"You saw everything, didn't you?" Zephyr asked. He had collapsed to his knees, his palms supporting himself upright.

  "Yes," I answered. Tears were still streaming down my face, and I felt as though I had just awoken from a dream.

  "You can see the memories of ether. Ether Recollection; that must be your Talent. I've read about it before."

  Had someone else once had the same Talent as me? Were there other Ethereals besides Maverick and Rosalie? Had there been Ethereals that existed before them who had long since died out?

  "You believed the members of the Magus of Historia?" I asked. He had been so cautious before, not willing to believe that they had been truthful. What had changed?

  "When they told me what happened, bits of memory resurfaced if only for a sliver of a second. But I'm certain it's the truth. In the heat of the moment, I felt anger. Anger that Sylvis had kept this from me. But more than anger, I felt disgusted at myself.

  "And I'm not the only person to have misused magic. Though mine was entirely an accident, there are those who intentionally misuse theirs. What has magic gotten us, exactly? We can't interfere with others—we can't heal or save others directly. All of our potentials are being wasted. And those who would break that rule only sow despair. So why keep it? Why allow magic to continue to exist? It has no place in this world, that much is certain."

  "Which is why you sought to destroy it..."

  He glanced away, though I already knew the answer. “Little did I know it would only amplify the ether. Ether cannot be destroyed.”

  I thought back to the conversation I’d had with Sylvis during the tea party. How she said she controlled Meridia behind the scenes. Surely she was using magic to help others in her own way?

  And what about Aidan and Finn? They had broken the rules to heal Aidan's sister. How many others had broken the rules and gotten away with it?

  What about the Magus of Historia? Was I to believe everyone there was evil and heartless? What about the two visitors who claimed to care for their master? Surely there were regular people there as well? Maybe they left because they wanted to help others.

  “Maybe magic isn’t the problem. Maybe it’s us,” I started. “We actively choose to obey this rule of hiding our magic from others, but at what cost? I believe we’re just as capable of doing good by our magic as we are of doing wrong. We don’t need to destroy magic to make the world a better place. We need to use it.”

  He looked at me with amusement and understanding. “So that’s how you see things. Tell me: If you were to remain in this world and still possessed your magic, would you still hide it?”

  “I… I don’t know the answer to that.” I clenched my fists before releasing them. I wasn’t brave, that much was certain. As much as I wanted to do the right thing — or what I believed to be right, I was scared of the consequences. I couldn’t face Sylvis head-on — she was much more powerful than me. I wouldn’t be able to run. Was it worth revealing myself to the world just to spend the rest of my painfully long life imprisoned? I couldn’t imagine what the consequence would be for breaking such an important rule.

  “You answered honestly. I appreciate that. I also hope that this is a lesson to both of us that things aren’t as easy as they look. I was reckless in my actions—I’m not ashamed to admit that. I was also naive to think there was a simple solution to a problem of this scale,” he replied.

  He was a lot more humble than I expected. Then again, the Zephyr I’d known before was as well.

  “I’m glad you can admit that, Zephyr.”

  I hadn’t heard that radiant and melodic voice in what felt like forever. Seeing Sylvis standing before us felt so relieving, I wanted to collapse on the spot. Finally… Everything was over.

  “Sylvis!” I cried out. “Where were you?!”

  “Awww, did you miss me that much? And here I thought Rosalie would miss me the most.” She giggled. “Zephyr, I hope you know how much trouble you’re in.”

  …She completely dodged my question.

  “Sylvis.” Zephyr bowed his head down respectfully. “I take full responsibility for my actions, as well as the consequences they may have and definitely did cause.”

  To my surprise, Sylvis let out a loud sigh. “I suppose you are not completely to blame. I’ve played a part in this myself, after all. I knew sealing your memories away posed some risk, as well as showing you this location to begin with.”

  “Why did you reveal this place to him anyway?” I asked. It wasn’t like he was an Ethereal.

  “Because I had faith in him. He had so much potential and had lost so much; I wanted to give him another chance. Besides that, he was the perfect candidate. I feared that leaving this place to one person wasn’t enough. And seeing as you’re here and not Rosalie, I see those fears were well-founded. I didn’t know how long it would be before the next Ethereal appeared, and so I appointed Zephyr.”

  “And I failed you.” Zephyr clenched his fists.

  “No. I failed you. However, that doesn’t mean you’re completely off the hook. Your actions were still your own, and for that, you must take responsibility. As for how, I believe I might already have something in mind. In the meantime, I will be sealing off your memories of this place. Elaina, would you fill me in on the details?”

  I shuddered. There was a lot to go over. And there was also Aidan… Did I really have to tell her about him?

