Keoni was walking home after taking care of one of the manor owner’s plants. It was her main source of food. She tended to their gardens, and they fed her lunch.
Caste, however, hadn’t eaten anything. He’d stayed hidden in her house for the whole day. She half expected him to leave while she was out.
Keoni turned into the library. Ryley wasn’t at the counter. He was probably restocking some shelves somewhere in the library.
Keoni withdrew her finished book from her bag and pushed it onto the counter, waiting.
It wasn’t long before Ryley returned to the desk, and his face lit up when he saw her.
“Hey Keoni,” he said, “Finished already?”
She nodded silently as he collected the book and placed it on the small cart next to him.
Could she trust Ryley knowing that she was now hiding someone on many wanted lists?
An instant answer came: yes. She’d known him as a close friend for many years now. Especially judging by how he stood up to the hunters yesterday.
“As it turns out, those Mir-Hunters were actually chasing a Mir-Cognate.” She said ominously to him.
“Really?” Ryley asked. “How do you know? Did you see them arrest someone?”
She laughed a little. “No, he took shelter in my apartment while trying to get away. He’s still there.”
Ryley was shocked. “And you know for sure he’s a Mir-Cognate?”
“Positive.”
Ryley gathered his thoughts for a moment. “Well, can I meet him? I promise I won’t turn him in for the prizes they’re offering right now.”
Keoni trusted him. “Sure.”
Ryley followed her outside where it was a short walk back home.
She unlocked the door and opened it. Keoni didn’t see Caste anywhere.
Did he leave?
“Caste? I’m back.” She called softly.
No reply.
She started walking towards the kitchen, looking in her living room along the way. She didn't see him in either location, which worried her. Where is he? She wondered. Ryley seemed just as confused as Keoni, looking for someone as well.
Her bedroom. Of course! If she was injured and in a non-hostile environment, she would find the most comfortable place to rest and recover. She made a beeline for her room and looked inside.
As she had guessed, she saw a big gray lump of fur sprawled among her sheets, lightly snoring in the strange position he was laying in.
Ryley came up behind her, trying to be silent but her ears still picked up the slight thumps of his hooves even on the carpeted ground.
"Wow," he very expectedly started, and Keoni knew exactly what he was going to say. "You find him in your house and he's already this comfortable in your bed?" Which earned him a well-deserved smack from Keoni as Ryley softly giggled.
She tentatively walked towards Caste's sleeping form, trying to plan out her explanation to him about Ryley in her head. She gently shook his shoulder, earning a grunt and a grumble from him, his eyes still closed. He drew his limbs in, trying to find a more comfortable position.
"Caste."
He groggily pulled the blankets and sheets over his head, trying to go back to sleep.
"It's the afternoon."
Another grunt.
Ryley giggled just softly enough that only Keoni’s canine ears could pick it up. She sighed, thinking about what would get him up, and quickly decided.
"I brought a friend."
At this, Caste threw the blankets off of him and brought his hands up in a fighting position. Blue-hued energy immediately sprung to life over his hands all the way up his forearms. His eyes were wild in fear.
At the threat, Ryley flinched back in fear and brought up his hands in a non-hostile gesture. Keoni was startled at Caste's reaction but understood why he did what he did.
“Sorry.” He said, shrinking back. “You startled me.” Magically, Caste had cleaned all the soot off of himself. Keoni didn’t ask how.
“And.. sorry,” he said again, getting up and stretching. “Who is this?” He seemed weaker and more tired than he was yesterday.
“I’m Ryley.” Ryley responded. Caste warily sized him up, then sort of gave up.
“I apologize one more time: I was about to make a hole through you.”
“Good to know,” Ryley responded casually. “It’s painfully clear you’re a Mir-Cognate now.”
“What makes you say that?” Caste asked placidly.
Ryley chuckled at his comment.
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Caste rubbed his back. “Keoni, do you have any ointments for infections?”
Keoni shook her head. Ryley instead spoke. “What for?”
“I don’t know if you know this, Antlers, but they don’t ask nicely for you to use your powers for them.” Caste cringed.
“Can I take a look?” Ryley asked. “I can at least help. I used to accompany my mother, who’s a doctor.”
“Please.” Caste responded. “It’s all on my back.”
He turned around, allowing Ryley to lift his shirt and look.
Keoni instantly regretted watching. She turned around quickly before she gagged.
His entire back had been pink and white, and a lot of his fur seemed to have been just ripped off. Which would hurt like nothing else.
“How in the name of Trin has this not killed you?” Ryley gasped.
“Magic.” Caste responded. “Literally. I’m using so much magic trying to stop the infection from spreading, I can’t even see the Mirae.”
“I’m going to go grab a medical kit.” Ryley eventually said. “There’s literally nothing I can do with just my hands.”
Caste sighed, and Keoni turned around again. He’d settled on the floor and covered up his back again.
“As for you,” Caste spoke almost immediately. “Let’s strengthen your Mir-Link.”
“Now?” She asked. Wasn’t he super weak and injured and tired?
“Yes, now. It’s never too late to start learning to connect with the Mirae World. Sit.”
Keoni sat down on the ground in front of him.
“Close your eyes.”
