(Alex, 16)

"Are you okay?" Jacob asks with an amused smile as I enter the classroom. "You look like you fought against a wall, and the wall fought back and won."

"Do ya guys know where Jason is?" I ask. "He never came home last night."

"No," Jacob, Lina, Tasha, and Niko all suddenly look very uncomfortable. "Jason is still busy with his other stuff, and is excused from lessons until he finishes."

This is annoying. They all know something to do with Jason, and none of them are telling me. Why? What is Jason doing that I can't know? Especially if it's serious enough Jacob isn't making a comment about how I must be so concerned for Jason, or something? And what was with that subtle look the twins and Tasha shared but tried to hide?

"Must be serious," I say, then look at Jacob. "Ya and I should be heading over to our university, for lessons. They're about to start. Enjoy your day, Lina, Tasha, Niko."

The bid us a good day, then Jacob and I leave and make our way towards our university.

"Jacob," I stop walking halfway across the bridge, ignoring everyone else.

He turns and faces me, his eyes moving down to my sword, which I've put a hand on the hilt of. He turns his eyes back to mine, frowning slightly as his personal guards put their hands on their own hilts.

"Are you threatening me?" He asks.

"I could probably kill all of your guards," I tell him. "Not just the two between us, without too much hassle, even with the difference in power between me and them. Tell me what is going on with Jason. Where is he, and why did he not return home? If ya don't answer me, there will be problems."

He thinks over his response, then sighs. I suppose that says that he either wants to avoid too much of a scene, or he doubts his ability to stop me before I kill too many guards.

"Missing," he answers in the ancient tongue.

"Missing?" I ask in the same tongue. "Why? And how?"

"Niko and Jason did not return to Mar because Niko was homesick," Jacob tells me. "Niko returns there every week already, it was the others who were. They accompanied the other Marrans back for another reason. Ogres and corrupted were building up forces near the borders of Mar.

"On Thursday of last week," he continues. "Five ogre lords led an attack on the Kelraran capital – one of the nations north of Mar. They captured it, but one of their royal guards managed to make it to Mar and begged for assistance, their king having sent him in a desperate bid to use any resources available, even magic, to save his people.

"Jason, Niko, Sage Samuel, and Sage Michael," Jacob continues. "Went to the Kelraran capital. They brought Marran and Varilan soldiers with them, having them set up a camp an hour's journey from the capital to send rescued Kelrarans to recover in. Tasha, Lina, and I snuck our way there and acted as additional guards, with Tasha acting as an additional healer."

Oh? So the royals can misbehave? Interesting.

"And Jason?" I ask.

"He, Niko, and the two Sages fought in the capital," he tells me. "During the battle, a god of the Second Order who Nolan had sealed away broke free. A beast god that held a deep hatred for him. It went after Jason, leaving the three of us be with some odd message about telling its mama and papa it said hello. Jason fought against it for maybe half of an hour before the god's presence disappeared – and Jason with it. As far as we know, Jason lured the god somewhere else. According to the Sages, he was losing the fight, and badly. He was even missing an arm and a leg."

I frown, finding my grip tightening on the sword.

"Jason is officially recorded as missing," Jacob tells me. "But Alex, we don't think he's alive anymore. Don't tell Niko that, as we believe it may destroy him. Jason is the only reason he is even mentally stable right now."

"His comm plate is in its silent mode," I say.

"It's either destroyed or in a spatial storage belonging to a dead person," Jacob tells me. "Sage Samuel has guaranteed that based on his checks. Jason isn't powerful enough to have fought against a god and won, and while we thought he might have taken the god to the sanctuary guarded by another… we'd have heard from him by now. In addition, Sage Alyssa went there and spoke with the god protecting it, and the god said Jason never showed up, and that she had expressed concern that Jason had fought another god with his current magical power level."

"So you're saying Jason is dead?" I ask.

"That is the only thing we can think of," Jacob responds. "But for Niko's sake, we have to play along with his belief that Jason is alive for now. I know it must be hard on you, because of-"

"DON'T!" I roar.

(Jacob, 16)

The moment Alex screams at me, the river explodes, and I both see and sense forms moving through the walls of water to either side of us as civilians scream. Visages of leviathans. Two dozen Royal Guards suddenly run towards us, and I hold up a hand, halting their progress.

