is alive, though. He knows something we do not. Lina, Tasha, and I agree on that. We acquired more memories with Jason's ascension to grey magical power, but not the same things were remembered between us. Did Niko remember something that makes him certain of this? Or is it nothing more than wishful thinking on his part? Jason was his first friend, and the closest friend he has.

Jason is also a support pillar for him. Without Jason, he may fall apart in the face of all the stress he feels and the psychological effects of his upbringing. That would not be pleasant.

Is that why Niko seemed distant earlier? Not just his exhaustion, but fear of what happened to Jason?

Papa returns after a few minutes and hands me back my comm plate, the call over.

"We will handle the situation when she arrives," Papa says. "However, Jacob, you are to say that you only know about the titles because of the texts we have that reference the Magi and the knowledge I gave you that they are the Kings and Queens of Power."

"Yes, sir," I answer. "That was my plan."

"Good," he says. "The knights and mages here are my selections for your guard, Jacob. Lord Taylor Valkor will be our representative."

"Yes, Papa," I stand and look at the assembled men. "Thank you for your protection. And thank you, Lord Valkor, for your assistance."

"You're welcome," Taylor says as the guards salute. "It is an honor to have been selected for this."

Just you wait. You will be needing translations quite often. I suppose that is something else we will need to rely on others for, until either Taylor learns the language or is able to return home.

"We are ready," I tell Sage Samuel, and the mage opens a gate.

We walk through it, into the throne room of the Kelrarn castle. Even though it was full of blood an hour ago, it is clean of it now. The gargoyles were no doubt the ones who cleaned it.

Niko is speaking with King Emil as we enter, the pair of them sitting at a table. I approach, taking a seat after Emil and I greet each other and Niko and I acknowledge each other.

"My condolences to you and Kelrar," I tell Emil, Sage Samuel translating.

The new king responds to me, though what he says seems somewhat lengthy.

"He says 'thank you'," Sage Samuel translates for me. "As well as gives thanks for the assistance Varil offered for the fight. His eyes have been opened to the truth, and he will welcome magic into Kelrar if it will allow them to avoid another such tragedy."

"I cannot guarantee it will not," I tell Emil, the Sage translating. "But we can do our best to prevent it. Due to the lack of magical use over the generations, the magic of your people has grown weak. It will take several generations of magicians to start to regularly produce decent mages, but before then, even a common person can use some basic spells."

We discuss with him what troops we will leave here and the assistance given. I introduce him to Taylor, and I also teach him how to use the comm plate. Sage Samuel promises to personally teach Emil how to use magic in the starting principles, so that he knows he is trained by someone with knowledge of it.

After awhile, the topic surprisingly changes to Jason. Emil asks if we can introduce him to the young man who rescued him during the fighting. It seems Emil was wounded and fighting ogres in one of the lower districts when Jason came across him.

Tasha treated Emil before any of us realized who he was, and we only did because soldiers suddenly surrounded him in the healing tents, and we had to translate with the Marrans what was being said. We knew for sure who he was after Niko rejoined us, as he embraced the new king, have recognized him immediately. Despite Niko's outcast status among even his own family, he had still met the royalty of his neighbors.

"What is Niko saying?" I ask Sage Samuel as Niko responds to Emil's request.

"He is informing him," the sage answers. "That Jason is currently missing, explaining about the altercation with the god. The northern nations aren't as versed in the truth and in the war of three thousand years ago, so Niko is giving some background to why the god wanted to kill Jason specifically."

"Understood," I say, watching Emil's reaction.

He seems confused at first, then shocked, then confused some more, and finally, understanding. Emil says something, and Niko responds before he looks at me.

"He wishes us luck in locating our friend," Niko informs me. "I assured him that Jason is fine and will return eventually."

"Why are you so confident in this?" I ask. "Jason was battling a god."

"Jason is a Magus," Niko sits up straighter. "He is not so easily killed."

He is definitely saying that out of hope that Jason is fine. I can see the pain and hope in his eyes.

"You are right," I decide to reassure him, even if I do not believe the words. "Jason is the toughest of us all, he will be okay. He is also the most intelligent of us. He may have thought up a way to defeat Enamas that we did not know."

As I say that, I remember something. Jason has met a god of the Second Order who may be just as powerful as Enamas, and she is not an enemy of the Magi.

Did Jason open a gate to the sanctuary she protects? If so, why has he not returned yet? Even if he were wounded, the natural healing energies there would have enabled him to recover quite fast. So where is Jason, and what is he doing?

Why has he not yet returned?

