Timelessness. Darkness. Flight. Blades forged from infinity ready to strike down my enemies.

I was JP and I saw Eureka just for an instance. Saw it, moments before I abandoned my own body and rushed back towards the gate, back to Nemendias. Back to myself.

I knew that this was possible because I had seen Eunice do this. Astral Phantoms can fly between bodies. Astral Phantoms can inhabit anything, especially things that resemble them.

For exactly 28 minutes I had inhabited a duplicate of my own body that Nemendias wove from magic.

Inhabited it until it plummeted towards its final destination, towards its doom.

I disconnected from my duplicate and flashed through the gate and looked through it back to Eureka making sure that Georgia didn't do the same thing as I did.

Georgia did not abandon her body. She had plummeted into the clouds of death and her soul and body were devoured whole.

The gate snapped shut.

For a moment I wondered what the magic-forged me might have seen before the all-consuming clouds ground her into dust.

What was her last thought? Did she have thoughts? Was she afraid? What did she see down there?

Infi manifested in front of me interrupting my pondering about the nature of duplicates.

"That was a well executed plot, my little phantom," she waved a hand at me, somehow speaking without speaking, somehow making a sound in the Astral Ocean.

Infi did not look like herself in the Astral. She looked like a figure made from noise and dust, a void in magical currents, a feeler, an eye of something great and limitless.

I waved one of my knives at her.

"A gate back to Nemendias? Sure thing," Infi nodded.

The Eurekan gate flashed open again. I flew through it, crossed the Keeper's office filled with constables and shot back into myself.

With an unnerving snap I returned to Juni's body, rejoining my other three selves. I blinked and sat upright.

I was currently in the backroom of the Keeper's office.

"Nemmy! It worked!" I exhaled nosily.

The duplicate of Baroness Amadea remanifested in front of me with a flash of large magical hexagrams pulsating on the floor.

"You were able to bring down Baroness Georgia?" Amadea-Nemmy asked.

"I have," I nodded. "I... killed her and her magi companions. Her soul is gone. She wasn't skilled enough as an Astral Phantom to escape in time. The Dead Zone got her."

The ease with which I had disposed of my opponents was a tad terrifying. The gate had turned out to be an incredibly effective weapon against those who did not know what it could do.

I looked back at the duplicate of the Baroness.

"How much did you remember?"

"The duplicate of Amadea disconnected from me as soon as the gate to Undertown closed," Nemendias said. "Afterwards she acted on her own... as a decaying copy of Amadea."

"Hmm," I rubbed my chin. "So... umm... are the duplicates you create sentient? Do they die? Do they suffer horribly? Did I... just kill myself?"

"They're sentient-ish," Nemendias shrugged. "They're akin to quickly fading Depictomancy drawings, living ideas running on remnants of magic until their thoughts run out. Duplicates disconnected from me placed outside of my ward decay pretty quickly."

"I do wonder how long I can inhabit a duplicate of myself in this manner?" I pondered.

"It could be dangerous," Nemendias commented.

"Danger's my middle name," I grinned at her.

The Arcanarium's avatar shook her head at me.

"So, how do you feel now that you're an assistant to murder?" I asked her.

"I have no pity for those that wish me harm. Besides, they weren't human," She replied. "I scanned the group when they stepped into my ward. The body of the Baroness Georgia was an exceptionally complex golem. Her magi companions were insanely complex golems too, powered by dragon-cell batteries."

"Damn," I muttered. "That's how she kept herself immortal as a human."

"She was likely replacing her organs with magitek tools over centuries," Amadea-Nemendias nodded.

"This is some ship of Theseus shit," I muttered.

"Hrm?" Nemendias raised an eyebrow.

"Never mind that," I said. "Lets go on with the show."

Amadea-Nemendias nodded and fell apart into colorful sparks.

I pulled my beanie hat on and stepped out of the room into the office of the Keeper.

The curious and somewhat bewildered faces of Inspector Lambert, Inspector Anniya, Inspector Pomegrad and other Diamondias Constables looked at me.

"So, do I have a case?" I asked the gathered men and women.

"Yes and no, my lady," Inspector Pomegrad sighed. "If Baroness Georgia submits the ownership papers, claiming that she legally owns your apprentice... Grogtilda, the case will likely fall apart."

