Chapter 37: Boy to Mage

Waver Velvet

It was dark for a while. I could not decipher where I was. But, I was worried for her. I didn't know if she had stabbed herself or not. I just needed to see an end to this darkness.

I saw a light and began to follow it, but when I opened my eyes I was lying on tile instead of a circle. It was cold and the room had high ceilings, and a chair and desk beside me.

"Where is this?" I asked myself. I was confused but when I stood up I realized that it was my lecture hall back at Clock Tower. But why was I here? It was empty, so I thought this had to be a dream. I looked to the chalkboard, thinking there may be some kind of message, but it was blank. The lights turned on unexpectedly. I was not alone.

"Welcome, Mr. Velvet." The voice had a tone, one I had not heard in years. The snide callousness could only belong to one man.

"Professor?" I questioned and turned. I saw him, Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald. But I knew this was a game. No matter what I had to remember that it was probably the entity trying to get into my head.

"Surprised to see me?" He questioned, but knowing what had happened I was not entranced.

"No." I said. "I know he's dead, don't try to convince me otherwise." He continued to walk down the aisle and reached the main floor, almost floating a crossed the steps.

"I'm insulted." He replied. "I've come to congratulate you on your accomplishments."

"Where is she?" I asked. I was here to find Hazel, know if she was safe. He crept closer to the desk and I backed away.

"You shouldn't be concerned." He replied. "You have your own desires." That didn't matter in this moment.

"I need to know where she is. Is she alive?" I was more direct, and still he chuckled slightly, now behind the desk.

"Relax, she will not go anywhere." He sat in the chair, relaxed. I stood in front of it. He pressed his fingertips together and gave an unsettling grin, almost like watching Kirei smile.

"To think that a student like you would uphold the Archibald name astounds me." Kayneth stated. I had to accept this reality for the moment. Play along until I found a way out.

"I simply got lucky." I replied, pacing the desk. I stopped at the edge of it, my back to him.

"Really?" He questioned. "Because you act as though your life is entirely your own. That your desire did not begin in this hall, when I insulted your work." He paused. "But you came crawling back to the one place that slighted you. Then, cleaned up and people began to notice the boy who survived the war in Fuyuki City. You are nothing more than a glorified bookkeeper, Mr. Velvet."

I tensed up, stern. I was nothing like him. "Stop it, I have made my own way."

Kayneth chuckled, again. "But not without my help." I peeked to see him rise from the chair and trace his fingers on the desk, his white glove collecting dust. He had his back to me as well, his arms crossed behind him.

"You neglect to thank me, Mr. Velvet. If you had not recovered my work after my death, you would have never been noticed. I am the reason you are successful." He stated.

I paused. I struggled with this, but I had done what I could because what else was there for me to do? I was one of the few who survived the war ten years ago, but I wanted to make something of myself. I needed to after promising Rider I would do so. I guess that was a difference between Hazel and I. She would try to keep promises but they would get broken in time. In youth, I felt no one understood me and I wanted to be noticed for my intelligence. Truth was I wasn't that smart, I was just arrogant. But I worked to improve myself. I changed.

"My helping your family may have started this but from there on I have done my own research. Taught my students to find paths that suit them. I became the professor I needed back when I was a student, one that listened instead of scrutinized." I said and he scoffed.

"Is that what you attempted with Ms. Matterhorn?" I froze, clenching my fists. He was standing at the other end of the desk, but began to step closer to me.

"Never." I said. He sighed, continuing to walk towards me.

"You didn't follow her voice that night because she cried. It was because you wanted to control the beast." He stopped, close enough where I could feel his breath pass my shoulder. He continued. "You wanted to be credited as the professor who could tame the feral mage."

I don't know what it was, an instinct perhaps, but I swung at him. I hit his face and he was taken off balance. I could handle myself here. My mind was secure.

"Hazel is not an animal!" I scolded. "Stop with this illusion, where is she?!"

"You've grow attached to a traitor." He spit out. The slick blonde hairs on his head had begun to unravel, though he balanced himself. "What would your colleagues think? You hide her like a dog. You are afraid of soiling this life you've worked hard for. She is the one person who could bring you down, so why let her live?"

"Enough." I responded. "I won't betray her, after what I've learned from her. Like my Servant, Hazel helped show me that there are simple things to enjoy in this world. I won't throw her to the wolves and have her hate me."