Alex was right. They might be greens and blues, but we are Magi. We know how to fight beings more powerful than us, and we have swords that could destroy this entire city if we lost ourselves into the fight.

"Alex," I keep my voice calm and level. "We are still investigating Jason's disappearance. Sage Samuel is attempting to locate where he traveled to during the fight. As the passages are still sealed, we know he is still somewhere on Midlaris. It is only a matter of time before we locate him."

"Don't ya give me that!" Alex yells. "Ya are just expecting to find a corpse! Jason isn't dead! He's the strongest, most powerful of us all! Even as a lower grey, he'd be enough!'

No, he would not be. He was losing while wielding both Harbinger and Calamity.

"Alex-" I begin, only to sense two of the water-forged leviathans moving towards me.

A couple of gestures with my hands, a quick spell woven, and a pair of stone griffins appear beside me, the leviathans crashing into them. Alex and I struggle against each other as we control our respective beasts, and I add in a barrier around me, just in case. The griffins are the same sort of magical construct as his leviathans, acting on a set of designed instructions based on how the battle shifts.

"Alex," I say, my voice calm as his leviathans continue to attempt to reach me. Why did I have to tell him the full story? I should have just left it as Jason being missing, but I did not wish to lie to Alex about that. "It was a god of the Second Order. Think rationally. Even Jason would not be able to win. He was losing and dying. That was why he lured the god away. We do not know where he brought the god, nor what happened to it, but Jason himself has not responded to us. Were he alive, he would have found a way to contact us. If you want to release your rage, then leave the city and do it against some monsters. Do not do it upon the messenger."

"Ya could have fought!" He yells. "Ya, Lina, and Tasha could have fought! But ya didn't, did ya? Ya ain't worthy of that circlet ya wear sometimes! Ya ain't worthy of being called a prince! Ya just sat back and let the god fight him, didn't ya?"

His words bite at me, but he is right that I should have fought. I did not, though. I panicked, then went to Sage Elena rather than chasing down the god and fighting with it. I do regret that, but it would not have made a difference. The god would have killed me, anyway.

Suddenly, Alex collapses to the ground in a heap, and the waters crash back down, the river rushing by under us as some other force prevents it from flooding over into streets. People are still panicking, and the guards look confused. The leviathans which were attacking my griffins drop, and I cancel my spell, the stone beasts turning still.

What just happened?

As I look around, an overwhelming pressure fills the air. An aura that is unmistakably divine. Another god, and it already took out Alex. He's alive, but still out. And was taken out in only a moment.

My gaze turns to the figure that appears behind Alex, and I instinctively take a step back. He has violet hair and silver eyes with violet flecks in them. The last time I saw him, when I was Ethan, he was completely naked, as with most gods. Now, though, he wears black pants, black leather boots, and a violet tunic with silver runes on its sleeves and sides. It seems he adjusted to the times.

All around me, I can feel the citizens and guards bowing, a force of nature that humans have. Ordinary humans, as we Magi are quite immune to such an effect. Their divine pressure is simply there, to us. We are aware of it, but not affected by it.

Even if feeling it does send a deep terror into me, but that has to do with what they are rather than the aura itself.

"Enaveka," I manage to say. "The Oracle."

"Hello, little one," he says in Varilan Common, and I realize that as he speaks that the eyes of everyone else are glazed over. "They can hear us, but they will not remember everything said, Jacob. I have also affected their memories, so that the battle between the two of you is not… well, as hostile as it truly was."

I swallow hard, unable to move much more than that. I know Jason said the other god claimed Enaveka was not hostile towards us, but this is a god I punched. A god I punched in the face.

"Do not look so worried," he smiles at me. "I have seen the error of our old ways, and feel that the punch which you delivered unto me back then was justified. I am not here to exact vengeance upon you for that."

"Wh-why are you here?" I ask.

"I was traveling nearby," he answers. "And felt the powers of two Magi clashing. As the Magi are capable of wiping out entire cities, I thought I would investigate the battle. I was quite surprised to find the Griffin and the Leviathan clashing, the kings rarely do. Care to explain?"

He probably already knows. Enaveka is a god of knowledge, and one of the Second Order. But I am nowhere near powerful enough to actually question him on why he wants me to say so. He could likely snap me out of existence, leaving not a trace of me behind.

