We stood before the Masters councel, our heads lowered in shame. They were standing on a raised platform, and glaring at us. For once I could not see the bright side of this situation. All I could see was the explosion raining chaos in the world.
Then the Master of Illusion stepped forward. I could tell that she was seething with anger. "You stupid, stupid kids! Do you even realise what you have done? You, YOU," she pointed a finger at us and shouted, "YOU BRAINLESS KIDS DESTROYED HALF OF ALYNCIA! COUNTLESS PEOPLE LOST THEIR LIVES BECAUSE OF YOU!" I had to speak up then. "But we didn't even touch the human artefact..." the Masters stared at me with steely-eyed gazes, and I trailed off. "We have realised that there is no sufficient punishment we could give so, after much consideration, we have decided to banish you from Alyncia." I stared around at my friends, whose faces mirrored my shock. Banished? But how? Why? "You have one night to say goodbye to your families, and then First Mage Ezra will teleport you out."
We all slowly walked towards our parents, who were standing in a small group a few metres away. Catrin's parents just stared at her sadly as she approached, before turning and walking away. Pain was written all over Catrin's face as she watched them fade into the distance. Felice's parents started shouting as soon as they laid eyes on their daughter. "We're so disappointed in you! We trusted you and you, betrayed us!" her mother screamed. "How could you touch a human artefact that you knew nothing about? How could you touch a human artefact at all?" her Dad yelled. Felice shifted her feet. "I'm sorry," she muttered. "You'd better be!" her Mother shouted. She had tears pouring down her cheeks.
Watching my friends get rejected by their own blood, I was starting to worry about my parents. I cautiously approached them with Jake, Daryl and Drayson following quietly behind me, but they rushed ford and hugged us all tight. Daryl blinked in surprise. "Mom, Dad, aren't you mad at us? We destroyed half of Alyncia. We killed so many people." His voice was bitter, and Mom tightened her arms around us. "Didn't you hear what your sister said? Apparently you guys didn't even touch the human object. This is not your fault." My shoulders slumped. "I wish the Masters would believe that."
My brothers and I stood in that way, hugging our parents for the whole night. I could see Catrin and Felice out of the corner of my eye, standing stiffly a few feet away. Their parents had obviously abandoned them for good. I wanted to go over and comfort them, but I knew it would hurt my mother and father if I broke away from their embrace. It felt like time was dragging by, but finally I saw a glimmer of light on the east horizon. "We will miss you, Mom and Dad," Drayson said. Our parents let go of us. I saw tears running down Mom's face as Dad gently lead her away. Then we all went back to stand in front of the raised platform. The Masters hadn't moved at all during the night and now the Master of time stepped forward. I could see that he was holding some strange devices in his hands. "These are jet-packs. They will allow you to move and breath where you're going." I took the jet-pack offered to me and strapped it onto my back like the others were doing. I felt like wailing in despair. How had it all gone so wrong? It felt worse since Master Chronos had been my idle. I had looked up to him and thrown myself into my guild work, hoping that one day I could be as powerful as him, but now he was the one throwing us out of our home.
Then someone stepped forward. It was First Mage Ezra. He was wearing a grand white cloak. At any other time I would have been thrilled to be meeting the person who had first introduced magic to our world, but now I could not meet his gaze. My friends and I had completely demolished his creation. Ezra's face was expressionless as he clicked his fingers, and we all fazed out of Alyncia for the last time.