"Brel...?" Thenio repeated the name uncertainly.

He'd heard that name somewhere before, hadn't he? Where had he heard it before...?

"That's right." Eteon put an arm around Thenio's shoulders, guiding him toward the wheelchair. "Brel is an old friend of mine. I've told you that I had a friend in Ket'qe who taught me how to carve wood, haven't I? That's him. He's an amazing woodcarver. Maybe he can teach you a little while he's here."

"He's better than you are? Really?" Thenio asked as he stumbled over to the chair and sat down. He found it hard to believe that anyone could be better at carving wood than Eteon was.

"He is. As long as I'm not cheating, anyway," Eteon said with a small chuckle.

"I can attest to his skill with wood," Grandmaster Sephior said. "I've seen his carvings on display at the Hall of Servants in Ket'qe. They're quite remarkable." He turned toward Eteon, looking rather nervous. "I'm Focilo Sephior. I've had the privilege of being Thenio's doctor these past few months." He lowered his head apologetically. "I'm sorry. He was put in danger tonight because of my carelessness. I should have done more to protect him."

Eteon sighed. "I can't really blame you for that. I'm the one who told him it was all right to help with that job, after all. I didn't expect one of them to show up either. And I know you worked hard to keep him safe once you realized what was going on. I'm grateful for that."

Grandmaster Sephior raised his eyebrows a little, seemingly surprised by that response. "You're not blaming me? But I thought...with the Elder being here...."

"What, you thought I came here to scold you? No, no...." Brel waved one of his small brown hands dismissively. "I'm just here to help Eteon for a couple of days. Oh, but I do need to scold Ariom a little."

"Me?" Ariom stared at him blankly. "Why?"

"Because of that trick you played with the neutralizing tonic. It was quite dangerous, you know? Humans can't use a mythic beast's power without permission, no matter how skilled a void mage you are. They're called magic 'domains' for a reason.... You'd be blind right now if Ket'shiu hadn't helped you out. He knows why you did it, so he's not angry. But be more careful in the future, all right?"

Ariom looked rather taken aback. "How do you know about all that? Who are you?"

"I'm Ket'shiu's agent, obviously."

A brief silence followed those words as everyone stared at the Forest Man. The medic who had helped Thenio out looked shocked, and Grandmaster Sephior looked a bit uncomfortable. He seemed to find Brel quite intimidating. He'd called him 'the Elder' just now, hadn't he? Maybe they knew each other from when Grandmaster Sephior lived in Ket'qe.

Thenio found that he wasn't particularly surprised to hear that Brel was an agent. It was almost like he'd been expecting it. It must be because he knew that Ki'shiu and Ket'shiu were friends, so it made sense that Eteon would be friends with one of Ket'shiu's agents.

"Wow, he just came out and said it." Namyis had followed them out of the transport and was looking at Brel with a happy expression. She was probably admiring how small and cute he was.... "Don't agents usually hide their identity?"

Brel shrugged. "Most do. But I've been an agent for a long time, so a lot of people already know who I am by now. It's not really worth the trouble to hide it anymore."

"Ah, I get it." Namyis nodded in understanding. "It's like how I stopped using illusion charms to hide my stigma. I used to be self-conscious about it. But eventually I realized that everybody already knows what I look like, so there's no real point."

"Are you seriously comparing notes on how famous you are...?" Ariom asked, looking annoyed. Then he turned back to Brel. "So you're saying I shouldn't try using Ket'shiu's magic again? He can't just give me his permission?"

"Well...he can," Brel said slowly, glancing at Eteon. "But the process isn't quite that simple. We can talk about the details later, though. Thenio needs treatment and rest. And you look like you could use some yourself. Your magic circuit seems quite overworked."

"Tell me about it...." Ariom sighed and turned to Eteon. "Can I leave Thenio to you for a while? I don't think I have enough magic left to help with his treatment anyway."

"Of course. We'll take care of him. And thank you for everything you've done tonight." Eteon inclined his head. "I know it was difficult for you, and I truly appreciate it."

"That...right...well...I'm glad he's safe...." 

Ariom stood there awkwardly for a moment before turning to walk toward Bero and Iggy. But after a few steps, he paused and turned back.

"I almost forgot...." He looked at Thenio hesitantly for a moment. Then for some reason he glanced at Namyis before scowling a little and looking back. "I...well...I'm sorry. For what I said earlier. About you being like a monster. I didn't mean it how it sounded. I was just tired...and I wasn't expecting your magic to suddenly start affecting me like that...and the magic exhaustion was making everything seem a little strange...so...." He cleared his throat uncomfortably and averted his gaze. "Anyway. I'm sorry."

