The reunion between Ezekiel and his family was warm and heartfelt, and while they still remained under the safety of the Church of Ten’s influence, they were, for the most part, able to find enough privacy to talk about the events that had happened in the city, as well as the different experiences Ezekiel went through.
To say that neither of his parents were happy about what had happened was very much an understatement.
If it wasn’t for the fact that Gerome had left for the duke’s castle as soon as he had confirmed the Covenant was fulfilled, it was likely that a fight would’ve broken out from how incensed his mother was.
But regardless of the horrors that Ezekiel told them about, it was the knowledge of his emotional instability that had shocked them the most.
The way they saw it, it explained so many things, and they couldn’t help but feel guilty at the fears they’d had previously.
For the rest of the day, nothing was done with the family other than spending time together. Ezekiel didn’t even bother talking to the Scholars who’d helped him and given him the enchanted items that had so greatly helped him.
Not that they hadn’t tried to talk to him, but other than Quentin, who had to be dragged away by his acolytes, most of them gave the family some space. Though Trent did request that Ezekiel come talk to him, after hearing from Gerome, who they’d passed on the way here, that something had happened to his sword.
Ezekiel agreed to meet in Quentin’s workshop in the morning. He also noticed a distinct lack of Merlot’s presence, but figured that his betrayal must’ve been revealed, and didn’t mention anything.
However, regardless of how happy the family was, even with the ups and downs from Ezekiel’s stories of the expedition, once the destruction of the Ruins was brought up, Warren and Evelyn grew tense.
Although it was not specifically brought up, and was actually politely ignored, for now, there was a noticeable shift in the mood when Ezekiel mentioned the damages done to the Ruins, or rather, the destruction of the Ruins entirely.
The punishment for excessive damage to Ancient Ruins was extensive. Yet not even his parents were aware of what kind of punishment he was likely going to suffer. They only knew that there were too many factors against him for it to go well.
It was known amongst the Guilds that certain rules being broken had previously led to executions. Neither Evelyn nor Warren would let such a thing happen, of course, but it was still something that was known to them.
Neither told Ezekiel this, of course, as they had no desire to cause Ezekiel further stress.
For now, everything was good and well, and any other problems could be dealt with later.
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The next day, Ezekiel was sitting in Quentin’s workshop with Warren, Trent, and Issa. Ezekiel sort of wished that Lina and his mother could be there as well but knew that Lina was busy as one of the premier healers in the city, and his mother needed to watch his sisters.
To be honest, if it wasn’t for the fact that none of his family wanted him to be alone right now, he could’ve gone to meet Quentin and the others on his own, like he did before the expedition.
He figured that this was probably a good thing though, as he knew that there would be questions about what had happened to his sword, so it would be best for his father to be there for support.
Of course, given what they were going to be discussing, Ezekiel also took his father to the side, and spoke to him about a few things just in case things went poorly. Things that might help with making sure nothing happened to the sword.
For this, he and Warren took a moment to meet with Allon and see if they could borrow a few things from him before meeting with Quentin and the rest. Ezekiel also went to his mother to borrow her Void Pouch.
Finally, after making several preparations, Ezekiel and Warren went to Quentin’s workshop.
“Ezekiel! There you are. Come here, come here! We need to get you checked over, and then we need to get ready to continue studying the effects of Void Mana on different things. Now that you’re stronger we can run many more tests than before!”
Scholar Quentin’s voice was as exuberant as always, and the fact that Ezekiel had fallen a Step in his mana seemed to have escaped him.
“Scholar Quentin, stop. There will be no tests today. We have other things to deal with.” Warren stated as he and Ezekiel entered the workshop.
“What? Is there something wrong with the boots I gave you? I can’t think of anything that could’ve gone wrong with them. But even if there is, don’t expect me to fix them. I’ve moved onto more interesting things, so I don’t have time to back track.”
