Chapter X: And The Show Begins

The Pavilion had a few aristocrats roaming around, but not to the extent that they'll bother looking at him padding his way towards the fountain with a statue of a dragon in the middle, spouting water from it's mouth. The fountain was painted in white, as well as the dragon, making the water appear as though it ripples with sparkles.

Sighing, Kaylus sat on the bench that was under a lollipop-trimmed tree and started to soothe himself by watching and listening to the water flowing from the dragon's mouth. The statue seemed surreal, as if it stirs something in him. Something familiar, and yet, whatever it is, he can't point it out.

Reaching out to his pocket, he grabbed the flaring ruby, ignoring the burning pain it caused on his right palm. He can't do magic here, it'll be dangerous for his family's reputation.

He glimpsed to the water again and suddenly,  he felt the tiniest tingle of sensation at the back of his nape, hairs standing up as he felt the strange feeling hit him.

The feeling of being watched.

Jerking his head around, he was clearly alarmed by what he felt. It was a something he knew, a sensation so familiar as it was one of the prominent lectures his Master used to teach him years ago.

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He was tired from writing down the list of magical plants and herbs. His wrists felt like it was about to swell as he flicked the notepad to it's tenth page. He only wrote a few things and yet, he wanted to stop now.

"Writing's boring," he mumbled to himself.

He despised it. Makes him remember of those moments when his tutor used to punish him by ordering him to jot down a hundred page apologies, back-to-back.

Just then, an idea came across his mind that made him feel excited. His Master told him that he'll be away in his study for he has to attend to some important matters that needs to be finished immediately.

"That means, he wouldn't know if I'll ditch this thing."

Putting the quill down in the bottle of ink, he jogged to the door and turned the knob, but it was locked. Frowning, he looked around and saw the windows. He was on the second floor of his Master's Victorian house, but he didn't care.

He smirked to himself as he opened the windows wide enough for him to be able to pass through. As he was about to jump, he felt a weird tingling sensation at the back of his neck. He looked around the room one last time and saw that it was still the way it is. Shrugging his shoulders, he went and jumped out of the window, and landed on the ground roughly. He was smiling, celebrating his victory internally.

He headed to the oakwood forest, only to see his Master leaning on a trunk, narrowing his eyes while staring at him. He stopped dead in his tracks as he felt his victorious glee fade away from him.

A few moments later, he was back in that same room and was even given more things to write as he received some good amount of scolding by his Master. Suddenly his mouth blurted out something.

"How'd you know?"

His Master looked at him and blinked, his crimson eyes glinting.

"What do you mean, how'd I know Kaylus?"

Kaylus looked down and started writing.

"I mean... Master, you said you were in your study. How did you know I went out?," he asked while writing, not exactly looking at him for he was ashamed of himself from having such a petty behavior.

This time his Master motioned him to stop writing and told him to look up and face him. He was met by his kind smile as Kaylus watched him attentively.

"I was watching you."

Kaylus looked at him, his eyebrows scrunched on his forehead.

"But how? There's no one here though?," he murmured, his eyebrows furrowing further. "Oh! But I did felt some strange tingle on my nape, sire. Like—, like someone was watching me..."

His Master chuckled as he clapped his hand once. An object materialized on his right palm. He held it close enough for Kaylus to see. It was a handheld mirror, with gold coating on it's handle and rim.

"This here, is called a Scrying Mirror."

Kaylus marveled at the object.

"Those goosebumps you felt are an indication that you have a strong spiritual power, as well as magic. When you're a magician, sensing magic should be easy and natural like breathing," his Master explained.

"Descrying objects do come in different forms though, but I liked this mirror. It comes in handy."

Chuckling, his Master patted his head as Kaylus watched in awe, his mouth still agape as he observed the mirror in front of him. It looked like an ordinary hand mirror, and it doesn't show anything but his reflection.

"But how does this work?," he asked. "I can only see my own reflection here."

He was answered by his Master's wide smile as he was patted again on his head.

"And that, lad, should be explained after you finish your writing task," he chuckled as he headed towards the door.

Groaning, he turned to grab his quill again and aimed to finish the task sooner, as his curiosity grew with each tick of the clock.

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Smoke rushed out from the mouth of the guards, escaping like vine tendrils while she laughed wickedly. The white fox strutted behind her back as she inhaled the smoke, absorbing the magic that she got from sucking out the life force from the three men guarding her orb crystal—three men that was once alive and now dead.

"Can you feel it Olivia?," she exclaimed, eyes wide as she stared into nothingness, completely lost with the extreme dark pleasure she got from the dead.

The fox stared to the old lady without blinking and said nothing in response.

"Can you feel it? Can you feel the power we have Olivia? We will put up a great show tonight!"

Turning her head towards the door, she gave the orb one last look, embarking the subtle image of the young man in her mind. Flicking her fingers, she called upon the fox and transformed her back into a shawl that wrapped her saggy shoulders as she smashed the orb, breaking it to a thousand pieces.

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"I think that's the place Rai."

The Raven nodded his head in approval as it swooped down to the east walls of the Palace. Landing behind a coat of bushes and trimmed trees for cover, Rai ducked down his head to let Hanji get off from his back. He batted his crimson eyes as he saw him wince in pain, his blood now oozing out from his torn bandages.

"Hanji," he said. "You better know what you're doing right now. I don't think you're in the condition to do anything."

The guy looked at him, his eyes looking tired as bags hung heavily below them. But he shook his head and looked forward.

"I have to be strong Rai. I need to get Quin Kaylus," Hanji said, gritting his teeth to hide away his pain.