Aaravos alone seemed unsurprised by a stranger knowing his name and bearing his mark in his hood. Viren looked between Seiki and Aaravos, bewildered. "How is this possible?"

Seiki replied while Aaravos smiled smugly. "We're all the Followers of Aaravos, of course."

Claudia angled her head. "Huh? I mean… we did follow him here."

Terry clapped his hands. "Yeah, true!"

Callum shook his head, pushing to the front of the group. "No, wait wait wait. All information about Aaravos just goes blank whenever anyone looks! We had no way of knowing about him before recently."

Seiki bounced on his heels with excitement. "Oh, yes that was a problem. We are forbidden to read or write about Aaravos, but not to speak about him. We have memorized all we know of him, the verses and the stories, for generations." He cleared his throat and recited,

"Elarion, searing white,

Embraced the great one's night-black flame.

And when she bowed,

Her faith avowed,

He whispered, "Aaravos", his name.

Elarion, black-eyed child,

her twisted roots spread deep and far,

The humans' might

sparked by the light

of Aaravos, her midnight star."

Aaravos looked pleased with himself. "It backfired after I was imprisoned, you see. Tell people they can't talk about something-"

"-and it's all they'll talk about," finished Viren. "Kpp'ar, did you know about this?"

"No," admitted Kpp'ar. "But I had an inkling. You'll see why when we meet the High Mage."

Seiki was way too familiar to Callum, like he should know him or a cousin of his from somewhere. The back of his cloak had more silver embroidery, but of a spider web with a Starweaver spider in the middle of it. Callum rubbed his forehead, trying to recall who looked like him— oh. Callum's head whipped around to Aaravos, catching his eye and waving between Aaravos and Seiki. "No way! Kumo?"

"Wait, you know about my great-great-great-oh forget it, grandfather?" asked Seiki. Seiki still seemed starstruck by Aaravos's presence, and the sudden blush on his face didn't help. "Did Aaravos really- er, I mean, wow, I guess I can say my ancestor was really onto something if Aaravos has told you about him." Seiki turned his gaze downwards, as if he had to avert his eyes from someone so majestic. "It doesn't feel right to only use your name, as much as you like it."

It had never occurred to Callum to be formal or reverent towards Aaravos. As foreign as the idea of whatever Seiki saw in Aaravos, Aaravos himself took it in stride. "Don't fret. Great One, Midnight Star, and all the rest are pleasant to me. Even the respect you have puts you high above this gathering behind me from the start."

Seiki looked horrified.

Callum shrugged. "We started off with me yelling at Aaravos to get out of my head. Didn't need anything formal about it."

"You were blessed with dreams from Aaravos and wished to will them away?" Seiki shook his head. "There is much I don't know."

They'd long since become friends, maybe even family, but Callum glared at Aaravos. He'd been terrified, his agency to dream alone taken away. Seiki's jealousy for such an experience made him want to grab Seiki by the shoulders and shake him. Callum settled with snapping, "Yes. There is."

Seiki held up his hands and winced. "I apologize- a Great One's favor is something I know nothing of. Overwhelming, I imagine. Anyway, I presume you'd like me to take you to the Royal Library? We have no official palace in Evenere to welcome such esteemed guests, I'm afraid."

Aaravos smiled, a hint of mischief in his eyes. "Yes, I'm quite eager to meet the High Mage."

"And I'm so glad you showed up!" exclaimed Seiki, awkwardly laughing as he climbed into a nearby rowboat. "It wouldn't be good if I had missed my shift again for nothing."

Claudia raised her eyebrows as she got in the boat. "What's your job, if not just mage? I find that keeps me busy enough."

"I work in the Royal Library as a page."

Callum couldn't help smirking as he sat next to Kpp'ar in the boat. "Oh I see- so the scary librarian might have killed you if Aaravos hadn't actually been here."

"Yes! Thanks for understanding."

Kpp'ar elbowed Callum lightly. "You think our librarian is bad? Wait until you meet Srisha. The Evenere library is rumored to have perfect material return rates. There's no set late fee because no one dares keep a tome for too long."

