With a passing remark from Kilik, Yuki slipped back into her room where Akira was sitting up in bed. When Akira saw her, she lit up and smiled as Yuki tiptoed towards the bed. 

[What happened?] she asked.

‘We had some visitors,’ Yuki replied as she sat on the bed.

[What kind?]

‘The more friendly ones. They were from the Dragons of Gaea.’

[Really?] Akira said, her eyes widening. [Why were they here? Did they know about you?]

‘No. They came because they found out about Sophie’s death,’ Yuki explained. ‘They were worried about the vacant seat and how to fill it. They were also a bit miffed about not being told earlier.’

[Causing the ground to shake seems to be a bit more than miffed,] Akira replied dryly.

‘Yeah. Kilik got it under control pretty fast though. I got a little peek into what that other side of him is like.’

[Other side?]

‘Oh, I never told you,’ Yuki remembered. ‘It’s something Ember said to me while we were flying here. Kilik isn’t exactly normal. He has some special ability that, from what it sounds like, changes him and makes him more powerful.’

[Really? That’s interesting. I wonder how that works.]

‘Same here. It seems that if you make him angry, it begins to trigger it.’

[I’ll need to look into that more,] Akira said. [What did Kilik do to calm them? Or what did he tell them?]

‘Well, he told the truth basically. He explained that he was going to come out of the news tomorrow as well as announce me as the next archmage,’ Yuki said. She paused and thought about what Kilik said about Sophie, her voice growing soft. ‘Then they also talked about how Sophie isn’t actually dead.’

[What do you mean?] Akira frowned. [I thought you saw her disappear.]

Yuki started to explain how dragons were made, but felt the words get pulled from her mind before she could even say them. She remembered the oath she took with Sophie. The oath to never disclose that information to anyone else.

‘They said there’s a way to bring her back,’ Yuki said, going around the oath. ‘Some sort of magic. It would make sense. I never actually saw her die. She only disappeared.’

[Did they talk about it in more detail?]

‘Not really, no. I’ll have to look into it more later. If its possible to bring her back, then I have to at least try.’

[It might be dangerous.]

‘It wouldn’t hurt to look into.’

[True. Is there anything else they talked about?’ Akira asked.

‘Well, Kilik introduced me to them,’ Yuki replied, frowning as she thought to herself. ‘The Dragons of Gaea want to test me it seems. It’s to relieve any possible concerns their members have about an outsider becoming their leader.’

[When is this?]

‘Tomorrow actually. They’ll be coming in the morning from what they said. Then I’m to go with them.’

[By yourself?]

‘I don’t know. Possibly.’

[If not, then let me come,] Akira said. [If they want a demonstration on earth magic, I can help you. We’re a package remember.]

‘I remember. Though, if they don’t let me bring you, you can always just go with me the other way,’ Yuki said. ‘They wouldn’t be able to see that.’

[True. Just make sure you ask to go to the bathroom or something so that we have a second or two for me to hide.]

‘Alright,’ Yuki nodded. She laid back on the bed and scooted her body into Akira’s. ‘It’s late. We should sleep.’

[Yes. Good night Yuki,] she said.

‘Good night, Aki.’

---

 

The next morning, a knock on the door awoke Yuki from her sleep. She slipped out from Akira’s arms and went to answer. When she peeked out, she saw Ember waiting outside.

“Good morning,” Yuki greeted with a smile. “Want to come in?”

“No, I’m fine,” Ember replied. “I’m just waking you up. Kilik wants to see if you have any concerns and also those three guys are coming back soon.”

“Ah. That,” Yuki nodded. She paused. “You knew about it?”

“I’m the one that let them in,” Ember laughed. 

“I was wondering. How did they find this place? I thought this was a secret location.”

“There are some organizations that are privy to the knowledge of where meetings are occurring,” Ember explained. “Only the top people know and they take an oath. It’s also temporary, so they only know the location of one place at a time.”

“They can’t record it either, I assume?”

“Nope. We try to keep our meetings as safe as possible.”

“That’s a good practice. Is Kilik in the main room?” Yuki asked.

“He is. Want to wake up the others before you go?”