Trent and Issa just sighed and rolled their eyes at Quentin’s behavior, but Warren and Ezekiel couldn’t help but feel a bit frustrated at Quentin’s attitude.
“The concern right now has to do with Ezekiel’s sword, actually. We are here because Trent requested it after Gerome mentioned to him that something had happened to it.” Warren explained.
Trent replied before Quentin could speak up.
“That’s right. I made that sword to be durable enough to take a few hits from a Tier three Mage, so I can’t imagine what idiocy you put it through to damage it.”
Ignoring Trent’s cutting words, Ezekiel pulled out his sword, laying on the table within its sheath before pulling it out and placing it down flat.
Trent’s mouth fell open slightly as he looked at the significant changes in the sword. It no longer even somewhat resembled the sword that he had created and given to Ezekiel.
Even Quentin and Issa were silent as they examined the sword with wide eyes and confusion.
“... What happened to it?” Trent asked, his voice no longer filled with the cutting frustration it usually was.
“It changed after I entered the Void Core inside the ruined Temple of the Void. I... didn’t really want to show it to you, but after I was forced to show it to Gerome and the Inquisitor, as well as several city guards, I figured that you would find out about it anyway.”
Trent gave Ezekiel a look after he finished his explanation.
“Why didn’t you want to show us this?” He asked.
“Because I can’t give it back to you for study right now.” Ezekiel stated.
“Oh? And who’s to say that I won’t just take it back from you? I am the one who created it, after all.” Trent said, his voice coming out quite harsh and biting.
“I am.” Warren stated as he moved forward, Theo jumping down from his shoulder and letting out a growl that reverberated through the room.
Trent flinched backward for a second, knowing that he would stand no chance as a Tier two facing a Tier four. He looked back at Quentin for help but received none from either him or Issa.
“Don’t look at me. You might be my apprentice, but you gave that sword to the kid. Asking for it back is rude and pointless. The way I see it, the kid knows what happened to it, so he can tell us why he won’t give it back.”
Trent moved back in frustration as he begrudgingly admitted that Quentin had a point.
From there, Ezekiel briefly explained what had happened to the sword, explaining that the remnant of the Ancient Void stated that the sword would be destroyed if it was infused with any mana at all within the first month after it was altered.
He didn’t explain anything regarding the sword being a nascent Void Spirit made from his soul. Only his parents were aware of that, and they agreed that it wasn’t something that should be mentioned just yet, as they had no means of bonding with another Spirit if anything happened to this one.
“Well, that’s quite the adventure you’ve been on, but I fail to see why this means that I can’t study the blade.” Trent said after Ezekiel was finished.
“We don’t know what could happen to it if you do anything to test it! I’d rather see what was done to it first than waste an opportunity given to me by the Void!” Ezekiel nearly shouted as he took the sword back.
“Yet if we just wait, we’ll never get to study the changes as they are occurring right now, and we will miss our chance to potentially create the same effects!”
“You’re not even a Void Mage! You wouldn’t be able to copy the effects even if you did know what was happening to it!”
“That doesn’t mean the effects can’t be applied to other things or used to further my studies in other Magic!”
“ENOUGH!” Quentin interjected with a yell, having seen that Warren was about to step in, and feeling that it would be better if he did so instead, as this was quickly becoming a matter that would likely spiral out of control if not dealt with now.
Both Trent and Ezekiel turned to look at him. Trent had an expectant look on his face, as if he was only waiting for Quentin to side with him, while Ezekiel was looking helpless and desperate.
Quentin knew that there was more going on with this but decided that he didn’t need to know. After having worked with both Ezekiel and his apprentice, he knew which one's attitude and personality he liked better.
“Trent, the fact of the matter is that that sword belongs to Ezekiel. Yes, you made it, but you gave it away, and whatever happened to it after you gave it to Ezekiel has nothing to do with you anymore.”
