A/N: Thanks for the reviews, you awesome and lovely people! :) :)
In response …
NightSkyWolves: Maybe … what about Time Turner? (Yes, I know it's a thing from Harry Potter, but it sounded cool! xD) You could also use her last name somehow, like "Storm Changer" or something to that effect. ^^
DeathySophia: x) Why, yes. Yes I am xD
Saffron Frostcaller: :) I will be sure to read your story when I get a chance :)
SuperYuuki: Don't thank me yet … you haven't read the awful scene from this chapter yet O_o
scarletfireblaze: You'll find out! *Evil grin* You probably haven't run into her just yet ...
Celestial light: I will most likely be writing about Azteca in this story, and also the world that comes after Azteca (whatever it may be … xD) There's going to be a LOT of Celestia, though, at least at first.
Wolfestar: Awww, thank you! :)
DawnShadowQueen: 'Course I did! That's my job! :D xD Congratulations on getting an account! :)
Thanks to my supercalifragilisticexpialid ociously avvesomesauce beta reader, Rebecca Ripple! xD (I shall use a different adjective every time I do one of these. This I solemnly vow. XD)
Arthas, Moira and Kestrel joined us a minute later, sitting in various places around the room as Heather told us her story.
"We w-were in Unicorn W-w-way," she began quietly. I noticed that her stutter had become worse under the stress. "S-sadie and I w-were w-w-walking, and I w-was helping her s-s-study f-for her Th-thaumaturgy test in a f-few weeks. I s-saw a b-b-beautiful flower a little w-ways ahead, and I went to p-pick it for her. Th-there was a s-s-strangled s-scream, and w-when I turned around, S-sadie was g-gone."
"Oh, my gosh … Heather … I'm so sorry," Kestrel said softly, staring at her in shock. The Conjurer began to cry again.
"It w-was my f-fault! I l-left her to g-go get that s-s-stupid f-flower, and now she's g-gone!"
"Heather, it is not your fault," I told her forcefully, narrowing my eyes and leaning forwards in my chair. "Whatever happened, I have a feeling that Morganthe is behind this. It's exactly the kind of thing she'd do." Heather looked over at me in surprise.
"M-morganthe did this?" She whispered. "Didn't she … k-kill one of S-sabrina's cousins, t-t-too?"
"Yeah. She's done a lot of pretty nasty stuff in the past couple of years, but the Headmaster says that she's been getting more aggressive lately. The attack on the Archmages was the worst one since the battle between those four Legendary wizards when we were kids." I frowned. Arthas began rubbing his forehead, wincing in pain.
"I'll be right back," he muttered, picking up his empty water glass and heading for the kitchen.
"How are w-we going t-t-to stop her, Alex?" Heather asked. "How c-can a g-group of T-transcendent w-wizards stop someone as p-p-powerful as M-morganthe?"
"I have no idea, Heather, but we'll figure that out tomorrow. Everyone else is coming over here, and we'll figure out when we're going to Celestia."
"Okay. And th-that's where w-we'll stop Morganthe?"
"We're gonna try, at least. I swear to you, we'll get Sadie back, no matter what happens in Celestia." Arthas returned and took a seat on the couch once more. He took a long drink of his water and set the glass down on the table, frowning in confusion.
"I've got such a headache," he muttered, pressing a hand to his forehead. I gave him a quick glance, and then returned to my conversation with Heather.
"Hopefully Erica will have more information than I do on Celestia; she might be able to tell us where Morganthe's possible location is, or she might be able to make connections between her different movements to predict her next attack." No one in the room noticed as Arthas rested his head on the arm of the couch and closed his eyes.
"She'll kn-know s-something. She's Erica," Heather declared, giving a small, wobbly smile. I grinned.
"Well, duh. She's practically a walking library!" Kestrel, Moira, Luke and I laughed. The Conjurer allowed herself a small giggle.
"Hey, do you guys want to go have lunch now? There's more than enough for you three," Kestrel said, grinning good-naturedly and indicating Luke, Moira and Heather. They nodded in agreement, and we all headed for the dining room. Moira paused to shake Arthas' shoulder.
"Arthas. Wake up; we're gonna have lunch," she said, poking his arm. The Theurgist didn't move, and Moira frowned. "Come on, get up!" She added, louder this time. There was no response.
"Are you coming, Moira?" Luke called.
