Alitia: Welcome to Millenia

II: A New Beginning

The hour after the encounter with the hooded man was a whirlwind for Luce. She vaguely remembered Lianna carrying her somewhere and a burning sensation in her ankle. It had taken a while for the pain to set in, but once it had, it refused to let her go. Luce felt more exhausted than she had been in years, struggling to keep her eyes open.

Cryon was walking nearby, holding Luce's sword loosely in one hand. He looked over at his daughter from time to time, but Luce didn't seem to notice. She was too focused on staying awake with all that had happened.

When Luce felt solid ground underneath her again, her eyes cleared up and her haziness faded. She rubbed at her eyes and glanced around. It looked like she was in a medical room of some sorts. She was lying on a bed with white sheets. For the most part, the rest of the room was empty. Alistair, Cryon, and Lianna were gathered around Luce's bed, but there was one other bunk that was occupied.

It was being used by a sleeping girl with blonde hair falling onto the pillows. She was facing away from Luce, so not many details could be captured well, not that Luce cared to try.

Alistair pressed a hand to Luce's forehead and felt for a moment before humming under his breath. "No fever," he murmured. "But I can certainly sense a magical presence."

Luce looked up at him with a shaky gaze. "This can't be happening," she said numbly. "I don't have magic. I'm a leath. I'm no mage."

"That light certainly says that you're a mage to me," Lianna frowned. Something deep inside Luce said that Lianna didn't sound very surprised, as if she had seen this coming. She was too tired to bring it up, instead leaning back on the bed to stare up at the ceiling.

"We should give her some time to rest," suggested Alistair.

"Would you be willing to come out into the hall with me, Alistair?" Lianna asked. "I need to talk to you."

The man nodded slowly before trailing after Lianna out of the room. Luce's head began to pound as Cryon came into view. "I don't get it," Luce whispered weakly. She hated this sudden weakness she had. She hadn't ever been this exhausted in her life, and it was far from being something she liked. As a mercenary, she had been taught not to show weakness around people she couldn't trust, and that included Alistair. She despised the fact that she had broken her track record over this incident, one she had anticipated to be normal.

"I don't either," Cryon told her. He didn't say anything further, instead just intertwining his fingers with hers. "Try and get some rest for now. We can talk about this later when you're feeling better. You look ready to pass out at any moment."

Luce didn't give a response and shut her eyes without putting up a fight to keep her consciousness. It only took her a few moments to fall deep into slumber.

~~~~~~

Lianna frowned at Alistair when they arrived out in the hallway. "Do you have any idea what this is about?" she asked.

Alistair responded with a shake of his head. "Not a clue. I've never heard of magic taking this long to show itself. Most magic is developed by the age of six. How old did you say she was?"

"Seventeen. In other words, her magic took eleven extra years to show up," Lianna sighed. "What could cause something like this?"

"There's always the chance that a higher figure gifted her with these abilities. It's highly unlikely, but it has happened in the past," Alistair remarked. "I do know that I can't send her back to Amity in good conscience knowing what I do now."

"What are you saying?" Lianna questioned. "I already told you not to use her for any of your weird experiments. She's not your rat in a lab. She's a human being."