"Enough!" Aeolus roared. Augustus, who had been slumping against a wall as I had, sprang up to protect Aquila, drawing the sword from his belt to point at Aeolus. Azure mirrored him, pressing blade to blade.
"Calm yourself!" Augustus shouted, "or-"
"'Calm myself'?! Don't talk about her that way! Sera is one of the best people I know. It was you lot who attacked us without warning!"
"It wasn't our fault!"
Icy panic flooded my veins, drowning out their arguments. There would be a brawl if everyone didn't calm down soon, and we would be vastly outnumbered. We wouldn't survive. Next to me, Sky stood, useless; everything he'd thought he'd known about this world flipped on its head. Azure, Aeolus, and Augusts were near to blows, and Helia was half a second from joining them. Sera was frozen, with rage or guilt.
The tension in the room grew thick enough to nearly choke on, faded shouting echoing in the hall. Summoning every ounce that resided in me of my sometimes terrifying mother, who could silence someone with only a look, I squared my shoulder and stepped forward.
I approached Aeolus first, laying a hand on his shoulder. He attempted to shrug it off, but I held steady, not letting go. I shifted to face Aquila. "Thank you for your time. We need time to think over everything you've said." I said, projecting my voice with false confidence across the room. My hand kept a steady pressure on Aeolus' shoulder; If Aeolus calmed down, Azure would follow. I forced myself to be steady and show no weakness as the weight of the room smothered me.
Slowly, I felt the tension in Aeolus' shoulders drain away as he let me push him gently to the side. Seeing his charge calm down, Azure gave Augustus a lingering glare but retreated, taking a single step backward and lowering his sword. Augustus followed suit. Neither took their eyes off of the other. Helia stepped back defensively near a stone Sera.
Sky surged forward, standing nearly shoulder-to-shoulder with me. He spoke up in support, saying, "He's right. We've had a lot of information dropped on us today, and we need to think it over. At the very least, you can be sure we will only act in self-defense from now on."
There was a mumbled "We were acting in self-defense" from Helia, and the room dropped a few degrees in temperature. I would have kicked her for nearly ruining my hard work if I were a braver man.
With obvious and projected monumental effort, Aquila restrained herself from further accusations. "Augustus will lead you out," she said, "If you have any more questions, make sure to inform us of your coming prior to your arrival. Not everyone is as kind to strangers as Augustus is. I wouldn't want you to be involved in any….accidents."
That was vaguely threatening. Not wanting to linger, we were quick to escape to the door.
Before we exited, however, Aquila waved me over. "I'd like to speak with Hayden alone, please."
Without a good excuse to refuse, I begrudgingly obliged.
"We will wait down the hall," Augustus informed me. The others shot me looks between the stages of concern and disapproval but made no move to argue. The room grew noticeably warmer and brighter the moment they left, tension lifting from my chest, slowing my breaths.
There was an awkward, pregnant silence. After what felt like hours but was probably less than a minute, her posture relaxed, and warmth and kindness flooded her face, again reminding me of when I'd first met Sera.
Aquila turned to me. "I apologize for scaring you," she said. "I could see your knees clacking together from here. But I don't apologize for what I said. I need them to understand. Otherwise, I fear we will be hidden from society forever, unable to interact with people who used to be our family and our friends, while that evil man and Sera's father continue to force us to do their bidding."
"Why are you telling me this?"
She gave a thin smile. "Because you are different."
Well, she wasn't wrong.
"I also need to warn you." Her eyes stared deep into my soul. "Be careful. Phoenixes can sense magical signatures. I fear that if you encounter one of Hilarious' agents, they will do anything to get their hands on you. They're always on the lookout for more unique magics." She said delicately, the warning crystal clear in her voice.
Nervous, I rubbed my arm. Great. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." She said, an apparent dismissal.
Before she could, I asked the burning question: "Do you know anything?"
"I know a lot of things. About what?" She replied patiently.
Desperate, I asked. "About my magic. Do you know how I use it? Have you ever met anyone else with my magic?"
Her brow wrinkled with sympathy. "I have encountered a few people and creatures with your magic before, back when Servius was still the Royal Mage of the Sea Serpent Kingdom, but I don't know much myself and cannot teach you. Servius used them in his experiments. To my knowledge, none survived. Servius most likely knew more than anyone else about your magic, however…I warn you again not to approach his apprentice, Hilarius."
"I'll be careful." I promised, "It's not worth my life."
"You are wise."
The others were quiet when I caught up, varying levels of self-reflection clear in their stances and on their faces. We stayed quiet as Augustus led us out of the cave and back to where we'd encountered him, catching glimpses of Millie, who had been circling the cave while we were gone. Without so much as a 'by your leave' he faded into the forest, out of sight. We wordlessly followed Sera, who was directed by Millie, back through the forest.
A cool wind whipped through the trees sending chills up my spine and causing branches to thrash and leaves to smack me in the face; an earthy smell began to permeate the air. Although I'd spent most of my life in the city, I recognized the pattern–rain was coming. I pulled at my cloak, making sure I had the proper coverage.
Minutes into our hike back, it began to sprinkle. Soon, the sky broke, and we were hit with a torrential downpour, thunder rumbling in the distance. Our cloak hoods went up to protect our heads from the rain, and the forest floor became a swamp beneath our feet. The trees did little to protect us from the rain as the storm ripped many remaining leaves off the tree limbs, leaving little above our heads. The storm, and the sullen mood, lasted through most of the evening.