Cydney followed Sybil tentatively, with Freya and Clay guarding her on both sides. As they walked further into the tunnel, the spacious, well-paved passageway slowly turned into a narrow, winding road. A horse-drawn carriage awaited them.

Inside sat four other people: an Indian woman holding onto a cloudy crystal ball, a white woman with ghostly pale skin, a white man with eerily black eyes, and a Latina woman stroking the horses lovingly. They must be the rest of the Witches.

"Come on in." Sybil gave her a wink before climbing into the carriage in one smooth step.

Gulping, Cydney followed suit—except by wiggling and floundering her limbs onto the high platform, all while six pairs of sullen eyes bored into her. She sat next to Sybil uneasily and tugged on her pants.

"Don't be nervous, my dear. We don't bite." Sybil was the only person not staring daggers at Cydney. With a gracious wave of her hand, she ordered, "Elena, let's go."

The Latina woman by the horses nodded, and the carriage began to move.

"W- Where are you taking me?" Cydney asked.

Sybil leaned back as she rested her elbow on the ledge. The smile on her face was as serene as ever. "Onto our next hiding spot, of course. But first, let me introduce you to everyone here. I'm Sybil, and you've already met Freya and Clay. This is Priya, Lana, and Dylan, and the person manning the carriage is Elena. We are a friendly group of witches and wizards traveling together."

As Sybil introduced everyone, the glares from each of them intensified; they did not look friendly at all. Their leader, on the other hand, was looking at Cydney as if she was the most interesting person in the entire world.

"And what about you, my dear? What do you go by?"

"C... Cydney."

"Cydney." Sybil's eyebrows raised just as her lips did. She gestured to the Indian woman seated next to her. "I want to show you something, Cydney. Why don't you place your hands on Priya's crystal ball?"

Priya lifted the globe towards Cydney. Frowning, Cydney followed the order hesitantly. The ice-cold crystal sent a slight chill down her spine.

"Good. Now say your full name."

"Cydney Yen."

"No, silly. Your real full name. One that is given to you by your parents."

Once again, the witch caught her by surprise with how much she seemed to know. She remembered Lyn's current predicament, and let out a small sigh.

"Yēn Sīn-Ní," she whispered.

The cloud inside the crystal ball cleared, revealing an older Asian woman, holding bags of groceries and trudging along a pavement.

A gasp escaped Cydney's throat, and she jerked up so suddenly that she almost fell out of the carriage.

"Mama!" she cried out. "How- How are you doing that?"

The longer she stared at the tired and frail figure in the glass sphere, the more her heart clenched. How long had it been since she last saw her mother?

How long had it been since she last saw any of her family?

"Your mother? You look just like her." Sybil's voice was soft and gentle. "This is a glimpse of your memories. Priya is a soothsayer, and she can tap into your past."

Memories? Oh no.

Immediately, Cydney yanked her hands away from the crystal ball, but it was too late—the image shifted from her mother to the man she had wished to never see again.

The sight of the old man's contorted smile twisted her in the guts. Strangely, he seemed to have a similar effect on the Witches, drawing sharp gasps and horrified expressions from them. Everyone except Sybil jumped up; the carriage shook from the resulting imbalance, while the horses neighed unhappily.

"Gazini?" came a collective exclamation.

Freya grabbed Cydney by her collar and bellowed into her face. "Are you working with him?"

"I... I don't—"

"That man in your memories! He is a Blood Magic user! Are you fucking working with him, you piece of shit?"

"He... He's a Blood Magic user?" Cydney could feel her blood draining from her face. But how could it be? Lyn had said that nobody did Blood Magic anymore... Lyn said...

She gulped, trying to suppress her trauma-induced nausea as much as she could.

"Put her down, Freya," Sybil commanded. "And everyone, sit back down."

Despite grumbling in protest, Freya pushed Cydney back down in the harshest way possible. She winced in pain as she adjusted herself back on the seat. Everyone else settled back down as well, their furious stares not leaving Cydney.

Sybil was still leaning casually against the ledge, but her expression was dark. "How do you know Gazini, Cydney?"

"I don't know him," Cydney insisted. "How do you guys know him?"

"Oh, he used to be one of us, a long time ago. We had to exile him from our group because of his obsession with Blood Magic. As witches and wizards, we pride ourselves in our pursuit of new magical discoveries, but we will never play around with human lives like that."