  I did my best to fill her in on everything that had happened. Everyone’s magic going out of control, Rosalie tearing down her office, me having maybe broken her door — she’d have to check to be certain — and Maverick’s seemingly disinterest in her returning. She didn’t seem surprised by that last point. I decided to withhold the part about Aidan trying to destroy the manor. She didn’t have to know about that, right?

  There was only one thing left worth mentioning, then.

  “Letheria is with the Magus of Historia,” I stated as we came to a stop in the hall.

  Her gaze went from the broken-down door to me. “It’s a little more complicated than that.” So she knew… Of course she knew! Why did I think she didn’t? “Shortly after I approached her, the Magus of Historia reached out to her, offering her a deal to gather information for them. That’s as far as my intel goes — I’m not sure what they’ve offered her in return. I decided to keep a close eye on her, hoping I might gain information on the Magus of Historia myself. Alas, she seems to have lost all interest in helping them after meeting Maverick.”

  “…That somehow isn’t surprising.”

  “It’s a shame you can no longer use your Talent. A Talent like yours is quite useful.”

  Once she dismissed me, I rushed outside to meet Aidan and Maverick. Both were lying on the ground — their chests rising in quick succession as they drew one deep breath after another.

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  “Aidan! Are you okay?!” I rushed over to him and helped him raise his head up.

  “You’re not going to ask about me?” Maverick chuckled hoarsely. His voice was weak, and he looked physically exhausted. I never thought I’d see him in such a state.

  “You’re an Ethereal — you’ll live. I’m worried about Aidan’s body after losing so much ether.”

  “W-Why do you care?” Aidan choked out. He coughed several time,s and I had to motion for him to slow down. “I-I tried to kill you. You should hate me.”

  “I could never hate you.” My grip on his hoodie tightened. “You’re always going to be my friend. Besides… I don’t believe you would have actually killed me.”

  “P-Probably not…” He cast his gaze away from me. “Killing Maverick was tempting, though. But then I noticed… He had several chances to end me, but he never took them.” His eyes teared up as his bunched-up fists trembled.

  “You have a heart after all.” I turned to Maverick and couldn’t help but smile.

  “It was only a matter of time before you found Sylvis. Didn’t know how I’d explain murdering your best friend to her.” He shrugged from where he lay.

  “Do you know how many people’s thoughts I had to read to find you guys?!” Finn’s voice cut through the tension.

  “You’re okay!” I smiled at him.

  “That should be my line.” He chuckled. “I passed by Zephyr and got the gist of what happened. Of course he’d lie to you to appease me.”

  Speaking of lying, I wondered if what Letheria had said to me had been a lie as well.

  “It seems he was taking his anger out on her for being a member of the Magus of Historia. She likely didn’t want you to know,” Finn explained.

  “W-Who’s a member?!” Aidan’s eyes widened. Right, I hadn’t said that out loud.

  “Letheria,” Maverick answered. What, did everyone know but me?

  “You knew?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Sylvis, Rosalie, and I knew. As well as Finn by default, seeing as he could read her mind.” That made sense.

  “D-Does Sylvis know what I did…?” Aidan asked.

  “…I didn’t tell her.” I looked away from him before glancing at Maverick.

  “I don’t see why Sylvis has to know every little detail of what goes on when she’s away.” His gaze was on the sky before reaching my eyes. There was a hint of a smirk, and I knew at that moment he wouldn’t be telling Sylvis. I sighed in relief.

  “Hey, Mave, there’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about. You mind?” Finn signaled with his head back to the manor.

  “Yeah, yeah. Just give me a moment. I’m not as young as I once was.” He pushed himself off the ground, groaning in the process. He could be so dramatic at times. Then again, he had nearly died.

  Once Aidan and I were alone, we decided to sit under a tree a distance away. The fountains had been destroyed in the chaos. Hopefully, Sylvis would repair those.

  “I didn’t want to hurt you, you know.” Aidan’s gaze was downcast, his voice barely audible.

  “I figured as much, but I couldn’t tell with all the destruction.” I couldn’t help but joke, even if it was inappropriate at the moment.

  “I just… I couldn’t let you take away my ether. I didn’t want to go back to being weak. Besides helping my sister, I want to help others too. People who are too weak to help themselves. To do that, I need to cut down the strong. N-Not you, of course.”

  “That’s why you fought so hard against Maverick…”

  He nodded. “That jerk preys on the weak. But… He wouldn’t kill me. And I have a feeling it doesn’t just have to do with Sylvis. I-I just don’t understand why.”

  “Do you need a reason not to kill someone?” I shrugged.

