"Where do we even begin?" said Raine.

"How 'bout you start by explaining how magic works," he said through a mouthful of mashed potato. "You all have magic and I'm the only one who doesn't. That hardly seems fair."

Raine blinked. "...I guess it's as good a place to start as any. Well then, to start things off:

"The magic practiced by humans is called Arcana. Think of Arcana as elemental magic that taps into the basic building blocks of the universe. There are possibly other branches of magic, too besides the Arcana, but those would be either undiscovered yet or simply inaccessible to humans — for now, you don't need to concern yourself with them...

(I don't like how she gets to be the one explaining.)

(Ikr? Who died and made her queen?)

"There are six Arcana in total, and for simplicity's sake, you can treat each Arcana as a duality housing two elements together. For example—"

She placed a finger on the floor and traced a line upwards, creating a thin pillar of what seemed to be solid ice. After it had reached a foot-and-a-half's worth of length, the tip ignited like a matchstick and flames flowed down to the base in droves. The ice sculpture melted in a second.

"The Wave Arcana, which I possess, allows me to control both Fire magic and Water magic. —Ah, do note that ice is fundamentally Water magic as well, just a very advanced form."

"Heehhh," he said, not amused. She began tracing more complicated shapes, and formation of ice followed her finger without missing a beat.

"I say they're elemental magic, but that's not exactly a perfect description. There's a host of other things the Wave Arcana can do, things that have nothing to do with elemental magic anymore, yet is is still within the bounds of the Arcana. Water magic can cure poisons for instance — that's not about controlling water anymore, but one given the Wave Arcana can learn that skill... It can heal, create a protection barrier, replenish an ally's mana stores, and countless other things.

"That's why you shouldn't view each Arcana as elements, but rather, as a theme. Even if something's not elemental magic, if it fits the element themtatically, then it's still within the domain of that Arcana."

She waited for him to ask questions, and when he didn't, gave the floor to her sisters.

"Darkstar, you go next."

"Haah?" She was picking her ear, and lying on her side. "Why do I have to listen to you?"

"If you don't want to, suit yourself. Memento, you go nex—"

He didn't hear the rest of that sentence. The world spun, and in a split second he was 500 kilometers up in the sky, falling down at break-neck speed, "Wh—! What in the??"

He tried to maneuver himself to see the ground, but whenever he did so, the orientation of the world changed in response — he was falling head first, and then he was falling sideways, and then — he was falling into outer space, the ground and sea shrinking from view as he helplessly tried to grab it. He could make neither heads nor tails of what was happening.

A hole tore in the fabric of the universe. As it expanded, he found himself sitting on the tile floor again.

"Daughter of a...!"

The others stirred. Hera was clutching her temple, Raine looked like she was going to vomit. Darkstar glanced innocently at everyone.

"What?" she said innocently, "You wanted me to show my magic, right?"

"Dead body's gonna float down the magma river tonight," he thought he heard Hera mutter.

"That was Darkness magic," said Raine, recovering. "Deception, stealth traps, illusions — those are expertise of the Moon Arcana. It's a magic more focused on hiding in the shadows and fighting outside of combat, rather than direct confrontation."

"That's only Darkness magic though," said June. "There's still Light magic. C'mon Darkstar, show us~!"

"..."

Darkstar held up a very rude hand signal, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"We just can't catch a break with her, can we?" said Agyros.

"Ahaha," laughed June uneasily.

"Sorry 'bout that," said Raine, "Darkstar prefers Darkness magic over Light."

"She loathes it," added Hera. "But the gist is that... uhh— What's Light magic do again??"

"Lot's of things."

"...Lot's of things."

"Like what?" he pressed.

"Ummm. There's a lie-detection spell," fumbled Raine.

"Lots of healing spells~," said June.

"It can reflect some attacks back to the attacker, if I remember correctly," said Hera.

"Anooo~," called Agyros, "That handsign's still there."

Indeed. In the exact spot Darkstar had been, hovered a white hand with the middle finger stretched out.

