Halls of Le Fay School Of Magic

"Make way! Make way! 5th Prince Medraut comes this way!" Came from a loud, finely dressed man at the head of a group of six including himself.

"Why does it have to be like this?" Wondered Prince Medraut currently at the center of his royal escort made up of four members of the Phoenix Guard, who flanked him on either side in two's and that annoyingly loud servant. "Hmm?" Whose name escaped the prince as he was looking around at the students and staff that parted way. "...if this goes well will I have to come here more often?"

Today's royal duty or as Medraut would put it 'royal pain in the ass' was a visit to see Rhwystrau, the headmaster of Le Fay in order to confirm if the young prince had the makings of a spellcaster. If so, then Medraut would have something over his older brothers for once as all of them were unable to use magic, granted they made up for it with their own great prowess.

"Come on! This my best shot to up those guys!" Medraut hoped, so far for most of his life, he was only ever looked at for those he was related to and not for his own person. "If I can use that 'power' I might have a shot..." The 'power' he was referring to was this odd thing that happened when he got mad, yelled at people, and they did what he said...

...Okay, maybe it's not as fantastical or magical as what most spellcasters could pull off, and perhaps it was just the fact that he was the prince of one of the greatest kingdoms in the world. But the thing about this 'power' was that it worked on the ever stonecold Derrick, who despite serving House Penfenics with all his heart, actually only listened to King Loth and Queen Morgause.

Medraut and his brothers were only viewed as 'royal brats' by the man even when the oldest of the princes had beaten him in a dual; the old knight refused to follow any order given to him unless Loth or Morgause pushed it on him. So in short, if this runt of the litter could get that man to react to his order just a little, then there has to be something special about him.

"My Prince...we have arrived?" Medraut was taken out of his thoughts by a hand rolling in the corner of his eye. The group had come to a large pair of stone doors that gave off a light glow. "Ah!" The hand was pulled away when Medraut looked up. "I am sorry for playing in your face, but you appeared to have some deep thoughts."

"That's fine...good work..." Medraut waved it off as nothing while the attendant was in a deep bow and the knights stood guard at the doors with each scanning the area. "...to you as well my knights." The prince nodded to the knight, who remained stone-faced while doing their duty. "Golems have more life in them than these guys."

"Well, then it would seem that everything is in order..." The attendant declared with another bow this time with a hand to the doors. "...the headmaster of Le Fay awaits you."

"Right..." Medraut walked up to the doors as two of his knights opened them. "Ugh?" the prince was hit with the potent smell of old books and a near-pitch blackness if it wasn't for a line of dim candles overhead. "...as my father ordered; you are to remain outside until I return..." He said to the attendant, who nodded in agreement. "Alright, down the hole we go..." Medraut soon disappeared into the blackness.

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1 hour later Rhwystrau's office

"Hmm? Well now, I suppose we can say; that's that..." Rhwystrau was sitting on a wooden throne with Le Fay's emblem behind it in gold while in front of him was a large desk made of the finest Malus Domestica (Apple Tree) wood this side of Laudonia. Slacked on top of it were thick books, rare gemstones, detailed figurines of the Sigil Sect, a large crystal ball that stood on a stand and oddly there was a large black witch hat as well.

The rest of the room was still cast in near-absolute blackness as candles hung to the walls to outline a somewhat circular shape, behind the candles from what little light they gave off were bookshelves that went up and into darkness.

"Uh, yeah?" Medraut was currently sitting with his arms held out over the crystal ball. "Uhmm..." And was trying his hardest to get any reaction out of the orb but nothing happened. "...so? What's the verdict, Master Rhwystrau?" He asked, letting his hands drop to the desk.

"Hmm! Mmm! Mmm!" The final person at this meeting was Morgen, the little witch, currently sitting in Medraut's lap and was writing away in her book without her hat on, being the one on the headmaster's desk. "Hmm?" She glanced at Medruat for a moment, then went back to writing.

"One moment..." Rhwystrau leaned on the crystal, and out of his unseen face came a breath of air.

"Whoa!" To Medraut's and Morgen's surprise, the crystal ball instantly lit up in golden light as the entire room was illuminated. Allowing more of its details to be seen, such as the tiled floors, mirrors here and there, moving printings, and most notably the tree roots between the bookshelves.

