The first day of training with my new quarterstaff was rough. Having barely touched a staff before, I mostly flailed around and couldn't get a grasp on how to fight with it. When it came to casting spells, the result was similar. Since the restrictions held on me by my choker were gone, I had to learn how to control my power all over again. The first time I tried casting a fireball since removing it, the ball expanded to the size of my torso before exploding. I didn't get hurt, but I had to get replacements for my incinerated clothes.

That incident brought me to town. I had only a few other outfits and needed new ones. I also had to get my armor and weapons repaired since both sets saw heavy damage and all of my swords were close to disrepair since I neglected to take care of them.

As I entered the weapon shop, I was hit by a wave of nostalgia. So many things were the same, yet so much was different. Most of the unique weapons hanging from the ceiling were still there, but there were also new ones. Different armors were sitting out for display and many of the swords had slightly different designs now compared to my swords. Not much time passed, but it felt like I had been gone for years.

"Welcome to the weapons shop. What can I get you?" My mom stood behind the shorter of the two counters as she welcomed me in, her black hair bouncing over her hazel eyes; features I inherited from her.

"Well, I could use a new set of... Everything," I said, awkwardly lugging in all of my damaged equipment.

"Oscar, is that you?" She ran around the counter and squeezed me between her arms. "What happened to my little boy?"

"I grew up, I guess."

"Nonsense, what happened to your face?" She looked closely at my bandages. "Those dingy bandages need to be changed right away."

Without another word, she took me to the back room, sat me down, and carefully unwrapped my bandages. Not even halfway through, her mouth dropped in abject horror while her eyes widened to match.

"What's wrong?" I said. "It can't be that bad."

Once all of the bandages were off, she placed her hands on my shoulders, stared me straight in the eye, and said, "Tell me how it happened."

"Uh, I uh... hit a dummy with the back of my sword and my blade bounced back and hit me in the face."

"Don't lie to me." Her gaze now pierced my soul. "I can literally see it on your face. This didn't come from a sword. I've been in this business for too long to not know the difference."

Her soft voice and tone almost broke me. I fought back the tears welling up but some still got through. "That's what happened. That's all that happened. Nothing else."

She removed her hands and reached into her purse for a hand mirror. "If that's what you say, I'll believe you, but you need to see this."

She showed me the mirror and what I saw shocked me. The scar led from next to my nostril to the middle of my forehead in a diagonal line over my left eye. The scar itself was of little concern compared to its appearance. It looked like a pitch-black tear in my face with specks of white twinkling through from the other side. My eye was just as dark but my iris shined like silver.

I didn't look like myself. I was different. Or maybe I was just more of the same? Either way, I could barely tell that it was me that I was looking at even without the scar. My hair grew longer, my skin grew tougher, and my gaze grew sharper. It made me wonder if there were similar differences in Penelope that I couldn't see.

I brushed my fingers across the scar and my skin felt no different, although it may have been a bit smoother. My eye still functioned properly but there seemed to be more to what I could see now. I couldn't put my finger on it immediately, but there was something.

"Do you see what I mean?" She handed me the mirror. "It's okay to tell me what happened. Nothing bad will happen if you do."

"No, it's just what happens... I hit myself with magic."

"I thought you hit yourself with a sword."

"I had magic on my sword."

She sighed. "I understand you're a grown man but you can't just make me worry about you. Just tell me what happened."

"It's just what I said."

"Okay, your father should be back soon. All three of us can talk about this together."

"Well actually, I only came to get my armor fixed and maybe get new swords. Or just new everything, honestly." I held up the pile of metal I was cradling.

"Well, that's just going to have to wait."

A few minutes passed before the sound of a heavy door opening and closing came from behind the shop. My dad appeared not long after with a crate of new inventory and a bag of groceries. He wore a smile of surprise when he saw me. One hardened by years of battle, but a soft one nonetheless.

"Oh, looks like we have a visit from my favorite son."

"I'm your only son."

"Good to know." He chuckled.

"Dad, that's not funny."

"Give it a few years, it will be. So, you brought us a bunch of scraps?"

"Well, this was my armor... and weapons."

"Must be working hard out there. Even got yourself a scar like your old man." He motioned to the many scars adorning his face and arms.

My mom interjected, "Ask him how he got the scar."

"Eh?" He looked back and forth between us. "So, how did you get the scar?"

I scratched my head. "I uh, hit a training dummy with the back of my sword and it bounced back."

"Hmm, might want to come up with something better to tell people. Put a little story behind it. Something believable. Make it sound cool, you know?" He pointed at a long scar across his forearm. "I got this one from falling asleep on my sword once."

"I thought you got it from blocking a scythe with your arm."

"That's actually where I got this one." He pointed at a small blemish next to the scar. "My point is; coming up with stories for your scars is one of the few perks of having them."

"Dear," said my mom, exhaustedly. "That's not a sword scar."

Hearing this, my dad took a closer look. "It's not. Well, you came up with a terrible story for it. Must mean the real story is something we don't need to worry about. At least your eye still works."

"Yeah," I said, blinking a few times and looking in different directions.

My eyesight was indeed fine, but I began to notice certain things had a slight sparkle around them. My swords particularly had more of a shimmer to them. It seemed like anything touched with magic refracted light in some way.

