Kosmos: The Witch

Morgana, Magnus, Cassandra, Theo, Adriana and Sophia find themselves in an amphitheater on the third floor of the castle, in a tower protruding from the side. Two windows with orange curtains let light and air through on the sides, and Nova was standing at the front, facing a black board. In front of her, in the middle of the room, was an orb of white and yellow energy, floating above the ground and producing sparks from time to time.

- "Hello again fledglings ! How do you like your new homes ?" Nova shouts.

- "I'd love it if it wasn't for the furniture stuff…" Cassandra responds.

- "Should've asked for something smaller !"

- "Then how come Adriana gets a giant tower ?!"

- "Erm… hehe…" Adriana deflects with a smile.

- "Didn't she tell you ? She also has no furniture." Nova says.

- "I had no idea we had a budget !" Adriana replies.

- "I don't think any of us did !" Cassandra adds.

- "Too bad, you should've asked that !" Nova responds, unbothered. "That's your first lesson, don't just assume we have infinite funds. Most of the budget is saved for graduate students."

- "Guess I can't exactly complain about a mansion, empty or not…" Cassandra sighs.

- "Anyways, for this first class, I want to pit you against each other !"

- "Are you suggesting we do battle in this very room ?..." Theo asks, frowning in concern.

- "We're fighting ?!" Magnus follows, happily grinning.

- "No and no ! I'm sure you've been wondering what this big ball of energy in the middle of the room was. I want to measure your magical energy outputs first, and it's going to help me do it. All you have to do is place your hand in the orb and picture yourself using your most powerful spell, then it'll work its magic. Let's see… we'll start with you, Morgana !" Nova points to Morgana, who was seated next to Magnus and Cassandra.

- "Sure." Morgana replies as she gets up and walks over to Nova.

She places her hand in the orb, and flames appear around her fingers. She pictures herself using the giant fire orb that she copied from Adelaios and used against Cassandra. It reacts by sending a stream of white energy into the air, which then forms into the number 30 500. Nova seems surprised.

- "That is extremely high for a first year… normally you'd only see those amounts from third years or above… Promising !"

Morgana goes to sit back down, and everyone takes turns after her. At the end of it, here are the rankings:

1st: Adriana with 50 000

2nd: Magnus with 36 400

3rd: Morgana with 30 500

4th: Theo with 12 300

5th: Sophia with 8 000

6th: Cassandra with 4 600

After this, Cassandra is sitting on her bench, brooding. Adriana, behind her, is trying to give her words of encouragement, falling on deaf ears.

- "Those are some insane results ! I really had a feeling this class was something else. Besides Cassandra, you're all far above the average !" Nova observes.

- "Yipee." Cassandra mutters.

- "Don't worry Cass-" Adriana starts again.

- "If I had a Supreme Sorcery, I'd use it on you right now." Cassandra cuts.

- "Adriana's trying to be nice." Morgana says.

- "She's just making it a lot worse, I don't need her pity."

- "You know how to do. Other things that she can't."

- "Mhmmm. Also is it me or did you upgrade from four to five word sentences now ?"

- "Yes."

- "Output isn't everything !" Magnus comments.

- "I sure am glad that the three people with the highest amounts of magical energy in the class by far are telling me that." Cassandra replies.

- "No need to thank me." Morgana responds.

- "Haha, it's sarcasm !" Magnus tells her.

- "... I hate sarcasm. I don't understand the point." Morgana mumbles.

- "Your classmates are right !" Nova shouts. "This brings me to the next test, skill. Get up from your desks, I'm going to be projecting waves of heat towards you. All you need to do is deflect them, and I'll rate you on a scale of zero to one hundred ! Also, fire resistance spells won't help you, I'm only measuring your influence on the surrounding heat."

They all stand up, and Nova flaps her wings. A searing heat starts emanating from her, to the point where it is comparable to the one they felt while in the middle of the volcano. The curtains rapidly catch on fire, but the rest of the amphitheater's furniture seems to hold up pretty well thanks to its fire resistance enchantments. Quickly enough, the entire class seems to be fighting for their lives.

