Same World, Same Princess, Different Path [WMMAP]

Chapter 4 - The Truth (1/2)

"I'm listening, Lucas." Athanasia planted her gaze in Lucas', waiting for answers. He was really starting to act weird and the way he worked was very vague for her since it was the first time they had met.

"You see... I know you're going to have a hard time believing me but this chimera, no, this girl is very dangerous for you." Lucas changed his words after a thought for Jeanette landed in his head. He didn't wanted to call her like that anymore, at least not the one he knew. Silence ensued as Athanasia immersed herself in her thoughts.

'Very dangerous? I know that Jeanette does me no good, but she is not dangerous in the true sense of the word.' Athanasia didn't see how Jeanette could've been dangerous - apart from the poisoning accident -; all she had done was to be favored by Claude and the others. "Why would this girl be dangerous? We don't even know each other to say anything yet."

Lucas frowned and ran a hand through his hair. She needed to know more, much more so that she could understand the gravity of the situation. "Athanasia, this is not a joke! This girl... she... her mana is not like yours."

Athanasia froze at the word "mana". "You must be mistaken Lucas, I don't have mana in me and as far as I can remember, I never had any..." Ever since she was a child, Athanasia had always found it strange to have no power since she was a member of the royal family. At first she thought she was going to end up having it, that it was just going to take time, but it hasn't happened in 18 years. So she quickly gave up the idea.

"I'm a wizard Athanasia and I can tell you that you have it, a small amount right now and I'll show you how to activate it later but that's not the point right now." Lucas could see Athanasia's mana flow very clearly. It was very faint but it was there. And it was strange for Lucas because as far as he could remember, "she" had possessed a lot of mana since they had met. But Athanasia... It was as if someone or something had taken her mana. But that wasn't the most important thing right now.

Athanasia looked at her hands with apprehension. If she could learn to use her mana, she could do so much more.

"This Jeanette has something extra in her mana, something she's not supposed to have. Black magic." Athanasia took some time before answering, time to assimilate what she had heard correctly.

"Black magic Lucas?! It is impossible! Jeanette would never do something like...!" And Athanasia put both hands against her mouth, eyes wide open. She had said too much, so much. She hoped that Lucas would pretend that he hadn't heard anything.

"How can you be sure that this girl never used black magic if you never knew her?" Athanasia fled from his interrogative gaze. How could she get out of it? She had to find something, anything...

"Oh! Hum... Well you see... She seemed so nice at the ball... I don't think a girl like her could use such a thing!" She sighed inwardly, thinking she was going to win when Lucas talked about something else.

"...What I wanted to say is that the mana she has inside her seems to have been there since she was born. This girl was born with it." Athanasia thought of the last words she had spoken to Jeanette before her execution. How is it that Jeanette could be... born of black magic? Is it even simply possible? She didn't know what to think anymore. Moreover, even if it was true, how could Lucas be so sure about it?

"Lucas... If what you say is true... Then she would be..."

"Yes. This girl is a cursed child by birth." Everything became clearer in Athanasia's mind. Maybe Jeanette had used black magic against her in the past! Maybe she had planned everything from the beginning!