"She already will." He replied. "I know you see it but you have been blinded by affection, because she listens to your rants. But how could she desire a weak mage like you? She will just fall for her Servant as my fiancée did."

I saw an image appear on the blank chalk board. It was her and Lancer together, entangled in each other's arms. They kissed each other. It stopped me for a moment, but I thought about when I kissed her. I had never kissed anyone, but I could tell there was resistance. She may not have realized it, but Lancer was a good fit for her. Though we could talk for days and I could empathize with her, I had never killed anyone with my bare hands. Lancer understood that, and seeing her with him, I had never seen her so happy. Cu seemed to be the piece she was missing to get past her demons, and Hazel was mine.

Even if it was an illusion I could see her smiling. I thought how when I tried to kiss her again, It still was hard for me to accept it. She did know that I had wanted to for so long, but trying it, I felt very little which bothered me. However, maybe my attraction to her was more for her smarts. The fact that she persevered and was fearless. For me, her appeal was her personality more than her physique, and that is what I loved about Hazel Matterhorn. I was beginning to see that. I had to let her be, I had to make sure she survived this so she could find her happiness as she helped with mine. I needed to be myself, a professor who persisted, a mage of little heritage. I was no longer the boy who feared this war and allowed it to haunt me. I was both Waver Velvet and Lord El-Melloi II.

"Why should that matter?" I responded. "As long as she is happy then I'll be glad. She is not some prize to benefit my name. She is a person, unique to this world."

"You're lying to yourself." Kayneth stated, but I didn't feel that way. I had figured it out.

"I know there are some things I have to accept. And it is my choice to work past it instead of regret those decisions. But I will be happy as long as she is safe." I turned to face the entity disguised as my former professor. I stood tall as the room evaporated into darkness. "I haven't been able to protect many people in my life. But she is someone who grounds me. Someone I can trust to be honest with me even when I don't want to listen. I will not lose her to this war."

"There is nothing you can do to stop her desire." He said it as though it was supposed to deter me. But I knew my path, and his past was not my future.

"Then she won't have to face the pain of losing her Servant." I responded. "Right now, I have to get back to her. I promised Lancer to bring her back alive."

He scoffed. "How noble." The room had completely disappeared now, I was beginning to break this illusion.

I looked into his eyes, confident. "I have to keep my promises, I have to see this to the end and I will not back down now." I said, feeling the cape piece in my hand. "She bares scars on her skin and in her mind. But that smile, I can see her release that pain in those moments. I can handle being alone if that means she will still exist and be secure."

"Foolish is what you are!" He came at me but something protected me. It felt like he grabbed my hand, tightly enough that it burned. But soon he retracted it. I looked at my hand with the cape piece now glowing.

"You are not prepared for the future, you will see." Kayneth said before he disappeared and the space flashed white. I was in darkness again but something felt different. There had to be a way out of here. I waited there, calm.

"Well done, boy." My ears perked up. I knew the voice, I turned to see who it was. It was him.

"Rider?" I questioned. He didn't seem as tall as I remembered. I could see in his eyes that his heart was still dancing, wherever he was now. I ran to him and hugged him as tears fell. Something I didn't get to do that night. I waited there a moment, and a light began to appear in the distance.

"Waver. Wake up. Please." I heard her. She was calling for me this time. She was okay.

"Follow her voice, lad." Rider's voice echoed. For once I thought she could wait. I wanted to tell him everything if this would be our only moment until death.

"But there is so much I should tell you…"

"I've always been with you, Waver. I know what you have done." He said with a smile. "She needs you now. Go and help her end this." That was right. He always knew the right thing to say. I shed more tears and let go, I had wanted to hear him speak for so long. Even if this was brief, he at least still knew me. I finally felt I could leave this war behind me, hold my good memories and look forward to the future.

"Yes, my king." I replied and walked forward into the light.

I opened my eyes, laying on the ground, with one hand in front of me and the cape piece in between my fingers. I began to pull myself up from the ground and her hands pulled me all the way until I was standing. I felt exhausted but to see her alive was all I needed.

"Hey, Velvet." She said. I could see her face. I hugged her, I just wanted to feel her presence, know that she was here.

"Hazel." I said as I held her. She was alive. I wanted the moment to remain like this. But though I had overcome my own issues, this battle wasn't over yet.