"I'm not going to lie, I feel a little underwhelmed. Am I the only one who feels underwhelmed?"

Ammy let out a small groan and asked, through clenched teeth, "Fine, I bite. Why are you underwhelmed?"

"Well…" I began as I gestured towards the smooth white metal walls of the spacious, well-lit elevator in which we were currently standing. "For a start, we just kind of walked up to the lift. It was right by the basement entrance too. It wasn't even hidden behind a fake wall or anything. It was just there."

"Why would you hide an elevator when people are using it every day?"

"She's got a point there," the princess noted by my side.

"But… why is it a lift in the first place? And a totally normal one too! I thought we were going to use a teleportation circle or something."

"Yeah." This time Josh was the one who spoke up, taking my side for once. "Using an ordinary elevator to meet a wizard totally takes the sense of adventure out of it."

"The proper term is Arch-mage, not wizard," Ammy countered politely, then she readjusted her glasses as she glanced back at me and told me in a much less polite fashion, "Do you think teleport arrays grow on trees?! Setting one up would use up half of our quarterly budget! Not to mention, some of the people working down there, who cannot use mana, would not be able to move between the School and the surface without help. Do you think we have the manpower to have a senior Magi on transportation duty when an 'ordinary elevator' does the job just as well for a fraction of the cost?"

"Fine, I get it! Geez!" I cut in with a groan, but then I suddenly remembered something and then I asked, using a slightly more diplomatic tone, "Just for the record, is teleportation really that costly?"

"Of course it is," Ammy scoffed. "Do you think breaking space itself and then mending it afterward is easy? You need a lot of rare reagents to create the arrays, then you would need two senior Magi to link them, and then whenever you would want to use them, you would need to use more valuable reagents. Why do you think only grandfather uses one to go back and forth between here and Glasgow for the Assembly meetings?"

"Well, I didn't know that, that's why I asked," I defended myself, and to my surprise, the class rep seemed to take a proverbial step back in reaction.

"You are right, I suppose."

"I have another question though," I told her, and she looked up at me attentively, so I inquired, "In theory, let's say that someone I knew had an artifact that can teleport them and other people they are in contact with to a predetermined location, no matter where they are. Is that a big deal?"

"A big deal?" Ammy asked back with eyes wide open. "An artifact? You mean an object with an array on it? Is it single-use?"

"Let's say it is," I muttered uncertainly, earning me an irritated scowl in the process.

"What do you mean 'let's say it—' … You know what, I don't even care. Now, to answer your question: even if it was just a single-use item, it would probably cause an uproar big enough to get not only the Assembly, but even the Celestials and the NSRS involved."

"The what now?"

"The Non-causative Science Research Society," Judy helpfully added.

"Father calls them 'the nerds'," came the next, slightly less helpful addendum from my other girlfriend.

"Hey, we call them that too!" Angie said next, though her addition was decidedly less useful to the conversation.

Anyways, I turned to Judy and told her, "Thank you. Also, ixnay onyay ethay eleportationtay artifactyay."

At first she gave me a weird look, but then there was a sudden spark of recognition in her eyes and she quickly took out her phone to follow my instructions.

"Was that pig latin?" Josh asked with a critically raised eyebrow, but before I could answer, the elevator shuddered as it came to a sudden halt. I had no idea whether it was slow, or we were going really deep, but considering I could feel my ears popping, my bet was on the latter.

Either way, once the lift door opened, I found myself staring down a long corridor with walls made of tightly packed stones of various shapes and sizes, kind of like a castle wall. On the other hand, the floor and the domed ceiling looked like they were made of solid white marble, and the whole place was evenly lit by a series of amorphous crystals glowing with a gentle blue light set in what at first glance looked like wrought iron torch sconces. On either side, I could see several large, elaborately designed wooden doors with huge brass handles, most of them closed, and while I couldn't see anybody, based on the faint noises I could hear, I was sure there were quite a few people down here.

"Now we are talking," Josh took the words right out of my mouth, so all I could do was to nod in agreement.

Sure, the place was still way too pristine to feel like an authentic ancient subterranean vault, but with the glowing crystals and the torch sconces, at least we finally had some ambiance.

"You guys are weird," Angie murmured.

"A few more things: keep your voices down, don't make a ruckus, and turn off your phones before we enter into grandfather's study," Ammy spoke up as she stepped out of the elevator and gestured for us to follow, and we somehow formed into a line as we walked down the corridor. Honestly speaking, I was still a little bit underwhelmed. I mean, this was supposed to be the headquarters of the de-facto supernatural big boss of the island, and it wasn't even a smidgen as grandiose as, say, the Dracis mansion. Even the security seemed pretty lame, as there were only two of those green eye orb things in the opposite ends of the hallway.

