Anne escorted them to the house. Seventeen was fascinated by the sculptures. Selene flew off his shoulder and perched next to an identical sculpture of a Moon Falcon.
"Looks like you found a friend.", Seventeen said as Selene looked at the sculpture with curiosity.
Ruth smiled, "I made that ten years ago and never had the heart to sell it."
"Ten years? That is a long time for an ice sculpture.", Seventeen remarked. He left Selene to explore the place and followed the maid into the house.
She opened the front doors and beckoned them, "Welcome to the House of Aeva, instructor Seventeen."
"Whoa.", Seventeen said with amazement. The interior was beautifully decorated with artistic designs. The central hall of the house had two staircases on either side that led to the upper floors.
The circular hall was surrounded by balconies of the upper floors and a huge skylight on the roof allowed sunlight to illuminate the hall.
But what struck Seventeen with awe was the huge chandelier that hung from the skylight over the main hall. It had an intricate and beautiful design. The most surprising thing was that the whole thing was made from ice.
Ruth saw him looking at the chandelier. She smiled, "That is probably my greatest masterpiece. The ice of the Aevas is no ordinary ice."
She held out her hand and a few ice shards floated over it. "Our ice is tough and easy to work with. It is not easy to melt and so is a very good material to make long-lasting sculptures."
"You guys were able to do this even with the curse plaguing your bodies? You got my respect.", Seventeen remarked. Ruth smiled proudly.
He heard a laugh behind them. Seventeen turned around and saw an elf in a wheelchair pushed by Anne. She had short bluish white hair and looked about in her early sixties. Her eyes were similar to Ruth's.
She nodded, "Welcome to the Aeva house, instructor Seventeen. I am May Aeva."
Seventeen shook hands with her, "Thank you, lady Aeva. It is a pleasure to meet you."
May smiled, "I have heard a lot about you from Ruth."
Seventeen raised his eyebrows, "Really? I presume most of them were unflattering things."
"Indeed. She called you the most infuriating man she ever met.", May laughed. "Grandma!", Ruth protested, her face a bit red.
"Alright. Whatever you say, Ruth. Honestly, grandchildren are amazing.", May said. After a pause, she looked at Seventeen and bowed her head.
Seventeen was surprised, "What are you doing lady Aeva?", he asked.
"Thank you for saving Ruth.", May said, "The curse of the Aevas had plagued us for generations and none had ever found a cure for it. Me and Ruth's parents searched everywhere for the cure but to no avail but her mother didn't give up."
"Ruth's mother was a human and a strong woman. She married into the Aeva family fully knowing that she would inherit the curse. It seemed like Ruth inherited her passion for even she didn't give up on looking for an answer."
Ruth remained silent and looked away.
May looked at Seventeen, "And to think that the whole answer was a simple code."
"It is more complicated than you think, lady Aeva. Not every warlock can do it unless they want to completely deplete their Reserve.", Seventeen said.
"And you are not every warlock.", May said with a smile. Seventeen smiled back.
He cracked his knuckles, "So how about we get started?"
"Let's wait for a moment. Ruth's brother Toby will soon be here.", May said. As soon as she said it the front door opened and fourteen-year-old Tobias Aeva came in.
"Hello grandma. Everyone out there is saying we got visitors.", he said and stopped when he saw Ruth, "Oh."
"Hey, Toby.", Ruth said with a nervous smile. "Oh. Hey.", Tobias said flatly. He climbed up the stairs, "I am going to my room grandma."
May sighed, "Alright."
They saw him go to the first floor and disappear into his room. Ruth looked down, "I should've expected that", she smiled sadly.
Seventeen frowned, "What's with that face ice queen?", he flicked her forehead.
"Ow!"
"There is no point in getting all depressed. Try talking to your brother for once.", he said. "But he won't approach me.", Ruth replied.
"Then go to him.", Seventeen said, "How about this? You stay here and catch up with your brother. I will inform headmaster Zephyrus."
"He avoided me every time I went to him. How is this time going to be any different?", Ruth asked. Seventeen smiled, "You'll see."
"But before that.", he turned to May, "I should remove your curse, lady Aeva."
"What about Toby?", May asked. "Elders first.", Seventeen came behind her and placed his hand between her shoulder blades.
{Code Cancel}
The curse dissipated with a wave of magia. May Aeva felt tired. "The code will make you tired for a few seconds.", Seventeen said.
"It was different from how mine was removed.", Ruth noted. "That's because the curse was activated and making your magia go haywire.", Seventeen answered.
"Ah."
May Aeva closed her eyes and her breathing became normal. "I feel. Free.", she said in amazement.
"So the curse has been dispelled. Thank you. We are forever in your debt.", she bowed to Seventeen.
The latter smiled, "I'm just keeping a promise.", he turned to the stairs.
'I hope your convincing skills are good Prime.', he thought.
(Of course. I was once called a master of convincing.)
Seventeen looked through Prime's memories and saw him 'convincing' his enemies.
'Dude. That's threatening.'
(Oh. Whatever. You are smart. So use that artificial brain of yours to come up with something.)
'Sometimes I wonder about you.'
Seventeen reached upstairs and knocked on the boy's door.