"Jason, the current incarnation of Nolan," I explain. "Fought against a god on Saturday. During the battle, he lost an arm and a leg, then opened a gate and took the god somewhere else. We have no idea what happened to him, and he is currently believed dead. Alex… just found out."

"Ah, yes," Enaveka looks at Alex. "The Leviathan did always love the Dragon. To hear such news would destroy him, especially when coming from the Griffin."

I knew the gods often referred to us by our signs, but did it annoy me as Ethan as much as it annoys me now? We have names.

"As for the Dragon," he thinks for several moments. "I cannot tell you what has come of him. The Dragon has disappeared from my senses entirely. However, you are correct in that he is not powerful enough to challenge a god."

"Do you know what came of the god?" I ask.

Enaveka thinks for several long moments, before frowning.

"Enamas," he says. "The god's name was Enamas, and… he is dead. Though the matter of his death is an unusual one."

"An unusual one?"

"He was eaten by a leviathan," Enaveka tells me. "I should probably pay my old friend a visit. It has been, oh, a thousand years since I last saw him? He has grown quite large."

Did Jason throw a god at a three-thousand-year-old leviathan? If it works, it works, but… that is just one absurd way of dealing with a god. Then again, we Magi are quite absurd by our nature.

Even at orange magical power, we can destroy a city. Granted, that probably would take us using our powerful swords, but still. We have that power.

"And Jason disappeared?" I ask.

"The Magus Nolan has always had ways to evade detection by us gods," Enaveka informs me. "Even I, a god of knowledge, am not privy to all of his actions. Whether he is alive or dead is not something I can be aware of if he has gone into a place I am blinded to by his actions. However, it is doubtful he survived the battle."

"I know," I look at Alex, then sigh. "He is not going to be fun to work with for awhile. I will have my guards lock him up until he cools down. That aside, you are not going to do something for me striking you?"

"I am a god of knowledge who sides with truth," Enaveka states. "The truth is that we behaved inappropriately back then. Your punch was justified. I do not hold grudges for justified actions. And speaking of the truth, they will now hear me speak with truth.

"The Magi," Enaveka says clearly, and the glazed look on the eyes of those around us disappears. "Are not evil. They are the Kings and Queens of Power, and I am Enaveka, a god of knowledge. Know this: though the Magi may have fought against the heavens, they did so at the behest of both Midlaris and gods even more powerful than those they fought. The Magi – and their new lives – are not heretics. They are the heroes of Midlaris."

Enaveka shimmers for a moment, then disappears in a silver flash.

"You two!" I point at a pair of Royal Guards as I speak in High Varilan. The two I am pointing at no doubt know it, as they both bear the insignia of the elite members of the Royal Guard. "Take Alex to the palace prison. Bind him tight, but treat him fair. He needs to calm down. He is not under arrest, but he may fight when he wakes up. He just needs to calm down."

"Yes, Your Highness!" They salute, and I turn around and face the Royal Knight University.

"I wonder," I say in Varilan Common. "But is 'a god showed up' a valid excuse for being late to lessons?"

My personal guards snort at that, and several other guards draw near me, to ensure I am okay after the god's presence. I can tell they are all in awe by it, too. Enaveka did not have a hostile or authoritative force in his aura, which causes a sense of wonder and awe at his presence. Even if he is recognized immediately as a god and will be obeyed as one, putting authority into his aura would have had a vastly different effect.

People may have begun groveling and begging for mercy.

After assuring my guards I am well, I finish the trip to the Royal Knight University and immediately make my way to the appropriate office. I am seen almost immediately, which I know is because of my rank, but I choose to ignore that this time.

"Hello," I smile. "My apologies for being late without the proper paperwork, but something unexpected occurred on the trip over here. A god quite literally appeared before us."

(Niko, 16)

"Niko," Lina says as we enter the training room. "What do you think of what happened?"

Word spread around the university by lunch that a god appeared on the street. A god appeared on the street and spoke of the Magi, heroes sent by even more powerful gods to fight against gods. That the Magi were the Kings and Queens of power and the champions of Midlaris.

Knowing what we know, we know it had to have been Enaveka, as they were described as male and did not bother coming after the various Magi nearby.

Jacob was present for it, as the god apparently spoke with him for several minutes, so I hope he arrives soon so we can learn what they discussed. Apparently, no one present actually knows what was said between them.

