Before long, I was in a carriage with Pink, Blue, Clem, and Doey. As soon as we could part ways with the castle, I got a carriage. Blue needed to get back to school anyway, and I needed to figure out how deep all of this went.

It had taken a bit of convincing to let the King allow Clem to come out of the city after the last swarm, but we promised we would keep her safe and return quickly to prepare for the next swarm. With that, we were off again to return to that infernal place.

‘Ok, Sammy! What is the plan?’

‘Simple, really. I’m going to talk to Miss Wintry and see how much she knows. Then, we get her to summon the Fairy Queen to do an interrogation. My guess is that we might even be able to find Vicky with a little info from the big shot fairy.’

‘Ahm just gonna ignore tha fact that you just glossed ova interrogatin’ the Fairy Queen, a literal deity in this world.’

‘Look, Fauna, as long as I’ve known the Magus, they’ve never been one to respect authority for authority’s sake. Although I guess when you are on a first-name basis with Yggdrasil, everything else looks tiny in comparison.’

‘Ooooh! So if you’ve known Sammy from her last life, tell us some good stories about her.’

‘Happily! I’ll never pass up on an opportunity to tell the tale of the Magus, and with them here I’m going to make it an especially embarrassing one! So there we were, the war with the Revenant had already taken out three of the surrounding countries, and the Magus decided to travel to the island nation of Tetakaiha to offer assistance. But little did we know that Tetakaiha was a country with a very peculiar tradition…’

Pink sat on the edge of her seat and emoted as she talked. The other three listened intently, and I groaned and sunk down. This was going to be a long trip. 

We arrived at the school after what seemed like an eternity, and it was oddly nostalgic to see the Fairyite gates as we approached. The bars opened and revealed the more modern school that now felt out of place to me in this medieval world.

I hopped out and made my way for the school office while the others took care of the cart. Pink followed so I ‘wouldn’t get into trouble’. I entered the front office and saw a familiar face.

‘Miss Swella, did you miss me?!’

The round receptionist looked up at me with a quizzical expression. She then saw Pink standing behind me.

‘Celest, dear! So good to see you after so long! I’m glad you’ve made friends, but you know the policy for bringing Unbonded into the school.’

‘You can’t be serious, I’ve only been gone for a few weeks, and I’m sure I made a better impression then that on…oooooooh, crap.’

Pink and Miss Swella looked at me in confusion. My eyes darted around the room for a bit as a sense of dread washed over me. I summoned my sword and started to walk in the direction of the Headmistress’s office.

‘Wait, are you one of the new students? Impossible, I would have heard of it!’

‘Miss Swella, does the name Samantha Rye mean anything to you?’

‘No Dear, and you will have to wait. The Headmistress isn’t in right now. And I will have to ask for you to respectfully put away your weapon.’

‘And when will Miss Wintry return?’

‘Miss Wintry? Why would Miss Wintry be coming here?’

I flashed a look at Pink and we ran out of the room and towards the stables. There we found the carriage, but Clem, Doey, and Blue weren’t around. I felt a knot of anxiety in the pit of my stomach.

‘Magus, what’s wrong?’

‘Pink, you have to fly out of here, now.’

‘Why? What’s going on? I can help!’

‘Victoria’s back, so unless you want me erased from all of your memories, go!’

‘There’s no way I’d let her do that!’

My fears were confirmed when Miss Irons, clad in her magic maid costume, stepped out from around the back of the stables.

‘I’m afraid you won’t have a choice.’

I growled and drew my sword. I began to walk in her direction. She glared at me but held her hands forward in an attempt to stop the fight.

‘Stop right there, Miss Rye.’

‘I owe you a rematch.’

‘And if you do that, she dies.’

I looked back at Pink to see that Miss Orica had appeared behind us.

‘If she flies, we have six Fairybond that will take her down. If you fight one of us, the other will kill her.’

‘So what, she’s Fairybond too. She’ll just resurrect in the circle.’

