– Beginning of Arc 9, Blessed Curse –

– Era of the Wastes, Cycle 219, Season of the Setting Sun, Day 82 –

Antelias.

The rescinded name of Terry's birth family hung in the air like a dark cloud waiting to transform into a storm.

Isille scowled and clicked her tongue. As much as she wanted to prioritize saving her son from himself, the appearance of a Council family from Arcana took precedence. She looked sternly at Terry. "We'll continue this conversation later." If she was lucky, her son would forget the plan to leave the realm while they were dealing with whatever this was about.

Isille looked at the messenger. "Antelias?" She barely resisted the urge to spit on the floor. She didn't care if it was a member of Arcana's Council. That svipa had abandoned his family the moment he rescinded Terry's last name. Should she greet the pest-beetle with a single spear or better both to have some choice?

Isille's glare transformed to surprise when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Her life's chosen was looking at her warmly.

"Let's not start a political incident if we can avoid it. Right, dear?" Bjorln placed a kiss on her cheek. "No matter how tempting it is."

"Is it just me or does your hand feel hotter than it should?" Isille suppressed a snicker.

"No matter how tempting it is," repeated Bjorln firmly. He glanced at Lori and Jorg. "Don't want to give a bad example."

"An Antelias missing?" Brynn spoke up. "That's not going to look good for the Academy."

"Terry's sister…" Samuel muttered pensively before looking at his nephew. "Could it be related to a dungeon as well?"

Dungeon shenanigans? Could it be hereditary? I hadn't considered that possibility.

But wait. There must be more members in the Antelias Family. Surely, that would have come up before. The only person I know with similar dungeon shenanigans experience is Devon and we're not blood-related…

Unless Devon is my great-great-great-great—

Stop it.

Terry shook his head. He didn't really feel like dealing with Antelias, but he wasn't so petty that he would ignore a missing person because of it – sister or not.

Terry walked to the messenger. "Lead the way."

***

Isille and Bjorln exchanged glances. They hadn't expected Terry to walk ahead.

From behind, Brynn leaned to them and whispered: "He's not a child anymore. You don't have to fight all his battles for him."

"I remember having to bail him out not too long ago," retorted Isille drily.

"Supporting whaka doesn't really mean to shelter them from everything, does it?" Samuel leaned forward to add his own whispers.

"Don't make this about Terry's harebrained idea," grumbled Bjorln. "I know what you're trying to say and I don't like it."

"What's the point of whispering?" asked Lori without lowering her voice.

"Yeah, we're all mana users," added Jorg. "If I can hear you, then so can Terry. If you want to have your privacy, use a communication talisman."

"Perhaps I want Terry to hear?" Bjorln turned around to his cheeky chipmunks before turning forward to look at Terry's back. "Especially the 'harebrained idea' part."

"Which would just bring me back to my original question." Lori rolled her eyes. "Why the whispering?"

"Just because Terry can hear, doesn't mean everyone can," said Brynn and winked at Lori. She gestured towards the messenger in front of Terry.

"Fair point." Lori shrugged.

"Let's just try not to offend a Council family," said Samuel.

Isille snorted.

"Not more than necessary at least," added Samuel.

Before long, Terry could see the man with the vaguely familiar face. A face he hadn't seen since his entrance to the Arcana Academy.

The man was flanked by a group of soldiers wearing Arcanian colors, one of whom was talking to Chadwick.

If Chadwick knows that woman, then that confirms at least her military background, which makes it more believable that this man is really Antelias.

Am I getting paranoid?

Terry found it hard to blame himself for doubting the appearance of a man claiming to be Antelias. Between the monster, the Hounds, some two-faced martialists, and all of Thanatos's aspiring warlords, he was struggling to preserve the trusting part of his personality.

Terry had not fallen for Anand's trick this time, but he had already walked into his fair share of traps and betrayals. He had avoided one for once, and he would like to keep it that way.

Terry couldn't help but think of Ying and how such a powerful mage had fallen thanks to trusting the monster.