He arrives a few minutes after we do, without Alex, who normally walks over with him.

"Niko," Jacob says. "Would you mind leading the lesson today, since Jason is still away?"

"What about Alex?" I ask.

"He is cooling off," Jacob answers.

"Cooling off?" I ask.

"Yes," Jacob responds. "Calming down. He needs it. You are the most knowledgeable of those of us here when it comes to training, so it would be best if you led the group."

"I am not as good with the physical portion," I tell him.

"I can assist you with that," he responds, then looks over at three people I do not recognize who entered. "If you are here to learn what the god and I discussed, that is between the two of us. If you are here to apply for the group, applications are on hold until Jason returns from his trip."

The official story for Jason's absence is that he is on an official trip for both Varil and Sageson Magical Technologies. I know they believe him to be dead, but they will see. Jason will return. I just hope it is soon.

Partly because I want Jason to heal up quickly because he is our leader, partly because he and Alex still need to confess their love for each other, and partly because he is the only way I can practice riding a horse without others being aware of it. I had no riding time in this weekend, and it felt very weird, and I am sure it will continue to feel strange to not ride a horse as long as I do not.

But the most important part is that Jason is probably in a lot of pain as he recovers from the fight with Enamas. With only lower grey magical power, how long will it take him to heal those wounds? At greater grey, I know he could heal them in a matter of hours. The most recent memory I have of us as the Magi of the war had him powerful enough he probably would have healed during the fight.

Which might have been disturbing to see, but at least his pain time would have been minimal.

King and Queen of the Gods, please let Jason heal soon. He should not have to be in that pain, not when all he wanted was to protect others. And please let him return soon, so that he can be among friends and loved ones once more. Wherever he is, he must be very lonely as he heals. My leg is nothing compared to what he must be feeling right now.

My leg still bothers me. I have a slight limp, and will until I fully adjust to it, and everyone keeps trying to convince me into allowing a healer to check it out. That would ruin everything, though. As soon as they find out my leg was destroyed, I might lose my friends here, and Lina might not like me anymore.

But Jason's problems are worse, at least, until he recovers. Please recover soon, Jason. You really need it.

"Have you had a lot of people approaching you?" Lina asks as the trio of newcomers leave, pulling my thoughts from my injury and Jason's injuries.

"Yes," Jacob suppresses a groan. "The god and I spoke about Jason, actually. According to Enaveka, Jason is missing. He does not know where Jason is, nor what happened to him. He did confirm the other god is dead, though."

If the Oracle cannot detect Jason, then Jason did something strange again. Or went somewhere strange. Better not mention it here, though. That is something only the Magi should know about, and I doubt the others know about it. Nolan only alerted me to them because of a situation that came up back then. He wanted me to be able to access them in case of an emergency.

"How did Jason manage that?" I ask. "If Triossa did not kill him, what happened? I doubt Jason lured him to Enaveka, since he did not know where he was or anything."

"You know the three-thousand-year-old leviathan?" Jacob asks, and we confirm we do. "Jason seems to have thrown the god at him. Now, the beast god is leviathan poop."

"That is something Jason would do," Tasha says.

"There were two gods?" Kyra asks, and we realize she had approached us with Kayla as we spoke. "I was amazed enough when I heard one showed up and did not kill us, but two?"

"The other one tried to kill Jason," Jacob tells her. "He fed that god to a leviathan. There is, however, another god which is free and nonhostile to us. By the way, that was Enaveka who showed up."

"Did he really say that stuff?" Kayla asks.

"About the Magi being heroes and not heretics, despite fighting the gods?" Jacob asks. "Yes. He also mentioned – strangely – that we were here on behalf of even more powerful gods."

"The King and Queen of the Gods?" Lina asks.

"Possibly," Jacob answers. "But could he also not have been referring to the Divine Beasts? We each represent one, after all."

"If I am leading this," I say. "Let us begin. "

All of them give me curious looks.

"You seemed surprisingly quiet," Jacob says. "You know something."

"I know many things," I tell him. "We can talk after the training group."

The training group goes relatively well today, though I feel strange being a teacher rather than a student. After the training group, I delegate the teaching of my people to Tasha, since it would not do for royals to actually lead lessons like that. She does pretty well, in my opinion.