While I was paying attention to those, I didn't notice Judy coming up to me right until she grabbed hold of my sleeve and tugged on it.

"Hm? Yes?"

She gestured for me to lean closer, so I did just that.

"Chief, I would like to add one more entry to Amelia's warnings," she whispered conspiratorially. "We are in the heart of Magi territory, and we are about to meet the most important Magi on the island. We already discussed your 'impulse control' problem before, so please try to dial it back and do not pick a fight with an arch-mage of the Assembly on his home grounds."

"Oh, come on, Dormouse!" I whispered back after a quick roll of the eyes. "I am not that irresponsible. Maybe if I was alone, sure, but I wouldn't drag you guys into a conflict like that even if I wasn't aware of the problem, and now that I am conscious of it, I will make sure to play nice."

"Good to know," my assistant told me, yet somehow I had a feeling I still didn't have her full confidence.

I couldn't explain myself any further, as we reached the biggest, heaviest door at the end of the hallway, and Ammy promptly knocked on it three times. After a long moment, I noticed a bunch of glowing white lines reminiscent of circuitry cascading across the surface of the wood, and a blink of an eye later the two wings of the door slowly yet steadily swung open without a sound.

I could hear Josh audibly gulp at my side, so I gave him a reassuring pat on the back. Surprisingly enough Snowy, who I thought would be the most nervous out of everyone present, seemed to be looking forward with a determined expression.

Once the door was more than half open, I could finally take a good look inside. When I did so, I couldn't help but find the place familiar; an octagonal room with a high ceiling, walls covered in bookcases and lit by blue crystals, and there was a single, heavy-looking mahogany desk in the back. On top of said desk, there were several white towers of office paper, along with an assortment of writing utensils and an honest-to-goodness old-timey typewriter. Aside from the one we entered, there was another entrance on our right, nearly lost between the bookcases, while the opposing wall on the left had a large cabinet with glass doors. I was half-expecting the musty scent of history in the air, but contrary to the fact that the books inside seemed old enough, all I could smell was a strange mixture of ink and some kind of sweet, possibly alcoholic fragrance.

Now, to be perfectly blunt, I've seen this room in the past, specifically when I was checking up on the class rep with my Far Sight, but I never connected the dots, probably because the occupant of this room never struck me as the grandfatherly type. Speaking of which...

"Come in, there is no reason to be shy," came the deep yet somehow whimsical voice of an elderly man from inside, and when we did so, he dramatically turned around in the huge, padded swivel chair behind the desk (which, by the way, didn't fit the theme of the rest of the study at all).

In general, he looked the same as I remembered from my Far Sight. Our friendly neighborhood arch-mage was a lean old man with a bushy yet inexplicably well-kempt beard and a pair of equally abundant eyebrows on a high forehead. He was also dressed in a baggy black robe, yet under it I could see a fairly ordinary brown business suit that even had a tie, and as if just to make his garbs even more eclectic, he was also wearing a white Panama hat on top of all that. I mean, I get the rest, but who the hell wears a hat indoors like that? For some reason, that outfit wound me right up, and I was just about to give the man a snappy remark when I caught myself and hastily closed my mouth.

I blinked twice while looking at the Arch-mage and used the couple of seconds of silence, during which the rest of the group entered the study, to observe him a bit more closely. His face… well, he had a kind of grandfatherly smile. A big, friendly, eminently punchable grandfatherly smile that made me want to give a piece of my mind to the smug sod, and… god damn, I really do have an impulse control problem around important people who could kick my ass in a second! What the actual bloody hell?!

I quickly closed my eyes, lest I would get even more winded up by the sight of the old man, after which I took a deep breath, held it in for a second, and then slowly exhaled. Once I did that, I felt marginally more collected, so I opened my eyes again. By then the whole gang was already inside the study, and I could just barely catch the old geezer mutter something under his breath, at which point I saw practically every surface in the room flash with the familiar circuitry-like patterns, after which the doors instantly closed behind us and simultaneously the lights in the room rose in intensity.

"Whoa," I heard Josh mutter under his breath, but I ignored him in favor of something weird I noticed.