‘And who do you think is waiting for her at the circle? Miss Orica has already seen all of this. You will come with us.’

All of the possible way’s out of this spiraled around in my head when I finally lowered my sword and sheathed it.

‘Of all the monsters I’ve fought, why do humans have to be the worst? It’s like you all want to be put out of your misery or something. I’m here to find Vicky anyway, so let’s go.’

Miss Orica walked past us and over to the side of Miss Irons. She motioned for us to follow.

‘We all have our reasons for what we do.’

‘And it usually boils down to the fact that you’re too stupid to realize that you’ve overestimated your abilities.’

We followed the two as we walked across the campus. I sighed heavily when we arrived at our destination. A table had been set up in the center of the apple orchard. At one side, Victoria sat, merrily chatting away with Clem and Doey. A row of six Fairybond stood guard by the trees, no doubt waiting for Pink to try to run.

‘I’m so glad the two of you could come by and visit. It really has been too long, Fauna. I hope to visit the castle soon and have a talk with the King. Why don’t the two of you stay in our guest house for the night before heading home tomorrow.’

‘That would be wonderful, Victoria. I’m so glad things are going better here after the Troll attack.’

‘Now, I have a few other guests to attend to, so if you will excuse me.’

‘Certainly, Headmistress. We will be in the library if you need us for anything.’

Clem got up to leave and saw me and Pink. A pained look appeared on her face, followed by confusion, and then she composed herself.

‘Ah, you must be a new Fairybond. I am Princess Clementine von Ancelot. I hope you enjoy your say here at the school. It really is a wonderful place.’

‘Sure thing Clem. Don’t worry. I’ll clear things up here in a jiffy and we can return home. I just have a bit of trash to take care of first.’

I glared at Victoria as Clem looked at me with a confused expression. She looked at Doey, who just shrugged, and they walked away. Victoria motioned to the open seats. Miss Irons and Miss Orica moved to stand behind her.

‘Have a seat.’

‘I’d rather stand, thanks.’

‘Fine, have it your way. Do you know how much work has gone into this school, Miss Rye?’

‘First, you will address me as Magus for this conversation. And as for the cost of the school, I’d guess it cost three young women’s souls and the betrayal of all humanity.’

‘That’s a bit drastic, Miss…’

‘Magus. And you just mind-wiped at least two people of their relationship with me and have threatened to do so with my oldest friend. So spare me your humanity, Victoria. You lost that long before I came around.’

She cleared her throat and paused for a second. 

 ‘Vi…Magus, we have decided that the proper course of action will be… to return you to your world. I will give you back your name, and you can leave this place. Return home to your family and loved ones.’

‘How magnanimous of you.’

‘You will…leave. And we will continue to oversee the eradication of the Revenant on this world.’

‘Why did you pause.’

‘Pardon?’

‘You paused earlier before saying return, and now before saying leave. For someone who wants me gone, you sure have a hard time saying it.’

Emotion suddenly appeared in Victoria’s face, and Miss Orica placed her hand on Victoria’s shoulder. She also had a sad expression painted on her face.

‘How much do you know about being the Magus?’

The question actually caught me off guard. I thought about it for a few seconds before giving my answer.

‘I am Yggdrasil’s protector. I was chosen by her to root out anything that can harm her wellbeing. As a secondary objective, I am to protect humanity.’

‘And how many leaves have you been to?’

‘Two. Three if you count my personal leaf. Where are you going with this?’

‘Please, just work with me for a little bit. How many Magi are there approximately?’

‘As far as I know, I’m the only one. Iggy refers to me as THE Magus, so that’s a good guess, but I wouldn’t be surprised if others exist, and she just never told me. She’s oddly secretive like that.’

Miss Orica then jumped into this odd little game of deduction.

‘So, running with the idea that you are the only Magus, why would there only be one? And how can one person possibly protect all of the countless leaves?’

‘I don’t know. I’ve only ever known of the Revenant threat, and I was able to clear that threat from my own world. At least I thought I had. Maybe Iggy just didn’t need a Magus until now?’