After all of that, I open a gate to Jason's home for us Magi, and I see several people I do not recognize here. When he sees them, Jacob freezes up, the elderly woman's gaze fixing on him. She is sitting on one of the couches, and I suppose she was speaking with Sage Alyssa before we arrived.

"Prince Jacob," the woman stands. "I wanted to speak with you."

Who is she, and why does Jacob suddenly seem terrified?

"That is a curious spell you cast, by the way," she turns her gaze to me, then looks at each of us. A curious spell? Does she know? How does she know? Like Jason? "Each of you are a Magus."

She can identify us that easily?

"Yes," Jacob says. "We are some of the Magi."

He gives us an uneasy look.

"Niko, take everyone to your house."

"I would rather you all stayed," the woman says, her voice making it clear we do not have a choice in this matter. Her eyes stay fixed on Jacob. "Why are you wishing to know about the history behind Magus Nolan?"

She is one of the people from the Dragon Clans, then?

"Nolan never revealed to us any information about his past," Jacob answers as I try to subtly move in front of Lina, just in case a fight breaks out. I know we do not have a chance of winning, but this woman still frightens me. "I was simply curious about his life as a member of the Dragon Clans. All we really know is that he was a member of them, and we recently learned – in this incarnation – that Nolan left them when he was fifteen to pursue the end of the war that spanned Midlaris at the behest of the world. That his brother had died to the war."

She stares at us several a full minute, and I feel uncomfortable under that gaze. It is far too knowledgeable. Not only that, but her eyes are grey, which means she is a grey-level mage. She is above even Jason.

"Nolan," she says. "Betrayed the clans. He left without permission, fighting his own people to escape. He even attacked one of the dragons. After the war ended, he slaughtered the clans. Only a few members survived, believed to have managed to do so due to being outside of his range of detection during the rampage he went on. Nolan is a traitor to the clans."

Jason did what to his own people? Why?

"He had to have had a good reason for it," I say. "Nolan would never have attacked without good reason. What did the clans do to provoke his wrath?"

"Perhaps the High Magus was not as righteous as you believe," she looks around. "Alex said the same thing as you. I do not see him, though."

"He is calming down," Jacob states. "He was upset earlier, and so needs some time to calm down. Unlike most of us, he grew up on the streets, where anger was an asset."

What did you do to Alex?

"I see," she says. "Do any of you know where Nolan is?"

"No," Jacob answers, and I am grateful Jason is still recovering, wherever he is. "Nolan does his own thing, without consulting the rest of us. Just like he did three thousand years ago. And if your records are true, then the clans did something to provoke him. Otherwise, your ancestors lied about what happened in order to call him a traitor for leaving."

"Do not insult the honor of the clans," she says. "We would never lie about events in order to justify punishments. If any of you learn where Nolan is, you are to inform me immediately so that I may deliver unto him the judgment he deserves. This is not a choice any of you have."

Further discussion ends when the butler announces guests, and I turn to face someone who looks similar to Alex, along with another girl our age. The boy looks to be rather beat-up, much like Alex did this morning.

"Oh, uh, hello," he says to us. "I was looking for Alex?"

"And you are?" Jacob asks.

"Connor Amarxik," he introduces himself. "And this is Hailey, my betrothed. I'm Alex's brother."

"Alex is calming down," Jacob sighs. "He had an incident earlier that angered him somewhat."

"I see," Connor says. "Sorry for the bother, then. Is Jason back from whatever he's doing?"

"No," Jacob answers. "Jason might be gone awhile, he is busy with some work-related stuff dealing with an incident which occurred over the weekend."

"I see," Connor frowns a little. "If neither Jason nor Alex are here, and Eden isn't among you… then who are all of you?"

I realize as he comments about it that Eden probably walked back or is doing something else. That makes us not really have a 'reason' to be here. Why did I open a gate here instead of to my home? Because we would not have privacy there, with my people and staff around. Jason always said I could come here if I needed privacy, so I just opened a gate here instead.

"Fellow Magi," Jacob tells him. "I am Ethan."

Connor is a Magus? Ah, then he would be Levi, and Hailey would be Miranda.

"Your Highness," Connor suddenly bows, Hailey doing so as well.

"No need for that among friends," Jacob smiles. "Rise, we are friends. Unless things have changed?"