"Wha?" Medraut covered his and Morgen's eyes as the mini-sun floated up to the ceiling where an upside-down apple tree was growing. The crystal ball nestled itself in the tree's leaves and took on the shape of a golden apple ripe for the taking.

"Impressive?" Rhwystrau asked with one of his sleeved arms pointing at the glowing orb with a pleased look in the white globes of light he had for eyes.

"Very much..." Medraut muttered while Morgen's head was nodding non-stop. "... too bad I couldn't get an ember out of it..." The prince hung his head low and stared into the black bobbed hair of Morgen which to him was a void showing nothing but his lost chance at upping his brothers.

"Oh? No need to be upset my boy, magic is a fickle thing, even when nearly everyone and everything has some amount of mana within themselves, the ability to control mana is often...quite selective...despite the numbers that my school holds..." Rhwystrau tried to mend what disappointment the young prince felt while also trying to show some of his worth to the maybe king of the kingdom. "...in fact, if I am correct none of your brothers have any magical powers to them, yes?"

"Yea...but they have a whole lot to make up for it unlike me..." Medraut dropped his head to rest on top of Morgen's which didn't bother the little witch much since she was back to writing down notes as if her life depended on it. "...but you know I just thought since my father sent me here out of the blue then maybe something might be different about me."

"Uhmm? Uh? There is something di-di-different about you..." Morgen slowly and shyly pointed out when she paused in her writing. "Ah! My Prince! Sorry about speaking up!" She quickly rolled up into her blackball mode when Medraut and Rhwystrau turned to her.

"Hmm?" With the headmaster giving her a particularly judgemental look also as if he was upset by her words while Medraut was patting the black ball in his lap thinking she was trying to cheer him up. "And...what reason do you have for saying such things, my dear?" He asked, motioning an arm to the prince.

"Ah, I mean...he's...well...uh...has anything odd...happen with you...recently?" Morgen came out of ball mode and kept her face in her book to avoid Rhwystrau's gaze.

"Huh?" Medraut was taken aback by the question as his mind went back to that time when Derrick was training him. "Actually, yeah?" He began and pulled the headmaster's attention away from Morgen and onto himself. "I don't know why but...there was this time when I yelled at some people and...they did what I said without a second word..."

"Hmm? Is that not a natural occurrence? You are after all the prince of this kingdom are you not?" Rhwystrau was a bit confused by the answer Medraut gave, but the look of wonder in the prince's eyes made his own light up. "Ah, but forgive me, my prince, as one from the magical world, I should know that there is always more to what is there, yes?"

"Uhm, yea..." Medraut nodded, by the look of it Rhwystrau wanted to hear a bit more and so did Morgen. "...well...the thing is when that happened...Captain Derrick looked like he was following my words not completely but sort of..." He explained further, and a look of small surprise came to the headmaster's face. "...yea, I know weird."

"Indeed, it is..." Rhwystrau nodded, knowing full well the kind of man Derrick was, and found it nearly impossible to believe that anyone but the king and queen were able to make that man do something. "...anything else to add?" He had an idea as to what this might be, but he needed some more information from Medraut.

The prince raked his mind for anything more, and only one thing came to him. "Hmm? Well, some servants near my father went along with it..."

"And what of your father? How did he react to this...'ability'...shall we call it for now." Rhwystrau continued with his questioning. "Based on his answer, I believe Lady Morgen may have a reason to come back to the city."

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"Nothing..." Medraut shrugged, there wasn't much of a change in his father after he did...whatever he did to the others, in fact, the only thing the king did was. "...well? He did a quick spar with me 'cause I asked for a fight...not from him but anyone else there..." He shuddered afterward when he remembered his father coming at him with Garvic aflame. "I could've been cut in half and burnt alive at the same time..."

While Medraut was thanking the Goddess for keeping him safe that day, Rhwystrau was slowly rubbing his arms together in deep thought. "...have you been able to recreate this 'ability' by chance?"

"No? I don't know? I mean sometimes I yell at the maids and butlers to do stuff for me but that time was...different?" Medraut answered, again raking his mind for anything that could help him or more to the point help Rhwystrau understand it for him. "Hey, uh, Master Rhwystrau?" However, something else was picking at his mind, as well.

"Yes?" The headmaster was all ears to anything the prince had to ask.

"What's with this kid?" Medraut pointed at the little witch in his lap, hell he didn't even know her name. All he was told; was that she was there to take down what went on.

