Sorcerer Hunters

"Starstone"

Chapter XVII

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"So, there was never a sorcerer at all?" asked Gateau. He sat next to Marron's bed. A full year out of his body had taken its toll on the younger Glaice brother, requiring extended bed rest. The Misu sisters and Carrot were outside on Chocolate's orders, giving Gateau and Marron their first time alone since Marron's reincarnation. "And you remember everything?"

"No, it was just me and Yakushia," Marron replied. "I really didn't think it would work the way it did, actually. I knew I'd translated something wrong, and with the modifications I had to make... I'm glad it worked at all. All of the last year was... like a dream."

Gateau pulled the starstone pendant out of his pocket where he kept it. "I guess you should have it back, now."

Marron shook his head, but accepted the pendant. "I will give it to Mother... She will have to destroy it for me."

"Destroy it?"

Nodding, Marron ran his fingers over the stone. "You want to know how a starstone works, Gateau?"

"Actually..." The tall blond was silent for a moment. "...I want to know why you used forbidden magic, Marron," he whispered.

Marron closed his eyes, ashamed. "...I feel like I betrayed you."

"You did."

"Do you hate me?"

Gateau's hand closed on Marron's, twining their fingers tightly together. "I hate what you did."

"I did it because I was scared, Gateau." When Gateau's ice-blue eyes focused on his, Marron nodded. "All those things I told you then, about worrying about everyone all the time–it's true."

Marron placed the starstone where Gateau could see the sapphire star within. "This is a black diamond starstone," he said. "Once I had the black diamond to fortify the spell, I melded it with a star-sapphire, making a starstone stronger than any other in history... and it has been seven centuries since the last starstone was destroyed. They were... forbidden... long before other types of magic, because of how dangerous their properties really are, and how dangerous they are to make." He pointed at one individual ray of the six-pointed star. "This is where my soul is bound."

Gateau's eyes widened as Marron went on, haltingly. "And... this is Chocolate's... Tira's..." Marron's voice dropped to a whisper, "...And yours. My brother is... he's immune to the binding."

Silence stretched between them for minutes before Marron continued. "The starstone isn't just a focus. It's an anchor–for anything. If you know how to use it..." He pointed to another ray of the star. "That one is the siphoning spell. It was triggered when I died. It malfunctioned... I didn't expect it to."

"...How?"

The corner of Marron's mouth twitched. "It would have worked perfectly if anyone except me had died. The siphoning spell worked well enough, but the focus needs to be monitored. Without me to balance it, it started releasing power. It expected to overload. It's been leaking magic for months."

It took Gateau a few moments to think, adding up the pieces. "...That's why it was burning me?"

Marron smiled apologetically. "Even with the siphoning spell, there was barely enough magic stored in it by the time the sun rose on the year-mark to react with the soulbinding spell. Without you and the others there, we would have died again... and we would have repeated the cycle every year until the starstone exploded or we got the spell right."

Gateau's expression was not pleased. "You mighta warned me."

"That I was using forbidden magic?"

"I'm still not happy about that."

"I felt the pull of it a long time ago, Gateau." He nodded when his blond friend stared at him. "I started studying it when I was twelve, while I was researching the Sorcerer's Wars."

"...That long ago?"

"It's so tempting," Marron sighed. "You've never used magic, Gateau. It's like a drug. You want to use more and more, but it eats you up if you don't have enough power."

"I'm... disappointed in you."

"Don't be," Marron smiled, squeezing Gateau's hand. "This amulet holds all of my forbidden magics, the siphoning and the soulbinding and the starstone itself. I held them in the starstone. I knew that I could use the forbidden magics–I knew I had the power. Knowing that... I did not need to exercise that power."

Gateau contemplated the starstone. "What's that one?" he asked, pointing to the last ray of the sapphire star.

Marron looked where he pointed. "That's the only reason any of you are alive right now. That is Hakaishin."

"WHAT?"

Marron tucked the pendant away, brashly ignoring Gateau's outburst. "It used to be a homing spell–it was designed so that whoever was holding the pendant would be drawn to the place where it would be easiest to separate the soul of... whoever died... from their god. In my case, it was Tenrin-Ou Yakushia's Shrine of Seasons. Before that it was a spell rebinding the star to the stone, refracting the focus powers and exponentially increasing the magical storage capacity."