"Oh. Um...." It took a moment for Thenio to even remember what he was talking about. "It's okay. It surprised me...and I was a little upset...but I knew you weren't feeling well, and you wouldn't normally say something like that, so...yeah. Don't worry about it."

They spent a moment awkwardly not looking at each other.

"Well done," Namyis said, breaking the uncomfortable silence and giving Ariom a brilliant smile. "You remembered to apologize, in spite of everything else that's happened. I'm impressed."

"Quiet, you..." Ariom growled, his face flushing a little. "Aren't you supposed to be escorting your colleague over to the military hospital?"

"Right. I am. I was just making sure that you got back to your uncle safely, like I promised. But you're right, we should get going." She waved at Brel. "Nice to meet you, and sorry to run. But my friend has six bone fractures and some internal bruising, so we really should go get her treated. I'll stop by later to see how Ariom and Thenio are doing. Maybe we can talk more then, if you're still around."

Brel gave her a friendly smile. "I'll look forward to it. Tell your friend I wish her a speedy recovery."

"I'll tell her. Bye for now, everyone! Have a good rest!" Namyis waved around at all of them as she walked back toward the transport.

Thenio gave her a small wave in response, but Ariom simply watched her and the medic enter the transport and close the door behind them with a scowl on his face.

"Crazy battlemages..." he muttered as the vehicle began moving away from the drop-off area, heading toward the nearby military hospital. "Six fractures, and they act like she just twisted her ankle or something." He shook his head and then turned and walked over to Bero. "Are you still using sleeping magic on him?" he asked, looking down at the carry bag.

Bero nodded. "I'll wake him up after your magic circuit scans are done. It will be hard to keep him out of the way otherwise." He looked at Grandmaster Sephior, who had gone over to the woman who was presumably Relisa, his wife, and was standing with his arm around her, patting one of the unicorns with his other hand. "We'll go ahead, then, Focilo. Gereon is waiting for us in the analysis lab."

"That's fine. I'll check in with you once we get Thenio taken care of."

"All right." Bero put a hand on Ariom's shoulder to guide him toward the building. "Thenio, Ariom has a room in your suite, so we'll be close by. And I need to go pick up Humerus from the necromancy guild in a while, so I'll stop by the house then to get you some clothes and whatever else you need."

As the three of them disappeared inside, Thenio looked up at Eteon. "If I'm going to need a change of clothes, does that mean I have to stay here?"

"Yes. For a day or two. Brel and I will be staying with you. Having your magic circuit sealed can cause side effects, so we need to watch you for a while to make sure you recover from it properly."

"I suppose we should go inside, too." Grandmaster Sephior kissed his wife on the cheek, gave the unicorn one last pat, and started walking toward them. But he stopped after a couple of steps. "Nari? What are you doing?"

One of the unicorns—Nari, apparently—had been peering timidly over the back of the unicorn Grandmaster Sephior was patting, who must be Sano. But as soon as Ariom and Bero had entered the building, Nari started slowly circling around behind Sano. When Grandmaster Sephior spoke to her, she stopped and looked at him anxiously, like she'd just been found out.

"It's all right, sweetheart," Brel said gently, beckoning to her. "You want to come see Thenio, don't you? Come on, then. He's very kind. He won't hurt you."

Thenio raised an eyebrow at him. He wasn't sure how the Forest Man could possibly know how kind he was, since they'd only just met. But his reassurance seemed to be enough to convince Nari, who relaxed and resumed walking, her hooves making a soft clopping sound.

She came in front of Thenio and stopped, looking at him uncertainly.

"Hi there." He held out his hand, moving slowly so as not to spook her. "I'm Thenio. It's nice to meet you, Nari."

She sniffed the hand curiously, then held still while he lightly stroked her pale pink muzzle. She apparently enjoyed that because after a moment, she moved a little closer and lowered her head, allowing Thenio to slide his fingers underneath the edge of the cloth covering her face and rub the bridge of her nose.

Strange. He'd always thought of unicorns as being mysterious and special, so he'd expected that meeting one in real life would feel rather overwhelming, like meeting a gryphon for the first time had been. But this felt...normal? It didn't seem that different from all the times he'd stopped to pet a cat or dog he met on his way home from school.

Maybe it was because he'd had so many dreams about unicorns recently. Or maybe he was just too tired to feel overwhelmed....

"What, you're actually letting him touch you?" Sano sounded both surprised and slightly annoyed. He came over to them, swishing his cream-colored tail. "He looks like a normal human boy. What's so special about him?" He stretched out his neck and sniffed at Thenio's hair. Then he drew back, looking startled. "Oh."