Emil says something, and Niko's face immediately turns crimson. Either the new king said something about Lina without using her name, or he made a comment about the gargoyles. Niko seems to be quite embarrassed over his old creations.

I turn my gaze to the pair standing behind him, acting as bodyguards. I recognize the angels they had been converted from, though I know they are the angels no more. The spell Benjamin used removed those souls from their bodies during the conversion, and the gargoyles acquired new souls, fresh souls.

As far as I am aware, gargoyles are the only truly man-made living creature, something created by someone which acquired a soul of its own. A far, far more powerful version of his golems, they can be generated either wholly on their own or through an already-existing body.

They are also incapable of procreation. Benjamin was the only mage I know of who ever created them, though I am sure Nolan may have, but know he had the ability to. I could have created gargoyles as Ethan, but did not want to bother with all the other things that came with it. Same reason I stayed out of making golems, though those had an added reason.

Golems, at least, the sort that Niko used for war, were linked to a central mind: the creator's. It requires an immense amount of mental strength to sustain several of them. The first time I ever tried that as Ethan, I know I was in a lot of pain and suffering until I reduced it down to a single golem. Then there is the mental pain one feels if a golem they generated is destroyed.

Gargoyles do not have that issue, as they are sapient beings – actual living creatures, much like dragons and leviathans. They also have a tendency towards certain things that give me the shivers. If I remember correctly, they are fond of a temporary gargoyle spell, like the one Niko used to create an army of temporary gargoyle minions.

While I might be the lord of all things dealing with the land, curse magics are not something I feel comfortable with, and my memories of being Ethan show that he did not use them often, either.

"Jacob," Niko says, and I realize he was talking to me again. "Emil was wondering if you wanted something to eat. He knows we must be hungry, and said that the kitchens are undamaged and the chefs have already returned and begun cleaning things up."

"That would be appreciated," I say. "Thank you, Emil."

My thoughts drift back to Alex. For his sake, I hope Jason returns soon. For his sake, I hope Jason still lives. My gaze returns to Niko, who is speaking with Emil once more.

For the sakes of Alex and Niko, I hope Jason is alive and returns soon.

(Alex, 16)

Now I am extremely concerned. Jason's comm plate is in silent mode, and no one seems inclined to tell me what happened to him. I know Jacob and Niko both know, and they are both acting ignorant, saying he is 'busy'.

They could at least use different explanations when giving the same excuse, right?

"And you are certain he has not returned?" I ask Eden.

"Yes," he looks at the guests. "Jason has not returned from his trip to Mar. Who are they?"

"Miranda," I introduce the woman. "And her grandchildren, Jared and Dylan. They are travelers from afar. I already received permission from Sage Alyssa to host them here temporarily. There are many guests at the royal palace right now, and no guest wings are available for them. The Lady Miranda will stay in the room Lina stayed in during her temporary stay here, while Jared and Dylan will sleep on cots in here."

"So when Jason returns from his trip," Eden says. "He'll have to be especially careful not to wake them while sneaking snacks during the night."

"No," I snort. "He'll just use a spell to hide himself. That, or sneak back to his childhood home and steal snacks from his papas and mamas instead. Has Jason tried contacting you?"

"No," Eden frowns. "Is something wrong?"

"Jason put his comm plate into silent mode," I answer. "Which essentially prevents anyone from contacting him through it and from tracking him by it. I'm not sure why he did that. Niko and Jacob are both saying he's busy, and Sage Samuel didn't answer."

Though Sage Samuel might actually be busy. Now that I think about it, though, Niko should be busy as well, if he went home. Unless he already returned. Today is Sunday, after all.

"Do you think he got excited by one of his inventions again?" Eden asks.

"Probably," I snort. "I am going to show our guests the room for Miranda."

"Alright," Eden says, then returns to his studying.

I lead our guests upstairs and show Miranda her room, and she appraises it, thanking me as she sets her traveling pack down.

"Do not leave just yet, Alex," she says in the ancient tongue as I start to leave. "I have some questions for you."

"I will do my best to answer them," I tell her.

"First," she says. "How does a street rat happen to know a language not spoken commonly outside of the clans for three thousand years?"

I freeze at that. I did make a mistake. Deciding to at least admit some stuff, I enter the room and close the door.

"I am the reincarnation of Magus Quinn," I answer. "I know this language from my memories as him."

And I pray to Midlaris this does not end badly. Does she see the other Magi as enemies, or only Nolan?

"I see," she says. "Did Nolan ever tell you about our clans?"

"He mentioned them," I answer. "But he never spoke of what happened with them. We were unaware that he had betrayed his own people."

"So he never mentioned," she asks. "That he killed nearly all of us? That he believed he had killed every last one of our people?"

