"Life. Scientifically it can be distilled down to a definition. Magically it can be distilled down to the soul. So death, the end to life and the antithesis to its meaning, must be just as inviolable as life is. Since it is inviolable it cannot be denied would be the conclusion drawn then, but there are exceptions. There are always exceptions my friend to every rule, every constant, every existence. At least so long as they are flawed…" – an exceptional philosopher

The questioning had gone on for a few hours now, and Alex was getting a bit tired. Luckily for Alex, they hadn't questioned his identity and hadn't arrested him for being the prince of the Albent kingdom.

'Though I'm not even sure it exists in the same sense anymore…'

Daryl had left, saying he had some business to attend to, about when Alex had gotten through conferring him where he had slept before he woke where he did. Able had continued questioning him, and at this point, Alex was pretty sure they knew everything they needed to know.

Able asks another question, but Alex has something of higher priority on his mind. He clears the writing on the slate, leaving it a slightly lighter shade, and uses the now nub of chalk to write a question.

Able takes the slate, excepting an answer to his query, and his face falls, seeing the question he had been asked several times already.

"You'll get clothes once you finish up answering our questions. If you're that concerned about your decency, then you should have never left the house garbed in nothing but your birthday suit."

Alex glares at Able.

"The sooner we finish, the sooner you get clothing. And, to be honest, probably be set free. We don't tend to keep cases like yours past a day or so, and I wouldn't mind stretching that a bit to let you out early if you cooperate."

Alex continues to glare at Able.

Able's face goes deadpan, "If you answer my question, I'll give you food? No? How about I'll answer those questions from earlier of yours, would you like that?"

Alex dislikes being patronized, but even more so, the possibility of garnering more information on the situation of the Albent kingdom, as well as the center of the continent where the beast compelled him to go, appealed to him.

Alex nods slowly.

Able's face suddenly lights up. "Well then, the rest should go pretty quickly. The question I wanted to ask is pretty simple, do you remember anything from before you showed up in the alley, and after you went to sleep? It seems suspicious that no one would remember a drunken tirade, so I wanted to just check if their might not be some other reason…"

Alex thinks deeply, this is something that had been bothering him as well.

'Why can't I remember anything, it certainly is strange.'

A few minutes pass, but Able is patient, and Alex is able to think.

'Wait, wasn't there something. A… I remember a slight pain, and then…'

Alex clutches his head, his hands scratching around the jewel embedded there. He then collapses in pain.

Able's eyes widen, and he comes closer, he judges the situation for a moment before taking his key and approaching the cell, "This better not be a ploy to get out, I'm a mage you know."

Able opens the cell, and the last thing that Alex hears before leaving the conscious world once again in so few days was mage-speak.

'Domain of Water release his pain.'

Able's brow sweats in concentration, and Alex falls into unconsciousness.

…

Several hours later, Alex is propped up against the wall of the cell, this time with a blanket covering his nudity.

'Did I die?'

His 'eye' opens, and he sees the blanket and his cell.

'I guess not, they could have at least clothed me, but this is better than nothing.'

Alex looks around to see if he can find the men that had been keeping him captive, but fails to do so.

'What happened there, I was suddenly remembering and then…'

Alex stops for a moment as the pain resurfaces.

'I need to avoid that train of thought, even thinking of thinking of pink elephants will make you think of pink elephants.'

The pain subsides.

'Looks like the pink elephant trick worked, it won't get out of my head now. I wonder where Reynold ever encountered such things.'

Alex ponders again, this time more carefully.

'It can't be trauma, can it? I've been eviscerated in the most terrible ways, and still remember those. I've died countless times, but the memories still haunt me. So it couldn't be that after all, it couldn't get worse than that, right?'

Alex shakes his head.

'Assuming it's not trauma, it's something else… but what could it be.'

Not wanting to risk another attack of pain, Alex leaves the issue alone. For now.

'Where are the guards, I would expect them to keep watch over a captive, right?'

Alex's question is answered a few minutes later when Able walks in along with a man with pointed ears, and a bulbous nose.

'That can't be natural, can it' was Alex's first thought and instinctive reaction to the man.

"I thought you said he was unconscious. If he's stable, we could have done this at a better time." Says the man.

"I'm sorry, professor Bernhart when I left to get you, he was unconscious and in a critical state. Since I considered it probably an issue related to his mutations, I came and got you immediately." Says Able while inclining his head to Bernhart.

"No worries, student, it's the job of the professor to help their students. Especially when I get paid extra for overtime calls like this," the professor pats the student's back, and he shudders and freezes.

"U-Understood," says Able.

'What's going on here?' Albi wonders at the complete discomfort that Able obviously feels around the 'professor' Bernhart.

'He doesn't look like much of a professor to me, nor does he give off that kind of a feeling. He seems more like a mercenary to be honest. It doesn't matter, though, if he can help me with that memory…'

Bernhart takes a quick look at Alex, before turning to Able, "Student, hand me the keys and then leave. I'll need some privacy to perform my work."

