The morning clouds hung low in the sky, simulating a sombre and serious atmosphere, but the situation down below was anything but. Agnes had declared a transfer of tutelage from her current master to the young elder whom Eizan later found out was named Cant. And this wasn't a simple transfer of tutelage; transfers happened all the time; apprentices could be dissatisfied with their elders, and vice versa; these are reasons that could facilitate a transfer. However, Agnes was transferring not just from Elder Lockhorn's tutelage but from the faction itself. Faction politics were tense enough; her declaration could potentially tip the fragile scale.
This news, however, was offset by the news of Lord Goto's murder of Eizan. He thought this news was broken to Bachiko by Esumi, whose sullen mood permeated the atmosphere. As haughty as she was, Bachiko still told Eizan the news, probably seeking some comfort, but she was clearly asking the wrong person, hence the current mood.
Elder Cornish returned to the garden with an updated list of tasks; they were to clear a new section for planting immediately, and he was to supervise them personally. Eizan grabbed the tools needed and passed them to Bachiko before grabbing his. Elder Cornish was excellent at making himself comfortable, but it was no surprise; it was his garden. He perched on a rock he had conjured up, and the soft glow of the morning sun on his bald head made him look almost celestial. Eizan had to blink twice to clear the image from his mind, and the elder gave him a knowing look.
"I should give you a boost; you have done well," Elder Cornish said and spared the moonflower a glance, but his attention was back to them in no time. "That princess was beautiful, with a head full of curly black hair that was left wild and free when she arrived in Yogtharlarth. Come to think of it, you hold a striking resemblance to her," he said to Eizan, who immediately thought of the story of the origins of the moonflower he told when he brought Bachiko to the garden. His offhand comment about Eizan's resemblance to this mysterious princess aroused quite the curiosity.
"And she was powerful," Cornish reminisced wistfully, "but nothing lasts forever. The only other thing she cared about was the moonflower she had painstakingly cultivated to life, which also served as the instrument of her demise. She had come to the South in search of sunlight and freedom; she got both, but at a point, she wanted it all to herself, so she began to plot.
"She won over certain key figures, and in a bid to cement their trust, invited them to witness a ceremony," Elder Cornish wrote golden symbols in the air that disappeared shortly and reclined on the rock, "her plans were leaked to her husband, the then crown prince, and a trap was laid for her. At the climax of the ceremony, the three court magicians, hidden amidst her supporters, activated a spell already cast at the venue and circumvented the whole affair, wiping out her and all her supporters and hunting down everyone who was part of her entourage."
"That event was tagged as 'The Great Purge' in history; this is common knowledge," Bachiko commented; her tools had vanished to who knows where. "Look at you distorting history with fairytales," she added under her breath.
"Indeed, but the account of history can be very dodgy; it doesn't remember everything," Elder Cornish was very patient with her interruption; only Meredith understood how much he hated being interrupted. "Anyway, can you guess what the ceremony was for?" he directed the question to Eizan. Yeah, he was definitely irked by that interruption.
"The moonflower?" Eizan guessed. It was a question with an obvious answer, but the elder loved asking them.
"Almost there. The ceremony was to facilitate the blooming of the moonflower. You see, it was taken from its natural habitat to a different one; certain sacrifices were needed to grow it, and she was good at making them. It worked, but she didn't live to see it."
The cloaked man appeared and whispered something to Elder Cornish, who left with him shortly. Eizan turned to Bachiko, who had retrieved her tools and was back to work. He thought about the story Elder Cornish told them and got chills when he remembered the elder said he had a striking resemblance to that princess. The first time Cornish told that story, he called it a folktale, and now it was history? What was he supposed to believe? He would find the time to visit the library later.
Agnes was leaning against his door when he returned to the dormitory. Whatever it was she had going on, she probably wanted to drag him into it. Her robes were sapphire, just like Meredith's, and her token was looking different.
"You are a secondary apprentice now?" he asked.
"Core apprentice," she corrected, "Cant is a grand elder of the Goldreach faction; his influence was enough for me to bypass the promotion test."
"Is that even possible?" Eizan mumbled. The wizened elder had given the impression that nepotism was nonexistent in the Tower.
"Of course it is. You would have known if you left that farm of yours. Aren't you going to invite me in?"
Eizan opened his door and held it open for her. As she crossed the threshold, he felt a cold wind on his neck. "Little boy…"
He spun around, catching Agnes' attention. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" she looked out, curious.
"That voice…"
"What voi—Boy, get in here!" she dragged him inside. However, the world turned black, something heavy slammed into him, and he found himself in the garden, right at the moment he was about to leave. That voice whispered in his ear again, "Little boy… you can hear me now."
Subarasii Raito: Goto Mansion:
The mansion had Lady Letitia's energy all over it, but she was dead. Meredith was sure of it. However, what else could explain this? She walked around the mansion and found residues of Lady Letitia's magic. Councilman Maverick came out of her uncle's treasured study wearing an irritated expression at her presence. He knew not to antagonize the Tower; his Council, or whatever it's called, would be annihilated in the blink of an eye. Having found out that Letitia was alive and she probably had a hand in her uncle's death, Meredith hurried back to the Tower. Letitia would definitely come for her, and only her master could protect her now.
The Tower:
Eizan nearly jumped out of his skin after he heard that voice. It was oddly familiar. "Stop looking around; I am in your mind. Little boy… are you daft?" the voice disdained. Before he could process the whole situation that he was in the garden when he was supposed to be with Agnes in his dorm room, his parents came into the garden accompanied by a third-year apprentice who left shortly.
Their attire looked nothing like what he was used to; they seemed to be doing very well. "I don't want to see you or talk to you," he said, but they kept walking towards him. "I said STOP!" he roared. A current travelled swiftly towards them but disappeared before it made contact. Eizan sagged to the ground, and Bachiko went to support him.
His parents shared a look, and his mother grabbed Bachiko. The younger girl's eyes dilated. "Sleep," his mother said softly, and Bachiko dropped like a log. "I told you," his mother turned to his father, "the first seal was gone, and now the second is too, although something seems to have gone wrong."
There they went again, talking over his head. His father levelled him with a look that quelled the protests rising in his mind. "We are going to have a little chat, boy."