I can only stare in shock. She asks that plainly and matter-of-factly, completely seriously. I don't have a doubt in my mind that her question is serious, and that the implication it gives is true.

"Nolan did what?" I ask.

"After the war," she answers. "Nolan killed the clans. Only a few survived, including my father, his nephew, and we believe that survival to be because they were out of his range of detection during that rampage."

Why did Nolan attack his own people? He never once hinted at animosity towards them. Not once. At least, not in any of the memories I have recovered, not even the newer ones, the ones from after the war.

"I wasn't aware," I shake my head. "Sorry."

"I believe you," she says. "However, we have reason to believe the reincarnation of Nolan has reincarnated and is present within Varilsy. I request that you inform us of his location, if you know it. As the Leviathan of the Magi, his right hand, you above all others would know."

"I don't," I tell her in full honesty. "My apologies for that, ma'am, but I honestly have not the slightest idea of where Nolan is currently at. He does his own thing and goes his own way, and in both incarnations, he doesn't necessarily tell me everything."

"You do know him, though?" She asks.

"I do," I nod. "But I do not know how to put you in contact with him. I am also a bit nervous to do so, if I do find out where he is."

Which only makes them staying here worse. It would likely not take long for them to realize Jason is Nolan, being around him. I thank Midlaris and the King and Queen of the Gods he's currently gone doing whatever it is he's doing.

"I am here," she says. "Seeking him in order to lay judgment on him for his actions three thousand years ago. As the High Elder of the clans, that is my duty and my right."

This is very, very bad. There is no way Jason could manage to avoid her, and no chance he will survive her punishment. No doubt it will be unpleasant and result in his demise. Why did Nolan kill his clans?

Further discussion is ended when I detect the butler approaching the door in my scanning spell, and I go to answer it.

"Yes?" I ask.

"A Connor Amarxik is here," he informs me. "He wishes to speak with you and Master Jason."

My brother is here?

"Jason isn't available," I inform him. "But I can speak with him."

I look at Miranda, speaking in the ancient tongue again.

"I'm not sure if what you say is true or not," I tell her. "But if Nolan truly did attack the Dragon Clans, then I pray to Midlaris you find out his reason and see it to be just. Nolan was one of the most honorable people I knew back then. He would not have done so without good cause."

I turn and follow the butler downstairs, where Connor waits, sitting on one of the couches. He stands when he sees me, a smile lighting up his face.

"Alex," he says. "I am unsure if you know who I am, but-"

"You're my half-brother," I nod. "The legitimate son of our father."

"Yes," he frowns. "Our father… is not the most pleasant of people. Where is Jason?"

"Busy," I answer. "As near as I know, he is probably distracted with his work right now, but I do know he wishes to not be disturbed. What brings you here?"

"I arrived in Varil City not long ago," he explains. "And after seeing Hailey to her home, I decided to come meet you at last, and I wished to thank Jason for interfering so that I may attend university next term. Emol inai?"

It takes me a moment to realize what he was asking, it has been so long since I last heard those two words. Emol inai is utter nonsense to anyone not a Magus, and is a way of asking if we are safe to discuss private things.

"Let us go for a walk," I tell him. "I am sure you could stretch your legs after the journey here."

"I could, thank you," he smiles. "Our estate in Varil City is not far from here, either. I can show it to you, if you wish."

I nod, inform Eden that I will be back later, then Connor and I leave.

The first few minutes of our walk is silent. I'm not sure what Connor thinks of me, but I'm still a bit nervous. I know Jason said Connor genuinely wants to meet me, but there's still that doubt present.

"The Dragon Clans are still around," I eventually break the silence, speaking in the ancient tongue. Connor is a Magus, and the twelve of us are destined to be allies, which means he cannot be hostile to me. Not truly. I must accept that. "One of their elders is one of our guests there, and she speaks the ancient tongue."

"And that is why it is not safe," he says.

"Correct," I nod, then fill him in on what she told me so far.

"Where is he?" Connor asks.

"Unknown, honestly," I answer. "I think no one else knows, too, the way everyone is saying he is 'busy'. Normally, that comes with an explanation of what he is busy with, as it usually involves something ridiculous or his excitement at it."

"I see," he says. "Jason did emit a bit of an energetic aura."

"He does that," I smile.

"How much like Nolan is he?" Connor asks.

"Quite," I answer. "He has the same energy and seriousness, the same goofiness and curiosity, and most importantly, the same temper."

"He is the most powerful of us all," Connor says. "He is okay."