My mom sighed. "I guess so. Now about that scrap in your arms. Do you have the money to replace it?"

"Actually, I do," I said, triumphantly. "I just kinda want to fix the armor but I want new swords. Something better at conducting magic."

My dad jammed his fingers into the seam under the lid of the crate and pried it open. "We have silver but it's not as sturdy as steel and by the looks of your swords, you're going to need something more sturdy than steel. What have you been hitting with them anyway?"

"Killed a stone golem the other day."

"Oo sounds like an achievement." He took the crate to storage and came back. "Let's take a look over here then."

We went to the storefront and he pointed straight up at the selection of weapons hanging from the ceiling. Now that my bandages were removed, I could see that most of them were shimmering in different colors, some were covered in sparkles, and a few simply glowed.

"Make your choice."

"Wait, you're giving me one?" I could hardly contain my excitement.

"I'll give you one on the house. If you want another one, you'll have to pay. Those weapons are all ridiculously expensive. And powerful in the right hands."

Any kind of weapon I could have dreamed of was hanging above me. A gun-sword, a retractable mace, blade whips, a tonfa that turned into a scythe, not to mention the wildly different materials any given weapon was made of. My mind raced with the possibilities of what I could do with any one of them in my hands, but my body only knew how to wield a few.

I pointed off into the dark corner where I would stare when I used to man the counter, unsure of if anything was even there. "That one."

"Alright." My dad went and grabbed a ladder before climbing up and pulling down a straight sword with a carved redwood handle and a black obsidian blade. "This brings me back." He examined it between his fingers. "Heard this was a replica of a legendary sword lost to time. Even said to have similar power." He handed it to me. "The blade used to be purple but it turned black the year you were born."

"It did?" I stared deeply into the pitch-black.

"A few months before, actually."

I continued peering into the blade until I saw the glint of white I used to see from a distance. Then another and another. They emerged like a cosmic ocean of stars across the blade, all surrounded by a constant red hue that swirled between the dots of light in the dark.

"It's attuned to me," I said, reaching out my other hand. In a second, my staff appeared between my fingers and I held them next to each other. "Just like this."

"Well, I'll be." My dad took a closer look at the blade and at the staff. "So, that's what your magic looks like."

"Yeah, you didn't see it in my scar and my eye up until now?"

"No, they looked normal until that staff appeared in your hand and your eyes only changed for a second."

"Oh, well yeah, that's what my eyes look like when I cast spells."

"So, do you have a name in mind?"

"A name? It doesn't have a name?"

"Nope. Never bothered to name it and it didn't come with one."

"Huh." I held the blade up to the light and it gleamed wordlessly. "Starfire. That works. And since I didn't name my staff yet, I'll name it... Midna. Yeah, that works, too. Now I just need another one." On cue, Starfire split into two equal halves and I almost dropped it. "Whoah." It reformed back to one soon after.

"Well, I guess that's that." My dad went and sat behind the counter. "Now about that chainmail. You might be better off upgrading to plate mail."

"That's too clunky for me. I can't move how I want and it just feels restrictive."

It took me a moment to notice my mom at the shorter counter and what looked like metal over navy blue fabric folded on the counter beside her.

"How about you try this?" She pushed it forward.

"What is it?" I went over to her and examined it.

The metal was in closely connected strips bound together by leather and fabric with pockets in some areas.

"A pretty good set of armor, that's what it is," said my dad, nodding. "It's splint armor. Heavy-duty steel armor, held together so as to not impede movement and this version has pockets for extra metal plating if you think you need it. Gotta warn you though, it's a little heavier than chainmail, but it's quieter."

"So, how much is it?"

"Seeing as this is newer armor that we've never really sold before... Come visit every once in a while and we'll consider it paid for."

"I can do that."

My mom patted the armor a couple of times. "Good."

I took the mass of metal, fabric, and leather and went on my way with a few hugs and a goodbye.

Back at the tower, I tried on the armor and it fit well but definitely had some heft to it. I felt a little more weighed down than normal but my sword swings felt normal. My new sword also didn't feel bad. When it split in two, so did the weight. I could focus magic through as easily if not easier than if it was my hand.

I looked around the tower and found a small woman with bright orange hair. She was only slightly taller than Penelope and barely fit in her normal black pajamas. In fact, she was with Penelope who was eyeing her gleefully with a comfortable smile on her face. They were in the training room and Zeta was tinkering with one of the training dummies. More like she was pretending to work on it with a screwdriver. It probably had something to do with the explanation I gave Penelope for how I got hurt.

"Hey, Master," I said, finding the landing.

In a hurry, Penelope shot up, grabbed Zeta by her waist, picked her up, and slowly started walking around me with her captive obscuring her view of me. "Just let me go past."

"Sure, but I kinda need the person you're holding." I moved to the side to let her pass.

She dashed past me and continued up the steps with Zeta still held hostage.

"Hey!" I called.

"I'll be back, just wait for me," said Zeta as her voice faded in the distance.

I shrugged and went to training on the dummy she was just pretending to work on with a wooden sword.

About an hour later, Zeta appeared hovering over the landing with her arms folded in a sitting position. "I'm back. Were you trying to show me your new armor?"