[https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/ec2540e6-582a-403f-b321-ecf4536dc9b1/deajg7y-71307ef9-417e-45fd-87b9-01a800935d4e.jpg/v1/fill/w_775,h_1031,q_70,strp/chapter_2_illustration_by_verticalskyline_deajg7y-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTEzOSIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2VjMjU0MGU2LTU4MmEtNDAzZi1iMzIxLWVjZjQ1MzZkYzliMVwvZGVhamc3eS03MTMwN2VmOS00MTdlLTQ1ZmQtODdiOS0wMWE4MDA5MzVkNGUuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTg1NyJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.8EJDCk_PngwmCFCTolBM6FlNbQ3jsZ_QE2PvAQvKDFA]

(half-baked coloring I can't be fucc'd to finish)

[https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/ec2540e6-582a-403f-b321-ecf4536dc9b1/dek7u5d-8d7b34ee-ba5c-45b5-9d8b-e8d18c81c32e.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2VjMjU0MGU2LTU4MmEtNDAzZi1iMzIxLWVjZjQ1MzZkYzliMVwvZGVrN3U1ZC04ZDdiMzRlZS1iYTVjLTQ1YjUtOWQ4Yi1lOGQxOGM4MWMzMmUucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.nT0unRhrTBwclxgoE3Yyle1oIbCTOCcUyBE_6ADYIQA]

"Eeeehhhhh," wheezed Hera.

"That harlot," said Raine, standing up to clear the hand away. It dissolved like reflection in a water.

Raine resumed her seat. "Alright. Where were we? Uhh..."

Her attention turned to the green-haired loli with cat ears, sleeping soundly on the center of the food pile. "That's Mori by the way," she introduced clumsily.

"Memento and Mori share the same body, but take turns inhabiting it," said Agyros. "Mori normally only comes during the day, and Memento takes over during night."

"What Arcana are they?"

"The Nest."

"Life and Death magic."

"You saw her make food out of simple bio-matter earlier. That's one of the uses of this magic."

"We can't wake her up now though, can we?" said June, looking at the girl's calmly sleeping figure. Silence fell.

"Can Death magic kill?" he asked curiously.

"Of course," said Raine. "But not the way you're probably imagining. It's not a one-hit, instant-kill magic, it's more like a very strong poison. Once you get hit, you will die. It could be six hours from now, could be a day or a week, doesn't matter; your lifespan is already dictated."

"Uh-huh..." he said, slightly disappointed.

"It's not meant for actual combat but rather, as a deterrent. Picking a fight with a Nest user is a death sentence. Nothing good can come out of that. Ah, but that's not to say Death magic has no combat capabilities. You can re-animate corpses with it, and lots, lots more."

"...Necromancy, huh? That doesn't sound too bad."

"Don't be fooled," said Agyros. "You're thinking Death magic is better than Life magic, right? But Life magic is even creepier than Death magic. That's the one that can stop your heart beating in a second."

"It's not creepy," defended Raine.

"—Disgusting, unnerving, it's all a play on words how you choose to call it," dismissed Hera. "Who's next?"

"Ooooo~! Me me me!" said June, raising her hand.

"Ah yes, The Great Passage," said Raine. "Magic of Time and Entropy." (June touched her headband, it crumbled into packet of dust)

"Entropy breaks things, and Time magic fixes things." (June tapped Hera's earring, it dissolved into a jelly-like goop) "Among other things, of course."

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Entropy magic is very random and unpredictable," said Agyros. "I suppose 'Luck magic' is the most fitting term to describe it. That and 'Destruction' magic."

"Ey!" June hugged one of the mini-UFO's flying around Agyros. As soon as she let go, the device collapsed into tiny fragments and electronic parts. She remained standing in the center for few seconds.

[https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/ec2540e6-582a-403f-b321-ecf4536dc9b1/deampud-7f06fce1-1886-4d11-a3c6-2b48da7f2235.jpg/v1/fill/w_778,h_1027,q_70,strp/chapter_2_illustration_2_lineart_by_verticalskyline_deampud-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTE0MSIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2VjMjU0MGU2LTU4MmEtNDAzZi1iMzIxLWVjZjQ1MzZkYzliMVwvZGVhbXB1ZC03ZjA2ZmNlMS0xODg2LTRkMTEtYTNjNi0yYjQ4ZGE3ZjIyMzUuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTg2NCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.IG8KiE9FMFKYJvehhmd1mvrwIclj-ELwefNXrE76pYs]

Then she yawned.