Never again.

Terry subconsciously clenched his fists and a sliver of his mana escaped his usual stranglehold cloaking..

The soldiers next to Antelias tensed, but Chadwick and Antelias calmed them down.

Antelias walked forward. "Terry, I—"

"Don't ever call yourself my father," barked Terry. He held Antelias's gaze without flinching. "I have a father. A family. The best family I could have ever asked for."

Terry meant it. He had, of course, heard his family's complaints on the way here, but he knew perfectly well that all of them were rooted in concern for him. Terry didn't care about his relation to the man in front of him. He had never resented the man, but he refused to allow him this much.

Terry glanced at the messenger. His words had been for the messenger, above all. He did not want anyone in the Union to ever question the identities of Isille and Bjorln. They were his parents. No one should ever dare to doubt that.

Even if I have to fight them after this.

"I know," said Antelias tiredly.

Terry raised an eyebrow. He had not expected that reply.

"I will not make apologies for rescinding your name," said Antelias. He shook his head. "Or for prematurely bestowing it in the first place. Magic obliges. Ever since I've assumed the position of family head, my life has become increasingly less my own. It was strictly politics, but it doesn't matter."

Antelias stepped forward and lowered his head to the two adult dwarves. "Lady Isille. Sir Bjorln. I thank you for taking Terry in and for granting him an excellent home after my personal failure."

Bjorln glanced at his wife and, after seeing her glare for the Councilman, he stopped himself from replying.

"I thank you as well, instructors." Antelias looked at Samuel and Brynn, before turning his attention to Terry again. He took a deep breath. "Nothing I say will change what I've done, but I did pay attention to where you ended up. I could not keep you in my family, but I had no intention of abandoning you beyond that. It was a relief that you found a good home even without my family's intervention."

"Why are you here?" Terry really didn't need to hear the man's words.

"It's about your sister," started Antelias. "She—"

"That's my sister." Terry pointed back with his thumb to where he knew Lori was standing. "I don't know whom you're talking about, but get that point straight."

"Understood."

Again, Terry appreciated that the man didn't try to argue.

"My daughter Clarity has gone missing," rephrased Antelias.

That name sounds familiar.

Terry furrowed his brow. He couldn't recall a person matching that name.

"Clarity?" Samuel spoke up. "The top-student in the year below Terry?"

"Pelliana's protégé?" added Brynn. "I don't remember her having a family name."

A vague memory of a young woman with curly blond hair welled up in Terry's mind. A memory from the day he had visited Isille in the healing chamber where she was being treated by Pelliana.

Terry had been inclined to help before, but remembering that the missing woman had assisted in the treatment of his mother, further reaffirmed his initial inclination.

"What do you mean 'missing'?" asked Terry.

"What about the signal in her Academy-issued card?" asked Brynn.

"Where was she last seen?" asked Samuel.

"Was she close to a dungeon?" asked Terry.

"And what about Pelliana?" asked Brynn. "She barely let the girl out of her eyes."

"Whom was the girl with?" asked Isille.

Hearing about a missing person had them all eager to lend a hand. For Isille, this was close to her bounty hunting work. For Brynn and Samuel, this was also about one of their students – former or not.

"Why have you come here?" asked Bjorln. "Why do you need Terry?"

Bjorln's question cut through everyone else's words and shut them up before Antelias even had a chance to explain himself.

Right. Something is off.

Terry crossed his arms.

Antelias was overwhelmed with the rapid-fire questions. His eyes wandered over everyone while trying to recall the questions. His gaze paused briefly on Terry, because he could not make any sense of the dungeon question. Eventually, his eyes moved on to Bjorln.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

"Because of this." Antelias retrieved a note. "Clarity was last seen in the merchant district, where the search team discovered this."

Huh. No dungeon shenanigans then. Good for Clarity, I guess? I hope so at least…

Antelias cast a spell to create an enlarged illusion that mimicked the note's content.

'Only one person may find the missing student.

'Defender of undead against the Devout Division.