Trent looked shocked at what Quentin was saying. He knew his teacher was one of the most careless people around when it came to ownership of an item, as he was known for taking things without people’s permission, and ‘borrowing’ things for unknown periods of time.
Yet here he was, saying that they shouldn’t be taking Ezekiel’s sword, regardless of how much it might reveal regarding the secrets of Void Mana.
By this point, Ezekiel had already sheathed the sword, and had backed away to hide behind his father and Theo.
“Why are you siding with them? I am your apprentice! I am an Acolyte of the Church of Ten! Not them!” Trent exclaimed as he threw his arms in Ezekiel and Warren’s direction.
“Because I follow the Church of Ten’s mandate regarding artifacts of the Void. As well as the Guilds methods of compensation. That sword only underwent such changes because of Ezekiel. They had nothing to do with you. As such, unless he is properly compensated, that Sword belongs to him.”
“Yet you’d take relics and artifacts from your fellow Scholars without even asking!”
“It is because they are my peers that I can do such! Ezekiel is not a Scholar of the Church, and as such, he is beholden to different rules than we are! If you want to study that sword, you will compensate him properly, just as I, and many other Scholars have done when requesting Relicts or other items from people not affiliated with the Church in the past.”
Trent looked like he had bitten into a lemon as he glared at Quentin. He knew full well that there was nothing that he could do to get Ezekiel to give up that sword. But, after thinking about it for a minute, he knew that there was someone else that he could go to that might be able to help him.
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Off to the side, Issa had moved around to stand with Warren and Ezekiel, having no desire to get between Trent and Quentin as they were fighting.
Ultimately, Trent said nothing as he turned and walked away from his teacher, leaving the room altogether, and slamming the door behind him.
“Well. That was dramatic.” Quentin said in an exasperated tone of voice.
“Scholar Quentin I’m sorry I-”
“Don’t apologize, kid. Trent’s the one who needs to learn a lesson here. He’s always cared about next to nothing besides his research. I had hoped that he had mellowed out a bit when he made that sword for you, but I guess he just wanted to show up that traitor Merlot when he found out that we were all making gifts for you, so that’d you’d survive your expedition.”
Quentin tried to reassure Ezekiel as he tried to apologize.
“It’s just such a shame. In some ways, it was Trent that I expected to be a traitor, not Merlot. But I guess that just goes to show how bad I am at reading people. Oh well, if he learns from this, good, if he doesn’t, too bad. He just burned a bridge he won’t ever be crossing.”
Ezekiel looked confused for a moment as he heard Quentin make his comparison. But after thinking about it, he decided he didn’t need to know. He knew that the situation with Merlot was still fresh and painful for the Scholar who had spent so much time teaching and guiding both Acolytes.
Instead, Ezekiel turned to his father, and pulled him to the side.
“Dad, I think we need to do the thing I told you about. I think we can trust Quentin.” Ezekiel whispered to his father at the side of the room.
“You know I can hear you, right? I know you’re smarter than this Ezekiel, so I don’t really get why you’re trying to be sneaky in my own workshop.” Quentin said blandly from across the room.
Ezekiel’s face burned red as he realized how childish he was being, and Warren couldn’t help but let out a laugh as he saw this.
“Just because he’s not trained in combat, doesn’t mean that a Tempest Mage won’t be able to hear you from across the room. Especially when they’re Tier three.” Warren gently chided with a chuckle towards Ezekiel.
“Right.” Ezekiel muttered as he and Warren moved back to where Issa and Quentin were waiting.
“Is this something that I should be here for?” Issa asked as she saw Ezekiel’s face become much more serious as he and Warren approached.
“... Maybe not. Just in case.” Ezekiel said quietly.
“Alright then. I’ll be just outside. I’ll come back inside when you’re finished.” She said before leaving the room. This time the door closed much more quietly than before.
“Alright. So, what’s this about? No offense but, I do need to get back to my research, and if you’re not going to help me out then I don’t know why you need to stay here.” Quentin questioned.