I couldn't see it before, but now that the lighting conditions have significantly improved, I could tell that one of the old man's eyes was red. As in, not the actual iris, but the sclera around it, as if he had some nasty infection or got the blood vessels in his eye ruptured. The other eye seemed fine, but it was weird enough that I decided to ask about it once we were outside.

In the meantime, the Arch-mage lightly cleared his throat as he looked over us, only stopping when his eyes finally landed on Snowy.

"And so we meet again," he spoke in a pleasant voice that still made my skin crawl, but I grit my teeth and only moved half a step closer to the Abyssal girl, just in case. He didn't seem to notice, or mind, as he continued by telling her, "You have caused us quite a bit of headache, young lady."

"I'm sorry, sir," Snowy answered with her head down.

"I am certain you are," Lord Grandpa told her with a calculated smile, but then he glanced over us and let out a small chuckle. "Oh, but where did I leave my manners? I am known as Lord Amadeus Endymonion, head of the Timaeus School of Conjuration and Alteration."

"Amadeus?" the surprised question slipped out of my mouth before I could stop it, and the old guy immediately glanced at me with a questioning look in his eyes.

"Is there a problem?"

"None at all," I answered with a chipper voice that was only a tiny bit strained. "Absolutely nothing. Please ignore me, like I wasn't even here."

Lord Grandpa gave me a long, hard look, then his lips curved into a pleasant smile as he let out a series of mirthful chuckles into his closed fist.

"I am afraid ignoring a young man of your accomplishments would paint me in a bad light, but for now I shall do as you wish," he told me in particular before he turned back to Snowy. "First I believe we have to discuss what to do with you."

"About that," Ammy took a step forward as she spoke up. "I already talked with you about this, but Neige was not in control of her own actions. Also, as you can see, she came here of her own free will. I still believe she poses no harm to anyone."

"Yes, yes," the arch-mage repeated as he flashed a decidedly grandfatherly smile at his granddaughter. "You have already convinced me of that. However, I am afraid things are not so simple." Saying so, he reached out towards the seemingly haphazardly placed papers on the far corner of his desk, and after picking one up he pointedly looked it over before his attention returned to us. "Not simple at all. I understand you were forced into being an accomplice of your brother by an artificial contract geas. Is that correct?"

"Y-Yes," Snowy stammered as his attention returned to her.

"That would certainly invoke article ninety-four. No individual, be they a member of the Winged Races or human, be held responsible for the actions they were compelled to commit via the use of magical mind-alteration. Furthermore, coming here shows good faith in the fair judgment of the Magi."

"Indeed," Ammy spoke up with a serious expression. "Since you are the local representative of the Assembly, I would like to—"

"Hold on, dear child of mine," Lord Grandpa cut her short while simultaneously flicking his wrist so that the paper in his hand made a sound. "As I have already told you, the situation is far from simple. While these are indeed extenuating factors, we cannot forget about the actual victims of this incident."

After saying so, he lazily looked over Joshua, as if trying to memorize his every feature, then to my abject horror, he proceeded to do the same to me. Ugh. Thankfully his gaze returned to Josh just before I would have no longer been able to hold my distaste from spilling out of my mouth and he asked him, "Tell me, young man; as the victim of this attempted abduction, do you not blame your kidnapper?"

It was at this point I had just about enough with the old man's tone and I was about to cut in with indignation, but somehow Josh managed to be a split-second faster.

"Of course I do," he answered with a quiet yet firm voice. "Of course I blame him. But Lili… I mean, Neige was innocent. If anything, she was a victim, just like I was."

"Oh?" The old man's face practically lit up with a mirthful smile that strangely didn't reach his eyes. "How very unexpected. It is an answer that belongs to a generous heart. I wonder if your friend also agrees?" Saying so, his attention returned to me. "If I am not mistaken, you suffered some quite grievous injuries at the hands of the lady of the Abyss. Am I right to assume you also hold no hard feelings towards her, young man?"

"The name's Leonard," I answered with a growl before I even knew it. "Also, no, I naturally do not blame her for something that she had no bloody control over."

For a moment the old geezer's face froze up, but then his expression quickly returned to his previous grandfatherly visage as he let out a deep laugh that somehow made him look even more annoying than before. In the meantime I took several deep breaths to get my temper back under control, with only marginal success.

"You were right, my dear child," he spoke to Ammy once he stopped chuckling. "Your friend is truly a strange young man." I could distinctly feel that he was stressing the words 'young man', but I was still in the middle of my breathing exercise, so I managed to stay calm and not react in any overt way. Well, aside from a death-glare, but that was to be expected at this point. Anyways, he continued by saying, "So you two hold no ill feelings towards the lady of house Inanna. Very commendable. Not many youths of your age would be able to set aside their enmity so easily after such a traumatic event. However…"

At this point the old man had the gall to pause for dramatic effect, but I was in no mood to deal with his verbal bollocks, so I immediately echoed him.

