Hunter and Stella sat in his room, laughing as Hunter told her of his many escapades with his brother when they were younger. They looked up as a knock sounded at the door, Hunter standing and answering the call.
"Excuse me sir, but Fram would like to speak to you again- he is waiting in the main hall for you." The young boy's voice said before footsteps scampered down the hallway.
"Who was that?" Stella asked curiously, still looking toward the door before she heard Hunter's footsteps nearby.
"It was just a page." He said, sounding nervous. "You wait here, I'm going to go see what he wants. It's probably just something about the sorcerer." He said, sounding as if he was trying to convince himself more than her.
"Alright." Stella said, starting to feel uneasy as well. Why was he suddenly so worried?
"I'll be back as soon as I can. Don't open the door for anyone but me." Hunter walked over to the door, opening it and shutting it behind him.
Stella wrapped her hands in her dress nervously, wondering what the older magi wanted to talk to Hunter about. Maybe they had found a cure for her sight? Or maybe…
Maybe they had decided she was too much of a danger.
She let out a soft groan of frustration when she knew she wouldn't be able to know what was going on until Hunter came back and told her. She looked down as Remmy peaked from behind her hair, running down her arm to sit on her lap and squeak loudly.
"What?" Stella asked the small creature, who squeaked again and ran over to her hand, biting it hard.
She yelped in shock and took her hand away. "What was that for?" She asked hotly.
Remmy made another squeak and Stella gasped as the room came into view in her mind, hearing her own breathing and looking up at her own face.
Wait- did she really look like that? No, that couldn't be her. She had brown hair- she remembered that distinctly from being a child.
Remmy squeaked again, the sound loud in her mind- as if it was her that was squeaking.
As if she was Remmy.
"Am I seeing what you're seeing?" She gasped in shock, marveling at all the colors of the room. She could see! Through Remmy's eyes, but at least she could see the room and what it looked like- all the deep greens and browns, the rich wood that everything was made of, the wooden staff that leaned against the wall…
Remmy squeaked again, running off Stella's lap and into a hole in the keep's walls.
The rat ran along the inside of the wall, jumping from ledge to ledge before meeting several other jerboa rats, who looked at him in interest.
Remmy squeaked quickly to them, waving his arms and flicking his tail before one of the females responded, squeaking back in the same manner. Remmy followed the female up through the wall, turning a corner before pointing to another hole leading outside the wall.
Remmy thanked her with another squeak before peeking through the hole, walking outside when the coast was clear.
Stella saw through Remmy's view, a huge room with several people up on tall chairs behind an enormous table. The large doors at the other side of the room opened, Hunter walking inside and bowing before looking up at the older men who had were sitting at the table, Fram included.
"We have called you, Hunter, to ask you a few questions about the girl you found." A man with a nasally voice asked, looking to the man in the middle of the room.
"Yes sir, what would you need to know? I can go get her, and she can answer any questions you'd like." Hunter replied, looking up at them. Stella stared at him for a moment, having never seen him as anything other than a being of glowing green light. He had scruffy brown hair- and green eyes. His skin was tanned from staying in the sun for so long,
"No, we wish to ask only you. How long have you been traveling with this girl? Has she shown the powers Fram speaks of?"
Hunter looked to his master in shock, a frown coming over his face. "I met her two and a half weeks ago- and I do not know what Fram has told you."
"Do not patronize me, boy!" Fram yelled loudly, a fist slamming on the table in front of him. "The girl has time magic- did the sorcerer give it to her?"
"I don't know. All I know is what she is, and that she was trapped in that tower against her will. I simply did my duty as a battle magi." Hunter said gruffly, glaring at his master.
"The other students say you are close to her- is that true?" Another man asked.
Hunter looked up at him and let out a long sigh. "Yes."
"How long do you think you have been corrupted by the dark magic?" Another man asked.
Hunter looked up at them in shock, his green eyes wide. "You can possibly be serious! She doesn't have any dark magic- she's just a woman, who's confused!" He yelled in anger.
"She may be a woman, Hunter. Dangerous and dark weapons can take many forms, and all weapons of darkness must be destroyed." Fram said solemnly.
"She's harmless- for Gods' sake, she's blind! What harm can she do to anyone?" Hunter said defensively.
"She can kill anyone in this keep on a whim, and you know that. She could destroy the foundations this keep is built on, and kill all inside. She can do more than you can imagine, Hunter. Do not take such powerful magic so lightly."
"I know her- she doesn't think of those things, she's not evil." Hunter shook his head in denial.
The men murmured to each other for a minute, before Fram stood from his chair.
"Hunter of Voltar- I give you a new quest to finish your training as a battle magi." Fram said loudly, the other men nodding in agreement.
"What?" Hunter gasped in shock.
"Your quest is to kill that girl. Bring back proof of her death, and you will be honored the title of a master battle magi." Fram looked down at his pupil with a dark glare. "You must rid yourself of this darkness which has corrupted you. I will not let one who has fraternized with a sorcerer's evil deed become a master."
"You are dismissed, boy." Another of the men said darkly.
Hunter stared up at the men in horror before growling in anger and turning around, leaving the room. Remmy watched as he left before squeaking sadly and running back through the walls to Stella as tears filled her eyes.
Hunter stood in front of the doorway to his room, staring at the door as he tried to figure out what to tell Stella. 'Sorry, you can't stay here because they want me to kill you.' Sounded a little too… blunt.
He sighed in frustration and opened the door, seeing Stella in the same chair she had been sitting in when he had left. He sat back down in his own chair, running a hand through his hair uneasily. He jumped in shock when he saw her rainbow eyes, looking around to see a white sphere surrounding them both. What was she doing?
"I'm sorry, Hunter. I have to do this." She whispered, her voice wavering as tears ran down her cheeks.
"What? What are you doing?" He looked around outside the sphere to see everything still- a bird outside the window was frozen in the air. "Wait- no!"
"I can't let you throw away your life for me, Hunter. I won't let you." She looked to him, biting her lip to keep emotions from overflowing.
"I can find you a place where they won't find you, Stella. You can stay there, and no one will hurt you."
"And they will kill you for letting me go. This way it's not your fault. After all, I'm much too dangerous to leave alive." She said bitterly. "I should have known better than to trust magi."
"Stella-"
"Just stop!" She yelled in frustration. "I'm tired of you being so optimistic! They want to kill me, Hunter. There's no place for me here."
"But.." He hesitated, not knowing what else to stay. He didn't want her to leave… he had only just found her.
"The time I've spent with you has been the most amazing time of my life, and I thank you for that. But I can't let you die because of me…" She turned away from him. "I love you too much to do that."
Hunter blinked in shock as she moved forward, kissing him softly on the lips. "Don't you dare come looking for me, Hunter." She whispered.
"No, please Stella- don't do this!" He yelled, reaching for her when she moved away from him quickly. "Ste-"
Stella stared at his frozen form as the sphere of white magic around her settled in its smaller form. Another tear ran down her face as she looked at his desperate expression, his eyes wide as he tried to reach for her. She knew she could hold the magic this castle was under for a long time- she had done many experiments with it while at the sorcerer's tower.
Remmy squeaked in question on her shoulder, looking up at her in concern.
"I'm not sure where we'll go." She whispered sadly at the small green glowing creature. "But we can't stay here."
She walked out of the room, grabbing for the door handle before opening it and walking into the hallway. She looked back at Hunter one last time before closing the door behind her.