'Rebel against management in the Libra Outpost.

'Recognized fugitive of Whetstone City

'Guardian of the Freedom Cooperative'

"Imagine my surprise when I identified the person behind those titles," said Antelias. "Surprise, and suspicion." He searched Terry's expression.

"I don't like what you're insinuating," growled Isille.

"I'm not, honestly," said Antelias. "Not what you're thinking, anyway. The thing is, we haven't bestowed our family name to Clarity yet." He glanced at Terry. "After my last misstep, I have grown more cautious of making premature moves. The point is that I know where Terry ended up and last I checked on him, I didn't get any impression that would invite me to believe he harbored ideas of revenge, much less the failure of character to take it out on an innocent."

Antelias shook his head. "No, it's not that. It's that, without a bestowed family name, no one outside the Greenhouse should know that Clarity is my daughter."

"But the note clearly singles out Terry," said Isille pensively. "A connection with you for both the note and the victim."

"Which stretches the realm of coincidence," said Antelias. "Now, I'm not free of enemies, but my active mission days are behind me. This appears too personal and too low for my current work."

Antelias shook his head. "While I do have political opponents in the Council, they're just that. We disagree on how to best achieve the sovereigns' goals, but even my staunchest opponents are good people with Arcana's best interest at heart. None of them would be capable of targeting my daughter for whatever means."

"Ransom?" asked Isille.

"We only found this note and no other attempt at contact has been made," said Antelias. "And, the investigatory team is stumped, because this is different from the few Academy kidnapping cases in the past. No demand has been made – political, monetary, or otherwise."

"The note…" Brynn squinted. "Isn't that…?"

"Something like a mana contract sheet," said Terry. He could feel it, too. Perfectly cloaked. He reflexively held out his hand, but quickly pulled it back. Instead, he contracted his mana bubble surrounding the paper.

Terry suspected the paper would react to his mana, but his paranoid mind warned him to be careful. Who knew what this would trigger?

Even though Antelias, as a Council mage, should have checked the note already for any dangerous effects.

With the addition of Terry's mana, the content of the note in Antelias's hand changed.

"Signature-locked enchantment," muttered Brynn. "Expensive."

"Exceedingly so," agreed Antelias. "Otherwise, we would not have had so much trouble with the note before. Whoever is behind this has a lot of resources to waste." He read over the changed note.

"And they have access to Terry's mana signature," muttered Isille. Unfortunately, her son had grown into something of a mana-crafted wand factory recently, so that didn't really narrow it down. "Hold on." She ordered her thoughts with closed eyes.

Something was off.

If Antelias was the target, then why were there no demands?

If Antelias wasn't the target, then why…?

Isille opened her eyes and looked at the Council mage. "Why involve you?"

"This…" Antelias rubbed his eyes after reading the note. He shook his head and enlarged the writing again for everyone with an illusion.

'You cannot hide from us, Terry.

'You cannot fool us, Terry.

'If you want her to live, then come alone, Terry.

'We will expose you for the beast you truly are, Terry.'

Terry felt everyone's eyes focus on him and puffed his cheeks. Well, that was a lot of Terrys.

"What the Wastes?" exclaimed Lori while scrunching up her face.

"So we're looking for a delusional lunatic with too much money on their hands?" suggested Jorg.

Lunatic?

Terry furrowed his brow.

"That makes more sense," said Isille.

"Really?" Jorg stared at his ma. "I was just joking."

"I mean the note," said Isille. "The real target is Terry, but this is troubling."

Terry shrugged. "I mean…" What else is new? He had made a few enemies. How is this especially troubling?

"You're telling me that someone figured out that Clarity is my daughter and kidnapped her, just to get to Terry?" asked Antelias pointedly. This was not what he had expected.

"Why?" asked one Arcanian soldier.

"Who would dare?" asked another. Kidnapping a member of a Council family was tantamount to self-destruction. None of Arcana's forces would rest before the culprit was brought to justice.

"A hound?" guessed Terry. "But then the ramblings in the note don't make much sense."

