The train screeched to a halt at Eidyn's primary station in the late afternoon, and Leith set foot back on the concrete ground of the city. As for Nadine and Gilmore, it had been aeons since they felt the endless hustle and bustle of the metropolis, so different from the serene Trinketshore they had grown accustomed to.

"So, where to next?" Nadine asked Leith.

"Straight to the parliament," Leith replied. "My father should still be there for another hour and a half. We can't wait any longer."

Gilmore was hesitant. “Straight to the parliamentary office? Bringing luggages? Can we nae seek a hotel first or something?”

"No need," Leith insisted. "My father has an official residence, but we can't wait for him to be there too late. If we go now, he might be able to act quickly."

Leith had to load up his suitcase and start rushing. “Come on! Hurry up! Eidyn roads are going to be jammed at this hour!”

The city of Eidyn was a paradox, alive and kicking while also dying. Buildings spewed carbon fumes from chimneys, and the exhaust of the engine carriages painted the city skyline with grey smudges that sometimes crept into the nostrils. This was the fresh air of the city! But yokels like Nadine and Gilmore could never stand the pollution here. The city was ablaze, and even the rare trees seemed fabricated. They fought for the remaining pure air with tens of thousands of others, and it tortured their beings. Next time they went to the capital, they would have to bring some village airbags and a respirator to survive its aridity.

Through the busy journey of Eidyn, surrounded by bland towers with a passenger carriage, they arrived at the so-called parliamentary office. An office that looked aesthetic and uncommon for a government bureau. The parliamentary office area was, in fact, divided into several buildings, forming a complex.

This was the very first time Nadine and Gilmore had witnessed the Eidyn parliament complex. An assemblage of edifices boasting an eccentric architecture that beguiled their gaze, compelling them to scrutinise the enigmatic intent behind their twisted shapes. Leith, however, kept ambling forward without their knowledge.

“Hey!” shrieked the Crimsonmane lad. “Why are you still standing there? Let’s go!”

The gasping couple immediately grabbed their suitcases and followed Leith.

“Are you sure we’re in the right location?” Gilmore was sceptical.

“Aye, I get it. I don’t know what the higher-ups were thinking, spending millions of king’s tokens to renovate the parliament building, and turn it into a circus compound,” Leith said. “After all, experts say the buildings won’t last for another forty years. So please, keep it to yerself.”

The trio burst through the entrance and were immediately met with resistance from the blocking security guards "What business have you got here, young man? The Parliament Hotel is that way."

Leith casually replied, “No, we’re not seeking any lodging, gentlemen.” He handed the suitcase to one officer. Gilmore also cheerfully gave his luggage to another guard. Nadine did the same thing while muttering. “Excuse me, just wait for a minute, please, good sir? We won’t be long.” The security guards were left puzzled.

Leith made his way to the receptionist's desk. “I would like to see Mister Donar Crimsonmane,” he demanded.

The receptionist regarded the fourteen-year-old lad, offering a polite response, "Pardon me, young master, but have you arranged an appointment with him?"

“Please just tell him Leith is here. It’s an emergency. If he refuses, we’ll leave right away.”

The young folks did not look like they were going anywhere, so she called the baron and relayed the same message. After a lengthy exchange of hushed words, she hung up the telecomm and beckoned the three of them. "Please come with me."

As they rode up several floors in the elevator, they arrived at the door leading to the private office of the Crimsonmane MP (Member of Parliament). The voice from behind the door called out, "Please come in!" as they knocked. Inside they found Donar sitting at his desk, surrounded by a sea of documents.

“Leith?” Donar asked, wondering. “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be at Trinketshore already?”

“Oh, I just got there, Papa, before a scunner forced me to be here. We have to discuss something,” Leith replied.

Donar could see the urgency in Leith's eyes and asked the receptionist to leave the room. "If it's about black magic, I think the elite magi I sent have done their job pretty well."

“Not that. I want to talk about that one, papa.”

Donar’s forehead wrinkled, his eyes darting to the outside. “And the reason you brought Gilmore and Nadine was…?”

“They’re involved.”

"Close the door, now!" Donar ordered, and Gilmore complied, making sure it was locked. Donar then stood up from his chair. The presence of Nadine and Gilmore made his normally relaxed face tense up.

“I thought this secret only existed between our families, Leith?”

“What you don’t know is this was an open secret at Trinketshore before we even attended the family gathering!”

Donar slapped his forehead. “I’ve heard rumours that the source of the might has been found. The owner has been arrested and will be tried in a closed magic court.”

“Closed magic court, huh?” said Leith. “They’re too afraid the factual information will spread out, but it still leaked anyway.”