"I would hope not," Connor and Haily stand up straight. "My apologies, I was not expecting to run into royalty here."

"We had come here hoping for some privacy," Jacob tells him. "Regarding something dealing with the Magi. We had not expected others to be here."

"I see," Connor says. "Would you like to come to my family's estate? All of my staff are bound by magical oaths with anything regarding the Magi that is not already public. Alex assisted me in creating the oaths."

Alex probably imitated the ones Jason used on his own staff.

"If you would not mind," Jacob says. "How far is it to walk?"

"Not very far," Connor responds. "Though I do not know if it would be wise for royalty to walk about like that."

"You are correct," Jacob sighs. "Papa would have a fit if he found out I was doing that without proper permissions."

"I can open a gate to your home," Sage Alyssa speaks up. "All you need do is step through it, and you will be there."

"Yes," Connor nods. "Alex mentioned them to me yesterday. I feel I might be close to figuring them out on my own."

"I can teach you the spell," I tell him. "Your range will be rather limited, though."

"Okay," he smiles, then looks at Sage Alyssa. "Have you been to my family's estate?"

"I helped to build many of the estates of nobility that are more than thirty or forty years old," she informs him. "So yes, I have been there. The Amarxik Mansion was one of my projects."

"I see," he says. "Thank you."

Sage Alyssa opens the gate, and we step through, but not before the woman warns us once more to inform us if we learn where Nolan is. We pass through the gate and find ourselves in front of the gate to Connor's estate. He lets us inside and we stand in a circle in the main room.

"You know where Jason might be?" Jacob asks almost immediately.

"I know of a possible location," I tell him. "If he can evade Enaveka's sight, then he is no doubt-"

"Enaveka?" Connor asks. "The god who appeared earlier?"

"Yes," Jacob answers. "He is not our enemy, and seems to actually side with the Magi, now. He's the Oralce."

"Ah," Connor says.

"Niko," Jacob turns back to me. "Please continue."

"Okay," I say. "Jason is no doubt in one of his blind zones. He created three that I know of, back during the war. They were meant to be use in case we needed to recover from a fight, but we never really needed them. They are shielded from the eyes of the divine, meaning that even Enaveka would be unable to see anything inside of them. If Enaveka cannot discern what happened to Jason, then Jason is no doubt in one of them."

"Where are they?" Jacob asks.

"One is past the mountains to the east," I answer. "Jason has not been there in this life, so I doubt he went to that one to recover. Another is on the southern shores a little to the east of the middle of the continent. Anotis is a fair distance from there, so I doubt he went there as well. It is unlikely he had the focus needed to perform a teleport spell."

"Then it would be the third one?" Lina asks.

"Yes," I nod. "Jason is mostly likely on the Shattered Isle."

"An island?" Jacob asks. "Since when has Jason been near islands?"

"It is not far from a certain leviathan," I tell him. "Or at least, that region. Jason has been near enough to it that it would make sense he would have gone there after dropping the god off at the Leviathan."

"He did what?" Connor asks.

Jacob fills everyone in on what happened in Kelrar, making every Magus except for Adam and Elise aware of the events. They will probably be filled in as soon as Alex learns, though.

"So Jason is missing?" Connor asks. "That's why you're trying to figure out where he went to?"

"Yes," I nod. "I forgot about Jason's recovery and hiding places until the mention of him being hidden from Enaveka's sight. He most likely went to the Shattered Isle to recover from the battle, and will return to us once he has healed."

Jacob, Lina, and Tasha give each other a subtle look, and I sigh.

"I know you three think he is dead," I tell them. "But Jason is the most powerful Magus to ever live, even if he doesn't have that power now. Not only that, but he is of the grey magical power level. He is alive, and he will return. Whole and back to his usual self."

We are immortal. That is a guarantee.

"Do you know how to get to the Shattered Isle?" Jacob asks.

"Yes," I nod. "But it will take me a few hours to find it, I only know its general location. I can look for it this weekend after we have returned from the practical training, if Jason has not returned by then."

Jacob thinks over his response for a few moments, then nods.

"I can accept that," he says. "But Niko, I want you to know that it is possible Jason did not survive the fight. He was fighting a powerful god of the Second Order with only lower grey magical power. We may be going there to look for a corpse."

They really are not understanding me, are they?