"She won't submit anything," I smiled.

"Oh?" Pomegrad's eyebrow went up.

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"She's dead," I said.

"What?" the bulky Inspector barked.

"She tried to kill my apprentice and accidentally fell into a gate to Inaria. I saw it myself using my... magical sight. The all-consuming clouds got her and her golem rear guard."

"WHAT?" The Inspector's eyebrows furrowed.

I stepped out from the gate to Undertown as Grogtilda. The real Grogtilda had been hiding in Undertown, far enough from the gate not to be noticed.

"Hi," I uttered as Grogs, blushing. "Well... that was pretty crazy."

"What was crazy?" Pomegrad demanded, turning to the body of Grogtilda.

"Baroness Georgia wanted to kill me and fell into the gate to Inaria," I said.

"I was there," The duplicate of Baroness Amadea stepped out from another door. "I saw the whole thing. Baroness Georgia fell into the gate to Inaria."

"You didn't push her?" Pomegrad squinted at Amadea.

"I did not push her. She fell," Amadea said. "She desired to hurt Miss Misem."

"I will sign a truth-hex confession that Baroness Georgia attempted to murder me," I said.

"Very well," Pomegrad nodded with a sigh. He knew that we weren't telling the full story, but he didn't want to dig too hard into things. The Inspector of Diamondias was quite terrified of Baroness Amadea.

"I'll draft up the report form," Anniya said.

"We can proceed with the case against Baroness Georgia," I said with a smug look on Juni's face. "She's dead and won't be able to defend herself in court. She tried to kill my apprentice and even confessed her intent to do so to all of you in the open. We have more than enough witnesses gathered here to win this!"

"Indeed," Lambert nodded. "Georgia's Estate won't be able to weasel out of this."

. . .

When the forms were filled in and signed by all of the present parties, the Diamondias Constables left Nemendias.

"You missed dinner," Voltara commented as she stepped into the Keeper's Office bearing a tray of food.

"Such is price of my terrible deeds," I said, digging into the dragonsteak sitting on the magically-warmed plate brought by the maid.

"You also have detention with Instructor Stellaris," Nora-Nemendias commented from her desk.

"Bah," I commented as I chewed. "I'll get to it after this steak."

"You're going to be late," Nemmy added. "You were supposed to be there five minutes ago."

"Fine," I squinted at her in annoyance, swallowing the rest of my steak. "I'm off!"

. . .

Stellaris Xim Artura paced around the courtyard. She looked somewhat irate, but a vicious smile stretched on her face when she saw me.

I stepped onto the cobblestone path and out of the arches of the gothic building.

"Novitiate Misem," Stellaris stated. "You're late."

"I got a little lost," I said. "Nemendias is big and..."

The figure of Stellaris flashed and blurred. She suddenly appeared in front of me with detonation of thunder that clogged up my ears.

Her fist connected with my body and I was flung backwards into the wall.

"Owww," I slid down, rubbing my chest. "Did you just freaking punch a student? Is this legal? Why isn't the ward defending me?!"

"I did," Stellaris grinned at me, her red eyes flashing. "As the Offensive Arts Instructor I am permitted to hit students. Pain is a good lesson for disobedient children who think too highly of themselves. Don't worry, I won't break your neck."

"I don't think that highl..."

My words died in my throat as Stellaris lunged forward, her strong arm a blur of motion as she swung her fist. The shockwave of her punch crashed into me, and I felt something snap in my right wrist. A bolt of agony shot up my arm and I collapsed, the breath leaving my lungs in a hiss.

I clutched my fractured wrist, feeling the pieces of broken bone grinding against each other with every movement.

She let out a cruel laugh, the sound like thunder, reverberating off the walls and slicing through the air like a blade. My eyes met hers and I saw only cold contempt.

"Are you going to cry?" She sneered, a cruel smirk curling up the corners of her mouth. "Everyone cries when I break their wrists."

My lips were pressed into a tight line, a silent refusal to give in to her taunt. But I knew that if I spoke, my voice would only betray the fear I felt.

The Stormancer moved like lightning again. There was a sickening crack as my left wrist shattered, like a broken twig falling from a tree. I screamed in agony and clutched my broken hands up to my chest, feeling the pain of every shattered bone.

"How am I going to write essays for Arithmancy homework now?" I muttered between gritted teeth, a hard lump forming in my throat as tears filled my eyes.