Seiki sat down on a bench in the boat by himself, holding an oar in each hand. The ends of the oars were carved and then painted to look like insect wings, and with the firefly lanterns hanging on the front and back of the boat, it was like they were riding a firefly over the water. "It's a ways to the library. We'll pass by a few villages, and if you don't mind, I think they should see you, Aaravos. We've been waiting for you a long time."

Aaravos inclined his head. He let his cloak slide completely off. "I am sorry to have kept them waiting. My imprisonment was long indeed."

Callum's heart skipped a beat. All of these people were waiting on Aaravos to do what , exactly? Sir Sparklepuff scampered to the front of the boat, perching on it and eagerly catching bugs with his tongue. Callum idly stared as he tried to quell his unease. "What is Aaravos supposed to do?"

Seiki looked enraptured as he started to row away from the dock. "Guide us."

The vagueness didn't make Callum feel any better.

Evenere had a reputation for being dreary, and it wasn't entirely unearned. Narrow natural waterways curved around the islands of Evenere, many with wooden walkways built into them leading up higher to buildings, but some left wild. It was damp and cramped but beautiful, in its own way. Birds sang overheard and Callum could see lizards scampering around on rocks on the shore. Mist and humidity under a canopy of foliage had Callum waving his hand at his face to try and dispel some of his sweat. Then, he remembered he was a sky mage and blew air at his own face, sighing as it refreshed him.

Seiki almost dropped an oar. "How'd you do that?!"

"Oh, forgot to mention. I'm a primal mage." Callum quickly added, "And it had nothing to do with Aaravos."

"Wait." Seiki gasped. "Oh no, first Lord Aaravos and now Your Highness. Forgive my manners, Prince Callum."

He missed being in disguise sometimes. He hadn't realized that his reputation as a primal mage was actually of interest to anyone, enough to out him on the spot to a foreign mage. Callum shook his head. "No, no it's fine! Just Callum."

Viren had spent the journey so far looking over the side of the boat, concentrating on the water. He let his fingertips drag across the surface. "All water is connected to the ocean, but it certainly feels different here."

Aaravos nodded. "Traditionally, Tidebound Elves look the most different of any elves due to how different aquatic environments can be. One may blend in with a tidepool they spend years in, another may have glimmering fish scales. Here, I imagine they would be more covert than otherwise. It's all the same arcanum." Aaravos drew a blue rune in the air made of wavy lines. "What do you say we help our new friend along?"

Viren drew the same rune. "Incantation?"

Aaravos cleared away his own rune so Viren could try, telling him, "Propellere aquam."

"Propellere aquam."

A wave swelled up from under them and nearly capsized the boat. Seiki scrambled to keep a hold of the oars as everyone else either fell forward or gripped one of the sides. Viren grit his teeth. "Are you forgetting to tell me something?"

Aaravos chuckled. "It may take multiple tries to get right." Kpp'ar groaned behind him and Callum gripped the edge of the boat harder. Aaravos nodded to the water. "Try again, with direction, moving with the currents, with the motion of the boat. Guide it, don't force it."

"Propellere aquam."

This time, the boat lurched but steadied itself, shooting forward for a few seconds before stilling again. Seiki, perhaps out of respect for Aaravos, didn't comment but looked nervous. Claudia poked Aaravos's shoulder. " You could get us there, right?"

"I'm teaching. You're getting the hang of it, Viren. Sustain the spell once it's cast. Seiki, direct us once we're moving."

Viren sighed. "Could use some of Villads' waterproof socks right now. Propellere aquam." The boat rocked, but the current under them smoothed out, guiding them forward a little faster than Seiki had been rowing. The rune stayed glowing in front of Viren, face focused.

Terry clapped, and so did Sir Sparklepuff. "There we go! Magic travel makes life a lot easier."

Claudia grinned. "Hey, you're the Earth guy, why don't we ever travel faster over land?"

"Um. Well, that would be nice," admitted Terry. "Land just isn't liquid enough."

"Thank you for your assistance." Seiki relaxed and dragged the oars back into the boat, directing Viren through the curves of the channels. "Two human primal mages with Lord Aaravos. Amazing."

Callum couldn't help it. "Lord Aaravos?"