"The Hounds wouldn't dare make a move in Arcana City," said Chadwick.

"Nor could they, I suspect," said Isille. "That takes planning and knowledge about the city. I would guess a local."

"Wouldn't Arcanians know not to piss off the Council?" questioned Lori.

"Maybe, but consider the contract sheet trigger," said Isille. "They must have had access to Terry's naturalized mana at some point. What would be the point for the Hounds to go through Antelias? They could have delivered the note through any number of contacts in the Freedom Cooperative or the Lands of the Four Towers."

"He has moved around a lot recently," said Samuel. "We've been to Syn City. The Chara Settlement. The… dungeon. And that's not even mentioning our frequent moves between the Lands and the Cooperative."

"Pardon me, but…" Antelias rubbed his eyes again. "Are you suggesting that my daughter was involved just to use me as a messenger? So that I would use my resources to locate Terry?" This was hard to stomach. When before had a Council mage ever mattered so little?

"Hold on." Isille had her eyes closed again. When she re-opened them, she creased her brows. "Someone with resources to figure out Clarity's background and to kidnap an Academy student, but without the resources to hire a Guildhead to locate Terry? Someone with contacts in Arcana City, but with no contacts in the Union that could get close to us? Someone that dares to cross a Council mage but hides behind vague words?"

"Someone that hates Terry's guts," added Jorg.

Terry crossed his arms while his mind repeated the preceding conversation and the note's contents. His mind stumbled over the joking interjection from his brother.

Lunatic.

Terry uncrossed his arms. "Could you show me the original content of the note again?"

Syn City.

Libra City.

Whetstone City.

Freedom Cooperative.

Terry groaned when something jumped out to him from the different listed titles. It notably left out the title that the martialists were calling him, even though 'Returnee' was probably the most commonly used title for him next to Freedom's Guardian.

Looneys.

The note had listed all the locations where he had notable encounters around cults, or at least around cults whose members might have survived to tell the tale. His encounter with Vicious in the folded space didn't count on that front.

The Devout Division in Syn City.

Willow's faction in Libra City.

That Bright Lady contestant in Whetstone City… I only met her once, and she died, but if she found me, then perhaps…? Wait.

Terry groaned again. "I think I have an idea. We should pick up Akemi before we do anything." He became aware of the questioning gazes and started to explain.

***

"Cultists…" Antelias's expression darkened. "Among the cults involved in the barrier's sabotage, there was one, the Divining Eye, that might have gathered the information about Clarity's background."

"I'm pretty sure a follower of the Bright Lady is involved," said Terry. "At least that's the only way I can make sense of that nonsense triggered by my signature. They're the only cult that ever put a bounty on my head as far as I know."

"And why are we going to a Bright of their cult then?" asked a soldier.

"Because not everyone in that cult is the same," said Terry with a shrug. "And we can use some authority the members would respect."

"I'm still not sure about this," said Chadwick. "Granted, it has become more chaotic in Arcana, but I find it difficult to believe that the cults have grown enough of a foothold in our capital to dare something like this."

"They brought down the barrier, didn't they?" said Bjorln. "Our empire isn't infallible."

"True words," agreed Antelias.

When they reached the entrance to the local circle, the door was abruptly flung open.

Akemi glared at Terry and examined him from head to foot before her expression relaxed. "Good. For a moment, I feared you had come for the usual." She glanced at Isille and Bjorln. "I assume I have your parents to thank for keeping you in line and sparing both the Lady's and my mana for once."

Jorg snickered while Terry was looking unamused. The last thing Terry needed was for his parents to form another unholy alliance with his healers or his looming family duel would really get out of hand.

Antelias cleared his throat.

"Who are our guests?" asked Akemi before turning to Terry again. "Actually, first I have some good news to share. While you were gone, my requests have finally been answered. A second bright has supported my petition. Thanks to Bright Cadence's support, our Circle's bounty has officially been rescinded."

'Bright' Cadence?

"Huh," uttered Terry.

