Whispers of the Witch

== Preface ==
This is a story set in... (To Edit)
== Chapter I : Tag! You're it! ==
As the crowd cheered for their favorite duelists, and the colorful banners of the stadium danced with the wind, an energetic young man squeezed himself and navigated his way through the narrow space between the rows to find his seat.
"Has the match already started?" the young man asked one of his peers, handing the others some of the sweet rice cakes he brought in his paper bag."
"Yeah, they’ve been going back and forth for a whole minute now." one of the young ladies replied.
"The prodigy and the reigning champ, huh? Who do you think is going to win?" The young man took the empty seat on the left of the lady while maintaining his eyes on the duelists. 
"That’s hard to say," one of the friends jumped in the conversation. "It’s the best defensive student versus the best offensive student, after all."
"Hard to say? Isn’t one of them just a fifth year student like us?" Another woman in the group asked.
"Just watch and see." The man said, while pulling the rice cake out of the bag.
"Ed, care to fill me in?" The lady turned to her right and asked.
"Sure thing, Alice." Edward replied, "That’s Jaruwan." He pointed out, "She’s only 17, which makes her the second youngest witch to ever participate in our school’s tournament." 
"17? A fifth year?" She raised her voice slightly.
"Yeah, from what I've heard, she managed to skip both her 2nd and 3rd years of study because she spent just one summer break covering all the materials from both years."
"Heh? Talk about being a bookworm." Alice expressed.
"Bookworm or not, if there is anyone in the fifth year who is going to beat Chase Harrington, it’s gotta be her." 
"Really? You talk like you personally know her or something."
"Well, we’re in the same herbology class, and I've gotta say that her aura is quite fascinating."
Alice rolled her eyes, "Again with this aura talk." 
"Hey, it’s real, alright? Professor Han said herself that she could also sense other people’s aura!" 
"Professor Han?" Alice expressed and put her left hand up, "That lady is this close to going insane because of her research on the blood binding curse."
"When are you gonna believe me that I’m not making this—" 
"And Jaruwan finally broke Chase’s magic shield!" The announcer shouted in excitement, interrupting the conversation between Alice and Edward. "Oh my! Such a quick follow-up. It looks to be a nonverbal cast from Jaruwan!" He added.
The announcer proceeded to narrate in excitement as Jaruwan shot out a ray of bright pink light from her wand directly at Chase’s ward and effectively disarmed him, "She finally disarmed him; it seems like this match is going to end very soon!"
"A nonverbal disarm spell? Impressive." Alice let out a word of compliment and a slight nod.
"Well, there’s that, the end of our fifth year; now to the long six months of sorcerer internship." Another young man in the group spoke up.
"Come on, Vasin, I’m sure it’s not gonna be that bad." Edward added as he stood up to leave the stadium.
The next morning, the fifth-year students met at the Ingyong Train Station, where they were divided into small groups and sent to various villages across Hoseong for their internship. Jaruwan, Alice, Vasin, Edward, and the other four students were put together in the group that will go to a little mountain village up north from the capital called Gimpeng. The group introduced themselves to each other and had a little "break the ice" session while commuting to the village.
"It’s Jaruwan, right?" Alice asked and sat down on the empty seat across from her. "Are these seats taken?" 
"Oh, hi, yes, I mean, yes, I’m Jaruwan, and no, the seats aren’t taken; go ahead." Jaruwan put down her book and replied. "And you are…?"
"Guys! Come!" Alice called Vasin and Edward to where she was, then replied, "Oh, right, I’m Alice, Alice Entremont, we are in the same internship group, so I thought we could get to know each other for a bit since, you know, we are going to be working together for the next six months."
"I see, and those two?"
"Yeah, they’re both in our group as well." She replied, then turned to the two and said, "Guys, come on!" 
"What’s up with them?" Jaruwan asked.
"Oh, they’re just a bit nervous, you know." 
Jaruwan made a face, paused for a short moment, and replied, "Huh? Alright." 
"I mean, what you did yesterday was incredible, so that might also be one of the reasons that they are being like this."
"Pardon?"
"Oh, you know, the tournament." 
"Right…" Jaruwan replied and went on to ask her a question: "So, "Entremont," you said? What is that, Franks?" 
"Precisely." Alice said, letting out a nod. "And Jaruwan…. That’s a Hoseongko name, isn’t it?" 
"Well, yes, but we actually came from Jaria." 
"Oh…" Alice’s face shifted. "I’m sorry."
"Oh no, that’s fine; we have a family here as well, so the migration wasn't that bad." Jaruwan replied.
"I see, but you know, the wars and all?"
"Yes, of course." Jaruwan replied as an awkward silence filled the empty seats. However, in just a short moment, the other two finally decided to join the party.
"So what are you two talking about?" Edward asked as he and Vasin approached the two ladies. 
"Oh, we were just chatting and getting to know each other for a bit." Alice answered, then chuckled awkwardly.
"Wait, you are…. Eddy, right? From Herbology?" Jaruwan asked as she got a clear look at Edward’s face.
"Edward, yes, from herbology class." He replied, and went on, "And this is Vasin."
"Oh, alright, Edward, Vasin, it’s nice to meet you." Jaruwan said, and smiled slightly.
"So… Gimpeng huh? Have you been?" Edward tried to have a conversation with her.
Jaruwan softly shook her head. "Nuh-uh," she responded.
"I heard it’s located in a really beautiful valley up north." Edward added.
"Is that so?" Jaruwan replied.
About halfway to the village, a loud bang was heard from the front of the train; it then shook tremendously and suddenly stopped. The train conductor announced that the train was having a technical difficulty that was preventing it from continuing on its course and that the engineers had yet to identify the cause of the problem. During the unforeseen delay, the passengers on board were allowed to leave the train, but they were also suggested to remain close to the train so that they did not miss the call once it was back to the operational stage. Eager to find out what happened to the train, Alice invited the other three to get out of the car and investigate the cause of the loud bang.
"Let’s check it out, guys." Alice suggested.
Jaruwan put down her book and asked, "This dark out?" 
"What? You scared?" Alice teased her, "Come on, we are all witches and wizards here." 
Jaruwan let out a short sigh, and followed Alice to the train door, saying, "Alright, fine, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to check it out." She paused for a short moment before leaving the train, then turned to the other two, and said, "You two coming?" 
Both of them nodded as their responses, quickly stood up, and followed her.
The outside was pitch black, the sky was empty, and their only source of light was coming from inside the train.
"Oswithlenae." Alice cast a spell with a shivering voice; her ward lit up. Jaruwan and the others proceeded to cast the same spell as well. "Let’s just head straight to the engine room."
"Sounds good." Vasin responded.
As the party reached the train engine, they saw a group of engineers who were investigating on the side of the car. Before the party could go any closer to the engine, they were stopped by one of the engineers.
"Can I help y'all?" She asked.
"Oh, well, we’re actually here to see if we can help you guys out or not." Alice replied.
The engineer noticed the light that was coming off Alice’s ward and immediately asked her, "Are you kids from that Hoseong magic school?" 
"It’s Hoseong Sorcerer Academy, actually, but yes." Edward replied and went on, "Is there anything we can help with?"
"Well, there’s a big dent on the side of the engine; we don’t know what caused it though, but sure, you kids take a look; maybe y’all know something we don’t. But no matter what, it would take a couple hours for this train to be up and running again." She said then walked the party to the engine.
The party reached the engine and took some minutes to observe the dent. However, no one in the group was able to identify the cause of it.
"So what do you kids make of this dent?" One of the male engineers asked.
"We have no idea; it could be anything." Alice replied, then offered the engineer a hand, "But I mean, we can just fix it for you if you want." 
The engineers took a short moment to discuss among themselves and then agreed to let the party help with the engine. 
Just a moment after that, the students got into their position and cast the repairing spell in unison, "Naprawie!" Instantly, the dent and train engine were fixed. The engineers then proceeded to check the engine and the train’s condition before announcing that the train was back to its operational stage. The passengers were called back to the train, and it seemed like everyone was ready to continue on their journey. Before the train moved again, Jaruwan looked out the window of the train. She got a glimpse of an enormous, human-like silhouette. She tried to shine the light out of her wand to get a better look at the silhouette, but it just suddenly disappeared after she shone the light out of the window. 
"What was that?" Alice asked her.
"It’s just… Well, I thought I saw something out there." Jaruwan replied, paused for a short moment, then said, "It’s probably nothing." 
After three and a half more hours of the train ride, the party finally reached Sunwon station, which was the furthest north they could go via the train. It was around midnight when they arrived, and the sky was pouring.
"Should we wait for the rain to stop?" One of the other students in the group asked as they approached Jaruwan’s party after they had all gotten off the train.
"Or we could just use our broom." Alice proposed her idea. 
"Under this weather?" The same lady responded, "Hard pass."  
"I mean, it’s pretty dangerous to fly in this kind of weather, Alice." Jaruwan jumped into the conversation, "We should wait for it to let up for a bit, I think."
Alice did not respond to Jaruwan’s comment, but instead she turned to the other group of students and asked, "So, you four are also going to Gimpeng?" 
"Mhm." The lady responded, then nodded slightly.
"Alright, My name is Alice, this is Jaruwan, and—"
"Yes, yes, I know who you are, Miss Entremont. " The lady interrupted her, and went on. "In fact, I know who you all are, Miss Shintochi, Mr. Stephenson, and Mr. Yeong. 
"Okay…" Alice made a face, then added, "And you are?"
"Lizzy, Lizzy McDuguay." She said, "And this is Miss Kang, Mr. Kittilert, and Mr. Monceaux."
"Their first names, Please, if you may." Alice said it with a little sarcastic tone.
"Very well, this is Praewa, this is Louis, and this is Nathan." She introduced them to the party while putting her left hand in front of each person as she said their name.
The sky gentled down a little as two carriages approached the station. "Interns from Hoseong?!" One of the drivers shouted and waved his hand to call the students.
"Yes!" Edward yelled back.
"Hop on! We’ve got a long road to cover!" The man said.
The student picked up their broom and belongings, then started to get on the carriages; the grouping was the same as it was on the train. Jaruwan put on her hat and walked in the rain towards the transport. Just in front of her was Edward, who was trying to store his broom on the roof. Seeing him struggle had made Jaruwan a little bit irritated, as he was blocking the car door, and she hated being in the rain.
"You need a hand?" Jaruwan said it with a slight tone of annoyance.
"I’m fine. I’m fine." Edward said it strugglingly as he was jumping up and down, trying to put his broom under the straps on the roof.
Jaruwan rolled her eyes, put her suitcase down, and stepped in. "Here, let me help you with that," she said as her wand appeared out of thin air. She then proceeded to swing her wand, and the broom was stored under the straps right away.
"What was that?" Edward was impressed.
"*Porwaski…?*" Jaruwan replied and made a face.
"Yes, I know it’s *Porwaski* but that was a nonverbal cast." He responded.
"It’s a basic enchantment spell."
"Still–"
"Just get in the car." Jaruwan interrupted him, then proceeded to do the same thing with her broom.
At the same time, Alice walked in and joined them as well. "Can you do that for my broom too?" She asked. 
Jaruwan did not respond, she just cast the spell to store the broom then got inside straight away. She and Alice sat up front, while the two young men took the rear seats.
"You guys know how long until we’re there?" Edward asked the group.
Alice looked at Edward strangely and shook her head a little. "You could’ve just asked the driver before you got on the carriage."
Edward gave back the same look: "I was trying to store my broom!"
"Store your broom? All I saw was you hopping up and down like a little bunny rabbit. Isn’t that right? Jaruwan." Vasin jumped in; Jaruwan did not respond to the statement, but she did let out a slight laugh after hearing that.
"Oh, shut up, Vasin; you could’ve come out and helped me with my broom," Edward complained. "You know what? I should’ve gone to the other wagon instead." 
"Woah, damn, chill out. We’re just playing with you." Vasin replied.
Edward seemed to be ignoring him. 
"Come on, don’t be like that." 
Edward still had not responded.
"Alright, fine, I’ll give you the top bunk then." 
"Deal." Edward turned around and answered him immediately.
"Ed, you're acting like a child, you know that?" Alice added. 
"What? What’s wrong with that? Huh?" Edward replied.
"Wait… top bunk? What do you mean? Do we have to share a room with others?" Jaruwan jumped into the conversation.
"Yeah, what’s wrong with that? You don’t like me?"   
"No, it’s not like that." Jaruwan refused: "How many are in one room? Four?"
"It’s just two." Edward answered.
"Oh, alright, I see." Jaruwan seemed a bit relieved after hearing that.
"Wait a minute, do you not have a roommate at the academy?" Alice asked.
"No..? I have a single dorm room." Jaruwan replied.
"Lucky girl, single rooms are so hard to get."
"I suppose so." 
"You can have the top bunk if you want; I don’t really care." Alice added.
"No, you can have it. I don’t really have a preference."
"Alright, I’ll take the bottom then."
Jaruwan gave her a weird look and replied, "Okay…" 
The silence filled the car for a short second as Edward pulled his suitcase out from under his seat and took a flimsy paper bag out of it. "You guys want some cinnamon buns?" He asked the group.
"Nope," Vasin replied.
"Nuh uh," Alice answered.
"No, thanks." Jaruwan responded. 
Edward made a face. "Fine, I’ll eat them all myself then." He slightly raised his voice to reply.
"Alrighty," Alice replied.
...
The car was starting to get quite chilly on the inside as Jaruwan woke up from her nap. She found herself leaning on Alice’s shoulder and suddenly pulled her head back once she realised it. Alice made a face at her as their eyes locked. "I’m so sorry." Jaruwan said with her voice raised slightly.
"What for?" Alice replied in her normal voice.
"What… are we there already?" Edward said it with a raspy voice.
"No, just go back to sleep, Ed." Alice replied.
"Alright!" He then pulled his sleep mask back down.
Alice turned back to Jaruwan, and she was now reading her book. She then asked her, "What are you reading? I saw that you’ve been reading that the entire day."
"It’s called, *The vines’ imprint.*" Jaruwan replied.
"What is it about? Is it a novel?" Alice asked.
"Yeah, it’s a novel about a world that’s covered by these evil living vines that feed on humans." 
"Sounds nasty." Alice expressed.
"Believe me, it’s good, The book follows this girl called Ykhakini, who is the leader of her tribe, and she is on a mission to find the missing ancient runestone that is said to have this strange magic that would allow her to travel back in time and kill the vine before it spreads." She explained with enthusiasm.
Alice laughed softly, then said, "I didn't take you for someone who’d like reading novels."
"What do you take me for, then?" Jaruwan replied, then smiled slightly.
"Well, I don’t know, a bookworm? Well, technically, a novel is also a book, I guess, but like, *book books*, you know what I mean."
"Yeah, no, I got you." Jaruwan laughed a little. "I read them a lot too, but not so much now, I suppose."
"What? Are you saying you've perfected all the spells we have to learn?"
Jaruwan made a face and replied, "When did I say that?"
Alice leaned towards the book and took a peek, "It’s in Jarian?"
"Yeah, A Jarian writer, she’s actually from the same house as mine, *House Shintokami*." Jaruwan added.
"Hm… time travel… Do you think it’s really possible to travel back in time?" Alice thought to herself for a bit, then asked.
"I highly doubt that, moving forward into the future, maybe...? Travelling back? I don’t think so." Jaruwan replied.
"Why is that?"
"Uh… well… picture this—"
"We are here, kids!" The driver shouted while knocking on the window pane behind his seat; it woke Vasin and Edward up.
"Eh…?" Alice expressed herself as she stepped out of the carriage. "It’s snowing," She said.
"It’s freezing." Edward spoke with a shivering voice as the cold breeze hit his face.
Upon their arrival, they were greeted by Miss Nam, a green witch who also graduated from the academy. She walked the students to their place, which was a small fort that had been refurbished into a town centre. They were shown their rooms and asked to make themselves comfortable, as they would be spending roughly six months here. The room was clean, and the accommodations were quite adequate, but it was not any better than the dorm room at the academy. Dinner was provided, but it was already cold; besides, most students just went straight to bed since the journey to the village was lengthy and tiring. Jaruwan and Alice were also preparing themselves to sleep; both of them changed into their nightgowns and were already in bed. Jaruwan took the top bunk, just as they had agreed.
"Jaruwan. Jaruwan." Alice whispered to call her.
"Yeah?" 
"Is this the first time you've ever had a roommate?"
"No, I had one during my first two years, then I wrote a request to the academy and got my single room."
"No way, and they just gave you the room?"
"Yes."
Their conversation paused for a short while, then Alice started to whisper again.
"Hey, Jaruwan, you still up?"
"Yes, what is it?"
"You said earlier that it isn’t possible to travel back in time; why is that?"
"Paradoxes." 
"What is that? A time loop?"
"Okay, picture this: you finally invent or discover the magic that allows you to travel back in time; think of that as your present."
"Mhm."
"Then you go back in the past to change something, maybe change something you’ve done and you regret it." Jaruwan explained, "That change might also change the course of your life, which might ultimately change the present that you are in before you travel back to the past and the fact that you discovered the time-travel magic."
"So one can travel back as long as they don’t interfere with anything?"
"I suppose? But the fact that you travel back means you already interfere with the past, no?"
"Maybe."
"Not maybe, literally the second you breath, something would have already been altered."
"Oh....." Alice was a bit lost for words, "Yeah, I supposed that is true."
"Mhm" Jaruwan rolled over on her right shoulder and pulled her blanket up, slightly, "Alright, I’m going to sleep now."
"Wait, wait, wait."
"What is it this time?" Jaruwan said it with a slight tone of annoyance.
"Do you miss home?"
"Home?"
"You know, Jaria."
"Oh."
"..."
"Yeah, I do miss Jaria."
"Alright, that’s it; that’s the final question." Alice said, "Goodnight, Jaruwan."
"Goodnight."
Then the morning came. Jaruwan and Alice were getting dressed and preparing themselves for their first day of their internship.
"You’re really going to wear the school uniform?"
"I thought we still had to?"
"Nah… We’re not at the academy, plus Miss Nam did not tell us that we have to wear them."
"Uh, well, I only packed my nightgowns and uniforms."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah."
"Okay, here, close your eyes and think of the clothes you want to wear."
"Any suggestions?"
"How about a cute sundress, so we can match?"
"Alright," Jaruwan said, then closed her eyes.
Alice noticed that and proceeded to cast a spell at Jaruwan’s uniform, "*Obanie Premannia.*" 
The uniform flashed in bright purple, then changed into a yellow sundress.
"Ooh, this is lovely." Jaruwan expressed.
"Your favourite colour is yellow?" Alice asked Jaruwan after seeing the dress.
"Yeah, it reminds me of my favourite flower."
"Which is…?"
"Dandelion…" She replied.
The two then went down from their room to get some breakfast at the dining room, where they were joined by the other students. It was not that long until Miss Nam joined them as well to give them their tasks for the week. Each pair of students was given different tasks. Jaruwan and Alice's task was to train the village kids in their broom flying skill. They went to the grass field behind the village, where all the children were already waiting for them. They introduced themselves to the kids, got to know them a little, and then it was flying time. Alice and Jaruwan observed their flying skills for a short while, and it seemed to them that the kids had already learned how to use a broom. So Alice suggested an idea to make it more challenging.
"How about a game of tag?" Alice asked the group. "You guys be it, and you’ll chase after her and me; how about that?"
"Yeah!" the children yelled in unison.
"Alrighty then," Alice replied, and quickly said, "Think fast!" She then grabbed Jaruwan by her hand, and they both ran to grab their brooms. The two then hopped on it and flew away.
"Jaruwan, do you know the airy enchantment spell?" Alice asked her mid-air.
"*Zwaynae Zackwin?*"  
"Yes, that." Alice replied, "Try casting it on your broom."
“Huh?”
“Just try.”
"Okay." Jaruwan said, then they both cast the spell, and both of them just zoomed straight ahead immediately.
"Come on, kids! You guys can do better than this!" Alice shouted.
Jaruwan burst out laughing at the same time.
== Chapter II : The Hanfel ==
Three weeks had passed, and Jaruwan had grown to be comfortably acquainted with the people and the ways of the village. Living and working together had made her closer to the other students, especially Alice. The two were on yet another teaching duty; this time it was herbology. Despite not having a great interest in the study of greenery, both of them were more than capable of teaching the subject to the village kids. And the weekday was drawing to a close as the two young witches walked inside the greenhouse and started the class. After revisiting the previous day's discussion on immune-supporting herbs, Jaruwan moved on to another example, which was red Jarian chilli.
"Now, the red Jarian chilies, which we also called them, Degu-tailed chilies," Jaruwan puts the chilies on the table. "Can anyone tell me what is the benefit of these chilies?" Jaruwan said, and looked around the room. "Anyone?"
The kids looked among themselves cluelessly; a few of them were flipping their books back and forth looking for the answer.
Alice stepped in and said, "Don’t be shy; make a guess!" 
"Something about protection?" One of the kids asked.
"That is very close, Haerin. Good job." Alice replied with a smile, "Any more guesses?"
"It’s ghost protection!" Another kid shouted his answer.
"A very interesting guess, but sadly, that’s not the answer, Tao-Zhu." Alice replied, then asked the room, "Anyone else?"
The two gave them a short moment, then Jaruwan proceeded to reveal the answer: "Well, if there are no more guesses, I’m going to tell you what this chilli gave you if you eat it." She picked one of the chilies up and went on to explain, "The answer is hex immunity; the red Jarian chilli is arguably the best ingredient for a hex resistance potion; eating it by itself even gives you some immunity effects."
Confused expressions were written all over the faces of the kids as they listened to Jaruwan’s explanation. Following this, one of the kids proceeded to raise his hand promptly in response.
"Yes, Zeke?" 
"What is Hex?" He asked.
"Oh!" Alice exclaimed. "It’s basically a type of charm that’s meant to cause harm or to prevent someone from performing something for an extended period."
"So, it’s like a curse?"
