Seventeen fed Selene a piece of the sandwich in his hand. He was sitting on a comfortable armchair near the fireplace of the Aeva house.
Sitting with him was the Aeva family. May Aeva sat opposite Seventeen while Ruth and her brother sat beside him.
"I have a question about the Aeva family.", he asked May. She sipped her tea, "Okay. So what is it?"
"Can you tell me more about the curse? Like how did you guys get it?", Seventeen asked.
May smiled, "I figured you would ask that.", she put down her cup and folded her hands."Before you learn about the curse, you must first know about our past."
"You see instructor Seventeen. Our ancestor was not a true elf. He was a homunculus."
"A homunculus?", Seventeen was surprised.
Homunculi are living beings created artificially with the help of magia. Due to how they were created, homunculi are powerful beings with enhanced physical and magia abilities. But they have short lifespans and are incapable of having progeny.
Seventeen was confused, "Then how?"
May answered his question, "Our ancestor was unique. He was among the most powerful homunculi to exist. He was able to have children and pass on his powers to the next generation."
"Whoa. So does that mean the ice queen is half homunculus?", Seventeen asked.
"You could say I am part homunculus. Many generations had passed since our ancestor.", Ruth answered.
"Oh. That is interesting.", Seventeen said. He turned to May, "So who created your ancestor? Seeing that he was one of the strongest homunculi?"
May smiled, "Well he was created by none other than the person who created the language of magia, the runes, 3500 years ago. The one who created the first magia codes. He who inherited the blood of Arkenstein and cursed to live forever. The most powerful warlock in the world."
"The Immortal Warlock. Eravon Lock."
Seventeen felt a tingle in his body when he heard the name. "Eravon Lock.", he repeated it. He read about him in the library of Cardinal Academy.
May nodded, "You could say he's the father of the magia codes. He mastered every aspect of magia and can wield every single attribute."
"Before Eravon created the runes, controlling magia and the attributes were really difficult. So apart from higher beings like dragons and Vahari, only a few were able to use magia but it was unstable, so many accidents happened."
"But isn't creating homunculi a forbidden art?", Seventeen asked. May nodded, "Indeed it is and it was Eravon himself who made it forbidden due to how powerful and unstable homunculi were. Even with short lifespans, they are incredibly powerful and are easily corrupted by black magia."
Seventeen frowned, "So did Eravon give you the curse?"
May shook her head, "He didn't. He was one of the few who tried to remove it but to no avail. Homunculi were not that popular with people back then. A homunculus-hating demon lord cursed our ancestor and it had killed many from the Aeva Family."
"Our ancestor was a talented artist so he started the tradition of making ice sculptures. It was due to him and the next generations that the Aevas became a noble family."
Ruth laughed drily, "And I believe the title of nobles went over their heads. They disliked us three siblings and called our father a disgrace for marrying a human 'peasant'. I could say mom wasn't popular with them."
"Grandma was the only one other than our parents who defended us from our relatives. She still does even though it's kinda weird nowadays. I guess it's old age.", she sighed.
"What did you just say?", May asked with a threatening smile. Ruth coughed, "Nothing. Just a slip of the tongue."
"I see", May turned to Seventeen, "I hope this is the answer you needed?"
Seventeen nodded, "It's more than enough.", he fed Selene the remaining sandwich and stood up. "Thank you for having me in your house. I should take my leave now. The students will be waiting for me."
"We are the ones who should thank you.", May said with a warm smile. Ruth got up, "I will escort you to the gate."
Seventeen raised his eyebrows, "You? Escort me? Now that is a privilege."
Ruth smiled dangerously, "This will be the only time this happens. So feel fortunate."
"Will you visit again?", Toby asked Seventeen. The latter smiled, "If your sister doesn't kick me out first."
Toby looked at Ruth. "Of course I wouldn't do that!", she said. Toby smiled, "Alright."
Ruth was surprised. She smiled back, "I'll be right back."
Seventeen followed her to the door. He bid goodbye to the others and the both of them walked towards the gate. The moon had already risen and illuminated the night.
The lights of Elvenglade glowed brightly under the shade of Yggdrasil. The many leaves of the great tree also contributed to the light with their blue glow.
Selene flew from his shoulder and landed next to the falcon sculpture from before.
"You seriously like it huh?", Seventeen asked the falcon. She looked at him with her black eyes and nodded.
Ruth smiled. She walked over to the sculpture, picked it up, and gave it to Seventeen. "Consider this a token of my gratitude."
"You sure about this? You hadn't sold this for ten years. Surely this is precious to you.", Seventeen said in surprise.
"Of course it is!', Ruth snapped. She then smiled, "That's why I am entrusting it to you. Don't you dare let anything happen to it and besides.", she looked away, "It has been ten years. Time to accept the past I guess."
"Huh?", Seventeen was confused.
"Oh, it's nothing.", Ruth said and held out her hand. Selene flew to her and squawked in happiness as if thanking her for the gift.