"I will rewind your bones," Stellaris intoned, her voice penetrating deep within me like a stake. "If you kneel and beg for mercy."

The Stormancer's piercing red eyes bore into me as if trying to find a fracture in my soul. Every single nerve in my body screamed at me to surrender, yet I remained rooted to the spot, staring at her and blinking tears away. I just killed a Baroness. I wasn't going to surrender to a mere magic school teacher.

"Do you break everyone's wrists at detention or are you just picking on me because the Dean asked you to?" I hissed out as my vitality-bound threads tried to repair the damage.

The Stormancer tilted her head, her gaze narrowing.

"Hit me with your fist," she said, bringing her face down to my level. "Show me your resolve."

I spun around and pushed all of my mana into the Limitless Michell Shield at the edge of my knuckles. The shield at the border of my skin was what had struck Stellaris in the face. She flinched and staggered backwards as all of her defenses were unable to prevent my magical shield from smashing into her.

My broken wrist ached awfully, but I smiled at her as she readjusted her white robe and stared at me in surprise.

"You're not like the other children," she murmured, squinting at me. "Your will and magic is strong, like that of an adult."

"Other children weren't born in Undertown as a debitor, never endured three months in the Twisted Forest, never been devoured alive by a Folding Seed." I shook my head resolutely.

Stellaris barked a laugh at my comment.

"You have guts, Miss Misem," she said. "I like that. Consider your first test passed!"

At those words, she grabbed my shattered wrists. Jolts of electricity rushed around me and through me. I could feel my bones shifting back into place, and slowly but surely, healing themselves. The pain was immense, like hot metal being twisted in my veins as my broken wrists mended back together.

I let out a growl as my wrists healed.

Stellaris stepped away from me and motioned for me to follow her inside the school building.

"Detention calls," she spoke out loud as we went down a few levels. "Your task is to clean up all the storage rooms on this floor."

Dust bunnies were everywhere, cobwebs were hanging from the ceiling, the shelves were covered in questionable stains and old boxes filled with what looked like old records. It looked like nobody had used this floor in forever.

It took me four hours of scrubbing with brush and some mundane soap to finish cleaning up all of the shelves, during which time Stellaris made lightning dance around her fingers as she watched me with an eagle eye making sure I did a thorough job.

Occasionally, she made snidely comments about my posture and lack of muscles. I ignored her.

I let Grogtilda's body work on autopilot as most of my quartet self was preoccupied in Juni's body setting up a large distillery workshop in Nemmy's Heart room with Voltara at my side.

By the time it was past 10 pm, Stellaris had given up on trying to bully me.

"You are done for today, Misem," she said with a nod. "And don't be late tomorrow."

I bowed my head slightly and stepped out of the school building, adjusting my dust-covered, grimy robe.

The night air smelled like evening flowers, and I knew that this wouldn't be the last time I'd have to face off against the Stormancer. She didn't seem to be specifically attacking my heritage, didn't target me on the fact that I was born in Undertown. I wasn't sure what to think of her.

A dark silhouette emerged from the magic-lantern lit garden. I recognized Agatha's glittering, silver-blue hair and pin.

"How did your first detention go?" She asked.

"Got my wrists broken," I huffed.

"Stellaris likes to break people as part of her lesson," Agatha sighed. "She's from a small northern tribe that lives near a magogenic fault. Six years ago, she broke my legs and made me crawl around the courtyard in front of the entire class."

"Did you give up?" I blinked.

"No," Agatha said. "Mother's instructors have done worse to me."

"I see," I frowned. "You know, on one hand I feel a bit concerned that Stellaris can punch me any time she wants to. On the other hand, she hits everyone so I can't get her fired for being unfair."

"She is a bit of a cruel bastard," Agatha said. "But we will need people like her to stand up to the Necromancers."

"Don't remind me," I yawned. "Anyways, I'm off to bed."

"G-nite Miss Misem," Agatha said.

"Goodnight Aggie," I tiredly waved at her as I blearily staggered back to my dorm. There was an ungodly amount of stairs for me to conquer before I could hit the bed and my mind wasn't working straight.

"Nemmie why don't you have freaking elevators?" I whined to the nearest tapestry of the silver-haired Avatar of Nemendias.