Alice took a moment to think about the question and expressed, "Hmm.. I’m not quite sure about that myself; mind stepping in, Jaruwan?"
"Oh yea, of course." Jaruwan responded. "First of all, that is a really good question, Jemima." She praised her and went on explaining, "Well, the main difference between a hex and a curse is that hexes are the type of charm that could be reversed by the original caster, whereas curses aren’t." Jaruwan then continued for a bit, "However, all hexes and curses can be broken by magic—well,  every single one of them except the blood-binding curse." She said, then shifted the conversation back and focused on the class material, "But enough about that; who wants to try these chillies?"
"Me! Me! Me!" The children exclaimed in unison.
"Go on! Take one each, but I have to warn you that these chilies are really hot!" Jaruwan said it with enthusiasm.
The class went on smoothly and concluded shortly after midday. After the kids all left for their lunch, Jaruwan and Alice remained a little while longer to tidy up the greenhouse. The sun’s warm ray streamed through the glass panels as the two rearranged the pots on the side. The sunlight gently found its way into the depths of Jaruwan’s rich, golden-brown eyes. The result was nothing but mesmerising.
"I don’t know if I told you this already, but your eyes are really, really beautiful." Alice expressed.
"Eh?" Jaruwan exclaimed.
"It’s true!" Alice expressed herself and smiled.
"Thank you for saying that." Jaruwan replied and smiled back.
"Beautiful and talented, boys must be lining up for you, huh?" Alice said, letting out a slight laugh. 
"Well, I don’t know; I don’t really have any interest in that kind of stuff."
"I see." Alice replied, as the last pot found its right place. "There we go," she expressed, "let’s go eat; I’m starving!"
"Hold on." Jaruwan stopped her. "We did not water the plants yesterday, right?"
"I think so?"
"Then we’re supposed to water them today," Jaruwan said.
"Really? Can we just do that after lunch?" Alice whined. 
Then there came a series of soft knocks on the door frame: "May I come in?" A familiar voice followed.
"Ms. Nam?" Jaruwan expressed, "Well, yes, of course, come in."
"Please, Jaruwan, you don’t have to call me Ms. Nam; just call me Sehyun." She replied and went on, "Just think of me as your big sister; no need for any formality."
"I prefer it that way, if that’s okay with you?" Jaruwan asked.
"Yes, I suppose you can call me that," Sehyun answered, a hint of amusement in her tone. "You are just like Lizzy with all your formalities."
Alice let out a slight laugh and asked, "So what brought you here? You need help with anything?"
"Oh no, not that; I’m just here to give Jaruwan this; it came in the mailbox today." Sehyun handed a letter to Jaruwan.
"Thank you."
"Well, that’s it; I’ll go and deliver these to the others; you two have a nice afternoon." She bid her farewell, then walked out of the greenhouse.
"A letter from a family?" Alice asked.
"I suppose so, but let me see," Jaruwan said, then broke the wax seal. "Yeah, it’s from my mother."
"That’s nice."
"Mhm," Jaruwan responded. The letter wasn't very lengthy; it simply inquired about her well-being and how her internship had been going so far. It read:
‘’’ My Dearest Jaruwan, I hope this letter finds you in good spirits. I’m writing from home to send you warm love and wishes. Remember to be kind and take care of yourself amidst the busy days of your internship. How has that been treating you, by the way? I look forward to hearing from you soon. Please write back when you can.
With all my love and care,
Your Mother, Pawida. ‘’’ 
"Wanna go get lunch now?" Alice asked her, a short moment after that. 
"Mhm, let’s go." Jaruwan replied.
The lunch was brief but also delightful. The two enjoyed a warm dish of kimchi fried rice from the nearby eating house. The afternoon was spent on the grassy field, as other students gradually joined them after completing their work of the day. A few of them even brought along some alcoholic beverages as the sun dipped lower and painted the sky with enchanting shades of orange and pink.
...
As the sky darkened, the students began to make their way back to the fort. The grass rustled and swayed under the force of the howling wind. However, the drinking party showed no signs of ending. Instead, it was merely a shift in location. The students continued to revel in the high spirits, their enjoyment evident as they sang while strolling down the street. And once again, it was Jaruwan and Alice who stayed a bit longer, as Jaruwan wished to see the stars before heading back. The two were lying on the grass fields as their eyes fixed on the mesmerising expanse of stars above.
"Have you done this often?" Alice turned to her and asked
"Hm?" Jaruwan expressed, while her gaze was still on the night sky.
"Stargazing." 
"Well, I do it once a month, pretty much; you can only really see them the brightest once it’s a new moon, like tonight." Jaruwan explained, then added, "I’ve been doing it since I began my study at the academy; it makes me feel less…. Isolated? I suppose."
"Why is that?"
"Well, I was only 14 when I became a fourth-year student, and everyone was at least three years older than me." Jaruwan replied, and went on, "Although there are a few that wish to befriend me, it doesn’t make me feel any less isolated."
"Oh yeah, you skipped two years, right? I think I’ve heard about that." Alice replied.
"Yes."
"Am I your friend?"
Jaruwan turned to her and said, "I suppose so? Are you?"
Alice made a face, then replied, "Duh! Of course, I’m your friend; you don’t even have to question that."
"Alright," Jaruwan replied, letting out a slight chuckle.
After roughly an hour of stargazing, the two eventually decided to join the rest of the groups. While walking back, something suddenly charged into the street in front of them. It was Hanfel, a vicious creature with thick, earthy gold fur and a muscular frame. Its appearance was nightmarish, within each eye socket were not one but three unsettling orbs. Its very sclera were abysmal black, and all six of its olive-grey irises were glowing ominously. On its forehead bore a shiny sinister crown, a mystical crescent resembling the moon’s phases. The crescent crown gave out an air of arcane power that was engraved onto the Hanfel’s fur, radiating an eerie luminescence. Embedded within the creature’s muzzle was a piercing that bore an uncanny resemblance to the very material of its shiny crown. Its coarse fur adorned only the upper reaches of its great body. The lower part was an unyielding stony scale that covered the Hanfel like ancient armour forged in the heart of the molten earth. With each movement, the scales grinded like rocks rubbing against one another. The creature roared at the two witches with its furious thunder, which echoed through the whole village.
“A Hanfel!” Both exclaimed in unison as they saw the creature, the two then cast a protection spell to shield themselves immediately, *“O-chronie!”* Then on the tip of both their wands emitted a radiant ray of blue light, casting mesmerizing interlocking rings that illuminated the surrounding and forming glowing barriers in front of them.  
As a response, the creature roared and sent out a purple beam towards them. Their shield proved resilient, successfully deflecting the beast's assault. However, the force of the impact proved too much, causing the shield to shatter in the process. *"O-chronie!"* The spell was cast once again.
"What are we gonna do?" Alice turned to Jaruwan and asked.
"I’ve got this." Jaruwan replied, "I can hold it off. You go get Ms. Nam and the others."
"Are you being serious right now? You can’t possibly hold it off on your own!"
As her response, Jaruwan hinted Alice to her right hand, which was emitting the same blue light as her ward. "Trust me, I can do it." 
Alice looked at her right hand and asked, "Wait, can you actually–?"
"No time to talk, just go!" She shouted as the beast let out another beam. The attack was once again repelled, but the magic shields were also destroyed. Alice seized the opportunity to run off the battlefield, but her attempt did not go unnoticed as the creature’s keen senses locked on her. 
"Hey, don’t get distracted, I’m right here." Jaruwan shouted and cast a cutting spell towards the beast, "*Perzetci!*"
Just as Jaruwan's attack was on the brink of striking, a surge of energy and vivid purple light rippled from the crown, causing the attack's trajectory to shift and collide with the stone-tiled road instead. The impact engraved a small but deep cut into the road surface. The beast turned back to Jaruwan, and it did not waste any seconds. It launched yet another attack right away. However, with her swift reflexes, she cast a spell that converged the shield from both her wand and her right hand, creating a slightly smaller shield when both of them were casting it. Still, it was effective against the creature’s attack. However, it seemed like the creature had a different strategy that time; it lunged forward and charged at Jaruwan immediately after launching its initial attack.
A nonverbal magic shield spell was cast out of her right palm instantly as she saw the beast charging. It landed on the shield, putting all its weight on it and causing the shield to start cracking. The beast tried to launch its beam at point-blank range, but Jaruwan was quicker to cast a spell from her wand, "*Audpihacie!*" The spell created a wind blast that propelled both Jaruwan and the creature in opposite directions. The beast used its powerful limbs and sharp crawl to halt its momentum, preventing itself from being pushed any further. 
Jaruwan followed the repelling spell with another cast right away, "*Vynrazenia Uszenie!*" A bright blue light came out of the tip of her wand immediately. The beast attempted to deflect the spell using its crescent crown, yet the effort proved to be ineffective. The spell’s energy overpowered its defence and successfully struck its left eye; the impact rippled out a resonating shockwave in the form of bright purplish blue energy.
The creature's agonised scream pierced the air, echoing throughout the village. In an instant, it shrouded itself in invisibility, vanished from sight, and swiftly departed from the battlefield.
"Are you alright, Jaruwan!? Where’s the Hanfel?" Ms. Nam quickly rushed towards Jaruwan as she was about to collapse. "Oh! Jaruwan, darling, did you twist your ankle? What happened? Are you hurt?" Sehyuh said as she noticed the bruises on Jaruwan’s ankle and proceeded to look for any more injuries on her body.
"The Hanfel… It went that way, and… Vanished," Jaruwan managed to say between heavy breaths.
"Come, Alice, Lizzy, give her a hand." Ms. Nam said, "I’ll go after the beast."
"Be careful, Ms. Nam." Lizzy added before she went off.
While the two helped Jaruwan back to her room, something caught Lizzy’s eye. A scar slowly appeared on Jaruwan’s face, forming a long mark under her left eye just as she started losing consciousness.
"Ms. Shintochi?" Lizzy called, then repeated with her voice raised, "Ms. Shintochi?"
"The spell is just wearing off," Alice jumped in and explained.
"Spell? What spell?" 
"If I had to guess, I’d say it’s a concealment charm." 
"What?"
"A concealment charm, a charm used to conceal something–"
"I know what a concealing charm is," Lizzy interrupted, paused for a short moment, and went on, "I’m confused. What gives you this idea? She just fought the Hanfel; for all we know, it would more likely be the creature's doing." 
"Because at the tournament, she had the same scar on her face." Alice replied.
"Oh! And it is against the rule to–"
"Mhm." Alice expressed, letting out a slight nod.
"Alright, I can see why you think it’s a concealment charm now."
== Chapter III : Broken Gratitude ==
Then came the morning, when the warm light kissed Jaruwan’s forehead. As she woke up, she found herself gazing at the wooden frame of the bed just above her head. She noticed a carving on it as she read to herself, "A.E. was here." The engraving did not make much sense to her at first, but she gradually realised that she was in Alice’s bed as she looked around the room. Jaruwan rose from her bed, but as she did so, she aggravated the injury she had sustained from the scuffle with the Hanfel, causing further harm to her ankle. 
"Ow." She cried softly, then proceeded to check on her left foot. It appeared to be tightly wrapped in some sort of beige-coloured cloth. Jaruwan tried to wriggle it around, but pain restricted her movement, resulting in a stiff and painful attempt.
Although it was a struggle to walk, her empty stomach still managed to convince Jaruwan to get dressed and go downstairs.. It seemed to her that nobody had woken up yet. Making her way to the kitchen, she opened a cabinet and discovered a jar of strawberry jam. Jaruwan wanted to eat it with some bread, but to her disappointment, the bread basket on the dining table was empty. She grabbed the container and went outside. Jaruwan took her broom, cast a transfiguration spell on it to turn it into a crutch, and headed towards the village’s square.
As she moved about, a few villagers greeted her, expressing well wishes for her fast recovery and conveying their gratitude for her display of bravery from last night. However, Jaruwan felt a sense of unease, as if someone was watching her from behind. Jaruwan turned, but there was nobody there. Then, from the resting position, she flicked her wrist slightly next to her right thigh and whispered to herself, "*Arwenie,*" 
"Huh…?" Jaruwan expressed, and tightened her grip. Fueled by anger, Jaruwan dropped her walking crutch and stormed into a nearby stable, catching a silver-haired stranger completely off guard. She put her ward up, right between his eyes, and ordered, "Hands up!"
"Woah, woah, woah!" The silver-haired stranger put his hands up to the sides of his head and said, "Let’s just talk this through–" 
"Shut! I’ll do the talking, and don’t try to do anything funny," Jaruwan said, tightening her grip on the wand.
"Okay–"
"What did I just say? She raised her voice as well as her wand.
The silver-haired stranger nodded in response, letting out the softest "mhm" that he could manage.
"Who are you? Why are you following me? Jaruwan asked.
The silver-haired stranger made a face, and tried to respond with his hands.
Jaruwan raised her voice once again, saying, "Drop the act! I don’t know how this is possible, but I know that it’s you; you are the Hanfel; What do you want from me? Why have you been following me since that night when I was on the train?"
The stranger mumbled his words quietly under his breath.
"Speak up!" Jaruwan shouted out of irritation. 
"Okay, Alright!" The stranger raised his voice in response. "I need your help, that’s all."
Jaruwan made a face, stressing her words, "Start. From. The. Beginning." 
"What?"
"You heard me." She said, while her eyes remained angrily fixed on his face, "I will not repeat myself," She added.
"Okay, my name is Wendell, Li Fang Wendell, I am from Hongwall, and again, I need your help. I've been cursed—actually, my bloodline has been cursed—to be bound to an ancient Hanfel spirit. It started with my great-great-great grandfather. He wanted power, so he forcefully bind himself to a powerful Hanfel in a thought to control it and take its mighty magical attributes. It was fine, at least in the beginning, it was. My great-great-great-grandfather used this power to stop the civil war and ultimately reunite Hoseong," He explained. 
"What are you talking about? The civil war ended because Lord Theng won the duel against Lady Serinah and banished her; Never heard of a Li Fang in that war before." Jaruwan objected.
"That is not a surprise, honestly." Wendell replied, "Theng wouldn’t let the public know about this."
Jaruwan made a face and said, "About what?" 
"The duel was rigged."
"What? What are you talking about? There were hundreds of witnesses."
"That was my great-great-great grandpa’s doing." Wendell slowly moved his right hand over Jaruwan’s left wrist to lower her wand. 
"Hey! What did I say!" Jaruwan raised her voice. 
Wendell immediately drew his hand back, saying, "Okay, but can you please stop pointing the ward directly at my face; It’s giving me a lot of stress right now."
"Just. Keep. Talking." Jaruwan refused to lower her wand.
Wendell went on, while his eye nervously locked to the tip of the ward. "Al… Alright… So what he did was a reality distortion charm."
"An illusion charm for the whole crowd? That sounds really far-fetched."
"I know, but it’s the truth; I’ve seen the memories." 
"The memories of what? The civil war was almost two centuries ago."
"Of the Hanfel." He replied.
"Prove it." Jaruwan said.
"Prove it how? I don’t own a wand." 
"Just close your eyes, and think of the memory." 
"*Eye,* you mean; you blasted my left eye off remember?"
"It’s just a hex." 
"Oh!" Wendell expressed, and asked, "So I will be able to see with my left eye again?" 
"That depends."
"Aw, come on, you already know that I’m not trying to hurt you." 
"Speak to my ankle, then." 
"Oh, you are hurt? Here, let me help you." Wendell tried to blend down to get a closer look at Jaruwan’s ankle.
Jaruwan took a step back immediately and snapped, raising her wand up quickly with caution, "Hey!"
Wendell observed her body language and backed up.
"Just close your eye." Jaruwan said, calmly.
"Alright, okay," Wendell replied, and slowly shut his eyes.
"*Pamian Kazuja…*" Jaruwan cast, swung her wand, and proceeded to close her eyes shortly after. "Concentrate on the memory." She instructed and added, "I can’t see anything yet.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"*Illusja zaklocnia maksimum…*" A man with long silver hair spoke under his breath in the shadow of the ruined amphitheater. Beyond the quartz pillar that he was hiding behind were Lord Theng and Lady Serinah; there were strange yet colourful glowing particles and clouds floating around the two.
"He’s not lying," Jaruwan spoke softly to herself while her eyes were still closed.
"Of course I’m not lying; what would I gain from that?" Wendell replied.
"Shush! Stop talking; you're going to ruin this," she rebuked.
Then the memory brought Jaruwan closer to the two sorcerers, who continued to rigorously duel each other. She noticed that Theng was primarily focused on casting defensive spells, while Serinah was doing the exact opposite, which was offensive-focused. She knew that if it kept going like this, Serinah would be the one to prevail. However, Jaruwan did not entirely believe that since history had already been written, and she preferred to stick with the truth that she had learned rather than her instinct. Except it was only her instinct that was right that day, as Lady Serinah successfully cast the disarming spell that sent Theng’s wand flying.
"Huh? What is going on?" Jaruwan exclaimed with wonder, as she observed the memory closely.
Suddenly, four men stepped out from their hidings and raised their wands against Serinah. They were also accompanied by colourful clouds, but the colours were noticeably dimmer compared to the two duelists.
She noticed them immediately, glanced around to see their faces, and called out, "What in the devil is this?" 
"Drop your wand, Serinah; don’t make this harder than it's supposed to be. One of the men declared.
"We’re not different after all, are we? Theng." Serinah looked straight to Theng’s direction, and chuckled, then started walking towards him.
"Don’t claim that we are the same, you crazy witch; I’m nothing like you. Theng managed to speak through his heavy breath.
"Stop it! Lady Serinah!" Another man in the group shouted.
"If you are going to kill me, just get it over with already. Serinah proceeded to walk towards Theng.
"Serinah, I command you to stop—"
Serinah flicked her wand, and the man's mouth immediately disappeared.
"Kalatwa Zabojwa!" The other three men cast the spell in unison. At the same time, each of their wands blasted out the brightest red beam that Jaruwan had ever seen.
Serinah flicked her wand once more, and all the beams that raced towards her were swiftly deflected back to each one of them. The three wizards collapsed on the floor and became completely motionless instantly after they were hit with their own spell.
"A verboden spell, really, Theng? I thought you were against this; how would you explain it to your supporters now, huh?" Serinah said, and continued to walk towards him.
"That’s because he’s got me. The silver-haired person stepped out and pointed his wand towards Serinah.
"Don’t try it, Kastner; this wouldn’t end well for you." 
"Go to hell, Serinah. He replied and proceeded to cast the same verboten spell.
Serinah did a full turnaround, and deflected the spell back, but Kastner was also able to do so, deflecting the spell, and landed it directly in the middle of her chest, killing Serinah right away.
"What in the world? Jaruwan exclaimed as she stopped casting the memory seeker charm.
"You believe me now? Wendell asked. 
"Okay…? But what happened next? How did the same Hanfel bond to your blood?
"I don’t know; that’s what I need your help for."
"Me? How could I possibly know? I just met you yesterday," Jaruwan expressed.
"You noticed the glowy clouds around each person in the memory? Wendell asked.
"Yeah, I noticed that; why? I thought it was just something that is unique to Hanfel’s vision; is there any significance to that? Jaruwan replied.
"I think you might’ve heard about this already; those clouds are called aura." 
"You’re kidding. It’s real?" Jaruwan expressed in excitement. 
"The Hanfel can see it, yes."
Jarawan made a face, paused for a moment, and asked, "And what? That still did not explain why you needed my help."
"I’m getting to it, okay?" 
Jaruwan gave him an expressionless stare as her response.
"Alright, Okay! The night of the train accident, I saw your aura in the Hanfel form, and it was the most unique combination of colour I have ever seen since Lady Serinah."
"So you decided to follow me and attack me? That would definitely do it."
"How many times do I have to tell you that I didn't mean to attack you?" Wendell raised his voice slightly. "It’s out of my hands; the Hanfel’s power is most strong once it’s a new moon." 
"Okay…?" Jaruwan squinted her eyes.
"I can’t help it, that’s why I need you to break the blood-binding curse between me and the Hanfel." 
"That is impossible; no one has ever done that before."
"Except it is possible."
Jaruwan gave him a weird look in response.
"Before my great-great-great grandfather died, he discovered a hidden stone monument that stored the ancient incantation in its engravings."
"So because I have *unique* aura, you think I would be able to cast this ancient spell." Jaruwan used her hands to make an air quote.
"Yeah?"
Jaruwan let out a long sigh, saying, "Alright, where is this stone monument, then?"
"Jangsan."
"Jangsan?! That’s like two hours from here by broom."
"There's a better way if you trust me. Wendell looked Jaruwan in the eyes and went on asking, "Do you trust me?"
"And what would *this* better way be?"
"Well, actually, it’s the only way since I don’t know how to fly a broom properly anyway."
"Hey, I’m asking you here." Jaruwan said with slight irritation. 
"Oh, we can teleport there."
"Teleport? You can do that?" 
"The hanfel can, and I’ve recently mastered it as well." 
"Okay…" Jaruwan expressed, paused for a moment, and asked, "Why do you want to unbind the Hanfel from your blood anyways? Is it just because you can’t control them?"
"For most nights, yeah."  Wendel replied and added, "Now it’s like around seventeen nights a moon that I would turn into a Hanfel. Six of them that I have no control of the creature at all." 
"Now? You’re saying it was lower?"
"Yeah, it was only eight nights when my grandfather was bound to it, according to my mother."
"Huh? This whole thing just keeps getting weirder and weirder."
"Tell me about it, I’ve been figuring this out on my own since my mother passed away."
"Hm." Jaruwan expressed and went on to say, "Alright, let’s go to Jangsan, then."
"Okay, back up a little bit, alright? Wendell said, and Jaruwan took a few steps back accordingly. He then closed his eye, and proceeded to use his left foot to swipe the floor in front of him as his right knee blended down. He used his right leg as his pivot point to turn himself, while his left foot followed the same motion. When he completed the full turnaround, he stomped the ground with the heel of his shoe. Immediately, a dark bluish-green portal ripped through the air and appeared in front of Wendell’s left foot.
