Chapter 2

Third Person PoV:

"Oh, looks like a human found their way into the castle." An excited voice hissed from the shadows.

Beatrice's body tensed for a moment, but she held her ground. Several guards surrounded her, aiming their naginatas at her. One guard in particular looked ready to pounce. Beatrice lifted her arms up. Her movements were very particular, she flattened her palms, lowering her arms as though trying to keep something down, the guard who had made an attempt to get closer now was several inches into the concrete floor.

Damian's PoV:

I raced down the hall, arriving just to see Beatrice surrounded. One of the guards who made a pass at her, now in the rubble of what was the floor.

Magic? Did she just wield magic?

"Enough." My voice though calm shook the hall.

"My Lord." The guards turned their attention towards me, falling to a kneel.

"You will not attempt to harm her again." I commanded.

"But she's a human, can't we at least have a bite?" A guard apprentice was practically salivating, as he hungrily eyed her. He looked back & forth between me & Beatrice, before charging towards her.

Mia was in front of him in a flash, "Your Lord has spoken." She said flatly, glaring down at him with murderous intent.

The guard apprentice dropped to his knees, snot running down his nose as his fear stricken eyes overflowed with tears.

"I did nothing to warrant an attack." Beatrice said.

"Come here." I beckoned to her, my eyes trained on the guards.

Was that really magic I saw? She didn't cast a spell & I see no wand.

"I am leaving." Beatrice declared quietly.

She was just attacked, why does she still show no fear?

"Our Lord told you to go to him!" One of the other apprentice's that had knelt with the guards shot up, then almost disappeared in a flash before seemingly reappearing before Beatrice. She angrily grabbed hold of her.

I rushed towards them, but before I could get there I was blinded by a light. As the light subsided, Beatrice stood, on the ground was the apprentice, burnt to a crisp, dead. The energy in the room changed as I felt my subjects need to turn hostile.

I walked over to her, grabbing her arm, pulling her along. I didn't mean to be forceful, but this might be the only choice. I looked over at Mia, who nodded, coming over to us before taking hold of Beatrice's arm. I went off to gather the people of the castle.

Mia's PoV:

I dragged the girl to my room, locking the door behind us.

Beatrice snatched her arm away, "Enough of this. What exactly are you doing?" Though you would think she would be angry, no trace of it could be found on her face nor in her tone.

"If you hadn't noticed you're not exactly safe here. My Lord is presumably going to fix that." I looked at her, before walking lazily to my bed.

"My safety is neither of your concerns."

"You sure are an ungrateful little thing." I stared at her from my bed. "Besides, you wielded magic without a spell or wand. You can't be left to your own devices."

"What does my magic have to do with it?" She looked like a porcelain doll.

"Why do you show no emotions?" I ignored her question, that particular detail had been bothering me for a while now.

"I have always been this way."

"So what you're saying is that you don't know? How boring." I rolled over, sprawling out on my large bed.

I heard her footsteps heading towards the door.

"Don't bother, girl." I said not bothering to turn around.

The footsteps halted, "How long do you intend to keep me here?"

"Not sure." I rolled back over, glancing at her. She was rather beautiful.

"You are supernatural, why do you concern yourself with a human?"

"The beings with a natural affinity for arrays of magic are humans, but even they need catalysts like spells & wands to bring their magic to fruition. You, however used neither."

"What of it?" She didn't seem to know where I was going with this.

"Do you know what that makes you?" Was it possible that she didn't know?

She shook her head.

"Wielding magic without a catalyst would make you a Cosmic Magician." Even saying it out loud felt impossible.

Beatrice remained silent.

Third Person PoV:

Mia sniffed the air as she got off of her bed. She grabbed hold of Beatrice & dragged her along before opening the door, Damian was on the other side. Beatrice tried to pull away from Mia's grip, but that only made her hold tighter. Damian disliked how Mia treated her, but said nothing.

"Listen girly, a feeble human body can never match my strength." Mia continued to pull her, as she followed Damian.

"I am not a ragdoll, I can walk myself." She didn't appreciate being dragged around.

Mia clicked her tongue & tightened her grip out of spite. Beatrice looked at Mia's hand & smoke began to emanate.

"Oh mother of, that's hot." She snatched her hand away & began blowing on it. Her pale skin was now bright red when she had held onto Beatrice.

"I said I can walk by myself." Beatrice pushed past Mia & followed after Damian.

Mia was unamused by the pain, but liked the girl's tenacity.

They came to a terrace overlooking a great hall. Below stood hundreds if not thousands of people.