He stared at Thenio for a moment. Then he took a step closer, lowered his head again, and started sniffing much more vigorously. Thenio made a face as Sano's whiskers tickled his ear.

Unicorns were always like that, weren't they? Either they were afraid of you and wouldn't come close, or they were right up in your face. There wasn't much in between.

Thenio blinked. Wait. Wasn't this the first time he'd ever met a unicorn, apart from dreams? How would he know what they were usually like...?

As he was puzzling over that, Grandmaster Sephior and his wife were both watching the unicorns with incredulous looks on their faces.

"Well, now..." Grandmaster Sephior said after a long pause. "This is...unexpected. I know you said that unicorns like chaos magic, but...."

Brel laughed. "This is nothing. Just wait until you see how they act around him after his magic circuit is unsealed. If he were in his usual state, even shy little Nari would have been all over him as soon as he arrived. I've never met a unicorn who didn't go crazy over chaos magic."

Grandmaster Sephior frowned. "So you've known other chaos morphs? Did you know the one who lived in Ket'qe?"

"I did. That poor kid had unicorns following him around all the time. We had to shoo them away every so often so he could get a little peace." Brel chuckled. Then he glanced up at Eteon and his expression became more sober. "Number Ten is a bit of a sensitive subject, though. Maybe I can tell you more about him another time. Right now we should focus on the chaos morph that's in front of us."

"Ah...of course." Grandmaster Sephior nodded. Then he came over and patted Sano's flank. "That's enough for now, you two. This boy needs medical treatment. We'll have to arrange a time for him to play with you later."

Sano snorted and tossed his head but obediently moved away. Nari nuzzled Thenio's cheek before also turning around and walking back to Relisa.

But both unicorns continued watching him as Eteon pushed his wheelchair into the building.

This entrance was different than the ones Thenio had seen when he'd come to the Stability Center before, and nothing looked familiar as they passed through a lobby and into a lift.

"This building is where the private suites are. The ones that long-term patients stay in," Grandmaster Sephior explained, noticing Thenio looking around. "After we found out you'd be staying in Kamari, we set one up for you with extra barriers and things, just in case of emergencies. Though being kidnapped by an Old One wasn't really one of the emergency situations we had in mind.... In any case, it will be safer for you to stay here than in one of the regular rooms, like you were in last time. And the suite has an additional bedroom to allow someone to stay with you, so Ariom will be resting there once he's done with his tests."

"Why does he need tests? What happened to him?"

"Ah, yes, you were still asleep when he was explaining that. Well, let's save the details for after your suppression is gone, since it will be a lot to take in. Suffice it to say that Ariom very much overdid it with his magic use tonight...last night now, I suppose. It damaged his magic circuit a little. He'll probably be fine if he just rests for a few days, but he's getting a thorough examination just to be safe."

Thenio's brow furrowed. Ariom had used too much magic? What exactly had he been doing? And why had he been with those people from the Magic Corps, anyway? Ariom hated the Magic Corps.

Grandmaster Sephior had said something about 'being kidnapped by an Old One' just now. Was that the doctor from the Royal Guard? But he'd talked about his body being a puppet, and he'd collapsed just before Thenio fell asleep. So the Old One was the doctor...but he wasn't really the doctor? Was there even a real doctor...?

Thenio didn't understand what was going on at all. He seemed to have been kidnapped, but he didn't exactly know why or how. His memories of real events were all mixed up with his dreams. Whatever Ki'shiu had done to his magic circuit made him feel strange and uncomfortable. And trying to force his tired, fuzzy brain to think through it all was just giving him a headache.

Eteon seemed to understand what he was feeling. "Don't worry about it right now," he said, gently smoothing Thenio's hair where Sano had been nosing it. "Ariom will be fine. And everything will make more sense once your magic is back to normal. Just relax and let us take care of you for now, all right?"

Thenio nodded and leaned back against the wheelchair with a sigh.

Right. Later. He could figure things out later....

The room they took him to was spacious and tastefully decorated. There was medical equipment in it, but there was also a wardrobe and a small sofa and table off to one side, making it look much more welcoming and liveable than a regular hospital room.

Eteon helped Thenio lie down and then sat on the edge of the bed.

"It's not good to increase the activity of your magic power too rapidly, so I'm going to turn your suppression rate up before I remove the seal on your circuit. Then we'll gradually lower it. Obviously that's going to make you want to sleep for a while. But that's fine. You had a long day yesterday, and you've actually only slept for a few hours so far, so more rest won't hurt you. Go ahead and sleep as long as you want. We'll be right here the whole time. Okay?"