- "Hmm, I should've probably asked for curtains with a higher degree of fire resistance. Oh well !" Nova comments before raising the temperature even further, causing everyone to have to redouble their efforts. Magnus and Adriana are lit on fire from time to time.

Eventually, the heat goes down to more tolerable levels, and the exhausted students fall back on their seats. Some had a few burn marks on their skin, and surprisingly Morgana was among them. Nova flaps her wings once more, and golden flames fill up the room, seemingly healing their injuries.

- "Your performance was acceptable ! Now for the grades."

1st: Cassandra, 99/100

2nd: Theo, 86/100

3rd: Sophia, 70/100

4th: Morgana, 58/100

5th: Adriana, 22/100

6th: Magnus, 1/100

- "See for yourselves ! Usually, people with higher amounts of magical energy tend to completely forsake control and efficiency, and to just throw their power around. For the commentary, let's start with the baseline. For someone with Cassandra's amount of magical energy, an experienced mage would score around 60 to 70. My top student of all time, who started with the same output, scored a 91, so she just set a historical record." Nova comments.

- "Seriously ?..." Cassandra asks, incredulous.

- "Yes ! You have an amount of control that would make some True Ancestors jealous, you can be proud of that. You must've worked really hard to achieve this at your age."

- "Haha, thanks !" Cassandra's face takes a slight shade of red, and her eyes sparkle with joy. The tips of her hair also glow a little.

- "Actually I'm saying this but you could be an old hag. This is suspicious, even though I'm pretty sure you weren't born five hundred years ago, I knew all the witches in Eretria back then."

- "And you're calling ME an old hag ?!"

- "I'm a dragon, so I'm technically around my young adult years."

- "You're still more than five hundred years old !..." Cassandra sighs. "Anyways, I'm eighteen, nineteen in March."

- "Surprising !"

- "The hell you mean surprising ?!"

- "Anywho, I just realized I don't know any of you guys' ages !"

- "I'm twenty !" Adriana says.

- "I am eighty three years old." Theo adds.

Everyone turns towards him.

- "You're serious ? Witches are pretty much immortal thanks to witchcraft since we can just stop aging, and things like dragons might as well be immortal for all that matters given their lifespan. But humans should only live up to one hundred and fifty years old, three hundred for demigods ! You look like you're in your twenties !" Cassandra says, baffled.

- "That is when my aging stopped, yes. My fiance was fatally going to outlive me, so she asked lady Medea to extend my lifespan."

- "Well I'll be damned. I should be the first one not trusting appearances."

- "I'm twenty one." Sophia continues.

- "Pretty sure I'm nineteen !" Magnus adds.

- "I'm sixteen. I'm turning seventeen in June." Morgana finishes.

- "Morgana, you know your birthday ? That's unexpected." Cassandra observes.

- "It's on June 14th. The day I escaped mother."

- "Oh. I guess that makes sense."

- "That's noted. Alright, back to my commentary !" Nova cuts. "Theo's control only comes second to Cassandra, with an 80. This is very high above average, especially for someone with a magical energy output that's already triple the average. That might be due to his age, or to sheer talent."

- "My teacher was very competent." Theo replies.

- "I can see that ! Sophia has pretty good skills for her amount of magical energy, decently above average. What fascinates me is Morgana's score. For that much energy, I wasn't expecting anything past fifteen, on the higher end. Must be her fire spirit blood at work."

- "Wait, how do you even know about that stuff ?" Cassandra asks.

- "You really think we weren't watching and listening to you guys during the practical exam ?"

- "Oh. Fair enough…"

- "Also Adriana told me everything two days ago !"

- "Note to self: don't tell anything confidential to Adriana."

- "Hehe…" Adriana blushes. "I just wanted to share you guys' stories !"

