╚╩╩╩╝ Malcolm Kiech ╚╩╩╩╝

“What a fight!” Aaron shouted from his seat. The man had been on the edge of his seat the entire time. “Though I’m sure either of you would have made a better show.”

“It’s too late for that.” Hazel muttered.

“Yeah, I heard about what happened.” He grumbled, leaning back into the cushions. “People in charge really hate admitting when they’re wrong, even in this world.”

“Well, I mean…” I started, “did you see what happened to Isaac?” I asked.

“Oh, yeah!” He laughed. “Little snot would’ve gotten donuted if he wasn’t wearing one of my shields.”

“Donuted?” I asked.

“You would have punched right through him.” He said, play punching at the air.

Looking down at my hands, I lifted my head as Hazel asked. “So you made those weird uniforms?”

“Yeah. I got the idea after making the Storage Rings.” He explained. “Gems and crystals all have mana trapped inside them. It just takes a bit of enchanting to use what’s inside. Gems have an enormous amount of mana inside of them, and I found that you can replace the mana inside of them with anything, besides other gems and crystals.”

“So those red things on the uniform?” Hazel asked.

“A bunch of ground crystal fused together. It releases all of it’s stored mana on contact and takes a week to recharge.” Aaron explained. “It should be strong enough to reflect most attacks.”

“Fascinating…” Hazel muttered, turning to look at the ring on my finger.

We watched the rest of the ceremony in an odd silence, since we couldn’t hear anything.

“Oh, what about this?” Hazel said suddenly. She reached into a pocket and pulled out a familiar ring. “This turns people invisible.”

She slid the ring onto her finger and rubbed it three times and disappeared.

“Oh, I see. Or maybe I should say I don’t.” He laughed.

Hazel suddenly reappeared and held the ring out to Aaron. “Do you think you could recreate something like this?”

“I’m sure I could, given enough time.” He took the ring from her and held it close to one eye. “Do you mind leaving this with me for a while?” He asked, examining the ring as close as he could.

“Sure.”

Stowing the ring away in a pocket, Aaron stretched and stood from the sofa and turned to the back of the room. “Let’s go find a better place to talk. I’m sure you have other things you want to ask.”

Hazel and I stood and followed the man back through the tunnels and into a larger room filled with all sorts of plants fed by a series of small holes in the ceiling that let light come through, as well as aqueducts flowing into channels that ran into the soil. Centered in the room stood a round table surrounded by several chairs.

“My favorite room here.” Aaron said, breathing in deeply. “I always build a room like this. It gets really stuffy down here, so it’s nice to have a place to breathe.”

Sitting at the table, he gestured for us to sit as well.

Once we were all at the table, he leaned back against the seat and paused. “I’m not really sure where to start, so why don’t I answer your questions?”

Hazel and I met eyes, then looked down at the table.

Finally, I lifted my head and asked. “Where did Faria go?”

“Well, she came here first. Her and Terra gathered some tools and supplies, then left.” He explained, pouting slightly. “I would’ve gone with her, but she needed to be stealthy. She’s wandering the country, building up the rebellion.”

“Rebellion?” I asked. “I thought that was just a rumor?”

“Oh it’s much more than a rumor. Your sister has been building it up since she was your age.” Aaron explained. “Your father has done a very good job of killing any idea of resistance. He doesn’t even know that the real leader was under his nose for years.”

“When is she going to be back?” Hazel asked.

“I want to say within a year, but it could be sooner or later.” He shrugged. “It’s up to whether or not she can finish things out there.”

“How did she do it? The fake body?” I asked, feeling a rush from having my long-asked questions answered.

“It wasn’t Faria who made that body. It was Terra.” He answered.

“Terra?” Hazel tipped her head.

“I didn’t really believe it myself, at first. But Faria made friends with a Nasii.” Aaron said, grinning to himself. “The things that she’s capable of are astounding.”

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“A Nasii..?” Hazel shot me a glance.

“Anything else?” Aaron asked, looking at the both of us.

“Well, actually,” Hazel grinned, holding back a laugh, “we’ve met a Nasii, ourselves.”

Aaron’s eyes bulged and he leaned forward. “Really? What was their name?”

“Emora.” I answered. “They’re like… stuck in our head.”

“Stuck… in your head?” Aaron, squinted his eyes.

“It’s something called the mindscape.” Hazel explained. “I’ve known about them for a couple of years, and Malcolm only learned about it just recently.”

“Huh.” Aaron paused, looking up at the ceiling. “Can I ask them a question?” He looked at the both of us.

“Well, they’ve been oddly quiet the past couple of days.” I replied. “And we only see them while we’re sleeping.”

“Well when you see them next, ask what they know about something called a ritual.” He said, pouting. “We found a ritual site hidden on campus and I’m really curious how they work.”

“Will do.” Hazel and I promised.

“Well, if that’s all, then I welcome you to the rebellion.” He smiled and stood from his seat.

“Actually, we don’t plan on joining the rebellion yet.” Hazel stopped him.

Confused, Aaron turned and asked. “Why?”

“Hazel and I decrypted some of my grandfather’s writings and have decided that we need to go to Farrol.” I explained.

“That’s… quite an undertaking.” Aaron said, sitting back down. “And you’re sure about this?”

“Yes. We’ve had time to think it over.” Hazel nodded.

“What exactly do you plan on finding over there?”

