Disoriented, he strained to remember what had happened before he blacked out. His gaze darted around, searching for the three strangers he'd seen before everything went dark. But instead, only the three wisps floated above him, their soft glow conveying their concern for his condition. They were back in his room.
"What happened?" he asked them, slowly sitting up his bed. "How did we get here?"
Lucius shook himself sideways. "It's a long story," he said. "When you passed out, someone came walking out of that secret room."
"It was that maid," Riven continued. "The one we've been looking for."
Aiden's eyebrows furrowed. "What?"
The three wisps went on to retell everything that had happened during his unconscious state: from the moment that maid walked out of the secret chamber, gazed at the destruction they had caused, and how, with a sleight of hand, restored the viscount's office to its former order.
"She even restored the barrier," Caelum said. "Then... she raised her hands and murmured some phrases I forgot, knocking us out too. When we woke up, we were already here, back in your room."
Aiden rubbed the nagging pain in his head. "So, we were right," he said. "She's not a real maid."
"Absolutely not." Caelum said. "With those abilities, she's far from being normal."
Lucius flickered a darker shade of gray. "And believe me, she can hear us," he said. "I called her ugly on purpose... and she rolled her eyes!"
Aiden nodded, the clarity of what had happened offering a slight relief from his headache. He surveyed the room, "What about those three strangers?" he asked them. "They really had nothing to do with all this?"
The three wisps glanced at each other, their vibrance dimming in a display of confusion. "Three strangers?" they asked in unison. "Who?"
"You didn't see them?" Aiden asked them. "Two men, and a beautiful woman."
Riven hovered closer toward Aiden. "Are you alright?"
Lucius followed. "Maybe... you can see ghosts now that you've literally sucked out an entire powerhouse?"
Aiden shook his curiosity off, already waving the three strangers as mere hallucinations. His eyes searched his room for his backpack, and immediately grabbed it from the foot of his bed.
"Right!" he said. "That sensation, it's still in my hands."
He looked up at the wisps, his ashen eyes hinted with golden hues, the same shade the wisps exuded from their excitement.
"Let's try casting some spells," he said.
The wisps nodded, and they all hovered closer to choose a spell from Oily's book. Within a few skims, they chose the most difficult spell they could find--a spell that paints the entire sky with wonderful colors.
Aiden walked toward his window, his hands tingling with energy as the air around him seemed to hum. He latched the window open and gazed at the starry sky, feeling the charge surge through his veins, his fingers twitching with anticipation. He closed his eyes, leaning into the sensation, and focused as he recited the spell he'd memorized.
"Cores doth quake, waters do roar--"
"Wait!" Riven interrupted, causing his eyes to snap open, followed by murmurs from the two wisps. "You'll be assessed for your inner essence in two days. If you burn through all that energy now, you'll be stuck with eight-year-olds for an entire year."
"Right, right. Thank goodness you remembered!" Lucius agreed. "Skip the spellcasting entirely, Bastardsson. Just go to bed and don't do anything at all."
While the two wisps agreed this was the better move, the most unruly wisp begged to differ. "We can just collect more essence by getting him punched," Caelum said. "Come on! I want to see some fireworks!"
The two wisps flared up, their red blaze shoving Caelum to the corner, pouting without lips.
"Go to bed now, mortal," Lucius said. "Sleep, and save energy."
Aiden didn't step away from that window, his eyes simply pinned on the wisps, his posture firm and straight. "I also want to see fireworks."
"Urgh," the two wisps gruntled, opposite from Caelum whose light beamed brighter as he flew toward Aiden.
"See!" he beamed brighter, "Even the mortal wants some fireworks. He'll bear the consequences later."
"Plus," Aiden said. "I don't think the essence will make it till tomorrow."
The wisps fell silent, waiting for Aiden to continue his words.
"What do you mean?" Riven asked.
"I can feel it when an essence flows into me," Aiden said. "And I can sense whenever it's slipping away too."
Lucius hovered closer toward him, as if having a confrontation. "You can feel it whenever it's slipping away? Don't tell me--"
"Yes. It's been leaking out slowly," Aiden continued, his hand scratching the back of his head. "Quite a lot has drained since I blacked out."
The wisps gruntled, almost not surprised about yet again another misfortune.
"Great!" Caelum said sarcastically, "You're not just a chalice. You're a chalice with holes!"
"That's why I'm pushing for the fireworks," Aiden scratched his head, "Instead of letting it leak away while I sleep, at least we'll get to enjoy some show."
Caelum gruntled. "Forget it. This is not a good mood for some fireworks now."
Riven's light flickered into a bright yellow, and the three looked at him. From the way he beamed, they knew he had a brilliant idea in mind, and they waited in anticipation.
"No, we'll set some fireworks, he said. "But you're only allowed to set off a small one."
While the two wisps displayed their confusion with a faint gray light, Aiden nodded his head. "Do you know another spell."
Riven shook his form. "I'm teaching you how to channel your energy."
"Channeling energy? What's that?"
Lucius flickered, his mind sharp, as if piecing together a puzzle. "If Bastardsson learns to channel energy through his body's points… he could have fireworks every night if he wanted," he murmured, almost to himself, his light pulsing with satisfaction, as if he'd unlocked Riven's intent. "And he'll stop his vital energy from leaking away! Two birds with one stone!"
Caelum floated toward Riven with a smile. "Great idea, Riven!" he said, his voice laced with admiration. "We never would've thought of that!"
"Thanks. I never expected anything from both of you anyway," Riven said before turning to Aiden. "Now focus up. You have to master this before all the essence inside you leaks out."
Aiden nodded slowly, going along with everything, though he had no idea what they were talking about. The only thing clear to him was the urgency of the situation. If he didn't master whatever Riven was teaching tonight, everything would go back to how it was before—him, a calix with severed meridians, powerless and poked with holes.