- "This brings me to the bottom line ! Adriana, to be entirely fair your control is exceptional for just how much magical energy you have at the moment. With that much, I'd say 5 would be the average, but since you're a demigod of the sun Titan you naturally have a higher affinity to Solar magic, just like Morgana has higher affinity with Fire magic." Nova continues.

- "What's Solar magic ?" Morgana asks Adriana.

- "It lets me create suns and solar plasma !" she replies. "Also there's a bit of gravity manipulation mixed in there, but I mainly use it to float !"

- "It's a very simple magic, but a very powerful one. It gets increasingly stronger the more magical energy you can output." Nova adds. "Finally, Magnus ! How are you even alive ?"

- "Force of will !" Magnus shouts in response, widely grinning.

- "This here is a demonstration of the bare minimum ! Normally, most people can avoid destroying their surroundings just by focusing a little bit and reducing their output in localized areas for large scale spells, but for you it's already a miracle you're not burning yourself with your flames !"

- "I can kind of control large scale attacks, I just need to send about half of them up in the sky !"

- "That's horribly inefficient ! You must be burning through your magical energy even faster than Adriana."

- "Probably !"

- "Alright, the groundwork is laid out ! You guys are pretty promising, but a competent mage should have both high output and precise technique, so I'm taking you all on a school trip next month !"

- "To where ?" Cassandra asks.

- "Up north, into the Hyperborean Territory !"

There's a pause in the ambient noise of the class.

- "We got ourselves a fun teacher !" Magnus celebrates.

- "Aren't we going to die ? I was told this place could be even colder than the deepest craters of the moon." Adriana says, concerned.

- "It is, depending on where you are ! Also, winter gear is forbidden !" Nova replies.

- "You're just trying to kill us !" Cassandra exclaims.

- "If I can't survive this, then I can forget about ever getting through the Faerie Island. I must participate." Theo says.

- "That will definitely be a great test of strength." Sophia comments.

- "Adrianos told me about it. He said never to go. To the territory. of the ice giants." Morgana says, looking concerned.

- "Normally you shouldn't, but I'll be with you so don't concern yourselves with the bigger threats ! I think Cassadra will benefit the most from this." Nova answers while looking at her.

- "Me ?..." she asks, confused.

- "Yes ! People tend to get stronger when they survive near death experiences, as their body adapts to have a better chance at surviving. That's especially true for you Golden Age humans. What a lot of people ignore is that it's also true for magical energy capacity ! If you are pushed to your limits constantly, your limits will grow to better accommodate your new needs. For that, your Fire magic will be put to the test in order to keep you alive in this unnatural cold."

- "Wait, you mean…" Cassandra's face lights up.

- "Yes ! Your magical energy output can be increased !"

- "I'm ready to leave tomorrow !!"

- "Hold your horses ! First I need to teach you the basics, then we can leave."

- "What does everyone else gain ?" Morgana asks.

- "You will learn to better control your magic ! You'll understand very soon when you see Magnus burning his skin off trying to stay warm !"

- "That sounds like a bad time !" Magnus comments.

- "You get used to it." Morgana tells him.

- "You guys shouldn't take this lightly by the way, because given her skill, if Cassandra is given any more magical energy she'll utterly outpace all of you." Nova warns them.

- "Oh, this is doing WONDERS for my ego." Cassandra says with a smirk on her face. "Guess you guys better work hard too huh ?"

- "Cassandra, you're a bit mean." Morgana comments.

- "Haha, yes I am." She replies, the tips of her hair flaring up.

- "Alright class is dismissed for today ! I should let you guys know, I do most of my teaching through field trips, so we're going to be traveling a lot. Prepare adequately if you don't want to end up like some of my previous students !" Nova announces.

- "What happened to them ?" Adriana asks.

- "You can probably ask them when you kick the bucket !"

- "Ah."

- "Lectures are two hours from 8 to 10 AM, monday to friday. The rest of the progress is to be made on your own time, so don't slack off."