“So it’s true then,” Donar's sigh intensified his restlessness. “Maybe I should report this to your grandfather—”

“Not yet!” his son interrupted. “In fact, we came here to discuss it with you. Well, and also ask you to do something about it. It’s still a rumour here, so let it be. No one should know about this other than the four of us.”

Donar was increasingly confused by his son’s behaviour. “Doing what? and what do you mean the four of us? I mean, I still don’t understand how come Nadine and Gilmore got involved.”

“If you may, My Lord,” Nadine tried to explain. “I don’t know how to explain this, but we were the ones to discover that pure Arcane. But we are not the only ones. There’s the actual owner, and the Romans caught that person, so we ask you for help.”

“This ‘pure Arcane possessor’ doesn’t just hold onto the powers, Papa. The owner can even access it to cast magic. But I must admit that mage is still a dunderheid.”

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Donar was still trying to fathom those statements. The children were sure too secretive. “Fine, enough. Can’t you tell me directly, who owns the pure Arcane?”

Prior to this meeting, Leith actually intended to tell his father face-to-face. Now he reconsidered his intentions. He tried to compose a sentence about who the owner of the Divine Grace was without making his father fall into a heart attack.

“I’ll tell you. But please, even though I know you can hold your temper, try not to be shocked or anything.”

Of course, his choice of words failed. Before Leith even told him, Donar’s eyes had already caught sight of Nadine and Gilmore behind his son. One could even surmise who did not attend this little conference.

“No, don’t tell me…!”

***

It seemed Alicia tried all her might to ignore Mars—her new acquaintance who kept beguiling her all day—despite the red hue still embellishing her countenance.

As night fell and the guards turned off the lights in the prison complex, Alicia lay in her bed, glasses still perched upon her nose. Her gaze was fixed on the starless sky of blackness. A lingering sense of loss pervaded her being, for Orb, who used to accompany her beside the bed, was not accompanying her now. The prison had fallen into the gloom of hollow without the presence of her ball-mate. She wandered in her own dream about her upcoming trial and how she could regain her precious ball pal.

But the stubborn Mars still babbled in hopes of getting the girl’s attention. “May I ask before we go back to sipping each other’s slumber?” he pleaded.

Alicia forsook the boy’s pleas.

“Say you still have the Divine Grace, what are you going to do with such boon?” he inquired again.

The girl did not reply to him still.

“Still cranky aren’t you? Listen, I apologise if I made you uncomfortable. I’m just a little lonely. Um…, not really. I often feel lonely. Maybe because I was alone all this time, I didn’t even know how to speak with manners. Not to mention they placed me here, in a ghost complex too,” Mars chuckled. “Oh Fate, you are something else.”

Alicia was still hesitant to answer. But she knew from the tone Mars did not fabricate his emphasis on being lonesome.

Mars felt that Alicia just wanted to rest, finally giving in.

“Well, silly me. You should rest for the trials later. Eternal sorry for disturbing your sleep once again. Hope you can get your Arcane source back.” Mars curled up in his bed and tried to shut his eyes.

Several minutes passed.

“I want to save the world.” The Crimsonmane girl finally opened her mouth. Mars immediately turned his head towards Alicia’s chamber.

Alicia continued, “Since I was a wee bairn, I often felt that my mama and the Magisterium of Arcane Plane are struggling to save all corners of the continent from magical conflicts. Magic is everywhere, but the world is at war and no place is ever safe. Magic should support life, aye? Now look, they use it as their weapons for their war instead. Curses spread anywhere. Us waging war with the Black Alliance. The pitch-black space plagued the Mu continent. A strange interdimensional threat in the eastern region. I just can't stop thinking, do people really see the beauty of using magic to harm people?”

Mars did not utter a single word.

“Are you still there, M-Mars?” asked Alicia.

“I’m here, Alicia. Go on,” he murmured.

"I always dreamed with Mama, that one day, I could help her stop all that. To give happiness and joy through magic. No more suffering and tears. War and conflict pass as time passes. As the proverbs from Eretopeion, ‘Turn the whole world into the fields of Elysium.’ If only they could use magic for that purpose. Because... they said magic is a hallmark of human evolution from the Old World for a better life, eh? And I believe in the theory of maximising their potential to the peak to ensure perpetual contentment and bliss for humanity! 'But if they can’t, then I’ll do it myself!' That’s what wee Alicia Crimsonmane would say back in the time.”

A sigh escaped as an interlude happened. “Of course, that dream was just a girl’s wishful thinking that had to run aground in time. Reality gave me a skelpit lug: I can’t cultivate my mana, I was ostracised by my own House, and Mama….”

Her voice began to falter.

“My mama is missing. I dinnae even ken where Mama disappeared to and why. Did she disappear while on duty? Or she deliberately did so because… she couldn’t stand my family situation… or couldn’t stand... me.”