“Artefacts.” Hazel stated. “Ancient and powerful ones.”

“I can’t say no to more artefacts. When do you plan on leaving? Who are you going with?”

“We were hoping to leave as soon as we could.” I answered. “We were going to get Lord Claude to take us to the front lines and then we could pose as Farrolan children and get brought behind enemy lines.”

“And what makes you think that he would agree to something like this!” Aaron almost shouted. “That plan might work for you two, but what about Callum? Would he not be seen as suspicious to bring two kids with him who suddenly go missing? This war is not that simple. Any suspicion is enough to report someone as a traitor.”

“I…” Hazel mumbled.

“You put a lot of thought into this plan, but not enough. There are consequences that follow any course you take. You need to look at others as well.” Aaron reprimanded us. “Take your time. I’m sure that this is important, but there’s no need to rush.”

“You’re right. We’ll wait.” Hazel said, looking the man straight in the eyes.

“Good. Now, follow me. We need to get you two loaded up.”

“What?” I asked.

“We’re building all sorts of fun things. I’m sure you could use a few.”

Following Aaron back through the tunnels, Hazel lagged a couple steps back. Falling in line with her, I caught her eye and watched as she bit her lip.

“I get it.” I whispered. “We need to leave as soon as possible.”

“But he’s right.” She mumbled. “We need a better plan.”

“Maybe some of these fun things could help.” I grinned and hurried to follow Aaron back into the giant room.

Once we were there, Aaron led us around to one of the tables and pulled a box out from under a thick stack of papers. Opening this box revealed a series of Storage Rings. After carefully inspecting each one, Aaron picked one from the box, closing it and setting it on the table.

“C’mere.” He said, gesturing for Hazel to step forward. “I need a hair.”

Plucking a hair from Hazel, he looped it through the ring and set it on the table before holding out a hand. A Magic Ring appeared in front of his hand and disappeared after a few moments. The hair in the ring started burning as the ring took on a slightly reddish color.

Picking the ring from off the table, he handed it to Hazel. “Here you go. It’s now been bound to you, so only you can use it. It’ll also change size to fit your finger.”

Sliding the ring onto her finger, Hazel reached into her pocket, taking out her notepad before putting it into the ring.

“Wow.” She blinked.

“Oh, I have much more than that.” Aaron smiled broadly before rushing to another table. “What else do you guys want? I’ve got wands, weapons and tools. I can make you some shields, though that’d take some time.”

“We’ll take whatever you’ve got to give.” I replied.

Giddily, Aaron rushed from table to table, often disturbing the people working at them, gathering a large assortment of random objects. The pile amassed at our table until finally, Aaron stopped and held out a box. Inside the box were two silver bands with a chain lacing in and out of it. At the end of this chain, held tightly against the silver, was a diamond the size of the tip of my finger.

“What are these for?” I asked.

“A storage ring can’t store gems, and some of these probably need a gem to power them, so we’re suppose to use it to power them?” Hazel guessed.

“Exactly right!” Aaron exclaimed. “None of these come with gems on them, so they can be stored in your storage ring.”

Grabbing the diamond on one of the bands, he pulled, and the gem came off quite easily. He then grabbed one of the wands from off the table. It looked quite a bit like a stamp, with a wooden handle and a wide, rounded silver disk mounted at the head with a Magic Ring carved onto its surface. Sticking the diamond into a socket on the handle, he pointed the wand at a practice dummy. A thick shard of ice shot out of the wand, stabbing into the dummy.

“Then you just…” He pulled the diamond out of the socket and put it back onto the band, where it stuck just like before.

“Does it ever run out of mana?” I asked.

“Like an aura, the color of the gem determines how much mana it can hold. Most gems run out quickly, depending on their size, purity and color, and then crumble to dust. I’ve never had a diamond run out before.”

Looking at the storage rings and the tiny purple gem mounted on it, I frowned. “Isn’t violet the lowest rank?”

“Those are different. You don’t use the mana inside when you store something.” He explained. “And you don’t have to worry about space. It would take several generations to fill a gem of that color and size.”

Shrugging, I looked at the pile and then to Hazel. “Ladies first.”

It took some time for the pile to disappear, but I was quite satisfied to see my storage ring so full of stuff.

“I’m sure you’re quite hungry now.” Aaron said. “Why don’t we call it for today. I’ll have Calli bring you back up.”

Looking around, Aaron furrowed his brow.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing. She must be dealing with something aboveground.” He shrugged. “Who else could I ask?” He asked himself.

After a moment of pondering, Aaron stopped and turned to see someone running in from one of the doorways.

“Sir! We have to evacuate!”

“What’s the situation?” He asked, his face turning serious.

“We’ve been compromised! They found the main entrance and are coming down as we speak!”

Pulling a chair in front of him, Aaron stepped up and said with a loud, booming voice. “Everyone, evacuate through the secondary exits! Leave nothing behind!”

The room became a sudden scramble as people started frantically gathering papers and tools into their own storage rings and rushing through doorways.

Dropping down from the chair, Aaron looked to us and said. “You two follow a group. There’s something I need to do.”

“But-”

“Don’t worry. They can’t catch me.” He said, reaching into a pocket and pulling out the invisibility ring.

The man turned and disappeared just as the room shook and the entryway that we’d initially come through exploded open and people flooded in.

Without a moment of hesitation, Hazel and I turned and sprinted through a doorway.