"Interesting," Jaruwan expressed.
"Me or you first?"  Wendell turned to Jaruwan and asked.
Jaruwan made a face and asked, "What do you think?"
"Me?"
"Mhm."
"Alright then, I’ll catch you on the other side; don’t take too long though!" he said, and stepped right into the portal, leaving no time for Jaruwan to respond.
Jaruwan stared into the abyss of the ominous-looking portal as she took a short moment to herself. She then took a deep breath before leaping into the eerie gateway.
Instantly, the bright sunlight flashed in her eyes as the portal thrust her out. "Ow, ow, ow," Jaruwan cried while trying to balance herself with an injured ankle on an unleveled ground.
"Oh heavens, are you alright? Wendell rushed towards her and said, "I’m so sorry; I should’ve warned you about this. Can you walk? He asked, then tried to help her with his hands.
"I’m fine. I’m fine. Jaruwan replied, waving him off. She then began to observe the new surroundings that they were in, saying, "Where is this stone monument? All I can see is just grass."
"It’s—"
"Oh wait, you meant that it is hidden by magic."
"That’s what my mother told me, yes," Wendell replied, and added, "If I remember correctly, it should be right around here. He pointed his finger in the direction slightly left from Jaruwan. 
"Alright," Jaruwan replied, and she proceeded to flick her wand, saying, "*Arwenie.*" Then suddenly, a huge transparent purple magic wall appeared in front of them. Inside the wall was a stone monument with a pedestal in its centre, and most of its pillars were ruined. The sky inside the wall had an enchanting allure and was adorned with countless constellations.
"Woah." Wendell expressed himself and was about to jump towards the magic wall.
"Wait!" Jaruwan shouted as she pointed her wand to the ground and swung to pick up a small chunk of dirt. She then proceeded to launch the dirt towards the wall. The dirt disintegrated into dust instantly as it hit the giant magic wall.
Wendell jumped away from the wall right away as soon as he saw that.
"Hm, let me try something," Jaruwan suggested, and she pointed her wand towards the wall. "*Perzetci!*" She cast. The beam of the cutting spell hit the wall, but nothing seemed to happen. "Okay…" Jaruwan expressed. "*Bombardonie!*" She cast, then an orange beam rushed out from the tip of her wand and landed on the wall. The impact of the spell created an explosion, and yet nothing happened. *Plomain Ognia!*" Jaruwan cast another spell right away. That time it was a flame that came out of her wand, and still not a single scratch on the wall. "*Saloncia Poz–"
"What about the knife spell?" Wendell interrupted her.
"The what spell?"
"You know, the one spell that concentrates your magic power at the tip of your wand?"
"Oh! You mean *Perzetci Bliskoni?*" 
"I guess? I wouldn’t know."
"Yeah, I think that’s what you mean; that’s actually pretty smart. I’ll try it." Jaruwan said, and she stepped closer to the wall. "*Perzetci Bliskoni,*" She cast under her breath, and the tip of her wand lit up. She dragged it diagonally across the magic wall in front of her, and instantly the wall ripped open.
"It works," she said, then added with determination, "I’m going in."
"I’ll be just right behind you." Wendell added.
Before Jaruwan stepped inside the torn gap of the purple magic wall, she turned back to Wendell and asked, "Are you sure this is safe?"
As Wendell nodded and shrugged slightly, Jaruwan pointed the ward towards herself and cast out a spell. *"O-chronie Oczonie"* She said it under her breath, and so a vivid yellow magic shield appeared and surrounded her. "You need to go in too, right?" Jaruwan asked.
"I think so?"
"Alright," She said, paused for a moment, then stressed, "Let me say this again, don’t try to do anything funny," pointing the wand at Wendell. 
"What? Hey? I’m not trying to do anything."
"Stay…" Jaruwan instructed, pointing her ward towards Wendell’s face, still.
"Wha–" Before Wendell even opened his lip, Jaruwan shot out a beam from the tip of her wand and landed it on his eyepatch. "What was that?!" He exclaimed, and instinctively took a step back.  
Jaruwan shook her head slightly, and said, "Take off your eyepatch." 
And so he did: Wendell removed his eyepatch and opened his left eye. His face brightened up as he expressed his surprise: "You lifted my curse?" 
"Well, it’s impossible to use an abjuration spell on the same individual you’ve hexed, isn’t it?"
"Abjura–what?"
"Protection, if that’s easier for you to understand," she replied, and went on to cast one to protect Wendell as well.
"Oh." Wendell looked at the glowing shield around his body, putting both his hands up towards his face, "I don't—should I feel anything different?"
Jaruwan made a face, and expressed, "huh?"
"You know… well, actually, nevermind." 
"Okay…?" Jaruwan replied.
"Let’s go in then," Wendell suggested.
Jaruwan nodded in response and turned back to the rip in the wall once again. She whispered something to herself before she took a step inside the magic wall.
"You’re feeling alright there?" Wendell asked as he saw Jaruwan’s left foot inside the wall.
"I’ll be fine." She replied, and proceeded to move further inside.
Wendell closely followed her into the wall. The two walked up to the pedestal with a strange inscription that resembled a figure of a hand in the middle of the stone monument. They both observed the pedestal closely, as well as the other stone pillars that circled around it. And after a short moment as they stood beside, in front of the strange pedestal, Wendell then looked up at Jaruwan’s face, and said, "So, what’s next?"
"Aren’t you supposed to be the expert here?"
"I don’t know; I’ve never gotten past the wall before," Wendell replied, and added, "Maybe I could do this?"
"What are yo—" Wendell placed his left hand on the pedestal before Jaruwan could have stopped him.
"Oh, wait, it's the right hand." He said, as he noticed that the hand did not match the engraving, then proceeded to place his right hand on the pedestal instead.
"What did I say about not doing anything stupid!?" Jaruwan raised her voice to scold him.
"Stupid...? Or funny?" He teased her.
Jaruwan made a face, and did not respond.
"What? You said funny, not stupid."
"That pedestal could have blown us all up."
"But…. it didn’t," Wendell replied, and he went on saying, "Yeah, nothing at all," while repeatedly putting his hand on and off the pedestal.
"Let me try," Jaruwan said, and stepped in. She placed her hand over the strange inscriptions on the pedestal, and immediately the inscriptions responded to her touch with a gentle purple glow. The kind illumination also lit up the surrounding stone pillars, revealing hidden inscribed symbols. Her heart raced, and she felt the arcane power rush into her veins, sending shivers down her spine. "What… is… this…?" She expressed herself as she glanced around the surroundings. Her right hand was trembling slightly as she continued to put it over the mysterious inscriptions on the pedestal. Although the illumination lasted for a moment, the hidden inscribed symbols remained visible on the stone pillars. She then turned to Wendell right away after the light faded out and took her hand off the pedestal. 
Wendell turned to her at the same time, with his eyes wide open, saying, "Maybe we should try reading those runes?"
"I don’t think I would be able to read Runic Poloskas, not properly at least ."
"So you do *know*." Wendell expressed and went on, "Wow, that’s… impressive."
Jaruwan gave him a weird look, and said, "You know it too?"
"Yeah, it was my mother who taught me how to read it," he said, and asked, "I suppose you learned it in school?"
Jaruwan nodded slightly, saying, "Mhm, it’s not a requirement at the academy, but I’d find runic studies quite fascinating."
"Is that so?"
"Mhm."
"Okay," Wendell said as he walked towards one of the pillars, "let’s begin with this one, shall we?"
"Yeah." Jaruwan replied and followed him to the pillar.
"Are you ready?" Wendell asked.
Jaruwan nodded in response.
"*Idealnie rozsumar, idealnie punkatar,*" the two read out in unison. Accordingly, the ground beneath their feet suddenly lit up, highlighting the hidden pentagram underneath the layers of dirt. The pentagram was glowing the same vivid purple just as the magic wall. Jaruwan looked down, then instantly turned to Wendell and asked, "Are you sure about this?"
"Only one way to find out," he replied while his eyes were still fixed on the inscriptions, then continued to read the runic language, "Abbie ten karwa—"
"Hey, are you even listening to me? I think we should think this through first; anything could happen." Jaruwan objected.
"What is it to talk about? It’s not like we can just test it, can we?" 
Jaruwan let out a long sigh, saying, "Alright, I guess I’ll just leave you be then; it seems like you can handle it yourself just fine."
"Sure." Wendell said, and he still did not look at Jaruwan.
Jaruwan rolled her eyes, and walked away from the stone monument.
"*Powalie prezesuwa jacto,*" Wendell continued, and as he went on, the pentagram underneath him grew brighter: "*Potowojak skorazie.*"
In an instant, when Wendell spoke those words, a sharp pain cleaved through the middle of Jaruwan’s chest like a dagger thrust into her heart. She clutched the dress, gasping for breath, as she collapsed to the ground. She tried to speak, but the searing pain was too much for her to make any sound.
"You probably should not try to talk, Miss Shintoshi."
Jaruwan’s eyes widened as she heard her family name came out of Wendell’s mouth. Her body was now filled with anger and disbelief; her very gaze was locked on him, and her right hand clutched her chest even tighter. She did not waste any seconds, as she drew her wand towards Wendell and cast the cutting spell right away. The spell landed and broke through the magic shield, but it was only able to make a tiny cut on his right shoulder.  
"It’s heartbreaking, really, that it has to be this way, Miss Shintoshi—" 
Jaruwan shot out another cutting spell right away; it narrowly missed the back of his head.
"Hey, I’m trying to speak here!" Wendell turned and looked down at her, shouting. He read the anger that was written all over her face and asked, "Oh! You don’t like being called Miss Shintoshi; I can call you Jaruwan if you want." 
She fired out another spell. That time, the beam’s trajectory was true, rushing straight towards Wendell’s neck, but just as her attack was about to strike him, the same vivid purple light from last night rippled from Wendell’s forehead and deflected her attack to the ground just in front of him.
"Come on, I do not wish to kill you; don't make this situation worse than it has to be." 
Jaruwan attempted to cast the cutting spell once more, but it seemed like Wendell was at his limit. His wand appeared out of thin air in his right hand, and before Jaruwan could get her spell off, he cast his very own, "*O-lustzenie!*"
From the tip of Wendell’s wand, a glaring green beam shot forth, rushing towards Jaruwan. It landed directly, and completely broke Jaruwan’s magic shield. "Oh, I completely forgot about that–" He tried to speak, but his sentence was interrupted by Jaruwan’s spell as it landed right on his left shoulder. "Hey! Where’s your manners?!" Wendell cast the same spell once more right away, and it froze Jaruwan in place immediately. And as her body became paralyzed, the scar on her left cheek slowly revealed itself. Wendell then let out a long sigh in disappointment and turned back to the stone pillars. "Now, where were we?" He spoke to himself before continuing to read the inscriptions from where he left off while his right hand was holding his wound tightly: "*Bolajest gotowie doroza pocziacie.*"
The glow of the pentagram intensified, and then something drew the arcane power from all the stone pillars and Jaruwan, forming a droplet-shaped object in the middle of the stone monument, just above the pedestal. Wendell then continued to the next pillar, continuing to read the inscription. It went on for some moment until he read the final sentence on the last stone pillar, "*...thowja sakorra eya zaczanie sierbol.*"
Once he was done, the droplet formed a cloudy yellow crystal, surrounded by an arcane aura, floating on the pedestal. Wendell then proceeded to take it and cast a transfiguration spell to wrap the crystal around his left wrist by turning it into a bracelet. Wendell put the bracelet on his wrist, and it radiated a sudden, vivid glow. His eyes widened as the surge of magical energy coursed through his veins.  "Let’s see if this is actually gonna work," he said, then transformed into the Hanfel.
In the Hanfel form, Wendell looked around, then held one of its forepaws up while he looked down at it. "Incredible," he said in a large, distorted voice, then turned back to his human form right after. "One step closer to glory," he said to himself, and went on, "Please just hang on for a bit longer, mother." He then turned to Jaruwan and showed his broken gratitude, saying, "Your blood is really special, Jaruwan; I’ve got to admit that; such arcane power it holds; thank you for helping me." Wendell then walked towards Jaruwan, who was still in her daze. "Let me hold on to this for you, Jaruwan," he said, then took the wand out of her hand, saying, “You know I’ve noticed that you’ve always held your wand a bit too loose, maybe next time– if there is next time, to say the least, you should hold it tighter, you know? So this wouldn’t happen again.” The wand zapped him as he held it in his hand, the mildly irritating shock causing him to drop it to the ground. "Hell," he exclaimed in response, then started laughing right after, then said. "Alright then," He added, before using his own wand to cut it in half, then kneeled down to put them aside in his pocket.
Right before Wendell stood back up, he looked at Jaruwan and said, "Now, Jaruwan, you probably, no, you definitely should get used to this place once the stun spell wears off, since you would most likely be stuck in here forever." Then he morphed himself, shifting his appearance to match Jaruwan's, and went on, saying, "Well, if you somehow manage to escape, you might have a hard time living your life in this world," as his voice adjusted to match Jaruwan’s. 
"I think this would do it." Wendell said, and he stood back up. He then conjured a pocket-sized mirror into his left hand and checked out the appearance of his disguise. "Oh, right, I almost forgot to do this," he said, then pointed his wand to the upper area of his cheek, and accordingly, the scar disappeared. "Well, I’m off now; it was nice knowing you, Jaruwan, despite everything." Wendell signed off, and he walked through the gap between the walls. "*Wazmocnie Ozlocnie,*" He cast the spell to reconnect the walls. He then took a final glance at Jaruwan from outside the magic wall. 
Then Wendell turned his back to Jaruwan, facing the opposite direction, and said, "I’m coming, mom." He proceeded to open the eerie gateway once again and disappeared into the depths of the twirling portal.
== Chapter IV: Jadzelia’s Shards ==
Wendell put his right foot on the hardwood floor as he stepped out, off the other side of the portal, letting out a slight squeaking sound. He quickly rushed to a shadowy, rectangular-shaped object that was standing in one corner of the room. “*Oswithlenae Plomaina,*” he spoke softly under his breath, and accordingly, all the candles in the room lit up. In front of him was a clutter of thoughts in the shape of a messy, paper-strewn oak board.
And all of a sudden, something jumped on Wendell, wrapped its legs around his neck, pulled his hair up, and put a kitchen knife just slightly above his throat. “WHO ARE YOU?!” it shouted with a piercing voice. 
“Wait! Felizca! It’s me; I am Wendell!” He said, in Jaruwan’s voice, putting his hands up.
Felizca looked at the wand on Wendell’s hand and exclaimed, “Ma–Master?” She jumped off. “Why are you in this… this girl form? Have you been cursed?” 
“No, it’s just a disguise."
“A disguise?”
“No time to explain,” Wendell said, and he proceeded to walk to the board. “Did you manage to get what I asked for?” 
“Yes, Master, it’s all in here.” Felizca untied the pouch on her belt and handed it to him.
“Thank you so much, Felizca.” He said as his eyes fixed on the chaotic canvas covered with countless papers, overlapping each other carelessly. Each sheet was filled with hurried scribbles, letters, notes, and numbers that were almost illegible. His finger ran from one corner of one sheet to another, along the sloppy inked lines. It stopped as the paper read, “*5 past midday, Ingyong Station.*”
“It’s almost five, Master,” Felizca jumped in.
“Oh, alright, thanks again.”
“Master?”
“Yes?”
“Is today the day?”
“Yes, I believe so, Felizca; today’s the day,” he said, letting out a slight nod, and went on, “I’ll be on my way then.”
"Good luck, Master; be safe.” 
“You too, Felizca, take care.” He sent off and opened the whirling portal once again. Before Wendell stepped in, he turned to Felizca, but not a single word came out of his mouth. He let out a palest smile, then slowly entered the portal.
The other side of the portal appeared behind the train station. “Okay, let’s see,” Wendell said as he stepped out. “*Pamian Kazuja,*” he said, closed his eyes, and cast the spell on himself. “The Shards, the Shards, the Shards..” He repeated it to himself. Then shortly after that, his eyes opened wide as he said, “There we go.”
Suddenly, the bell rang five times.
“Oh.” Wendell expressed, and walked straight inside the station. He waited, patiently on one of the wooden benches on platform one. The train from Seongpo to Ingyong had yet to arrive, but the delay was always to be expected in Hoseong at that time, and most of the Hesongko were aware of this. Wendell then decided to take that opportunity to grab some steamed meat buns from a little shop nestled on the platform. 
“Such a beautiful set of eyes you got there, dear,” the shopkeeper complimented him in a deliberate voice as she slowly warmed up the stale buns that he ordered with the very clay steam pot that she used for cooking them in the first place.
“Really? I don’t get that very often, thank you.” He smiled.
"Oh, stop it,” she chuckled. “I’m sure anyone would find themselves enchanted by those rich golden eyes of yours,” the shop owner dismissed in a playful manner.
“Golden eyes?” Wendell slipped, “Oh right, yeah, sorry, I'm really not myself today,” and let out a dry laugh.
“A long day, huh?”
“Very much so, yes.” He said, and nodded.
The shopkeeper paused for a moment, then went on, saying, “Why don’t you take these sweet cream buns too? On the house.” 
“Oh no, I shouldn’t.”
“Are you sure? It’s real tasty,” she said with a smile.
“I’ll take one then, if you insist. Thanks a lot,” Wendell smiled back.
The shopkeeper put the steamed buns inside the bag and handed it to Wendell, adorning him with her tired set of blue eyes and a kind smile. Then came the train whistle that shifted Wendell’s attention altogether; he turned instantly after he put down the money on the weathered wooden storefront counter. It was almost double the price of the rice buns he ordered, but his emotions did not allow him to stay inside the old lady’s shop any much longer. Wendell’s legs drove him to the platform one in no time, ignoring the shopkeeper’s calls about his change.
His wide eyes gazed along the line of the platform as the train paralleled. And as it slowly came to a rest, the passengers on board started to awaken and stepped down to the elevated stone-brick foundation. Wendell’s eyes inspected each arriving passenger in his rigorous manner, and suddenly his eyes locked on the target.
A well-dressed middle-aged man rested his leather loafers against the floor of platform one. His coffee trench coat flew against the soft wind as he walked. Underneath it was a slightly darker vest, a pair of matching trousers, and a white shirt. A hat, a bow tie, and a silver ring were also attached to complete his overall look. With a suitcase in his left hand and a newspaper in the other, he walked past Wendell, completely unaware of his presence.
Wendell quietly followed him from that point while remaining some distance from his target. The pursuit took him to a dark path under a bridge, where Wendell drew his wand and struck him. “*O-lustzenie!*” He casted. The spell landed on the back of his target and completely stopped his target’s motion.
“Give me what I want, and I’ll be on my way.” He said in Jaruwan’s voice and went on, “Just think of where The Shards is located,” Wendell instructed while putting his wand to the back of the well-dressed man's head. “*Pamian Kazuja,*” he cast, then closed his eyes. 
For some moments, Wendell saw nothing but random memories.
And as his patient grew thinner as the memory he was seeking shifted to another, he found himself on the verge of resorting to an act of violence. With a calm yet ominous tone, he delivered an indirect threat, imploring the man, “I do not wish to separate a family, you understand? Please just help me out here.”
Wendell’s words caused the memory to undergo a transformation once again. This time it was one of which the man was splinting along the shoreline, accompanied by a young girl.
“Daddy!” The little girl said it with the brightest smile, and immediately her face started to fade. Wendell’s vision went dark, but then he started to hear voices coming through the memory.
“Remind me again why we need to travel through these dark clouds.” A resonant voice came forward.
“So that the Shards remained hidden from the public eyes, basically.” A feminine voice replied.
“And how can we tell where we are? And that we are going in the right direction, even.” The same resonant voice asked.
“Observer Charm.” Another masculine voice jumped in and answered.
“Observer Charm? What is that?”
“It’s a spell that the old principal invented for his husband.” 
“Principal Jiufa?” 
“Jiufa is a principal now? Really? I couldn't have imagined that,” the man laughed and went on, “no, I’m talking about Principal Gaster, Julius Gaster; do you know him, Rooks?”
“No…”
“Oh, I see, well, basically, his husband is blind, so he created this spell so he could see the world around him,” the man explained, and added, “You can find the spell in the Hoseong vault; it’s already been publicised; a hard spell to master though; took me like 3 months to steadily cast it for a few seconds; and besides, it wouldn’t be much use for you either, considering that your eyes are perfectly fine, unlike this one of mine,” he pointed out.
“Wait, are you…?”
“Yeah, this one is just a prosthetic; looks pretty real, right?” He pointed to his right eye, and said, then went on casting the spell, “*O-kon Obserwagie.*”
And there he was, staring at Jadzelia’s Shards through the eyes of the man. “At last, I found you,” Wendell said under his breath. 
“We are cruising above the Dew Ocean right now, probably arriving in 10 minutes,” the man said. 
“There we go,” Wendell spoke under his breath, pulling his wand away from the man. “Thank you,” he said, and proceeded to open the portal right away. 
As the portal dropped Wendell mid-air, in the middle of the vast ocean, he exclaimed, “Oh boy.” And at that moment, gravity accelerated him to the tidal surface, and he cast a wind blast spell to subdue his motion. Unintentionally, the blast also propelled him forward, and once again, his body was going to slam itself into the raging torrent. In a moment of sheer panic, Wendell cast a spell to freeze a part of the saltwater, instantly turning it into a chunk of ice. However, he did not stick to the landing, plunging his head first into a solid block of frozen water.
“Ouch!” He cried and rubbed his cheek as it started to turn red. He slowly balanced himself to stand up and looked up at the sky. He glanced at the moon for a few seconds before propelling the ice shard with his windblast spell.
After a moment, he found himself staring at a gigantic structure that was shrouded in an ominous aura, a nightmarish testament in the middle of the dark ocean. The ethereal beauty of the crystalline fortress left Wendell in awe, yet intimidated. His eyes fixed on the genius architectural arcanery of the great Jadzelia, the mother of this very prison.
