“I didn’t know nythrals could take on a human form to that extent.” Matthias was horrified when Lirion informed him of what had happened as soon as they arrived at the Court of Saints. 

“Are we sure this is Eris’s doing?” Lirion asked. “The timing matches, but unlike the other nythrals, this one wasn’t violent. She had months to harm Renee and Anise, but she didn’t.”

“You’re right. We can’t rule out the possibility that another power is at play here.” Shen added. “Just what we need, another unpredictable variable.”

While the three of them were discussing heavily, Renee and Anise were distracted by the Court of Saints. Magic had shielded the building from sight, as well as preventing anyone other than the saints from finding it, which was why it had remained hidden so well for the past one thousand years, despite being walking distance away from the edge of the capital of Elysia.

It was as large as a palace, but annular in shape, creating a continuous ring of rooms, halls, and corridors as it wrapped around a large open courtyard. And in the middle of that courtyard stood a large tree, something from legends and myths.

“The World Tree.” Renee breathed as she took it in in the light of the setting sun. She was slightly taken aback when she saw that the World Tree was actually a wild rose plant. She had never seen a wild rose plant in the form of a tree before. In nature, wild roses only grow as big as shrubs and bushes, and only as big as their vines can reach. The World Tree towered almost as tall as the Court of Saints itself.

The World Tree did not look like what she expected. Its branches were mostly bare, with the remaining leaves that were still attached withering. Renee had a sinking feeling that its current appearance wasn’t due to the season.

“Is it dying?” Renee asked, horrified.

Beside her, Jareth gave her a worried look. “I have never seen it like this before. Since the start of the twenty-first century, it has been fading more and more every year.”

Legends said that, after Eislyn split the world in two and created the Boundary to separate the two planes, she planted the World Tree to maintain the Boundary. The World Tree absorbed mana from the physical plane through its roots and funneled through its branches into the Boundary, strengthening it throughout all of time. For that reason, the World Tree is one of the most sacred motifs in the world, earning the name as ‘the tree which holds up the world’.

The fact that it is dying… does not bode well.

“What happens if the tree dies?” Anise asked.

Matthias’s face tightened in worry. “Why is everyone looking at me?”

“Aren’t you the knowledgeable one?” Renee asked.

“I don’t know everything.”

“If the tree dies, then the Boundary will fall apart.” Feiyi answered. “I have two theories on what will happen next. Either the aether plane devours the physical plane, or both will continue to coexist, except Eris now has free rein over both realms. Neither option is good.”

“Is this why the Boundary is weakest during the winter solstice?” Renee asked. “Because trees are dormant during winter and the Boundary is maintained by a tree?”

“Pretty much.” Jareth admitted.

“Can we save the tree?” Anise asked.

“If you can find a way to access your healing powers, then maybe.” Matthias answered. “Although I’m not confident your power would be enough to save it either.”

“B- But-” Anise sputtered. “I can’t use magic at all. Not in this life. I don’t even know if I’m still a saint anymore.”

“Maybe after we awaken Eislyn, she’ll help you and Renee, and maybe create a new World Tree as well.” Jareth suggested.

“Maybe.” Renee echoed without any confidence.

She tore her eyes away from the sick World Tree just long enough to glance at the other saints. “You don’t think it’s dying because it exhausted its power to reincarnate us, do you? Most of us were born at the start of the twenty-first century, including me.”

The other saints were taken aback by her theory. 

“I’ve never thought of it that way before.” Cassius remarked. “But it does make sense now that you mentioned it.”

Renee reached out to touch it, and was surprised to feel how warm it was to her touch. It felt familiar and comforting, like home. Was it because of its magic?

“Cassius,” Lirion started in a slow voice. “Aren’t you the best at reading magic?”

“Yes? What does that have to do with anything?”

“Can you give Renee and Anise a diagnostic to see if you can detect anything magical that is suppressing their powers?”

Cassius blinked slowly, seemingly shocked with himself for not thinking of that sooner. “You’re right.” Cassius said softly. Turning to the girls, he asked them, “May I?”

