Felin, Archfey of the Fairys, Father of Felines, Creator of Cats, sat on his grand throne bemused.

He had been this way ever since his dear Apprentice had attuned to Unknowable, when he sensed what it had done to her. At first, he was enraged at seeing yet another hopeful Mage ruined by the curse of affinities, then confused at seeing her push past it. Strange. Too little time to ponder on it however. There are more... time-sensitive matters to attend to, one could say.

Sitting up from his throne, his mind wandered to elsewhere. Another lead to his disappearance, one that had been left by the wayside after Amy's ascension. His endless gaze settled on one of his 'friends' from another part of the realm. Willing the Spell into being, he Travelled towards the 'friend', his home impossibly far away as space itself failed to describe the distance between them. Familiar vistas of the Wilds whizzed past the nimble cat, Felin's feline form becoming fuzzy on the edges, his speed increasing.

With a snap of otherworldly might, Felin completely disintegrated into a cloud of mana, his consciousness splitting into an uncountable number of parts, infusing themselves into each individual mote. The noose of Time slipped away - something that would be impossible in a purely physical plane - the Element failing to touch and constrain his ultimate self; his right to power; his Ascendancy. Far - and closer than a hair width - away Felin's 'friend' noticed his approach and rose to the challenge, a diffuse intent of pure disgust suddenly appearing and swarming Felin's own.

However, a Monarch is no match to an Ascendant.

Time resumed to the 'friend', no, the traitor lying half-dead in the wreck of his obliterated home, a cloud of mana returning to corporal form, Felin's body taking shape once more standing over him. The full strength of Felin's Domain pressed down upon the corpse of his foe's own shattered one. Every mote and strand of mana in what used to be the traitor's home was under the Ascendant's control, speaking his godly will.

"Where-"

Unspeakable horror descended.

"Is-"

The fabric of Reality burnt to cinder.

"She?"

And only the world of Mana remained.

* * *

"I wonder how Felin's doing?" Amy asked out loud as she got out of bed, still a bit sleepy from having just woken up.

Suppressing the urge to summon him, giving him his much needed rest, Amy changed out of her nightclothes and into an expensive white blouse and long brown skirt with a frill of white at the bottom, a similarly brown cardigan worn on top. As it was getting cold, much of her clothes became unsuitable to wear sadly, though she didn't go out much in the winter months anyways so wearing the same clothes a couple days in a row didn't matter too much.

Heading to the kitchen, she picked up the introductory book to Wizardry along the way and opened it to where she'd left off. Despite her progress into the book, there was no sign of Lesser Illusion in sight and since Illusory Bolt, no new Spell had been taught through it. Only the odd cantrip or two to practice that would help casting more complex Illusion Spells. To be honest, I'm... getting bored of Illusion. I don't mean to sound petulant or spoiled, but at the pace this book's going at, it'll be years before I learn anything Apprentice Tier or higher. And I suppose that's the point. A real Wizard Mageling would likely spend years under the instruction of the book and their mentor until they could ascend. I'm only finding it boring because I'm an outlier. Felin's fast-tracked me into ascending and skipped a few unimportant Spells in the process; at least, I think they're unimportant. I wonder...

Felin was contracted with, I assume, a Monarch. That's a bit of a difference in strength if he's an Ascendant, especially if he was contracted with him before that. All the stories of devil deals have them taking interest in young, less powerful, Mages too, rather than experienced ones, so I suppose it tracks with that. Why do entities from other planes contract with us anyways? And especially when we're so weak. Felin I can sort of understand why he'd choose me - I'm maybe one of the only people in the world to discover the Wizards' disappearance and he's unlikely to get another contract any time soon - but other than that, why? Something to ask him when I summon him again then.

His old contractor though, something's bugging me about him. Felin... never mentioned his name, right? I don't think I'm misremembering. Maybe.... I have a way to check, too. Focusing in on her mana pool, she threaded a string of mana up towards her mind, it appearing somewhat tainted through her mana senses. It was no longer dull, rather it was active and tinged with the colour of Pure. And something else too. Fae? Perhaps. Amy wouldn't doubt it; not with her luck.

