The moon hung high above the city of Trevias, smoke filled the air and choked the sky. Rogue waves of mystical energy surged from the damaged heart of the college. Countless mages battled to control damage, some simply creating voids where they could while others siphoned the excess energy into their own personal coffers.

The city’s populace had already been evacuated en masse over an hour before, but every minute it seemed like some poor soul afflicted with mana poisoning was found among the rubble. The damage to the college was minimal in the grand scheme of things. The north face was damaged enough to expose the underground floors of the college, but the overall structure suffered no critical damage.

A single figure floated in the sky, several stories above the ground. They were overseeing the recovery efforts. If it weren’t for the massive amounts of mana bleeding into the area then this operation could have been recovered with only a few master mages.

Then, in less than instant, there were two.

“Anything serious?” A woman’s voice said. The figure jumped in his skin and turned to see an unfortunately familiar appearance. The dead look in her eyes and warm smile on her lips contrasted with the barmaid’s uniform she insisted on wearing. To anyone who didn't know better they would think she was any random waitress fresh out a shift at the bar.

“Arch Mage Rapture, why are you present in my designated region without my direct permission?” The man said. Rapture sighed and chuckled under her breath.

“You always were such a stickler for the rules.” Rapture said.

“Answer my question.” The man said.

“Oh fine, It’s no fun talking to such a thick headed brother like you.” Rapture said mockingly. The man could feel his brow twitch, this woman had the masterful skill of getting on his nerves like no other person alive or dead is capable of.

“Well?” The man said.

“Well what?” She said. He was already on edge that night and her interference was doing nothing to alleviate his mood. He casually waved his hand and several hands of ethereal black energy wrapped around her mouth.

If she didn’t have a way of talking she would eventually get bored and move on. But after a few minutes he never noticed her leave. When he looked back at her she was waiting patiently, an ability he never knew her to possess in all the years he knew her. Another shake of the wrist and she was freed of the grasping ethereal hands.

Then he blinked, and she was hovering right in front of him, mere inches away. He felt something deep in his core that he had not felt in many years. A dozen kings and countless undead had come and gone before he felt this one, and that feeling was fear.

“Down, explain to me what happened here.” She said, The ice in her voice was enough to freeze the world a thousand times over. Something had greatly upset her, and in such a way that it has removed the usual buffoonery she relished in.

“I do not know.” Down said. It was the honest truth.

“That is not good enough.” She said.

Then what appeared to be a human heart appeared in her hand.

Down put his hand to his chest and for a moment felt an empty void. It stayed like that for a few moments before the feeling faded away.

“Rapture, just because I will not die does not mean you have the right to do that.” Down said.

“I wasn’t asking for permission. Now explain what happened here.” She said, then she dropped the heart on the ground. It took several seconds before it finally hit the ground.

“I already told you, I know nothing you couldn’t gather from looking at the damage.” Down said. Rapture clicked her tongue at him.

“Have you heard nothing from White?” Rapture said.

“White? For what reason would I hear from them, why would they be here and not with Ferdinand?” Down said.

“She has been a student here for weeks, have you never once introduced yourself?” Rapture said.

Rapture had a reputation of never taking much of anything seriously, and in few cases where she did it was a fleeting fancy that would lose her interest quickly. By her own words “Our family is so large, how can I afford to give everyone equal attention.”. To be focused so intently on someone she didn’t earnestly believe was part of her “family” is uncharacteristic.

“The only thing I have heard of White was that she had some connection to one of the students from this year's class. But that was it, nothing more.” Down said.

“Was that not enough of a reason for you to look into it?” Rapture said.

“Why would I be interested? It is Ferdinand’s fault for drawing so much attention to the girl by giving his personal endorsement. We’ve both seen it before. Now, what is your point with all this?” Down said.

Rapture got very close and stared him dead in the eyes. As she got closer he could feel the faintest of feelings coming over him. A signal so powerful that his long dead nerves ached with the energy.

“Fine.” Down said.

-----

Both found themselves in what appeared to be a parlor room. Down had never made the arch connection to Rapture before, but seeing as how she was the one who initiated this connection it made sense that she would use her own internal domain.

They did not seem to be alone, but he knew better. There was a lifeless figure in the shape of a person standing between him and Rapture.

“Who is this?” Down said.

The girl before him was notable for a number of reasons. First, her physical appearance resembled that of a Medea, the bleached skin and red eyes were apparent. However the contrary note on that assumption was the appearance of normally pigmented fingers. If she were Medea then this would be impossible.

“This is our newest sister, Arch Mage White.” Rapture said.

Then another figure appeared beside the shape of White. Another girl who appeared to exactly match her in physical appearance beside the pigmentation and red eyes, instead with fair skin and vibrant red hair. She shared a similar affliction to the form of White, however her hands were instead the ones that were bleached. It was as if their hands had swapped.

“And this one?” Down said.

“The student that is the source of these “rumors”.” Rapture said. Down’s eyes slowly widened as the realization dawned on him.

“What is their connection?” He asked.

“You see, that’s the complicated part. White is “inside” this girl.” Rapture said.

“Inside? That makes no sense.” Down said.

“Oh, because arch mages make all kinds of sense otherwise.” The Teleporting Barmaid said.

“You… Have a point.” The Man who had his heart removed a moment ago said.

“I do, now give it some more thought.” Rapture said.

This girl that Rapture was speaking of was Arch Mage White. She couldn’t have been much older than 20 years old, and the girl beside her matched her appearance exactly. If Rapture’s assertion that the other girl attended Cylas, and that White was somehow a part of this girl…Then where…

For the first time in a thousand years, Down’s blood ran cold.

“Down, think very carefully right now, what happened here?” Rapture said.