While Mages were capable of drawing on all four schools of magic, only an Omnimage could actually expel and cast more than one school at the same time. Velaya had done just that when healing Magus Ossacus’ head injury. She had drawn on the power of Physical magic and used the Light. It had been a taxing use of her mana pool.
“Rose, please,” Velaya stared hopelessly into Rose’s eyes as the two sat on her bed within her room. “Please, you cannot say anything.”
Rose’s lips were a thin line. “Who else knows?”
“No one,” Velaya closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again. “Aside from you, now.”
“And Athone and Ena,” Rose said quickly. Velaya groaned.
“Velaya…” Rose started, her features stiff and her face more serious than ever. “Velaya you know what that means? If you-”
“Yes. I do know,” Velaya said, cutting her off and shooting a look towards the door. She’d heard the door opening downstairs and knew that her classmates were returning from dinner. “Please Rose, I beg of you.”
Rose’s face softened. “You do not need to beg me. I respect you and our friendship far too much. You can rest assured knowing I will always keep your secrets.”
Velaya felt her insides warm as her shoulders relaxed, and she exhaled a deep breath. “Thank you. You’ve no idea how much that means to me.”
Rose shook her head, her long ears swaying. “It’s not me you need to worry about. Ena and Athone were there too. They also saw you use the Light and Physical magic. I don’t think Ossacus was capable of noticing.”
It was Velaya’s turn to stand and pace. “I know. I will talk to Athone. I’m sure he won’t say anything.”
“And Ena?” Rose said, watching with her head tilted.
Velaya stopped. Footsteps were coming down the hall. Rose and her exchanged quick glances and a moment later there was a knock.
“Velaya, you in there?” Ingrid’s voice called out.
“Yes, come in,” Velaya replied, as Ingrid pushed open the door.
“There you two are. You missed dinn- is everything alright?” Ingrid must’ve picked up on the tense atmosphere, as concern grew on her scarred face. “What happened?”
“Do we tell her?” Rose asked Velaya quietly.
“I’ve already shared too much. What’s a little more?” Velaya tried to shrug casually.
“I can hear you,” Ingrid said, standing with her hands on her hips.
“Magus Ossacus has been granted permission to begin trials,” Velaya said slowly, earning a confused look from Ingrid.
“For the Corruption?” Ingrid asked. Velaya and Rose nodded their heads and Ingrid’s brows raised. “Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Yes, but there’s something you should know. Something that cannot leave this room,” Velaya said sternly.
Ingrid cast her eyes quickly down the hall before stepping inside and closing the door. “What is it?”
“They’re human trials,” Velaya said simply and waited for that information to sink in. It took a few minutes for Ingrid’s face to turn from confusion to horror.
“Come have a seat,” Rose said, tapping the bed next to her. Ingrid stumbled forward to sit on the edge, her eyes wide and darting back and forth from Velaya to Rose.
“How.. how do you know this?”
Velaya couldn’t fight the guilt that bubbled up within. “I’ve known for a while. The leaders of all four Kingdoms have been keeping it quiet. They didn’t want to cause a panic. Just now, we were-”
She was cut off by a knock at the door.
“Velaya?” Otto’s voice called, and in typical fashion he didn’t wait for them to answer, before pushing the door open.
“You should lock it next time,” Rose said quietly, rolling her eyes.
“What have I walked in on?” Otto seemed amused at first until he saw Ingrid’s face. “Oh no. Now what’s happened?”
Velaya sighed and ushered him in. “Come in, and close the door.”
“Does this have anything to do with Athone standing outside demanding to see you?” Otto asked Velaya.
Velaya and Rose shot each other worried glances.
“I’ll go talk to him. You tell them what happened,” Velaya said to Rose, who nodded. “And lock the door after me, please.”
As she left them in her room, she was certain Rose wouldn’t tell them about her being an Omnimage. Letting them know about the Corruption affecting people was already more information than most in the Kingdoms knew and she was confident they’d keep quiet.
“Hey Velaya,” Lilian called as Velaya descended into the Mage’s common space. The rest of her classmates were just starting to unpack their bags and spread out within the room. “Athone’s outside looking for you.”
“I heard,” Velaya tried to offer a smile, but was fairly certain it came out as a grimace. Thankfully Lilian took it the wrong way and offered her a charmingly obnoxious wink.
Athone was pacing back and forth in front of the Mage’s dormitory door. His posture was tense.
“Hi Athone,” Velaya said as cheerfully as possible, aware of some other first-year students walking around not too far from them.
Athone’s eyes shot up to meet hers before he turned to scan the students around them. “We need to talk. Follow me.”
He offered nothing else but turned and set off towards the southern end of the island near the docks. It was already getting dark out and the air was cold. The chances of others being down there were slim.
When they finally reached the shore, and after quickly surveying the area to ensure they could not be overhead, Athone rounded on her.