They eventually all get up and leave, returning to their respective homes. At the mansion, Cassandra falls into the nearest sofa.

- "Finally… It's within reach…"

- "Your goal ?" Morgana asks.

- "You bet it is ! I can't wait to get there so that I can finally overcome my natural lack of magical energy. It's been the main thing holding me back all this time you know ?"

- "Haha, you're being a little too reckless !" Magnus comments.

- "Look who's talking."

- "Don't get me wrong, I'm hyped to go there ! But it's still really dangerous, so don't underestimate the place ! On that note, I'm off to train at Sophia's place !" he walks out the front door.

- "I think I also need. To prepare." Morgana says.

- "What, you scared or something ?"

- "Even Magnus looks worried. This is very concerning."

- "Have fun with that ! Don't worry I'm not THAT overconfident, I'll make sure to be ready for the trip before next month."

- "Thanks. That's good to know."

Morgana goes upstairs to get to her room, which she had arranged to look very close to the one she had at the dorms. She then starts practicing creating weapons out of flames, the way Helen taught her. About an hour later, she is interrupted by the sound of an explosion outside, seemingly relatively far from the mansion. She walks out, worried, and she manages to see a column of red and blue flames rising towards the sky from the window, coming from Sophia's house, a hundred meters away. She hears Cassandra complain downstairs.

- "I only stopped watching him for one fucking hour !!"

- "Is it Magnus ?" Morgana asks as she gets downstairs.

- "Probably ! Let's go, we need to stop whatever is happening !"

They run outside and get to Sophia's home. It was, as she asked, a large temple style building made of marble, with an arena in the center surrounded by empty seats.

They could see Magnus in the center, breathing heavily and seemingly pretty injured, assuming a boxing stance, smiling with an unusual fervor. He was surrounded by an aura of sky blue flames focusing around his fists and filling the entire arena with waves of blue fire. In front of him, Sophia was in the same state of exhaustion, and also adopting some form of combat stance, her tattoos glowing a blinding red light and emitting large amounts of crimson flames. Her flames were mixing with the blue flames and rising above the arena in a hypnotizing pattern. They could already feel the heat when they were approaching the building, but now that they were inside, it was absolutely unbearable. Cassandra starts deflecting the heat waves, and as she does she yells:

- "Are those really honest-to-Hecate blue flames ?... Magnus, get a grip !" However, Magnus and Sophia seem to completely ignore her.

- "One of them is going. To be seriously injured." Morgana says as she manifests her flaming bow in her hand. "I will take them out. Before that can happen." She takes aim, an arrow manifesting in her other hand, emitting heat comparable to the one Sophia was outputting.

- "You're just risking killing them anyways !"

- "It's safer than letting them. Attack each other right now."

- "Dammit !... That's way too much heat for me to absorb !"

Morgana releases her arrow, creating a concentrated burst of flames around her hand as she does, and the arrow produces a small sonic boom as it travels through the space separating them. Magnus instantly turns towards the arrow before it reaches him and grabs it mid flight in his right hand. The blue flames mix with Morgana's orange flames, and her arrow is destroyed. Sophia, looking worried, takes this opportunity to back off.

- "Magnus, what's up with you ? You shoul-"

Magnus uses that as an opening and lunges towards her at a speed comparable to that of Morgana's arrow, the flame on his right fist growing even hotter as he punches in her direction. Sophia attempts to defend, raising her arms, and a massive blast of blue flames devastates the entire arena as it connects, rising in a giant, one hundred meter tall vortex of fire. When the flames dissipate, they see Sophia breathing heavily, barely having caught Magnus' fist in her right hand. Her tattoos were glowing even brighter and emitting amounts of magical energy matching Magnus'. They notice that the both of them were sustaining severe burns, not only from damage inflicted by their opponents, but also from the very spells they used to support themselves. They stay locked in this position for a few seconds, and the red and blue flames rapidly mix and swirl around them. The marble bricks around them were starting to turn red and orange, as if they were about to melt.

