Chapter 7: The Flame Eater, Part 3

Ignis leaned his head closer to the struggling Jack.

He opened his mouth and sucked in all the fire engulfing Jack, just like inhaling air. Jack, now unconscious, fell hard on the ground face first.

Jack's charred limbs hugged the cold marble floor. He was unrecognizable. His clothing and body hairs were in ashes. If the spell had lingered any moment longer, he would have definitely expired. Although seeing his state, one would wish he had died instead. It was beyond terrible for a human — or any race — to experience this.

But more than Jack's overcooked body, the crowd fixed their attentions towards the person who caused it.

"He's real..."

"He ate the flames."

"No, he didn't! He sucked it from Jack."

"I know what I saw!"

Many more comments livened the silent hallway, but not everyone was on the same page. For Mariana, what happened was inhumane. Her beliefs were being challenged in front of her eyes, and she didn't know how to react. Magic existed for the people's benefit, right? Supposedly, it should be used to improve lives and protect the races from harm.

Mariana knew that fire was dangerous. It was the only element that would hurt anyone who dared touch it. Still, it wasn't all bad. Ignis even told her he could heal with fire. However, seeing his power now; was he even being truthful about it?

No, Mariana should not doubt Ignis. He saved her, after all. But Mariana still couldn't understand. Why did he need to create such a spell?

Eventually, an Elven woman quieted and had swept aside the sea of students that was preventing her from witnessing the scene.

"What happened here?! Who is — jealous god! What happened to this student?!"

It was Celeste Darkwind. She immediately ordered a student to call for a cleric. Moments later, a cleric arrived and healed Jack. It was Mariana’s first time to see this kind of magic, but even she forgot about it almost instantly. Afterward, they carried his naked body somewhere else to be treated further.

Now the student's mouths went shut. They all have seen what happened, but who dare to say anything against Ignis? They wouldn't risk their safety for something they didn't even know if it will benefit them.

Celeste seemed to have understood the students' sentiments as she immediately interrogated the only plausible person who could be responsible for what happened.

But Ignis, who went back to his nap while standing, didn't cooperate, so Celeste invited him to join her to pay Lady Clearwater a visit instead. Ignis followed reluctantly, and they thought that would be the end, but before the two vanished from everyone's sight, Celeste turned her head towards Mariana.

"Lady Fairchild, please join us. What he says might differ from what truly transpired. I trust you won't hide the truth from us." Celeste shot her a troubled look before leaving.

But Mariana's mind was still somewhere flying. She wouldn't have moved hadn't she been poked by the student next to her.

"Why are you still here?" the student asked.

"Ah, right! Sorry..."

And she ran off to follow the two.

'Why is this happening, grandma?'

***

"Oi, did you really burn Jack Byron with your spell?" Oceana asked for the third time.

"I did. How many times do I have to repeat myself?"

"How did you do it? What spell did you use? Did it happen instantly or did it take like a few seconds before his whole body was surrounded—"

Celeste cleared her throat. This reined Oceana back to her seat. It seemed that Mariana wasn't the only one who went crazy whenever magic was the topic, Ignis thought.

With reddened cheeks, Oceana said "Apologies. What do you think we should do here, Celeste?"

"I do not have the power to decide. However, I suggest we ban his spell Hellfire so this would never happen again."

"You heard her, boy?" Oceana smirked naughtily to Ignis. "You got your spell banned! Hahaha!"

"What?!" Ignis rose from his seat.

"Sit down, Sir Ignis! Just be thankful that they did not expel you." Mariana whispered loudly.

Expelled? Ignis would love it if they expelled him. He would gladly step out in this place than stay another second. All he did was punish that arrogant noble, and he became the bad guy? He wasn't even planning to kill him, and he would've healed his body, too, had the long-eared professor didn't come.

"Sit down, boy. We're not yet done," ordered Oceana.

"No. I will return to Sickle Island," Ignis said firmly.

But just when Ignis turned his back to get to the door, someone grabbed him by his wrist. When he looked back, he thought it was the Two-faced woman, but it was Celeste.

Ignis attempted to pull back his hand, but Celeste's teary eyes confused her.

"W-what's wrong?" Ignis asked.

"Y-you..." Celeste's voice cracked. "You came from that wretched place?!" she yelled.

Ignis, startled, immediately tried to release his hand from her grip. Surprisingly, the petite Elf had a powerful grip, but he eventually got back his hand. At that moment, Celeste's words finally sank in his head — he didn't like it.

"Wretched?" Ignis asked the trembling Celeste.

"YES!" Celeste shrieked. "THAT WRETCHED PLACE SHOULD—"

"Alright, that's enough Celeste," Oceana, out of nowhere, emerged behind Celeste and covered her mouth with her palms. Celeste struggled, but she failed terribly. Oceana then told Mariana — who was stunned in her seat — to escort Celeste outside her office.

