“That's going exceptionally well,” Delta commented dryly as she stretched on the bed beside me. “Want me to take over?”

“Shush, I got it.” I mentally deactivated the crystal microphone, shooing my twin away.

“Do you really?” She tilted her head. “Seems like you’ve spilled the beans, boss.”

I rolled my eyes at her.

“Professor… Please, tell me the truth.” Cassandra’s silver-blue eyes bore into Great-Aunt Delta’s face. “I need to know the truth about my son! How can he possibly cast level 21 spells in Skyisle?!"

I leaned back to the microphone, reactivating its connection with the bee colony.

“Hmmm…” I paused to collect my thoughts again. “Could you explain to me what an aberration is?”

“What?!” Mom froze. “Aren’t you a highly knowledgeable Archmage, professor?! How can you not know about aberrations?”

“We don’t have that many aberrations in Oz for me to study,” I explained. “This phenomenon is local to your part of the world, produced by your magogenic fault. Please explain to me the nature of an aberration as your people perceive it.”

“Ah…” My mother sighed. “Aberrations are... spirits of ancient dead beasts. They're ghosts, cursed memories held together by magic. They are invisible to an untrained eye and hex-lanterns keep them away from paths and buildings so they cannot simply attack people. If a person is very injured and they have no lantern near to keep the ghosts at bay, one such ghost can get inside of a person, consume their soul, take their very place."

"I see," I muttered.

"After the ghost takes over a person, depending on how intelligent it is... it can pretend to be the host for a bit until it begins to do terrible things," Cassandra shuddered as she spoke.

“Such as?”

“Kill indiscriminately, devour their family and friends,” mom answered. "Ghosts are always hungry. It is said that consuming other people's souls keeps them warm."

“I see,” I said. “Well, were you ever injured enough for your son to be possessed? Were your children ever gravely injured?"

“No,” Cassandra shook her head.

“Do you have any strange symptoms? Afflictions?” I asked, playing my role of a wise Archmage.

“No.”

“What would you do, if you discovered that your son was an aberration?” I asked.

“It would mean that he is already dead, that the human soul in him is gone,” my mom replied with a voice as cold as ice. “I would put him to sleep with a spell, kiss him one last time, wrap him up in silver linen… and cast the body into the Valley of Death from the cliff’s edge.”

I gulped.

“Dark and brutal,” Delta commented. “Very Spartan.”

She flashed a toothy grin at me. Delta’s words didn’t get sent to the bee-speaker, since she was the one controlling the transmission. I squinted at her, starting to get annoyed with her interruptions.

“I’m kidding.” She laughed nervously. I squinted harder in her direction.

“Okay, okay, I’ll be quiet.” She pretended to zip up her lips, sat close to me, hugged my arm and fell silent. I realized that she was using snarky sarcasm as a way to deal with the stress. After all, she was as much of an aberration as I was.

“Your children aren’t aberrations,” I spoke into the microphone, my voice trembling ever so slightly. It wasn’t noticeable because the final result was so fuzzed up by the bee-speaker. “My… prognostication data based on Archmage Delta’s analysis of your twins showed me that both of them will grow up into good, decent people. I would not take a monster under my wing, Oz would not sponsor someone plotting to do evil."

"You still didn't explain how Dante can cast spells above the level 20 cap that limits us all," mom began.

"Archmage Delta constructed a [Green-Vitality] crystalline matrix which allows Dante to cast level 21 spells," I revealed.

"Oh! Of course, an artifact. Alright then, that makes sense," dad commented with an exhale. "Like a personal wand... a specialized tool similar to the Overseer’s armacus that amplifies specific magic?"

"Yes," I said and made the ant mech nod Great-Aunt Delta's head in confirmation. "Dante will show it to you next time you see him."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Thank you, professor!” Mom smiled.

“Archmage Delta will make tools like it for other citizens of Skyisle,” I said. “However…”

I made a deep, somber pause.

“Yes?” Cassandra leaned closer towards the ant mech wanting to hear more.

“If Archmage Delta and I are correct… then the renegade mage Giovashi has been keeping the people of Skyisle weak akin to sheep so that she could feed on them for generations,” I said darkly.

My parents’ expressions grew tense.

“The false Ishikarian Arch-Priestess is planning something truly vile. She tricked you, bound you into a prophecy of her own design using your own blood magic, Cassandra,” I revealed.

“How do you…?” Mom choked.

“Like I said before, we have Seer magi in Oz,” I lied. “Archmage Delta's mission in Skyisle cannot be allowed to fail. If she does, Giovashi will keep feeding on the people of your village and everyone’s levels will keep on dropping until Skyisle is no more."

Dad’s knuckles grew white.

“Giovashi will likely lie to you, attempt to convince you that your children are aberrations, evil spirits afflicted with madness. Do not believe her!" I declared resolutely.