The mana stream connected with her brain along the brainstem seamlessly, impatient mana pumping into it immediately, Amy's thoughts too slow to stop it. In an instant, the world around her slowed, her movements sluggish. The wind brushing against the trees' branches, rustling them, outside her window froze, holding each leaf in its place. Her thoughts accelerated, and things that weren't so obvious to her before, became clear.

OooOoh- T-This is-!

Before Amy could even comprehend the changes the mana had caused to her brain, the stream snapped, her mind unable to take anymore. Time returned to normal, and her thoughts, irregular no more. With little time to adjust, the abrupt change was jarring, a headache surging through her head with no warning. Amy leant against the kitchen table, cradling her head in one of her hands, the sudden intense thumping pain never seeming to go away.

Only when it felt like an eternity had passed did the pain calm, and Amy regained the strength to move at all. She scooched over to her chair and flopped onto it unceremoniously.

"Not something to use often then," Amy grumbled, flinching after her voice reignited the pain.

Well, that was certainly informative too, Amy relented, as I did manage to remember a lot of details, other than the name. Felin never mentioned his past contractors name - maybe something to do with the hesitance Fae have towards giving out names? Or something more sinister - and there was that one strange moment when we first met that I was able to ask questions before him, even when it violated the 'bargain' he had made. That in particular sticks out to me, more than the name part. Fae would've been used to 'fool' reality into making that 'bargain' a physical law of reality, if my understanding of the Element is correct. Yet, I was allowed to violate it. Maybe, just like the law in the real world, it needs to be purposefully enforced. And Felin simply decided to let that single transgression go.

Other than that though, there was something else. I felt like if I didn't use as much mana, I'd be able to achieve a more manageable and less painful effect. And... on top of all of that, I felt like I could change my mind itself. Small things, like specifically enhancing portions of my brain, but not temporarily. It would be a deeper form of the permanent enhancement I already have. The cost to do that felt absurd, fortunately, so not something I can do any time soon. Likely a task Felin will give me when I've advanced more through Apprentice.

I was going to complain about it to Felin if there wasn't any way to scale the degree of enhancement, if a full enhancement like this always hurt so much. Luckily the problem solved itself before it even was one. I wonder... if there-

Knock. Knock. Knock. Three soft knocks echoed from the door to her home, Amy caught completely unawares, shocking her out of her thoughts. Getting up carefully, and putting on her jacket, she tentatively approached the door. Moving carefully, she creaked it open - just a little - so that she could see who stood in front of it. It was a child.

To be specific, it was Kurt; the one who'd visited her not long ago, and who she'd supposedly made 'sick'.

"Can I help you, Kurt?" Amy asked, trying to put on a soft smile through her tiredness, opening the door more so she could fit her face through.

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"Oh, M-miss-" Kurt coughed, covering his mouth the best he could. Now that she was more focused on him, Amy could see the soreness around his nose, the paleness of his skin, and how he seemed to wobble standing still. He was very clearly still ill.

"Silly child," Amy murmured, under her breath. She opened the door wide, and said, "Come on in, it's not good for you to stand out in the cold like you are. I'll make you some tea."

"T-thank you, miss. Thank- t-thank you kindly."

Without waiting to see if Kurt had entered or not, Amy turned around and went to her kitchen sink, filling a metal kettle with water. The only sign that Kurt had come on was the sound of the door closing behind her, and as the child shuffled awkwardly towards one of the table's chairs, and sitting on top. While she distracted herself with the stove, her back turned to him, Amy weaved a simple Ward Spell, shaped around her mouth and nose, allowing only air in and out. If this kid's as ill as they say he is, then I definitely don't want to catch what he has.

Finishing up, the stove lit, and the water being heated, she grabbed two mugs and some tea leaves from a store in her cupboard, all the while Kurt stayed uncomfortably silent. With everything sorted, Amy turned back around, sitting down opposite him on the table, taking him in. With how greasy his hair looks, It must have been a while since he's washed himself properly.

"Well, Kurt, what brings you here?" Amy smiled, genuinely gentle this time. "Take it slow; try not to strain your voice too much."

"M-miss... I-" Kurt said hoarsely, and quietly, not coughing at all this time, "I- want t-to buy... some herbs. To-to help with... the plague."