"And my new sword." I put down the wooden one and showed her my obsidian sword.

She picked it out of my hands and examined it. "A magic weapon." Holding it with authority, she said, "What is your name?"

I watched in confusion for a second then said, "I named it Starfire."

"Not that." She handed it back to me. "It just reminded me of something."

"My dad said it's a replica of a legendary sword but it turned from purple to black when I was born. It's attuned to me now."

"In that case, what can it do?"

"It can split in two if I want." On cue, the blade split in two again and the second blade fell into my other hand.

"In that case, let me see that other sword." She reached out her hands and I gave it to her. After looking into the blade for a second, she held it out sideways with one hand. "Libra." The blade immediately responded with the stars fading and the black and red becoming a swirling purple. Less than a second later, it began morphing. The handle extended outward and the blade curved into a scythe. "As I thought."

"I don't get it," I said, dumbfounded at the display.

"The sword this was based on was called Libra, one of the legendary weapons said to have been created somewhere outside of time. They could take the shape of the preferred weapon of their user." The purple began glowing from the blade down the handle in her hand. "Woops!" She tossed it into my hands and it reverted back to the galactic sword it once was.

"What happened?"

She was opening and closing her hand while examining her palm. "It rejected me. I guess it really does choose its master."

The swords recombined and I placed it on my hip. "So, did you and Penelope uh... you know?"

"No, I'm celibate. She really tried though." A restrained smile fought to spread across her face. "I mean, she got really clo-" She hastily cleared her throat.

"Hm, I didn't think you were religious."

"I'm not. It's just that if you live as I have for as long as I have, it gets a little hard to stop yourself once you start and I'd rather not start. Not with either of you."

"Alright, can you take a look at my scar?"

"Sure."

I bent down and she examined my face but as soon as she was close enough, I pursed my lips and kissed her on the mouth. Visibly taken aback, she stepped away and her hand made contact with my face so fast that I didn't see it before I heard it.

"I'm sorry- I don't know why-"

She held up a finger. "Once."

"What?"

"I lied." A look of guilt settled on her face. "I had sex with her just now and I didn't want to do it with you too, but." She gripped my collar with both hands. "We're only doing this once and never again."

"Are you sure about this master?" My heart was now racing. This was not a situation I was expecting to put myself in.

She put her finger against my lips. "Don't call me 'Master' until it's over." She let me go and went to the steps. "Now take off that armor and follow me."

I did as told and she led me to her room where we stayed for a while. In that time, I saw a side of Zeta I never thought I would and likely never would again. With that in mind, I did everything in my power to make sure she wouldn't forget the side of me I showed her.

Once it was over, we returned to the training room as if nothing happened and I picked up my armor. Now that my mind was now clear, a thought struck me. What if she really couldn't stop herself? How long had she been doing Penelope if she had? Any more of those thoughts put an increasingly bitter taste in my mouth, so I pushed them aside for future me to deal with.

"Now, about my eye." I leaned back toward her.

"Look that way." She pointed to the right.

"Why?"

She sighed. "I don't want a repeat of what just happened."

"Wait, you mean-" My mind started racing again.

She grabbed my face before I could finish and aggressively turned my head. "Identify." Her eyes took on a soft blue glow and after a bit of looking, she let me go. "It's not as bad of a curse as I thought. At worst, you'll just be wearing that scar for the rest of your life."

"And at best?" I brushed my hand across my face.

"Nothing. It's just a scar."

"My mom showed me in a mirror. It looked like this." I held up Starfire. "And my eye was completely black."

"Could be a reaction to your own powers being flung at you."

"Wait, my power?"

"Remember when I told you she was your vessel? That's what she holds."

"Oh, so she can use it, too."

"She can only use ki, remember that. The rest is for you to draw upon. I thought we went over this."

"We did?"

She scoffed. "Guess we didn't. Does no harm now, anyway."

"It did harm before?"

"Don't worry about it. You have both that sword and staff. If you ever run low on mana just pull from those, that's what they're for. You can remember that much, right?"

"Yes, nothing's wrong with my memory."

"Good, now get training. Tomorrow, I'll be introducing you to a couple of my colleagues. It also might behoove you to learn some new spells outside of the fire and neutral elements."

"Neutral is an element?"

She closed her eyes and placed her hand on her forehead. "This is my fault, I thought you could read. In every textbook, it says it's not except for the case of categorizing spells."

"No- wait, it's just a joke," I said, only half sure she was kidding.

"Good." She turned and went into the magic training room. "Try starting with dark spells. Look for a spell called 'nightmare eyes' and give it a whirl in a mirror. I'll be waiting here."

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I thought about the reason she told me to seek the spell out and realized that it had to do with mages being afraid of my eyes already, so something to take advantage of that would be wise to have. Considering my sword was black with white and red within it, I decided to cross-reference the spell between books on spells from fire, light, and darkness. Eventually, I not only found 'nightmare eyes', but also 'angel eye' and 'burning sight'. All of which were put into the advanced category. The highest rank spell I even tried until then was intermediary.