"Look… I've spent my life waiting for this day. It uses both his name, and has some respect." Seiki ran a hand through his hair. Callum got the impression he was fighting directly against his own nature to try and be proper. "Someday, I may be needed at court to represent my family. Has me worried sick. I've got to make sure I give everyone the proper title."

Now that Callum could relate to. "I don't know how much you know about the Katolis family tree, but I wasn't born a prince. I've never been good at formalities myself."

Seiki gave him a relieved look and Callum felt some of his previous annoyance simmer down.

It was odd letting Aaravos and Terry be seen as who they really were. As they passed villages and other ships, Callum could practically feel the news about Aaravos's arrival spreading. A Startouch elf with his horns and markings were difficult to miss. If people in Evenere had been passing around stories about Aaravos for centuries, well, the dots weren't too difficult to connect.

"So how did you know where and when we'd get here?" asked Claudia. "We barely knew ourselves."

Seiki beamed. "Like I showed you before, it was this little guy!" He took the glass out of his pocket again, holding the Starweaver spider. "It's taken a lot of trial and error, but I've finally figured out how to read spider webs to predict the future!" He thrust the jar with the spider up to the sky, exclaiming, "Arachnapower!"

A cricket chirped somewhere nearby.

Callum coughed. "No, seriously, how did you do it?"

"You don't believe me?" Seiki laughed. "Lots of other people didn't either, but look! I was able to tell where Aaravos was going to arrive here, and when. Starweaver spiders are one of the very few creatures connected to the Star arcanum. We used to have no idea how to use them, thinking that maybe they needed to be used in spells, but they tell the future all on their own! Um, it really did take a long time to figure out what they were saying, or if they were saying anything at all because sometimes spiders just need to eat, but see? It worked!"

"I'm impressed," admitted Aaravos. "I gather that even with their connection, their prophecies are weak, localized. Something must have made you absolutely certain of their message this time."

"Yeah. They were all repeating the same irregular web. I knew something was up. They'd never gotten so excited before."

Callum still wasn't getting it. "So maybe they could foretell Aaravos coming, but I'm lost on how you knew where."

"Oh! I have a bunch of maps lying around, and I let the spiders make webs over them when they seem to be in a prediction mood," said Seiki, leaning forward with enthusiasm. "It's like a very long, sort of weird science experiment where if they all make the same symbols over the same part of the map, even when I turn the maps around and move them, I figure that's where to go! One time I thought they were leading me to treasure but it turned out to be the biggest mosquito swarm I'd ever seen, which I guess is spider treasure."

Sir Sparklepuff hiccuped in agreement.

Magic was weird. Callum shrugged, accepting it.

The waterway opened up, growing wide as they reached one of Evenere's main hubs. The Evenere library was on the very top of a hill, tallest spire rising above the fog. Evenere may not have had an official royal residence, but Callum could have believed that the library was their national castle. Made of tinted glass windows and dark facades with pointed arches and layers of elegance, lit by warm chandelier light from inside, Callum was drawn to it, eager to explore every shelf and corner of the library.

Viren dismissed his Ocean spell seconds before they arrived. The boat missed the dock entirely and scraped ashore with a thunk, jostling everyone inside.

"Nice landing," muttered Kpp'ar.

"You can steer the water currents under the boat next time." Viren climbed ashore, scowling as he brushed himself off. He stumbled as he tried to get his footing. Callum recognized the fatigue on his face from his time after he put wind in their sails.

"Have some water and take some deep breaths." Callum got out next to Viren, watching as Viren tried to recover. "It'll get better."

Aaravos also stood by Viren, steadying him with an arm around his shoulders. "You did well. Using your arcanum often will give you more stamina."

"Doesn't feel nearly as bad as Dark Magic did," admitted Viren. He rested his head against Aaravos for a moment, allowing himself a few seconds of support before they began their short hike.

A paved stone path through the swamp forest wound up the hill to the library, lined with more hanging firefly lanterns, shops, restaurants, and streets branching off to what Callum assumed were homes and more docks. Seiki led the way confidently, though most people's eyes were on Aaravos as they passed. Some passersby bowed to Aaravos, others called out to get his attention, and a few ran off to spread the news.

"The entire country will know you're here by dinner," muttered Viren.

