Nefeli yawned as she woke groggily, feeling oddly off balance with a sting in her back.

Before she could find out why she was feeling this way, a tight hug came her way from a familiar face.

"Hey! Em, why are you-" asked Nefeli with a smile before noticing that she couldn't feel her wings.

She looked as far behind her as she could and saw that her wings were missing. Emery noticed this and spoke in a depressed guilty tone.

"I'm sorry."

Nefeli internally panicked, but tried to look positive. She didn't want to hurt Emery's feeling more.

"Oh, it's okay! I-"

"I couldn't do anything to help." Said Emery tearing up. "It's all my fault...i-"

Before Emery could finish, Nefeli smacked him on the head.

"Ow!"

"I stole enough story books from Lux Aurea's libraries to know what you're gonna say. You want us to go our separate ways because being with you is dangerous."

Emery went silent and nodded slowly.

"Yes! Got it right! Wait-" Said Nefeli cheerfully upon confirming her prediction before smacking him on the head once again. "No! I'm not leaving you!"

"But-"

"No buts! I'm sticking with you till we or sun dies. Probably we." Said Nefeli crossing her arms. "So let's swipe those tears away."

Without hesitation, Nefeli wiped Emery's tears away, causing him to blush much to his surprise.

"It's gonna take some getting used to not having wings, though." Said Nefeli before an idea hit her. "Hmm...I got it!"

She immediately got up to get something, but immediately tripped and fell onto Emery who tried to soften her fall.

"Sorry, not used to no wings." Said Nefeli cheerfully as she got off the floor and Emery and headed to her sack that was nearby and pulled out a tome inside. "There it is!"

Nefeli looked through the pages until she found the one she needed.

"I just need to learn this spell and BOOM! winged again!" She showed Emery the page. "And maybe learn some more spells in case I get into another fight."

Emery smiled at Nefeli's optimism before his shoulders dropped.

"And I'll just get in your way again." He said dejectedly. "I can't fight at all."

Nefeli pouted at Emery's sadness before trying to cheer him up.

"Hey, I can teach you all I know about fighting. I can make you a warrior in no time."

Emery's eyes widened as he took in Nefeli's words, an idea forming in his head.

"Maybe I can." Said Emery as he began thinking.

"Right? You'll be a great warrior." Added Nefeli confidently.

"What?" Asked Emery in confusion as he turned to Nefeli. "No. I can make something to fight for me with artificial magic. I just need the parts...and the workshop back at the castle."

"Then that's where we're going."

And with that, their destination was set. The two were going to-

"Is there room for one more?" Asked a voice.

The two turned to the source of the voice to see Luujane standing there with a smile.

"Uhh, who are you again?" Asked Nefeli in confusion

Awkward silence followed Nefeli's question before Emery explained.

"She's Luujane, the keeper of these ruins. She saved you after..."

"Oh!" Exclaimed Nefeli before going stiff. "Really sorry, Miss Luujane. I didn't know."

"Well, I might forgive you if you were to, hmm, take me with you?" Luujane replied.with a cheeky smile.

The two looked very confused before Luujane elaborated.

"After seeing what this fighting has caused." Said Luujane glancing at Nefeli. "I decided to help stop the war."

The two smiled and agreed to take Luujane with them.

"Alright, we just need to wait for Phee Phee to come back and we're all set."

xxXxx

Sometime later, at the castle of Katolis.

"So could you tell me a little more about... artificial magic?" Asked a mysterious voice. "Your people seem to be using it quite often. Heaters, freezers, lights, illusions. It's impressive that it was made from scratch."

"I suggest you don't look into it." Replied Viren calmly to seemingly no one around him. "It's an unforgiving practice."

"I'm even more curious now." Replied the voice cheerfully.

Viren sighed before leaving the room and heading to the library.

"I'll tell you what I was told by the head artificer." Said Viren calmly. "As he bluntly put it, artificial magic is the practice of using the laws and rules of the world to your advantage."

The mysterious invisible person smiled as Viren continued and entered the library, excited by the new concepts.

"But to use these laws you have to understand them and to understand them you need a tool to do it." Said Viren triedly as he pulled out a book thicker than his head. "A tool that is the bane of any normal person." He finished as he slammed the book onto a table.

On the cover of the book was one large word for the mysterious person to read, "Mathematics".

"The magic part of artificial magic is the easy one. You use an outside source of energy to make it, simple. Everything else is a nightmare." Said Viren tiredly. "Yet it is needed. Because without it, the magic can't be used."

"So this magic depends on...numbers?"

"Because that is how the faux mage works." Replied Viren with a deep frown as he opened the large book.

"Faux mage?"

"The head artificer called it a "computer chip"." Viren elaborated. "It's a rectangle that casts the spells we want for us at powers and rates we choose."

The mysterious person suddenly got even more excited.

"And where does this magical rectangle come from?"

"It's a rock-" Deadpanned Vire confusing the person before taking we took a deep breath. "-that we tricked into thinking."

The person was confused...and amused. After a moment of silence, he spoke.

"Please, continue."

"This is as far as I got into the practice. The rest of what I know is mere surface level." Said Viren with a deep frown. "Like 3d matrices which are used to make illusions. I don't even know what those are! And the singular is matrix not matrice! I don't even know how THAT BRAT GOT ALL THESE IDEAS!'

Viren violently slammed the book shut in frustration, causing the invisible person to smile.

Not as if anyone could see it.

xxXxx

Honestly, this fic is taking too much from me. I can't write longer chapters. I'm just not excited with the ideas I'm making for this fic despite them being the ones that makes the most sense to me.

Sorry for the rant.

Toodles.