The unearthly structure of Jadzelia’s Shards, constructed entirely from infused obsidian fragments, glinted the only light shined by the pale moon that night. From the heart of the fortress, five majestic spires thrust upwards, piercing the heavens above the gloomy sky.
As the frozen platform continued to float towards the Shards, a stone column appeared from the corner of his eye. He then decided to teleport himself on top of the pillar to level himself with the prison. With the spirit of wind sweeping through the dark, long hair of Jaruwan, he stood there for a moment.
“Now what?” he spoke under his breath to himself. “How does one even enter the Shards? Damn it, Wendell, why don’t you just seek the memory all the way through?" he added, while clutching his wand even tighter. “And it’s not like you can go back and find that man again, isn’t it? He probably would have alerted the guardians by now— that’s right! The guardians are most likely to be on their way here; that’s the plan; that’s my way in,” he figured.
The sky turned even darker as Wendell started to be hypnotised by the soothing rhythms of the tides and sink in his drowsiness on a stone ledge that he rested his body on. Then there was a haunting call that snapped him out of it. The stark echo reverberated through the atmosphere that sliced through the dark clouds above Wendell, causing him to shift all his attention to it. “What is a raven doing all the way here?” he thought as he looked up to the sky. And in his eyes was a flying carriage pulled by two gigantic ravens with blazing red eyes. His gaze locked onto the ravens with great wonder, but then a drop of water hit his face, acting as a sudden shake of awareness that brought him back and snapped him out of his trance. The droplets continued to splash him rapidly as the sky flashed and the sea raged. Wendell did not wait any further; he opened the portal and teleported the space above the carriage right away.
The landing was not as perfect as Wendell wanted it to be, but it was good enough to not alert anyone on the carriage. As the wagon came closer to the Shards, the ravens screamed and increased its speed exponentially, zooming into the space between the two towers in the middle.
The intent speed distorted the shape of the carriage into a single line that pierced through the thin air.
Suddenly, Wendell was inside Jadzelia's Shards. He tried to stay as low to the wagon’s roof as possible as it was coming to a stop, and the crews on board were stepping out. It seemed to be going well for Wendell, as the crews were busy talking to each other as they walked and did not care to look back at the wagon. However, one of the ravens turned to scratch its soaked wing and caught him lurking on the roof. The raven stopped what it was doing instantly and locked their pair of brightest ablaze orbs to Wendell.
“Shhh…” Wendell made the sound and put his index finger over his mouth. “Here, do you want this?” he whispered, slowly pulling out the paper bag of steamed buns. With his eyes also fixed on the raven’s, he pulled out one of the buns at random. “Fetch!” He shouted in the loudest whispers he could manage.
The raven caught the bun and turned away.
“Good bird…” He whispered. He then looked around the room and proceeded to jump down from the roof.
But out of nowhere, footsteps echoed the hallway all the way through the room that Wendell was in. He took a glance across the room and turned away after a quick moment.
Wendell, who was behind the wagon let out a sigh of relief and proceeded to pull out a pink potion from the pounce that Felizca handed him earlier. He ended up almost throwing it all up, as he wolfed it all down his throat in one go. He pounded his chest with his fist while simultaneously coughing up the taste of the potion. Right after that, Wendell used the power of the Hanfel to turn himself invisible.
“Now, to my mother.” He spoke in a palest voice and pulled out a silver ring. “*Lojulnie Poluskie,*” he cast, and immediately the ring wiggled on his palm, which made Wendell exclaim to himself, “She’s not far.”
Wendell smoothly navigated the corridors and went down the stairs while keeping a distance from the countless guards in the building. As Wendell was making his way down to the 4th-level basement, he could already hear all sorts of rackets coming from the level as he walked down the stairs; there were shouts, screams, laughter, and cries. The corridors of that floor were surprisingly empty; there were no guards in Wendell’s sights. Then there he was, standing in front of a steel door marked D-4-1-1-1-1 with tiny window bars at the bottom. He was tempted to break the door with his spell, but to his luck, two guards came towards his direction, with one of them holding a tray of all silver objects—boxes, eating utensils, and a cup. Wendell took a few steps back to allow some distance between him and the door. The other guard, who was not holding anything, unlocked the door with a swing of his wand. They entered the room and appeared to be talking to the prisoner. “41111, dinner,” he said, placing the tray down. Before them stood a female prisoner with a pair of almost-midnight brown eyes, black hair with snow seeping in each strand, and healthy tan skin. Her hands were also chained up and hanging from the ceiling. The lady was ensnared by a myriad of glowing red hands. Each hand creeped along her body, with their fingers extended and tracing the contours of her figure.
“Try not to bite the hands, this time, Miss Li Fang.” The other prison guard suggested. Then suddenly the steel door slammed shut, and Wendell revealed himself. 
“*O-lustzenie!*” He cast, right away, landing the spell directly at the guard with a wand, and completely stunned him in place. 
The other guard who came in with a tray tried to strike him back, but Wendell disarmed him immediately as his wand appeared on his hand, sending it flying. He then cast the stun spell that landed directly on him. “Finally.” Wendell spoke to himself and turned to his mother. And in his eyes, a surreal and unsettling scene that Wendell wished he had never witnessed. One of the blazing crimson hands extended gracefully and gently offered his mother a portion of the egg-fried rice that the guards had brought, while his mother was chewing the food as well.
“Kimchi please.” She said to one of the hands, with her mouth full, while Wendell was staring at her weirdly. “And who may you be? What do you want? Are you here to save me?” She turned to Wendell and asked.
“It’s me, mother.”
“Wendell?” She exclaimed as one of the hands held some kimchi with a pair of chopsticks just in front of her lips. “Look what they have done to me, dear; a room of a hundred hands? Really? Just because I killed your father and two of his brothers? That’s a bit overboard, don’t you think?”
“It is, mother, totally overboard.”
“I know right!” She exclaimed then took a bite of the kimchi, “Emh! The kimchi here is actually really good, you know, dear.” 
“I believe it is, mother.” 
“And what’s up with that? You know, why are you like this? I mean, your face, your outfit, what’s up with that?”
“Uh– it’s my disguise, mother?” He sounded unsure.
“A disguise?” She questioned as she took another bite of the egg-fried rice and went on immediately without giving Wendell any window to answer, “Well, what are you waiting for, sweety? Come, help me loose.”
“Oh! Sorry, mother; I’ll do that right away.” He said, and started to use a cutting spell to chop up the myriad of hands that were ensnaring his mother.
It took him a couple minutes to get to the very last set of hands.
“Hurry up; they are coming, dear.” His mother said.
Wendell did not respond and continued to cast the cutting spell. Suddenly, a loud bang hit the steel door.
“Hey! Brandon! Ian! What is going on!? Is everything alright in there!? You've been down here for a while now!” A female voice barged through the window bars. The voice went quiet for a short moment, then she shouted again, saying, “Brandon! Ian! Can you hear me? I’m going in right now, okay?!” And again, it went quiet for a few seconds. “Go alert the others,” her whisper slipped through the door just before she used her spell to unlock it. 
With her quick wit, she cast the spell to create the magic shield immediately as she opened the door. And instantly, the spell from Wendell’s wand landed on the magic shield, but it did not manage to break the shield. 
The female guard and the other two slowly moved inside the room as Wendell tried to hold them off on his own. “Put down your wand, miss!” She shouted to order.
“Psst! Wendell, my wand, dear.” His mother said, with one hand covering the side of her mouth. Besides, some parts of her straitjacket had also been ripped off.
“Mother, how did you—” Wendell did not finish his sentence, and handed his mother her wand right away.
“Thank you, dear,” She said, took the wand, and began to laugh. “Oh, how I miss you, my old friend.” Wendell’s mother then proceeded to cast a non-verbal stun spell. A glaring green beam struck the guard’s magic shield and successfully broke it. And Wendell followed his mother with another cast on his own as well; the spell landed and caused the female guard to be completely paralysed.
Seeing that the situation had escalated, the other two guards began to open fire. The two Li Fangs cast a magic shield in response. The shield was able to resist the attack for some moments, and at the moment that it broke, both sides decided to attack. Their arcane power collided, causing sparks of energy to erupt in every direction that poured out like a parade of shooting stars. Their powers seemed to be equally matched, as the trajectory of the spells remained true from both sides. Then suddenly, the collision of the spells came to an unstable climax and peaked in an earth-shaking blast, sending everyone in the room flying.
Wendell’s mother swiftly grabbed the hanging chain, cancelled out the repulsive force, and regained her balance. And hanging from the ceiling, she cast a stun spell that directly hit one of the guards. She let out another laugh before striking the other guard down.
However, he was also able to react quickly and cast a shield spell on his end. Once again, the shield managed to hold off the arcane power, but it also broke while doing so.
“Now, Wendell!” She turned to Wendell and ordered. But he was on the floor, reaching for his wand.
At the same moment, the guard laid his eyes on Wendell and pointed his wand toward his direction. 
Wendell’s mother saw through the guard’s gestures and instantly cast a spell to shield her son. It successfully protected him from the vibrant blue streak that came from the tip of the guard’s wand. And straightaway, she launched her own attack towards the guard. Her spell sliced his chest open and caused him to collapse to the ground. She then let go of the chain and landed gracefully on her bare feet. “What did I tell you about holding your wand tight, dear?” She turned and scolded him.
“I’m sorry, mother.” Wendell replied, stood, and picked up his wand.
“That’s okay, dear.” She said, and began to take the guards’ wands. “Now let’s get out of here, before more of those pesky guards come.”
Wendell then attempted to open the portal, but it did not appear when he stomped on the ground with his heel. “What…? But I was doing it fine.” He complained to himself and turned to his mother.
“Don’t worry, dear; it’s probably the magic barrier of this prison that did not allow your arcanery to slip past and create a portal on the other end.” His mother theorized. “Here, keep these wands tight, and get the other ones as well." She handed him the wands and ordered “Now how are we gonna get out?" she pondered to herself. “There’s got to be a point where magic could slip in and out, isn’t there?” Then she turned back to Wendell, “How did you get in, in the first place, sweetheart?”
“I snuck in with the raven-driven carriage, mother.”
“Raven?”
“Yeah, big ones; there were two of them.”
“Oh, a Tipkanee, that’s what it’s called, dear.” 
“A Tipkanee?”
“Yes, a giant raven with bright red eyes, correct?”
“Yes, mother, that’s correct.” 
“That’s good, dear; let’s head there.” She said and proceeded to walk out the steel door.
“Uhm, mother?” Wendell expressed.
“Yes?”
“This one is stuck.” He said, referring to the wand on the female guard’s hand, “I couldn’t get it off her hand,” he added.
“That’s easy, dear.” His mother replied, flicked her wand, and completely cut off the female guard’s wrist. “There we go,” she said with a smile, and she went to pick the wand up. And as she was doing so, she caught a glimpse of her own reflection on the shiny tray. “Ueh, I look disgusting,” she exclaimed, then took some blood that was coming off the female’s guard wrist, smeared it on her lips, and looked at the reflection once again, saying, “much better.” 
And as the two walked towards the stairs across the hallway, they heard multiple footsteps coming down the stairways. “Hand me one of those wands, dear,” Wendell’s mother commanded, and accordingly, he handed one to her. She snapped the wand in front of her face, then sniffed its arcane power inside her body.
“Ahhh, refreshing,” she expressed.
Within a few seconds, the guards rushed down and stood in front of the Li Fangs. “Stop at once, Phukan Li Fang!” A tall female guard in front stopped them and held her wand up. “Shield!” She yelled as she noticed the movement of Phukan. And precisely, the ten other guards behind her cast the magic shield in unison. 
Promptly, Phukan cast a spell, “*O-lustzenie Palienac!*” A current of green beams rushed towards the shield. The very impact rumbled the facility and caused the shield to crack.
The female guard was surprised to see the unearthly arcane power that was being displayed before her eyes. “This is impossible; there is no way that she is only a D-level prisoner; she’s at least a H.” She then turned to signal the other guards and started to back down from the Li Fangs. The female guard used her spell to create a magic barrier at the foot of the stairs before her group retreated.
“A magic barrier? Really? What is it supposed to do to us? What do you think, dear?” Phukan laughed.
“Maybe to hold us off, mother?” Wendell sounded unsure.
“To hold us off?!” Her laughter rang out even more hysterically. “They’ve got to be joking, right?” She asked and went on, “Hand me another one of those wands, dear.” Again, she inhaled the arcane power from the wand and proceeded to break the magic barrier with an explosion spell.
Both of them cruised through the stairways with ease, as there was not a single guard in their sights. The two ascended to the ground floor, echoing the corridor with their footsteps. Their advance then came to a stop where a man with rich brown hair stood between them and the empty hallway.
“Drop your wand, Miss Li Fang; do not escalate the situation any further than this.” 
“Hey, why so distant? Don’t act like we don’t know each other, Lui; we are family,” Phukan teased, and went on, “Hang Haoran, the warden of defence, or should I say Hang Li Fang?”
“Drop your wand, Miss Li Fang; I won’t repeat it again.”
“So it’s gonna be like that, huh?” Phukan continued, “Guess this is how you treat a relative now.”
“Our family doesn’t associate ourselves with you, Phukan; you’re a disgrace. What did my brother even see in you? You’re a psychopath,” Lui defused.
“So we're just going to ignore how your family was imposing extreme elitist values on me and my son and how your brother used to hit him, but no, no, Phukan’s a psychopath; my golden boy would never, yeah, right.” 
“I don’t know what you’re talking about."
“Alright, so be it then.” Phukan locked her eyes on Lui and struck him.
In response, Lui successfully cast a magic shield and held off the spell. He quickly countered her with a cast, which Phukan almost did not react to in time. Lui did not waste a second by following his spell with another one. Lui relentlessly attacked Phukan, swiftly casting spells in expeditious sequences, with the intention of wearing her down.
Wendell wanted to step in, but his reaction speed was inferior to his mother’s, let alone to Lui’s. It was an intense battle, a dance on the edge between life and death. A tiny inconvenience could seal his mother’s fate, and he was well aware of that.
Lui finally saw an opening, as Phukan seemed to be losing her balance from the lateral spell that she deflected. He took it, sending out a vivid beam of blue arcane power from the tip of his wand. The trajectory was true, and it was on the blink of striking Phukan, but it all rushed into her wand instead.
Phukan pivoted, did a full turnaround, and redirected the spell back to Lui. He tried to block it with his magic shield, but the returned power was unmatched. The spell struck Lui in the neck, completely decapitating him.“Pesky little rascal, you thought you were special? Such big ego to show up alone.” Phukan’s anger was let out, but also her body almost gave up standing, “Let’s go dear,” she said to Wendell between her breaths. 
Wendell appeared to be somewhat troubled, he was about to say something to his mother but instead he shook it off and nodded. “This way, mother,” He said and led her to the room where he first entered the Shards. 
“Last warning, Phukan.” Lui’s voice came from their back, as countless wardens rushed out from the other side of the hallway. 
== Chapter V : The Search ==
The next morning in Gimpeng Village was a moody, grumous day, the street was muddy and wet, and the sky remained a depressing shade of gray. As soon as Alice had woken up, she checked the top bunk to see if Jaruwan had returned, and to no surprise, she was not there. Alice’s worries accelerated, she grabbed Jaruwan’s broom that was left behind on the street, and stormed down the stairs, in the thought of ringing the bell in front of the fort to wake everyone up. 
But the bell rang before she even reached the foot of the stairs. “What…?” a slip of her tongue. “Sehyun?” She said as she saw her hand forcefully pushed the door open. She was wearing black gloves, a dark navy dress, and a small almost white brim hat. With an amethyst brooch shaped like a quail pinned on the right side of her dress’s collar, she had her brown suitcase on her left hand, and some sort of documents tucked under her left arm. 
“Where is Jaruwan?!” Ms. Nam called out immediately as she entered the building, “Oh, you’re awake, that’s good, good morning, Alice.” Ms. Nam greeted in a softer monotonic voice, “Is Jaruwan still sleeping?”   
“No! She’d been missing since yesterday. Have you seen her? I was about to ring the bell and tell the others,” Alice burst out. 
“Oh,” Ms. Nam blankly exclaimed, then went on “Well, if that’s the case, go pack your stuff and grab your friends.”
“Huh…? What? Shouldn’t you be a bit more worried? What is really going on here?” Alice exclaimed as she read Ms. Nam’s face. 
Ms. Nam placed the documents on the table, then replied, “these will tell you everything you need to know, there’s no time to discuss, we are required to be back at the academy immediately,” She tightened, “Please go get your friends.”  
Alice took one of the papers out from the stack, and put it to her face. 
The logo of Hoseongko Capital Guardian on top of the page, with a text of bold dark ink sitting just below the logo, saying, “INVESTIGATION REPORT on Several Murder Cases at Jadzelia’s Shards.” And just a few lines below, a sketch of Jaruwan’s face and a booking photograph of Phukan were just beside each other. Under the sketch were some scribbles in musky graphite, that reads: “Golden brown-eyed brunette, Apx. height: 5’3-5’4, Apx. weight: 120-130 lbs, Hair: ∼mid-back length.” 
“This is impossible, I don’t believe it,” Alice exclaimed, then panically searched the other documents, she drew one of the smaller sheets out from the pile, and shoved it on Ms. Nam’s face, “Look, look at this, this is not her wand! That’s not Jaruwan’s.”  
“Slow down, Alice,” Ms. Nam said, calmly, “I’m just as baffled as you are, no one is saying that it is your friend, we just need to go back and give the Guardian the information they need. 
“Shouldn’t we just go find her? Where is this Jadzelian Shard, they are talking about? Is it far away from here? And who is this… Phukan, what does she have to do with Jaruwan?” 
“It’s Jadzelia’s Shards, Alice,” Ms. Nam slowly moved closer to her, then continued, “It’s… It’s pretty dangerous for us to act on our own, the academy would be the safest option for us.”
“And what about Jaruwan?” Alice cried out, “Is she going to be okay? We need to tell the Guardian that it’s not her doing, Sehyun; There is no way Jaruwan could murder someone!”
“What’s up with all the shouting? What’s going on?” Vasin said, rubbing her right eye as he made his way down the stairs. 
“Vasin, could you please tell all your friends that we are heading back to the academy right this second.” Ms. Nam asked him.
“What?” Vasin exclaimed.
“I need to find Jaruwan,” Alice said under her breath, “She could be in danger, I need to help her.” 
“I promise to explain everything, but could you please do as I asked first?” Ms. Nam replied to Vasin. 
“What is really going on, Ms. Nam, I am kinda getting worried now,” Vasin looked at her face, and went on, “I thought we have like 5 more months of internship, why are we leaving today?”
“Vasin—”
“Jaruwan is missing!” Alice cried out once again, “Can you guys just focus on what’s really mattered here?”
“What?” Vasin burst out, “When did this happen?”
“I don’t know,” Alice turned to him for a quick glance, and looked back down to the pile of documents, “You know– can we just stop talking and do something? I’m worried about Jaruwan.” She snapped. 
“I am too, Alice,” Sehyun  replied, “But like I told you, it is dangerous to do anything, besides, we don’t even know where Jaruwan is right now.” 
“We could try.” Alice whispered to herself. 
“Hold on, Prof.” Vasin’s eyes glanced at the document, then he noticed something and picked it up, “is this who I think it is?” 
Alice looked over his shoulder and asked, “Do you know her? Who is she…?” Her voice shook. 
“That’s Phukan Li-Fang, I remembered reading that she killed murder a high-ranking government officer as well as two of her family members,” Vasin replied.
“What!?” Alice cried out in disbelief, then went on acting out,  “And why would Jaruwan be anywhere near a criminal? This does not add up at all.” 
“Yes, what is really going on, Prof,” Vasin turned to her and stressed, “We deserve to know about this.” 
Sehyun seemed troubled as she did not respond to him.
Alice’s frustration grew. “Go get Ed,” she looked at Vasin and told him.
“Huh?”
“We’ll go look for Jaruwan ourselves.”
“Miss Entremont—” Sehyuh tried to regain Alice’s attention but was cut off by Vasin.
“You can’t be serious,” he looked into Alice’s eyes and objected.
Alice looked back into Vasin’s eyes then tightened, “Do I look like I’m joking?”
“Miss Entremont, you are required back to the academy,” Sehyun stressed, then began to talk some sense into Alice’s head, “please don’t put yourself into unnecessary danger; be sensible about this.”
“Sensible?” Alice gave her a look, then snapped, “Sit and wait; that’s your idea of being sensible, right? What would you do if it was a friend of yours? Would you do nothing and just wait? This woman, Li-fang or whatever her name is, She’s a criminal, isn’t she? That’s all the reason to be alarmed, no? Jaruwan is in danger! She needs our help, what is so complicated about this?”
“Alice—”
“I won’t— I– Forgive me for acting like this but what’s good if we go back to the academy?” Alice cut Sehyun off and continued, “Besides, I bet the guardians would already assume that she has some associations with her.”
“Then you can tell that to them once we are at the academy, Alice.” 
“Screw that! Do you really think they are going to listen?” Alice brushed off, “We’re wasting our time, here! We should be looking for Jaruwan.” 
“Alice, please.” 
“You know what?” Alice’s voice toned down slightly, “Do as you please, I’m going to find her. I am already an adult by law; you don’t have the right to stop me, the most you can do is to invalidate my internship here,” She tightened while looking directly at Sehyun. Alice then turned toward Vasin’s direction, “Are you coming with me or not?” 
“Alice, please, I can’t let you leave, not in my good conscience, please think this through.”  
Alice did not respond to her, in fact, she wasn’t looking at her at all. 
Vasin took a moment to himself, he then replied as Alice walked past Sehyun to the entrance, “I’ll go wake Ed up.”
“Vasin…” Sehyun uttered his name.
