The hum of magic seeped from Cassandra's hands as they lay on Clive's bare chest. Clive, stirring from unconsciousness, took in a breath and slowly opened his eyes. The smell of ointment hung heavy in the air as he took in another sharp breath and glanced around the medical quarters. Cassandra took a sigh of relief and wiped a drop of sweat from her forehead.

“Aha! I told you he would make it”, Baz said as leaned over Clive's face, “We thought we were going to lose you little champ!”.

The Maestro leaned forward in his chair by the bed and looked pensively at his own hand. It was caked in blood and covered in burn marks.

“I tried to take it out of you, but it couldn’t be removed” he said matter of factly.

Clive looked at the Maestro, and then scrambled up to a seated position. He had hoped it had been a dream, but deep down he could still feel the pulsing of the orb in his body. He looked down at his right hand to see translucent orb, buried deep in his flesh. The orb flashed with a series of shifting glyphs.

“W-what is it?”

The Maestro stood up from his chair and looked down at Clive ominously, “The spell for your grimoire hit a mirror in the other realm and malformed. Only part of it is physical, the other half is still connected to the etherium"

"Oh, so this is a grimoire? I guess that isn't the worst thing..."

The Maestro's gaze remained unmoved, "I am sorry, but all mirrored magic is dangerous, it is likely that it will grow with time and kill you"

"Oh? Well what if we remove it? Living with one hand will be tough but, I'll figure it out"

"I already tried to remove it, but it has fused with your soul, rather like a parasite infact. It cannot be removed”

Clive's face turned pale as he watched the glyphs shift within the orb, changing from yellow to blue and back again.

A tear drew down the Maestro’s face as he walked over to the door to leave, “I am sorry Clive, I failed you”. The door closed behind him leaving an audible silence in the moments that followed.

Baz reached out and patted Clive on the shoulder, “Don't worry about what he said kid, he can be melodramatic when it comes to magic he doesn’t know. There is a possibility it is a grimoire just like it is supposed to be and it didn’t come in contact with any mirrors at all”.

"How much of a possibility?" Clive asked, his eyes awash with emotion.

"Not zero kid, not zero"

Clive pulled back the corner of his lips with an ironic smirk, “Magic is fear… I guess he really was right”

Cassandra sipped on a small cup of herbal tea and then looked Clive in the eye, “Don’t blame yourself sweetie, this wasn’t because of anything you did”

Clive held back his quivering lips by gritting his teeth, “Yeah, I know, but it just feels like it, a lot”

He pulled up his knees and began to sob.

Cassandra turned to Baz “Can you stay with him I have to get back to the Chapel”.

“Of course, thanks for coming”

Baz gripped the back of the seat the Maestro had been sitting in and drew it closer to the bedside. He sat down and put his hand on Clive’s shoulder, “The Maestro is working on a plan, he won't say it but he always comes through on things like this, you'll see”.

Baz withdrew his hand and settled in beside Clive to sit with him in solidarity.

…

The patter of footsteps rushed through the woodland, Rem's breath heaved in and out in a panic as tears streamed down her face.

“Subi!” she cried out desperately.

Subi's ears picked up in the distance and he shot through the trees like a flash. Rem collapsed to her knees, and clutched her chest in an attempt to hold herself together.

Subi slowed to a stop in front of her, his ice blue eyes peering at her with calm focus.

“It’s Clive, he’s hurt real bad! Something went wrong with the magic at the grimoire ceremony" she sniffled and wiped her face clear of tears, "He was hit by something. The teachers don’t know what it was”

Subi looked towards the city and sniffed

*It smells a little of abolat crystals and burnt flesh… Hrmm I wonder what really happened?*

Subi transformed down into a child and tugged on Rem's sleeve “Take me to him”.

Rem nodded and got up from the dirt, “Right!”

Baz looked up as Rem knocked on the door “Can I come in?”

“Mhm…" he murmured before snapping back to reality, "Oh, you have the little one with you?”

“Uh yes, is it okay if we have a moment with Clive?”

Baz paused for a moment before letting out a smirk, “I will be outside if you need me”

Rem looked back and nodded as Baz left, then looked quickly back to Clive.

“Clive?”

Subi pulled on her sleeve “Don't force him to think right now, stick to questions that are easy to answer”

“I'm glad you are awake now” she said smiling sheepishly.

Clive whimpered and tightened his grip around his legs.

Subi could hear Clive's heart beating. It pounded fast as though he were being chased by terrible doubts that threatened to destroy him if he looked away from them for even a moment.

Rem's eyes locked onto the burn marks on Clive’s hand and the crystal orb buried within. The wound looked as though the orb had tore its way into his flesh, and then burned its way through the bone. Glyphs flickered randomly within the orb.

Subi crawled out of Rem's arms and planted his feet at the foot of the bed. He placed his hands on his hips and stared at Clive with a confidence that cut through the sorrow in the air.

“Well that is one unique looking grimoire you have there" he said as he waded his way through the bedding to plant his face right next to the orb.