Behind her steadfast soft voice, there were pieces of sorrow piercing Mars’ soul.

“How long has your mother been missing?” asked Mars.

“Two years. More. I dinnae ken.”

“I’m sorry, Alicia. You don’t have to continue if you want to.”

“No, I just….” Alicia rubbed her eyes a little. “I’m alright. Well, that was my life. Empty. However, ever since I met Orb, I’ve felt… whole again. The dream that I buried deep inside rose from the dead. I was pulled back into that dream, and then I thought, why not? I have Divine Grace with me. Maybe The Silent Divine leaves Orb to me to save the world from agony, away from the clutches of Khaos. Something the Romans should have been able to do, but they ignored it. I want to learn Orb more intimately to make it happen.”

“Turning the earth into the fields of Elysium, huh?” said Mars. “Your ambition is… very noble, Alicia.”

“If it’s too naïve and unreasonable, just say so. No need to act as though you're flattering me.”

Mars smiled on his bed. “Naïve? I don’t think so, Alicia,” he said. “Even if you do, it doesn’t matter at all. Keep it and keep chasing that dream.”

Alicia was curious about Mars’ answer. “You really think that?”

“I think the purest ambition of a human being is that of a child,” Mars replied. “Little children are not innocent, Alicia. They only have pure intentions. Divine seeds that have not been corrupted by the chaos of the world. The few who manage to keep them always carry a strong hope as the foundation of life on earth. I dare say so because very few could keep that to their death. If a child dreams of a perfect world, believe me, it will happen. I hope you can make that dream come true.”

“Mars, that is….” Alicia did not expect an answer from the man across the cell. Not at all. “I don’t know what to say. But, I thank you, Mars.”

“And...,” he added with a gentle tone, “even if you’re in the midst of hardships, never harbour ill thoughts, especially towards your mother."

Mars' words caused regret to well up within Alicia. Everything she said was affected by the fact that the girl was under pressure. Almost abducted, then locked up in a place miles away from her own home. The girl just nodded without Mars noticing. She diverted the conversation. “By the way, what were your childhood dreams?"

A brief pause followed before Mars replied, “Ah, I'm glad you asked. You could say that my aspirations align with yours. Do you recall what I mentioned about children being divine seeds? My mother always reminded me of our inherent divinity. Surely, you must be familiar with the tales of the illustrious Thunderkeeper or the Sun's Rower, Ammon! They serve as exemplary figures who actualized their divine essence. The few practitioners of magic who have attained Perfection! We can do that too, but we waste the gift on meaningless and momentary pleasures. My mother conveyed to me that a grand design had been bestowed upon me by The Divine! That I was prophesied to inflate human potential with my strength, restoring all human beings to their divine nature. Thus, humans no longer need to be trapped in endless lust. The world will enter a time of peace and prosperity without ceasing. We can even share it with an infinite number of otherworldly civilizations... if any! Isn't it marvellous, indeed? I always found it quite marvellous, even in my younger days."

“Sounds like one heavy onus,” said the girl. “So heavy that you decided to give up, then took your troubles on other mages and ended up in a cage,” Alicia laughed out loud.

“Yes! Of course, one heavy onus! Your fate is no different, right?” Mars continued Alicia’s allegation, then followed by giggling together.

“Hey, Mars. Since we share the same dream, what do you think if we work together to make world peace?”

“Saving the world together...” Mars mused. “An interesting proposal. Wait! Hey, that’s fantastic! Mars and Alicia, the lovebirds who save the world together!”

Alicia jumped out of bed. “What, wait! Hey, that’s not what I meant!”

“Mars and Alicia, Marslicia! Ooh, a pair in a bond of love. They shall navigate the realm full of evil, in order to guide the world to Eternal Peace! Heroic, romantic, epic!”

Marlicia sounded utterly disgusting to Alicia's ears. “See! That thing again!" she yelled back at him, "I thought ye had enough of flirting, ye freak!

“Huh? When did I say that? Besides, who came up with the idea first?” Mars chortled again.

“Before ye get too raunchy, I just wanted to let ye ken I’m only sixteen!”

“So? The age of consent of Camelot is sixteen.”

“Relating with girls at that age is not allowed in some parts of the world!”

“When in Roma, do as the Romans do.”

“Argh, forget it! I’ll just go back to sleep!” Alicia was coiled up facing the buttress, Mars still taking the time to giggle. Even though her face was blushing in the dark, Alicia could still smile a little. She enjoyed the conversation with Mars. The strength and hope for the trial that awaited her and ever her path beyond.

***

Early in the morning, a guard clanged on Alicia’s cell and opened the cage door. Both Alicia and Mars were awakened by the loud sound. “Alicia Crimsonmane! Get up and clean yourself up. The trial will start in an hour!” []