Song of the Piper

::13:: A New Ally (Part 1)

Music is The Vagabond from The Witcher 3 OST. Play it!

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I staggered towards the training room in a daze. Both from the wakeful sleep I had and the revelation of Markus' identity. When I'd looked into the mirror this morning, a sallow-faced girl was staring back at me. Heavy bags were lining her already dark eyes. The nightmares had lessened ever since I'd been here, but not last night.

I'd dreamt that I was one of the people down there in the secret chamber, trapped, lost, with no idea how I'd ended up in the chrysalis in the first place. I'd seen Markus coming towards me, his face contorted into a monstrous expression through the barrier between us. I screamed and screamed as he did something to me.

Then I'd woken up.

To think that Markus was the Pied Piper, the person responsible for the plague that had ravaged so many provinces across Aschein. The one who had somehow lured all the children away. The man of legends who had left me behind, indirectly causing me to suffer at the hands of those who didn't know how to deal with the grief of loss.

And I'd been so close to trusting him.

I should have seen through his façade a long time ago. The very first day, I had a glimpse of the cruel, ruthless lord in his eyes—that was his true nature. Not the subtle tenderness he had displayed; not the moments where he would say my name as though it were a caress of the wind. I was a fool. And perhaps, I still was a fool.

When I entered the room, Elise took one swift look at my face, decided that it wasn't worth chiding me for my lateness and said, "Today we'll learn how to work with spells of the earth."

"Won't they reduce the whole castle into rubble?" I said, unable to keep the wryness out of my tone.

Elise swept a hand around her. "Powerful magic keeps this castle in place. It would take a lot of power to make it crumble. Two Magi certainly won't be able to topple it over."

With an inward sigh, I relented. Elise gave me a curt nod and took out her Medium.

She taught me a great deal today, more so than I've ever learned in the past few months. Maybe it was because I was now a lot more conscious of my Affinity, and she finally deemed me as a Magus of sufficient ability to perform greater feats of magic. At any rate, I learned how to make the earth open up and swallow enemies; how to commune with the earth so that I would be able to find my way around should I get lost; and how to become one with it, to form a solid armour of rocks to face any physical attacks.

I should have been absolutely elated at this. It would take some time for me to master everything, granted—I'd accidentally made the ground open up at Elise's feet—but I was starting to exercise my true potential now. Yet I performed the spells half-heartedly, not even pretending to be cheerful about it. The boy stuck in his living grave down there in the chambers haunted my mind. They must be the children from Hamelin—all of them. Even the shrivelling husk I saw at the farthest corner.

And Markus was doing...something to all of them.

I needed to find a way to stop this madness. But how? Who could I tell? How could I be sure that I could trust anyone around here? I wanted to shriek and wail and let out all of my despair. I never signed up for this when I'd agreed to Markus' proposal.

I snuck a glance at Elise, who was currently tuning the strings on her violin. Remember that no matter what, always, always obey Lord Himmel's orders. Her ominous words rang in my mind. Was it a warning or a threat? Could I trust her? She was the one who had saved my flute and had given it to Josef, thus triggering his memories. How did she fit into all of this?