“What the fuck, Vel?” he said through gritted teeth, standing a few feet from her, throwing his arms out to the side. The cool, calculated calm he always wore had evaporated. Velaya could practically feel the anger and hurt rolling off him. “Omnimage?!”
Even though she knew the area was clear, she couldn't help but look around. “Athone please, keep your voice down.”
“Does Doriel know?” he said through a clenched jaw.
Velaya squared her shoulders. “No,” she said firmly. “No, he does not know. Neither do my parents.”
Athone shook his head incredulously.
“And it will stay that way,” she stated, leaving no room to argue.
Athone arched his brows. “Rose knows. So does Ena.”
“Rose won’t say anything. I’ve already talked to her.”
“Ena’s the issue anyway,” Athone said, breaking his glare to run his hands through his hair. He let out a string of curses.
“I don’t think she’ll say anything,” Velaya said softly.
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Do you know that for a fact?” Athone’s eyes were back on her, as he took a step towards her. His face was red, his eyes narrowed. “If Robert finds out -”
“He won’t,” Velaya cut him off. “I’ll talk to her.”
“When? Because Tytus is likely running off to tell Barrett about the trials now. If she were to have told him...”
“As soon as I can,” she said, and saw an opening to steer the conversation away. “What did she say to all of you in her office after the incident at the infirmary anyway?
Athone let out a barking laugh, dripping in sarcasm. “Ah yes. The little incident where my parents allowed a Corrupted man to be put under the knife for Ossacus’ amusement? How’d that work out for him?”
Velaya knew he was deeply upset, but she didn’t believe that the hurt was fully from her withholding on being an Omnimage.
“You didn’t know?” she said quietly and took a tentative step towards him so they were standing with barely any room between them. She looked up at him, searching his face. “They didn’t tell you.”
“No they didn’t. Mother writes to me every damn week but never once thought to mention it,” he seethed.
She reached up to place her hands on his shoulders. “Athone, I’m sure they couldn’t risk putting it in writing,” she said as softly as possible.
When he looked away, over her head, she placed her hands on his face and steered his gaze back to her. “Athone, look at me. This is a good thing. If we’re ever going to stand a chance of stopping this Corruption, we need a cure for those infected by it.”
Athone stared into her brilliant blue eyes for a long moment, his breathing heavy. She desperately wanted to reach into her mana pool and draw on the Dark to use it to soothe him but knew that would only risk angering him further. Instead, she tried to offer him calm by providing a firm and reassuring presence, even though she could feel a turbulent storm brewing from deep within her the longer she stared directly into his eyes. She would not look anywhere else, even though she felt drawn to see the firm line of his lips.
After an agonising minute, Athone closed his eyes and she felt his body relaxing as he reached his hands to cup them over hers. He pulled them down between them but did not let go when he reopened his eyes.
“What do you mean ‘we’?” he said, his voice low but calm again, as his eyes roamed over her face.
“We. The Kingdoms, our parents,” Velaya hedged.
Athone shook his head. “No, I don’t think that’s what you meant.” It was Velaya’s turn to look away and his to drop one of her hands, as he raised the other to her cheek, leaving her no choice but to look at him again. “You’re working on something, aren't you? It’s why you haven’t been sleeping.”
As she stared up at him, the cool calm of his hand on her cheek, she knew she could not lie to him. “We - Rose, Ingrid, Otto and I, have been looking into it. We cannot do much while we’re here but we’ve got to do something, haven't we?”
“I didn’t get the impression you wanted to deal with any of this,” his voice was gentle.
“We don’t exactly have a choice do we, Prince Athone?”
Athone stared at her a moment, before breaking into a smile that caused her heart to jump a beat. This time she couldn’t stop her eyes from wandering to his lips and she quickly looked back up again.
“You never cease to amaze me,” he whispered, as he lighty dragged his thumb across her cheek. She could feel every callous, as her skin tingled with his touch. She was still holding his other hand and she returned the gesture across his knuckles.
“Will you help us?” she breathed.
“Of course I will,” he said, and this time it was his eyes that darted to her mouth for a second when she smiled. “Under one condition.”
Velaya pouted playfully, hoping to ease some of the intensity between them, and won a light chuckle from him. He dropped his hand from her cheek to his side. Their other hands remained together.
“And what’s that?” she asked, hoping he wasn’t aware of the deeper breath she’d finally been able to take.
“We don’t tell our parents,” he said and continued quickly when she raised her eyebrows, “At least not yet. Not until we have discovered something of merit.”
Velaya nodded. “Agree. I wouldn’t trust sending anything by post anyway. But maybe if we have something by the winter break, we can share it with your parents in person?”
Athone’s head tilted. “Were you planning on visiting my parents then?”
