Date: March 3rd, year 1286 Location: Village of Oakvale

  Nyx was plowing the fields that day, right after visiting Jelly in the pond to check up on her. The latter has been very docile ever since it managed to connect to Nyx, siphoning from her seemingly infinite amount of life force. Cassius was living in their house for the time being with Josephine, helping with the chores while he was looking for any other housing options. Nyx had been visiting village houses every day with Jelly, waking up people from their comas. The villagers’ animosity was replaced with relief, even if they were still hostile to Cassius, Jelly and even Nyx to some extent. Nyx was relatively bothered by this, but learned to live with it as nothing she said seemed to help the villagers relax around her. That day though, two hooded figures with ample robes approached their house. Said robes were white, with a large ring embroidered on the front containing dozens of complex symbols, the most notable one being a five branched star at the center.

  When they draw closer, the figure at the front speaks up. He sounded like a man in his early thirties.

  - “Greetings, are you the Irregular we were called about?”

  - “Me?” Nyx replies, tilting her head to the side. “Maybe? I don’t know! People often say I’m strange I guess!”

  - “What’s up with her eyes?” Another robed woman asks. “Is she a spirit?”

  - “What’s going on?” They hear from the house as Andreas comes out. When he sees the robed figures, he flinches and immediately frowns. “Oh. It’s you guys. Where were you during the past few years?”

  - “The past few years?” The man who was originally talking to Nyx says questioningly. “Did something happen?”

  - “Oakvale was occupied by a foreign enemy for half a decade, and you did nothing about it. Isn’t that supposed to be your job?”

  - “First, this is one of the most remote villages in the kingdom, and second the Arcane Guard would have intervened if we were aware that something so severe was happening in our jurisdiction.”

  - “That’s a load of-”

  - “Hold on.” Cassius says as he exits the house, standing next to Andreas. He was wearing one of Andreas' brown shirts along with a pair of black pants he brought back from his tent in the woods, ever since Josephine told him to stop wearing his armor indoors a few days ago. “I am fairly certain the invaders in question were blocking off any and all communications coming out of the village, notably by shooting down messenger birds.”

  - “You- I mean the invaders did that?” Andreas replies. “No wonder we couldn’t get in touch with the capital…”

  - “I assure you that they would regret their actions, should they still be with us.”

  - “But they are though?...” Nyx comments. “You-”

  - “Hey Nyx come over here for a sec, I think Alice is baking an apple pie!” Andreas cuts.

  - “Is she?!” Nyx exclaims before hurrying back towards the house.

  - “You are surprisingly well spoken for someone who doesn’t hail from the capital.” The robed man says while looking at Cassius.

  - “Merely a result of my extensive travels over the past few years. I decided to settle down in this village, after finding what I was looking for.”

  - “I see. What happened to the invaders then?”

  - “They were defeated.” Cassius replies as Nyx comes back out of the house.

  - “There’s no pie…” She complains.

  - “Defeated… by who?” The hooded man continues. “It must’ve taken a significant amount of force to dispose of people capable of occupying a town for that long in the kingdom of Specta.”

  - “Oh the soldiers? It was me!” Nyx exclaims as she waves to them.

  - “Hmmm.” The hooded man turns towards Andreas. “I’m assuming her magic is very powerful, it’s a good thing we were called. Is it hereditary? Do you or your wife require counseling?”

  - “Oh. You’re here to take her away for magic counseling?” Andreas asks, his shoulders slumping as if this was what he feared. “Who called you even?”

  - “The author of the letter wished to remain anonymous.”

  - “Dammit… Could we not do that? I’m sure she doesn’t need it.”

  - “Apologies, but it’s the law.” The man looks down at Nyx, and points to her. “Moreover, are you going to try convincing me that this is safe?”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Andreas looks down and sees the scar he had been trying to ignore over the past few weeks. It was a large burn mark on Nyx’s right hand that appeared a little bit after she threw that purple star at the group of soldiers. It looked more severe than any burns he had seen before from people touching burning pots or being hit by open flames. He clenches his fist, unable to formulate a response.

  - “As expected, you are aware.” The hooded man continues.

  - “What’s going on?” Nyx asks.

  - “We are going to take you to Crystal Rose to help you control your magic.” The hooded woman who spoke earlier says as she bends down to be at Nyx’s eye level. “Don’t worry, it won’t take too long and you-”

  - “You mean I get to travel?!” Nyx exclaims, overjoyed.

  - “That’s… right?...” The woman replies, surprised by her enthusiasm.

  - “What’s Crystal Rose? I’m curious, I hope it’s near the sea! Maybe I’ll get to see Calypso!”

  - “The goddess of the Sea ? I’m afraid she isn’t very friendly to our kingdom, or any large nation for that matter. But Crystal Rose is on an island, if you still value the sea ! It’s the capital of the kingdom of Specta.”