"However?"

The geezer once again gave me an intrigued look, then he told us, or rather, based on how he was looking me in the eye, maybe just me in particular:

"Unfortunately, before the Lord of Inanna left to his domain in the Abyss, he thoroughly erased any and all traces he left on the records of the mundane authorities. Said records naturally included all kinds of identifications related to both him and the young lady over there." He paused again, giving me yet another one of those really annoying genial smiles, then he concluded with, "I am afraid she currently has no identity in the outside world. I believe I do not have to explain the implications of such a thing to your generation."

I could hear rustling behind me, and that just made me realize that somehow I ended up standing about one step ahead of the others, with them clustered behind me. I couldn't remember moving forward, so… were they the ones who moved behind me? It was a question for later, I decided, as I chose to move the conversation along by asking, "We understand. So, what is your angle?"

"Angle?" He repeated after me. "What a curious choice of words. Very well, I shall cut to the bone of the pleasantries and share with you the offer I prepared in advance, one which I believe shall prove quite beneficial for all of us."

"Go on," I urged him cautiously, at which point the old man took out another piece of paper from his pile.

"As I am quite sure you are all aware, it is well within my right to grant you asylum." He glanced behind me, presumably at Joshua. "This naturally applies to you as well, young man. As a victim of Abyssal violence, you are more than qualified to seek the protection of the Assembly." He paused, again, and flashed another jolly smile. "We can not only guarantee the safety of both you and your kin, but it might also serve as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity as well. So long as you cooperate with us, I can promise you not only security, but a chance to enter into the ranks of our School with the backing of a Lord of the Assembly."

"What's the catch?" I cut in before Josh could be cajoled into a careless answer.

"The catch? What could you possibly mean?" the annoying geezer asked with an expression that said he was deeply hurt by my question. Yeah, I wish he was.

"You know exactly what I mean. There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world."

"True enough," the Arch-mage admitted, his façade of jovial benevolence finally showing a small crack as he frowned at me. "As a token of goodwill, I shall be honest with you. In order to protect your friend from any future Abyssal incursions, he would need to be kept under strict supervision. Furthermore, we believe the reason behind his kidnapping was far from a random act of malevolence by the Lord of Inanna, so we might need to subject him to certain, non-intrusive tests." On the last word he abruptly glanced behind me again, and based on the sharp gasp coming from behind me, he was probably looking at Snowy. Strangely enough, before I even knew it, I took half a step to the side, so that I was looking him in the eye again.

By this point I could see that the old man was getting irritated under the guise of his gentle smile, but I didn't really mind. Anyways, after softly clearing his throat, he said, "Of course, if the young lady of House Inanna would provide us with a proper explanation behind their unusual actions, such tests might be wholly unnecessary. Speaking of which, I naturally extend the same offer and courtesy to the young mister Bernstein as well." There was a long moment of silence in the room, during which the old man's countenance became decidedly less cordial, until he lightly cleared his throat and began, in a slightly strained voice, "Believe me when I say this: most of your peers would sacrifice much more than the small compromise I ask in compensation. It is also worth mentioning that, while the young lady might belong to one of the ruling families of the Abyss, by their very nature, the denizens of her realm do not condone open treachery, which her current situation would definitely qualify. As such, I believe it is in your best interest to consider my offer well, for her fate may be truly harrowing once his brother returns and—"

"Aaaaand you just cocked it up," I stated with a glover, eliciting a series of stifled gasps from the peanut gallery behind my back and a somewhat comical expression from the old man in front of me.

"Pardon?" he asked with an uncertain voice, and I couldn't help but scoff at him.

"You heard me right. You fucked up," I told him bluntly as I casually pocketed my hands and continued to give him a glare. "For a moment I almost considered your offer, but then you just had to take that extra bloody step and use some backhanded threats like that."

"Young man, this is no way to talk to your elders," he began, but I cut him short with a chortle and a slow shake of my head.

"Yeah, sure. I'm sooooo sorry for being rude to you, gramps. Because that is the main issue here, right?" I asked as my mouth slowly drew back in a smile that didn't feel like one at all. "Let's just ignore all the double-talk. Supervision? Non-intrusive testing? Small compromise? Do we really look like idiots to you? No, wait, don't answer that, I don't care after all."