  “I guess not… I-I’m really sorry, Elaina!” He burst into tears and suddenly glomped me by surprise. I couldn’t bring myself to push him off of me. All I could do was gently wrap my arms around him. He really did feel like a little brother to me.

  “It’s okay, Aidan. I still stand by that it wasn't really you.”

  “B-But it was me…” He pulled away. “I was in full control, and that’s what I chose to do with my magic…”

  “We all make mistakes. …Some mistakes are bigger than others. If you really want to make amends, you learn from them.”

  “T-Thank you, Elaina.”

  “Please, call me Ella.”

  There was just one person left to check on.

  To my surprise, I couldn’t find Zephyr in the library. I guess it made sense that he wanted a change of pace after what happened. Or maybe he was locked up somewhere. I shivered at the thought.

  I was about to give up when I looked out the window on the second floor; Zephyr was outside using his magic to revive the plants…? I quickly dashed to the elevator, taking it to the first floor.

  “Zephyr!” I called out to him, catching him by surprise. “I didn’t know you had the power to revive plants.”

  “Ah, I don’t. Nobody can revive that which is dead. The roots were badly damaged, so I’m using magic to restore them,” he explained. “Though I imagine you wish to talk about more than just these flowers.”

  “Yes. Um… How are you?” I asked awkwardly.

  “I’m doing as well as I am able. Sylvis returned my memories to me as a form of punishment. I’ve also been tasked with making repairs to the manor, starting with the flowerbeds.”

  “I see… I’m… I’m really sorry for your loss. I realized I never expressed my condolences before.”

  “Thank you, Elaina. I appreciate it.” He smiled genuinely at me before returning to the same unreadable expression he had held since all of this started.

  I wanted to talk to him more—tell him something… anything! My inability to comfort him was driving me crazy and made me all too aware of how little we really knew each other. It hurt to know we weren’t as close as I thought we were.

  But if that was going to change, I would have to be the one to change it.

  “There’s a book in my world I think you’d really enjoy.” I plopped myself down next to his crouched self. It bothered me that there was nothing I could do to expedite his work. All I could do was lend him some company.

  “Oh?” He looked at me with intrigue. He spent a good few seconds staring at me, really acknowledging and showing interest in what I had said before turning back to his work.

  “It takes place in a fantastical world where dragons and elves exist.” Did they have elves in this world? Oops. “The story is about a young man who has a ring that can grant its bearer powers. He must ignore the temptation and go on an epic journey to destroy the ring so nobody can use its powers for evil.”

  “You mention this book because of what happened earlier, hm?”

  “Oh, I didn’t even realize. I honestly only brought it up because of the fantasy part.”

  “Ah… Perhaps I was looking too deep into your words.”

  “You are an empath, after all.” I shrugged.

  “Actually, I’m not.”

  “Huh?” I turned to him in shock. If I hadn’t been sitting, I would’ve stumbled over in surprise.

  “My actual Talent is illusion magic. Such magic could cause distrust and unease, so Sylvis instructed me to pick something else. When everything I came up with was too predictable, she chose that one for me, upon noticing how much I observed others.”

  I… guess that made sense. He was always alone and trying to help others. He also felt guilty about his parents’ deaths before he even knew he was responsible. It made sense he had a desire to learn more about others.

  “What are elves?” His question caught me off guard. He noticed this and quickly added, “From the book.”

  “They’re made up of people with pointed ears. Everyone kind of has their own idea of what an elf is. Some say they live for hundreds of years, others say they have magic, but most agree that they have an affinity for nature,” I explained.

  “Pointed ears… There was a prominent race in Meridia that has mostly died out with pointed ears. Letheria’s family is one of the last surviving families.”

  I guess that explained Rosalie’s ears as well… I wondered if that race had been more prominent when she was born.

  “What happened to them?” I asked.

  “They disappeared during the Great War,” he paused and seemingly realized I had never heard of what he was saying. “Ah, that’s right, this isn’t common knowledge for you. During the Goddess Alina’s reign, a war broke out across all of Etheria. In the end, the continent of Etheria shattered into the islands we have today.”

  “And Alina?”

  He shook his head. “She gave her life to protect us all from great evil. With her gone, ether that once only flowed through humans began to taint the earth. Several animals became poisoned by it, causing the aggression we know today. Of course, that’s just how the legend goes. The majority of Meridians don’t take any of this at face value.”

  “Do you believe it?” I asked, curious what his thoughts were.

  “I do. Not everyone here does. What about you?”

  “I’d… really have to think about it,” I answered. Most legends back home were a mix of truths and fiction, so logic would dictate the same would apply here.

  Then again, the average Meridian didn’t believe in magic, or the goddess that even Sylvis believed to be real.

  The more I learned about Etheria, the more I became fascinated.