It's been a few days since the incident with Ericka. Alexander and Katherine both made a full recovery, well Katherine was not physically injured, but her magic finally returned to normal. Both were cleared and were free to go home. Alexander flexed his body to make sure he was in good condition. He started to shadow box, punching the air in various way before drawing out his sword. He channeled mana into the sword and proceeded to slice the air, before returning the sword back into its scabbard.
"Looks like I'm in perfect condition!" Alexander expressed
"Was that really necessary?" Katherine asked with sarcasm.
On the other hand, Charlotte was really impressed by Alexander's skills, her face practically lit up. Alexander couldn't stop thanking Charlotte for healing him. This made her glad and also embarrassed at the same time, but at the end of the day, she was happy she could help.
To celebrate Katherine decided to spend the day in the city together, but this time was different. This time they were citizen of Valentia, although having to renew their identification documents was going to be a pain for them. It was worth it though, but it seems they can't escape the past. First it was Hunter and then it was Ericka. Between Hunter and Ericka there is a slight different between them, and both of them pose a great threat to Alexander and Katherine.
The city was calm that day; it was practically a normal day. The Kingdom of Valentia is one of the safest kingdoms around, but it's not perfect. Somehow, Heather managed to pull away from war between the Kingdom of Samar and the Kingdom of Narvarh. After 12 years she managed to keep the peace, even the current King doesn't want to ruin it. The Kingdom of Valentia is like an escape for some people, including Alexander and Katherine.
Alexander and Katherine sat down to have lunch at a café. The two got a table on the first floor balcony. The view of the city was beautiful, but the mood soon got sour. Alexander couldn't help think about the so called 'kings legacy'.
"Damn it!" he mumbled in anger. "We can't escape this."
"Calm down. You can't beat yourself about this." She tried to calm him down. "Considering who we are up against, I think we got off lucky."
"Are we destined to always look behind our backs?" he asked clutching his fists.
Katherine grabbed one of his fists, "We can't lose hope, if we stick together maybe. I mean we made it this far, we can take on anything."
"Let's enjoy this moment while we still can."
…
Meanwhile at the magic academy it was business as usually. Most of the injured instructors managed to make a full recovery, sadly the death of some of the instructors placed a huge dent in the academy's moral. The academy was short staffed but somehow they are managing to train young mages in the arts of magic.
Inside his office, the head master was busy filling out some paper work. Suddenly the door swings open and slams the wall hard.
"WHAT THE…?" Quincy shouted as the sound of the door frighten him.
It turned out to be none other than Emeli. During the last few days Quincy hire as a new instructor, more like a trainee.
Most instructors take on apprentice or two to train them. This is one of the reasons Heather took a liking towards Alexander and Katherine. It's not only instructors, most mages tend to have apprentices, a good example is Hunter and Stella.
"I have great news!" she exploded rushing to towards the desk. She slammed a bunch of documents on the desk. "I found it. I found all the documents you requested."
Quincy was confused for a moment but then he saw an image of Alexander. He took a glace on the first document before placing it on one side. The second document had an image of Katherine, he did the same and placed it on top of the first one. The Third document had an image of someone called Roland. The Forth document had an image of Emeli herself. He did the same with the remaining until he finished the whole stack. The documents contained sensitive information about each of the mages: History; stats and other personal information. He took the first two and started reading.
"Katherine Marie Harnett… I take it she's part of a noble family?" Quincy asked curiously.
"Yeah she was the famous prodigy or whatever." Emeli answered.
"She is 24 years old, and she was born the Kingdom of Narvarh. At age 11 she was drafted into the army and one year late she was captured by the Kingdom of Samar," Quincy looked at Emeli, "interesting?"
Emeli was curious about, "What is it? Is there something wrong?"
"No." Quincy continued reading. "There is no record of her for the next few years until 3 years ago when she was arrested for treason… now she is here in Valentia. Interesting?"
Emeli took the document with Alexander's image on it.
"Alexander A. Stone… he has a middle name?" She asked before handing the document over to Quincy.
"He's also 24 years old, and he was an orphan before he moved to the Kingdom of Samar. He was trained by the Silver Wolf, Hunter… that explains the sword."
"I know Alexander well. We served together a few years ago." Emeli informed Quincy.
"3 years ago he was also arrested for treason… him too?" Quincy couldn't help but find a connection. "What did they do, assassinate the Prince and Princess of the two Kingdoms?" he Laughed at the thought of the idea.
"Technically… they may have played a little part in that." Emeli answered with embarrassment and a guilty look on her face. Quincy's laugh faded away.
"Don't tell me you were involved?"
"No, no… I may have slipped away when things got heated."
Quincy was confused and shocked at the same time, but he didn't linger on the situation for too long.
"So what's going on with their magic capability? It's written 'Unknown', care to explain?"
"I don't know about Katherine, but Alexander is a different story." Emeli began to explain. "We took one of those magic tests, you know the ones with the crystal… and he… basically destroyed it."
"Impossible!" Quincy slammed the desk. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
The Magic crystals they use to test mages are made out of pure magic. When it comes into contact with a mage, it would glow. The more intense the glow, the more magic one mage has. Also it practically impossible to damage it, let alone destroy one.
"Well this is getting interesting. The following year is going to be a treat, train them well Heather." Quincy could help but laugh nervously.
…
…
A year has passed and since then Alexander and Katherine were trained by the Heather. The second sun was about to set as they finished a long training session. She didn't do much with them, she just showed them how to be an instructor most of the time. During their training the shadow mages, Hunter or Ericka never did show up again. It seems their visits were just warnings for things to come. In a few days Alexander and Katherine would be starting their jobs as instructors at the magic academy. They have enough experience to get by, and the rest was up to them.
That night, all three moons where out in full, and around midnight something strange happened.
…
"Tick Tock… the time is slowly approaching." A voice echoed in the darkness. "Year 1000 of the Celestial calendar, this marks the END as well as the BEGANNING of a millennium. How interesting, only a few people will witness the alignment of the celestial bodies."
…
Alexander and Katherine woke up screaming in pain and terror, as a huge surge of magic exploded in their sleep. Alexander and Katherine felt a painful burn on their arms. Alexander felt the burn on his left arm and Katherine felt it on her right arm. A second surge of magic exploded and that time destroyed the wall separating their rooms. Alexander made his way towards Katherine's room, only to find her on the floor. She was unconscious from the second magic surge.
"KATHERINE!" Alexander tried to scream, only to suffer from a third magic surge which knocked him unconscious as well.
As they slept a strange mark began to appear on the side of their shoulders, their arms started to glow as it burned the skin. The strange mark looked like a crest of some sorts, but it didn't end there. Tribal like marks began to spread around their: arm; back and parts of their leg, burning parts of their clothes and anything in contact with the mark.
"Well it seems the main characters of this story are finally awaken. This year is going to be interesting." The voice echoed once again before fading away.