After studying them for a few minutes, I decided to try one out in the mirror as suggested. Holding a hand mirror in front of my face, I saw my eye and scar didn't change from when I saw them. "Nightmare eyes." I attempted to cast the spell, staring into space with the intent to torment whoever I saw with my strength of will to break their psyche and force them into submission. At least that's the gist of what I got from the book, but since I only had myself to look at, that's what I did, but nothing changed. The book showed an image of eyes with black sclera and red pupils, but mine showed no difference in either one.

"Unsuccessful, huh?" Zeta was suddenly next to me which made me jump. "Surprised? I thought you'd come down with a book and a mirror, not just do it up here."

"Oh, I didn't think that's what you meant."

I looked up and our eyes met for a second then a set of knuckles landed in between my eyes. "Ah!- Sorry!" She rushed to my side as I landed with a hearty thump. "Looks like the spell worked, just not on yourself."

"Good to know." I rubbed the crooked bridge of my nose. "How long has it been since you were a teacher?"

"After what we just did, you're questioning my ethics now? Heal." The bridge of my nose popped back into place and she helped me stand. The mirror somehow survived. "It's been around... How old are you?"

"Twenty-one."

She gave a sigh of relief. "That gives me no benchmark, I don't know why I asked."

"Wha- how old are you?"

She shrugged. "Your grandparents had to have grandparents, right? I could be your grandfather." After a moment of silence, she continued. "Literally."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that last part."

"That might do you well." She smiled cheekily. "Now about those other spells you have open in these books."

"I was going to try those if this one was successful." I picked up the books and held them in my hands.

"Not a bad idea. You can make further use of those unique eyes of yours."

I continued trying the different spells with various effects and training with controlling my powers until late at night with Zeta at my side. Instead of trying to fight with my staff at all, I decided to only use it to regulate my magic when I cast non-sword-related spells.

The next day, Zeta appeared as a man slightly taller than me with long sandy brown hair and blue eyes. He looked like he could be Penelope's brother. With that in mind, as soon as I saw him in the hall between the stairs and the front door, I fell to my hands and knees with an indescribable feeling welling up inside me.

"Oscar? What's wrong?" he said, patting my back.

"It's like I fucked her brother... A guy... I mean I did her sister, but..." My voice trailed off.

"Well, now you see one of the many reasons I didn't want to do it."

"But you didn't stop yourself, either... Never mind, it's my fault, too."

"If it makes you feel any better, Penelope had a similar reaction earlier, but I think hers might have been a bit... stronger." The way he said it made me think there might have been a literal explosion as her reaction. "She went to town to... clear her head."

"It doesn't make me feel better... not a little."

A new voice came from the doorway. "Oh, youth. Regret comes and goes. After all these years, you have no sense of ethics. Did you even make sure this one was legal first?"

Zeta let his shoulder drop with a sigh. "Oscar, these are my colleagues I mentioned yesterday." I looked up to see a woman with straight white hair and purple highlights with a cat-sized winged lizard on her shoulder. She wore a purple cape over a white blouse and purple overalls and had a strong American accent. "This is Belial and her partner Mira."

"The pleasure is mine." She reached out her hand and I stood to shake it. "I hear you're quite the talent."

"I am?"

"Of course. I heard you're doing things in months that most students could only do after a few years."

"Stop trying to give him an ego," said Zeta.

"I only speak the truth. Besides, sounds like you already gave him one he'll never forget."

Next, Zeta sighed and motioned to the man standing next to Belial "And this is Shuten Doji." He had an eastern appearance, short black hair and short blue horns sprouting from his temple in a blue Wizard's robe stained with different colored liquid barely hanging on his shoulders and a navy blue casual suit that stood just as disheveled underneath. He held a small gourd in his hand that he constantly drank from and never seemed to empty.

"Call me Doji," He said, "You drink, kid?" I expected the first thing he said to be something different but based on his attire, I shouldn't have expected much else.

"Sometimes."

"Cool, take one of these." He tossed me a blue pill from one of his pockets. "It's condensed liquor in pill form. Only enough to get a buzz. Well, for most."

"Uh, thanks?" I carefully placed it in a pocket and promptly forgot about it.

"Talk about having no ethics." Belial criticized Diji.

"What? It's not like I gave him the strong stuff." He put his hands up in defense. "Not like I'm telling him to drink his problems away or something."

"Can we get on track?" Zeta went to one of the rooms full of tables, chairs, and books while the rest of us followed. "We need a plan."

After confirming where the kidnapper's base was, we went over the plan to get in, shut down their operation, and wipe them out. We'd be working as a temporary guild under the Commissioner's office to storm the base, subdue everyone we can and free anyone held captive. It turned out their operation was in kidnapping people with strong magic traits and selling either the person or the part of them carrying that trait on the black market. That didn't stop at living people.

When we took the commission to guard the merchant a while back, we interrupted one of their deals. One of the bandits was with that group and started stalking us to kidnap until they succeeded. Thinking about it at the time, I realized Penelope's teeth hadn't glowed since she returned. It was probably because they stopped glowing that they let their guard down enough to let her escape.

In all likelihood, they were either confident in their strength or their ability to stay hidden to not attempt to silence or re-capture her at any point after she escaped. Since we were able to find their base, we had just to prepare for a deadly confrontation with people wielding powerful magical items made from the magic traits of others. With that in mind, anything could happen.