Ruth smiled, "Someone once told me to be free like a Moon Falcon, and now I intend to honor those words."
"Alright then.", Seventeen carefully placed the sculpture inside his storage ring. "I guess I will see you in class.", he turned to the open gate.
Selene opened up her wings and launched herself gracefully into the sky and going ahead of her master. Her silhouette glowing in the light of the full moon.
A single silver feather landed on Ruth's open palm. It glinted in the moonlight. She looked at the figure walking towards the city. Both of them had worked together for some time and still, she knows nothing about Seventeen.
His past, his true identity, and his abilities are a huge mystery. "Just who are you?", she mused as the shadows of the trees swallowed him up.
*******
Seventeen looked at the beautiful sight of Elvenglade in the night, "Amazing. No wonder it's called the most beautiful city."
(Indeed Seventeen.)
'You were quiet during the conversation about the curse and Eravon.'
(Well. Um. I had other stuff to do.)
'Really?', Seventeen was pretty sure his creator was fidgeting.
'So this is my question. When we first met you mentioned a certain friend who helped you with us androids by placing us in different universes. Is this friend Eravon Lock?'
There was silence. He then heard a sigh.
(Yeah. You are right. It was Eravon. I'm interested to hear how you figured that out.)
Seventeen smiled, 'I have read about him in the academy's library. Almost every single book mentions him. He created the runes 3500 years ago. His achievements were all mentioned but there was no definitive information about his origins.', he told Prime in his mind.
'Scholars and historians were able to verify that he was descended from Arkenstein but there was no record of his birth. This was weird since the earliest record of him was as a young man in his twenties 3500 years ago. A full 500 years before the Forgotten Millenium.'
'That is not all. The archaeologists of this world were able to find remnants of 4000 and 3500-year old Arken but found no record of Eravon's origin and home. It was as if he popped into existence one fine day 3500 years ago.'
'And that's when I started thinking. Since I can easily travel to places using the Space attribute. Surely a warlock like Eravon would be capable of interdimensional travel. And by your previous answer, It seems like Eravon was born in your world. Am I right?'
(A good theory that was spot on. Nice.)
Seventeen smiled, 'I also have one more question.'
(What is it?)
'Why did Eravon come to this world and make the runes? He could have just placed me here and returned to your world. Doesn't he have a parallel version here like you?'
(I believe it's best if you ask him yourself Seventeen. Sometimes the only one who can give the right answer is the person you are looking for.)
Seventeen pondered that thought. 'So how strong is Eravon? Do I have a chance against him?'
(I'll be blunt. You have almost zero chance against that guy at your current level. But you are a warlock with great potential. It will take some time but you will soon reach him. I bet even he is looking forward to that.)
'Huh.', Seventeen reached the warp gate they used in the morning. He saw his students coming up to him on the bridge. 'I wonder when I will see Eravon?'
(It could be sooner than you think.)
'Yeah', he smiled at Arthur, Robin, and Gray who looked like they had a good time.
"Where is Miss Ruth?", Arthur asked Seventeen as he looked around for their instructor.
"The ice queen will come a little later. She has some catching up to do with her family.", Seventeen replied. He nodded at the warp gate, "Shall we get going?"
The three of them nodded. The Imperial Guards activated the warp gate and soon the familiar walls of Crystalis appeared on the other side of the gate. Seventeen followed his students to the gate.
He turned around and took in the sight of Elvenglade at night. He then entered the gate, "I will find you Eravon.", he said to himself as he stepped into the land of Crystalia.
*******
The next day.
High above Crystalis city and the Corvinian mountains, the islands of Ascalon floated among the clouds.
All of them are blessed with lush green forests and mountains. Rivers flowing from the mountains end in waterfalls at the edges of the islands that dissipate in the sky before reaching Middle Arken.
Most of them have small villages and towns with inhabitants from many races. But half of the total population of Ascalon are dragons, a few being shifters. The other races together form the other half.
Dragons are more common in Ascalon than any place in Arken. Visitors would be amazed by the different dragons, especially wyverns that fly in the sky and swim in the rivers and lakes.
The largest of these islands contains the capital of Ascalon, the city of Cerus. It is the largest city in Ascalon and the place where the Dragon lords hold their councils. Cerus is a grand city whose beauty is second only to Elvenglade.
Just like the nations of Middle Arken, Ascalon is ruled by the Axis Family, one of the fourteen Arken Families and also under the jurisdiction of the Council of Seventy.
The Stelians, consisting of higher vampires and vampire half-bloods, the Dawn and Cadis Families are the supporting Families for the Axis Family.
Above the spires of Cerus, higher than the usual flying space of dragons, a lone dragon was flying towards one of the islands on the outskirts of Ascalon.
On its back sat the figure of a young man. His white hair was blowing in the wind due to the high speed. He held on tightly to his white cloak. His blue eyes fell on an island covered in fog in the outskirts of Ascalon.
'It's been so long.', he thought and smiled.