"Eek!" Which caused Morgen to freeze up like an ice spell hit her.

While Rhwystrau was put on guard with his eyes taking on a more sharpened look. "How so?" He asked in return as the golden apple giving light to the room grew darker.

"Well, at first I thought she was just a student assistant or something with all of the writing she was doing, but you've been looking at her the same way you're looking at me, so I was...wondering is all?" The prince explained his reason for asking about Morgen.

"Ah, hunger for knowledge, I see?" Rhwystrua nodded knowingly then set his eyes on Morgen who came out of her flash freeze. "May I discuss your creation and purpose to the prince?"

"Uh...uhm...ugh...ah!" The little witch was a mess of unknown words and jittery movements. "Hmm?" Until a hand came to rest on her head.

"If you're not okay with it I can wait?" The hand belonged to Medraut, who put on his best royal smile to calm the young witch. "But what was that about creation and purpose?"

"Oh...thank you?" Which worked as Morgen's voice became clearer, and her random jitters stopped. "Master Rhwystrua..." She began causing the headmaster to look at her. "...you can go as far as you wish..."

"Ah?" Rhwystrua's eyes doubled in size and then quickly returned to normal. "Well then, Prince Medraut, you must know of Lady Morgen, yes?"

"Uhm? The founder and leader of Le Fay? One of the most spellcasters in the world and all of history? Helped my father become a king? And all that? Yea, I think I know about her..." Medraut joked around a little. "Ugh?" But soon found himself as the target of glaring eyes from Rhwystrua and Morgen. "...hehe...you guys aren't going to turn me into a frog are you?"

"As powerful as I am, I can not do that without a magical item..." Rhwystrua assured the prince while turning his eyes into a pair of upside-down triangles. "...but, I suppose foolish questions earn foolish answers..." He nodded to himself as his eyes turned back to orbs. "...to put it simply this...thing...is a creation of Lady Morgen."

"Huh? You mean she's her daughter?" Medraut asked, looking down at Morgen all too confused by Rhwystrua's choice of words. "And why call her a thing?"

"Because that is what it is, a 'thing.' That was created to fit its master desires..." Rhwystrua held to his words as Medraut only became more confused while the little witch Morgen had gone dead silent. "...these three fall in line with the one in your lap." The headmaster held an arm and in the air above Rhwystrua's desk appeared three spheres of mana.

"Wha?" Medraut gasped when he saw what was inside of them.

Each one held the three spellcasters who were Nathan's final opponents during the Sigil Sect recruitment trials. Those being the Cycplos, Orc, and Dark Elf who called eachother siblings. "Ugh..." However, something was very wrong with them as they all groaned and held onto their withering bodies as if they were aging by the seconds.

"Ugh, who are there?" Medraut forced himself to look away from the aging mages but his eyes fell on Morgen looking up at them with those same golden cat eyes as them. "And that hat?" And noticed that their wide-brimmed hats matched as well.

"Fruits of Lady Morgen's labor..." Rhwystrua stated still not making any sense as shown by the twists and turns in Medraut's face as he tried to wrap his head around any of this. "...a bit of basic magical knowledge before I say more on the matter of these...'things'..." He continued as the young prince looked at him for answers. "...the thing known as magic is one's and something's ability to harness the mana from within and from the outside world to bring about a certain reaction. In my case, it is creating walls, shields, barriers, etc..."

As Rhwystrua spoke a Mana Barrier in the shape of a box came over him, Medraut, and Morgen. "With time, knowledge, and practice, I was able to take a step further than most." He motioned upwards where each of the spheres had an effect added to it.

The first holding the Cycplos had frozen over as snow and frost began to fill it. The Orc's was radiating heat as the one inside was being cooked alive. And the last one displayed the Dark Elf as being stopped time with his aged hands reaching for escape.

"What are you doing!?" Medraut thought as he was unable to make a sound for whatever reason.

"I commend you for showing concern for those you know nothing of..." Rhwystrua had a pleased look in his eyes as the effects he placed on his barriers were not only stopped but reversed, yet the aging of 3 remained. "...that was only a small display of what one who has mastered the art of controlling mana is able to achieve, but Lady Morgen has done something that puts even my greatest spells to shame."