"It's alright. We couldn't stay underground forever." Aaravos caught Viren's concern. "At the first sign of my presence bringing danger to these people, I'll make a big show of leaving."

The crowd got thicker near the library. A handful of mages stood in the road and tried to rush to see Aaravos. All in green or black cloaks with symbols of different Evenerean creatures embroidered in silver— a firefly, an alligator, a heron, a manta ray, they called out to Aaravos, pushing up against Seiki.

Aaravos's voice floated over the noise, at ease amidst the clamor.

"All in good time. I will see the High Mage first, and then return to you."

The crowd parted easily with more reverent bowing, but the chatter didn't die.

Claudia gawked right back at the mages. "Was it always like this before you were imprisoned?"

Aaravos's expression grew sorrowful.

"I was beloved by all, Claudia. This is nothing."

The library doors were already open when they climbed to the top, and Callum could immediately see why Kpp'ar had wanted them to come.

Callum wanted to lose himself all of the shelves of books around the perimeter of the oval library. Higher up, there were more floors of library shelves and desks to study at, all illuminated by chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. He could see where there were rooms off to the sides of the grand library hall and assumed there was a basement too, anything to store as many books and information materials as possible. He had a fleeting thought that it was probably large enough to have a few rooms to stay in too, but he was getting ahead of himself.

The centerpiece of the library drew everyone's attention the second they stepped in.

It was a large statue in the exact middle of the library, flanked by two curving staircases that framed the statue to the viewer. Callum had seen the monuments made in Katolis, but this wasn't stone like theirs. Larger than life, at ten feet tall, the statue was made of dark metal, hollow with small holes dispersed around where the subject's skin would show. A few candles burned within the statue, letting light shine through the holes like stars.

The likeness was incredible. The statue of Aaravos was posed elegantly with a kind expression. He held out his hand to an imaginary person in front of him, offering a gift. The gift was an open flame in his hand burning over a larger hole in his palm, necessary to make way for the fuel and air needed to keep the illusion of Aaravos conjuring a flame alive.

They all stopped to stare. "Woah," said Claudia softly.

Aaravos appraised it, pleased. "It's quite nice. Shame it isn't one of the nudes."

Callum, Claudia, Seiki, and Terry laughed, Callum covering his mouth as he choked. Viren blushed and Aaravos smirked at him, finally caving and laughing too.

An authoritative, irritated voice called out from upstairs.

"Sounds like you all took a wrong turn. The tavern is a block away."

Aaravos moved to the front of their group, standing in full view. "No, High Mage. I'm right where I'm supposed to be."

A woman Callum assumed was Srisha marched to the upper balcony railing, presumably to lecture them, but at the sight of Aaravos she dropped the pile of papers she was carrying. She stared, and Callum stared right back, drawn to a few things about her appearance. Her hair was the same shade of red as Queen Fareeda's had been, and she wore a golden diadem. His thought would be that perhaps she was a princess, but the diadem had a symbol in the center, directly over her forehead- a rune.

Srisha was also exactly five feet tall, but her aura more than made up for it.

Her papers had landed everywhere, some drifting down from the upper floor. Aaravos waved his hand and precise air currents scooped every paper back up, depositing them back into her arms. He mimicked the pose the statue of himself had, hand out as though offering a gift. "I was unaware Evenere was home to those who are still loyal to me. You honor me."

She blinked. "Yes, well…" Srisha straightened out her papers and recomposed herself, briskly walking down the stairs to meet them. "Seiki, you're late."

Seiki gasped. He gestured to Aaravos and the others gathered behind him. "But I was right this time! Please don't give me extra hours, I'm sure we'll have a big festival and all in Lord Aaravos's honor and I can't miss it! Pleeeeaaaase?"

Srisha glowered at him, but suddenly laughed. "You should see your face! Yes, yes, you really pulled it off this time. I'll let it slide. Once."

"Wow, you will? Thank you so much, High Mage."

Aaravos smiled down at her, as if he was in on a joke. "No wonder people find you so intimidating. They hate being pressed for the truth."

"What do you mean?" asked Callum.

"It's why everyone seeking information Evenere has on the Startouch Elves is turned away," said Kpp'ar.