“We need your help with something.” Ezekiel said as he closed his eyes and covered his ears.
“What’s he doing?”
“I’m sorry, but I’m going to need you to do the same thing as he is right now.” Warren said.
“Really?” Quentin looked somewhat amused.
“Really.”
“Very well then.” Quentin then closed his eyes and covered his ears as well. To take it a step further, he even sealed his senses so he couldn’t use his mana to know what was happening in the room.
Warren sensed what Quentin was doing and nodded in approval. He then went over to Ezekiel and removed his sword. Then, he took out another sword from his Void Pouch. It was one of his spares that he’d used when he was still a city guard.
He then removed both swords from their sheaths and put them into the other sword’s sheath. Then, he placed the second sword back on Ezekiel’s waist, and placed Ezekiel’s actual sword into a second Void Pouch. Then, he placed the second pouch onto a table before tapping Ezekiel on the shoulder and then turning around and covering his eyes and ears like the others.
Ezekiel then turned around and grabbed the pouch before taking out and placing his mother’s Void Pouch in its place. He also, without looking at it, shifted the sword on his waist around so that the pommel, which he didn’t touch, was behind him and tucked up under his shirt.
Finally, he turned around and approached Quentin, poking him in the side to notify him to uncover his ears and open his eyes.
“Alright then, what next?” Quentin asked.
“Now, you take this Void Pouch, you never open this Void Pouch, and you give it to either Lina, if you get the chance, or you give it to Grand Scholar Naeri, or Grand Scholar Harolt. But you also tell them not to open it at any point ever, and that they need to return the pouch to my father or my mother roughly a month from now.” Ezekiel explained.
Quentin just raised an eyebrow before looking at Warren, and then looking at Ezekiel once again.
For a moment, Quentin looked like he was going to ask something, but decided against it. Instead, he just shrugged his shoulders and took the pouch, making sure not to attune to it, and placed it in a drawer in his desk.
“Thank you.” Ezekiel said.
He then took his mother’s Void Pouch that he’d placed on the table into his father’s hands, who then proceeded to place it into his own Void Pouch, all without opening his eyes.
“Well.” Quentin said with a clap of his hands. “I must admit that this was a wonderful exercise in trust and deception, as contradictory as that statement is. Now, if you don’t mind. I do need to get back to my work, and unless you want to become my test subject once again, I’d suggest you be off for now. You may as well take Issa with you. She was mostly here to make sure we didn’t damage you too badly anyway.” Quentin motioned to shoo Ezekiel, Warren, and Theo out of his workshop.
Ezekiel and Warren didn’t protest as they left the room, speaking with Issa and inviting her to spend some time with them and the rest of their family and friends if she wasn’t too busy.
As the door closed behind them, Quentin couldn’t help but look down at his desk, and ponder the gift that he’d received for now.
“That child truly is the cleverest ten-year-old I’ve ever heard of.” He muttered under his breath as he opened the drawer and grabbed the pouch.
He wouldn’t be able to pass it on to one of the others right now, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t store it in a more secure place for right now.
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After that meeting, little else happened with Ezekiel as he and his family continued to stay at the Cathedral for some time.
Eventually, Ezekiel got to meet up with Lina, who was able to do a more in-depth healing session, and also informed him that she’d received a Void Pouch from Quentin, at which point Ezekiel asked that she not bring this up again until he or his parents asked about it.
Confused, but willing to trust him and his family, Lina agreed, though she did demand an explanation as to why Ezekiel was suffering damage to his soul.
Thus, he spent some additional time explaining things to her, and telling her that it was something the remnant of the Void asked of him when he met it in the Void Core.
Little more was said after that, though he did continue to see her every day for a week in order to continue his healing sessions.
“The fact that you fell a whole Step is scary, and the fact that’s all that happened, rather than you just dying is even more terrifying. I’m not certain even a Death Mage at Tier four would be able to safely sever parts of a soul like this. The Void is truly filled with terrifying wonders.”