- "Now is the time Morgana ! The arrow !" Cassandra yells.

- "No. Too late. Cassandra, take cover." Morgana replies as she starts backing off towards the entrance. "There's too much heat. The arena can't take more."

- "Dammit !" Cassandra also backs off.

Suddenly, Magnus and Sophia are encased in a thick layer of glass, and their flames are almost instantly extinguished.

- "It appears that I am fashionably late." they hear from above them.

They look up and see Theo, standing on a floating circular platform of glass.

- "Theo !" Cassandra yells.

- "Yes, apologies for not noticing sooner." he replies.

- "No, not that ! Get back ! It's not working !"

As she says that, Theo notices that the layers of glass he placed on the both of them were rapidly melting, as their flames regained in intensity. Magnus was already almost free.

- "They are generating heat faster than I can expel it !..."

- "Whatever you did, do that again, I'll take care of the rest !" Cassandra shouts as her Crest appears in her eye.

- "Very well !" Theo creates new layers of glass around the both of them, which are also rapidly melted.

However, this time Cassandra absorbs all the heat around them, focusing the absorption on Magnus. What was remaining of his blue flames is extinguished, and she is holding an orb of pure heat above her hand. She then orients her hand upwards, trembling.

- "Theo, get on the ground." Morgana says as she goes to hide behind a pillar.

- "I bit off a bit more than I could chew !" Cassandra yells. "This is gonna blow up real violently, I'm going to try focusing it into the sky !"

Theo immediately makes his platform of glass disappear and lands on the bricks of the temple. He then waves his hand, sending all of his floating glass orbs towards everyone besides Cassandra, and they transform into thick domes of glass. All the heat stored up by Cassandra is released upwards with a deafening sound in a pillar of light and flames that was easily three hundred meters tall. Morgana sees blood dripping from her ears, and she realizes that the glass was also drastically reducing the strength of the sound that went through. However, the domes are shattered and everyone is sent flying outwards into the walls after the initial shock was absorbed. Morgana hits her head and loses consciousness.

When she wakes up, she finds herself in one of the infirmary beds. It was very dark outside, so she assumed it had to be past 8 PM. As she gets upright to look around, she is ambushed by a surprise hug from Adriana.

- "I thought you were all dead !" Adriana sobs. Her usual suns she was carrying around were nowhere to be seen.

- "Adriana ?... Did you bring us here ?"

- "Yes ! I saw the light from my tower and I knew something was wrong."

- "You didn't see the flames ?"

- "No, I wasn't really paying attention… To be completely honest it's mostly the big explosion sound that got my attention."

- "It's fine." Morgana looks around and sees everyone else lying in the other beds, seemingly passed out. There was only one person missing.

"Where's Cassandra ?"

- "In the urgent recovery room." she hears, and she sees Andreas the doctor sitting at his desk.

- "How is she doing ?"

- "Ruptured eardrums, fractured ribs, fractured arm, multiple leg fractures, temporary damage to her corneas, extensive damage to her magic circuits, thirty two open wounds."

- "That sounds very bad."

- "That's because it is. You idiots really did it this time."

- "It wasn't us. Magnus and Sophia were fighting."

- "You mean the ones with third degree burns ? Yes, Adriana told me. And yet somehow, you two are still involved. I really hate receiving the same mindless fools multiple times into my office. Try taking better care of yourselves, and avoid pointless fights."

- "I see. Thank you for healing them."

- "If I didn't I would be out of a job."

- "Oh my head…" they hear Theo say as he wakes up.

- "Theo !" Adriana rushes towards him. She quickly summarizes the situation to him, and he looks up at the ceiling, seeming lost in thought. Meanwhile, Sophia also wakes up.

- "So they were sparring…" he turns to Sophia. "How did it devolve into a fight to the death ?"