Srisha turned to him, tapping the side of the circlet. "Not quite, but it is helpful. This trinket is imbued with a trace of the Sun arcanum, with the power to discern truth. It can't tell me the truth, and it's not always clear, but it can tell when words and intent don't quite match. However, I have the final say, and my gut has hardly ever been wrong. I don't trust most anyone looking for information on the Startouch Elves. Of course, since you are one yourself…" she trailed off, looking at Aaravos. She tried to remain businesslike despite being startled. "I doubt we lucky enough to have you here on only a social visit."

Aaravos bowed slightly. "It has been three centuries since I walked this earth, and there is much for me to catch up on. I need information, and we all need lodging. I can make it worth your time. As fortune would have it, Kpp'ar directed us here."

"First time I've ever heard of Kpp'ar doing anything useful," said Srisha.

"I've been imprisoned for about a decade by my apprentice, so the warm welcome is much appreciated," said Kpp'ar, fighting to keep a smile off his face. Callum could sense the history between them.

Srisha looked to everyone else. "And who are your followers?"

Callum waved. "Hi, I'm Callum. The prince one."

Terry gave her a thumbs up. "Trees to meet you! You can call me Terry."

"I'm Claudia," said Claudia. "Mage, cook, you know, overall handy."

Viren hesitated and Srisha narrowed her eyes. She stepped closer to him. " You . It can't be."

Aaravos slid an arm around Viren's waist. "This is indeed Lord Viren, back from the dead, and my partner. Any issue you have with him, you have with me. I understand Evenere sustained quite the blow from the war and the unfortunate events shortly after the last Pentarchy summit."

"Queen Fareeda was murdered, and Xadia claims they had nothing to do with it," stated Srisha. "I believe them. So if not Xadia, it had to be Viren."

Viren opened his mouth to explain, and Aaravos cut in. "Yes, I won't try to mislead you. It was myself through Viren that sent assassins to every other human kingdom."

Srisha flinched and Seiki outright recoiled.

Callum swallowed hard. They'd all purely blamed Viren for the demise and injury of the other monarchs, but he could see how Aaravos had been pulling strings even back then. He couldn't believe Aaravos could admit it so freely, without guilt at all. Even if Aaravos was changing, it was only a taste of the death and pain he'd supposedly caused in the past, so how could Callum, who knew what losing a king and father felt like, let himself stand there-

"Why?" pressed Srisha. "It is said you are the oldest and wisest of everyone on our planet. Why would you do such a thing?"

Aaravos was unapologetic, but his voice was soft. "It had to be done. The four other kingdoms had defied our will. I was caged like a trophy on display for the Archdragons of Xadia with few options to break free. I had not heard another voice for three hundred years. Every human I had never known had long since died. Yes, I will admit I was desperate, and there have been casualties, people who had never directly done me wrong but have been caught between me and my betrayers. I mean yourself and your kingdom no harm."

Srisha's shoulders sagged. "Alright. I understand."

Callum looked between her, Seiki, and Aaravos. "Woah, listen. I know I've become Aaravos's friend, but you aren't more bothered by that?!"

Seiki frowned. "It was fate, Aaravos's destiny for Queen Fareeda."

Srisha nodded, voice steady even though she was downcast. "We do not stand in the way of the Gods. Queen Fareeda had no way of knowing it was you behind Viren's actions. For this, as your followers, we ask forgiveness."

No, no, it wasn't right.

"Aaravos is capable of making mistakes," Callum stated. "You lost your queen!" He whirled around to Aaravos, shouting, "It wasn't some force of destiny, it was a horrible thing you did! You should be sorry! It's you who owe these people an apology, not the other way around!"

He didn't know how to explain what he was feeling. Callum didn't want Aaravos to be harmed or punished further, but he couldn't be satisfied with forgiveness on the spot, simply because he was Aaravos.

Aaravos, one of the Gods.

Callum had seen Aaravos break down, cry, be terrified of rejection, beg to feel the touch of another person, and be overwhelmed by feeling sunshine or hearing people on the street chat with each other. He knew how much Aaravos needed people, how much pain he was in. Aaravos wasn't invincible or all knowing. Aaravos was a person, complete with vulnerabilities and mistakes. He was powerful, but the idea of divine, beyond any accountability, was wrong.