Guess the fact that the Libra Outpost has turned into the new refuge of channelers fleeing Arcana's new special district has allowed Cadence a significant amount of influence in the Circle. Good for her.

She probably hates all the management…

"Guess not everyone has gotten the memo," said Jorg.

"And it makes more sense now," said Isille. She glanced at Antelias. "Explains the timing. Someone evidently didn't like that decision."

Akemi's eyes narrowed. "The timing of what?"

"I can explain," said Terry. "But introductions are in order first. This man is Antelias. He's a member of the Council in Arcana…"

***

"Where are we going?" asked Antelias. "I can prepare a gate from here in the Freedom Cooperative."

Terry, who was walking back towards the gate to the Lands of the Four Towers, stopped. "No, if the Divining Eye is involved, I'd like to pick someone else up. She's called Siyu."

"Wait, what?" An Arcanian soldier blurted out. The woman looked at Chadwick. "Wasn't that the name of the Spirited Duchess?" She stared at Terry with incredulity. "You want to bring a duchess to Arcana?"

"Not a duchess by choice," said Chadwick. "She's part of the Lands' Spirit Tower now."

Terry turned around and glowered at the soldier. "From how you described the Divining Eye, I believe I met one of them at a party in Tiv before. An unpleasant encounter that involved them trying to influence my mind so that I would attack Minister Kipkoi, also known as the Preacher."

In retrospect, that cultist had a point. Cutting the Preacher down would have prevented a lot of death and misery.

Although I probably wouldn't have survived the aftermath of killing the Preacher, even if the mind-control could be proven and even with my aunt and cousin protecting me.

"I can handle mind-control attempts," interjected Antelias.

"Good, but I don't know you," said Terry dismissively. "Honestly, I'm not even sure if mind magic is a common ability among that cult or if it was just a mind mage that happened to be a member. In any case, I want both Uncle Samuel and Siyu around to intervene if necessary."

The soldier wanted to protest. "But—"

"We can make it work." Antelias cut the woman off.

Terry nodded and led the way to the Lands again when he suddenly stopped and furrowed his brow.

Siling and Siyu are already coming over?

They're accompanied by a group… Wait, those signatures seem familiar.

***

"Could you please stop glaring at me?" asked Derek. "I told you I'm a friend of his." Being under the constant examination of this elven woman with porcelain skin and purple markings gave him the creeps. "I don't mean Terry any harm."

Siyu's gaze was still fixed to him without comment.

"Relax," interjected Siling. "I remember you from Terry's stories. Same with the Demonpalm and the teeth rattler."

"'Teeth rattler'?" Rosheen frowned.

"Terry also mentioned your names, but I forgot." Siling smiled sheepishly.

"That's okay," said Rosheen with a chuckle. She and the others introduced herself, but when it came to Derek, he just looked uncomfortable.

"If you remember, then could you tell your friend to stop glaring at me?" asked Derek in a whining tone.

"Siyu?" prompted Siling.

"I'm not glaring," stressed Siyu. "I'm staring."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," protested Derek.

Siyu raised her gaze to meet Derek's eyes. "What happened to you?"

"Excuse me?" blurted Derek.

Siyu pointed. "If you're really a friend of…" She held back her reflex to say 'soul eater'. "Terry, then perhaps I can help you."

Derek, Rosheen, and even Palmer in front all creased their brows.

Siyu, however, did not get the cue to elaborate until Siling asked directly. "What do you mean?"

"His mana pool," said Siyu. "I think my soul arts can fix that injury."

"Wait, really?" Derek's eyes opened wide. "But all the healers said—?"

"Terry is coming," interrupted Siling.

"He is?" asked Rosheen. "I can't sense him."

"He just sent a message via communication talisman," said Siling. She looked at the others. "He also said he could use some help from Siyu, Instructor Palmer, and Rosheen for something in Arcana."

"I feel kind of left out here…" muttered Derek before catching himself. "Wait, what was this about fixing my crippled mana pool?!"

***

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