“We’ll be okay, Prof,” He said, then gave her a slight smile. He then added before leaving the room, “We’ll be back at the academy in no time, you have my words.” 
Sehyun hesitated and sighed heavily, she then unpinned her brooch, “take this,” she said, calmly, “and be careful.”
“We will.”
…
To their luck the wind was kind that morning as the three followed the trace of Jaruwan’s magic that was coming off from her broom. The party spent almost the entire morning flying over miles of dense forest and ranges of mountains only to find themselves at an icy coast that was surrounded by towering columns of volcanic rock and dark basalt. The coast was rugged from the centuries of relentless erosion, but it was also extremely mesmerizing as the white snow blanketed the dark sand pebbles along the shoreline. The air was frigid and dry, it almost cut their noses in every breath that they took. 
Looking down to the shoreline from his broom, Edward decided to halt and called the two who were ahead of him. “Guys!” He yelled, “Are you sure that we are going in the right direction?”
Alice turned back to him and replied, “We’re close! I can feel it.”
“Does it still point to the north-west?” Vasin asked as he did not have a clear view of Jaruwan’s broom on Alice's left hand. 
“Yes,” She answered.
“But that’s an ocean…?” Vasin made a face, then questioned, “There’s no way Jaruwan came this far without her broom.”
“He’s right,” Edward jumped in, “And doesn’t she just sprained her ankle or something?”
Alice gave both of them a look but did not respond.
“So, we’re really doing this, huh?” Edward looked at her and asked.
Again, Alice did not give out her response. She then turned back, heading toward the same direction that they had been flying the past couple hours. Accordingly, her broom proceeded to move forward.
“Is she gonna be like this the whole way?” Edward asked Vasin, shortly after Alice flew away. 
Vasin shook his head, “I don’t know,” he replied before flying toward Alice’s direction.
“Oh! the thing I had to put up with you two,” Edward exclaimed to himself, then accelerated his broom to Vasin and Alice. He swiftly covered the distance, and paralleled Vasin within a few seconds. He coughed for a bit, and went on, saying, “You two are crazy, especially you, Alice.” He then added, “going all these ways, with absolutely no clues or even a slightest idea of what’s going on, just to save a classmate who you only know for what, a month?”
“3 weeks,” Alice replied with her eyes still looking forward.
“Yeah, that’s even worse,” Edward replied, “You know sometimes I just don’t get you at all.” 
“Like I told you, I can’t just sit and wait.”
“I know, I know, but like I said, we have only known her for 3 weeks, well, I guess you might be closer to her because of the partner thing but still,” Edward replied.
“Ed, I told you what happened to my brother already, didn’t I? Do you not remember?”
“Oh.”
“Exactly,” Alice replied, and went on, “and I am not forcing you to come with me, Ed; I’ve told you that already as well.”
“I know,” Edward nodded, and added, “It’s always been us three; Of course, I’ll come.” 
Vasin let out a slight chuckle. “That’s funny,” he said.
“You know what, I’ll lead the way,” Edward boosted the speed of his broom, flew past Alice, and snatched the broom from her hand.
“Hey! Be careful with that!” Alice shouted and accelerated her broom as well. 
Vasin let out a long sigh, then smiled briefly, before increasing his broom’s speed to catch them. 
“Are you guys not hungry?!” Ed yelled over the sound of the rushing wind, as Vasin caught on, “I’m getting a bit hungry!”
“What?” Vasin yelled back.
“Food! We don’t know how long we’re gonna have to keep going.” Edward raised his voice slightly higher.
“What?” Vasin raised his voice as well; his broom started slowing down. “What is it?” He repeated.
“We should have something before entering the ocean,” Edward said, slowing down his broom as well. 
“You guys can’t be seriously talking about food right now,” Alice sounded irritated.
“No, actually, he’s right, we should eat a proper meal before continuing with our journey,” Vasin added, “We don’t know how long until we’ll reach another body of land.”
Alice made a face, “Give me the broom then.”
“Come on Al, don’t be like that,” Edward replied, “we can just catch some fish around here, it won’t take longer than ten minutes.”
“A lot of things could happen within that ten minutes,” Alice said, then tried to snatch Jaruwan’s broom from Edward’s hand, but Edward’s hand was also clinging to it tightly.
“Alice, please—” Edward stopped as he noticed the look on her face; her eyes widened and fixed at him. “What?” He was perplexed, “What is it?”
“It stopped.” 
“Huh?” Edward exclaimed, “what are you talking about?”
“The broom,” Alice stuttered, “the broom, it stops— it’s not moving anymore.”
“What?” 
“Maybe your spell just worn off,” Vasin stepped in, “here, let me try.” He put out his ward, aim it at Jaruwan’s broom then cast, “*Lojulnie Poluskie.*” The magic from his wand hit the broom but nothing happened, the broom remained still. 
“Uhh…” Edward expressed, “Do you guys know what this is supposed to mean?” He turned to Vasin and asked. 
“It can’t be,” Alice refused, raising her voice slightly, “let me see the broom,” she said, then snatched the broom from Ed’s hand, and cast the very spell on her own. But her magic was no different either, the broom did not move, not even a slightest wiggling. Alice, who was in total disbelief, cast the spell again, then again, with a hope that somehow the result would be different. ““*Lojulnie Poluskie,*” her voice shook. 
“There’s no use, Al” Vasin grabbed her hand, and held it away from the broom, “You know what this means.”
“No, it’s impossible, it shouldn’t just stop like that!” Alice pulled her hand away, and cast the spell once more. “I know, let’s just follow the same direction that we have been heading toward, I am sure we gonna find something on the way,” Alice deliberately suggested, as her eyes began to tear up. 
“Don’t be ridiculous, Alice,” Vasin objected, “We should go back.” 
“What?” Edward turned sharply toward Vasin’s direction, “Can anyone tell me what’s going on? What does it mean? Why is the spell not working?”
“Ed, you know why, we learn about this,” Vasin looked at him from the corner of his eye, then bashed.
Edward frowned, “Do I look like someone who pays attention to the class? Just answer the damn question,” he said as his voice raised.
“She’s gone.”
“What do you mean ‘gone?’” Ed replied, making a face, then went on, “Do you mean she’s…?”
“She’s not,” Alice interrupted, “Stop saying that nonsense.”
“So what’s the explanation for this then?” Vasin objected, referring to the broom, “her magic can’t just randomly disappear, and you know that!”
Alice shut down as tears flooded her eyes, her face was red perhaps by the anger and the cold. She wiped the tears away with her other arm. She let go of the broom and stormed off toward the direction that they have been flying for the past hours without saying goodbye.
The two tried to reason with her while accelerating their broom to match Alice’s speed. Their pursuit went for quite some time until Alice’s broom came to a sudden stop, causing Vasin and Edward to zoom further ahead of her. “What the hell Alice?!” Edward lashed out as he almost lost the control of his broom.
She pointed, still did not say a word to her friends. 
“You know I feel like I have to start questioning our friendship if this is gonna be a regular thing for you, Al—” Edward said as he looked toward the direction that Alice was pointing at. 
Before his eyes, in a pale light of the clouded gray sky, a grotesque glass-like cathedral loomed like a spirit of the mist. Its structure stood tall on the sole island that appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the ocean. Shimmering iridescent pattern of the opal-like material swirled within the depth of itself and cloaked the twisted architecture of the building as if it was a malevolent barrier to prevent the cursed souls from leaving. Dead trees and bushes scattered all over, accompanied by only the fallen snow. Everything was gray and somber, almost like the whole scene was frozen in time. The only thing that was ensuring them that they had not fallen under someone’s spell was the sea and the haunting sound of her relentless waves, suffocatingly churning against the jagged shore. No signs of any living things in sight, not even the wind, nor his might.
“Uh… Tell me you guys are seeing this as well...” Edward expressed, 
The other two were too stunned to even make a sound, as they both just floated there and let the whole scene sink in. 
“What is this place…” Alice muttered under her breath.
“Maybe this is the best time to turn around,” Vasin suggested, a slight shake could be heard in his voice. “I don’t think we can trust a literal moving building.”
Alice hesitated for a short second, then added, “We gotta see this through, maybe it’s just an illusion charm.” 
“You don’t sound so sure about that at all, Al,” Edward jumped in, and went on, “There’s still time to go back and tell the guardians.” 
Alice made a face in response, “What gave you that idea? Do you think I’m scared of this place? This is nothing different than the haunted house we had last year at the academy, it’s just an illusion charm.”
“Even if it’s *just* an illusion charm, for a building this big… the caster gotta be someone who’s extremely powerful and perhaps not as friendly as you’d imagine them to be.”
“Yeah-yeah, thanks Vasin,” She mocked, “I’m just gonna fly around the island for a bit, hand me the broom.”
“Are you crazy?” Ed opposed.
“Shush!” Vasin made a sound, “Why do you have to yell so loud? Somebody could hear us!” He scolded him in the loudest whisper he could manage. 
“Ed,” She called, extending her arm, “the broom.”
Edward sighed, then handed Jaruwan’s broom to Alice.
“What’s with the face?” Alice frowned at him, then snatched the broom from her friend’s hand. “Just stay here if you wanna act like a baby.”
“You’re the one acting like a baby.”
Alice did not respond. She took off briefly after Ed’s comment. Likewise, her friends quietly followed her trail. She went around the building with the hope that she could have somebody else to talk to other than these two boys. 
“Hey!” An unfamiliar voice called. 
Alice was stunned, and her broom came to a sudden stop, as well as the other two. 
“What should we do?” Ed whispered.
“What do you think? It’s not like there are others flying behind us, is it?” Alice replied, then tuned toward the direction where the voice was coming from, “Hello!” She yelled back. 
A priestess dressed in dark scarlet had her right hand in the air, waving. “Hey! Are you kids lost?” She yelled to ask. 
“We’re looking for a—” 
“Yes! We’re lost and it looks like there’s gonna be a snowstorm soon! Can we take shelter inside the cathedral until the storm passes?!” 
“Oh!” The priestess expressed, “Of course!”
Alice flew down toward the priestess. She landed on the layer of snow just in front of her, “Thank you,” She said, tapping her boots on the ground out of habit. Alice did not waste any second as she introduced herself to the priestess right away, “My name’s Alice.”
“It’s Sister Cecillia,” she replied, promptly.
“Oh!” Alice expressed, “you’re a nun?”
“A priestess, yes.”
“Right! I’m so sorry, priestess,” Alice corrected herself, she then turned to her two friends who had not come down to the ground yet, “what are you two waiting for?” She yelled to ask, then added, “come on, there’s not thing to be afraid of.”
The two shared one look, then flew down in unison. They both landed behind Alice. 
“This is Sister Cecilia,” Alice introduced her to them right away. “She’s a priestess,” She added, turning back to Cecilia. “Sister,” she called for her attention, “this is Edward, and that’s Vasin,” She pointed at them respectively.
“I see,” Cecilia replied, and went on, “come, let me take you inside.” Although Cecilia’s voice was very calm already, the way that she invited the party in the cathedral was extra soothing. She turned around after saying that, and began to walk around the building toward the entrance.
Edward noticed the broom on Cecilia’s hand and the snow that was shoved to the side of the path, “do you need help with the snow?” He asked, drawing his wand.
Cecilia turned around to look at him, she noticed the ward immediately and calmly told him off, “please don’t use magic on this island.”
“Oh?”
She then went on and explained, “at least not around the cathedral, it’s— it’s a highly sacred place, mother would be displeased.”
“Alright, my bad,” Edward replied.
Cecilia didn’t respond, nor did she move.
“Ed, your ward,” Vasin scolded him, whispering.
“Oh! Right, yes,” He put it away and gave the priestess a forced smile.
Cecilia smiled back, then went on guiding them inside the building. “So, where were you kids headed to?” She asked.
Alice’s mind blanked as she heard the question, “Uh—“
“St. Eleanor,” He raised his voice to answer.
“Frankia?” The priestess sounded surprised, “you are aware that sorcerers aren't very welcome in Franks land, right?”
“Of course, we didn’t plan to fly all the way to Frankia anyway.”
“Sister?” Alice called her and asked, “Aren’t you Franks as well?”
“Yes?”
“What are you doing all the way out here? In the middle of nowhere,” Alice asked Cecilia just as she was about to pull the giant wooden door open.
The priestess smiled. Her only response was, “I like it here, it’s peaceful,” then pulled the door open with both her hands.
== Chapter VI: Imprison ==
Clang
“Clang!” A feminine voice tried to mimic the sound.
Clang
“Clang!” She repeated.
Clang
“Clang!” 
Returned back in her academy uniform, Jaruwan had woken up to the sound of a metal being hit by something. She found herself and damp straw as footsteps approached her, “Is this her?” the same feminine voice quarried.
“Yes, Mother,” Wendell’s voice replied.
As she heard the voice of the person who betrayed her trust, Jaruwan’s body was filled with rage. She clenched her fist on the pile of straw she was lying in and threw them toward the two. 
“Good to see that you are still doing well,” Phukan stated, and went on, “it’s Jaruwan, right?”
Jaruwan stared at her but did not give out any response. 
Naked and drenched in blood, Phukan continued to speak. “You remember Wendell, right?” she turned to her son and asked, “I know you might feel like you just got played, and possibly mad right now, but you gotta understand that this, everything here, in this very room, is going to go to a good cause, something even bigger than the hatred I had for my dead husband family.”
“Again with this talk,” a muttering came from the adjacent cell.
“Little birdie, do you want to know why I put you in a cage?” Phukan asked. 
Jaruwan made a face, replying, “Because you’re a deranged psychopath?”
“You know I am not really keen for a talker, there’s something about you,” Phukan said, tapping her upper lip with the tip of her wand. “Something special,” She added.
“Right, that aura crap,” Jaurwan resented, “do you expect me to believe anything that is coming from your mouth?”
“No,” Phukan replied, playfully, “But I haven’t told this story to someone in a while so I would very much appreciate it if there’s someone who’d listen, you know?” 
“It’s not like I have a choice, is it?”
“Well,” She replied with a vocal fry, then went on, “that’s true, but you get what I mean.” Phukan gave her a smile, her nose scrunched. She then turned to Wendell and asked, “Should I begin my story, dear?” 
“Of course, mother, whenever you like,” he replied.
“Where do I usually start again?” Phukan tried to recall, then went on talking to herself,  “haven't done this for some time now.” 
“Your child—”
Phukan stopped him before he could go on. She then said, “hold on, dear, I’m trying to think.”
“Yes, mother.”
“Ah yes, yes, I remember it now, it began when I was thirteen, however long ago that was,” Phukan began, eagerly, “And just like you, I got into the academy. I spent 7 years in that place because I couldn’t even read or write properly in my first year. Once I graduated I ended up going back down south to where I was sent for my internship, Port Wonha, working with marine life for a while, Ending up bringing my already dead father down there as well—”
“Can we just skip to her part where you explain to me why I am in this cell listening to you babbling on about your life?” Jaruwan interrupted her.
Phukan looked at Jaruwan through her blood-dripping bang, her facial expression shifted even before her tone, “Don’t get so ahead of yourself, honey,” She said, snapping her finger. “You still need to listen when someone is talking.”
Saying that only aggravated Jaruwan further, but as she was going to say something back, Jaruwan found out that her mouth had disappeared completely from her face, resulting in an inaudible mumble. 
“Ok where was I?” Phukan’s tone shifted back, “Well, there was one summer, I met this guy, his father. He was there for a business trip, well he said he was, but if we are going to be real, his business was to get lucky, and I was his fortune.” She paused for a moment, then went on, “I mean I can’t blame him, look at me.” She did a quick spin after saying that. “Then spend more time together, you know the stuff you do when two people are falling in love with each other,” she went on. “Then I married into his family, the Li Fang family, but I guess I’ve done spoiling the entire Li Fang lastname ‘cus the remaining relatives have all changed theirs to Haoran, some don’t even use the same name anymore.” 
Out of nowhere, the sound of the ringing bell seeped in, it went on for a short while.
“What is it this time?” Phukan sounded a bit irritated.
“It’s noon, mother,” Wendell answered. 
“Oh! That’s perfect,” Phukan brightened up, “Could you go to Ingyong and get today's paper for me? I want to see if I am famous yet?”
“Yes, mother, I’ll go right now.” 
“Oh, and don’t forget—”
“Yes, mother, I know,” He replied, and walked away from the cell, leaving Jaruwan’s sight. 
“Alright,” Phukan turned back to Jaruwan, “Where were we?”
Jaruwan made a face in response. 
“Right, getting married,” Phukan bubbled. “Well, his father was nice,” She said, tilting her head toward the direction that Wendell disappeared into, then added, “for the most part at least. Don’t get me wrong, my life was so much better after the marriage, I got to move into a literal mansion, bought a lot of fancy stuff, I had my own maids, I don’t even have to work anymore! Then his mom died, which was really great. I hated that bitch to my guts, there was not a single day that I haven’t had to put up with her living in that mansion.” Her tone shifted slightly as she went on, “then I— then my father began to get sick, wait no, I had Wendell first, yes… or did my father die first? Wendell isn’t here as well, I can’t ask him that.” 
“Wendell came first.” A big female voice answered from a distance.
“Oh, alright,” Phukan replied, then continued, “yeah, then I have Wendell, and my father began to get sick.” She paused trying to recall, then went on, “and you know Hanfel right, you probably met it already, the Hanfel was initially bound to my father, and once he’s dead— well, a bit before that, when we knew the he’s dying, I suggested that the Hanfel be let loose because we do not need that kind of power anymore but of course the Li Fang did not go on with that. So, I offered myself to be the next carrier of the Hanfel but again they did not go on with that, saying Wendell would be a better match. But we know he wasn’t.” Before she continued, she used her right hand to cover the side of her mouth, leaned toward the bars, then whispered, “And do you want to know a secret? It’s because of his father’s blood!” Her voice then returned to her natural volume, “And do you know why I know that?” She paused, then gave up the answer, “Because I killed him! We were bound by blood but I still managed to kill him!” 
Jaruwan frowned in response.
“What? You haven’t heard about the blood binding curse?”
Jaruwan made a face, then shook her head.
“You haven’t?”
Once again, Jaruwan shook her head in response.
“What— What does shaking your head mean? Is it ‘no, I haven’t heard,’ or ‘no, I have heard.”
Jaruwan put up two fingers, referring to the second option.
“Alright, it’s good, I don’t really want to explain that either, it’s good that you know,” Phukan replied, “So, yeah, there is that, then I got into big big trouble for doing so which is not so fun, cus now Wendell has to get his hand dirty, but I mean with his blood being tied to the Hanfel, it is only a matter of time that he will be involved in this, so might as well do it now right? No harm in training him early.” She paused, then went on, “Well, unless you’re trained by a narcissistic hypocrite who thinks the stars align just for him. You know, despite all this bad mouthing, his father is a really powerful man, who would have known you could be so important without being able to steadily cast O-chronie.” Phukan noticed an impression of confusion written on Maylani’s face as she continued, “I know right? Pretty odd for one to graduate from the academy without perfecting O-chronie,” she stopped herself before continuing,”Oh wait, I told you he’s a Hoseong graduate already, have I?”
Jaruwan shook her head.
“Oh!” Phukan exclaimed, and went on “Well, he is— was, I guess, cause he’s dead now, but yeah, he’s finished the course in 6 years, a pretty standard procedure, but I bet even you can beat him in a duel. So why did the school let him graduate? I’ll let you into a little secret.” She then moved closer to the jail, “It’s money and status, dear, that’s the power in this world. And the Li-Fang certainly has a lot of that, too much that all their offspring could easily get into the academy.” Phukan paused, and continued promptly, asking, “Do you want to know why we have philosophy, history, and literacy for our entrance exam? Why they don’t just test our magical ability? After all this is a magic school, right?” She stopped once again, then answered her own question, “Technically, yes, it is a school, but it’s also a business, a way of control, putting magical users into a system. It’s a way to make sure that all the kids would be taught the same way, go through the same training, to get a diploma from the same school, and eventually get the license to use advanced magic.” She then pushed Jaruwan further, “Don’t you find it weird that we only have one magic school in Hoseong? Serinah was right, you know?”
Suddenly, footsteps echoed the stairways and were heard amongst the people in the room, a soft, “mother,” followed shortly. Wendel then calmly joined his mother’s side, handing her the newspaper she had asked for early. “Here’s the paper, mother,” he said, “No article about you yet.” 
“Aw, that’s a shame,” Phukan expressed but took the paper anyway. Then suddenly she exclaimed,“Won’t you look at that, Princess of Frankia just turned two, isn’t that amazing, dear?” She pointed to the heading as she put the paper to Wendell’s face. 
“Yes, mother, amazing indeed.”
“Here, take it,” Phukan handed the paper back to her son, then turned back to Jaruwan. “Her last name is Shintoshi, right dear?” She asked, then went on before Wendell could even give his answer, “a Jarian with a Hoseongko name,” she said, and paused for a second. “Interesting, you’re probably an immigrant returning home.” She pointed, promptly, at Jaruwan, and went on, “you have great genes, you know? Beautiful eyes.”  Phukan nodded, “More importantly, you are a great witch, powerful magic runs in your blood.” 
Jaruwan was visibly confused upon hearing that.
“I know you knew it already, don’t act so naive,” Phukan read Jaruwan’s face and expressed. “You know it’s not common for one to cast advanced spells without a ward, that’s not something anyone could just practice and master,” She added. Phukan then looked straight into Jaruwan’s eyes, saying, “You’re special, act like it. Snap out of my spell.” 
Wendell gave his mother a weird look but she did not notice him.
“Come on,” Phukan stressed, “concentrate.”
Jaruwan still remained very confused as she still looked at Phukan strangely, trying to grasp what Phukan could possibly want from her.
Phukan rolled her eyes in response, before saying, “Well, if you’re not gonna try then I’m just gonna go up, it’s started to get a bit chilly down here. Enjoy being mute” She turned to Wendell, and added, softly, “go get my dress and meet me in my room.”  