"The... plague?" Amy blanked, cocking her head, uncomprehending for a moment. Rage came as soon as the word set in, sudden anger at Henry and the village as a whole clouding her face. They had hidden this from her. And, in the end, when it all came to a head, they wouldn't be the ones suffering for it. It would be her. The Mage, taking all the blame.

"The-they don't call it t-that miss, bu-but it's clear w-what it is. Almost l-like the one two y-years or so-" Kurt said, an emerging cough cutting him off.

"Well," Amy winced, the sudden reminder of... that souring everything, guilt seeping in and subsuming her anger. It all comes back to that day, doesn't it? Stupid me for expecting anything different. Probably why Henry and those 'elders' don't want me involved. "Can you describe the symptoms to me? Of this... this 'plague'?"

"It.. i-it starts like a flu, m-miss. It kee-keeps up like on too, fev-fever and all th-that. The a-aches o-only get worse-... though, I've doing better, n-now. I g-got off lucky."

"Lucky? Lucky how?" Amy pressed, staring deeper. Even if she didn't want to scare the kid, this was important and she needed all the information she could get.

"W-when my fri-friends got it, t-they th-thought it'd be-be me, like-... like me," He stuttered, stumbling over his words. "Th-they got all r-red, like a tomato! Uh, m-miss. Like a-a berry-rash, but-but worse. Th-their skin got- got all dry, too. W-when I'd left, my sister- she- she was bleeding from the sores- Uh, yes- yes miss, th-there were so-sores too. Som-some even had.. had the shits, m-miss."

"Did they have lumps over their body? Sensitive, and tender to touch?" Amy asked, unsure. It certainly doesn't sound like any illness I know of. Flu mixed with cholera maybe? "Did any part of them go black? Like they were... going bad? Like a piece of meat would?"

"No-no, miss. N-nothing like that," Kurt added hurriedly, seeming shaken by the description. Well, guess that's one more thing on the list of my bad deeds. Giving children nightmares. That said... who knows if they don't have bad dreams about the Witch already.

"You're still sick, right?"

"Yes, m-miss. No-nothing like, like tha-that, though, miss," He coughed, wincing as the kettle's whistle started to screech.

"Well, I can give you something to help the coughs, and the aches too, but I have no idea about the others, Kurt. You've done a good job describing it to me, but I can only do so much if I can't see it."

"I-I'm sorry, m-miss."

"You have nothing to apologise for, Kurt," Amy assured, getting up to pour the water into the teapot, the leaves already suspended in there. I probably won't be able to smell this through the Ward, sadly. It's always nice, too. "And you're sure you have the same thing as them? Not some unrelated cold you've caught?"

"Su-sure, miss. They ha-had the s-same stages, of-of the illness, m-miss. J-just never go-got better - like I did."

"And how many people have this... plague?" Amy scowled, scared that she knew the answer.

"I- d-don't know ex-exactly. Bu-but, at least- at least tw-twenty of us, m-miss."

"All children?" Amy said, deeply, trying not to let the anger spread to her voice.

"In the beging- beginin- beginning, y-yes. No-now, a f-few adults, t-too." Kurt mumbled, struggling to pronounce the word, putting a bit of a smile on Amy's face.

"Well, try not to worry about it too much Kurt; I know it's hard not to, but I'll be making sure I look into it more closely as well," Amy said, taking two freshly-poured mugs of tea over to the table. All the while, her attention was focused elsewhere, or rather, inwards, towards her swirling mana pool, her Magecraft active. Ambient mana poured in, forming a whirlpool around her, as she focused on her inner dance. It was one of calm, and slow movements, meant to relieve stress and meditate on. This smooth, gentle dance channelled the mana towards her attunement of choice, towards Healing. The Spellform was ready in the air, invisible to Kurt who had no Mage Sight, the Tier 1 Spell focused on him. As she set the tea down in front of him, Amy pressed a hand down onto his shoulder, meant to calm him, as she cast the Spell.

Soothe Wounds spun out of her, seeping into Kurt deeply. Amy felt his shoulders slump as pent-up stress and pain began to be relieved. For the boy, all he would notice was the nice and relaxing herbal tea placed in front of him, taking his worries and hurt away. With a widening smile on her face, the Spell casted, Amy sat back down on her side of the table, placing her own tea down.

