I followed Svend out of the crypt and away from the chilling cold. Back in the dining hall, my family and Cyra waited for us. My dad still seemed depressed but my mom and Charly were both beside him. Instead, my attention focused on the object in Cyra’s hands.

It was a crystal, larger than a fist. A perfect spere without any cracks or blemishes, it glowed with purple energy that cast the room in a strange light.

“Michael actually gave you a sending crystal?” I asked as I recognized the crystal for what it was. A sense of dread was building inside of me as I realized how the two were going to verify my identity.

Cyra grinned as she walked towards me with the crystal in hand. “Of course. We would never dare execute anyone claiming to be Aevus otherwise. What better way to verify someone’s identity than to ask directly? I assume you know how it works.” Cyra handed the crystal to me, and I took it with trembling hands. She then turned to look at my family. “You may stay but you are not allowed to speak, understand?”

My mom’s gaze met mine and I nodded at her before turning back to stare at the crystal in my hands. My throat felt dry as I swallowed nervously.

“We understand,” my mom replied while placing a hand on my dad’s shoulder.

I activated my innate talent as green flames flared to life. The purple crystal glowed even brighter as it hungrily devoured the fire. It began to release a similar purple smoke that filled the room and wrapped around me. Tendrils of smoke prodded at me, almost feeling alive as they moved across my skin.

Ignoring the goosebumps brought by the smoke, I began to move the crystal in my hand. I drew a circle in the air and the smoke followed. All the smoke in the room followed my command and flowed to a single point at the center of the circle. There was a sound similar to glass shattering and the smoke faded away to reveal an image of a place far away.

Perfectly white walls covered in veins of gold that pulsed with energy, just like how blood pumps through a body. A single man sat in the center of the room. He was wearing a crisp black suit as he sipped at a cup of tea while reading a piece of paper.

As the purple smoke cleared and the image became clearer, the man looked up from the report. Judgmental blue eyes sent a shiver down my spine as our gaze met.

“Aurielle, you took longer to contact me than I expected. I hope you are not picking up Azreal’s bad habits.”

“I have been busy preparing for an invasion while traveling the full breadth of a continent in a horse-drawn carriage. Your timetable was not exactly one of my priorities, Michael.”

“That’s…” Donte gasped before the pressure of a domain radiating from Cyra silenced him and forced him down to his knees.

I glared at the woman for a second before turning back to my teacher. “Things here are getting rather dire. Envy’s seven generals have entered the realm. It is only a matter of time before he arrives as well.”

“The Demon actually separated from his generals?” Michael asked as he sat down the teacup on a nearby table. “We must be getting close. I notified the Blade Calamity of your situation. A joint operation between the Thirteenth and Fifth Divisions has been scouring the realms in search of Envy’s invasion force. I do not know if we can find him before the attack begins, but if you can hold out long enough, reinforcements will arrive. We will not abandon you.” Michael paused as his gaze shifted. “Svend, Cyra, I expect you two to uphold your end of the bargain. Give Aurielle your complete support.”

“Yes sir!” Cyra shouted as she saluted energetically.

“Good, I will be counting on both of you. Now, if you could please clear the room, I have something I wish to discuss with Aurielle privately.”

Cyra hesitated but with a nudge from Svend, she moved towards the door. I nodded at my family and they also followed after them. Once everyone else was gone, the crystal in my hand began giving off smoke once again. This time, the smoke flowed with purpose, forming a bubble around me and the small window that I was using to talk to my teacher.

Michael sighed as he leaned back in his chair. “Was that your new family?” I nodded silently while dreading what he might say next. However, instead of preaching about not having any distractions for the mission, his words surprised me. “I am glad you finally found people you care about.”

“You are not going to order me to discard emotional attachments that can be exploited?” I blurted out.

Michael shook his head. “Once upon a time I might have, but no, I will not.”

“Why the sudden change of heart?”

“Did you know Azreal got married to Kora?”

“Yes, it happened right before our final assault on the Archdemon.”

Michael closed his eyes as he massaged his temples. “He never told me. One thousand years. For one thousand years We have fought the Archdemon and for one thousand years, that boy was always right behind me, my very first student. We have had our disagreements, sure, but even after you both left to create the Thirteenth Division, I never doubted his commitment to the mission… Never once did I consider what he was fighting for.”

“You being a terrible teacher is nothing new to us. One of your students has even made it her life’s mission to kill you.”

Michael gave a small chuckle at that, “I know.”

