Sirius launched into a brief description of everything and explained things better to Jack. By the end, Jack looked a little bit more convinced than before, but other than that there was barely any change. He sheathed his sword, tightened the leather belt around his waist, and moved toward Sirius.
“Even though your words sound nothing short of a madman’s rambling, I shall trust in both, the time we had known each other and what my eyes showed me,” Jack said calmly, the previous fury was no longer there.
“What did your eyes show you?” Sirius asked curiously.
“More than I’m willing to explain here and now,” Jack replied, passing an eye around the crowd that had started to gather because of the commotion. “From hearing your story, I assume you all shall head to the council hall to meet the Lord leader, correct?”
Sirius nodded and Darren dispersed the crowd by telling them it was just a misunderstanding on our part. We continued moving ignoring the passing stares of the town people. It was quite natural with how we were, our clothes tattered and smeared with dirt and other nasty stuff.
As we walked through the town, sometimes few of the playing children would notice us and give a salutary bow.
As my feet traced along the hard cobblestone, I observed the architecture of this place. Houses were built on both sides of the road, with very little amount of space in between each other.
There are partly walls with very little space in between, making it feel like the people were part of a tightly-knit community. Some houses had small gardens whereas others had alleyways in between leading into other parts of the town. The houses were also built with a combination of stone and timber, and the roof had both thatch and slate.
Children, their laughter lost among the pedestrians, chased each other in a game of catch through the streets, their faces flushed with the heat and the sweat of their effort. One of them passed me a glance, raised his thin eyebrows, shrugged, and ran off. Another one—a little girl shouted from behind the boy saying something that I couldn’t make out except the part that she was his sister.
But despite the sunny weather, which was slowly weathering away and turning colder, I spotted snow piled in some corners of the town. They didn’t melt as the shadows shielded them.
While in the forest of Zoria, I hadn’t seen rain or snow. It was moist for the most part.
Could it be that it snows here at night? Is it a part of the curse?
I observed the bustle some more and couldn’t find any sign of distress on the faces of the people. I had initially expected them to be desperate, afraid, and even outright depressed but that wasn’t the case. Rather they lived their life in comfort and peace, as if the fact that they were trapped in a cage wasn’t true.
It reminded me of what Octus had said before. How some people would willingly choose to be trapped than not. Back then I’d thought Octus to be the weird one but now…
But maybe it was because of how long it had been since the initial curse had been placed. I couldn’t imagine what sort of emotions the people of that time felt.
On our way Jack didn’t talk much, his deep brown eyes lost in thought. I had the urge to use my ‘Soul Vision’ on him but buried the thought the moment it rose. He had already shown hostility toward me and I didn’t want him to come for my neck that even Sirius might not be able to stop him before he kills me.
But that didn’t mean my curiosity disappeared. What was it that he saw in me that freaked him out so much? Was his eyes similar to mine? If that was the case then was something different with my bondor signature?
It also reminded me of how the Dark Knights would be able to recognize me even if my face were to be morphed or hidden. A part of me guessed that whatever Jack saw was related to what might allow the Dark Knights to recognize me. If I could learn about it, that would ensure I could take steps to secure myself.
With that thread of thought, I leaned closer to Darren, slightly bending my back to reach his height, and whispered. “Can you tell me about Jack?”I asked.
“What is it that you want to know?” Darren nodded before saying.
“Who is he and how strong is he? Earlier I felt his presence and it was stronger than any I have felt before. Even the hydra’s bloodlust wasn’t this prominent,” I said.
“Jack is a Quasi-council member. Normally all council members own lands to their name but that isn’t the case with Jack. He is a retired Scout and the Lord Leader has awarded him a place in the council for his contribution. And regarding how strong he is,” Darren paused, deep marks etching his face.”One of the strongest in Xavier.”
What? One of the strongest? How was that possible? He was a rank 2 mystic. Wait…how am I so sure about it?
Misunderstanding my inner conflict, Darren continued. “But don’t worry he won’t do anything rash and harm you. I don’t know what he saw but usually he is a very calm and collected person.”