"Yaaaaaawn. Welp! Time to hit the sack~!"

"Oi!"

"Bitch, that was 25 karat gold you just messed with!!"

"Ahahaha. Kidding, kidding~!!"

Again, numbers started raining inside June's eyes, and the broken items went back to normal. Hera carressed her earring like it was her baby.

"What other things can Time magic do?" he asked.

June's eyes suddenly lit up. She teleported in front of him, holding bkth his hands up in hers. "Omg! Shion is asking about my magic???"

"Let go of me," he said, trashing through the unbelievable strength with which June gripped his hands.

"Why are you asking about Time magic," said Raine, sounding jealous.

"Yeah, Time ain't hot shit," said Hera.

"Fine!" he said, getting more and more disappointed with each second that he can't even wrestle out of a girl's hands, "Forget the question!"

"No no no," said June, now jumping in for a hug, which he narrowly avoided. "Big sister June's gonna school you on the ways of The Great Passage," she said at the figure of him crawling away.

He turned around apprehensively. "Make it fast."

"Oh, I can make it fast," she said, twirling a pen between her fingers. It was rotating so fast it looked like a running cookie dough mixer. "I can make it slow..." she said, tossing the pen up; it arched in slow motion.

"And I can make it stop." As she said that, the pen froze mid-air."

"Ohhhh," he clapped, now clearly amused.

June was in tears. "Shion loves me."

"This doesn't mean anything!" said Raine.

"Yeah, it's like having big boobs!" said Hera. "Just because you have them doesn't mean you're better, they're just lumps of fat!"

"Where did that come from," he said, as Hera flatout had the largest chest in the room...

"Agyros," Raine prompted.

"Hmmm? Oh —my turn? Not really sure how I should demonstrate my Arcana here..."

"Just do the first thing that comes to mind, this is just a refresher for Shion anyway."

Shion... he thought, feeling the name doesn't quite suit him.

"Hmmm, well then..."

Agyros sent her three mini-UFO's spinning in a fast orbit. The sounds coming from both Raine and Hera immediately stopped.

The two, noticing, tried to shout as loudly as possible, but as if the volume knob on a radio was turned down, none of their cries made an audible sound.

"The Cloud Arcana. Magic of Air and Gravity."

"Oooooh~," he clapped with an even more amazed look. June pouted.

"By making the air molecules around them unable to vibrate, I can mute all sounds coming from that spot. I can also do this—"

With a snap of her finger, the UFO's began rotating on their axis like a roasting chicken. Raine was able to speak again, but when she spoke, "Please don't do that— huh??" it was in a pitch ten times higher than her usual voice. She immediately went red.

"Is this helium gas??" said Hera, so deep she could pass off as a nightclub bouncer. She immediately covered her mouth.

June was laughing her ass out. (Aga, stop it right this instant!) (This isn't funny, young lady!!) Darkstar reappeared, amused, and the two's frustration rose even further.

"Are they gonna be okay?" he asked, as one definitely looked like she was on the verge of crying.

"Ahahaha, alright, alright."

Agyros froze the UFO's, and everything went back to normal. The two looked like they just got rescued from drowning. "Welcome back," greeted June.

"There's a lot you can do with Air magic if you have the creativity," said Agyros. "Ah, should I do Gravity magic as well?"

"No!" chorused the two.

"Ara~"

"Jeez," sighed Hera, "What did I ever do to you..."

She placed a palm on the floor. It sank into the ground as if it were a hologram. "Oi... You know this already, right?" rang a voice though his head.

"Eh?"

Hera clicked her tongue at the slow uptake. "Tower Arcana," she said sternly. "Arcana of the physical world vs the immaterial world. Aether magic pertains to all things untoucheable, telepathy and mind attacks for example; Earth magic deals with melee attacks, solid-bound spells that hit hard and strong. It's not hard."