Damian looked at Beatrice, holding his hand out to her. She took his hand & stepped out with him onto the terrace & into the view of everyone below. Mia at Damian's right hand side.

"No one is to touch this woman." His voice was calm, yet authoritative.

The energy shifted in the room as the scent of her humanity filled everyone's nose.

"She is a human." He continued, no one dared speak out against him, but they were skeptical nonetheless. "She is also a Cosmic Magician."

Whispers erupted from everyone, as the crowd grew tense.

"Understand that should any harm come to her, I will personally see to it that you & anyone you love is slaughtered." His eyes were intense, his face calm.

With that the room grew silent & everyone bowed. Damian & Mia led Beatrice off of the terrace.

"Come." He commanded gently, looking at Beatrice.

She didn't move, "I want to leave."

Damian opened his mouth to say something, but Mia had already hit one of her pressure points & she collapsed to the ground. Damian looked displeased.

"What?" She looked at him with feigned innocent confusion.

He glared at his companion.

"She was just gonna keep resisting, it'll be easier this way." She rolled her eyes, before walking off.

Damian knelt down, picking Beatrice up, then followed after Mia.

Soon the pair arrived at another iron door, Mia pushed it open & headed down the stairs. It grew progressively darker, before becoming pitch black, then the stairs ended, opening up to a dimly lit windowless room.

"I never can understand why you want to be in such darkness, Paikan." Mia huffed. "You'd think one so old would have trouble seeing in the dark."

Mia touched a button on the wall that immediately lit up the entire space. In the middle of the room on a white pillow sat a young boy, who looked no more than 10 or 11, dressed in white robes, his eyes closed. His hair was void of any pigment, the color of snow, his white brows & lashes contrasted his dark ebony skin. His youthful face was tranquil.

"Old man, I brought you something." Mia reached into the compartment at her hip, pulling out a small velvet bag, setting it before him.

"Oracle Paikan." Damian gave a slight bow.

"I see you want to know about this woman." The oracle spoke, before opening his eyes, they were completely white, with no iris or pupil.

Damian gently set her small frame down before the oracle.

He looked her over. "Your suspicion is correct, this woman is a Cosmic Magician. However, she doesn't seem to be completely aware of that fact herself." He studied at her more deeply, "Magic is dangerous to begin with, this is especially true when dealing with cosmic magic. People fear what they do not know, they fear what they cannot control."

"Why is she like a porcelain doll?" Mia demanded with hurried curiosity.

"She lacks everything that makes her alive." Paikan answered.

"Whaddya mean makes her alive? I'm looking right at her, she's clearly breathing." Mia stared at her in confusion.

"She lacks emotions, expressions, feelings, senses. She doesn't see the world the way she is meant to. It would be like experiencing the world behind 500 feet of tinted glass at all times. Everything is dull & muted to her. Her body can react, but she doesn't feel it or understand why. Everything that makes her a living being is distorted."

Damian seemed lost in thought, his eyes almost looked distressed, but his expression remained as calm as ever. "How long has she been like this?"

"Most of her life. It appears that as a means of self-preservation, her magic severed her link to humanity when she was very young." He placed his hand gently on her forehead, "It also appears she has amnesia."

Mia leaned against the wall, acting uninterested in the conversation, but her eyes latched onto every inch of the woman's body. Paikan watched Mia carefully, his gaze shifted to Damian whose eyes gazed at the woman's face with soft understanding & sympathy.

"Hmm…" Paikan closed his eyes for several moments, "I see." He chuckled to himself as he opened his eyes once more. "Do you wish to help her?" He asked, addressing neither in particular.

Damian's eyes shot up to Paikan's face. Mia's eyes lingered on Beatrice a while longer before she looked at him as well.

"Come children." He held out his hands to them, they obediently went to him, placing their large hands in his small ones.

He closed his eyes & images flooded into their minds. He opened his eyes, looking at both of them, "I have only shown you what must be done to help her, I will not show you the outcome, nor anything else I have seen of the future." He released their hands.

Damian gave a slight bow, after standing up, Mia only rolled her eyes, before getting to her feet. Damian picked the woman up & headed towards the staircase with Mia following suit.

Paikan smiled, picking up the small velvet bag Mia had placed in front of him earlier. "Thank you for the rock candy, Mia." He said, as they disappeared up the stairs case. Paikan opened the bag, pouring the contents into his hand. Blue & purple crystals sat, a big smile spread across his face. In that moment his actions & mannerisms matched that of his appearance, he threw the candy into his mouth, chewing happily. After he was done, he set the bag down, closing his eyes once again, his face returning to the one of tranquility he had worn moments before.