Ezekiel couldn’t help but shudder as he listened to Lina’s mutterings as she spent time healing and checking him over.
Unlike before, when his damaged soul required time to heal, it seemed like Lina was more available to help since Ezekiel and his family were still staying in the Cathedral for the time being.
It was during this time that Ezekiel also found out more about what had happened with his friends, as well as the unfortunate news regarding what had happened to one of them.
“... I can’t believe that Riley was a traitor.”
It had been a few days since he’d arrived, and after speaking to and spending time with Shari, Drew, and Yennifrey, he finally learned about Riley’s family, and her choice to side with them.
“Yeah. It was a shock for all of us. Bonnie was particularly distraught and was demanding I go with Riley so that she could stay with Celia. But I just couldn’t go. I couldn’t betray my family like that.”
Ezekiel nodded his head at Shari’s words but couldn’t help but see some of the irony in them as well.
“I hate to say it, but I think that Riley was thinking the same thing at the time.”
Shari was quiet after hearing this. Bonnie, who was nestled in her lap, just looked up and gave a few quiet snorts before snuggling into her stomach.
“At least it looks like you two are still getting along well.” Ezekiel said in an attempt to change the topic.
“Yeah. We fought for a while when things happened, but then we sat down and talked. Talked about our friendships, and the feelings that we had when we made our choices. As well as apologizing for being so stubborn.”
“Pigheaded, you mean.”
Ezekiel chuckled at his little pun, but Bonnie and Shari seemed to take insult to his joke.
“Oooof!” He exclaimed as Bonnie tackled his stomach while Shari bonked him on the head.
Despite the abusive reaction, however, Ezekiel saw a twitch on Shari’s lips that indicated she was holding back a smile. It quickly fell, however, as she brought up a topic he’d been trying to avoid since he’d gotten back.
He knew that her whole family was curious, but he had done his best to avoid it, until now.
“Hey... What happened with Aldor?” Shari asked in a whisper as Bonnie climbed back into her lap. “I know you’ve been avoiding it for a while now, but it’s just you and me here.”
“But you’ll still tell your parents. Won't’ you.”
Shari didn’t reply. They both knew it was a rhetorical question.
They both sat silently for a few seconds. Ezekiel wasn’t sure why this was so hard for him. As far as he knew, not a single one of the Alkena’s even cared about Aldor anymore, what with him being cast out by his parents quite some time ago.
“He wasn’t a part of the main battle. In order to keep me safe, so that Gerome could fight at full power, it was decided that I should get myself hidden away. They predicted this and used a scapegoat to open the Void Lock under the temple, who they disposed of afterwards.”
Shari and Bonnie both looked at him, their gazes never wavering as Ezekiel continued to speak.
“Ultimately, we were enemies, and he was trying his best to kill me, with everything he had. So, when I got the chance to kill him instead, I took it, without any hesitation.”
As Ezekiel said those damning words, Shari remained silent, as if she couldn’t believe that Ezekiel could admit to having taken a life so easily.
“I’m sorry, Shari. If I could’ve beaten him without killing him, I think I would’ve.”
“Why?” Shari asked, completely confused at his words. “Why would you have spared him? He’s been trying to kill you since you were five years old.”
“I think... I think the Cult of Light did something to him. Your parents might know more, but when we fought, his eyes weren’t red. One of them was gold.”
After that, neither one of them said anything else. But Ezekiel could see a small tear streak down her cheek before she buried her face in Bonnie’s fur, picking up and holding the little Spirit to her chest.
They just sat in the corner of the room, away from their family and friends. Silently pondering over the events that they both had suffered during the past few weeks at the hands of the Cult of Light and cursing them vehemently in the depths of their hearts.