"As for the burn, it smells better than dandelions, overall its an improvement I think”

“I'd agree with you, if it wasn't going to kill me eventually” Clive responded from his upright fetal position.

“Who said that?” Subi asked.

“The Maestro, he said the spell hit a mirror and came out deformed. They can't remove it because it merged with my soul, and now it will feed on me like a parasite until there is nothing left”

“Its that grim, huh?” Subi said as he looked at the mark contemplatively, half ignoring Clive's words, “It smells of Abolat”

“Yeah, the grimoires are infused with it”

Subi tapped the tip of his chin in thought.

*I remember when I touched the crystal in the dungeon it spoke to me. Maybe it is related? I can't remember much, but I remember it was trying to lull me into a false sense of security. I couldn't help but strike the thing to get free. What would have happened if I didn't?*

“I have kind of crazy idea"

Clive peeked one eye out from behind his knees, utterly confused by Subi's unflinching nature.

"What if the Abolat crystals in dungeons come from mirrors in the other dimension"

Rem turned to Subi with a confused look on her face. Clive on the other hand lifted his head and locked eyes with Subi.

"What if what is happening with your hand is the same as is what is happening with the dungeons appearing across the lands?”

Clives eyes filled with panic, “Are you saying monsters will explode from inside me?”

"No, I'm saying that if it really is connected to dungeons then we at least have something to go on to help us figure this out"

Clive’s fear turned into a rush of excitement, "Do you think it means I might be... You know... Fated to save the world?”

“I wouldn’t go that far… I would say that it is likely this orb will give you power, heck maybe even power equal to what is required to reverse your fate, but it will also whisper to you and try to have you do its own will”

“It has a will? How do you know?”

“I don't know, I can just smell it, there is a presence within the crystal. And if it acts like a parasyte then I imagine it will seek to control you until it no longer needs you. Only once it gets what it wants will it be able to kill you. If you resist its call, it will linger in the shadows, looking for a way to outwit you. I don't know how I know this but I just do”

“So it will use me to its own ends?”

“Yeah… As it gets closer to its goal it will use more and more of your soul to fuel its needs. Before that point it will be a battle of wits”

“Wait are you saying there is a way to survive it?”

Subi nodded firmly, “If you become barren soil to the roots of its will, it will leave you”

Clive furrowed his brow and gazed at the crystal orb, “Do you think I called it to me somehow? Like somehow I was just on its frequency?”

“If that is the case I imagine that it just might be a catalyst for the change you are looking for. And by resisting its will, you will change”

Clive lowered his knees and looked up at Rem with a hint of a smile.

Rem squirmed in place before speaking her mind, “It is still dangerous! What if in the last moment when you fight to remove it you are too burned out to overcome it? Just as you think you can beat it, things change, and you can't achieve your goal”

Subi looked at Rem, half in surprise, half to pick apart her thought process.

*As an orphan she would know better than anyone what dashed hopes are like, I bet she is right*

"That is why he will need our help" Subi replied.

Rem walked up to the bedside and took Clives uninjured hand in her own, "You aren't going to do this alone".

Subi nodded firmly “We're with you”

Clive smiled warmly, "Thank you guys, I'm still scared as anything, but just knowing you are with me helps a lot. So... What do we do next?"

“I don’t know about we, but there is something I can do,” Subi replied.

“What?” Clive asked.

“Find more dungeons”

"Wait? Alone?" Rem responded.

"This is something only I can do. I am a monster remember. These are places humans can't go. Not easily at least. And time is against us, so I will have to remain in wolf form to travel quickly. I hate to say it but anyone tagging along will just slow me down"

"But what if something happens to you?" Rem said with a crack in her voice.

“I'll be okay, I'm bigger than most monsters out there, quicker too. Hrmm... Speaking of being quick, I hate to cut this conversation short but I think seconds might actually count so I should get on my way now actually, can you take me outside. Clive, do your best until I return alright? Just remember what we talked about last night”

Clive nodded firmly, "Even if you can't always keep your ideals, you can hold strong amidst the change"

Baz nodded to Rem as she entered into the hall and smiled as he sensed a change in the air.

“So I guess this is goodbye for now” she said as she placed Subi down at the back of school.

Subi nodded, “I'll be back as soon as I can”

“Wait... How will you buy food?”

“I'll be avoiding the cities, so I'll hunt”

“And eat meat raw? Just let me go get you a backpack with fire starting gear and the leftovers from last night”

As Rem took off like a flash to get the backpack, Subi whispered to her under his breath “Thanks, thanks for being with me so far, it was nice to not be lonely”

Memories flooded back into his mind. The ice cream dropped on the floor as he was taken from his old world. His niece's smile. And the endless grind of souless work just to get by.

*I guess it was nice while it lasted, but now it is back to the grind. I've done back to back shifts before, running on virtually no sleep. So I can do this*

Rem came back down huffing and puffing, “Here is the bag, be careful and don’t do anything crazy okay?”

“I’ll be back before too long, don’t worry” he said before hoisting the bag over his shoulder and breaking into a stride.

The side streets filled with a great shadow as he whisked through town. Making sharp turns at every corner and leaping his way out of town.