"Why the heck would you soulbind Hakaishin?" Gateau demanded.

"I did it when we got our instructions from Mother." Marron lowered his eyes, looking into the past. "When she told us how to defeat Zaha Torte... I knew it was wrong, but I didn't know how. She told us that he would pull Hakaishin from my brother if he transformed, and that he would use him to destroy the world..."

Gateau nodded, remembering the terror they had all felt, confronted with the destruction of the entire world.

"I was so afraid for my brother's life after she tried to kill him..." Marron shook his head. "It all seems foolish now. I knew that trying to bind my brother's soul to the starstone would make him transform permanently... so I bound Hakaishin instead. When Zaha Torte tried to call on him after my brother transformed... All he got was my brother."

"You amaze me, Marron," Gateau said after a moment, shaking his head. "I don't have a clue what you're talking about, but I'm pretty sure it was very smart."

That drew a grin from the reserved young man. "It means a lot to me that you approve."

"So, why are you going to have Big Momma destroy it? Isn't it good to have Hakaishin locked up in that thing?"

"Yes," Marron said. "But... our souls–yours, mine, and the girls–are still bound to it. Even if we die of old age, we'll be bound to the starstone until it is destroyed."

"Why don't you just un-bind our souls?"

There was a moment of silence, and Gateau was shocked to see a tear fall from his stoic friend's eye. "H-hand me that pen and paper," Marron requested, pointing to the bedside table. Gateau complied.

Marron deftly drew a perfect fire rune on a piece of paper. He ripped the paper from the pad, and tossed it at the wall.

"What the heck...!" Gateau jumped to get out of the way, ducking his head to avoid the explosion that never came. He looked around at the wall in time to see the paper flutter to the ground.

Another tear fell from Marron's other eye. "I can't use magic anymore," he murmured, his voice catching in his throat. "Without Tenrin-Ou Yakushia... I'll never be able to. The only way to unbind our souls is to destroy the starstone."

Gateau sat on the bed and wrapped his arms around his young friend. "Marron..."

Tossing his hair back, Marron threw himself against Gateau. "I'll get over it, Gateau," he said, his voice muffled as he buried his face in Gateau's neck. He wrapped his weakened arms around his friend as tightly as he could. "I won't ever get over betraying you, though. This is the price I've paid."

"Marron... I never forgave myself for not protecting you. Can we call it even?" Gateau begged. "I can't keep up with who owes who if we don't." Marron laughed softly and kissed him. "There's... one other thing I haven't forgiven myself for," the tall blond began.

He appeared to need prompting to continue. Marron pressed his forhead against Gateau's, looking him questioningly in the eye. "What's that?"

Gateau pulled Marron into a deep kiss. After a minute, he pulled away, holding him close. "...Not telling you before..."

"...Before...?"

"...That I love you."

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Carrot slumped in the bushes, annoyed and thoroughly tied up. Tira stepped on him to make sure he was still there. She readjusted her binoculars. "I think he just told him," she said.

Carrot sighed. "Who told who?" he asked, both indulging and curious.

"Oh, yup," Chocolate confirmed, watching through her own binoculars. "Gateau told Marron... oh, my..."

"What?" The elder Glaice brother struggled in his bonds. "What's going on?"

"I hope they don't do that too long," Tira said, "Marron's supposed to be on bed rest."

"Wow, I didn't know Gateau was that flexible," said Chocolate. "I don't think... nope, nope. They won't have to leave the bed at all."

"Ooh, that was clever... wow, talented," Tira giggled. "Oh, oh look at... no, nevermind... No, wait, I was right! Wow, who'd've thought Marron knew about that?"

"...Pass the popcorn, sister dear. Are you sure you're old enough to be watching this?"

"Here you go. Oh my gosh, I didn't think that was actually possible... Go Gateau!"

"Would somebody tell me what that big ape is doing to MY LITTLE BROTHER?"

Chocolate looked down at Carrot. "Well, Darling..." She smirked at him. "I could show you."

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Fini

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