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After his heartfelt talk with Shari, he spoke with Drew and Yennifrey, both separately and together, and while he was happy to catch up with Yennifrey and learn that she had officially been accepted as an apprentice under Evelyn, it was the talk he had with Drew that stood out most to him.
“How was it? The expedition.” Drew asked, when they had a chance away from the rest as they walked down one of the hallways to a dining area for some food.
“It was good, for the most part. Then it got bad later on.” Ezekiel stayed vague in his descriptions.
This wasn’t Shari, whose family basically had a pact to stand with his own, and vice versa. As much as Drew was a friend, Ezekiel still knew that some things couldn’t be shared with everyone without a certain amount of assurance. Some of which Drew and Yennifrey just couldn’t give.
“C’mon, you gotta tell me more than that! Did you fight any Umbral Beasts? What about the Cruor? Did you run into any of them?”
Ezekiel could feel his emotions acting up as Drew continued to pester him. He could feel his mana instinctively reacting to his desire to stamp down on his feelings as images of the Rot flashed before his eyes.
He shook himself as he focused on the here and now. Looking to the side, Drew was staring at him expectantly.
“I didn’t fight anything. I just stood to the side and did a lot of running away while others fought instead. Nothing super big, just enough to not get in the way.”
Drew seemed to slump a bit as Ezekiel said this, but no matter how much pestering he did, Drew couldn’t get anything else out of Ezekiel. Until finally, he snapped.
“Why the hell do you care so much! I don’t get it Drew. If you want to go Desolate Lands so bad, just keep on training, join a Guild, and go there for yourself!”
Drew flinched back at Ezekiel’s outburst, having never seen such a reaction from him before.
“You need to stop trying to rush things. I’m stronger than you, in basically every way except ranged attacks, and even then, yours just can’t beat me, and I still nearly died, several times.”
Ezekiel’s voice was rising at this point, and several people had turned to look in their direction.
“If you went now, you’d die without even knowing what happened. You’d probably go off on your own as well, off to find whatever it is you’re so desperate to find out there. Well guess what, depending on what you face, if you’re not Tier three at least, you’re gonna die, and you won’t even leave a corpse for your family to bury. So that’s my advice for you. Stay here until Tier three, or you’re just gonna die.”
Ezekiel’s voice had quieted down, but his words still struck Drew like a hammer. As Ezekiel walked off to get his meal, Drew just stood there with Jesse perched on his shoulder. Thinking over what Ezekiel had said to him.
Finally, he clenched his fists before turning away, no longer feeling in the mood for food.
“Tier three, huh? I can’t wait that long.” As he said this, Jesse couldn’t help but look at his partner in worry, but regardless of what happened from here on out, the plump little bird Spirit would stand with his partner all the way.
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Little else happened over the course of the next few days. The biggest thing that happened was that the rest of the Guild expedition had returned, and they hadn’t run into any additional conflicts beyond the regular Umbral Beasts that roamed around the borderlands near the edges of the Willowbrush Empire and the Desolate Lands.
By now, much of the major damages to the city had been repaired, as had the wall and western gate. As such, most of the people who had taken refuge in the Cathedral had left for their own homes.
This included Shari and her parents, as they had a lot to deal with regarding repairing their business and home. Drew and his mother also left, as did Yennifrey and her parents, though she came back every day to learn from Evelyn, who was working out of a small office within the Cathedral.
Unfortunately, Ezekiel and his family had to wait a little while longer before they could go home, as it was one of the places directly targeted by Count Forret’s forces, with the intention of getting to Wendy or Ellen when they were at home, but luckily the Church had already moved the family.
Unluckily, this meant that the only thing that those that were hunting them could target was the home itself, which was utterly demolished, and was not considered a priority for repairs at the moment. Thought the Church did promise to rebuild the home with their own Mages if the city did not.
Yet all good things still came to an end, and as several figures approached the Cathedral, Ezekiel couldn’t help but feel like more unwanted people were about to change his life once again.