At various times throughout the meeting, I tried to make eye contact with both Belial and Doji. Belial kept averting her gaze as soon as I tried while her wyvern stared me down and Doji had his eyes half-closed the whole time, but somehow kept up with the conversation despite seeming to be constantly falling asleep.

Once the meeting was over, Zeta and I saw our guests out. As soon as Belial was outside, her wyvern grew until it was the size of a horse with purple feathers, then she climbed on its back and flew away while Doji simply melted into the ground inexplicably.

I figured After everything was over, I'd talk to Penelope and we could come to understand each other again. I wanted it to happen sooner, but she was never ready to talk to me. Over the next few days, I trained as best I could and expanded my arsenal of spells while trying to resharpen my sword skills sparring against Zeta.

The day of the raid came quickly and I met Belial and Doji again in front of the guildhall with Zeta as a tall blonde woman.

"Are we all ready?" said Doji as we approached.

"About as ready as we will be," said Zeta

"We should get going," said Belial.

In agreement, we all traveled to the edge of town where Belial produced a pink butterfly from a vial that we followed from there. It moved in swirls through the air and darted in seemingly random directions until it stopped by a tree growing over a pond. By this time, hours had passed and twilight had just fallen. The whole time, Zeta kept a constant spell of invisibility on all of us.

"One more time; are we all ready?" said Doji.

We all responded affirmatively then he opened his gourd and poured some green liquid from it into the water while chanting something unintelligible. After a few seconds, the tree faded from existence and revealed an arch made of roots growing from the bottom of the pond with a bridge leading to it barely wide enough for a truck to drive through.

"It should be safe." Doji walked across the bridge and we followed.

The other side of the arch was totally different from the forest we came from. It was dimly lit and stone in every direction. There were five tunnels that led in different directions and a couple of people in yellow construction uniforms nearby looking at the portal quizzically. They looked at each other and back at the portal as we entered the cavernous room, split in different directions, and levitated away aside from me and Zeta who stayed together. A moment after we already split, one of them produced a pistol and fired on nothing as the bullet soared through the portal.

Zeta and I went into the middle tunnel while Doji went into one on the right and Belial went into one on the left. Passing rooms and more tunnels. We roughly followed Penelope's description of where she went to break out in reverse. There were many rooms and side-halls that could easily be used as hiding spots if you knew the layout, but we only needed to take the important turns leading deeper in to hopefully find anyone being held prisoner and set them free.

Less than a minute in, we passed a room that caught my eye for a split second. I saw what I thought was a heap of bodies lined up inside. Before I opened my mouth to say something, we hit what felt like an invisible cloud and Zeta put her hand over my nose and mouth. The surprise forced me to breathe in and I started suffocating until we were through that area then she moved her hand away.

"Stay focused," she said.

A second later, the entire hall lit up with a shower of green orbs that appeared over us and fell inexplicably. Zeta raised her hand and blocked the attack with a red bubble that surrounded us.

"So, you're who got through my poison cloud." A small man with pointy ears in a green vest appeared floating in front of us.

I swiped at him as soon as he appeared and he hovered backward just quick and far enough to miss.

"We figured someone would come eventually. I got bored waiting." He checked out his nails for a second. "You're running out of people to save and are really going to let me monolog?"

His head suddenly turned to the side and he fell to the floor. Zeta appeared behind him, popping her knuckles.

"We got a dumb one," She said. "Let's go."

Since they knew we'd show up, I went on foot since I'd have better control of my own movements that way. A few seconds after, a shower of green orbs appeared over us again and Zeta blocked it again.

"Flexibility really does the body good." The man appeared in front of us again. This time, he was being held by the scruff of the back of his vest by a larger man who wore gauntlets made of what looked like human bone.

The larger man dropped the smaller one who floated into another room and stood with both fists ready. At the same time, the hall began filling from the bottom with green fog.

I pulled my sword and ran forward to engage the man. He struck first and I fell to the side and away from his fist while guiding the tip of my blade toward his throat.

His other hand was still en garde, but not for long as Zeta appeared next to us in a burst of speed and touched his arm which turned completely blue and shattered from the force of my strike while my blade continued through unimpeded.

This was the first time I killed someone but had no time to think about it as the hallway continued filling with green.

Zeta placed her hand on the ground and cast a spell. "Burn." Flames spread outward for a split second and the fog was gone. She then reached her arm around me and quickly dashed away. After a dozen paces, she dropped me back to my feet and started floating again as we continued forward. Soon after, she started breathing heavily.

"What's wrong?"

"That poison wasn't normal. I can't breathe properly and magic isn't helping."

"You used fire to get rid of it before, can you try that inside you?"

"I'd love to but I can't risk burning myself."

Quickly and fluidly, Zeta's hand pushed against my face and I slammed against a wall while a sickle on a chain flew between us, grazing her arm. It landed with a tap before ricocheting back down the hall and around a corner. We stopped for barely a second and the green fog returned.

I looked around with the thought of looking for the sparkles that came off enchanted items and spotted a green tint floating in the air by a room. I focused on it. "Burn."