"Yeah, I see the connection," he stammered out loud, weirded by the uncanny feeling of having his head be a walkie talkie.

Wait, she can't read my mind, right?

Yes, I can.

*******!!

"Hera, are you properly explaining?" lectured Raine.

"Of course."

Raine turned to him, "What did she tell you?"

"—Ummm..."

It would appear the others did not hear their private conversation; it really is telepathy.

Raine sighed. "Perhaps this will make it easier to visualize."

She stood up, faced Hera, and raising her fist, sprung a head-on, full force knucle punch. It would've hit Hera on the face — and for a moment, he thought it did; but upon second viewing, something was wrong. Again, as if she was a hologram, Hera's body did not make contact with Raine's fist and simply let the solid object pass through. Hera calmly stood up, walked forward, turned, and placed a finger on the back of Raine's head.

"Drop your weapon."

This time, Hera was solid, and her pushed back on Raine's skull like the barrel of a pistol.

"This, is how it looks like in action," said Raine proudly.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure he'll make great use of this information," said Hera disbelievingly.

Raine returned to her seat. "That's the magic system humankind is endowed with. Six Arcanas. The Wave. The Moon. The Nest. The Tower. The Cloud. And The Great Passage. Remember these, and the elements they represent."

He nodded.

"Now, a human can be born into any one of these Arcana. This is set for life; you cannot add or remove, or change the Arcana you are born with. And more often than not you don't need to. Your Arcana is determined by your nature as a person. Genetics has little to do with it, so everyone is guaranteed to have the Arcana that fits them best.

"There's only one thing that can affect that, and that's magic potential. People who are talented, extremely talented even, can be born with two or three Arcana. Their capacity for magic is simply too large to contain, and so surplus overflows into the nearest Arcana it could find. Just having two Arcanas is great prestige, it's enough to elect you leader of a country.

"Those with three are even rarer, and four is the current world record. People who have five Arcanas are practically unheard of...

"That is—"

Raine fell to a stop, looking him in the eyes. "Until you were born."

"Eh? Me?"

"Shion —was the only person in history to be gifted with six Arcanas."

"It was a full house," June recounted.

"Dumb luck," said Darkstar.

"Luck is also a big part of life," said June.

"But you said I couldn't use any magic," he said, "Who was it that said that?"

"You can't use magic," corrected Hera. "The original Shion can."

"Eeeeeeh?"

"If it's any comfort, you were atleast the most powerful person on the planet," said Agyros. "You had every magic at your disposal, this made you exponentially stronger than anyone could hope of becoming."

(What's the use if I can't remember) Raine nodded. "Shion did many great deeds in his life. He was a hero. A role model at heart. He ended wars and solved famines, just using his vast reserves of magic."

Darkstar cast another illusion. He saw: a boy with darkgreen hair, moving mountains and creating forests as though it were the easiest thing in the world. He had a bright smile on his face, and his eyes, a glowing shade of yellow whenever he used magic, looked like they're seeing far more than what's in front of him.

"One day, he was given the task of defeating the DemonLord." Raine's tone was serious now, and the scene changed to the inside of a large cave. A giant beast, with three pairs of horns and an eye the shape of a four-pointed star, was battling hundreds of humans, all using magic.

"Shion was sent to《Hell》, along with an army of the world's strongest soldiers. He was to do battle with the king of demons."

He saw the boy wielding a double-ended halberd and a shield with four propeller blades. Each time he used a magic, a corresponding blade would shift in color. When it turned green, he summoned a forest of vines from the walls. When it turned violet, the corpses of his dead companions came to fight. And when it turned pale blue, the missiles that were supposed to hit him would pass through like air.

"The fight raged on for seven days and seven nights. It was an even match, neither one could land a fatal blow. And with his pool of mana running out for the first time in his life, Shion had to make a gamble.

"Shion used an unorthodox sealing spell to destroy the DemonLord, specifically aimed not to kill him, but to split his power into smaller fractions. Light magic repels darkness and death. Even though he did not fully understand Hell magic, Shion knew that the DemonLord had components resembling the Darkness and Death elements of the Arcana. Injecting Light element into the DemonLord, not as an attack but as a body-morphing spell similar to Life magic, should cause his insides to go haywire. If Shion can't kill him, then incapacitating him is the next best thing.