- "I have no clue. One second he was fighting normally, and the next he started using these blue flames and forced me to use 15% of the power of my Supreme Sorcery to even survive." Sophia answers.

- "Did he say anything strange ?" Morgana asks.

- "Now that you mention it…"

- "It was to train her !" they hear, as Magnus seems wide awake, staring at the ceiling. Everyone turns towards him.

- "You were awake this entire time ?!" Adriana shouts.

- "Tone it down. This is an infirmary, not an opera." Andreas cuts.

- "Sorry. Magnus ?..."

- "I woke up a few minutes ago !" he answers.

- "To train her you say ?..." Theo asks. "What kind of training is that ?"

- "It all started to make sense when Nova explained it ! Having near death experiences makes you stronger, and Sophia needs all the extra magical energy she can get !"

- "That's what it was ?! You are insane !" Sophia yells.

- "Tone it down." Andreas repeats.

- "That's how I was trained, and look at all the magical energy I have now !" Magnus replies with a deranged laugh.

- "Magnus. Cassandra hurt herself trying. To stop you." Morgana says.

- "Hmm ? That's right, where is Cassandra ?"

- "In a coma." Andreas replies. "She probably won't wake up for another two to three weeks."

- "... What ?" Magnus says, his usual smile growing thinner as his gaze turns towards Andreas.

- "You heard me. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes."

Magnus goes completely silent after that, just staring at the doctor like he couldn't process the information.

- "You sound like you were indoctrinated rather than trained." Theo comments. "I don't know where or who you received your training from, but this is highly dangerous and unethical. Please engage in regular sparring from now on, I will not tolerate any more of this type of harmful behavior."

- "I agree with Theo." Adriana adds. "Don't hurt my friends."

Magnus simply gets up and walks out of the infirmary. Theo turns to Andreas.

- "You are not going to stop him ?"

- "No. If he is healthy enough to walk, he is healthy enough to be discharged. I won't keep him in here any longer than I have to, I already healed his injuries." Andreas replies.

- "I see you haven't changed in the slightest."

- "Right back at you. Anyways, your injuries are minor, so unless you need an extra checkup, you're all free to go besides Sophia." Adriana quickly exits the room, and then he turns to Sophia. "You really overexerted your magic circuits, what were you thinking trying to match someone with such an unnaturally high output ?"

- "I'm not going down without a fight." she answers.

- "Well look at where that got you. You can stay here or stay at your house for the next week."

- "I'd rather stay home." Sophia answers.

- "In that case, drink a glass of this every morning for the next seven days, you need to dilute five drops in water." he hands her a small flask of glowing yellow-greenish liquid. "That'll regenerate your damaged magic circuits at a decent rate. Remember to stay hydrated and avoid any physical activity that would cause you to exert yourself too much. Also try casting magic at least once a day."

- "Understood." she takes the flask and nods to him before getting up from her bed. As she leaves, she turns to Morgana and Theo. "Thank you both for helping me, I appreciate it. I will make sure to thank Cassandra in person when she wakes up."

- "Naturally." Theo answers.

- "No problem." Mogana adds before she exits. "Can I see Cassandra ?" she asks Andreas.

- "No, the recovery rooms can only be accessed by qualified personnel. I'll make sure to transfer her back to your common address in a week, when she is stable enough to be safely moved." he replies.

- "I see. Thank you for your help." Morgana gets up and leaves after nodding goodbye to Theo.

- "You're staying ?" Andreas asks Theo.

- "I wanted to ask you about this Magnus fellow…"

Meanwhile, Magnus was exiting the common mansion, a backpack in tow. As he is walking through the garden, a blinding light shines down upon him, and he hears from above:

- "And where do you think you're going ?"

- "Haha, Adriana you're a real pain !" Magnus answers as she descends towards him, her usual sun back to being behind her head.

- "What's in that bag ?"

- "None of your business !"

- "Just as I suspected. You're leaving the Academy aren't you ?"

- "That's awfully sharp ! Aren't you supposed to be dumb and gullible ?"

