Astromelicus looked deep into Aidan's eyes. The young mage knew any lies he tried to tell would end in disaster. He was not skilled enough to fool the archmage.

"Aidan, what happened to Lumina' soul?"

"It is a long story, one I have to tell fully if you are to believe me."

"Please do. We have all the time in the world."

"Both of us were ground to almost nothing. We were barely alive when we escaped the hospital." Aidan shook his head. He was too naive in dealing with the whole situation. If he kept going in the pace he was before Pearl found them, they would be dead by now.

"Why did you escape the hospital?"

His Majesty was going to ship her to the Holy city for healing. But the maximum range of the tether linking us was less than a hundred meters. If Lumina was taken to the holy city, she would've died before crossing the town gates. That is why Claire and Sora agreed to help me kidnap her."

"And it brings us to here, now. How is her now?"

"During the year-long healing process, the souls were kneaded and acclimated to the body they were in just like it happens naturally when a baby is formed in the mother's womb. But there wasn't much left by the time I was able to regain consciousness and cancel the spell. We were in Gohar's frontier town Elmhill then. As I said, we were barely alive."

Astromelicus tapped his finger on the wooden arm of the couch. It made a sound bigger than it should. He changed his tone of voice to a slightly imposing one. "You didn't answer. What happened to Lumina?"

"She became a part of me. We fused together. I am me, but I am Lumina too." Aidan looked at Dawn, "I have none of her memories though. Just some flashes of her intent."

"And how do you know that?"

"I have a spell to see souls."

Astromelicus raised an eyebrow, "Indeed you do, don't you. I am quite impressed at your spellcraft prowess, young Aidan."

"I modified the 'Affinity View' spell to display the soul instead of the element."

The old wizard scratched his beard, "Yes, that might work. I must say some of my peers were wary of your accomplishments in soul magic, cadet Aidan." He smiled, "You haven't been expelled, the lot of you."

"I'm an Underworld mage, after all, headmaster. The moment my affinities were made publicly known, I knew my path would be a harsh one. But it is as you profess. There is no evil magic, only evil mages"

"And do you consider yourself an evil mage?"

"I ask myself this very question every day before laying my head on my pillow, headmaster. Unfortunately, it is a judgment only my peers can pass on me." Aidan looked at his party, they all looked back with comprehensive eyes. Including Pearl and Gurf. "But fortunately it seems I am yet to be found wanting. This is why I revealed my secrets to them at the first opportunity. I'd be insane right now if it weren't for your support. Thank you."

He stood up and bowed to his party members. They replied with reassuring words. The headmaster pushed him back to his seat and looked at him eager to learn more.

"The spell to see souls, can you show it?"

"Yes. I guess I can."

Aidan made both bodies rise and walk to the center of the room. The others also gathered around. They tapped each other over the solar plexus and used the spell.

"Soul reveal."

The usual effigy appeared. A brown woman's soul in front of Lumina's body surrounded by four orbs, red, orange, purple, and white. A brown and golden man's soul in front of Aidan with the same four solid orbs plus three faint ones of green, blue, and yellow. A solid line linked them both.

"Amazing. These orbs are your affinities, I believe." The headmaster examined the image closely.

"Yes. The white one is for mana. The color of the soul roughly represents the element but also shows other effects like damage to the soul and curses. Brown is for me, gold is for Lumina. As you can see, we are fused. I don't think it is possible to separate only the golden part. It would kill us."

"You are the expert in soul magic here. I don't think any teachers here can claim to be your better in the dark arts, Aidan." He mumbled the last part to himself, "Which is a shame, but the council would never approve." He was talking about his efforts to have a dark magic teacher hired by the school.

"It is as I suspected! You do have all six affinities!" Pearl cried after looking deeply into their soul effigy.

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"That is a secret, your Highness." Aidan dismissed the spell. "And technically they are too weak to be considered true affinities. Am I right, headmaster?"

"Indeed. But it is a feat in itself. Very few can train in a new affinity. I myself couldn't in my centuries of study. I hold the same elements as the day I was born." He paused to think. "I know what happened. You and Lumina, your elements were complementary. Sky and Underworld. The six elements split evenly between them. The resonance between the opposites caused this."

From his tone at the end of his speech, Aidan felt the same dread he would if people learned of his unique spells.

"And this is bad, isn't it?"

"I am glad you understand. Yes, if such a method of gaining all elements can be reproduced and it gets out, you can imagine what would happen. Can't you?"

"Mages would begin to steal the soul of other mages to try and fuse their elements."

"Indeed. This knowledge goes beyond forbidden spells. Do you have any record of the magic you used to fuse with Lumina? If I know you..."

"I did. When I regained the memories of the attack, I drew the partial diagram of the spontaneous spell I created. However, it was incomplete even in the seventh circle. And during an unlucky streak of events, the only copy was stolen."

"Can it be recovered? I think we would need that to revert the swap."

"No. We have no idea where it is or even if it still exists. The thief should have no interest in the diagram but he still took it along with several others."

