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When she was summoned
to the receiving chambers a few days later, Rydia was unsure whether
it was about her rather crazed teaching habits– but honestly, having
her students mastering the Bio spell in only two afternoons had to
be some sort of record– or because of the foreigners, whom she had
not seem since she had rather forcefully rid her chambers of the
red-haired man. She walked quickly through the halls, lost in her
own thoughts, and very nearly missed the turn to get back to the
Great Hall itself. It was strange; when she looked down at the
maroon carpet her muslin shoes were walking across, that the linen
was practically thread-bare in front of the double doors. Baron had
certainly outdone itself after Cecil had taken over, in a good way,
and Rydia was glad for it.
Both Cecil and Rosa were present in the chamber, sitting in their
thrones, and Rydia was not sure if she was pleased or nervous to see
the three black-clad men waiting in front of them. Cecil nodded to
her and signaled with his fingers as she walked in, and she made her
way towards the King and Queen without looking over at the
strangers.
"You summoned me?" she asked, though it was unnecessary.
"They've been unable to find any traces of the man they are
chasing," Cecil said, looking tired. Lately, he'd been wearing years
on his face that were far beyond his own, and Rydia did not much
like it. "There may be answers down where the portal itself is, and
we were wondering if you had any further information on it."
"Oh," Rydia said. "Well, what would you like to know?"
"The King said that magic there is in much higher concentration than
on the surface," the black-haired stranger said, the same one that
had been speaking during the briefing earlier.
"That's true," Rydia agreed. "Magic there wasn't just something a
few people could feel and use, it was different. It was everywhere,
and everything was a part of it, worked into it. Even time flowed
quicker there, due to the high quantity of mystical energy within
the caves."
The black-haired man turned to the other two, and they spoke amongst
themselves in hushed tones that Rydia could not decipher. She let
her gaze stray to Rosa, who gave her a small shrug that relayed
nothing. After a few moments, the strangers broke apart again, and
the leader turned once more to face her.
"These caves were underground, correct?" he asked, and Rydia did not
miss the use of the past-tense.
"Yes," she said, willing her voice steady. "Near the core of the
planet, there was a stronger pull with magic. Everything beneath the
Upperworld is magnified by the energy."
"Is there anywhere else that this energy can be tapped?" the leader
asked, moving his gaze to Cecil. "Anywhere other than the portal
below?"
"There's–" Cecil began, and then Rosa made a small gasping noise,
her hand flying to her mouth. She didn't need to say anything, for
Rydia was already moving along the same line of thought, and she
knew when they locked eyes that they had arrived at the same
conclusion.
"Mt. Ordeals," Rydia said, flatly, wondering how they had missed it
before.
"Is it a ruin?" the leader of the strangers asked.
"Sort of," Cecil said. His eyes looked shadowed and haunted. "It is
a holy place of magic."
"No," Rydia said, surprising herself. She seemed to surprise the
others as well, as all eyes turned to her with thinly-veiled
curiosity, and she balled her hands into fists at her sides. "You
can't take them there, you can't let them devour that place."
She knew that Cecil felt the same; she could see it in his eyes and
in the lines on his face. She knew as well as he did the respect
that the mountain held, the voice that had once belonged to his
father, and the way the magic wrapped itself around the entire peak.
It was a holy shrine, the place where their journey had both changed
and ended, and she could not allow strangers from another plane to
walk all over the memories they held there.
"It seems like a good bet," the dark-haired stranger said, and he
shifted his mechanical weapon up to lean against his shoulder. "Is
it connected to the portal underground?"
"No," Rydia repeated, with more venom this time. "You cannot let
them go there, they will destroy it!"
Cecil held his hand out, and there were shadows in his eyes.
"I have to," he said, gently, even though Rydia felt her anger
ripple at his response. "The man is dangerous, and he might be
there. But I don't want them going without an escort."
"An escort?" said the bald stranger. It was the first time he had
spoken, and his voice was far smoother than Rydia had expected. She
could not see his eyes, hidden behind dark glasses, but there were
no signs on his features that betrayed his emotions. "A guide?"
"Cecil–" Rosa said, or started to at least, before the King cut them
all off again with a wave of his hand.
"Mt. Ordeals is a holy place to us," he began, and stood, as if to
strengthen the effect of his words. "I will permit you to go and
search for the man there, but I cannot let you go without someone
who will act as my eyes and ears there. I would go with you myself,
but I can't leave the kingdom at this time."
There was a ringing in Rydia's ears, and she felt the twinge of
magic pull at the base of her spine.
"You cannot be serious!" she exclaimed.
"What– oh," said the red-haired man from her chambers, who seemed to
grasp the concept later than the rest. She turned enough to see the
smirk cross his features, and bit back her ire. "What use will she
have?"
"I am not going with them as they desecrate holy ground," Rydia
ground out, unsure to which side her anger should be directed at.
She was not sure whether she was upset at Cecil for suggesting her
involvement in the scheme, or whether she was more perturbed at the
fire-haired man for doubting her usefulness on the battlefield. The
Land of Summoned Monsters was gone, yes, and her summoning was empty
without a creature to heed her call, but there was still magic in
her fingertips, running through her veins, and she could think of
few others who had spent as much time wielding Black Magic against
foes as she had.