Viren stepped forward. "I regret my past actions more than words can say. I've come to my senses, but too late for those who have already been harmed. Even if it was Aaravos's idea, I was his hands. I'm sorry. It's not nearly enough, it's nothing, but I'm sorry."

Srisha's piercing gaze was back. "Have you really changed, Viren?"

"Yes."

She pondered him. "People are usually lying when they say that, but I believe you too. I do not think any of you will be punished by Evenere for your past actions, though that lies outside my authority. King Rithul is at the Pentarchy meeting and isn't due back for a few days."

Ezran would be there too. Callum's heart skipped a beat, imagining Ezran meeting with four other monarchs all by himself. He couldn't have gone into the meeting even if he'd accompanied Ezran, but it still felt wrong to be away from him. He simmered down yet couldn't stand being near Aaravos at the moment. Callum trusted Aaravos, too much perhaps, but even with his own bond, he couldn't get past how jarring it was to see others who'd only just met him elevate him above all else. He moved away, not able to look at the statue either.

He felt a gentle pulse of concern over his connection to Aaravos. Aaravos, who cared for him, but wasn't sorry for assassinating someone. It didn't seem possible to be kind on one hand and apathetic on the other, but that's what he was, all in one person.

We'll talk later, thought Callum at him. The blacked out part of Aaravos's chest had some effects on him after all, Callum reasoned. It wasn't even news to Callum that Aaravos had been responsible for disasters, but he'd kept his eyes on the future and what he had to do to protect his own family, his own people, the living world.

Being faced directly with others who had lost someone was too much.

He was trying to not think about losing King Harrow, his dad , and failing.

Callum supposed he could press for answers too. Srisha would read Aaravos. "You've promised to keep me and my family safe. You've been our protector, our teacher, and our friend. I know you've done awful things, but now that you're free, you'll keep your word to everyone, right? Not just me, but these people who look up to you."

Aaravos nodded solemnly. "Yes. You can keep asking me as many times as you want, Callum, and the answer will always be the same. I shall be the teacher and protector I am supposed to be. I never break a promise." He put a hand on Callum's shoulder but kept it brief, sensing Callum's inner mess of emotions. "You're important to me. Don't ever doubt that."

Callum's throat felt tight. He wanted to throw himself into Aaravos's arms and forget about everything else. He wanted to understand absolute peace within himself, yet there always seemed to be the makings of a storm.

Srisha made eye contact with Callum and nodded, affirming the truth. "With that over with, whatever information you need is yours."

"Let's begin. Why Evenere?" asked Aaravos to Srisha.

"The Mage Wars lasted for hundreds of years," she said. "Most of the lands to the west were fought over, drained of resources in the wars. Evenere was as far removed from the conflict as possible. Scholars and others who wished to avoid fighting came down here. It was viewed as the last refuge, an island of leftovers for the losers of their own wars and for the less ambitious mages. However, our ancestors discovered it was rich in magical and natural resources. People settled here from all over, including those who passed down knowledge and records of you. It was the perfect, isolated place to keep secrets. After your imprisonment and erasure from history, we endeavored to memorize and verbally pass down everything we had about you. It wasn't perfect, but it's what we had."

"Thank you."

"King Rithul was only recently crowned, but he's a mage as well," she continued. "When he returns, he will undoubtedly have many questions."

"Ah, yes." Aaravos wandered over to a section of atlases, pulling one off the shelf and flipping through it until he found a map showing the location of the summit. "Speaking of that, when exactly does the Pentarchy meet?"

Seiki looked up at a clock on the wall. "It should have started about ten minutes ago, actually."

Aaravos began to glow with violet light. Star magic.

Uh oh.

Aaravos laughed. "Oh, they started already? Pardon me. They still need the star of the show."

He vanished in a flash of light.

All of them stood frozen, eyes on the spot where he'd just been. Callum kept blinking, disbelief clouding his previous confusion and anger. No one was allowed inside of the summit except the five rulers, but Aaravos obviously saw himself above all of them.

"Is he always like that?" asked Seiki.

Viren pinched the bridge of his nose, brows furrowed.

"Yes."