"Hold on a minute; Arthas won't wake up," she replied. Moira looked around, noticed Arthas' glass of water on the table, and dumped it onto his head. He didn't even flinch. "Arthas! Wake up!" She snapped, shaking him harder. Moira finally slapped Arthas across the face, but there was no reaction. "Alex! He's not waking up!" She glanced over at me with wide eyes. "What's going on with him? Does this happen a lot, or something?"
"No … Arthas has been a really light sleeper, at least since he's been living at my house." I frowned in confusion. "Even the slightest sound normally wakes him up. This isn't natural." I unsheathed my cutlass and carefully touched the Theurgist on the forehead with the point. The blade glowed black almost immediately. Moira cursed.
"That's a sleeping plague, and not one of the normal ones. The glow would be fainter if the curse was a minor one. I have no idea how to break something this strong."
"Morganthe," I muttered, sliding my sword back into the scabbard.
"Something this strong would take days to progress this far … the magic would have to seep through his skin and into his bloodstream. It's the perfect weapon for someone who doesn't want to be caught. That is, unless it was administered orally."
"What?"
"Through the mouth. Certain curses can be consolidated into an edible form, but it involves a lot of weird chemical processes and stuff I never learned in the Academy. Since the curse hits the bloodstream within a few minutes, it's a lot stronger and activates a lot stronger." She froze suddenly, and her gaze slowly moved to the empty water glass. Moira shot to her feet and stormed out of the room. I followed her.
"Certainly took you guys long enough," Kestrel was saying as the albino girl stepped into the dining room.
"What the HELL, Kestrel?" Moira shrieked, immediately punching her in the face. "It was you! You brought the water, you put the curse in his water, this is your fault!" Kestrel fell backwards, scrambling away from Moira on all fours and pressing herself into a corner. She hissed, her eyes bugging in rage.
"What in the Spiral are you TALKING about?" Kestrel spat, practically breathing fire because of her anger.
"I'm talking about the curse you put on Arthas!" Moira yelled. "Take it off him!"
"What curse? I don't even know what you're talking about!"
"The sleeping curse!"
"What sleeping curse?"
"Will you both shut up for a second?" I finally yelled. The two went silent and stared at me.
"She-"
"Shut it!"
"But she just-"
"No! Shut your mouth or I'll knock you both unconscious!" I glared at them, folding my arms. "Did anyone, by any chance, happen to think of a truth spell? Kestrel, if you really did curse Arthas, you won't be able to lie once the spell is active."
"Fine! Use the spell, I don't care!" She threw her hands up in the air and stalked back to her chair. I rolled my eyes and quickly cast the truth spell on Kestrel.
"Kestrel Nightshade, did you cast a sleeping curse on Arthas?" I asked her.
"No! I didn't even know he was cursed until I got punched in the face!"
"And there you have it," I told Moira, removing the spell. She glared darkly at the other Necromancer.
"I'm going to look for who really cast it, then," she spat.
"Wait, Moira. Somehow, I have a feeling that Morganthe is behind this. Stick with us for another few days, at least; my friends and I are going to Celestia to help fight her, and there's a chance that we'll be able to force her to lift the curse." She raised an eyebrow, still staring at me mistrustingly.
"Why would I help you?"
"Because in return, we can help you. You'll have to start working with people again eventually, Moira."
"Fine." I hadn't expected her to agree so easily, and I assumed that she had other reasons, but I decided not to press her further.
-V-
It couldn't have been later than five thirty. I was curled up in my big red armchair, flipping through one of the larger books on Celestia and trying to cool the hot rage burning in my chest. Morganthe was ripping my hard-earned peace to shreds in front of me, and I was sick of it. There were moments where I very nearly screamed, I was so angry. I quickly bit my lip, however, and turned the pages of the book to a section including several Celestian fables. Reading would calm me down … I hoped.
Before I had a chance to drown myself in words, though, a whisper sounded in my mind.
Miss Firesong, I have just received something I think you must see immediately. Headmaster Ambrose again. He sounded surprised, for some reason. Whatever he'd been given had clearly rattled him pretty badly. I tucked a bookmark into the library book and set it down on the coffee table before heading into the main hallway.
"I'll be back in a few," I called to the silent house as I shoved my favorite hat onto my head and picked up my backpack. I stepped outside before I got a response. For a short moment, I debated calling Bat, but then I decided that I'd rather go alone, so I teleported to the Commons. When the black smoke cleared from my vision, the Headmaster's Office towered over my head. I hurried inside.