- "That's your impression of me ?!"

- "Yes !"

- "I'll work on changing that ! That aside, I've always been pretty good at reading people."

- "...Are you going to try to stop me ?"

- "You bet I will ! I'm not about to let a friend leave everything behind just to avoid feeling guilty !"

Magnus has a long pause and his smile widens.

- "You really are a pain !"

- "Call me whatever you like, I'm not budging."

- "I could move you by force !"

- "You won't. And really, in your state your threats can't really be taken seriously !"

- "What do you want from me ?" Magnus asks after a pause.

- "Let's have tea. Just you and me."

- "I thought I told you I didn't like tea before !"

- "Yeah but you liked mine right ?"

- "I just lied to not ruin the mood for everyone !"

- "No you didn't."

- "...Fine !"

Adriana takes his hand and they both float up to her tower's garden, where they held the tea party a few days ago. She stands on one end of the table, and he sits on the other end.

- "Wait a minute, I'll go get the kettle ! Don't think about escaping, I'll find you wherever you are !"

- "That's ominous !" Magnus ironically chuckles.

Adriana leaves and returns a few minutes later with a teapot and two cups. She places it on the table and manifests a miniature sun next to it, slowly boiling the water inside of it.

- "Sorry, I don't have the best leaves today ! I probably need to find a job to make some money soon."

- "Hahaha, I don't care ! What do you want ?"

- "I know you were just trying to help Sophia in your own way, you just have a very warped perception of normalcy."

- "Yep ! Apparently I do !" He snickers.

- "So you think it'd be better if you stayed away ? Really ?"

- "...Probably ! Worked like a charm until now !"

- "How do you think Cassandra is going to feel when she learns that you left ? Or Morgana ? Aren't they your close friends ?"

- "Awful I'm sure ! But they'll get over it ! If I get them killed, the only thing they would have the opportunity to get over is the river Styx !"

- "Come on, drop the pretense." Adriana's sun disappears, the glow in her eyes goes dark and her light smile is replaced with a more neutral expression. Without their light, her irises looked like endless dark voids. "Here, I dropped it, so you can do the same."

- "...No thanks ! The strongest warriors are the ones who can smile !"

- "I can recognize my kind when I see them."

- "Not a child of Helios, sorry !"

- "A liar."

- "...I really wish I could just knock you out and leave before Morgana comes back !" He declares, not laughing for once.

- "Not happening. If I'm being honest, the way you smile all the time is repulsive. It makes me want to throw up."

- "That's rich coming from you !"

- "Oh I know. It's precisely because it just reminds me of myself. You laugh so that people don't notice what's underneath your smile."

- "And what do you think is under that ?"

- "Fear."

- "You think I'm scared ?" Magnus' smile widens even more and dangerously high sparkling orange flames flicker around his fingers, charring the wood under them.

- "Yes. You're scared that the people you value might forsake you, so you forsake them before you have the time to find out how they really feel. You're scared that, if they find out about whatever ugliness you hide in your heart, they will abandon you."

- "...Wrong !"

- "You know I'm right." the kettle whistles with steam. "Oh, the tea is ready."

She gets up and Magnus silently watches her as she fills both of their cups before sitting back down on the other end of the table.

- "Have you ever considered that people might be fine with you as you are ?"

- "Haha, no way they'd be !"

- "Did you ever give it a shot ? Or did you just run every time you messed up even once ?"

- "..." Magnus stops smiling. "Stop."

- "It always hurts realizing that you are a coward." she stops to take a sip out of her cup. "I speak from experience."

- "I don't want to hear any more."

- "That's your head talking. If your heart really wanted to stop listening to me, you'd just get up and leave, or plug your ears."

- "...I feel bad for hurting Cassandra."

- "I know."

- "And Morgana. And Theo. And Sophia."

- "I know."

- "I don't know how to act like a normal person. I tried, but it never really works. The ringmaster always comes back to tell me what to do."