"Okay?" I frown. "What do you-"

I cut off as I realize what he was saying. For some reason, I was worried about Jason, but didn't even realize it. Not my worry over what Miranda said, but even before then. I was just too annoyed by everyone's responses to worry about it.

"Yeah," I smile. "Jason has a way of being okay, just like Nolan did. Apparently, he decided to play a game of strike-the-dragon-and-run-away with a dragon. The only thing the dragon did when they finished was tell Jason that if Jason ever entered his lair again, he would turn Jason into a frog."

Connor laughs, and a genuine laugh, not the kind nobles fake. I've heard plenty of those over the years.

"He did what?" He asks.

"Yeah," I chuckle. "Jason does some ridiculous things."

"Reminds me," he grins. "Of something from my memories as Levi. I am uncertain if you have remembered it or not, though I know Hailey has not."

"What was it?" I ask.

"The time Nolan decided," he says. "To throw lightning at a god until the god decided to just give up trying to dodge and surrender."

As Connor says that, the memory returns to me, and I double over laughing. Nolan didn't just throw lightning at a god. He essentially chased the god around, throwing lightning at her over and over. She and her angels kept trying to stop him, and they even went after us, but only ended up having lightning tossed at them again.

He was definitely toying at them, and the fact that the god was probably stronger than him at the time only made the incident even funnier after the fact. The god just happened to have an intense fear of lightning, and Nolan discovered that and decided to use it against her.

We never did learn what caused a god to fear lightning, but those memories are definitely amusing.

"Yes," Connor grins. "That is one of my favorite memories of Nolan's odd mentality when it came to annoying things more powerful than him."

"Some things never change," I say, and he stops at a gate with a pair of guards. "Is this it?"

"Yes," he nods. "It appears to be the same size as your current quarters, though I know they belong to Jason's family."

"He is being kind enough to allow me to stay with him," I nod. "Having my own room for once is… unsettling, and is taking some adjusting to. I grew up always having three or four others sleeping around me, sometimes up to twenty. To have even fewer than that in the same building is disturbing."

"I am sure," he smiles. "Come, let me give you the tour."

Connor leads me inside, introducing me to the handful of servants present before showing me the various rooms and library. The first floor contains the library, dining area, servant's quarters, kitchen, and family room, just as with Jason's home, only it does not contain a bedroom, but instead, a training room. The house has also been updated to contain modern facilities, so he has no need to worry about bathing or other bodily needs not having proper care. The second floor contains all of the bedrooms as well as an office, which Connor explains that he will use as a study.

"It's a nice house ya have here," I tell him.

"Thanks," he says. "Papa won't be staying here, so it will be just me and the staff."

His expression turns serious as he continues.

"However," he says. "Even if you are a bastard, Alex, you are an Amarxik, and Papa has not performed a disowning. By rights, this is your home as well. Even if he does perform the disowning at some point, you will have my permission to stay here. If you wish to move in here, I would be more than happy for give you one of the rooms. It would allow us to get to know each other better, and as I said, this home is yours as much as it is mine."

I never thought of that before. As an Amarxik by blood, I do have the right to live here. And now, my brother wants me to move in. Were he not a Magus, I would suspect his motives, but he seems honest, and even my street sense says to trust him. All things that say there is nothing suspect with his offer.

At the same time, I barely know him, and am already settled into Jason's home. What should I do? Is it possible Connor has already spoken with our papa about this? From what Jason told me, he would want to avoid angering our papa, which means it's possible he even has permission to invite me to stay here.

It takes me a few moments to come to a decision.

"Thank ya for the offer," I tell him. "I hadn't even thought about my heritage giving me that right, to be honest, Connor. However, I am already settled into the Jeshema household, and I would hate to move into here only to find out we might not get along right away. If ya do not mind, I would be willing to consider moving in here after we have gotten to know each other. We might be the Magi, but our personalities do have some differences from back then."

"That is okay," he smiles. "Our personalities do have some differences from what they were back then. I am more than happy to meet up with you and get to know you more. I can introduce you to Hailey as well."

"That would be nice," I smile back, then get an idea. "Want to spar against each other? Jason has a warehouse set up for us to practice in without worry. He and Sage Alyssa enchanted it so that even we Magi can do some minor training in there. Nothing too major, but I've used some of my stronger abilities a few times. As long as we don't go too hard and powerful, we'll be fine."

"That would be fun," he grins. "I want to see how I fare against you in this life."

As far as my memories go, Connor never won against me when we were Levi and Quinn. That doesn't surprise me, though, as I was the second-greatest of the Magi in terms of power and swords skill.

But from what Jason said, Connor's magic is stronger than mine now, which means he might actually beat me. This will be fun.