The green tint exploded in flames accompanied by screaming as the green man reappeared where it was while the fog disappeared.

At the same time, the chain sickle returned and Zeta swiped her hand at it while it spiraled my way. It redirected into the wall without her touching it where it got stuck. Almost immediately after, another one flailed from around the corner.

I tried to parry this one myself, but it flew past me and retracted back to wrap around my throat. Instead, I ducked just in case and it whizzed over my head.

The man in green stopped burning and now laughed while patting his vest. Zeta stood between us.

"Go ahead and don't look back," she said. "I'll catch up in a few seconds."

Unquestioningly, I dashed forward to meet another sickle. This one took me slightly by surprise and wound around my arm, hooking into my armor with teeth made of... teeth. Struggling against it, I couldn't help but think of where those teeth came from. The thought made me stop resisting and run straight forward.

As I approached, I saw a head poke from behind the corner the chains were coming from and quickly dart back. Immediately after, another sickle flew from around the corner. I swiped at this one and it wrapped around my sword.

I cast 'nightmare eyes' and stared at the corner where I saw the face pop up and it did so again. Once we made eye contact, they paused with clear fear in their eyes while my mad dash became even madder.

They fell back around the corner and all of the chains went limp.

When I turned the corner, I found a man nearly twice my size with red horns and purple skin in a black cloak and partially broken chest plate sitting in the fetal position with a handle sprouting chains resting beside him mumbling, "Please don't kill me," repeatedly. Whatever horrors he saw in my eyes were clearly overkill and I was satisfied with that knowledge.

I placed the edge of my blade against his throat and said, "Where's the cat woman?"

He started shaking and said, "Cassandra?" He pointed at a wall behind me; the direction Doji went. "She goes to the other side where we stockpile goods."

"Good to know. Where's your boss?"

"Not here. We- we knew somebody was coming eventually so he left us to guard the place and move out the big stuff."

"Big stuff?"

"The strong stuff we couldn't move with everything else."

"What about the prisoners?"

"Some of them are still here. We were going to leave behind the sick and dying ones."

"And where were you moving to?"

"I don't know anything else. All I know is from working here. They don't tell me anything. Please don't kill me."

"Are you sure there's nothing else?" I pressed my blade against his throat.

"Honest."

As I was preparing to end his life, a new set of footsteps approached from around another corner. "What the hell is going on here?" A woman with green scaly skin in brown leather armor turned the corner and we made eye contact.

I stared intently, sure that my spell was still active. She reached for her hips in a flash and a pair of revolvers were suddenly aimed my way. Both guns fired and I felt both impacts through my armor. Immediately after, she ran back around the corner backed by the sound of her fleeing footsteps. The look of fear was firmly in her eyes, but she seemed to react on instinct.

I winced from the unexpected impact and nearly fell back only to be caught by someone.

"Are you okay?"

I turned around to see Zeta with the green man unconscious and trapped in a blue bubble.

"Yes, I'm just bruised-"

"Don't do that again." She gripped the back of my neck with a menacing look in her eyes. "Go after her, I got them. Don't get cocky again. It will cost you your life." She flicked her wrist and the large man fell unconscious while a blue bubble formed around him.

"Alright." I shook off the sickle chains still on me and rounded the corner.

The woman was already far down the hall and she just passed someone else who was coming my way. He had his eyes closed and wielded a large shiny red hammer and full plate mail.

I swung my sword and sent a blade wave at him. As soon as I did, he swung his hammer and a splash of red rose toward me once it made contact with the ground.

Our attacks collided and nullified each other even though his was bigger and covered the entire hall. All that was left were splotches of red on the ground and a stench of blood. It was so strong it made me dizzy.

The man now rushed forward ready to strike and I couldn't allow that hammer to come down again so I cast 'burning step'. Flames flickered at my feet and I blasted forward, swinging at him as best I could with what left of my concentration I could muster.

Our weapons collided and a sea of red opened over my head. As soon as I saw this, I cast 'burning blade' in hopes that the blood would evaporate. Instead, it just rained on me and filled my nose with the smell to where I thought I would vomit. The blood that landed on my skin also began sizzling as it ate through like acid.

Alarmed, I backed off and narrowly avoided the hammer landing directly in front of me with a new wave of blood soon to follow.

"Flashfire." The blaze from my sword expanded in an instant and everything in a twenty-foot radius was singed. The blood coating me and the nearby walls evaporated as well.

The man let out an exasperated sigh as his clothes partially caught fire and he backed off to lift his hammer again.

As soon as I saw this, I split my blade and sent two blade waves at him. The first one put a dent in his armor while the second one cut through.

It staggered him but didn't stop him and he swung down with a grunt.

Since there was now an opening and he wasn't stopping, I dashed forward and stabbed my blade through him and out the other side.

His weapon fell with a soft splash and not even a puddle.

I continued onward and soon met a series of closed rooms with barred and locked doors. I heard people murmuring and coughing from within. Going to the first door and looking in, I saw a nude man lying on a crude bed of straw. The next one housed a couple of children huddling on a similar bed of straw. Most of the cells were empty but this was definitely where Penelope was held. Somewhere farther in, there was a room with a broken door and bloodied chains sticking out of the wall with bits of chain scattered on the ground.

