The Child of Light and Shadow

The Night Circus

"I knew the consequences would be severe," Seraphina tells me, wearing a white lab coat, as she goes over the file in her hand, "but I have no idea how you've managed to damage this body so much. Your heartrate is ten percent below what it was. Your liver is a bit damaged, but that's the last of your problems. There's some strange activity in your brain – probably because that's the part you use to cast the dream world spell. Honestly, kid. You really should have been warned that this would happen sooner. Learning magic before learning mana control – it's incredibly dangerous. A single casting of the dream world could well have killed you. You probably only survived because of your nature as a fairy. I don't see how a novice human mage would have lived through such a thing."

"Is there a point to this?" I reply, sitting up from the bed I've been taken to. "I already knew overusing magic is behind everything. There's no need to tell me the symptoms or the cause. Just tell me what to do to fix it."

"That insolence again," Sheba whispers from her place on the sidelines, the other unlikable Apostle, Azazel, at her side. "You need to learn how to talk to your elders."

"If respecting one's elders was the top priority, the whole kingdom would bow to you."

The old woman turns to glare at me, her mana flaring. I do the same with my own. That sort of intimidation won't work anymore. Though they're all better than me at absolutely everything, they're nothing compared to Risk. If I can survive being exposed to his mana, I can fight off all other attempts at intimidation. "One of these days, boy, I'm going to-"

"You will do nothing," Xerxes pipes up. He's been completely quiet so far, leaning on one of the walls. He's even more intimidating when he's this close. He can definitely match Risk.

"Why do you defend him?" Azazel snaps, taking a step forward. "He's a foolish brat who needs to learn his place. Ozymandias keeps giving him special treatment because he's one of the fay, but that doesn't mean the rest of us have to abide."

At that, Xerxes opens his eyes, casually glaring at the two. He's way more direct than Ozymandias at handling them, and starts applying some pressure using his mana. "I said you'll do nothing, Azazel. Are you trying to go against my word?"

The two other Apostles meet the assault head-on, and now I am feeling a bit uneasy. Are tensions always this high among them? If a fight between these three broke out, a good part of Polaris would be destroyed. If any of the others joined in, they'd be an even bigger threat to the safety of the citizens than the demons.

"Not in here, you don't," Seraphina interrupts, slapping hand against hand. "You were interested in seeing his mana's growth for yourselves, and now you have. Go ahead and leave. You're starting to piss me off."

After a brief pause, Xerxes slightly bows his head to her, then shuffles out of the room, followed by the other two.

"They're never gonna like me, are they?" I ask, and Seraphina offers a forced smile.

"Well, they both had their own favorites for becoming magic knight apprentices, but there was only so much room. Ozymandias declaring you one inevitably meant you were going to be chosen. There are few who can go against his word."

"But Xerxes obeyed you just now."

"Xerxes is old-fashioned. He's a man of honour. Treat him with respect, and you'll be treated with respect in return. That's all that was. I hold no authority over him, trust me. If he wanted to, he could make sure I never find work in Valhalla again."

I sit up, and at that moment, Sheba storms back into the room, holding a piece of cloth. "And put a damn shirt on. You'll catch a cold walking around like that. Bloody fool." She then proceeds to throw the cloth at me, and leaves once more. Weird. What was that about?