Cydney scowled. "And yet you wrapped Lyn with death vines, threatening her."

Sybil's amused smile returned. "Ah, but is she dead, hm?" When Cydney did not reply, she added, "We're not evil, Cydney, unlike what the QA tells you."

"But you are all Forbidden Magic users."

"You talk about Forbidden Magic as if it's a terrible thing."

"Isn't it? It's... It's illegal."

Sybil chuckled. "You think something is bad just because it's illegal?"

"I... Why else would it be illegal?"

"My dear, do you know what Forbidden Magic is?" Sybil's grey eyes scanned Cydney. "Do you even know what magic is?"

Cydney's confusion must have shown in her face, as it invited yet another laugh from the witch.

"That's what I thought. You see, Cydney, in this world, everything is surrounded and interconnected by, what we call, energy. There's energy everywhere, in nature, in our bodies, in the objects we touch, and even in things that we can't see. And every living thing in this world has the inherent ability to manipulate these energies to various extents. What they can manipulate, and how much they can manipulate, depends on their affinities to the energies. And this manipulation of energy is what we call magic."

"Manipulating energies," Cydney echoed. She recalled how it felt whenever she controlled her weapon. It did feel as though she was controlling something within her sword, like an unknown force that she could bend freely to her will.

Sybil nodded. "Currently, there are three known types of magic corresponding to the three different ways of manipulating energies. The first type is the most common type: elemental magic. It's magic that comes from manipulating the energies in the natural world around us. For example, starting a fire, or redirecting water and wind—these are the basic elemental magic that every human has an affinity for, and these are what allowed us as a species to thrive in this world for millions of years.

"There are also people who have exceptional affinities to these energies. They are the elemental mages, and they can take these basic elemental magic to a whole new level. Like the fire mage in your team; her fire magic is one of the most powerful I've ever seen. And of course, some elemental mages have affinities to special elemental energies that normal people don't have access to, like earth, or metal, or ice, or your girlfriend and her lightning."

Cydney's cheeks burned at the word. "She's not my girlfriend..."

"Hm, alright. Anyway, there's a lot of different special elemental magic in the world, but unfortunately, certain kinds of special elemental magic are deemed illegal by the QA. For example, Dylan's magic."

Dylan was the white man sitting across the carriage with the darkest eyes Cydney had ever seen. Turning to look at him, she shrieked when she realized there were two Dylans. Soon after, one of them dissipated into mist.

"He creates illusions," Sybil added after the man's unsolicited demonstration.

"An illusionist," Cydney uttered, remembering how the team was briefed about how dangerous they were.

Dylan shrugged, his pitch-black eyes filled with resentment. "It's just a type of elemental magic that the world is afraid of."

"Indeed, it is just a type of special elemental magic, the kind of magic your girlfriend uses. But it's considered Forbidden Magic, while your girlfriend's magic is not. Why is that?"

"Well, it's- it's because illusions are... erm..." Cydney tried to come up with an explanation but trailed off under Dylan's bitter, I-dare-you glare.

Sybil chuckled before continuing, "The second type of magic is the least common: vital magic, also known as the magic of life. It's magic that comes from manipulating the energies in living things."

Cydney's brows furrowed. "Subjugation."

"You are right; that is one kind of vital magic. Elena and I are both subjugators. In fact, she's controlling the horses right now for our transportation. I can do a little more than that, I can control animals, monsters, and even humans." There was a slight pause as she relished in Cydney's flabbergasted expression. "Oh, don't look at me like that, the only thing I do to humans is to make them sleep. For self-defense purposes."

"Occasionally you make them kill themselves," Dylan pointed out.

"Only when it's necessary. As I said, for self-defense purposes," Sybil clarified with an enigmatic smile. "Priya here manipulates living things differently. As a soothsayer, she can look into people's past, and sometimes even the future."

Clay snorted. "As if."

"Hey, divination is challenging!" Priya sulked. "It comes and goes."

Clay was about to rebuke when Sybil cast him a knowing look. "And Clay is a necromancer. He can manipulate the energies in dead plants and animals. For example, the Vines of Death he used to bind your girlfriend are plants that have died because of the sheer amount of venom that they contain."

