CHARLOTTE BAMFORD

It’s been four days since the incident happened. The academy has been closed since then, the authorities and medics have been working to find the missing students who have not returned home from school. Grace has been busy working with the council to ensure the continent’s economic recovery, but she’s been more worried about Alter and the girls even when it’s her rest days she goes off to the neighboring towns to find clues about them.

Even when the Espions have told her what had happened in the ‘academy’s accident’ as they put it.

I still remember that night when the white pillar of mana came to an end, minutes later, only the six Espions had returned heavily injured. 

Healers swarmed the Espions, not allowing me to ask them questions that had already been answered the moment I saw only the six of them. No, I wouldn’t believe it. Alter, Luna, Juliette, were… Gone.

I had to ask the council, my parents about what happened to them. The night where that pillar of mana colored in white appeared out of nowhere, sending a powerful blast force through the air and causing an icy chill to go down my spine. 

The feeling, that sensation, I couldn’t get it out of my head. 

I walked through the white hallways of the castle, filled with guards in each doorway that there was. They are still fearful of another attack happening here in the council building, which they wouldn’t survive even with the Espions being fully healed.

Arriving at my destination, the room where my father and mother were in, was heavily guarded by high-ranking soldiers of the elven army. They had noticed my presence and let me in but had me check upon because of a suspicious activity that could happen.

The guards opened the door revealing the king and queen on the desk they had to work in the meantime the things died down, making them feel safe at least.

My parents haven’t felt my presence at all, it seemed like they were focused on the responsibility they have. “Mother, Father,” I said, getting their attention. “Ohh my goodness, what are you doing here, Charlotte?” Asked my mother, putting down the papers she had in her hand. My father did the same and went on listening mode, “I came here to ask a question… about what truly happened in the attack that happened in the academy.” 

The atmosphere in the room changed, since it was a serious thing to even talk about. They looked at each other like they were having a telepathic conversation on whether or not to tell me the truth. My father had signaled me to sit alongside with my mother before he began to talk. 

“Charlotte… What I’m about to tell you has to stay with you. You can not tell anyone else, not even your friends in the academy.” His worried tone filled the room, then he proceeded to take out paper files that were inside the cabinet to his side. Being handed the papers, I began to read the reports of the Espions and the witnesses near the incident. Agis had stated that, when they were carrying out the mission that was entrusted to them by the monarchs, Juliette and Luna had interfered with them. Each Espion’s reports were all the same, but there was one report that said something else. 

It was Azrael’s report.

I read the report letter by letter, slowly, not trying to miss-read it. ‘Upon the fight between Juliette and us the four Espions, there was an unidentified person who intercepted our battle. They used a gravity spell to bind all of us including Juliette into the ground, that is when the person had shown itself. He was old, white long hair, yellow eyes. I turned my gaze to his hand trying to find out what color his ring was, but fear and confusion entered my mind when there was no ring in either of his hands. This mysterious man had used mana without a mana ring. Then he proceeded to ask Juliette about her relationship with this so-called young master.’

It seemed that Azrael had then fallen unconscious because the report ended here. I personally would ask Azrael about this matter but they were all injured and unconscious, matter of fact it is still surprising that they had given their reports. 

After studying the reports carefully, I looked at my father who just stood there in silence looking at my reaction from the looks of it. “Father, there are a couple of questions that I have after reading these reports,” I said, speaking not as a daughter but as a captain. My father motioned his head, giving me permission to ask these questions, “First, how did the basilisks infiltrate Ifesia academy without anyone knowing.” 

Again, there was a pause between my words and his. “We don’t have solid evidence of this but we suspect that there was someone who had been involved with the attack. Of course that would mean that this person has connections or is the person with power.” 

I laid back on the chair as I started to process what I had just heard. Many theories were being made but only a couple made a solid connection to this.

Could it have been the reason why the first war started? 

Putting aside the theories, I continued on my questions. “Who were these people that not only were they able to immobilize the Espions but also use mana with a ring.” I asked, as my emotions reigned over my mind, not knowing if I was ready to hear this answer. 

My gaze fell on my father’s eyes as he looked for answers in my mothers eyes and expressions. My mother only nodded with a smile, holding my hand tightly to ensure that the answer I was looking for was not a simple one.

Could it be something bigger than what I had imagined? How much does the council know about this situation? 

A worried voice had taken my attention away from my thoughts. “The answer is not as simple as you might think. There are many mysteries about this world that have yet to be solved, explored, and discovered.” He took a breather before adding more, “We as people have come to believe that we were foolish enough to think that we were alone in this universe.”

“What do you mean that we were foolish to think that we were not alone?” 

Before he continued, a magic spell was unleashed upon the room we were in. Noticing this I jumped out of the chair but my mother had stopped me. “This is your father’s spell, noise cancellation. It allows him to block anyone and anything from hearing the inside.” I felt amused by it, my father, leader of the elf’s, had spells like these up his sleeve.

My amusement appearance had leaked out letting my father and mother see it, “What’s with that look? Just because I'm a little old doesn’t mean I’m weak.” He shot back letting some pride in it while mother laughed at him. 

My old man let out a soft cough. “Anyways back to the main topic. Charlotte, how many races do you know about?” 

I took a second before answering his question, “Five, including the basilisk. But what does–.” I was cut off before finishing, “It has everything to do with this. After all there are twelve races including the four races here in the continent of Aferon.” 

There are more races aside from basilisk? 

I shook my head, not trying to lose my composure. My mother then continued, “These races have been here before all of us, but according to the past leaders, the twelve races had a full fledged war causing half of the destruction of this continent.” Her gentle hand stroked the top of my head as she spoke, giving in between a warm smile. 

“Then where did the eight races go?” I asked, confused as to where they would go. My father, Vamir spoke, “That’s what we still don’t know. We thought that if we interrogated a basilisk prisoner we would get answers but… They would instead kill themselves.” I saw as his brows went down to the mentioning of those times, almost as if they didn’t deserve to die.

As if In that moment, I could feel the feeling that he was going through, a sour feeling of sadness and loneliness. This was just one emotion that I could feel. I started to imagine how many more emotions that my father had gone through during all this time. The feeling of loneliness, not being able to seek help or even tell his family and friends about what he was going through, only of fear to drag those who he held dear to into the path where only despair followed.

Everyone has their own battles to fight for whether it’s mentally or physically. I started to feel empty inside of me, I didn’t feel like myself anymore. Through thinking about it, a sudden face appeared in my mind, a face that I haven’t seen in what felt like years. His eyes full of light and joy, his smile so bright and soft.

“What about Alter and the human Espions?” I asked, telling myself about how I forget something so important, the reason why I came here to begin with. The two elf’s looked at each other, unsure of what to tell me, almost like they were hesitating. 

My father spoke first, “Dear, I don’t know how to explain this,” he said, getting up from his chair and making his way towards me and my mother. “The most we know about Luna and Juliette is that they were taken with these people…” 

“What your father is trying to say is that, Alter along with the other two girls went to Ezar.”

A fourth voice had run into the room, making the three of us turn our heads towards the door. The familiar voice had been none other than my grandfather.