"Elves..." Oceana sighed as the two vanished behind the door. "Crazy race. Especially the women." She shook her head as she walked back to her seat, exhausted.

Ignis, however, was glued to his seat, unable to say anything.

"Ah, about that," said Oceana, as if she knew already what was inside Ignis' head. "She used to live in Atmos like all elves. It wasn't surprising that she knew about your island."

"She called it 'wretched island'. I lived there almost my entire life, and nothing in that place deserved to be called wretched."

Oceana rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Boy, she's almost 500 years old..."

"She... what?"

"Don't ask her for the exact number if you love your life, hahaha!"

Ignis fumed. "I don't care about that long-eared woman's age. I want to know her reason."

Sickle Island was, for Ignis, unlike any other place. The island was perfect. One would not run out of plants to gather and fish to hunt for food. The island also had a beautiful sandy beach, and it was where Ignis used to hang out when he got nothing to do. The water was also so crystal clear, some days it appeared as if it had vanished.

Ignis and the Lady of Sickle lived in the middle of the island, below the foot of Sickle Mountain. Her home was beautiful and well-maintained by the Lady before he arrived. When he came to the place, he also helped the Lady do her chores and aided her in her research work about something Ignis never bothered asking. He was content to live on that island. It was his home. So hearing someone describe it as wretched — he, at the very least, needed to know why. It might be the answer he was looking for all this time ever since that terrible thing that they did to the Lady.

"Let me make this clear to you, boy: it's not the elves," Oceana said with a straight face.

"Wait... YOU knew?!" Ignis roared.

"We both knew she would meet her fate eventually. Long before you even arrived at her place."

It was one rainy afternoon, and the Lady of Sickle noticed they had not enough firewood for the evening, so she asked Ignis to grab it for them. Had he known that when he returned home, what would welcome him was the Lady's lifeless body, he would've stayed.

Ignis mourned her death for months. He only forced himself to recover when he remembered about the Lady's order to him if ever something bad happened to her: to seek Oceana and give her the letter that she previously handed him.

"You knew, but you did nothing to stop it?!"

"I have my reasons, boy, and she didn’t like anyone protecting her — nor anyone around her. She lived alone, remember? You should’ve seen my face when I received the news that she took someone in. That dumb Freya," Oceana said with a weak grin.

“Is that… true?”

“I have no reason to lie.”

Ignis felt his energy escape his body.

Serving the Lady of Sickle was his only purpose, and he didn’t bother to wish for anything else so long as he could serve her. It was also the reason he didn’t even know what to do when she was murdered. Ignis, remembering her order, was the only thing that forced him to stop mourning her death.

She used to say to Ignis that he should have a mind of his own. She told him to set aside away his past because he was so fixated with it that it hindered him from growing. The lady also told her it was the reason she taught her how to conquer the fire spirit properly, although he doubted it before — and now he was sure.

‘So Freya was her name.’

Ignis felt no one could possibly be more foolish than him. Of course, Lady Freya wouldn’t teach him to wield such power for such a flimsy reason. She wanted him to accomplish something. Her death, the letter, his fire magic: it all made sense to Ignis now. At last, he knew what he had to do.

Ignis asked Oceana, “Would you… tell me more about what happened? About Lady… Freya.”

Oceana raised an eyebrow. "Oh?”

“Please. She’s the only family I had.”

“Hm…”

Oceana stood and walked to her office’s window. Ignis hated this, but he got no one else to rely on.

“I’ll tell you, on one condition…”

***

Hector turned around the hourglass atop his table. He looked outside his window and clearly saw the clouds drifted, freeing the lonely moon behind it. He opened one panel to inhale some fresh air, but the wind never visited his office.

It was already midnight.

After a few moments, he heard three knocks at his door.

“Come in,” Hector said.

“‘Ssup, boss!”

“Good… good evening, boss.”

Hector flashed a smile at the two women. They’re still the same.

“I apologize for calling you at this ungodly hour, but it can’t be helped. Master Marcus has a job for you two.”

Expectedly, the woman in white’s face crumpled, while the woman in black gulped down a big clump of air.

Hector chuckled. They never changed at all.

“Don’t make those faces. It’s different this time. You two didn’t need to leave Arcanus.”

Their faces lit up.

“Really?! Nice! So what should we do?” asked the woman in white.

“What she said, boss. The sooner we finish Master Miller’s task, the better,” said the woman in black.

“Relax. We’ll get there. Care for a tea?” Hector said as he led the women into a couch.

The woman in white stuck out her tongue and attempted to vomit while the woman in black mouthed ‘thank you.’

What a wonderful evening, Hector thought. He had already foreseen the success of their mission. Truly, these two are the best at their jobs.

Hectora witnessed the two sipping their tea. They could finally begin. 

“So, shall we start our discussion?”

The two nodded in agreement.