Wendell nodded in response, glanced at Jaruwan for a short second before quietly following his mother upstairs. However, before he left her sight, Wendell appeared to be whispering something to his mother, which was promptly followed by the sound of finger snap.
Instantly, Jaruwan’s mouth returned to her face. 
“Well, that’s nice,” a prisoner from the opposite cell expressed.
“What?” Jaruwan replied.
“Took like 3 months before that lady showed any sign of mercy to me,” he said, then added, “I thought my head was gonna explode from all the pain.”
Jaruwan took a short pause, then went on asking, “What did she do to you?”
The prisoner slowly came out from the shadow, as he stood up and walked forward. “This,” He said, referring to his deformed legs. 
Jaruwan was too stunned to even respond to him, but the terror was written all over her face. 
“It’s bad, isn’t?” He asked, and joked, “I guess she might have taken the stereotype that we are runners too far.”
Jaruwan did not laugh, nor anyone in the room.
“Seriously? Come on, guys, that’s a good one,” The prisoner exclaimed, “Why are you guys so moody today? She’s back, so what? It’s not like we can escape this hell hole anyways, is it? You know damn well, there are others.”
“Another what?”
“Don’t listen to him,” the voice of another prisoner slipped through the crack on the wall of Jaruwan’s cell. “He’s gone. Mad. Phukan used to torture him almost everyday.”
“Phukan?” Jaurwan repeated, “that’s her name?”
“Yeah.”
Jaruwan took a moment to herself, then began, “Do you know why she would do such things?”
“What?” The voice responded then recalled, “Oh, torturing Hermon? Probably to harvest the Centaur’s tears, or some bullshit she came up with.”
“Centaur’s tears.”
“Yea, what about it?”
“It used to be an ingredient for various potions, now that we have a substitute, the government doesn’t allow the use of it anymore.”
“Interesting,” The prisoner replied, taking a short pause. “You’re–”
“What about you?” Jaruwan interrupted, “What has she done to you?”
“You didn’t see it?” a hint of irritation could be heard from the response.
“See what?”
“The blood, she was covered in our blood!” The prisoner raised their voice.
“Hey! Quit yelling! Some of us are trying to sleep here!” 
“Our?” Jaruwan stressed.
“Down here,” the source of the voice moved, “look through the rail, you’ll get what I mean.” 
Despite finding the request odd, Jaruwan bent down to peek through the opening of what seemed to her as a disposing rail as instructed. Suddenly, a stream of urine flowed down, hitting the metal surface of the rail, creating a splash that almost hit Jaruwan in her face. She jumped as soon as she saw the red-ish yellow liquid rushing down. “What the hell?” She exclaimed as the prisoner began to laugh. Jaruwan kicked the hay straws on the damp ground into the gap between the cells. She moved away from that side of her cell after she cooled off. 
With her back against the wall, Jaruwan extended her left arm to the cracked ceiling. “Perzetci,” she attempted, mimicking the wand’s movement of the spell, but nothing happened. 
“Perzetci,” She tried to cast the spell again.
“Perzetci,” She repeated, refusing to give up.
“Perzetci—“
“Would you just shut up?” A faint voice came from the wall behind her.
Jaruwan shrugged off the request and proceeded to keep on casting the cutting spell. “Perzetci,” She repeated once again.
“I know you can hear me.”
“Perzetci.”
“Shut up.”
“Perzetci.”
“If I tell you something, would you stop?”
“Perzetci.”
“I swear if i hear that one more time—“
“Perzetci.”
The voice had gone quiet.
“Perzetci,” Jaruwan continued.
“Perzetci.”
== Chapter VII: The Dining ==
Wendell was sitting on the side of Phukan’s bed when she was combing her luscious, but more importantly, washed hair, facing a giant mirror which was almost double her size. He had his cold sparkling red drink rested on the bench that was sitting right next to him at the footboard where the fizzing of the escaping bubbles could be heard, which was somewhat soothing to him. At the time, Wendel was rubbing his hands against each other, while his body shivered slightly, but not to the point that was noticeable to his mother. He was on the verge of passing out as he was fighting the heavy weight of his tired brown eyes. However, the sudden knocks on the door snapped him out of his doze. 
“It’s Myra,” She said.
“Come in,” replied Phukan, still combing her hair.
With Phukan permission, Myra entered the room. She was about to greet Phukan but instead was interrupted as soon as she opened the door.
“What is it?” Phukan asked, looking at her through the reflection of the mirror. 
“Sister Adelaide told me to inform you that there are a few visitors seeking shelter at the cathedral at the moment,” Myra explained, and about to went on, “She–”
“Visitors?” Phukan stressed.
“Yes, three of them,” She replied, “Adelaide also mentioned that they are magic users.”
“Oh,” Phukan expressed, “is that so? Thank you, Myra. Is there anything else?”
“Mmmm,” She took a short moment to think, “I don’t think so.”
“Then you can go, Myra. Tell Adelaide I thank her.”
“Mhm.”
“Oh! one thing, Miss Li Fang.”
“Yes?” Phukan stopped, and responded. 
“Welcome back,” said Myra, smiling. 
“Thanks Myra,” Phukan sent her off.
After Myra shut the door behind her, Phukan turned to her son right away. “Wendell dear,” She called him.
“Yes, mother?” His voice gave out a slight shivering. 
“Could you go check on these visitors for me?” 
“Of course, mother.” 
“And don’t forget to put on some more layers, alright? It’s getting quite chilly now.” 
“Will do, mother.”
With that, Wendell left his mother’s room and proceeded down the stairs. His feet hurried past his room, as he was also filled with great curiosity about the visitor too himself. In a short moment, he reached the hall of the cathedral, where he could spot Sister Adelaide talking to a group of people. While Wendell already had an idea of who these people might be, he decided to approach the group as he believed that he could gain new information from them that might turn out to be beneficial in the future. 
“Oh hey, Wendell,” Adelaide greeted him as she saw Vasin’s eyes move to Wendell’s direction when he was approaching the group, “how’s your mother?” 
“She is taking her rest, Miss,” He replied, then turned toward the three, “I believe these are the ones who are going to be taking shelter here?”
“Just for the storm to pass, yes,” Alice stepped in.
“I see,” Wendell turned to Alice and replied. He then went on, asking, “Did anyone tell you about the no-magic rule?”
“Mhm, her name was… Cecilia, right?” Alice turned to Adelaide for her confirmation, and continued, answering Wendell,  “yeah, a lady about this height; short hair, dark blonde. She was shoveling the snow outside when we met her.”
“Yes, that’s Sister Cecilia,” Wendell replied.
“And you are…?” Alice asked, questioning why Wendell just appeared out of nowhere and now asking them questions.
“Oh, right, I’m Wendell,” He introduced himself, then apologized as he noticed Alice’s tone, “Sorry, I just barged in like that without introducing myself, I’ve not had much sleep recently and my mind just slipped from time to time.”
“All good,” Alice replied in her natural voice. She then went on to introduce herself, as well as the others in the group, “My name is Alice. This is Edward. And this is Vasin.” 
“Alright,” Wendell replied, then repeated after her, pointing at each person respectively, “Alice. Edward. Vasin.” He then turned to Adelaide, and asked, “is it okay if I show them the rooms?”
“Of course, Wendell. Please take them to the overnight accommodations in the south wing,” She requested, thanked him, then excused herself from the group.
“Alright, will do,” Wendell replied, and gave her a smile as she walked off. He then turned back to the group, eagerly, “Okay, shall we go?”
“Sure,” Alice replied with a dry smile.
As the party walked down the aisle of the main hall, Alice noticed an old lady sitting on the second row on her left. She appeared to be very much in her own world, praying with both her hands clasped together. 
“Are you guys hungry?” Wendell started.
“I could eat,” Edward jumped in.
Alice gave him a subtle look, “Yeah, some food would be nice.”
“Perfect,” Wendell replied, “I’ll tell Felizca to prepare some food then. You guys can go wait in the dining room, we’ll bring them in once they’re ready.”
“Oh wow, it’s so kind of you,” Alice was surprised. “Are you sure it’s okay? We could pay you if that’s not a problem.”
“Oh no, it’s okay, we have visitors all the time. Most of those are just like you guys, victims of bad weather,” Wendell repiled, “There are most sailors though, not witches and wizards like you guys.”
“Come on, I insist, there must be a way I can pay you guys back, a donation to the cathedral perhaps?”
“It’s really not a problem, Alice.”
“At least let me own up on my end, we’re not asking for a charity.” 
“Alright, if that will allow you to be at ease, we’ll take your donation.”
“Great,” Alice smiled, and pulled out a ruby ring from her pocket, “this should cover the room and the food.”
“Thank you, I’ll make sure it goes to a good cause,” Wendell replied, putting the ring away; he still looked pretty perplexed but did not ask any further question. “Well, I'll go down to the kitchen and inform Felizca about the food. The dining room is just down the hall this way,” He pointed, and added, “make yourself comfortable.”
“Thanks, Wendell.” Alice replied.
The three proceeded to make their way along the somewhat lengthy hallway that led them to a moody dining room. Inside stood a long table covered in gilded blue-ish gray sheet with a shiny candelabra in the middle of the table that was playing with the dancing flames of its candles. By the candles were empty vases, one for each side of the table. There were at least 14 matching chairs at the table, with some spares on the sides of the wall. A few cabinets rested against the walls, some with empty glasses, dishes, and utensils, some with pictures and small decorations, where the rest were empty. The party looked around the room for a bit before Vasin broke the silence and drew the other’s attention to him. 
“Since we can’t use magic, I guess we’ll be doing this manually,’ he said, approaching the candleholder.
“What are you doing?” Edward, who was already sitting in one corner of the table, asked. 
“The room isn't gonna light itself, is it?” Vasin replied, picking up the golden candelabra.
“Here, let me help you,” Alice put the picture frame back down on the cabinet, took a candle from one of the sconces on the walls, and walked to him. She lit the candle with the stand that Vasin was holding, and proceeded to the wall on her left. 
As the two were lighting the other candles on the walls up, Edward began, “What are we doing? You don’t really believe Jaruwan is here right?”
“I don’t know, but something is telling me that this is not just a normal Knoppian church,” Alice replied.
“Well, obviously,” Edward rolled his eyes, and went on, “it’s just a matter of time until we’re forced to join their cult and be forever trapped in this remote island.”
“You’re being crazy,” Vasin added, “These people seem nice.”
“Am I, Vas? Am I being crazy? We’re literally stranded in the middle of the ocean, doing detective work, searching for our missing friend who had been spotted with a guardian-killing lunatic,” Ed replied with slight angst, and went on, “What if they poisoned our food? What if they are planning to use us as a sacrificial offering for their cults?”
“Yeah, you’re being crazy,” Alice jumped in and answered.
“Really, Alice? You’re the one to talk,” Edward replied, and went on, “You know what, I'm just gonna see what they are hiding in this place.” He then pulled out his wand right after.
“Ed!” Vas called him.
“What?” 
“Put your wand down, someone could see us, and kick us out!” Vasin raised his voice, and added, “we could do that later tonight when people here are asleep.”
“I’d rather leave this place right this second.”
“Wouldn’t that be even more suspicious? Besides, the storm is coming.”
Edward was quick to accept his fate as he sighed and replied, “fine, so that’s the plan? Sneaking out in the middle of the night?”
“That seems to be the best option here, I supposed? Unless you have a better plan.”
“Sure,” Ed shrugged and added, “hopefully this will go better than when we snuck into the restricted sections of the greenhouse.” 
“Oh, that was the worst,” Vasin replied, “I swear thought I was never gonna see my right arm again after that nibbling pitcher decided that I was its midnight snack.” 
“Oh no! It’s eating my arm, what do I do?!” Edward mocked.
“Very funny,” Vasin rolled his eyes, then teased him back, “well, at least I’m not the one hanging upside down from their broom in front of the whole class.”
“Wow, really? That was 5 years ago.”
“Who would have known one of the best broom racers in the academy has to repeat Flight 101,” Vasin went on teasing him. 
“Vas, you mothe–”
“Sorry for letting you wait for so long,” Wendell pushed the door open with his shoulder as he was holding a big plate of already cut-up salt-coated grilled fish with both his hands. On the plate was also a bowl of rice, some fresh coriander and lemongrass, as well as some neatly cut limes. Behind him was Felizca, she was holding two small bowls of sauce, and a jar of the same red fizzy drink that Wendell was drinking earlier. Immediately, as the two walked in, Wendell noticed that Alice and Vasin were lighting the sconces by themselves. “Let me help you with that, please sit you two,” Wendell said, then rushed to the table to put the plate down. 
“It’s okay, there aren’t many of them left, we can do it,” Alice replied as Wendell was about to walk over to her. 
“Oh, alright,” Wendell responded, then went on, “okay, enjoy your food then.” He smiled, then turned toward the door as Felizca was laying down some of the plates and the utensils from the cabinet on the dining table. “Oh and another thing, Felizca will be joining you if that’s okay?” 
Felizca looked at him promptly as she heard that.
“Oh yeah, of course, she is welcome to join us, she’s the one who cooked these anyway right?” Alice replied, lighting the last candle on the wall.
“Mhm, yes, that’s correct, she’s the cook.”
“That’s great, it looks really great Felizca.” 
“Th– Thanks,” She replied.
“What about you? Aren’t you hungry too? Why don’t you join us as well?” Alice turned to Wendell as she was about to sit down on the chair across from Edward.
“I’d love to, but I have to take care of my mother.”
“Right,” Alice replied, and went on, “well, she still needs to eat, doesn’t she? Here, why don’t you take some to your mother? And of course, for yourself as well.” Alice suggested that, and took two plates from the pile, and began to put food in each of them. She was a bit stuck when it came to the sauce as she expressed, “what are these two? Is this just fish sauce or did you add something else into it? And what about this one? It looks spicy.”
Felizca nodded, “Mhm, that’s fish sauce, correct. And this is Vienvi seafood sauce.”
“Vienvi as in Vienvisia?” 
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“So… both sauces?”
Felizca made a face, “hm?”
“You know, for the fish. Do I just put both sauces on the fish?” 
“Well, that depends on your preference, Miss— Wendell’s mother, does have a preference for the fish sauce, but she shouldn’t be having any right now.”
“Alright, seafood sauce, it is,” Alice said, then spooned the sauce over a piece of fish on one plate. “Okay, how about you, Wendell? Fish sauce or seafood?”
“I’ll take seafood as well, thanks.”
“Alrighty,” Alice replied then proceeded to do it once again. “Hope your mother gets better quickly,” she added.
“Thank you,” Wendell replied and took off.
“Enjoy your meal,” Alice sent him off, then turned to Felizca promptly. “It’s Felizca, right?” She asked to confirm with her, then went on, “How about you, which one would it be?”
“I’ll take both of them,” she answered.
“Alright, here you go,” 
“Thanks.”
Alice handed her the plate then turned back to the food, “hmm, I’ve never had this before, so I guess I’ll try both.” She said that, grabbed a plate for herself, then took a seat. 
“Hey! What about me and Vasin?” Edward frowned, questioning her.
Alice, not looking at him, “what? You can do it yourself, can’t you?”
“What did I do to you? I’m just sitting here.”
“Fine,” Alice made a face, saying, “what do you want?”
“I’ll have both, thank you very much, Saint Alice.”
“You’re exhausting, Ed,” said Alice, handing the dish to him.
Ed smiled as a response.
“Vas?” Alice turned to him.
“I think I’ll sit out on the spicy sauce today.”
“Wait, it’s spicy?” Edward turned to Felizca to ask. However, before she had the chance to answer, he had already dipped his finger in the sauce on his plate and tasted it.
“It’s uh… a little bit spicy, I suppose?” Felizca replied.
“I mean it’s not that bad, real tasty,” Edward commented with his finger inside his mouth.
“Ed, manners,” Alice scolded him.
Still with his finger in his mouth, he expressed, “what?”
“That’s disgusting,” Alice called him out, then turned back to Vasin, “just the fish sauce right?”
“Yup.”
“Alright,” she replied, then put the plate down in front of his seat.
“Thank you.”
With that, all the four people in the room sat down at the dining table. On the further side from the door, seated Alice and Vasin, whereas Edward and Felizca sat across from them. Before the party even started the feast, Alice noticed that Felizca was staring at them, blatantly. She also noticed that Felizca has not touched food on her plate yet.
“What is it, Felizca?” Alice looked up to her face, and asked.
“I’m waiting for a prayer?” She answered, sounding unsure.
“A prayer?”
“Yeah, you guys don’t do that?”
“No, but you can say it if you want,” Edward jumped in.
“Oh alright, I’ll be quick,” Felizca replied, then began mumbling the prayer. It was quick and brief to the point that the others could not make sense of any words that came out of her mouth but the last one, which was, “Irga.” After that she said to the party, “Ok, I’m done, let’s eat.”
“That was quick,” said Ed.
Felizca did not respond to that.
“Oh yeah, Felizca,” Alice called her, “I’m Alice. This is Vasin,and that’s Edward.”
“I see, alright, it’s a pleasure to meet you all,” She said, then smiled.
Before even taking her first bite, Alice was reminded of the words Edward was saying earlier as she glanced over to him. She hesitated, kicking Vasin quietly with her left boot. She eyed the food on her plate to give him more clues, frowning slightly. Confusion was written all over his face as he looked back at her. Alice’s brows wrinkled, now, aggressively as she read Vasin’s expression.
“Oh, how silly of me,” Felizca spoked out of the sudden, it made Alice jump a little. She then walked over the cabinet with the utensils. Ed, who had absolutely no idea what was going on, who had a spoonful of steamy rice and a piece of fish already hovered in front of his mouth, was interrupted by the sudden kick to one of his feet.
“What do you do that for?” Edward raised his voice to ask, then added, “what is it this time?”
“Shush! What are you yelling for?” Alice said that in the loudest whisper she could manage.
“Why did you kick me then? I was about to eat!” Ed whispered back.
“The food, you said the people here could be poisoning our food,” she recalled, and went on, suggesting, “what if the food is actually poisoned? We should wait for Felizca to take it first.”
“You’re right, that’s a good idea,” Edward replied.
“But she’s… you know,” Vasin hesitated to say what he was thinking, instead he looked at her overtly, making it obvious to the other two.
“She’s what?” Alice queried.
“A goblin?”
“So what?” 
“Maybe they have different poison tolerance?”
“Yeah, that’s true,” Ed jumped in
Alice gave both of them a look as her response.
“What?”
“This was literally on the midterm exam,” Alice replied, with disappointment written on her face. She then explained, quoting from the textbook, “Humans, Elves, Goblins, and great apes share a similar digestive anatomy, and food intolerances—“
Felizca walked back to the table with glasses in both of her hands, “here ya go,” she said, putting the glasses down. She then began to pour the fizzy drink for herself and the others. She sat back down, picked up the utensils, and began to eat. The other three were waiting for this very moment as their eyes locked onto her as if she was a performer on the stage. Felizca swallowed the food in her mouth, and looked back up to the party.
The three played the scene out almost naturally, as they all began to spoon some food up, and started eating. 
“Mmm, this is really great, Felizca,” Edward said, chewing on the food.
“You think so? I’m glad,” she replied.
“Yeah, it’s real tasty, I never had something like this before,” Ed further praised her.
Vasin, who also had already taken a bite, jumped in the conversation, “yeah this is really great, even better from what I have had before. Can I ask where are you from? Are you from Vienvisia?”
“Mhm.”
“Oh wow, and you came this far? How did you end up here, actually? I’m curious.” Alice poked.
“Haha, that’s true,” Felizca let out a slight laugh, “well, it was quite a journey, I’d say. But not a particularly interesting one.”
“You’re just saying that, I’m sure that’s not true,” Alice insisted, “come on, tell us a little.”
“Alright,” Felizca replied, “we got here by boat, me and my other siblings. Two died, Rita and Jokov on board, the plague got them. So, there we were, just the 5 of us left, in the middle of the ocean, who knows where in the world. And once we arrived here, We were put in the refugee camp immediately, it was somewhere down south, Daegagim, I think?”
“Oh, you lived in Hoseong before?” Ed asked.
“Mhm,” she expressed, and continued, “shortly after that, we began looking for jobs. The men, my brothers, got a job in the mine, the coal mine, I believe. Us, girls, became servers at the local inn. It went on like that for about a year and a half, before I met Wendell’s parents. They took us in, well, just us girls, you know it can be rough down there considering what we are. Once again, we moved, this time to the capital. So, it was me, Vinea, and Lana, working as housemaids. And, well,” She paused, and stated, “I don’t know if I can continue the story, it’s quite personal.”
“Well, you don’t have to Felizca, it’s okay,” Alice replied, and added, “thanks for sharing.”
“How about you, you seem really young, are you a student?” Felizca asked her back.
“I appreciate you for saying that,” Alice replied, and explained, “we’re actually…”
“We’re actually beast rescue officers,” Vasin jumped in, and answered for her.
“Oh,” Felizca expressed, tuning to Vasin, “and you’re heading to Frankia, right?”
“Mhm, well, I know you’re probably far more of an expert than I am, but be careful out there alright? Frankian and sorcerers are basically the brewing of chaos.”
“We know,” Vasin replied, and went on, “but thanks for the concern.”
“Mhm,” Felizca expressed, “so there’s a beast on the loose in Frankia?”
“Yeah, a Hunala.”
“Hunala?” Felizca repeated.
“Basically an ice-blue salamander the size of a regular crocodile, freezes everything that it licks.”
“Oh, I see,” Felizca replied, “and it’s dangerous?”
“Well,” Alice jumped in,and explained, “not particularly, but we just aren’t sure what the Franks government would make of them. They might not be able to handle them properly.”
“Hm, you’re right, that’s concerning,” Felizca expressed, “I bet there aren’t many of these creatures around the world now, are there? That’s why you have to go all this way to rescue them.”
“Yeah, the Hunala itself lays a lot of eggs in its lifetime, but only a few of them grow into an adult,” Alice answered.