Renee and Anise cast a glance at each other before Anise stepped up first. “I’ll go first.”

Cassius reached out and cast mana over her in waves of bright blue light. Suddenly, something appeared over Anise’s torso, a flat circle of light with intricate runes and patterns.

 Anise gasped in surprise and stumbled backward as Cassisus’s mana was instantly dissipated in a second. As quickly as it appeared, the circle was gone.

“What was that?” Ardien demanded when Anise looked frightened.

Cassius grimaced. “A mana circle.”

“What’s that?” Renee asked.

“Intricate spells, made to last.” Matthias explained, a worried expression on his face. “Mana usually manifest in two forms: physical power and spellwork. Physical power is when mana take on a physical shape, like nythrals, or when I control earth to attack them. Spellwork is more nuanced, more delicate work. It’s like computer coding, I guess. It serves a specific purpose.”

“In this case, the purpose is to seal Anise’s power and memory.” Lirion surmised. 

“That’s correct.” Cassius confirmed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Renee also has the same seal casted on her.”

“Can you check anyway?” Renee asked.

Cassius did the same thing as he did to Anise. He raised his hands and let his mana pour over her. She could feel the power flowing through her until it, too, encountered an obstacle. 

Then, just like Anise, something materialized into view. Only it was not one mana circle but two.

“Why do I have two?” Renee asked, alarmed.

“I don’t know, but I also feel the trace of a third one that was broken recently.”

Renee thought back to the feeling of something releasing when she first stopped time. Was that when one of the seals broke?

“Now that you mentioned it, I did feel something when I first used magic earlier today. I was never able to use magic until then.”

“So, breaking the first seal allowed you to use magic.” Lirion realized. “Cassius, do you think you can break the seals?”

“No,” Cassius admitted. “They’re too strong.”

“You mean, the person who casted them on us is much stronger than you?” Renee was horrified. “Is there anyone who fits this criteria?”

“Other than the two goddesses? None that I know of.” Matthias admitted.

“It’s not them.” Cassius stated.

“How do you know?” Anise asked.

“Because I’m familiar with both of their magic, and I don’t fully recognize this magic. It feels familiar, but I can’t quite place it.”

“Is it the boy from the Lianru family from a thousand years ago?” Lirion asked, anger seeping into his voice. “As I thought, I should have ended him at that time—”

“What boy?” Renee asked.

“No, it’s not him.” Cassius shook his head. “And weren’t you already in trouble for killing people in the past? It wouldn’t have bode well for your reputation if you killed him.”

“Do you think I care about my reputation?” Lirion asked, the cold fury in his voice taking Renee by surprise. “If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have lost the person I care about more than anything—” Lirion cut himself off with a deep breath as he glanced at Renee.

“Nevermind.” Lirion said as he coldly walked away from the others. “I’m going to clear my head a little. Good night, everyone.”

The other saints watched him leave, but none made a move to stop him.

“What’s going on?” Renee asked, highly concerned. “I don’t think I learned about this in history class. Was he talking about someone from the original Lianru family? The one who founded the Lianru kingdom but fell from power in the eleventh century?”

Who did Lirion lose that made him so furious? A family member? A friend? A lover?

Renee knew a little bit about Lirion’s past. He was the crown prince of Asteria for some time, then he became a saint and not long after his ascendance, he massacred many Asterian nobles, which caused him to be exiled to the aether plane for seventy years. But that was in the tenth century, not the eleventh.

“Yes, it was something related to that.” Cassius turned to Renee. “But it was all taken care of in the past. Did Lirion tell you anything… uh, interesting during your trip to Lorelia?”

“Not really, why?”

A short distance away, she saw Kayden open his mouth, as if to blurt out the answer, only for Elias to clap a hand over his mouth and haul him away. Zethis shook his head as he watched.

“It’s complicated.” Cassius finally said. That’s when Renee realized she wouldn’t be getting the answer from any of them anytime soon.