  - “Oh!” The stars in Nyx’s eyes shine brighter, sending sparks of white light flying around her face. The hooded man looks down at Nyx.

  - “You might be right Agnes, she might have some spirit lineage.” He comments as he looks at the light show produced by Nyx’s eyes. “These might even be Faerie Eyes for all we know.”

  - “Faerie Eyes huh?” The hooded woman named Agnes replies. “I guess that’s possible. We’ll have to do our best to avoid the scholars pulling strings to keep her in the capital for years on end, she still has family here.”

  - “I will see what I can do.” The hooded man concludes as he turns back to Nyx. “When are you ready to leave?”

  - “Right now!” Nyx shouts as she crosses her arms with a wide smile.

  - “Alright, then say goodbye to your family.” Agnes says. “Don’t worry, I’ll do all I can to make sure you’re back in less than a year.”

  Nyx walks over to Andreas and takes his hand.

  - “Goodbye father, I’ll be back soon! I promise I will return before you and your civilization disappear this time!”

  - “I’m sure you will.” Andreas ruffles her hair. “Take care out there alright?”

  - “I will!”

  - “Take care, stay alive.” Jelly quietly adds from its pond. “I need you.”

  - “Do mind the bandits, Nyx.” Cassius says. “If you require an escort, I will gladly-”

  - “Don’t worry about it!” Nyx cuts. “Plus, you need to take care of Josephine and all, make sure you have interesting stories for me when I come back! Also, could you help father with my cut of the farm work? He says his back really hurts when he has to do it alone.”

  Cassius solemnly nods and Nyx spots Alice at the window, staring at her with an indecipherable expression. She walks into the house to join her inside the living room.

  - “Goodbye Alice! Take care of father while I’m gone !” Nyx shouts.

  - “Goodbye. Take care of yourself.” Alice replies while looking away, trying to avoid making eye contact.

  - “Oh that’s nice! You didn’t tell me to shut up for once!”

  - “...Shut up. I’m only saying this for my daughter’s sake.” She finally looks down, staring straight into Nyx’s eyes. “Goodbye, Vanessa. I hope they find a way to help you at the capital.”

  Nyx tilts her head to the side in confusion, but Alice doesn’t elaborate and makes her way upstairs. Nyx shrugs and returns outside, stopping in front of Agnes.

  - “Alright I’m ready to go!” She declares.

  - “Are you not taking anything with you?...” Agnes asks.

  - “Nope, I don’t own anything! All my stuff technically belongs to Vanessa anyways, so Alice yells at me every time I touch it.”

  Agnes slowly turns towards Andreas. Her face wasn’t visible, but her body was extremely tense.

  - “It’s really, really not what it sounds like.” Andreas says as he raises his hands in the air. “We’re not mistreating her or anything.”

  - “That’s true! Father is the nicest person I know. Alice is mean though, she said she wasn’t my mother anymore.”

  - “Ugh…” Agnes shakes her head. “I won’t pry into your family situation. Let’s go.”

  She opens her hand, and multiple threads of white light erupt from it as they take the shape of a creature. When the light dissipates, a ten meter tall eagle-like creature is standing behind her, looming over the farm house. It had wide, brown wings and a white head with piercing orange eyes. Its talons looked sharper than Cassius’ longsword.

  - “Woah !” Nyx excitedly claps. “That’s very different from my magic ! I didn’t know you could create living things !”

  - “Yes, I also happen to be an Irregular.” Agnes replies, a slight tinge of joy audible in her voice. “My magic lets me summon various types of birds. This one is a giant harpy eagle.”

  - “That’s really cool ! Can you teach me how to do that ?”

  - “I’m… sorry, but teaching non-mainstream magics is really hard. I can give it a shot if you behave during the trip !”

  - “I’ll behave then ! But it can’t be that hard, I remember how Solomon taught me how to do new stuff. It was really quick !”

  - “I would… seriously doubt you received personal teaching lessons from the god of Magic.”

  - “I did though ?”

  - “Don’t mind her, she likes to say random things. It’s part of her charm !” Andreas says.

  - “Hmmm, I understand the situation.” Agnes replies. “Alright student of Solomon, get aboard the harpy eagle ! We’ve got a long way ahead of us.”

  Nyx excitedly climbs the feathers of the bird and sits on its back, and is quickly joined by Agnes and the hooded man. As the creature takes flight, causing winds powerful enough to almost knock over everyone on the ground, Nyx waves to them.

  - “I like Oakvale, it reminds me of the moon ! Make sure you don't disappear, and that you have plenty of interesting stories to tell me when I get back !”

  Andreas tries to shout something but the wind prevents Nyx from hearing it. Cassius performs a military salute, and she sees Josephine waving at her from a window on the upper floor of the house. During that entire time, she could see Alice standing in the doorframe, silently staring at her. When they fly over the village, she sees most of the inhabitants giving her concerned looks, save for one boy who was energetically waving goodbye to her.