“I see.”
The conversation went on briefly after that before they all finished their food. Felizca, instead of what was initially planned by Wendell, was the one to show them the room. Although it was a lot bigger than what they had at their internship, there were only two separate beds in the room. Few selections of furniture neatly decorated the empty space, giving a home-like feeling to the room. Felizca, however, already told them about this during their ways to the room. In fact, she had even offered Alice a separate room, so that they would all have a bed to sleep in but Alice insisted that it is better this way. Before leaving, Felizca warned the three that they might hear sounds of prayers in the middle of the night but also assured them that it was not any in particular for them to be alarmed, saying that it was just a midnight prayer that happened regularly. This knowledge altered the party’s plan slightly, suggesting that they would have to wait for longer until they could leave their room to investigate the matter. The three then discussed this promptly, as soon as Felizca left the room.
== Chapter VIII: Blood of Sacrifice ==
“Perzetci.”
“Al, Al.”
“Perzetci.”
“Alice! Wake up!”
“Perzetci.”
“Alice, come on, we’re in serious trouble.”
“Leave her, Ed, there’s not much we can do anyway.” 
“Perzetci.”
“And you’re just gonna keep doing that?” 
“Perzetci—” Jaruwan stopped, as she saw a sudden jerk coming from Alice’s body that immediately woke her up. 
Half awake, Alice slowly turned to Edward, who was on her side, attempting to wake her up. “What’s going on?” She asked in a low, muffled voice.
“Someone poisoned us! You were right!” 
“What–” Alice replied, but she had not fully registered the situation just yet, “What are you talking about? Where are we?”
“I– I don’t know, but it’s not looking good at all!” 
Alice glanced around, “what is this place…” She said under her breath. Then immediately she exclaimed, “Jaruwan!” as she saw her. Alice jumped to her right away, despite her own fatigue. 
Jaruwan tried to draw her body back from Alice but she too was extremely tired herself. 
“Thanks heavens, you are safe!” Alice expressed, still not fully aware of the grave situation that she was in. “We’ve been looking for you,” she added.
Jaruwan did not respond to her.
“Are you alright?” Alice asked; She was surprisingly calm.
“Clearly not,” Ed jumped in, and answered, “look around, Al. Who knows where we are. I told you this is a bad idea.”
“Ed,” Alice turned to him, becoming more awoken, “need I remind you that we were looking for Jaruwan, and look, we found her, that’s what mattered.”
“And how are we gonna get out of here? Open your eyes and look around.”
“I have a plan, Ed,” she replied, “I already anticipate that something is going to go down tonight, that’s why I do this.” She then snapped her right fingers.
Nothing happened.
“Wait, what?” Alice exclaimed, snapping her fingers again. “This can’t be,” She added, then tried again, verbally. “Rodka Powrota,” she cast the spell. 
Again, nothing happened.
“Rodka Powrota,” She cast again.
“You’re looking for this?” Phukan said as she appeared out of the shadow, showing the ruby ring on her finger, “don’t you think it looks great on my hand?” She asked, and went on, “this is a smart move, actually, I gotta give you that. You know I wouldn’t have second-guessed it if it was me.”
“You…” Alice raised her voice in anger, “leave me and my friends alone, you psychopathic murderer.”
Phukan made a face, “well technically, I only need that girl right there. So… I don’t know what you are on about, I was literally minding my own business, until you and these two decided to stick your noses into this sanctuary.”
“Don’t think you’ll get away with this,” Alice added.
“I like the confidence,” Phukan looked at her, smiling, “it’s Alice, right? Here, I’d like you to try something.” She said that, took the ring off her finger, then tossed it to Alice inside the cell. Phukan snapped her finger, saying, “go on, I lifted the hex already, do something. Impress me.”
Alice had her eyes tightly locked to Phukan’ face. And within a split second, her wand appeared in her hand, “O-lustzenie!” She cast, and immediately a green light flashed the entire room.
Phukan deflected the spell effortlessly, “Try again. Cast the spell like you mean it.” 
“O-lustzenie!” She cast again, angrily. Once more, she was no match for Phukan.
“Alice!” Vasin called her in a loudest whisper. “Up,” he said, suggesting, “break us out.” 
Hearing that gave Alice a plan. With her quick judgment, she decided to swing her wand following the the wand movement for the stun spell then changed in mid cast in order to fake out Phukan, “Bombardonie!” She cast the spell to the ceiling. 
“You’ve got to be faster than that,” Phukan responded as Alice’s wand broke in half. “That was fun, while it lasted,” She added, “now let me show you real magic.” Phukan snapped her fingers right after she said that. Accordingly, all the candles in the room lit up, making the dark dungeon visible to Jaruwan and the others for the first time. “Let’s see…” Phukan said to herself, playfully, glancing around the prison, “who is getting lucky today?” She had her wand repeatedly tapping the bottom of her lips out of the habit, then turned toward the centaur on the opposite cell of the party. 
“You! It’s you. I’ve decided,” She said, smiling.
“Wh— what’s going on? Who lit up all the candles? What’s happening?” The centaur, half-awoken, wondered in his low, muffled voice. He rubbed his eyes as the others were also waking up. While the prisoners usually made a lot of noises, shouting, complaining, and mostly moaning in agony, it was different that time. Because as soon as the room was lit up and the face of their horror was visible to them, the room just went completely silent. Likewise, the centaur jumped as he saw Phukan as well, especially when she was staring at him with that smile on her face. “Leave me alone, please, no more, I can’t take it anymore,” the centaur whined as Phukan kept looking at him.
“Watch closely,” Phukan looked over her right shoulder to the students, raising her wand. She moved her wand at noticeably a slow rate but the students were not able to make sense of what the spell was from her wand movement. "Kalatwa Zabojwa," She cast, and promptly, the brightest red beam flashed the entire building. The beam hit the centaur in his first chest, causing him to collapse to the ground immediately.
“What in the world—” Alice gasped, “What was that?” She turned to Jaruwan, asking, “Do you know what spell that was?” 
Jaruwan replied, “I– I saw that spell in Wendell’s memory. It’s—”
“Did you see that?” Phukan asked, eagerly, “Isn’t that impressive? You know if we weren’t such a wuss, we would be able to learn and use this as well as the other fun spells.” 
Alice made a face in disgust, “you’re sick,” she said. “What did you do to him?” 
“Oh?” Phukan turned back to the students completely, “oh right, you don’t know. My apologies, I totally forgot they did not teach us about this in school. It’s a verboden spell! Well, this particular one just instantly killed him; it’s basically a killing spell.” She then went on and expressed, “honestly, that’s such a shame. Can you imagine if we all know how to use that? Imagine how many wars we can stop! You must know this very well, mustn’t you, huh Alice? Jaruwan?” 
“Crazy lady, I don’t know what type of drug you are on, but I was born here in Hoseong,” Alice replied, but it seemed like her message did not reach Phukan at all. Her voice was also shaken slightly.
“Just imagine how much we would be able to achieve, the arcanery progress that we could invent, and the secret of the magic we could discover,” She went on, “We might be able to even achieve necromancy.”
The four of them were now looking at Phukan strangely and terrifyingly. 
“What do you think? Wouldn’t it be nice? We, the sorcerers, rule the world by our magic prowess,” She paused, looking for answers on their faces, “So? What do you kids think?”
No one in the group gave her an answer.
“Huh,” Phukan expressed, and went on, “I guess it’s the middle of the night, and you guys aren’t fully awake just yet. Well, that’s okay, I’m sure you’ll be more in a talking mood in the morning. Besides, I’m getting quite cold now. Can’t really be down here that much, so I’m gonna excuse myself from here if you kids don’t mind.”
Still, no one decided to entertain her anymore. 
“Alright then, Sleep tight,” She sent off. Snapped her fingers, then the room went dark again, pitch black. Her receding footsteps could be heard as she turned back and ascended the stairs. 
As soon as Phukan left the room, Ed promptly began to ask about the situation and what to make of it. Jaruwan, who had not said much before Alice woke up, started to tell her side of the story, recalling the night of the Hanfel’s attack at the internship village. She told the group as it was, that she had been deceived by Wendell. Although she was unsure of how she ended up in this dungeon, her speculation was that it was also Wendell who took her here.
Correspondingly, Alice and the others also told Jaruwan how their journey had led them to this very cell. They described the cathedral and the priestesses, as well as the dinner that they had with Felizca. 
“How did you know Phukan, anyway? Is she famous or something?” Jaruwan asked, as Alice was catching her up. 
“Oh,” Alice paused, and explained, “well, it just saw her name on the documents Sehyun had with her, but it was Vas, who recognised her.”
Vasin’s eyes widened as he heard that, “I just remembered something!” He spoke up out of the blues.
“What is it, Vas?” Alice asked him.
Vasin unpinned the quail-shaped brooch on his collar, and showed it to the others, “Sehyun gave me this. I don’t know what to make of it but you guys might have some ideas,” he said, handing it to Alice.
“Hm,” She inspected, “doesn’t seem like a magical item to me.”
“Let me see,” Edward jumped in the conversation, smooching over to Alice, “that looks like a bird, a weird one. The pin looks sharp though, like it’s thirsty for blood. And the gems are pretty nice, what’s that? Amethyst?” 
“It’s a quail, you moron,” Alice replied.
“Wait, what did you just say, Ed?” Jaruwan had just finished processing, although she was staring at the brooch the whole time.
“That it’s Amethyst?” 
“No, before that.” 
“That it looks like a weird bird?”
“No, the other thing,”
“Blood?”
“Yes.”
“Yea….?” Ed replied, looking at Jaruwan strangely, “What’s about that?”
“Give the brooch to me,” Jaruwan said.
“Alright…” Ed hesitantly handed it to her, “What are you—”
Jaruwan forcefully stabbed the pin into the tip of her right index finger, as soon as she took the brooch from Ed’s hand. 
“What are you doing?” Alice and Ed raised her voice in unison, where Vasin was also giving her an odd look. 
“Your wand, Alice,” Jaruwan turned to her, and asked; laying out her left hand.
“Alright,” Alice was fast to comply with her while the other two were still confused. She then placed both halves of her wand on Jaruwan’s palm as she requested. 
“Thanks,” She said, then smeared the blood on the end of the part that was cut off. Immediately, the ward glowed in dim yellow, revealing the hidden engraved pattern of its craftsmanship. And not wasting any seconds, she proceeded to do it for the other half. She then put them together as if her blood would hold them like a glue. 
“No way that works,” Ed expressed.
Alice, with her eyes locked to Jaruwan, replied to him, “have some faith.”
After holding both pieces of the wand together for a moment, the illumination began to fade, then went out completely. “This should work now,” Jaruwan said, slowly loosening her grip to examine the wand. From the look of it,  She raised the wand up to test if it would actually hold, then turned to Alice as soon as she got her answer. “Do you mind if I… ?” Jaruwan asked.
“Go on,” Alice answered, smiling.
She thanked her again, then aimed the wand at the lock, casting, “O-bo-o-wanie.” The wand sparked slightly, and did not let out a beam of light that a wand would typically do. “What,” Jaruwan exclaimed under her breath, then cast again. This time, the wand let out a brighter spark, zapped Jaruwan, and cracked at the very part where it was mended. A slight irritation was written on her face, but no sound managed to escape her mouth. 
Her hand, in contrast, was turning red as it appeared so, to Alice. In which, she asked, “are you alright there, Jaruwan?”
“I’m fine,” Jaruwan brushed off, then added, “let me try that again.”
“No, let me try it,” Edward jumped into the conversation, extending his hand toward Jaruwan.
Jaruwan looked at him, then turned back to the lock, without giving him any response. “O-bo-o-wanie,” she cast again.
Nothing changed but the redness on her hand and the gap of the crack. “Why is it not working?” Jaruwan’s frustration slipped out of her body. “O-bo-o-wanie!” She tightened, raising her voice. “Come on!” Rage started to fill her body. “O-bo—“
“Jaruwan!” Alice raised her voice to get her attention, putting her hand over Jaruwan’s to prevent her from casting the spell. Her eyebrows frowned as she looked straight into Jaruwan’s eyes as she scolded her. Promptly after, the sensation from Jaruwan’s red hand followed, causing Alice to exclaim, “heavens! You’re burning! Let go! There’s gotta be a better way than this!”
Jaruwan let the wand go as Alice requested. “I don’t get it,” she whined, “why is it not working?”
“Because you didn’t use the right type of blood,” the same faint voice came through from the crack of the wall. The voice then sighed as the party did not respond, and continued by its own, “you need my blood, human blood doesn’t have enough magical potential.” 
“What do you even know about magical potential?” Jaruwan responded, still frustrated.
“Don’t you know that wands were originally made with satyr blood before they were banned?”
“What?”
“It’s true,” Vasin jumped in, “my family used to be in the wand business, well, a long time ago at least, now we just supply the woods for a larger company. My grandfather told me that he used to watch his gramp work at the factory, infusing satyr blood into wands after wands. In fact, we have some of those laying around the house as well.”
“Huh,” Maylani expressed.
“If you don’t want to listen to me, at least listen to your friend over there,” the voice added.
Jaruwan, ignoring the voice, turned to Vasin, “and have you tried using it? The wand, I meant, or at least seen anyone in your family use it?”
“Well, my family kept them like antique items, so no. But my grandfather told me that he tried to cast a spell with the infused wand once, but it didn’t work.”
“That’s because he wasn’t strong enough for our blood,” the voice interrupted once again.
“If your blood is so strong, why haven’t you managed to escape this prison, huh? Why are you still in the cage? If your magical potential is so high, it wouldn’t be so hard for you isn’t it?” Alice threw a shade at him.
“They can’t use magic,” Jaruwan said, “the satyrs, they can’t use magic.”
“Huh, you aren’t that stupid after all,” the voice praised.
Alice, going straight to the point, replied, “so what is it? Surely, you aren’t going to help us for free, are you? What do you want?”
“Just let me out of this hell hole, and we’ll call it even,” the voice paused for a second, “that’ll be all I would ask.”
“You have my words,” Alice replied.
The voice went silent for a moment, before instructing, “give me your wand then, pass it through the gap.”
While Alice was about to do so as the voice requested, she found her hand stopped by Jaruwan’s, “what is it?” Alice turned to Jaruwan only to find her staring, worryingly, at her.
“Are you sure about this?”
“It’s not like we have any other option, is it?” Alice replied, “besides, we can always get a new one.”
Jaruwan let go of her hand, but did not actually give her a verbal response.
“Here you go,” Alice slipped the wand through. Then the voice took it, shortly after.
Jaruwan then passed the brooch to Alice, tapping it on the side of her arm.
“Oh, right,” Alice said to Jaruwan, softly, then turned towards the wall. “Hey, I forgot to give you this—“ she raised her voice, but the glow of the wand also shined through the cracks, this time it was bright orange.
“There, it should work now, try it out,” the voice announced, then slipped the wand back to Alice through the crack.
Alice took the wand, turned to the lock, then cast, “O-bo-o-wanie.”
Nothing happened.
“This doesn’t even work,” Alice spoke to the wall with slight upset.
“I knew it.”
“Knew what?”
The voice went quiet for a second, then replied, “just forget it, there’s no point of you knowing why, anyway.”
Being drawn to the infused wand, Jaruwan said to Alice, “let me see that real quick.”
“Here, be careful, alright?” Alice said, then handed the wand to her.
Jaruwan could feel the wand reacting to her as soon as she touched it. “What is this?” She spoke under her breath. Then again, she aimed the wand at the lock and began to cast the unlocking spell. A blue beam, brighter than what Jaruwan had even cast in her entire life up to that point, came out from the tip of the wand and served its purpose. 
“You did it!” Alice jumped, “Jaruwan, you did it.”
“This is strange,” Jaruwan expressed to herself. Her eyes fixed to the wand as everyone else in the cell was caught up with their joyous reliefs.
“Jaruwan, let’s go,” Alice’s voice brought her back to her body. Upon hearing that, Jaruwan looked back up and saw that the three were already outside of the cell. “Are you okay?” Alice asked as their eyes met.
“Yeah,” Jaruwan brushed off, “I’m good.” She smiled, then stepped out of the cell. At last, Jaruwan and the others finally saw the face where the voice was embodied. A small, effete male satyr, laying on the ground, eyeing the party with a defensive posture. His horns were dull, largely out of proportion, and lacked proper filing. 
“Never seen a satyr before?” He japped.
“Well, actually—“ Edward tried to answer but was stopped by Vasin.
“O-bo-o-wanie,” Jaruwan cast the spell on the lock of his cell.
“Thanks,” the satyr spoke, softly. 
“You should join us,” Edward spoke his mind, “we can get you to safety.”
The satyr stared at him, not giving any answer.
“Let him be,” Alice expressed, “it doesn’t seem that he trusted our kind very much.”
The satyr was silent.
Jaruwan turned toward his direction and aimed at him. In response, the satyr, who was still behind the bars, stared back at her, dead in the eyes. “O-chronie Oczonie,” She cast, letting out a vivid yellow beam out of the wand, creating a layer of magic surrounding the satyr. “This should help you with your journey, or at least, buy you some time.”
The satyr’s expression did not change, he was still looking at the four, alarmingly. “Thanks,” he said, at last.
Jaruwan nodded, then turned back to the other three as they were all looking at her. “What?”
“Nothin,” Alice replied, “Let's get out of this place.” 
“I’ll lead the way,” Jaruwan suggested, tightening the wand on her hand.
== Chapter XI: Run ==
As the party carefully made their way up the dark spiral staircase, a sound of prayer began to creep in into each of their ears. Although the slow and dissonant choir echoed the cold walls of the stairs gave the four an uneasy feeling, it also reinforced their guess that the dungeon was beneath the cathedral. With the wand illuminated, Jaruwan was the one leading the way, followed closely by Alice, then Vasin. Edward, on the other hand, was trailing slightly, but he was not far behind from the group. 
“Ed! Come on, quit playing around!” Vasin shouted in the loudest whisper he could manage.
Hearing that, Edward walked up to him, quickly, without making much sound. And once he was right behind the group, he began, “something doesn’t add up, here. How can that centaur possibly fit through these stairs?”
“Maybe Wendell teleported him here,” Vasin theorized.
“Yes, or maybe there is another way out.”
Jaruwan paused for a moment after she heard Ed’s speculation, then replied, “Are you suggesting that there is an illusory charm in this place?”
“Well, like I said, the cathedral doesn’t look like anything I have seen before,” Edward replied, then added, “I swear the wall on the outside was literally moving.”
“Right…” Jaruwan expressed, “But if that’s the case, they would know if we used a spell to reveal the hidden path.”
“You’re right,” Ed replied, then added, turning to Vasin, “But what if the whole building like you suggested?”
“It’s not,” Jaruwan objected, “I would feel that, if the whole place is under a charm, I would feel that when I cast my spells.” She then added, “Besides, they would also know already that we managed to escape.”
“What if she’s toying with us, like what she did with Alice?” Edward replied, “Maybe she wants us to escape, so she could put us back in the prison again.”
“And why would she do that?” Vasin questioned, looking at Ed strangely.
Alice shrugged, “She’s a psychopath, who knows what goes through her mind—” She walked into Jaruwan’s right arm, as she extended it to her side, to stop her. “What is it, Jaruwan?” Alice let out an even quieter whisper. 
“The prayer… I think it stopped,” Jaruwan explained, and commanded, “hold on, I’ll put off the light.”
Alice grabbed her hand then suggested, “let’s hold hands so we don’t lose each other in the dark.” She then turned to Vasin, and called him for his hand, accordingly.
The stairway was pitch black as soon as Jaruwan stopped casting her spell. “Stay close,” she whispered, and was about to move up the steps but Alice had stopped her as well.
She suggested, “I think we should wait, they might be getting back to their rooms right now.”
BANG
Jaruwan was about to respond to her but she was interrupted by a loud noise that sounded like something heavy being slammed shut.
“What was that?” Edward asked with angst, his voice raised slightly.
“Shush! Keep your voice down,” Alice turned back and scolded him in a sharp whisper.
Footsteps could be heard promptly as the silence filled the curved walls. Jaruwan felt Alice’s grip tightened, as she, too, her grip of the wand. For what seemed to be the longest minute of their lives, the party held their breath, while their hearts raced in sheer anxiety. 
The echoing of the footsteps receded, inviting silence back to the party once again, just for her to be kicked out by Edward. As he whispered, “Are they gone? I can’t hear them anymore.” And before anyone could give him an answer, he added, “let’s just move up, these walls stress the hell out of me.”
Jaruwan did not respond but followed his request carefully, signaling Alice that she would continue to ascend the steps. At the same time, she swung the wand to illuminate the tip of it once again.
Shortly, the party reached their last step on the stairways and found themselves facing a heavy metal door in its well-worn state. The door had a tiny bar window where Alice and Jaruwan peeked out, but there wasn’t much out there for them to see, just a dark, rugged corridor that led into the depth of the unknown. 
Eager to see what was behind the cold, worn-out door, Edward squeezed himself with the two ladies, and put his face right in front of the gap between the metal bars. His carelessness, however, squeaked the door open slightly, causing it to let out a sharp cry. 
“For heaven’s sake, Ed! Be careful!” Alice let out a fierce whisper, “you’re gonna get us all caught.”
“It’s going to make a sound either way if we want to open it,” Edward whispered back with the same tone.
“No, it’s not! We can cast the airy enchantment on it, and make it lighter!” 
Impressed by Alice’s quick wit, Jaruwan praised, “good call,” then proceeded to cast the spell on the heavy door promptly. The door hinge then began to move as if its great burden had been lifted from the ground. With that, Jaruwan gently pushed the door open with her right hand. She then used the wand to light the way.
As the party moved forward to the direction that the door was facing, Ed began, jokingly, “this is not how I pictured the internship at all.” 
“I don’t think any of us pictured this, Ed,” Alice replied, unimpressed.