I saw that Georgi’s fists opened and closed. We had him.

“The renegade mage seeks nothing but greater power,” I said. "She relies on the necromagi remnants of the Alanian artifacts in the catacombs beneath your town."

Mom still didn’t look entirely convinced.

“You, Cassandra, were the last Sentinel of Skyisle…” I resumed with a smile that was carried in my voice across the bee-speaker.

“What? Were?” Mom blinked.

“Archmage Delta Alana is the Eldest Alanian in Skyisle now,” I lied. “She outranks you as the Sentinel and knows far more than you do about your legacy. A thousand years ago when Tricameron Citadel fell, it was up to your kin to watch over and protect Skyisle. Giovashi sought to weaken the power of your line, Cassandra. She’s been making you say fake Vows to Ishira, making false threats like dragon Aradria manifest in Skyisle to undermine and sap the wisdom and strength of the Alanian Sentinels for generations! The truth is that our great Goddess… Ishira does not require binding Vows.”

“What?” Mom sputtered.

“She doesn’t?” Georgi couldn't appear any more shocked.

“Why would a truly all-mighty Goddess of Ishikaria really require skill-confiscating Vows to empower herself?” I asked him. “All you’ve been doing is chaining your souls to renegade Archmage Giovashi. It’s the reason why she hasn’t aged in centuries, the reason why your parents left you at sixteen, Cassandra. Giovashi… killed your parents, made them go into the Valley of Death using her [Charisma] magic. She did it so that you would grow up weak, lost and most of all... alone."

I was making stuff up, guessing things, but my harsh words struck Cassandra a fatal blow that she could not easily recover from.

“Damnation,” mom muttered, tears glittering in her eyes.

It looked like I was getting through to her.

I made Great-Aunt Delta nod her head in affirmation.

“That blasted woman! I can’t believe it. It all makes sense now! Why else would your parents abandon you at such a young age, Cass?!” Georgi muttered. “I should have guessed it, should have known…”

“W-what can we do?” Cassandra stared at Great-Aunt Delta, her eyes wide with worry.

“Archmage Delta can help you fix your Vows,” I said.

“What? How?” Mom blinked.

“Unlike Giovashi, she is a real Ishikarian Priestess, someone who worked as a Bishop of Ishira in Oz Cathedral of Archangels,” I lied. “She might have left Skyisle centuries ago, but she kept true to her faith and became a great Archmage.”

I made Great-Aunt Delta reach into her pockets and present two necklaces to Georgi and Cassandra. The gemstones within them contained Vow-breaking hexagrams that I had designed a year ago for Kliss and had improved upon over the long winter.

“If you put these on, the false Vows made to Giovashi will cease draining your magic,” I said. “They will work forever within the Ward of your house as it’s already been modified by Archmage Delta. As for going outside, you’ll need to carry battery stones to empower them.”

Georgi grabbed his necklace first and slipped it on.

His eyes went wide.

“Ave Ishira! The skill I sacrificed thirteen years ago is back!” He muttered, his eyes wide.

"What?!" Cassandra stared at her husband for a moment and then grabbed the second necklace.

"The Vow is no longer pulling on my magic!" He declared jubilantly.

Cassandra accepted the necklace and slipped it over her head, biting her lip.

I watched as the Vows above Georgi and Cassandra flickered in confusion, completely unable to reach their minds and souls, sealed within the shield bubble I've constructed.

Thus, my parents became free of their Vows. One by one I would rip power over Skyisle away from Giovashi.

“You’re free to leave Skyisle if you wish now,” I told Cassandra and Georgi. “The Vows will not command you anymore, will not keep you and your children bound to this house. Goddess Ishira does not wish her flock to be bound!”

“No,” Mom shook her head. “We’ll stay. We’ll help you stop the renegade mage, professor. If you give my husband and me wands that will help us cast spells above our level, then we’ll absolutely assist you.”

“Very well,” I said. “From this moment on both of you are working for the Oz Academy. Archmage Delta will pay both of you and your children a salary in gold for assisting me. There is much to do. We’ll need your Agromancy skill to propagate a [Vitality]-aligned tree across Skyisle to prevent the breath of [Decay] from affecting the village."

“I’ll do whatever is necessary,” Cassandra affirmed.

“Likewise,” Georgi nodded, looking determined.

“Excellent. We’ll keep in touch via this voicecast channel,” I said as my conversation with my parents concluded.

“Since when do you have gold to pay us all a salary for years?” Delta elbowed me in the side.

“I don’t, yet,” I grinned at her.

“What?” She blinked.

“I have a bit of money for now and I scanned the lake like you recommended,” I explained. “The loot of the Tricameron Archmagi got swept up into it along with their estates. We’re going to dive there to retrieve it!”

"Ohh, a treasure hunt," Delta grinned. "I do like the sound of that!"