Cydney shuddered. Controlling humans, reading minds, and necromancy? Vital magic sounded like the most terrible type of magic.

"You must be thinking that vital magic sounds terrible and that they must all be Forbidden Magic, are you?" Sybil's lips tugged upwards into a smirk. "But you know, healers are mages that use vital magic too. How do you think they heal people?"

Cydney's jaw dropped. Raph's magic was in the same category as this horrifying magic?

"I started as a healer too, you know, before I learned subjugation. Lana here is also a healer, and has been a celebrated one in the world before she was branded a Forbidden Magic user."

"Yes," Lana said with a thick foreign accent. "I had a patient who was upset with the way they looked. I helped them change their appearance, but the QA named that magic metamorphism and then labeled it as a type of Forbidden Magic. I went from a healer to a fugitive overnight. I had to abandon my family to get away."

Cydney stared at the dejected Lana, speechless.

"Do you see now, Cydney?" Sybil leaned forward. "Forbidden Magic is essentially regular magic that's somehow slapped with this term and made illegal by the QA. Do you think that's fair?"

"That's... That's because your magic can be used to hurt people..."

Freya snorted. "Every kind of magic can be used to hurt people."

Sybil nodded in agreement. "The only reason our magic is forbidden is that the QA does not understand them. Look at us, do you think we look like bad people, Cydney?"

Cydney did not answer. An illusionist, two subjugators, a soothsayer, and a healer who can change people's appearances. She now knew why the Witches were notorious, but she also knew exactly how it felt to have magic that was different from the rest of the world...

She glanced at Freya, who had been glaring at her throughout the conversation. "W- What about her? She's- She's a fighter, right? What kind of Forbidden Magic can a fighter do?"

"Oh, Freya is not technically a witch, since she doesn't do any Forbidden Magic. She's here with me, as a... protector. But that's an interesting question, I don't think there has been a kind of enhancer magic that is labeled as Forbidden yet," Sybil mused. "I guess I should also talk about enhancer magic, which is the third type of magic. It is the second most common type of magic that people have affinities for, and it's magic that manipulates the energies in physical objects.

"Fighters like you and Freya would use this magic to control your weapons. But there are also enhancer mages that can control a range of physical objects in different ways. For example, a psychic can control all kinds of physical objects using telekinesis, while a conjurer can forcibly change the location of objects by conjuring them from places."

Cydney nodded. So Millie's magic was the same type of magic as hers. This world made so much sense now...

"Isn't magic fascinating? It's why people like us love pushing the boundaries of what it can do, despite the QA trying to stuff it all underground." Sybil placed her arm around Cydney's shoulder. "Now that I've explained so much to you, I think it's time for you to answer my questions."

Cydney stiffened. "W- What do you want to know?"

Sybil moved her head closer. "Why doesn't my magic work on you?" she whispered into Cydney's ears as she stroked the scars on her arms. "And why doesn't your healer's magic work on you?"

A small shiver ran down Cydney's spine. "I... I don't know..."

"Oh, I think you do know, Cydney." Sybil's voice was eerily soft and calm. "I think you know very well that you only have affinities to the energies in your own world, and that if something, or someone, is incompatible in this world, no one can manipulate their energies, no one's magic can work on them. And that's why your healers can't heal your scars, and elemental magic will render your sword useless to you. Let me also guess, you can't do any basic elemental magic, can you? And your weapon is made from a material not from here, right?"

Sybil moved such that their faces were only an inch apart. "You're not from this world, are you?"

Cydney's heart sank. There was no way of hiding it now; this witch seemed to know everything.

"I'm not," she admitted.

The carriage came to a complete stop. Once again, everyone except Sybil jumped up, but this time with even more hostility; Freya brandished her sword, while Dylan and Clay raised their hands into a fighting stance.

"So you are a Blood Magic user!" Freya exclaimed.

"Huh?" Cydney was dumbfounded. Then, she cried out in agony—Sybil had tightened her grip on Cydney's shoulders, clawing her nails into her skin.

"Interesting." Sybil's previous carefree and serene demeanor vanished completely. "Tell us more about how you got here."

The blood drained from Cydney's face as she looked into Sybil's frighteningly livid eyes.

"Tell us, how many people did you sacrifice to get here, Yēn Sīn-Ní?"