She followed, seeing only black and the light of the window.
“Take a few deep breaths and just listen to my voice. You know I’m here, sitting right in front of you. Try seeing me without opening your eyes.”
Keoni focused on where she remembered him sitting.
“Am I there?”
“No.”
“Look harder. Reach out with your heart.”
A figure flickered in front of her. Startled, Keoni nearly opened her eyes. She kept them shut as the figure continued to form.
“I see something.” She said.
The figure leaned in closer. “You see me.” Caste’s voice.
The figure seemed much… brighter than Caste.
“You’re looking at my magic. Open your eyes.”
Keoni did so, squinting in the light. The figure she’d seen fused with Caste, but it lingered around.
“I’m very impressed. What do you see now?”
“Your magic..? It’s still there.” Keoni stared at the odd white swirls emitting from him.
“Good.”
Keoni was excited for a bit. Somehow, seeing it warmed her in a place that had stayed cold for a very long time. She didn’t understand why.
The magic aura faded. Caste looked the same again.
“It’s gone,” she told him.
“That is perfectly fine.” He responded. “It takes weeks for someone to fully see magic like that. You’ll be able to travel between here and the Mirae in no time.
I must tell you though… I have a very high Spectrum Strength, which is why you were able to spot my magic. The weaker the strength, the weaker the ‘magic signal’, so to speak.”
“So I was able to see you only because your magic is so strong.”
“Correct.”
Caste stood up slowly, wincing as pain very clearly shot through his body. Keoni got up as well and helped him.
“Like I said,” he flinched again, clenching his teeth and closing his eyes. “Your Spectrum Strength is really high already. You’ll be walking around the Mirae in no time. I will definitely take you as soon as I recover.”
Keoni hoped that was soon.
. . .
Ryley pushed the book excitedly towards Keoni. “I found this in our ‘Banned Books’ crate.”
Keoni picked it up and read the title. “The mysteries of the Mir-Cognates. Aren’t books in the banned sections, well, banned?”
She didn’t wait for an answer, instead opening it up to the table of contents.
“I read the entire thing already. There’s some crazy interesting stuff.”
She turned to the very first page.
“Mir-Cognates, by definition, are the only evolved species that resides in the Mirae. They have high concentrations of magic and are very powerful. Some are hostile, some are not.”
“In the physical world, Mir-Cognates look just like us, but in the Mirae world, they take on an entirely different form, making them much more easy to identify.”
She turned back to the table of contents.
“Caste never really struck me as hostile, just skittish.” Ryley commented.
Keoni skimmed over the titles. Allé, Arrival, Aura… Light, Limbo, List of known Mir-Cognates.
She flipped to that page. Ryley peered over her shoulder.
“Do you think Caste is in here?” She asked, looking for his name. These names and descriptions weren’t in alphabetical order.
The records were odd like there was a description of how hostile they were, what their physical occupation was, and their Spectrum Strength.
“They’re ordered by species.” Ryley pointed out. Keoni instantly noticed she was in the titles under “Bear.”
Since she didn’t exactly know what Caste was, she turned to “Fox,” and hoped for the best.
There he was, right under someone named “Carrol.”
Ryley read it this time.
“Hostility: Tame. Spectrum Strength: 480+. Occupation: Clothier. Species: Fox Hybrid(Orix?).
When I first met Caste, he’d gone through a Mir-Cleanse. He was not steady on his feet. He’d forgotten everything about sewing and making clothing, was confused about where he was, and seemed nauseous. He even forgot who I was.
Eventually, he appeared on the Quuarks’ wanted list and escaped to Brasa. That was the last I saw of him.”
The entry ended, and both Keoni and Ryley were confused. They both looked at each other, wondering what a Mir-Cleanse was.
Keoni flipped back to the table of contents to find out, looking for a title of “Mir-Cleanse,” or something similar. She found the page number and skimmed over to it.
“Mir-Cognates go through a phase after a long while has passed. Since they are immortal beings, it can be hard for them to remember things. To assist, a property of the Mirae World erases all their memories after around 500 years, or, after about 6 deaths. This is called Mir-Cleansing.
There’s only one way to gain that memory back, through a magic ceremony performed at the Runes of Trin.”
“So Caste died… and forgot everything…” Ryley trailed off. “I would hate that.”
“What are the Quuarks?” Keoni asked before she could imagine all the things she’d instantly forget.
Ryley turned to that page.
“DO NOT ENGAGE THE QUUARKS. THEY ARE AN ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO HARVESTING THE MAGIC OF THE MIRAE AND WILL TAKE YOU IN FOR TESTING, MAGIC OR NO MAGIC. IF YOU HAVE ENOUGH MAGIC YOU WILL BE FORCED TO ACCESS THE MIRAE FOR THEM. I REPEAT. DO NOT ENGAGE THEM.”
Below was an ink stamp of the same symbol Keoni had seen earlier on Caste’s back.
So the Quuarks took her family.
“Spooky.” Ryley said. “So they’re Mir-Hunters?”
Keoni didn’t respond. Her mind was flashing back to her family being dragged by the tails out of her house by the Quuarks.
She snapped out of it. “Let’s go see what Caste knows.”