Able, obviously in discomfort with being around the professor in the first place, takes the opportunity to hightail it out of there.

Bernhart opens the cell and tells Alex, "That's no place to run a diagnostic, why don't you come over here first?"

Alex, seeing no better option and no reason not to comply, starts struggling to his feet.

'It's not like, a diagnostic can tell my name, nor would it tell my lineage. At least one any less than greater. Even then it would have to be focused on the subject. So, I should be safe from scrutiny.'

Alex, almost falling to the ground, is caught by Bernhart, and led to a chair, which Alex gratefully sits down in.

Bernhart then takes off his cloak and hands it to Alex, "I'm not going to be able to do this distracted, so please put this on. A blanket can only do so much, especially one that small."

Alex would blush, but at this point was fairly used to being naked, even when pointed out.

'Maybe it's the universe's plan to make me a nudist.'

Alex does take Bernhart's cloak gratefully, though.

'It doesn't mean I'll give in easily.'

Alex grows a look of pride on his face, which simply confuses Bernhart, but regardless the professor speaks.

"You seem to be the result of one of my old compatriot's experiments. Seeing your horns and lack of eyes, but still having the ability to see, I'm guessing it was the blood of the gray beast. I haven't seen a result like you in years, even back in my heyday, survivors of beast blood are just that rare. Oh, and how's that gray-haired coot doing nowadays?"

'He's a compatriot of that man?'

Alex's expression immediately grows dark and grim, and he spits on the man.

"It's not like I meant anything by it, never really liked the guy even when we were working together. Anyway, those times are past now. Nevertheless, I'm sorry about your current condition. But that's not why I'm here, is it? Let's get on with the diagnostic, shall we?"

The man starts mumbling, "Since it's a matter of the mind, shall we go with wind, or even better yet calm. I'm not good enough with that, though. Wind it is!"

He then raises his arms dramatically.

Alex gives him a deadpan stare.

'I've experienced magic, and I know that isn't necessary.'

"Now be the Domain of wind."

The man takes a moment and breathes in as he does so, a green cocoon envelopes Alex's forehead.

"Greater Diagnosis"

'So he does know how to do a greater diagnosis.'

The professor's eyes go blank for a moment before coming back online.

"At least as far as the mind goes, there are no major issues I can see. The only weird thing is the lack of magical accumulation, especially for a person injected with dragon's or beast's blood… but I doubt that's what is causing this problem."

Bernhart looks at Alex, "I'm going to have to do another diagnosis, this time of the domain of fire and the soul. For this, I'm going to need you to be absolutely still, mage-magic was never my strong suit and the fire element even less so, so any movement could have catastrophic consequences."

Bernhart starts chanting.

"Domain of fire ignite."

Small blue flames start dancing around Alex's head, he can feel the heat emanating from them.

"Greater diagnosis."

The flames circle around and around before collecting in front of the jewel on his forehead and disappearing.

Bernhart's eyes go blank for a few minutes longer this time, only after Alex was questioning whether or not Bernhart was okay, and was getting tired of staying still, did Bernhart's gaze return to the room.

"It seems that we have a minor issue."

'???'

"Your soul has been damaged somehow, I'm not sure why, or even how. It's really hard to do that, you know. I've known rogue mages try for years to create a crack for some inane reason or another, and you do it accidentally!" the former rogue mage laughs, "you really are a surprising specimen."

'Specimen, huh?'

Shivers run down Alex's spine.

'He reminds me of my previous captor. They were associates, after all.'

"There's not much I can do about soul damage. It's an area of research pressing the edge of our current knowledge... it's something we'll need a specialist for. You can tell Able that when he returns."

The professor makes to leave the room, but turns around and asks a question of Alex.

"Before I leave, there has been something bothering me about your conduct. Why do you not speak? You have the mental faculties for it, and the general diagnosis that comes along with the greater didn't spell out any issues with voice function. There were several anomalies, but that's to be expected in the case of your mutations."

Alex looks at him for a second, and decides to tell him part of the truth. He had helped him after all. Hence, before voicing his first word in over a week (although to him it felt shorter than that), he gives the professor a long stare before saying.

"Whenever I speak, it does this. It's called mage-speak, right?"

Bernhart's eyes suddenly light up, and he giddily jumps around and does a little dance.

'What the f***.'

"Looks like the fool succeeded, at least on some level. You know that you're the holy grail of bio-magic technology. The thing we've been searching for for years!"

'I'm not liking the sound of this, nor his reaction. I should have just kept my mouth shut.'

"You're a magic beast. A magic beast in human form, retaining human form, and still functioning on the level that a magic beast should. Now the anomalies from earlier make sense, your soul trapped in that crystal, the damage to it in the first place, your sight as a blind man, even the magicless zones in your brain... it all fits!" The professor continues dancing around in glee, and Alex's feeling of dread grows. "Though that fool could never have completed it on his own, did a beast interfere? They wouldn't have any reason to, but that's something that could have happened. Whatever. The point is that we have you know!" Bernhart's eyes start to produce a mad gleam as he jumps towards Alex.

'Ah hell no!'