"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Alexandra," Headmaster Ambrose said, glancing at me before turning back to the group of novices in front of him. "You've done a wonderful job so far, young wizards! Lady Oriel has spoken highly of you all. Thank you very much for the report; if you could, please return in one hour, and I will have notices for you to post in Unicorn Way."
"Thank you, Headmaster!" They chorused before running out of the warm, cheerful room.
"You wanted to speak with me, Headmaster?"
"Yes. Yes, I did." He picked up a manilla folder from a drawer and turned to face me. "I'm afraid that I have nothing to help you with your current quest, but I do have something that will mean quite a lot to you. Do you have any idea what this is, Miss Firesong?" He held up the folder, and I shrugged.
"Some kind of report, if I had to guess."
"Correct. This is a report from my scouts in Dragonspyre." I stiffened at the name of the fiery world, and the Headmaster gave me a small smile."Don't look so worried, young wizard! There is nothing to fear; rather, they say that the relief efforts are going very well there, and attempts to drive the more dangerous Undead from Dragonspyre have been mostly successful. However, enemy movements and relief efforts are not why I asked you to come." He pulled a small, slightly scorched envelope from the folder and held it up for me to see. "This was found in the Crucible yesterday evening." My heart very nearly stopped, because I recognized the bright red seal on the envelope. It was the Firesong family seal. A dragon sat in the center of the Fire School Emblem, and it was surrounded by a ring of flames and musical notes.
"What is that?" I asked slowly, my voice barely louder than a whisper.
"I think you should read it, Alexandra." He gave my the envelope, which I took with shaky hands. Someone from my family had touched this … I slit the envelope open, careful to avoid breaking the seal. I slid a neatly folded sheet of paper out and slowly, slowly unfolded it. "Would you mind reading it aloud?"
"Y-yeah … sure." I began to read. "To Headmaster Ambrose: Some strange things have been going on in the Crucible lately. I've seen strange, shadowy creatures high in the sky- no, not drakes. These are much larger and darker. The skies have been uneasy, changing from blue to strange shades of red and orange in mere minutes. Massive clouds often completely obscure the sun. Plants have been shrivelling up and dying. Animals are fleeing Dragonspyre as quickly as they are able- except for the drakes, which have been more and more active as the days go by. There have been increasing numbers of Undead in the area, and just a few minutes ago, I caught a sinister looking woman staring at me from across the street. She was dressed in layers of flowing black robes, and her face was masked. She carried a strange black staff, and her eyes- they were maroon, if I remember correctly- she never blinked. Not once. She held up a red and orange card, but I couldn't make out what it was from across the street. When I finally had to blink, she was gone." I stopped reading abruptly.
"Well? Go on."
"That woman was Morganthe! It has to be! But … what was she doing in the Crucible?"
"Continue. It may be explained."
"Okay. I had to leave my daughter standing in a doorway to investigate the latest strange shadow; I caught sight of it just ten minutes ago and had to follow it. I think there's a meteor shower coming, Headmaster. The signs are all right, and that card … it looked suspicious. That is all I can say. All I can hope is that my home and family survive this shower. Sincerely, Agent F." I set down the letter. "Agent Firesong. Alyssa Firesong was a spy for you. My mother … was a spy."
"Yes."
"She saw Morganthe in the Crucible."
"She did. The scouts reported abnormally strong traces of dark magic in that area, although the traces were years old. It has been identified as the work of Morganthe."
"Morganthe was seen in the Crucible minutes before my mother's death. She was seen by my mother, who she showed a card … a Pyromancy card."
"It's highly likely."
"Morganthe caused that shower." I stood abruptly, throwing my chair to the floor. I slammed my palm onto Headmaster Ambrose's desk. "Morganthe killed my mother! She destroyed my home! My life nearly went to pieces because of what she did! WHY DID SHE DO IT?" My voice rose in pitch and volume as I spoke, and the Headmaster watched me with sad, calm eyes. I felt two tears run from my eyes, nearly burning my skin as they rolled down my cheeks. I clenched my hand into a fist so tight that my whole arm was shaking. "We are going to stop her," I said in a dangerously quiet voice. "My friends and I? We're leaving for Celestia within a week." I turned on my heel and stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind me with force enough to shake the building.
A/N: SuperYuuki, what did you think of Moira's reaction? I was going to send you a message, but I was trying to get the chapter done. I'll edit if you think I need to.