"Please," Cecil said, and though his tone was neutral, she could
hear the pleading in his words. Mt. Ordeals was just as holy to him
as it was to her– perhaps more so, because the spirit of his father
was nestled within the grounds, and he did not like the idea any
more than she did. There was a moment in which they merely looked at
each other, and understanding shimmered between them, and then Rydia
looked away, glaring balefully at the stone tiles.
"Fine," she said, tartly. "I will go with them."
"Then we leave tomorrow," the leader of the strangers said. Rydia
turned, taking in the black-clad men standing stiffly before the
thrones, and did not much like the smirk the red-haired one was
giving her. Still irate at the lack of respect for her abilities,
she gave her fingers a lazy flick over her shoulder as she walked
out of the hall, and enjoyed listening to the outraged cry as the
flames leapt to the hem of his pants.
-------
Her Apprentices were gathered in her teaching chambers when she
returned, and they looked at her with identical expressions of
sorrow on their faces.
"You are leaving!" the youngest one, a slight boy of six cried out,
and in the glimmering of the candlelight, he looked near tears.
"How will we continue our lessons?" asked the only girl, who was
twelve. Rydia felt her chest constrict and tighten, and willed the
thought away. Her duties were to Cecil before her pupils, and much
as she hated to leave them, especially with such danger continuing
to linger in the air, she felt perhaps it was safer to be elsewhere
in search of the source of the conflict itself. If she got to the
man first, she could avoid her students ever having to use their
newfound control over the Bio spell. She reached under her desk and
grabbed blindly until her fingers made contact with the smooth
leather of her riding bag. It had been unused since the journey back
from the Land of Summons, and a thin layer of dust had coated the
top flap.
"It is only for a short while," she told the children gathered in
the room, and there was a collective sigh of relief. "I am going
under the King's orders, so no complaining from any of you while I'm
gone."
She waggled her finger at them, and the youngest gave an audible
sniff.
"But we just learned a new spell," he said, tone warbled with
emotion. "And now we will be set back and no one will be here to
help us!"
"There are always people to help us," said the oldest boy, smartly,
looking vaguely pleased with himself. "Maybe Miss Rydia wants us to
become more confident in ourselves alone."
Rydia was only half-listening to the Apprentices' discussion amongst
themselves as she packed up what she thought she would need on the
journey to Mt. Ordeals. The leather pack was thick and pliable, and
would expand a large amount depending on how many things she packed
into it, and she began with the basics– her crinkled notebook which
held her notes about various spells and their counter-effects, in
case she came across something interesting on the road, and a
satchel of herbs and dried flowers to help the magic process. Then
she packed in her spare set of robes and her communal tunic, just in
case. The bag was hardly full, but she would obtain rations tomorrow
from the kitchens before they left.
"While you are gone, do we have any assignments?" asked the girl
when it appeared that Rydia's attention was no longer on her
packing. "Any research?"
"Yuck," said the youngest, wrinkling his nose in distaste. "I hate
research!"
"No research," Rydia said, much to the children's delight. "Just
continue working on those second level Fire spells like we were
doing earlier. I expect to be able to see flame pillars when I
return."
"You will!" the eldest boy cried out, and all the Apprentices puffed
out their chests as if they had already mastered her instructions.
Rydia picked up her bag and pulled it over one shoulder– the strap
was still good and stiff, and it fit comfortably into the groove
between her neck and joint as it always had. It felt strangely good
to be wearing it again; perhaps, after the journey was over, she
would take a sabbatical of sorts and explore the area a bit on her
own, just to give her an excuse to use it. She turned to her pupils,
who seemed more confidant and at ease then they had when she
entered.
"Be good," she warned them. "I don't want to hear about mysterious
pigs running about the grounds when I get back."
There was a collection of giggles then, smothered behind fingers,
and she gave them one last smile before departing from the rooms.
-------
The sun was barely peeking over the horizon when she met the
strangers at the castle's large stone doors, and the sky was
streaked with pinks and golds heralding the dawn. The foreigners
seemed rested enough, but she could not tell if they were simply
good at working on little sleep, or truly able to relax in alien
territory. She shifted her pack on her shoulder and made a small
motion with her hand towards the settlement just beyond the castle
moat.
"Shall we?" she asked, and the leader nodded, falling into step
beside her as they made their way to the thatched-roof buildings
making up Baron proper.
"The King did not mention how we would be traveling," he said, and
she pointed to where the tops of Cid's airships could be seen on the
edge of town, the wooden masts breaking the line of clouds in the
sky.
"We will be taking one of our engineer's airships," she replied.
"The Red Wings will take us to the base of Ordeals as best they
can."
"As best they can?" the man asked, one eyebrow raising. His eyes
were dark and betrayed nothing.
"The mountain is a holy place," she said coolly. "We cannot get too
close for fear of interfering with the magic that surrounds it. They
will drop us off as close as they can."
The man said nothing, and she wondered what thoughts were going
through his head. She felt better than she had the night before– she
was the one with more information now, and she was the one with
experience in the world they were attempting to visit. It gave her a
heady rush to think that her purpose as a guide was, in all
actuality, probably going to end up doubling as a protector. It had
been a long time since she'd been able to practice her craft in the
field, and she was looking forward to it.
There was no further conversation as they approached the airships,
propellors already spinning in the cool morning air, and Rydia was
calm when they made their way onto the one prepared for them.
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