"And it's making...people?" Medraut asked, looking up at the now dying spellcasters and then there was Morgen in his lap who looked all but normal compared to them.

Rhwystrua noticed Medraut's staring and felt the concern he had for the young witch. "Worry not, for that one it is one of Lady Morgen's masterpieces..." He eased said concern while replacing it with even more confusion. "...you see Lady Morgen does not simply harness and manipulate her mana as others do...she creates that which has yet to be with her mana...through a form of magic simply called Creation."

"Huh? Sorry, but I don't get it? She can make things with mana? Can't every spellcaster do that?" Medraut asked, whatever Rhwystrua was trying to help him understand was going way over his head at the moment. "And what does that have to do with them?" He waved between Morgen and the aged mages.

"Everything, my prince..." Rhwystrua answered with his arms held together. "...to make this simpler to understand; in the case of a normal spellcaster what they create with magic is and always will be made entirely out of mana, as such anything that would affect mana would affect their spell...unless you are Morgen Le Fay that is..." He paused to take a look at the Morgen whose face was in a blank stare.

"Go on?" Medraut rolled his hand around at them as they were staring at eachother as if talking with their eyes alone.

And Rhwystrua did. "In Lady Morgen's case, the things she creates with her magic are in fact 'real' for lack of better words...they are not made of mana so in turn spells such as Dispell have no effect on her creations not only that but she can bypass some of the restrictions other types of magic have. For example, a druid requires at the very least soil in order to use most of their magic, whereas Lady Morgen can form a tree out of thin air, fruit, and all." He motioned up at the upside-down tree in his office. "She created this office...no...most of this very school with but a few words."

Safe to say Medraut was left stunned once he really got it in his mind. "...but how does making trees and schools lead to making...people?"

"Time, knowledge, and practice, a combination of things that very few can beat Lady Morgen in..." The headmaster paused to gather his words as a sad look came to his eyes. "...however, the deeper one dives into their work, the more they set aside important things in order to achieve their goals."

"What do you mean...?" Medraut asked with his voice low and felt a chill go down his back.

"You see, my prince, one does not simply create without understanding..." Rhwystrua closed his eyes, turning his face into a black void. "...simple things are simple to understand, such as rocks, air, fire, water...but life even if it is a plant is something almost otherworldly to recreate with just one's thoughts..." He opened his eyes still holding sadness as he looked at Morgen. "...one sample being taken apart piece by piece is never enough to bear fruit...what I am trying to say is that in order to create one must also destroy..." He trailed off from there to allow Medraut to guess what he meant.

"Wait...you mean? She killed people to learn how to make people the right way?" Medraut came to that guess after listening to Rhwystrua.

"Indeed, she did, and it frightens me to say this, but the number you may think it took to get this far is greater..." Rhwystrua raised an arm to the spheres overhead where the mages were nothing but bones wrapped in skin. "...things such as personality, age, habits, knowledge, mana, the very soul itself, can not be recreated from just a corpse. It must be studied for one's interest, molded to one's liking, or even obliterated to see what would remain, but such acts are ones that I and others who know of Lady Morgen's magic find...disgusting...beyond what we can bear."

Once again Medraut was left stunned as in his very lap was as far as Rhwystrua explained someone who was not born by natural means but a...thing...made from years of research, trial, and error, and an untold number of lives. "Why?" Why indeed, why not just stop at the elements? Land? Clothing? Why go as far as to understand what a soul was? But at the cost of taking the souls of others.

"Because she wanted to..." This time the answer came from Morgen's lips with her face set in an emotionless stare. "...Uhm? Uh? Ugh! Sorry! I am Sorry!" Then all of her nervousness hit her at once as she grabbed her hat to hide her face and went into black ball mode.

"She's Morgen's masterpiece?" Medraut asked himself as the shaking ball of black in his lap was the result of everything he just heard about Morgen Le Fay's quest for...what? He knew why she did it from her own creation's mouth, but that didn't really answer the question of Morgen, the little witch unless. "Wait, what's your name?"

"It's Morgen..." Morgen answered in a whisper from the black ball that was her current state of being.

With that answer in hand, Medraut looked at Rhwystrau, and despite the lack of face on the man, the prince could tell that any more questions he had would be given no answers, and even worse was this feeling in the back of his mind that told him he was a part of this in a bigger way than even Morgen Le Fay's 'masterpiece.'

Chapter End