Finding no sign of the woman I chased back there, I started kicking in the locked doors and freeing all of the people inside. Some couldn't walk properly but they helped each other while I stood watch to make sure no one, let alone someone who I knew was out there carrying guns, could just show up and attack.

When the woman did finally emerge, I sensed it. It felt like there was suddenly a dot pressing on the back of my head as she stepped from behind one of the unlocked doors and took aim.

I ducked quickly and she missed her shot while I turned and shot a blade wave at her. It hit her leg and she fell, firing twice more and hitting the wall. She tried to aim with her other arm and I placed my foot on her hand.

"Give up. You lost. I don't want to kill you"

She sighed and bit into something in her mouth then proceeded to convulse for a moment before going limp.

Alarmed, I quickly kicked away her guns and checked for a pulse. There was none. Curious yet cautious of what she did, I held my breath, opened her mouth, and saw a broken capsule of white powder and foam coating the inside.

I went to help the small group of freed prisoners as they shambled along. We caught up with Zeta as she was on her way back and she levitated everyone but me and herself as we continued on our way back.

The two guards that were at the portal were tied in ghostly chains anchoring them to the ground while a colorful group of individuals was all sitting spaced apart and sitting tied with ropes that shimmered bright purple. Some of them were looking around wide-eyed and wobbling as if in a stupor. One of them was the cat woman who took Penelope. She was coated in black fur and her eyes were bright green just how I remembered. Her long tail trailed lazily behind her while bits of drool threatened to fall from her lips.

As soon as I saw her, I went straight toward her and put my fist to her face so hard her head bounced off the ground. She shook her head and looked around with clarity. Then she saw me.

"Danger," she hissed, attempting to move only to find herself bound.

"That's right." I stabbed my sword into the stone ground next to her neck. "What did you say last time? Dangerous eyes? You don't want to die?"

"Oscar," said Zeta. "Think about what you're doing."

"I am," I said, placing my foot on the woman's throat and scooting her head slowly toward my blade while she struggled to both keep her head and breathe. "You didn't want to die, but you still fucked with us."

"Oscar. STOP." Zeta raised her voice for the second time ever.

"I was only doing my job," the woman pleaded, panicking and struggling to breathe through tears.

"Fuck your job!" I raised my foot to stamp down and a fist came in from the side and surprised me. The force saw me stagger away from my sword while the cat woman stayed writhing and coughing on the ground.

"What the fuck did I just say, Oscar!" Zeta was visibly angry. "You don't have to kill her."

"So what if I do!?" I snapped back. "I just killed two people and a third just killed herself in front of me!" I placed both hands on my temple. "I am not okay right now..." I couldn't help but sniffle a bit at the thought of losing myself to senseless murder. "I'm sorry."

"You're running on high emotion right now. We all are, it's normal." She put her hands on my shoulders. "We're going home and everything will be fine, do you hear me?"

I only nodded in response.

"Do you regret coming?"

I shook my head.

"You'll never get used to this, but as a guild master, you will be called for things like this in the future."

I nodded.

"Do we have everything?" Belial was looking over the crowds of people and a stack of bags and crates.

"Looks like it," said Doji, tossing his gourd in the air as it expanded and grew. It was about the size of his torso by the time caught it. He pointed it at the mountain of items and they were pulled into the opening, most of them shrinking to fit. "That should lessen the load a bit, Pan."

"Thanks." Zeta summoned her staff and put her hands together with it between them. A blue bubble expanded from between her hands to cover everyone. "Teleport."

In a blink, everything was different. We were still underground, but the walls were wooden and the floor was a different kind of stone. There was a set of steps leading to a door and lights overhead.

Zeta went up the steps with the ex-prisoners floating in a line behind her. When she returned, she was followed by multiple people in black and red uniforms. They were police from Forstad, the wizard city in Gullanda. I found this odd because we lived closer to Gratamal in an entirely different country.

After they took all of the criminals away, Belial, Doji, Zeta, and I made our way above ground. We were in a basement under the commissioner's office and it was not the one in town or the one in Gratamal.

The whole scenario was handled as if it was just another commission. We even learned that most of them had bounties so we were also paid for them between the four of us. We stepped out into the night after an hour of questions and formalities.

"Do you want to see the city a bit or go home now?" said Zeta.

"I thought you can't teleport this far." I stared her in the eye, looking for an answer.

She sighed. "Not legally, normally. Every government keeps tabs on people like us. Unless you're a hunter or work under a country and within their restrictions, we can't do whatever we want no matter where we go. If I wanted to, I could teleport us across the world if I knew I wouldn't be putting a target on my back."

"Oh. I want to go home."

"Well, time to get a ride." She put her arm around my shoulders. "It's almost midnight, let's do this quickly."

Although it seemed impossible, we were able to find a ride in an inter-continental taxi that took us to Gratamal in a few hours. It was expensive, but we made it before sunrise.

From there, we went on foot back to Goldleaf town and then back to the tower. I just wanted to get home and rest as quickly as possible. To that effort, I tired myself out and Zeta floated the whole way. We arrived by late afternoon.