*******
Toby heard a knock on his door. He frowned. Was it his sister? Maybe not. She does not come into his room nowadays.
Perhaps it's Anne, "Come in.", he said.
The door opened and he was surprised to see the young man who came with his sister. Toby hadn't taken a good look at him downstairs but the person in front of him has to be the most handsome man he had ever seen.
The man smiled, "Hey there. I am Seventeen. I'm a fellow instructor of your sister. Nice to meet you, Tobias."
"You have a strange name, Mr. Seventeen.", Toby said.
"Indeed. But it's the name I was given.", Seventeen came up to him. "Did my sister send you?", Toby asked.
"Nope. I came here to get rid of that annoying curse on your back."
Toby thought he heard wrong, "Remove the curse?"
Seventeen nodded, "How do you think your sister got rid of it?"
"Her curse was removed?", Toby asked.
"You didn't know huh."
"I don't talk to my sister that much.", Toby looked away. "Is it because of what happened in the past?", Seventeen asked.
Toby didn't answer. He couldn't forget that night when Ruth, covered in blood took his hand and both of them fled the house. Back then he wondered where Juniper was.
After learning the truth he cried for days and avoided Ruth, perhaps he was afraid or perhaps hated her for killing his oldest sister. But ever since then he didn't talk to her and Ruth was away most of the time.
"Do you blame your sister for what happened?", Seventeen asked. "It's hard. I know it was because of the curse but I feel like it was partly her fault.", Toby said.
"Have you thought how Ruth felt?"
He never thought about it.
"I believe she was the worst affected. After all, her sister died in front of her due to her ice. She's been blaming herself for it ever since. But my question is. Would Juniper want this?", Seventeen asked.
"How do you know her name?", Toby asked in shock. The young man winked, "I just know. But let's go to the question. Would she want all this?"
"She wouldn't want this. Big sis Juniper was a bright person.", he answered.
Seventeen smiled and kept a hand on his back. Toby felt a tingle and a wave of magia burst out. He suddenly became tired. Seventeen held him, "Don't worry. I just removed the curse."
"How about you talk with your sister to catch up on stuff?"
Toby thought about it, "Alright. Thank you Mr. Seventeen."
Seventeen smiled and pointed at the door, "Let's get out of here and see them."
Toby nodded. He slowly stood up and followed Seventeen. "Um. Mr. Seventeen? Who are you?"
Seventeen looked back, "Who am I?", he thought for a moment and smiled, "That's what I want to find out."
"Huh?", Toby said as they exited the room.
*******
Seventeen stood at the garden of the Aeva house. The sun was setting and a soft breeze blew across the garden, carrying the sweet scent of the flowers.
Selene flew up to him and perched on his shoulder. She softly pecked his earring. Seventeen smiled and stroked her soft silver feathers.
He stepped out of the house after removing Toby's curse to replenish his Reserve. Currently, he's able to use Code Cancel five times. He had already used it three times today.
He took in the magia rich air. He felt his whole body getting refreshed.
"So this is what it feels to be alive huh?", he asked himself.
(Well. You are not far from the answer.)
Seventeen felt a faint presence in the garden. He walked for some time and stopped in front of a juniper tree in the middle of the garden.
Under the tree was a grave marker. inscribed on it were a Moon Falcon and two words.
"Juniper Aeva.", Seventeen said them aloud.
He activated Astral vision. Which allows one to see the spirits of living beings and other supernatural things.
Seventeen saw that near the grave marker sat a young woman leaning against the tree. She was really beautiful with long bluish hair and blue eyes.
She wore a blue sleeveless dress and a white scarf was wrapped around her neck. A snowflake tattoo similar to Ruth's stood out on her shoulder. She had an ethereal glow around her.
"Juniper?", Seventeen said. She looked at him and nodded
"You can rest now. Be at peace", he said.
Juniper smiled softly and mouthed the words, "Thank you.". Her spirit faded into glittering particles like tiny stars. The wind shifted and Seventeen heard what sounded like a sigh of relief.
(What a touching conclusion.)
Seventeen heard someone behind him. He turned around and saw Ruth. "So you were here.", she said, looking at him and the grave marker.
"Yeah. I thought I felt a presence when I first entered the estate but it was just the wind.", Seventeen replied. "Oh.", Ruth said and her face flushed.
"Listen. Um. Regarding your advice for me to stay here for a day. I think I will take it.", she said. "That's good. I will inform the students and the headmaster of your decision.", Seventeen replied.
"Okay. So um, thank you.", Ruth said. "You're welcome ice queen.", Seventeen said.
"Not only for this but also for everything. You destroyed the curse of Aeva, helped me reconcile with my brother, and perhaps even helped my sister's soul find peace. So thank you Seventeen, for everything.", she said with gratitude.
Seventeen was surprised. He smiled mischievously, "Wow. I didn't know you could be nice."
Ruth immediately switched to her annoyed expression, "Why did I even bother? You are still infuriating."
Seventeen laughed, "Well. After all, I am your annoying co-worker."
Ruth smiled, "Yeah. You are.", she turned to the house, "How about we head inside. Anne has prepared some refreshments and you better have them or grandma will hunt you down to give them to you."
"Seriously?"
Ruth smiled back, "You better believe it.", she started towards the house and Seventeen followed her.