"Young man, in your place I would be careful with my words…" the old guy suddenly spoke in a low tone, and as he did, the air around him was slowly suffused with an eerie white glow. I could once again hear the others rustle behind me in a hurry. As for me…

"I told you, the name is Leonard," I answered pointedly while locking eyes with the man and we both fell silent as we competed with each other's gaze.

The silent struggle lasted for a little more than five seconds. In the end, the old man let out a single, derisive laugh, his previous grandfatherly mannerism all but gone as he asked me, "Very well, Leonard," he stressed my name as his lips parted in a pretty menacing smile, and for a moment I felt like I was facing Sebastian. Even more surprisingly, that somehow made me feel slightly less irritated. I couldn't really ponder on the reason behind that though, as he continued, "No matter what I may or may not think of you, I believe you are forgetting your place. I have already explained my offer, now it's their turn to make their choice. Not yours."

"That would be true if you actually gave them a choice," I countered.

"Truly?" he asked back with a curiously raised eyebrow.

"Indeed. If the only two options given were 'live in peace as a guinea pig under our thumb' and 'face a constant threat of death', no one would ever pick the latter. Unfortunately for you, there are other choices out there."

"Such as?" he inquired with a somewhat amused expression. "The Dracis? True, with their influence, creating a new identity for the young lady would be easy, but are you certain they would help you? The price the pride of the dragon demands for its support is not something anyone can pay."

"Who talked about them?" I retorted with a shake of my head.

"If not the Dracis, then who do you have in mind? Who else is out there who could shelter them from harm? Could it be you believe you could do it all on your own?"

"Sure," I answered off-handedly. He gave me an odd look, so I added, "I'm pretty resourceful."

The old man's eyes opened wide of a moment, then he suddenly raised his hand to his mouth to stifle a laugh.

"Yes, I was told so," he finally said after he finished chuckling and then he fell silent for a few seconds, during which the ambient magical light around him finally subsided. He appeared to be in deep thought for a while longer, then he abruptly put the paper in his hand down and glanced behind me, calling out "Amelia?"

"Yes, grandfather?" the class rep replied with a somewhat unsteady voice. I really hoped it wasn't because she was shaking with anger over my behavior, but I knew better, so I let out a silent sigh and began to mentally prepare myself for a scolding.

Meanwhile, the old arch-wizard's face was once again set in a grandfatherly smile as he told her, "Be a dear and show your friends around the School. It has been so long since we had visitors like you, I am sure the others will be more than happy to show off the fruits of their research to a group of receptive minds." He paused for a beat, his eyes flickering between Josh and Snowy, or at least so I presumed, then he added, "As for your two, I wish to apologize for my forceful approach earlier. Please take your time and carefully consider your options. If you ever find yourself in trouble, my offer of asylum remains open for the both of you."

"I'll think about it," Josh muttered, his voice strangely weak for some inexplicable reason.

I was just about to grunt and follow after them, but then the owner of the study suddenly addressed me.

"As for my young friend, Leonard… Would you mind keeping me company until your friends return?" After saying that he gave me a huge, toothy smile that looked entirely wrong on his wrinkled face. "I believe we need to discuss some things, just the two of us."

I was a little taken aback by the sudden proposal, so I glanced over my shoulder to see what the others would say, and to my surprise I found them clustered around the door. Not only that, they were all deathly pale, including the class rep, who was the only one a little further away. As for the rest, it looked like Elly and Snowy were on their guard in the front, while Josh, Judy, and Angie were huddled together behind them.

I had a faint idea of what was going on so, after a short moment of hesitation, I flashed them a reassuring smile and told them, "Go on ahead, guys. You don't need to rush either; I'll be right here."

"Are you sure?" Elly asked back, with a drop of sweat rolling down the bridge of her nose.

"Yeah. Have fun," I answered with another carefree smile. The group seemed less than enthusiastic about leaving, but then Ammy finally took the helm and she began to hastily herd them out of the study across the slowly opening doors. Once outside, said doors immediately reversed their direction, and I could only catch a few worried glances from the other side before they closed again with a distinct thud.

As they did, I released a long breath and faced the old man behind the desk, whose face at this point was covered by a positively devious grin that was not even in the same ballpark as his previously amicable façade. Not to be left behind, I gave him an irreverent smirk of my own and asked, "Is it time for the real negotiations to start, Lord Amadeus?"

"Indeed it is," he answered with a sly glint in his eye, "Leonard Blackcloak."