“You're back!”

Sebastian blinked and looked up from where he was seated in a plush armchair. He was back inside of the artefact’s dimension, apparently sitting in a seating area that was somewhat hidden in an alcove of the library. Arte was sitting across from him in an armchair of their own, with a steaming cup of pink liquid.

“Yeah, hi. Um, I didn’t mean to come here. I’m supposed to be sleeping?” Sebastian said, though it came out as more of a question with his confused tone.

“Ah, well, since I’m blocking your nightmares, so your consciousness must have decided to bring you here for the night.”

“Oh. Wait, nightmares? You’re the reason I stopped having terrifying dreams?”

“I could only do so much with the small amount of magic leftover from my last master. When I let a dream through that first night, you woke up in a horrible frenzy. Linking that to your exhausted state from earlier, I assumed you hadn’t been sleeping well because of these nightmares, so I blocked them to allow you a proper rest.” Arte explained with a shrug, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

“Right. As much as I appreciate a full night’s rest, could the dreams you’re blocking be important. Like warnings for something bigger?”

“If the message were urgent, then there’d be nothing I could do to stop it. But these ones that have been essentially haunting you are just the same message again and again. Preparing you for your eighteenth-year moon.”

“…”

“You don’t know what that is, do you?”

“Not a clue.”

“Ah, well, it has to do with your magic and the moon’s choice of claiming you, its champion.”

“No offence, but the more questions you answer, the more questions I have.”

Arte sighed. “I’m afraid the fault there lies with me. It’s been so long since I had a student who wasn’t even fully aware of the basics of magic. I appear to have forgotten what teaching is like. I’ll try explaining it from the beginning.”

Sebastian nodded and motioned for Arte to continue.

“The champion of the moon was a tradition of sorts, which began with my first master, Siya. She was kind-hearted and good natured, with a strong magic in her veins. Her lover, Arjun, was an alpha werewolf with a simple pack. They were all close and protective of each other. But Siya sometimes found herself lacking as she was the only human of the pack.

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“However, she was still the fiercest among them, and the moon took notice of this. It decided to grant her a favour, a unique kind of magic that would link her to her pack, strengthening them all with her blessing. The moon sent Adwin, another member of the pack, a vision to create me. Or at least the physical necklace that you are currently wearing.

“It took seven long years before I was completed, and then another seven full moons, during which the moon would pour parts of its blessing into the necklace. Once that was finished, Adwin presented the necklace to Siya, and once she touched it, I was brought to life and manifested the beginnings of this dimension. Back then of course, it was much smaller and simpler since I’d only just awoken.

“The night of the next full moon, Syia was pulled into a trial. And once she emerged victorious, the pack could feel her the same as any other wolf, and she could feel them. She couldn’t shift, but her senses were a little sharper, her stamina heightened, and she was able to lend strength to her packmates in battle.

“When Syia finally passed on, the pack wasn’t sure what to do with me. Until the moon selected her new champion. Joules was human and shared a close bond to another werewolf alpha, Myra. Neither of them cared for romance but their love for each other was built on a strong friendship.

“Once the moon had chosen Joules. He had visions via dreams that warned him of what was to come. The dreams left him a little shaken, but overall, he was confused why the moon always seemed to be... reaching for him, in these dreams. He was somehow guided to finding me and once he was close, I could sense the magic and blessing that was in him. When he touched me, the bond was pulled into place, and on the night of the next full moon, he went through a trial and emerged victorious with all the same blessings Syia had.”

Arte paused, taking a sip of their pink beverage. “Since then, I’ve seen and served countless champions. Each so very different, with different kinds of bonds or forms of packs. But they all had one thing in common. A heart, not necessarily pure, but good and loving with all its power.”

Sebastian nodded. “They all had to undergo a trial the first full moon after they touched you? What was, or is, this trial?”

“I don’t know.”

“What? What do you mean you don’t know.”

“Well, I’ve never seen what happens. I just protect the champion’s body while it’s happening.”

“How do I prepare for this then?”

“You don’t. You’re already prepared for what will come, I believe. Or else the moon wouldn’t have chosen you.”

“But I still need to prove myself with a trial.”

Arte shrugged. “Sometimes there is no sense in trying to make sense of magic.”

“This is going to be more fun than I thought.” Sebastian remarked sarcastically.

Arte grinned. “I think you will enjoy this more than you think. In fact, I could teach you some basic spells while you’re here if you like.”

“That would be cool, but first, um, am I going to wake up tired since I’m not really sleeping?”

“Technically you are still sleeping. Since your magic is fully connected to me now, you should wake up perfectly refreshed, with zero side effects.”

“Oh. Great! Now you said something about basic spells...?”