I was certain that being able to tell someone’s power wasn’t part of the ‘Mystery Weaver’ rank. Could be a passive ability? No. That wasn’t the case.
I looked around at the pedestrians and tried guessing their strength and instinctively I could tell that all of them were weak—barely a threat to a mystic.
Did awakening also hone my instincts to the point that I could also gauge people’s power? Did it even work on monsters?
Shaking off my thought I asked, “Then do you know his rank name?”
“No,” Darren replied.
In the heart of Xavier stood the Council Hall, a towering fortress of grey stone that seemed to pierce the very sky. It wasn’t very tall, only two or three stories tall but the cliff underneath it made it so that I could see it even more reaching there, although very vaguely. The council overlooked the entirety of Xavier from there. Every decision was passed from the halls inside.
The political structure was slightly complicated in Xavier. Lord leader was the highest in terms of authority but he couldn’t do anything he desired. For that, he needed the opinions of the members of the council. The council members ruled over the various regions as well as other domains of fields that I still didn’t know.
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Jack was one of the latter. He wasn’t a full-fledged member of any of the family here but a retired scout. He was promoted to a council member for his contributions. Although he was the same as other council members, for not having any land to his name he didn’t bear much power.
Two guards, fully armored with glistering steel and a helmet with little space to see, stopped us at the gate. Jack moved forward and showed a piece of token and got a nod from the guards. They moved and pushed the large gate for us.
Beyond the gate stretched a courtyard, floors made with mosaics. A skeletal elm, its bark etched with worry lines, stood there like a lone wolf. Moss grew among the corners of the stone, adding a layer of mysticism to the sight.
In the center of the courtyard, a fountain stood. The sound of water crashing against the fountain walls created a serene yet empty environment. The air smelled stale, thick with musty paper—exactly how I imagined an administrative building would smell.
Massive stone pillars rose to meet the vaulted ceiling, their surfaces etched with intricate knots and swirls that hint at craftsmanship. Despite the building being only two-storied it felt way more larger and grand than that.
Although most of the wooden doors were closed by a knot on the ground floor, I found a few to be open. I peered through one of such in curiosity and found a large room inside. The room was filled to the brim with books lined up on shelves and tables placed at specific places. I couldn’t see any person inside and assumed they might be out of sight.
We went toward the right and climbed the stairs. On the second floor, there were dozens of rooms—most of them being closed. It wasn’t until we were at the end of the corridor that we halted.
It was a large door, larger than all the ones I’d seen so far. There were some craving designs in the dark wood but other than that there wasn’t anything else of significance.
“Zareth and I will go inside. Is that alright, Jack?” Sirius asked and got an affirmation from Jack. He moved forward and knocked on the door twice. “My Lord it’s me, Sirius.”
“Enter,” A deep voice resounded behind the door.
I followed Sirius into the study, the edges of my vision extending and taking everything in. As my feet graced the soft carpet underneath, my nostrils were greeted by a symphony of scents—first the dusty essence of old parchment, then tobacco, and layered in between was the strong aroma of Black Hazel coffee.
Black Hazel was an eastern beverage enjoyed by the nobles on occasion. It had a weird property—the more sugar someone poured into the extract the bitter the waste would become, rather than becoming sweeter.
The windows were shut, and small warm lights were lit instead to brighten the room enough that it created a warm welcoming atmosphere. There was a small fireplace that had burned charcoal and timber inside—displaying that it was used the night prior, once again proving my theory that there was snowfall in Xavier at night.
Before the chimney was a rocking chair placed sideways, a book turned upside down in its’ thick arm.
My eyes moved forward when Sirius continued walking ahead toward a desk. It was made out of mahogany tree. I was quite certain of that.
Although not very involved, my father was involved in the furniture industry. As a result, I had been around woods enough times to know what kind of wood furniture was made of. Of course, I wouldn’t be correct each time.
Various papers and parchments were piled on top of each other on the desk, making it look like the man behind them was rather busy.
Dressed in a white shirt that hugged his body tightly, outlining his well-defined muscles Lord Leader looked at us as we came before him. He had a full beard on his sharp face, and I could tell he was a middle-aged man but looked much better than how one would look.
