"Oh wait, wasn't there this huge explosion that wiped the compound off the map?" Aiko asks, leaning to the front a little, so the dim light of the ceiling lighting illuminated a little of the fair skin beneath the hood and just for a moment, Sebarius thinks to notice something moving above her mesmerizing blue eyes.

He clears his throat and replies, "Yes, there was...and I was an eye witness to it happening, though I don't really know what exactly happened. However I am certain of one thing. The forces at work that day was nothing short of 'magic'."

Aiko visibly twitched at the mention of magic whereas Crystal remained cool and collected.

"Magic? As in 'Snap with your fingers and what you want appears'? Don't be silly, something like that doesn't exist. If it did, don't you think the world would be a much better place?"

"Oh? How so?"

"Well, if everyone could just 'snap' and whatever they want or need appeared, there would never be any sort of shortage ever again. No need to wage war over resources or territory. No more poverty. No more hunger. The guards would be out of a job too, because things like robbery and thievery would be unnecessary as well, leaving only the crimes that are born of a sick mind and those aren't the job of the guards anyway."

Sebarius chuckles lightly and replies, "I'm afraid you have the wrong idea about 'magic'. To my understanding, it is not a panacea for all the world's problems, though it would be able to solve quite a few of them."

"Oh really? How so? If everyone can just 'will' everything into existance, what—"

"First off, I consider 'magic' to be a force of nature, just like for example electricity or the tides," Sebarius interrupts Crystal's train of thought, "And just like we require big and powerful machines to harness the power of lightning, we would require equally sophisticated machines to harness the power of 'magic'. As such, it would not be available to 'everyone'. On the contrary, people would much rather have yet another reason to fight."

Crystal glares at Sebarius for a second, however her expression softens quickly enough and she replies, "Let's assume, just for a moment, that everyone was capable of using magic, albeit in varying degrees."

"That would, of course, eliminate the need for sophisticated machines, but not the reason to fight."

"How so?"

"Simple, really. In this scenario, you have people with differing aptitude for magic, so they'd become the 'machines' I spoke of earlier. A powerful magic user may well be considered a trading commodity. Or they could band together and form the new Elite to rule the world. I mean, who could stop an able magic user? Of course they'd be scouring the land and test every newborn child for their aptitude and either 'acquire' them to be raised in their ways, so they would continue their legacy or simply be done away with, so they cannot become a threat for the ruling class later on."

"You...have a rather dark outlook on this scenario, don't you?"

"I just see humans for whom they are. Selfish, greedy and perfectly capable of inhumane cruelties, if only the conditions are met."

Crystal leans back a little, looks up to the ceiling for a moment and then asks, "Y'know, this outlook of yours came pretty fast for an 'on-the-fly' thought experiment. Either you're a really fast thinker, or..."

"No, you are correct. I did not just come up with this right now, but it's been on my mind for a while now...ever since the incident at the Freespirit compound to be precise. Because, to my understanding, the people of old did have this power at their disposal. They were capable of using 'magic'. At the very least they have been wielding powers we have no hopes to understand with our current technology."

"And yet still they are all gone today, huh?"

"The great Reset, yes. The biggest mystery in human history. The sudden and mysterious disappearance of the ancient civilization that came before us, leaving us with only ruins and legends to testify to their gone-by splendor."

"You...think a war caused the great Reset, don't you?"

"It's a possibility. After what I've seen at the Freespirit compound, I have no doubt that they had the ability to turn our world into a barren wasteland within days or maybe even just hours."

"But you don't know, right?"

Sebarius leans back and lets out a long and defeated sigh.

"No. Nobody knows. That's why I need to find the Zeaphyr fox. Whatever happened back then may very well be the key to understanding everything that happened back then. Her partner may even be the key for the entirety of mankind to take the next step...or to avoid repeating the mistakes our precursors have made."

"What makes you think that this supposed 'partner' will even have the information you want? I mean, according to your story, she got locked up. There must have been a reason for that. Maybe she was a wanted criminal and eternal imprisonment was her punishment?" Crystal suggests, while Aiko grows more restless again, but Sebarius just shakes his head and replies, "No, I don't think—"

All of a sudden, a big noise from the door interrupts Sebarius.

A bunch of men in heavy armor had barged into the room and by the second, everything falls silent.

Crystal points over to the men and asks, "Friends of yours?"

The apparent leader of the group bellows, "We have reason to believe that a wanted criminal is in here! Nobody is allowed to leave, until we have checked every single one of you."

Sebarius sighs and mutters, "Of all the times..."

"Pipe down. If they knew whom they are looking for, they wouldn't make an entrance like that," Crystal reassures him, "...so, since we'll likely be stuck here for another hour or two, you might as well keep talking. You've been avoiding the subject for a while now and I am curious. Mind to tell us what happened at the Freespirit compound?"

Sebarius eyes the approaching guards nervously, but something in Crystal's calm voice manages to soothe his troubled mind and he turns back around to face the two women, who seem absolutely unfazed by the ruckus going on around them.

And this little fact somehow scares him far more than the prospect of being hanged for his transgressions.