Once we were back to the tower, I went directly to my room and saw a note tacked to it. It read: 'I'm ready to face you. Meet me at Roc Peak'. Reading that note made me shiver. The note could have been there for days. Why leave a note? She wouldn't know when we were coming back. Was she planning on leaving the whole time and just returning to the mountain at sunset to see if I showed up? I pushed the uneasy feeling aside and the negative thoughts back before I made the trek to a somewhat nearby mountain with a clear view of the sunset.

Hiking up the cliff, I saw Penelope standing at the top with her backpack on, looking out at the orange hues as the red ball fell beyond the trees far below.

"I'm here, what's up?"

She took a deep, long breath and turned around. "Took you long enough. I just wanted to see you and tell you something before I go."

"Oh, you're leaving? Did you finally hook up with 'the one' while I wasn't looking or are you striking out on your own?"

She looked down at herself with tears welling in her eyes.

Surprised, I started, "What's-"

"A few days ago, I started to... remember."

With her statement, I remembered the spell I used wasn't perminant. "Wait, is that why-"

"No matter how hard I try to forget, my body remembers... every second of it." She put her hand over her mouth across her abnormally long front teeth. "Even what I did to you. I can't function, I- I can't."

"Wait." I reached out to her and moved to close the distance. "Tell me how you feel and we can get through this together. Like we always do."

She flattened her fist against her forehead and stepped backward toward the precipice, kicking a stone over the edge. "No, you couldn't understand!- you wouldn't understand! Unless... You can't know... Not you..." She was now gripping something under her cloak.

Alarmed, I tried to move in slowly. "Listen. I don't need to know, I just want you to think before you do something you regret. It's already over- we- we- we already took care of those people."

She looked up, our eyes met and she smiled a pained smile with sadness in her eyes. "Thank you for everything." Her smile softened. "But I already did too much to regret."

Quick as lightning, she revealed a dagger from under her cloak and ran it across her throat, opening the floodgates and letting run a river of red.

Before I could react, she was already leaning over the abyss and down into nothingness.

I threw my arm down and grabbed the first thing my fingers brushed past. The weight nearly dragged me down and I pulled as hard as I could until she emerged.

Her body was cold by the time I could even get a good look at her.

"No!"

I couldn't control my wailing as she lay lifeless in my arms. There was nothing I could do but morn until I noticed the sun had already risen.

I put her backpack on my back and walked back to Pan's tower with her in my arms.

Once Zeta saw, we were both crying uncontrollably. At least I like to think we were. I barely remember what happened over the next few days. I didn't eat or sleep the whole time and everything was a blur of tears.

I snapped back to reality sometime before her funeral. In my incognisance, I invited Danna to Pan's tower. As soon as we entered Penelope's room and closed the door, I could suddenly think clearly and I knew what I had to tell her.

"Please sit. I have something to tell you."

"You're finally coherent," she said, taking a seat on the bed.

"For now, I think. No matter what I say, can you promise me you won't do anything until I finish?"

She pursed her lips and nodded.

I went on to tell her about everything from Penelope being kidnapped to her suicide. Everything I didn't say before and everything I was afraid to.

"That's it." I took a deep breath. "That's everything."

"I knew." She stood and wrapped her fingers around my throat. "I knew. I knew for so long... Neither of you told me. I was so worried, but I trusted you. I trusted you with my sister's life. I trusted you!" She started squeezing and did so until I fainted. I jolted back into consciousness on the floor with her kicking me in the gut. She then jumped on my chest and pulled out a throwing dagger, holding it up to my throat. "She never went to me with her problems. She went to you and you failed her. You failed her at every. Single. Turn. I want to end you so bad."

"Go ahead." We locked eyes and it felt like an eternity. She was so full of rage and sorrow that no trace of fear was to be found. The window to her heart showed me what she wanted and I was prepared to let her have it.

"Fuck you!" She stabbed the knife into the floor and proceeded to abuse my face with her fists until her knuckles bled. "Go kill yourself if you want to die so badly." She stood and took a moment to stomp my head to the floor before leaving.

I laid there and stared at the knife wondering why she hesitated, why she didn't do it, why she didn't follow her heart. She seemed so prepared to take my life. Maybe she was prepared to do a lot of things and never did. If she already knew everything, why wait for me to tell her even after something so tragic? Was she feeling as guilty as me?

Was she as guilty as me?

These thoughts swam through my head for hours until I eventually fell asleep.

When I awoke, I learned I was asleep for days and missed the funeral. She was buried beside her parents. They died in an accident when we were little and she and her sister were raised by my parents until they moved out to live together.

After I visited her grave, I decided to put everything into mastering magic. Not only was it my dream, but there was nothing else I could think of to distract me from myself. All I had left in my mind was a dark place and I had to stay away from it somehow.

I'm having a hard time ending this, so I'll fast-forward to the present. As only a few of you already know, I go by Azrael now since Zeta left, but that's a story for a different time. Maybe I'll tell it someday. Maybe I'll just go through a bunch of their old notes and scratch together something from those.

I've dragged on long enough. This story deserves an ending and I need to finally be at peace with myself. While I don't think that will ever happen, I felt like I had no choice but to tell this story in some capacity.

Danna. At least to put your own mind at ease, please try to forgive me. That's all I want for you.