“I have received your message but didn’t have the opportunity to go through it,” He said with his deep voice, eyeing the sealed letter on the side of the table that Sirius had sent before. “But Since you are here already, I’m sure you can tell me the message yourself.”
“If you so allow…” Sirius launched into a detailed report on everything that had happened in his mission. His words were short and precise enough that they described the situations perfectly without dragging the pace of it. It wasn’t hard to tell that Sirius was quite experienced in giving reports.
I also learned a few things about their mission. Before I came across them, they were in the forest for about a day. Other than that he also highlighted that no other team was sent in the forest except them.
“I see. So they had sent Eadric to sabotage your mission,” He said with a deep frown. “Do you have any proof?”
“Indeed,” Sirius handed the broken pieces of the artifact that Eadric carried.
When Sirius mentioned about me, the Lord Leader kept silent. It wasn’t until the end of the entire report that he spoke again.
“So you mean to tell me that this boy here is an outsider?” He asked, his face blank.
“That is correct. I have told you my reasoning is believing so and now it is up to you to judge things for yourself,” Sirius replied soldierly.
“Your reasoning is solid, Yes. But you mentioned that he doesn’t remember anything, correct?” Sirius nodded and the Lord Leader turned toward me. “Tell me Zareth is that true?”
From the moment I entered Xavier, many thoughts had been going wild inside my head. About how I was going to deal with questions like this. Lying at first seemed like a reasonable answer but that would deprive me of other information. At that point, they would not have a reason to tell me things after all I wouldn’t be any help. But on the other hand, giving me some information might ensure that they were reliant on me, something that I could use in my favor.
The gears in my mind turned and once I realized the silence had been going on for too long, I opened my mouth. “That is not true, Sir.”
A small smile blossomed on his bearded face but I continued. “When I first woke up most of my memories were blank and slowly they started coming back. That is not to say, I remember everything but,” I paused, both Sirius and Lord Leader’s eyes boring into me, and once the pause reached its peak I continued, “There is a war going on in the outside world. That is what I can remember for now.”
Once again silence descended upon the room until Lord Leader broke it, “A war you say? Between Whom and who?”
“It’s a civil War inside the Kingdom of Filia,” I said.
“Filia you say…” Lord Leader mumbled, stroking his chin in thought. “Alright, I believe that you are an outsider.”
So easily? Does that mean he knew about Filia?
“But Sirius did you help him awaken? I can tell that he is a mystic,” Lord leader asked.
“No. There is no reason for me to do that. He awakened during the fight with the hydra.” Sirius replied.
“During the fight?” He asked back with a raised brow.
“Darren had addressed him as a half-mystic after seeing him the first time. And according to him, his inner bondor would have overflown if he hadn’t awakened so we did help him as we could let him die. But he awakened by himself within a couple of minutes after being frozen by the hydra,” Sirius explained further.
“I understand. Send Darren later for a detailed report,” He said, paused, and then continued. “For now, all of you can rest easy for this week. I shall grant you all some holidays. But before that take Zareth to Kaius’s mansion. He will be placed into house arrest under Kaius until further notice.”
He looked at me and said. “Although I would like to discuss a lot more with you, now is not the time. You possess information that nobody in Xavier knows. That places me in a tricky situation. I can’t harm you because you might hold the key to our freedom but letting you roam free endangers the lives of many.”
Although slightly surprised at how open he was with his need for information, his logic was on point with mine. If I was in his situation, I’d most probably think in the same manner.
“I understand and am fine with it as long as you Sir can decide quickly. Just as much as you want to go to the outside world, so do I. So I hope you can come to trust me and we can help each other to reach the same goal.” I said, honestly.
He laughed and reached his hand out for a handshake. I took it.
“Well, to our partnership then!” He said and I smiled back.
It went a lot better than I’d expected.
After that, I was told a few more things about my ‘house arrest’ which was just in the name because except for going outside I’d be allowed to do everything else. Sirius and I left the Council Building and headed toward Kaius’s mansion.