"Okay."

Eteon adjusted the bands on Thenio's wrists, and he felt a heavy wave of drowsiness come over him. His body went limp, and his eyelids started to close.

But he was still partially awake when Eteon leaned down and touched his forehead lightly against Thenio's. 

"Release."

He said the word very softly, barely more than a whisper. But it was filled with a power that resonated through Thenio's body, just like Ki'shiu's voice did whenever he spoke out loud. He felt the stifling sensation that had been wrapped around him break apart and fade away.

Maybe because of the small rush of magic power that followed, a strange image suddenly came into Thenio's mind. A single feather, mottled blue and white, was drifting slowly through a starry sky.

As he watched it, a patch of dark greenish-purple appeared on the tip of the feather and began rapidly spreading across it. When the feather was about half-covered, it abruptly shattered into pieces that faded away into the darkness.

The sight gave Thenio an inexplicable feeling of grief and regret.

Then his eyes closed, and he fell into a dreamless sleep.

 

---

 

What was that?

Focilo had been watching closely while Eteon removed the seal from Thenio's magic circuit, but he still couldn't tell exactly what he had done. 

He'd simply bent down, put his face close to Thenio's, and then sent out a tiny pulse of magic—small enough that Focilo could barely see it. But somehow it spread all throughout the boy's magic circuit, dissolving the seal that was covering it.

That must be an ability that Eteon had gotten through his agent contract. Focilo didn't know very much about dream magic, but he'd once heard the Forest Lord describe it as 'frighteningly versatile.' So it was no wonder that the Dream Lord's agent had some unusual skills.

Thenio's magic went wild once the restraint was off. But the suppression enchantment made it very weak. Too weak to cause an explosion, fortunately. Eteon started gently stroking Thenio's hair, and his magic slowly settled again as he finished falling asleep.

The room was quiet for a minute or two.

"It looks like he's doing all right now," Brel said finally. "I'll watch him for a while. You should rest, Eteon. I know you're still in pretty bad shape."

Focilo raised an eyebrow. Bad shape? What was that about?

Eteon smoothed Thenio's hair one last time and then sighed and stood up. "All right. Put up a sound barrier as well, will you? He probably won't be able to hear us talking, but we shouldn't take any chances."

"Sure thing." 

Brel traced a shape in the air with his finger, and a light golden barrier appeared surrounding Thenio. Then he gestured at the ground, and a number of thin branches grew up out of the floor next to the bed and wove themselves into a Forest Person-sized chair. 

While he was doing that, Eteon walked over to the sofa and slumped down on one side of it. He looked down at his hands. The air distorted a little, and golden brown bandages appeared, covering both hands and forearms.

Had he been wearing illusion magic to hide those? Focilo hadn't sensed it at all. And those bandages...they had a strong feel of the Forest Lord's magic....

Focilo's eyes widened as he realized what he was looking at. "That's the Lord's barkcloth, isn't it? Sano told me that you gave the Royal Guard information about the Order's base and that you were poisoned as a result. Was it really that serious?"

Eteon simply gave him a tired look and didn't reply.

"Well...yes. He was a bit reckless," Brel said with a wry smile. "But Peqeran and Ciresi treated him, so the danger is mostly past now as long as he doesn't do anything to make it worse. That's why I'm here—to keep an eye on him and help take care of Thenio so that he doesn't have to strain himself. Well...and because Peqeran thought you would feel uncomfortable interacting with him by yourself. He knows you've been rather anxious ever since you found out the Consort was watching over Thenio."

Focilo's cheek twitched a little. He appreciated the consideration, but Brel was almost as scary as Eteon was....

Intimidating as they both were, though, he couldn't help asking, "Can you really afford to take a risk like that? Obviously I want to help Thenio as much as possible. But you must realize what would happen if that corruption spread from you to the Consort. How can you justify putting this entire world in danger for the sake of a boy who probably won't even live much—."

He broke off. Eteon was giving him a glare so icy that it made the words freeze in his throat.

Brel sighed and waved his small hand again, making another cluster of branches grow up and form a second, larger chair about halfway between the bed and the sofa. "Sit down, Focilo. We need to talk for a while. Eteon, try to stay calm, will you? It's not his fault that he doesn't understand."

Eteon let out a snort, but he stopped glaring. Focilo exhaled with relief and then reluctantly moved over to the new chair and sat down. 

He seriously wished he were on his way home with Relisa and the unicorns right now....

"Sorry, the pain from the corruption plus his worry about Thenio have made him a bit grouchy," Brel said, giving Focilo an apologetic smile. "And I'm sorry that we can't explain everything to you right now. But I can assure you that Eteon had good reasons for doing what he did."

