Velvet strolled through the midnight forest, taking her sweet time. She wasn’t really in a hurry, after all.

“So, Hyde. What exactly means being a Chosen One?”

“Why didn’t you ask before?”

“I didn’t care about it before.” She answered nonchalantly. It was the truth, Dianthus existence was of no concern to her until now.

“Chosen One sounds too nice for what it is. In Hell we simply call them ‘god’s puppets’.”

“Because it doesn’t matter what they do, since they will end up following what the ‘prophecy’ entails?” She had an idea of where the thing was going.

“Yes, in fact, Alrai Siberetti did more or less explain it. If a gambler or an oracle prophesied that, for example, that you will die by drowning in the sea, you can just refuse to get close to the sea, not dying from that, but a chosen doesn’t have that option. They lack what we consider ‘free will’.”

“Even if their bodies get burnt to ashes or eaten by fish, they will always come back, until the prophecy is fulfilled.”

“Shoot them a hundred times, tear their bodies to pieces, feed them to the bugs, it does not matter. Until their ‘tale’ is over, they will not rest.”

Velvet interrupted. “Isn’t that pitiful? Sounds like a tragedy.”

“Not for them, they are made that way. You wouldn’t complain that a hammer’s fate is poking nails, will you?”

“A hammer isn’t alive… Dianthus is a human.”

“Is a puppet made of human flesh a human?

“Lemme do another one.” Velvet said. “If it looks like a duck, talks like a duck and acts like a duck, it's a duck.”

“If you want to see it that way.”

“Well, I do want to see it that way!” They got closer to where the explosion sounded, and Velvet looked around to see where Dianthus was.

She had decided to not use Dianthus as a lab rat, and Hyde could bitch as much as he wanted about it. But she still had some curiosity of what the hell was the guy doing in the forest in the middle of the night.

The dust was settling down, and a shape was taking form.

Hm? That’s not Dian… Well, maybe he is into midnight crossdressing in the woods… No, the size is not the same, that’s someone else.

At least the shape was humanoid, so being an escaped monster or demon was out of the possibilities.

The person shook off the dust on her dress, a black and blue long dress, and turned to Velvet.

“Oh, did I wake you up? Sorry.” She had long fog colored wavy hair that cascaded down her back, and…

“Do I know you?” Velvet asked. Her face… she was sure they knew each other, but from long ago, even before she obtained her magic.

The woman turned to look at her. She was holding some strange box. “Well… I do not recognize you.”

Velvet squinted, forcing her memory. Recalling things that happened before she became a knowledge mage were difficult, but she just knew that face.

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“You must be confused.” The woman said, with intention to leave.

“No I’m not.” She stopped her, moving in front of her path. “Nebura. That’s your name, right?”

A strange smile appeared on Velvet's face.

“Nebura Dorna, Madam Dorna’s niece.” She revealed the woman’s identity. “Your grandma thought you were dead.”

“I think you’re mistaking me for someone else.” Nebura said, changing her course of direction to leave, but Velvet did the same, stopping her again, not changing her strange smile.

“I can assure you I’m making no mistake. Really, how long ago was it? Six… no, seven. Seven years. And not even once did you send a letter. Or proof of life.”

Velvet tilted her head. “Oh, you still don’t know how to summon a fae? I can teach you-”

“Shut up.”

Velvet shut up, but she didn’t shut up because she wanted to, but because Nebura was from the Pride Paradigm, and she gave an order.

That information just made her smile grow even more.

“I no longer have any relation to Casrey, or Charlampa.” Nebura said, her voice having a slight tinge of anger. “And once you learn a bit, you’ll understand that’s the best choice.”

Velvet raised her hand, like children did during class to get the speaking turn, and waved it.

“What?”

“Did you find anything about Casrey’s incident? That’s why you came here seven years ago, right?” Velvet looked up, and then rolled her eyes to the side. “Unless you also forgot about that, since you’ve been sooo busy exploding barriers all these years.”

“I wasn’t-” She clicked her tongue “I don’t need to explain what I was doing to you.” She hugged the strange box she was carrying, which probably was responsible for the bang. “The incident… There’s nothing to find, accidents happen all the time. You can cry because a volcano eruption wiped a village, but nature won’t cry with you.”

“You don’t remember the man on top of the mountain?” She asked, since well, Nebura’s parents also were some of the melted people.

“No.”

Velvet looked at her face, trying to see if any microexpression exposed that she was lying. But no, at least not at surface level.

“You know, Madam Dorna hates mages since you disappeared. She believes you got killed, or something worse.”

“Velvet.”

“So you remember me.”

“Who wouldn’t? You were an awful child.”

Nebura left Casrey 7 years ago. Three after the incident, when Velvet was eleven, and she was nineteen.

“I have gotten better with the years. Madam Dorna even gave me the clothes she was saving for you.” She twirled around, showing off. “See?”

She looked, shaking her head. “She wouldn’t get me a hat.”

“The hat wasn’t for you.”

“Good. If we are done now, I would like to leave.” Nebura tried to change her path, but Velvet cut her off again, which was starting to annoy her.

“She is getting worse, you know? She might not live for three more months.”

Nebura looked straight to her. “Honestly? I thought she would be dead by now. Get out of my way.”

This time Velvet didn’t obey, even when it was an order, which made Nebura grit her teeth.

Having dealt with Cornelius and Ethra, Velvet already knew tricks to avoid orders. Nebura just caught her by surprise at first.

“So, if you aren't a Charlampian now, what are you?”

“Arhontissian. Which you will become too, if you desire to improve.”

“Is that so?”

"Yes.” Nebura didn’t smile, not wanting to imitate Velvet. “You still haven't noticed, not that you would, never having been to a place regented for a deity. But you will eventually notice the difference between mages from a godless land and those with a god. How many times have you purified your body from miasma? I remember it was once a month, right?”

Velvet didn't answer, just smiled at her.

“I do it twice. A year. And Velvet? When did you open the gate to the Primeval sea? A year ago? Two years?"

"The ideal age for Charlampian mages to open the Esca it's between sixteen to thirty, depending on the maturity, since the chance of going mad or dying it's so high. Do you know which is the ideal age for Arhontissians?"

Nebura took a step closer to her. "Twelve."