“I can’t exactly travel across the ocean to see mine, but with Moongate open for us to visit, it’d be a nice reprieve.” She shrugged.
“Perhaps. We’ll see what we have by then. Speaking of that, what do you know so far?”
Velaya relayed the information that they had. How they believed the Corruption was in fact caused by Saeligos and that it was likely the result of a piece of his soul somewhere within the world. How they believed that Aesor had something of her own to offer them to combat it and that they were focused on trying to figure out what that was. Meanwhile, they were looking to trace back the origins of the Corruption, with the hope of finding where Saeligos’ soul may be.
Athone’s attention was sharp and focused on every word. He said nothing, but squeezed her hand from time to time, in particular when she was talking about Saeligos’ soul.
“So you truly believe the God of Corruption has a piece of his soul here?” he said after taking it all in.
“Yes. At least, that’s the only lead that we have.”
“And that comes from Ingrid?”
He meant it kindly, but Velaya’s response was pointed. “I trust her.” She did not elaborate further and Athone was clever enough not to pry.
“Let me look into some of the more advanced Paladin tomes. Dylan’s brother is in the fourth year, he may be able to provide me with some. Not to risk sounding like Max, but priests are more often Paladins of the Light, so there may be something there.”
“That would be helpful, but please exercise caution. We must keep this quiet,” she urged him.
He offered her a crooked smile, his green eyes twinkling and said softly, “You think I can’t keep a secret Vel?”
Something about that smile, and the daring tone of his voice, emboldened her. She pulled down on his hand, forcing him to bend forward so she could lean up to whisper in his ear. “I bet you can, Prince,” she purred.
She felt his body go rigid as she pulled away, offering him an alluring smile and dropping his hand. She turned and began walking away before he could see the deep flush on her cheeks.
“Where are you going?” he called out, after needing a moment.
“To see Ena,” she yelled, without looking back. She was very aware of every step she took and the green eyes on her back the whole way.
~~~
The Archmagus wasn’t in her office when Velaya knocked on the door and her unexpected confidence after her conversation with Athone slipped away.
She had convinced him that Ena wouldn’t say anything about her being an Omnimage but she didn’t have much to go on, other than a hunch. If Ena or Tytus were planning on meeting with the old Archmagus Barrett, she needed to speak to her before then, and hope that she wasn’t too late.
She was slightly out of breath from having climbed high up into the Tower as quickly as possible and stood on the Headmistress’ landing for a while trying to think of where to go next. Other than her adventures to the infirmary, she’d only ever seen the Headmistress in her office or on occasion within the Great Hall, having dinner with other Magi and alumni. But it was well past dinner now, and given what had happened earlier, she didn’t think she’d be there anyway. She had to be somewhere within the Tower, but where to even begin looking, when every room seemed to change, and the Tower itself seemed to stretch on endlessly.
Frustrated at herself for not demanding to talk to the Archmagus immediately following the infirmary incident, she sulked her way down the many stairs.
“Elyzeme has cut off all communication. Syndrianna is refusing to meet with Arthur or Edward.”
“But not Robert?”
“No. They remain close.”
“That’s probably because of Ilyana, more than anything.”
Velaya stopped dead in the middle of the stairwell when she heard a conversation spilling out from a nearby room. There were multiple voices and she didn't recognize any of them. But the names they were speaking, she knew all too well. Syndrianna could only be Queen Syndrianna Virfina, the Queen of Elyzeme. Arthur and Edward were her and Athone’s parents and Robert and Ilyana were the King and Queen of Trelladain.
“Rumour is the young Bellaurose Prince is missing.”
“Yea, last seen in Goldwell on his way to Elyzeme, close to a month ago. He should’ve arrived by now.”
“Maybe he did but Syndrianna isn’t speaking with us so how would we know?”
“It’s not like she’d hold him hostage. An act of war is the last thing anyone needs.”
“Then why cut us off?”
“Because she wants something from Ena, who has refused to give it to her. Her and Ashaula have some sort of deal.”
Velaya’s heart skipped at hearing her mother’s name.
“That no one here knows about, other than Tessa.”
“So maybe Syndrianna does have Doriel and is using him as leverage?”
“That certainly would rattle Tess.”
“No way. She’d never turn on Ena.”
“Not even for him?”
“Love makes us all do stupid shit but she’s far too composed for that.”
“She’s still so young. I wouldn’t rule it out.”
The conversation continued but Velaya’s ears were ringing and her heart was thundering so loudly she couldn’t focus on what was being said.
“I understand you’ve been looking for me, Miss Rosemore.”
Archmagus Ena had spoken quietly from behind her, causing her to jump and turn around.
The Headmistress’ face was detached but there was a fire in her periwinkle eyes. The power that emanated off of her caused Velaya’s mana to stir violently within.
“Perhaps we should go to my office,” her voice was deadly calm.