Miss Orica waved her hand in the air, and illusionary images began to play of dozens of Magi dashing into combat. Each was a combination of different sizes, shapes, races and sex. The only trait connecting them was the blue trail of energy that flowed from their single-edged sword. I felt an odd tightness in my chest as I watched.

‘So, it seems that there are other Magi after all. Is this the place where you tell me I’m not special, and Iggy doesn’t really care about me?’

‘Not at all. Are you familiar with the concept of reincarnation?’

‘In theory. Your soul gets transferred to another leaf when you die. There would be no way to verify it as your memories wouldn’t carry over.’

Victoria reached under the table and pulled out a red, uncut crystal. It was about the size of a fist and pulsed with warm orange energy. She gingerly held it in the palms of her cupped hands. I could feel the warm energy of the crystal resonate with me as it pulsed with my heartbeat. The tightness in my chest increased, but my internal fight-or-flight instincts were not triggered.

‘W…what is that?’

‘This is a magic crystal called the Phoenix Heart. It can reach into your past, and if you have lived a past life it can bring out those old memories. This stone isn’t that strong. It can only go back a life or two, but there aren't many who have lived more lives than that.’

Miss Orica stepped forward and pointed a hand at Miss Irons.

‘Miss Irons had a past life where she was a great warrior. By using this crystal, she was able to regain her past life’s talents. We had already been looking for it for some time before you came, but finding it now, with you here, is a great blessing.’

‘What does that crystal have to do with me?’

‘What if we told you that you were right. There is only one Magus. You.’

‘But you just showed me images of other Magi. Why would you think that?’

‘It’s just a theory, really. But I think you felt it when you saw their images. All of those Magi are you. You are probably as old as the World Tree itself. Each time a threat manifests itself, you are reincarnated into that leaf. You take whatever form you are given, destroy the threat, and then live your life, or die and the leaf is lost. Either way, you eventually die, you are sent to the next threat.’

‘How could you even know that?’

Victoria choked back a sob as tears ran freely down her cheeks. This time, Miss Irons reached down in an uncharacteristic show of affection and began to rub her back. Miss Orica continued.

‘Because you were already here. When you died, we tried to grab your life force from the Ley Lines, but it was already gone.’

‘What?!’

Victoria looked me in the eyes as a sudden shift of mood came over her. Her tears stopped and her sadness was replaced by a desperate pleading. She held out the crystal, and I reflexively stepped back.

‘Touch the Heart and see. After that, we give up. You win. We submit to whatever you decide.’

I stared at them for a while and tried to deduce their strategy. Could this all be a trap? Miss Orica might be able to fake some tears, but I didn’t feel like Victoria could.

‘If this is some kind of trap, when I get out, and I do mean WHEN. I’m going to make your deaths slow and painful.’

Victoria just sat with her hands outstretched, holding the crystal as close to me as she could. A frown was plastered on her lips, but she said nothing. I reached forward and placed my hand on the top of the crystal. At first, nothing happened, but the pulse got stronger with each beat of my heart. I winced as the thudding in my ears grew louder.

Thud thud. Thud thud. 

I let go and covered my ears to dampen the sound, but it was coming from inside.

Thud thud. Thud thud. 

Pain seared my mind and I felt what was left of the Psychic Veil tear to shreds. As the memories returned, the yellow wall in my mind's eye was replaced by a surge of orange energy.

Thud thud. Thud thud. 

I fell to the ground and cradled my head in my arms. Pink screamed out to me, but I couldn’t hear what she was saying. Miss Irons restrained her, but I couldn’t move past the pain.

Thud thud. Thud thud. 

Suddenly, it was as if a mirror that had been shattered into a million pieces was instantly put back together to reflect a perfect image again. I looked up from the ground at the woman with long yellow hair. She had gotten up from the table and now crouched down beside me with a pained and worried expression on her face. My mind reeled as I realized who she was.

‘Mom?’