Arcane Order's Adopted Son

Chapter Twenty Seven: Knowing

SKRAEL POV:
I woke up to be warmer not as warm, but slightly warmer. When I opened my eyes, I was wrapped in a large crimson red blanket with several designs on the hinge and long orange and brown tassels. There was a large fire sitting in the fire place. I was apparently sitting on a couch. It was a very comfy couch, and I didn't want to move. Just as I was about to close my eyes and go back to sleep, the door opened and Douxie entered the room, holding a bowl of something and a glass of water.

"Oh, you're awake," he said. He smiled and sat next to me.

My head hurt really badly. I looked at my feet and hands. My left hand was bandaged, and so was my left foot. Everytime I shifted they stung really badly. I winced as I stretched out my legs.

"I'm going to guess that it still hurts."

"What happened?" I asked. "At one minute I was in the living space with Aridam and Phoenix, the next I was on my Titan in the rain, and now I'm in here. What's going on-ow..." I brought a hand to my head.

"The frost took its toll on you. It affected you really badly. Blink managed to find a concoction that slowed the spread."

"What else happened?"

"Well, I freed you from Aridam's control. You're free. And now we only have three Titans left."

"Why does my head hurt?" I said, lying down on the soft arm chair of the circle.

"I blasted you with magic a little while ago. That's probably the reason."

"Mmm..." I groaned, not wanting to talk to anyone.

"Anyways, I fixed a potion that should help with the pain in both your head and limbs."
He handed me the bowl, and I drank it quickly. I wanted anything that could fix the pain. The headache was like a flash of pain like lighting on one side and then another flash of pain on the other that continued to blink quickly.

"I got you some water, too."

I drank that as well.

"Skrael, do you think you're ready to fight Aridam?"

"No, I know I'm ready to fight Aridam."

"But you're weak."

"Am I?" I said, knowing full well that I was weak. Douxie lay his head back on the couch. I smiled. "That's a curious thing, that is."

"What is?"

"Knowledge. You hear people say it all the time, "Knowledge is power" but one can never fully understand it, can they?"

The headache began to subside a little allowing me to shift and look at Douxie.

"From what I've learned in all my life, a person can't be stupid."

"Really? I mean, I've known Steve for a while now and although we're friends, he can be-"

I nodded. Steve did seem to have a lot less sense than the others, that was for sure.

"You can either choose to be smart or choose to not care. No one is born smart or stupid the same way no one is born good or evil."

"What about Hitler?"

"Excuse me?"

"Adolf Hitler. I could've sworn Nari told me that you were in World War II."

It took me a second to think. "Even so, he wasn't born evil. Nothing is created to have bad intentions. Aridam himself wasn't created for the purpose of mass destruction. Something happened that made him choose that path. You see, knowledge often reminds me of an heirloom. You can pass it down to others, or you can lock it away. A lot of people, though, chose to lock it away. Hisirdoux, the world is falling apart. We all know that. The mortals are in disarray. They are afraid. The magic universe is beginning to collapse. Where at one point us wizards may have been on top, we're forced to go into hiding. Some people know this and chose to speak out against it—like the Order. Others chose to ignore it. There's no point indwelling on the darkness in the world. But as I always say, "It's only a matter of knowing."

"Knowing..." Douxie said. "But how are we to know anything?"

"That's for me to know, and you to find out."