"...It was a success. That night, 10,000 pieces of the DemonLord's magic rained down on the continents. Even someine as powerful as he, divided into thousands upon thousands of " He watched the figure of the giant dissolve into bubbles of light, a white halberd plunged deep within it's stomach.

"—But that spell also left Shion to a counter-attack. In the DemonLord's last moments, he placed a curse on Shion. He cursed the Arcanas of human magic, he cursed the Arcanas that Shion held, and vowed that never again will he hold authority over them."

A blinding flash of light ended the illusion, he was back once more. Raine looked like she was having trouble parsing her words. "You woke up, with no more memories of who you are, and no more magic. We. We are your magic. The DemonLord had personified your Arcanas, and turned them into sentient beings that can now think on their own. Us."

The room fell quiet. No one was saying anything. Darkstar was the first to break the silence.

"Papa~!"

"Ew, no!" yelled Hera.

"Why?" said June. "It's true, right?"

"No!" said Raine, "Why would you even think that??"

"We came from Shion! Ergo, we're his daughters~!"

"And what, the DemonLord is the mom?"

"Ah... On second thought, maybe Shion is the mom," said June, putting a finger to her mouth. Darkstar burst laughing.

"We should ask the host himself," said Agyros, turning to him. "What do you think?"

Hera and Raine stared at him apprehensively, Darkstar, with curiosity, June, in anticipation. He felt like a corrupt politician suddenly being grilled by the press.

"I am not anybody's mom," he said firmly. (Ehhh?)

Frankly to him, this was all screaming bullshit. He can't pinpoint why, but he's sure this answer is not the correct one... His gut was telling him that. —Hmm?

"Wait," he interripted, "Was I strong when I was Shion?"

"You make it sound like you hate the name," said June.

"A man chooses his own name," he said proudly.

"Are you a man??" said Darkstar.

"Look, I'm not in the mood to join your comedy skit, just answer the damn question."

Hera sighed. "Of course, you're strong. We couldn't call ourselves gods if you weren't."

Raine bowed her head. "It's as Hera said — we are not humans, but pure, walking, magical energy directly extracted from your body. We can move mountains, exactly because the original Shion can."

"Hey!" interjected Hera. "I can move mountains. You can't move shit!"

"It's juust a figure of expression," said Raine. "Fine! I move oceans. Happy??"

"—I can move mountains," said Darkstar.

"Move your head out of your ass, then."

"Ehehe~☆, we're not talking about illusions," said June dreamily. "Ah, but maybe I can move mountains. I can get a year's work done in a second afterall~!"

"Okay. That's bullshit — not even the original Shion could do tha—"

"I might be able to move a mountain," chimed Agyros. "What's that. Like... just a billion tons?"

Frustrated, Hera opened a window screen connected to an online encyclopedia. "It's a hundred billion tons!! You can't lift that!"

"Yes, I can."

"NO YOU CAN'T!! Listen. If y'all can move mountains like you say you can, then how come we're still stuck here, huh?? Dig us out of Hell then! Oh wait, —you can't!! I'm the one with the Earth magic around here, so if you know what's good for you, you'll butt out of things you don't know shit about!!"

"..."

"...."

June fidgeted... "I can destroy mountains."

"...I am gonna smack you in the—!"

The room changed into an outdoor park, "WE'RE OUT!!"

"Jesus Christ," he said, massaging the ear caught in Darkstar's— ...line of shout. "Is it always this lively here?"

"Pretty much," said Raine, embarrassed.

"You get used to it," said Agyros.

A faint glow of red shimmered somewhere. When he turned to look, the loli with cat ears had turned into the avatar of death.

"Memento, kill this bitch for me," said Hera.

"Instead of arguing about pointless things, shouldn't we be discussing that important topic, right now?"

The others, in their merry trance, suddenly turned stiff.

The others stopped. He noticed the air around the room had gotten more tense. "What's this topic you're going to talk about?"

Raine looked like she didn't want him to hear. "I think it would be best you stay out of this one..."