- "And you end up hurting others ?"

- "Always. It's easier to leave before anything bad happens to them."

- "Easier for whom ?"

- "Me."

- "Wrong. It's easier for them, or at least that's what you think isn't it ? But the one that's the most damaged by this is you."

- "It's fine, I can handle it."

- "And you think they can't handle your flaws ?"

- "...Yes."

- "Why do you think everyone is still putting up with Cassandra then ? She's constantly raging and throwing hissy fits the second her inferiority complex is triggered, and it honestly grinds my gears. But a person is a lot more than the sum of their flaws, you should know that. Even Morgana, with her constant spiteful look that always makes me think that she secretly hates me, I still consider one of my friends."

- "You get attached too easily. And at least Cassandra isn't putting anyone in danger."

- "That's true, I do get attached too fast. And I'm fine with that, I also have my flaws. But the thing is, you will never heal if you don't try. If you just keep running despite one of your legs being broken, it will just get worse every day until you can't run anymore. And when that day comes, it will probably already be too late for you."

- "I don't deserve to heal. I've won too many battles."

- "Yes you do. It will take you some time to accept that everyone can be worthy of salvation, if they let themselves be saved, but if you try you will eventually understand."

- "But they both might die because I decided to stay."

- "It's fine to be selfish sometimes. In this situation, it's fine because everyone has seen how much they value you as a friend. Cassandra knew what would happen when she casted that spell, and she willingly put her health on the line to prevent you from doing something you would regret. Now that they have seen a portion of what you are hiding, you have to let them confront you about it. That's how you make progress, and that's how you heal."

- "You're probably lying just to keep me here..."

- "I don't need to lie. By the way, you haven't touched your cup."

Magnus looks down at his tea cup, gazing at the stars reflecting in the liquid for a few seconds before picking it up and drinking.

- "It's salty."

- "That's what happens when you season your tea with tears."

- "Why would you cry in the teapot ?..."

- "I'm not the one crying."

Magnus looks at his cup once more, and sees his reflection, with tears streaming down its face.

- "It's been going on for a little while now. That's the result of bottling up your feelings, you know ? It's only natural."

- "A warrior never cries." Magnus says as he attempts to wipe the tears from his cheeks.

- "Was it this ringmaster guy telling you that in your head? You're still going to willingly listen to him ?"

- "..." Magnus stops his arm mid motion.

- "I figured. You should start thinking more about what Magnus wants, and less about whatever this stupid ringmaster wants him to do."

- "I really dislike you, Adriana."

- "How come ?"

- "Because of you I feel a lot worse now."

- "Correction: you're realizing that you feel a lot worse than you thought."

- "This is your fault."

- "If you still want to leave after that, be my guest. I just couldn't help but notice how brightly you were shining that day, when you officially became friends with Cassandra and Morgana. It certainly was a sight to behold ! I just had to say something, since I felt that it'd be such a waste for you to just leave all of that behind and make a lifelong mistake."

- "Why are you doing this ?... I'm also putting you at risk."

- "Because you're my friend. Is it that hard to understand ?"

- "But we're not friends."

- "That hurts !" Adriana has a chuckle. "You want me to formally ask ?"

- "No, it's fine. I don't think I want to be your friend, but talking to you is kind of calming. I feel terrible, but I also feel more at peace."

- "You will probably appreciate my advice more later down the line. For now I'm fine just being there for you if you want to talk about anything. That's the first step towards a solid friendship."

- "...Yes." Magnus nods before continuing to sip on his cup. "I'll bring pastries next time."

- "That sounds good ! You will always be welcome to my tea parties, no matter how flawed of an individual you might be. It's a liar's tea party after all, my standards can't be that high ! I'm really curious to learn more about where you come from. I had no idea what or who you were talking about this entire time !"

- "...Thank you." Magnus hesitantly says as he finishes his cup, before silently returning to the mansion and leaving his backpack in his room.