"You speak as if you knew the thief."

"We do. He was one of our companions but he went rogue. It is one of the reasons Pearl is here with us."

The headmaster noted the intimacy Aidan used with the princess but spoke nothing about it. He was old and knew enough of recent events to make an educated guess at the thief's identity. He looked at Pearl and the princess sunk in her seat.

"You don't worry a bit, your Royal Highness." He nodded. "You are among friends here. But if one of the two otherworlders you summoned are on the loose, we have to take measures to mitigate any damage they could cause. Was it the holy or the stealth one?"

Pearl stuttered and coughed to clear her throat. "Shinji died in an ambush by slavers. Yes, slavers infiltrated that deep in Gohar. He was the holy one. Kazuya went berserk and wiped out the slaver ambush but he went rogue. We haven't seen him ever since." It was still hard for her to talk about it.

"I'm glad you survived. You kids went through so much already... But there is one strange thing about you, Princess Pearl." He was unsure how to address her and it showed.

"Please, archmage Astromelicus, you can waive the honorifics when addressing me."

"I can sense mana flowing through you. However, the ritual should've erased your magic. Care to explain?"

Pearl looked at Aidan, and he nodded. "I believe Lord Aidan could explain it better, archmage."

"You can waive the honorifics also, Pearl. Call me Astromelicus or just Astro. Very well, student Aidan. Care to explain?"

"Yes. I developed a spell to reinforce and heal soul damage. The summoning ritual's aftereffects are visible in the princess' soul. I healed her just a little. She should have the equivalent of a mana affinity grade E right now."

"Down from a B," Pearl mumbled.

The headmaster was out of glares to give. He just laughed a hearty grandfatherly chuckle full of mirth.

"And by just a little you mean she can fully heal?"

"I believe she should reach at least higher tier C or lower tier B mana affinity once I finish her treatment with two more weekly sessions. I need some supplies though." He paused and took a deep breath. "However, I cannot heal all the damage. Something in her soul was fundamentally changed. It is my firm belief that she would die instantly if she attempts the summoning ritual again."

"Give me the list of what you need, I am sure I can procure your ingredients if they are something you could acquire on the run."

"Very well. I will write them here."

While Aidan listed his materials, the headmaster stood up.

"Very well. If your intention is to restore Lumina to her own body, I can assure you'll have my full support. I will lend assistance in planning and gathering materials as well grant you access to the restricted library." Astromelicus walked to a bookshelf and removed a few familiar books. "Here are your spellbooks, Aidan and Lumina. The three of you just earned private tutoring sessions with me. Every day in the early mornings at the restricted library. It will be a pain to adjust my schedule, but I can make do. I also cannot stress this too much, I expect all of you to keep what transpired here a secret. Especially from that old fool Helios."

The familiarity and candor he slandered the King spoke wonders of the archmage station and degree of intimacy with them.

"Thank you, headmaster." Aidan bowed. Everyone stood up. Pearl did a deep, long curtsy and Dawn copied her with a lesser degree of success.

"One more thing, young Aidan."

"Yes?"

"I've almost run out of coffee. And there is only one place in the world I can get more. Could you schedule a trip to your home to get me some from your father's garden? I could become a really grumpy teacher if I don't get my daily fix of coffee." He said in a half-joking half-serious tone.

"You got it, Astro. By the way, any news from my parents?"

"Besides the fact they are still alive, none. They went to explore a newly discovered dungeon but there is no news of them. Don't worry. I'm still here for you, student Sora is still here for you. They will return when they return." The archmage shooed the youngsters out of his office. "But off you go. Coming straight here to see me was not the wisest move but I can understand the need. Helios should be fuming right now, I'd pay to see his face right now. You better polish those acting skills, miss Lumina."

They left the office and met Lola and Deb waiting right outside with the uniforms. A lot of them. Actually, there were uniforms for all of them, including Gurf. Before the doors closed, Astro laughed once more.

"And you are all enrolled. Welcome to the academy!" He made just a little crazy cackle before slamming the doors shut.

"I like that guy. He is over two hundred but still feels like he's sixty." Cythrel pointed out, completely oblivious to humans standards of age.

After the commotion calmed down, Pearl jumped on Aidan's arm.

"Coffee? Coffee? Freaking coffee? That coffee?" She asked, eyes swimming.

"What is coffee?" Cythrel asked.

"Yes, Pearl. Coffee. That coffee. As far as I know, my dad is the only person that can grow it."

Crops from the otherworlder's planet could not grow in here. During the two thousand years they have been summoned, seeds crossed over with their belongings more than once. In no occasion, they were ever successful due to a divine ban on those crops.

"Could I... taste it?" She asked with a meek voice. Princesses had to study not only the language of the otherworlders but also their culture. And home food cravings occupied a whole chapter on these studies. As did the divine ban on crops and technologies from their world.

"Sure. We'll need to go visit my home though."

"But first the castle. The King awaits his daughter." Pointed out Sora.