“Speaking of being a bad teacher, why did you spread a fake prophecy about me being a savior among a bunch of backwater tribes? They took it seriously, collecting and modifying corpses for centuries.”

Michael's eyes shot open at that. All the emotions from a moment before were gone as he stared at me seriously. “I never spread a prophecy in your realm.”

“It was spread by a man, a fortuneteller named Aevus. That could only be you or Azreal and he is not the type to do something like that. From what I verified, they even wore the crest you keep on your cufflinks.”

Michael’s hand formed a fist and even through the window between realms I could feel the murderous intent radiating off my teacher. The table and teacup next to the man shattered into hundreds of pieces disintegrating into a cloud of fine dust until only Michael was left standing in the room. I instinctively took a step back even though I knew the window only transmitted light and sound, nothing more.

It was several seconds before Michael took a deep breath and calmed down. “It seems someone is purposefully trying to rile me up. I will handle this personally. Do not look into the matter any further, but be careful. Our family has a troubled history with people that can see the future. They are not our allies. You should act as if the prophecy is designed to get you killed, permanently, because it likely is.”

I nodded numbly, still surprised at the intensity of the outburst. “I will.”

“Is there anything else I should know while we have this moment to speak?”

“I found a functioning Preateritum remnant.”

“Really? Now, that is interesting. What type of remnant is it? What functions does it have?”

“We think it was a school of some sort, a place named Dragon’s Nest. As for the functions, we are still figuring it out. The power core is damaged and any records that had been in the library were destroyed. It can’t do much right now, honestly.”

“You don’t know? Are you not able to understand the voice of the remnant?”

“What voice?”

My teacher narrowed his eyes as he looked at me. “You are not the one in control of the remnant, are you?”

My throat went dry as I shuffled back nervously. “No, but Donte is a… friend. He will be useful for the mission. You are not allowed to do anything to him!”

“Donte? One of the boys that from before?” Michael paused as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I might be able to work with that. Do not worry, I will not lay a hand on your family or friends so long as they do not turn against humanity. I do have some morals you know. As for this Donte, tell him to return to the core of the remnant and listen. Whenever someone connects with Preateritum structures, they are forever a part of it. The memories of those that came before should give him some direction on how to control this Dragon’s Nest and what it can do. If you can, get the boy to learn the location of any other remnants. With some luck, we might be able to find another one that is still intact.”

“I will.”

“Good, keep the crystal. Contact me if you learn anything.”

“Wait, before you go, I have one more question.” Michael looked at me expectantly as I raised both my hands in front of me. On the fingertip of my left hand, a green flame ignited, on my right, a blue flame. “Do you know anything about combining Innate talents?”

“Oh?”

Michael leaned closer to the window as he examined the blue flame on my hand. “I guess that explains your right eye. You sealed the talent in there, right?”

“When the two talents come into contact, the result is… explosive but I know they can combine together. I have felt it and with the help of glyphs I can even partially recreate it.” Using the two flames I created the simple ignite glyph my dad had taught so Michael could see. In a little less than a minute, a golden flame floated before me.

“Interesting. Normally when two talents come into contact, one will be devoured. The First Division has done some research on the subject but there have not been any tangible results. Are you sure you want to go down this path?”

“Yes, I do. I must. You cannot see what I felt but this flame is unlike any talent I have ever seen. It has brought back the dead. Not like what I do when I reanimate corpses. It really breathed life back into a corpse.”

Michael was so close to the window now that his face was almost pressed up against it. “That is a dangerous path full of pitfalls and dead ends. I will not stop you, just remind you of others that have failed in the past. As for help, I do not know much about the subject of combining talents but I will requisition the records of past experiments. For now though, I can spot at least one problem preventing you from combining the talents.”

“What is it?”

“Tell me, how long have you practiced with both talents?” Michael asked with a smirk, “For four hundred years, you had time to grow accustomed to your original talent, but this new one? Do you even understand how it works? The flame you showed before was unstable and uncontrolled. How can you hope to combine it with anything when you cannot even keep it steady long enough to give a demonstration?”

My face flushed with embarrassment at my teacher’s criticism. I thought I had gotten good at controlling the blue flame recently, but Michael noticed even the minute flickering of the fire. Nothing was worse than that smirk of his when he explained things he thought were obvious.

Michael leaned back from the portal with a nod. “I think you know what you need to do now. I will contact you when I have more information that might help. Until then, keep an eye open for anything strange. Too many events have been happening at once, not just with you, but the other Calamities as well. In your search for victory, do not fall into someone else’s game.”