"Enjoy your tea, Kurt, and let it take your mind off of things," Amy said, thinking of what else to say. I'm the Witch, not his mother. I don't know how to help him! Other than through magic, that is. "...Come on, what sort of things have you been into lately?"

"Umm... I-I've been ill, so-so not much."

"...Right."

For the rest of the morning, the pair sat in mostly silence, enjoying the rest and their tea, speaking intermittently about whatever came to mind. It was awkward. Incredibly awkward, even. But, after all was said and done, Kurt seemed happier at the end of it. And, to the Witch, that was all that really mattered.

* * *

Waving him goodbye, a herbal mixture she'd made in his hands as he walked away, Amy stood in the doorway of her home, grinning. It wasn't often that she had a good interaction with the children of Triesen, yet, even after what a lot of them had done, she was still fond of them. Reminds me a lot of my little brother, honestly. I wonder how he's doing? If he even remembers his older sister anyways, who hasn't seen him in years.

Closing the door behind her, Amy let her smile drop, her darker thoughts that she'd stamped down on during her tea with Kurt rising to the surface. It's too much of a coincidence that Kurt caught a less severe version of the plague before the rest. If I didn't know any better, then I'd think it was just a bad bug going around. This stinks of something magical though. Whatever Kurt had must've evolved between when he caught it and when the rest did. Though... I thought that last time, didn't I? And, in the end... it was just a bad sickness. No magic. No evil mastermind poisoning the village. Just... Ugh!

"Damnit!" She yelled, throwing her arms into the air, venting her frustrations. The guilt was there regardless, however. "Of course when it was all getting better did it come back to haunt me. God-"

Cutting herself off from saying more, Amy forced herself to calm, taking her seat, before she inevitably spiralled again. Sighing in exasperation, she rested her chin on her hand, looking out her window, towards the path to the village, Kurt long gone. At least that Soothe Wounds worked. I wasn't sure if it would, with my Ward running, but it seems like the expanded mana pool is better than I had thought. Yes, I could always have a passive Ward going on in the background, requiring no mana, but an actively blocking Ward like that one as well as regular Spellcasting? That would've been impossible just a few days ago.

And... the more I dwell on it, the more I'm sure the plague's magical. I could be wrong, but that's what Felin's for, in a sense. He'd be able to investigate better than I would. Investigating the plague's also just gone up a few steps on my plan. I'm thinking of doing that right away over looking at the Tower first. Didn't Henry say he'd put a guard up to monitor the definitely-not-a-plague too? I oh-so wonder where that supposed guard is, and why they haven't come to me about the twenty sick people just hanging around untreated! Just a whole mess, all around. Goddammit- or, is it Mage-dammit? I don't know, that seems way above my Tier right now, and I don't want to be fussing over the dead gods when alive people are hurting. I know I promised to prioritise myself more, but this is important. I may not like my job, but it still is my job. And I certainly don't want the Empire chasing me about it.

Either way, this stinks of something fierce. I'll give him more time first but after lunch I'm definitely summoning Felin again. If not for his council, then just for support.

Watching the wind rustle the trees outside, Amy let the taste of the scentless tea she'd repoured calm her nerves, letting the day go by in peace. Or, what could be seen as peace for her, nowadays, with Felin around.

Deeper into the forest by the village of Triesen, past the shrubbery; past the scavenging pests; past the hunting animals; and past nascent mana beasts, there was a Tower. It stood tall against the test of time, hidden behind shielding of brilliant verdant green. Even rotted and half collapsed, it was beautiful. Deeper still, further into the Tower; up the grand staircase; past other rooms; and all the way to the top there was an open coffin. It was empty, the Mage's corpse taken away weeks ago by a dear friend. Next to it, lay a forgotten, pointed, grey hat. It was a Wizard's Hat. Or rather, it was the Wizard King's Hat, enchantments of Fae design skilfully woven into it, keeping it safe and preserving it. Looking out over the whole forest was the balcony, wind wafting in and out through the opening to it. On the roof of that balcony was a hawk's nest. Chicks huddled close together, nestled deep into the twigs of their nest for comfort, waiting for their parents to return.

They never would.

Something was wrong in the forest, besides the prowling mana beasts, looking for the source of that great disturbance in the Mana Ocean.

And it was only getting worse.