“I know! But, come on, it’s interesting to think that, just last week we were literally some intern students, flying through the beautiful valleys with no worries in our heads, and now we are literally in the middle of—”
“We get it, Ed,” Alice cut him off, “You want to go back home, we all want to go back home, complaining wouldn’t get us out of here.”
“Wow, okay, Alice,” Ed replied, then turned to Vasin, and whispered to him, “What has gotten into her?”
Vasin did not give him a response, and kept on walking.
The rocky passageway led the party to a room. A massive chamber, adorned with arching pillars and bust sculptures, it seemed to them, as far as the light from the wand reached. Each pillar was oriented with a seamless engraved pattern, and accompanied by un-lit candles on its own sconces, showing off its architectural diligence. The party began to exhale out vapor as they navigated the room, along with Alice, who was noticeably shivering in her sky blue sundress. 
“You good, Al?” Edward asked her.
She brushed him off, immediately, “I’m fine.”
“Here, just take this,” Ed took off his overcoat and handed it to her.
Alice took it and thanked him softly under her own breath.
Ed’s attention shifted immediately as he saw a particular statue that resembled the figure of a rat. “Oh look! A rat!” He called out the statue, then zoomed to it right away. Accordingly, Ed began to read the words on the pedestal which rested beneath the stone visage, “here lies Saint Stilton… The bearer of the storm.” 
“Huh,” Jaruwan expressed as she moved closer to examine the statue, and read the message herself, “so, this place is a crypt?”
“I guess so, but it doesn’t seem like one,” Vasin contributed, “Haven’t seen a single coffin yet.”
“You’re right,” Jaruwan turned to Vasin, and replied. 
“Ed, put the rat down, it’s not a toy,” Alice scolded him as the other two examined the place.
“He has a name you know,” Edward responded, “it’s Saint Stilton.”
“Well, if that’s the case, you should be treating him with respect then,” Alice expressed.
“Exactly, that’s what I’m doing right now,” Edward replied, then went on, explaining, “he has been in that position for who knows how long, he was very much in need of some stretching and I’m giving him the finest service.” 
Alice could not believe the words that just came out of Edward’s mouth and she did not wish to tolerate it for even a short second as she went on at him, “are you serious?”
“What? A dead rat? Really?”
“How would you like it if someone treated your grave the same way that you are doing right now?” Alice raised her voice, then added, “give me that.” However, with minimum light, Alice accidentally hit Edward in his wrist, causing him to drop the stone statue on the hard ground.
“Shit!” Alice exclaimed. 
“What was that?” Vasin asked, as he and Jaruwan turned back to the two, “What did you two do?” At the same time, the light from the wand followed, revealing that a piece of the stone visage had broken off by its head.  
“Look what you did, Alice.” 
“ME? You were the one who picked it up in the first place!” 
“Oh for heaven's sake, cut it out, you two!” Vasin snapped, “Alice, I know you are worried about this whole situation but your anger is really misplaced right now, and Ed, I appreciate you trying to lighten up the mood but we are tired, and couldn’t really match your energy right now.” 
Not wanting to interfere between the three of them, Jaruwan stood there in silence. Her eyes, on the other hand, shifted toward the broken statue on the ground. And as she noticed something white on the surface of the figurine at the part where it was chipped off, her legs sped forward to it. 
Jaruwan, in the middle of the argument between her peers, squat down to the broken rat statue to examine it closer. “This looks like a bone,” She told the three as she picked it up. 
“A what, now?” Vasin couldn’t hear that very well.
“Bone— a bone. Look. The white bit. Looks like a bone, does it not?” Jaruwan stood up and put it to Vasin's face, asking.
“Hm,” Vasin observed, then replied, “yeah, I guess so.”
“What?” Edward turned to the two and expressed, “So that would mean… all these statues are literally corpses?” 
“It’s suggested.” 
“That’s creepy, who thinks it’s a good idea to put dead bodies in stones?”
“No… it’s mostly just their heads that were made into a display,” Jaruwan pointed that out,
“We should move,” Alice suggested, returning to her natural tone, while putting the rat statue back on the pedestal. She passed the two men and walked beside Jaruwan as the party slowly began to navigate the room once again. 
Shortly, the light reached a sole statue of a beautiful woman, standing tall amongst the pillars of the catacomb. Her entire left arm glistened slightly in dark gold as the party moved closer. The rest of her frame, however, was made of dirty marble. 
“Well, this is different,” Ed expressed, walking past the light, toward the statue. “The material as well,” He added.
“Maybe we’re now at the center of this tomb,” Vasin speculated, “the pillars seem to be further away from each other too.” Vasin then suggested, “let’s just light this room up, the exit should be near.”
“Wait,” Alice led out a sharp whisper, “What’s that? Is that a bench?” She asked, then pointed beyond the woman statue.
Jaruwan closely followed Alice as she walked closer. “This is weird,” Jaruwan expressed as the light revealed the rows of wooden benches. “If the benches are all facing this way, shouldn’t the statue be facing them?” 
“You’re right, that is weird,” Ed replied, inspecting the statue closely. “What kind of cultist’s activity is going on here?” He wondered as he saw the black candles at the feet of the statue.
“Is there a name?” Vasin moved closer to him, and asked.
“I don’t know, man,” Ed responded, then added, “I don’t see any engraving, it’s probably one of their saints or something.”
“Yeah,” Vasin expressed, then turned away. However, at the same moment, something suddenly clicked inside of his head which made him stop and exclaim to himself, “wait.”
“What is it, Vas?” Alice noticed him.
“Maybe, there’s some hidden inscription on the statue? We can use Arwenie to check it.”
Jaruwan turned to them, then refused, “we should focus on getting out of here. It isn’t our job to uncover the truth behind this place.”
“Right…” Vasin replied.
“Let’s just go,” Jaruwan tightened, “The exit is probably at the back of these benches.”
As the party moved down the aisle and the light slowly revealed row after row of wooden seats that seemed almost never-ending, they heard a loud thud that sounded like a heavy stone hitting a hard floor. 
With their quick reflexes, Jaruwan and Edward turned toward the source of the sound immediately, then promptly followed by Vasin and Alice. Even so, the party could not see anything other than the pillars and the benches. 
“Did you guys hear that?” Ed asked the party with angst. 
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Jaruwan replied, then turned back toward the same direction. 
“Great job, everyone,” Phukan said, sitting on one of the benches as she appeared from the shadows. “Congraturation—”
“Perzetci,” Jaruwan cast the cutting spell before Phukan even finished her sentence. In that split second, the room went dark then flashed blue from the beam that was coming from the tip of the wand. 
Phukan, however, proceeded to deflect the spell with her wand effortlessly. “Aggressive, I like that.” She then flicked her wrist to light all the candles in the room, revealing the grand architectural structure of the catacomb. And, at the same time, the sound of stones scraping against each other could be heard at a distance, behind the four Hoseong students.
“Oh hell no,” Ed expressed as he saw the statue rotated to face them, while Jaruwan, on the other hand, had her eyes locked with Phukan’s.
“Take cover!” Vasin shouted, then squatted down as the two witches were about to start their duel. With that, Alice and Edward both took cover behind the nearest bench.
Phukan began by casting a non-verbal cutting spell, but it was swiftly deflected by Jaruwan’s magic shield. “Good,” She praised Jaruwan. “How about this?” She said, then promptly cast the same spell three times in a row within a blink of an eye. 
Jaruwan’s shield managed to withstand only two of them, and her reaction was sharp enough to dodge the third. Consequently, the spell ended up landing on one of the pillars, causing a massive cut on the stone. At the same moment, Jaruwan noticed a small opening for her to attack, but she did not cast any spell as her attention was caught by the door behind Phukan. As a result of this hesitation, Phukan now had a clear shot to strike Jaruwan. And so she did, Phukan let out another blue beam from the tip of her wand. 
Jaruwan almost did not react in time, deflecting the spell to one of the benches nearby. She then striked Phukan back with her very own cutting spell as well, but Phukan managed to fend it off with ease, as usual.
With her mind fixed on escaping, Jaruwan was not entirely focused on attacking Phukan nor winning the duel. Instead, as Phukan cast another one of her spells, she decided to take a cover by the bench that Alice was couching behind.
“We need to make a run for it,” Jaruwan let out a sharp whisper. “Can you see the exit? We need to make a run for it,” She repeated.
“What? How—”
Phukan sliced the bench in half, right between Alice and Jaruwan, then asked, “What’s the matter? Doesn’t want to play with me anymore, little birdie?” She proceeded to cast another one immediately.
Jaruwan put her right hand up, and cast a spell to create a magic shield from her palm. 
“Impressive, let’s see how you would fare with this?” Phukan expressed, then swung her wand right after. “Plomain Ognia,” She cast, letting out a line of flame toward Jaruwan’s shield.
“Get the others,” Jaruwan commanded Alice, while withstanding the fire that kept on coming toward them. “This is our chance,” She added.
With Jaruwan being forced into a defensive position, Phukan began to close the gap between them by stepping forward. “Bombardonie,” Jaruwan cast the spell to the ceiling above Phukan. The spell exploded as it made contact with the ceiling, which shook the entire structure and caused chunks of debris to fall down on Phukan. 
Phukan reacted quickly, and cast a magic shield of her own, aiming the wand directly above her head. As a result, the debris broke into tiny pieces on impact with the shield. 
And not wasting any second, Jaruwan striked Phukan with the cutting spell once again. In which, she was not quick enough to deflect it that time, but still managed to dodge it by dashing to her side, into the nearby row. 
“Now!” Jaruwan shouted to signal her friends, then cast, “Audpihacie,” creating a wind blast that blew all the candles in the room off.
“Oh you annoying little twat!” Phukan cursed Jaruwan, then blindly struck her in the same direction that she was standing. The spell from Phukan’s wand flashed the whole catacomb, but missed its target, and landed on the ceiling instead. “You think you can just run away from me?” Phukan expressed, then flicked her wand to light the candles again.
At the same time Jaruwan striked, casting, “Perzetci,” from the pillar at the corner of Phukan’s eyes. 
“Too slow,” Phukan expressed as she deflected Jaruwan’s attack to the ground. She then matched Jaruwan with a quick cast from her end right away, which ended up hitting the side of the pillar Jaruwan was hiding behind.
Jaruwan turned to signal her friends again, then leaned to the other side of the pillar. “Audpihacie—” 
“Bombadonie,” Phukan aimed her wand to the other side of the pillar as she predicted, causing a part of the pillar to explode. The combustion shook the entire floor and created a layer of dust that minimized the visibility of the pillar. 
Then from the fog of the debris, Jaruwan appeared with her right hand casting a magic shield. And, as the dust began to settle down, several small cuts and scratches from the flying debris were visible all over her body. 
“Oh you poor thing, you’re bleeding,” Phukan teased, and went on, “make you wonder doesn’t it?” Her tone shifted, as she continued, “Why don’t we have a spell to heal wounds?”
Refusing to entertain Phukan, Jaruwan striked her with two consecutive casts of the cutting spell. 
And while Phukan deflected both attacks with just the flick of her wand, she did not anticipate a follow-up cast of disarm spell that sent her wand flying. 
“Audpihacie,” Jaruwan cast, and the room went pitch black once again. She then chased it with another cast of the cutting spell towards the same direction.
The course of her spell was true as the beam flashed the catacomb and revealed so. But at the very moment the attack was about to strike Phukan, she grabbed her wand out of thin air, and absorbed all the spell. She then pivoted on her heel, spun counterclockwise, and redirected the spell back to its original caster.
However, at the moment that Phukan was about to do so, the satyr charged towards her way and successfully prevented it.
“Curse you, you deranged bitch,” the satyr pinned her down, and started to throw punches at her. “This is for the thing you did to my people!”
The satyr, however, only managed to strike her once, under her right eye due to his fatigue. In which, his second attempt was blocked by Phukan’s arm. 
“What was that?” Ed questioned as he could not see much of it due to the darkness.
“Ed, Vas, come on! Help me with this door!” Alice shouted with angst and frustration. Still, with her entire body, Alice managed to budge it open on her own. The gap between the heavy doors let a tiny line of pale light shine through, allowing everyone to see what was happening.
In front of them, at that very moment, was a sight of struggle. The satyr was grabbing, clucking, and pulling Phukan’s arms as he fought for the wand on her hand. Simultaneously, his body was sitting on top of her belly, pinning her to the ground. 
Surprised to witness the risky display from the satyr, Jaruwan’s mind impeded. She observed the fight closely, for the hope of a clear opportunity to strike Phukan. 
“Jaruwan! Let’s go!” Alice shouted, calling for her attention to the exit, which was now wide open.
Jaruwan hesitated as her eyes shifted between Phukan and Alice, she tightened her grip of the wand and ordered, “Hold her down!”
The satyr turned to Jaruwan, confused. But seeing that Jaruwan was trying to aim the wand at Phukan, he began to comply.
This interruption, however, allowed Phukan to lock her arms to one of the satyr’s. She then twisted her entire upper body to her right and broke loose. Following that, she landed her kick on the satyr’s chest with full force, sending him flying. Gaining some distance from the satyr, Phukan swung her wand at him, then cast her spell. A bright blue beam flashed the room, blinding everyone partially for a few seconds. 
The satyr opened his eyes to find out that Phukan’s spell did not manage to inflict any harm on him. So, he decided to charge at Phukan once more.
“Wait! No!” Jaruwan shouted, halted her wand movement and changed it midway. “O-chronie Oczonie,” She then cast, but she wasn’t fast enough since Phukan had already managed to land her strike on his chest.
Although the wound seemed fatal, the satyr’s movement did not come to a stop as he continued to storm toward Phukan. Baffled by his action, Jaruwan’s body refused to come to terms with her mind as she ended up just standing there, watching. 
“Uh, guys… we might need to hurry, here,” Vasin added, as he noticed multiple flickering balls of light coming from the inside of the cathedral.
“Wait, weren’t our brooms inside the building as well?” Edward recalled.
“Jaruwan! Come on,” Alice, who was now right beside her, grabbed her hand and forcefully pulled her to the exit.
Jaruwan did not respond to her. She was almost like she had been turned into a little girl whose parents had just scolded her for making a scene in public, and was now being dragged away. Her legs quickly followed Alice’s steps, but her eyes fixed to Phukan and the satyr. The last thing she witnessed was a scene of bloodbath, where the satyr bleed all over Phukan’s lilac dress. Then, as the party hurried through the door and up the stairs on the outside of the catacomb, a bright red light flashed through the gap of the heavy doors. 
“What in the—” Edward exclaimed, as he got a goosebump on his arms. “Tell me you guys felt that too?” He turned back to Alice and Jaruwan.
“Just keep moving! This isn’t the time to chat!” Alice raised her voice with angst, tightening her grip.
Vasin, however, stopped. He locked eyes with one of the priestesses who came rushing out of the main cathedral entrance. “Shit,” his tongue slipped. “What do we do now?” He asked the others while his gaze still fixed forward.
“Uh,  Alice…” Ed’s voice shook slightly as he saw three priestesses approaching them, “please tell me you have a plan.” 
At the same moment, Jaruwan forcefully pulled her arm back from Alice, and aimed the ward slightly above the catacomb entrance. “Bombadonie,” she cast, monotonically. Before the spell even made contact, another explosion spell was cast from the inside of the catacomb, causing the metal doors to burst open. Jaruwan caught a glimpse of Phukan for a split second before the debris from the impact of her explosion spell fell down and blocked the entrance.
Jaruwan turned back from the catacomb to the others. In front of them were Cecilia, Adelaide, and another priestess whom the party had never met before. Each of them had the wand readied on one hand and a lantern on the other. “Go for the brooms, I’ll hold them off,” Jaruwan whispered.
“What? No, that’s too dangerous!” Alice objected.
“What can you do? Are you gonna punch them in their face?” Jaruwan bashed.
Alice went quiet for a second, then replied, “Alright, fine.”
“Oh, now you’ve done it! You shouldn’t have angered Mother,” Adelaide said, with her eyes locked at Jaruwan. 
“I don’t know what you’re talking about lady. I don’t even know you.” Jaruwan shouted, pointing her wand at Adelaide. “Back off.” 
“I’d like to see you try—”
Jaruwan cast the cutting spell at Adelaide to interrupt her before she even finished her sentence. In which, Adelaide narrowly deflected it with her magic shield. 
“What the—”
Jaruwan followed it with another cast, then proceeded to cast it repeatedly in an intense manner. This forced Adelaide in a defensive position as her shield was being pinned down.
“Whatchu standing there for?! Do something!” Adelaide turned to her other two peers, and yelled at them. The two hesitated as they were behind Adelaide’s magic shield and the only way to strike back at Jaruwan was to wait for her to take a breather between her casts. 
“Now!” Cecilia signaled as she saw a window to strike Jaruwan. “Perzetci!” She and the other priestess cast, almost instantly after Adelaide’s shield disappeared.
With her right hand already up, she cast a magic shield and blocked all the incoming strikes. The color of her magic shield, however, had changed to a bright shade of orange. “What’s going on…?” Jaruwan spoke under her breath as she felt the goosebump on her skin. 
“That’s impossible.” The other priestess exclaimed as she could feel it on her skin too, “I can’t—”
Jaruwan’s stun spell directly struck her as her mind slipped. 
“Sasithra!” Cecilia gasped, then proceeded to launch her spell at Jaruwan. 
Suddenly, Jaruwan heard a loud explosion from behind. She was certain that it was Phukan’s spell but still did not dare to turn back because even the slightest hesitation could seal her fate in the very moment. 
Then, out of nowhere, Ed zoomed toward them with his broom and crashed onto the three priestesses, causing both him and the priestesses to roll onto the ground. All the lanterns broke upon impact, spilling burning oil all over. However, with great poise, Ed quickly recovered his balance and stood back up. He then kicked his broom up with his right foot, and continued his flight almost immediately after the crash. 
“Here you go, hop on it, quick!” Alice flew toward Jaruwan, and said. She then handed Jaruwan’s broom to her.
Jaruwan took it, got on, and started to fly up right away. She then took this opportunity to look back at the catacomb. And just as she thought, Phukan was there. But she was just staring at her and the others as they were escaping.
Cecilia, the only one out of the three that got up on her feet, however, had her eyes fixed at Phukan, worryingly, as she was dragging her other two peers away from the fire.
Still, with her eyes locked to Phukan’s, Jaruwan noticed that Phukan finally moved as she raised her wand up. And, though she could not recognise the unfamiliar wand movement, with great cautions, she immediately warned her friends. “Speed up!” She shouted.
Phukan flicked her wrist downward, then right away, a bright crimson lightning flashed the sky and hit the head of Jaruwan’s broom, causing her to lose the grip of her wand and her broom to spin uncontrollably. Jaruwan then held her broom as tight as she possibly could with both of her hands. She tried to gain her balance back, but because she was going so fast before the impact, the momentum that carried over was beyond her strength, which caused her to be thrown off the very moment later.
“Jaruwan!” Alice screamed, then instinctively accelerated her broom toward Jaruwan as she was falling down.
Seemingly amused by the display of struggle, Phukan continued to let the lightning strike.
“Gotchu!” Alice grabbed Jaruwan on her wrist, but the increasing weight of Jaruwan’s falling body almost threw her off the broom. “Don’t let go!” Alice screamed. She then made an effort to pull Jaruwan up with her left arm but her strength proved to be inferior in that situation. “Come on, come on, come on,” She expressed with angst, as she tried to steadily control the broom with her other hand. 
Jaruwan, at the same time, squeezed Alice’s arm tight with both of her arms. Her eyes, however, were fixed to Phukan even tighter.
“Hop on—” Edward tried to pull up slightly below Jaruwan but was interrupted by the lightning bolts.  “This crazy lady doesn’t know when to quit, huh?” 
“Come on, Ed, hurry!” Alice shouted as she was losing her grip.
“What?! I can’t hear you. What are you saying?” Ed replied, and flew closer to Alice’s broom anyways. “Jump!” He yelled.
And so she did, Jaruwan hopped on the back of Edward’s broom. She immediately held on to the head of the broom as soon as she landed on top of it. 
“I knew this would come handy one day,” Ed spoke under his breath as he regained control of the broom. He then turned to Alice, and shouted, “let’s go to Vas and get the hell out of here!”
On the back of Ed’s broom, Jaruwan tried to call the wand back by flicking her wrist inward. 
“You think you can just escape from me?” Phukan spoke softly, as she moved her wand. “Now, now, the fun has just begun,” She added. 
Jaruwan noticed the spell from Phukan’s wand movement immediately. And at that moment, she closed her eyes to concentrate, then cast the spell as quickly as she possibly could. “Rodka Powrota!” She shouted, and flicked her left wrist. 
“Kalatwa Zabojwa,” Phukan said the incantation softly under her breath, letting out a bright red beam from the tip of her wand toward Alice.
“O-chronie Oczonie!” Jaruwan cast her spell toward Alice promptly, causing it to collide with Phukan’s spell midair. Their arcanery ruptured upon impact, creating an explosion that completely cleared the storm clouds and flashed the entire sky with vibrant shades of colors beyond imagination. The wind blast from the explosion, on the other hand, was so vicious, Alice lost the control of her broom, and was almost thrown off from her seat.
“Alice!” Vasin, who had been flying above the party this entire time, finally mustered the courage to fly down to her. 
“I’m fine! I got this!” Alice noticed him flying down, then shouted to assure him as she managed to suspend her broom from swinging uncontrollably with both of her arms. “Let’s just go! Lead the way, Vas!” She added.
Hearing that, Vasin flew his broom back up and began to fly toward the moon. Alice and Edward then closely followed him in no time. While the island became smaller and smaller as the four were flying away from it, Jaruwan noticed that Phukan had her wand down, and was just simply staring at her once again. And just before the Hoseong students disappeared into the dark clouds, and successfully escaped, Jaruawan caught a glimpse of Phukan for a quick second. 
And she was smiling at her, with her blood-smeared lips, her busted nose, and her eccentric set of dark brown eyes.