Focilo glanced over at the sleeping boy. "Does it have something to do with Thenio's ability to purify demon poison?"

There was a brief silence.

"So you found out about that, did you?" Eteon's tone was even, but there was a hint of danger in it. "I know he absorbed a small amount of corruption when the Poisoner attacked. You must have seen how his body processed it."

"Yes." Focilo did his best to keep his voice and expression steady. He knew it was unlikely that Eteon would actually do anything to him, especially with Brel and Thenio present. As Brel had said, he was probably just feeling bad-tempered because someone had tried to harm the boy he cared about.

But that aura of his really was something else....

Eteon looked at him appraisingly for a moment. Then he sighed. "Yes, that has something to do with it. His potential is valuable enough that it's worth taking a small risk to protect him."

"A small risk...?" Focilo repeated doubtfully.

"Yes. Small. You really think I don't know my own limits?" Eteon said irritably. "I didn't take in more corruption than I knew I could recover from. The only real risk was that something unexpected would happen to keep me from getting back to Ket'qe to get treatment in time, and the chances of that were very low. So. A small risk."

"Well, fine. I still don't like the idea of gambling with the fate of the world, no matter how good the odds...but I suppose the Consort could have dissolved your agent contract, in the worst case...." Focilo looked at Thenio again. "Do you really think he can make a difference against the demons?"

"It's possible, if he can learn to control his power." Eteon leaned forward and fixed Focilo with a stern look. "But I absolutely don't want you telling him about this. The poor boy is under enough pressure already. Do you understand?"

"I understand. It's true that he tends to be quite hard on himself, and adding to his anxiety will just make it harder for him to keep his magic stable. I won't say anything, I promise."

"Good." Eteon relaxed a little. "Now, why don't you tell us what happened after the Poisoner showed up?"

"Doesn't dream magic let you get information like that on your own?"

"It does. But you were the one who was so worried about me getting exposed to demon corruption. Do you really want me looking at information involving them right now?"

Focilo made a face. "Ah...right. Sorry. I wasn't thinking.... "

"You did just get kidnapped by a Poisoner and then spent half the night growing tree roots so that Peqeran could help get you out. I'm sure you're feeling tired and disoriented." Brel gave him an understanding smile. "But we really do need to know what happened so that we know how much the Poisoner learned about Thenio and whether there's a risk of them coming after him again."

"Of course. I don't think he learned very much, but...well. I suppose I should start at the beginning...."

He told them everything, from the discovery that the analysis subject was actually a flesh puppet, to Vehnkir coming to Thenio's recovery room in Rimeus' body and teleporting them out, to the conversations he'd overheard and the things he'd learned from observing Thenio while they were in the holding cell.

The other two mostly stayed quiet, only occasionally asking a question about something he'd said. 

But Eteon did accidentally let out a rather terrifying wave of magic power when Focilo mentioned Vehnkir saying he could call Thenio's spirit back after he'd died. Brel hastily threw up another barrier around Thenio's bed to protect him from it. Though he, too, looked quite upset at the idea.

Well, that was understandable. Focilo had never actually seen anyone call a spirit back from the dead, but he'd once gotten quite a thorough lecture on the subject from the Forest Lord.

And he also hated the idea of something so terrible happening to a nice boy like Thenio....

"It does sound like Vehnkir only took Thenio on a whim, rather than because he had a specific purpose in mind," Brel said when Focilo was finished. "And the Order lost quite a sizeable base as a result. I'm sure the others are going to be furious with him. They'll probably keep him on a tight leash for a while, so he shouldn't be able to come after Thenio again anytime soon. And he might have lost interest, if he thinks that chaos morphs are just an unusual type of chimera."

"Is that all they are?" Focilo probably wouldn't have dared to ask that question an hour ago, but by this point he was too tired to feel very intimidated anymore. "I know you don't want to explain everything to me. But could you at least tell me this one thing? Are chaos morphs how they are because they're born that way? Or is this all some kind of cruel experiment that the Consort is doing to try to create a child who can help close the demon rifts?"

The room was silent for a long moment. Focilo and Eteon were staring at each other, and Brel was looking between the two of them uncertainly.

Finally, Eteon let out a tired sigh and closed his eyes. "They're born that way," he said quietly. "The only experimenting going on is for the purpose of finding a way to help them." He opened his eyes again and looked at Focilo with an oddly mournful expression. "As long as there have been chaos morphs in this world, Ki'shiu has been looking after them. And I can guarantee you, no one cares more about their well-being than he does. The potential for saving the world is just a nice bonus...."