“No, I think it’ll be fine.”

She slipped out of the room and shut the door gently. Ember led the way forward into the meeting room where Kilik was sitting on his crystal seat. He gave Yuki a nod as she approached.

“Did you have a good rest?” he asked.

“I did, thank you,” she replied. 

“I’m glad to hear that. So, this is continuing from yesterday,” Kilik said. “Do you have any concerns or questions that you’ve come up with? I’ll be happy to answer them right now.”

“I don’t really have anything in terms of my new position, but I do have a question from your conversation last night,” Yuki said.

“And what is that?”

“You mentioned that Sophie can be brought back.”

“I did. What about it?”

“How exactly?” Yuki asked. “Let’s say, hypothetically, we locate her core. How can we bring her back?”

“With magic,” Kilik replied. “Spells and techniques that you do not know. I won’t explain how, but it is something that you can find out. Anything else?”

“Where can I find this type of information?”

“Where? You’ll know.”

‘I won’t be getting any direct answers then. I wonder why.’

“Alright,” Yuki said. “Are those people from the Dragons of Gaea coming soon?”

“They are. In fact, they’re already here,” Kilik said. “They’re waiting outside for Ember to let them in. Are you ready?”

“I am. But I was wondering whether or not I can bring my friends with me.”

“That is something you’ll need to ask them when they’re here.”

“I see. Can you let them in then?” Yuki asked. 

“I can,” he nodded. “Ember, if you will.”

Ember went down the entrance hall for a minute or so before she returned with three people, two of them hidden in cloaks. The third was the man from the night before. 

“Welcome back, Brothers,” Kilik greeted. 

“Greetings, Council Head. Yuki,” the man said. “As we agreed to do, we’ve returned to bring you to our base for you to showcase your skills.”

“I know. If I may, would it be possible for me to bring my friends with me?” Yuki said. “I do not want to leave them here and give them panic and worry. It would only take a moment.”

“Friends?” the man frowned. “How many?”

“Four. Unless Ember can come as well which will make it five.”

“I’ll let you have one,” he said. “Bring one so that they can watch and observe. That should alleviate any worries. Not that we will be doing anything to you, of course.”

‘That wasn’t quite what I meant when I said panic and worry,’ Yuki thought. ‘I guess that will do though. I only need Akira to come with me.’

“I’ll take that then. Let me go and fetch her,” she said. “Please wait a moment.”

Yuki went back to her room where Akira was already awake and out of bed. She had changed her clothes and brushed her hair in the time Yuki was speaking outside. Erica and Yuna were fast asleep still while Mathali looked at Yuki with an inquiring expression.

“So what did they say?” Akira asked.

“You can come,” Yuki smiled. “Mathali, watch over the others for me. Akira and I will be out for a bit to handle some business.”

“As you wish, my lady,” he bowed. 

“Let’s go,” Yuki said to Akira. She snapped her fingers, using her magic to brush her own hair. 

“Not going to change?” Akira said.

“No. I want to go for the shock value,” Yuki replied as she opened the door for Akira.

They left and went back to the meeting room where Kilik and the man were engaged in idle conversation. The man saw them returning and went to greet them.

“That was quite fast,” the man said. He glanced at Akira. “And this is your friend?”

“She is. We’re ready to go,” Yuki said.

“Good, good. What is your name, miss?” the man asked.

“I’m Akira.”

“Akira. Has a bit of the same flavor as Yuki. What are you? I don’t quite recognize your aura,” the man frowned. He stared at her for a longer time. “Yep. I can’t tell. Interesting.”

Akira glanced over at Yuki who gave her a shrug. 

“I’m a chimaera,” Akira said.

“Oh, a chimaera,” the man nodded. Then he blanched. “Can you repeat that?”

“A chimaera.”

“Let’s go back to the base,” the man said, his nodding growing more and more vigorous. “Alright. Everything is ready. It was nice seeing you, Council Head. I hope you have a good day. Come now, Brothers. You two as well.”

With that, he began to march out of the room at a hurried pace. Yuki bade Kilik farewell as well before following the three men out. 

[What was that about?] Akira asked.

‘I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out.’