“I don’t know what happened, he just left.” Choice laughed in her heart at the incredulous look her brother gave her after that statement. He’d woken up surprised yet glad to be alive. None of his attackers were around, neither was his conch and now his sister was telling him that Jon had just upped and left.

“Are you telling me that Jon. The same Jon who was trying to kill me even after I gave him what he wanted, just decided to leave.”

“Yes,” Choice replied innocently, “Yes that’s exactly what I’m saying. He just stopped attacking me and left. After a few minutes, the water just dissolved.”

“So he just left us here and went.”

“Yes, how many times are you going to ask me this question, Cero. It’s only been a few minutes since you fainted, he just left. Nothing else happened.”

“I didn’t faint,” Cero muttered and ducked his head.

“Yes you did. You definitely did. Don’t even argue.” Cero rolled his eyes, walked to one of the lanterns and lit it with his magic.

“Now that’s what I was wondering, why didn’t you do that all the while he was threatening us. I thought you came here to study magic.”

Cero rearranged all the things that had been scattered in the drawing room. He placed a map back on the wall and placed some books back on the table in front of a divan.

“These books aren’t waterlogged,” he mumbled.

“What did you say?” Choice asked. She was ready to give another bullshit reason for why things were just not as weird as they actually were.

“I didn’t say anything,” Cero said and shrugged, “I didn’t use fire against him because he’s actually about to graduate from the Internationale and into being a proper mage. It’s not that I didn’t want to attack him, it’s that I couldn’t. Also, if you knew anything about magic, you’ll realise that water can douse fire.”

“Yeah, but you’re a mage. Well a mage in training but still you can use more than one element. Why didn’t you use something else, for example, maybe wind?”

“I can use other elements but I’m naturally stronger in fire and weaker in all the other ones.”

“Hmm, I guess that makes sense.” Choice nodded before something occurred to her and she whipped her head to face Cero, “Wait a while, you said he was about to become a mage.”

“Yeah, he is. He’s one of the top students of the year ahead of me.”

“Is that rare, becoming a mage?”

“Yes. A lot of people can become apprentice mages but usually only three people have the ability of becoming mages proper. The college usually keeps these three people and gives them additional resources and teaching.”

“Haha,” Choice laughed nervously, “I guess the Internationale considers them very important. Maybe you should become one, it could help our kingdom a lot.” Shit, this dude might actually lead to me getting in trouble. I hope there’s no way that they can test if he’s dead. You never know with mages. Calm down, Choice, you’re only going to be here for three days anyway. Hopefully, I can leave her in peace.

“Yes they are very important. And I would love to be a mage believe me. But mum is insistent that I leave here in a year. She doesn’t want me to become a mage.”

“Yes, our mother has a very clear plan for your future. But still it’s your life. If you want to be a mage, if that’s your dream, I can speak to our mother for you. But you have a right to choose what you want to be.” Cero cocked his head to the side and thought about it for a few moments before sighing and shaking his head.

“It’s okay. Mum is just doing the best for me. Just like she said, I’m still a kid, what do I know about the future. I believe mum knows better than me and she cares about me so what she says has to be right. Besides, if it ever gets to be too difficult, I’ll just tell mum and she’ll stop but thanks sis for caring about me.”

“Okay,” Choice said agreeably, “It’s your life and I see you’ve made your decision brother. You deal with what happens.”

“Sure I will.”

“But anywhere, about these ‘pre-mages’. Does the school do anything to keep them safe, for example have something that tells them when they die or when they get injured and where this happens.”

“Ah, well sure there are things like that. But only within the three years after they officially graduate and even then only when they leave the college. I mean they’re not common but mages aren’t that rare. But why are you so curious anyway?” Sigh, I’m safe. Still, I could have gotten into some trouble and I still might. I should be more careful in this place.

“There isn’t a reason. I just wanted to hear the benefits of being selected to be a mage so I can know exactly what you are turning down. It is a lot.”

“Yeah, but I might not even become a mage after all of that. No, it makes more sense to aim for something I can actually attain.”

Choice nodded her head, “So that’s the extent of how much you are willing to fight for your dreams,” she said in a very low tone. She was somewhat disappointed at her brother for giving up but she guessed not everyone was as desperate as she was. Her brother had their mother to fight for him, she had no one to do the same for her.

“Speaking about our mother,” Choice said in a more conversational tone of voice, “She told me to tell you to take care of your health and that she was expecting you to return to Legume for your birthday.” Rachel had told her about her mother’s instructions for her brother during their trip.

“Speaking about birthdays, you didn’t return for mine. I had to entertain almost everyone from the entire Kingdom and my little brother didn’t come. You know that makes people think that we are having problems in our relationship.”

“First, don’t call me little brother, you know I don’t like it. And I’m sorry I didn’t come for your birthday party but it sounds like you were very busy so I don’t think you missed me. Besides, you never come for my birthdays either.”

“You know why I never come for your celebrations,” she said sharply, “Seph and Forrest were there. Even Cedric came. But you weren’t there. And you were missed.” Cero said nothing but looked at her guiltily. It seemed like the real reason was that he just didn’t want to. Choice told herself not to be surprised, she hadn’t seen him for twelve years, she just wasn’t as important as his life here.

Choice stood up, she was tired of being reminded that everyone in her family had moved on without her. She was tired of trying to reconnect with people that seemed as if they wished she had never returned.

“I have to get back to the inn that our elder brother paid for both of us to reside while we are here. It’s been a very eventful and honestly I’m feeling quite exhausted.” This wasn’t actually a lie. Using her powers was very draining and she was hungry and fatigued.

“You can stay here with me,” Cero offered hesitantly. For a second, she was tempted to take his offer but his entire body was telling her that he really did not want her to respond affirmatively.

“Thank you Brother for your offer but I would have to respectfully eject. I’ve just been attacked and I would like to stay in a pace that won’t remind me of any bad memories. Also, I don’t want to be a point of disagreement between you and the people with whom you are sharing this residence.”

“Oh don’t worry about that. Jon and Ian were my housemates so no will complain if you stay here,” Cero said but at her raised eyebrow added hurriedly, “But if staying here gives you bad memories then it’s alright if you go. I’m sure this place that Cedric has prepared is alright.” Choice hmmed. He’d added that second sentence so quickly that she hadn’t been able to respond to the first one. She got up and walked towards the door of the room.

“By the way sis, do you know what happened to the thing I gave Jon. Did you see what he did with it.”

“Oh you mean that glowing object. I think I saw Jon put in his pocket but I can’t be very certain as he left in a hurry. Still I hope you find it brother. It sounded like it was important to you.” Choice put her finger in the pockets in her dress to check if the conch was still there. She turned around to look at her brother. “I love you, you know. We’re on the same team. I’m going now so see you later.”

“I love you too sis,” Cero said and snickered. He probably found the sudden admission odd.

Choice turned around and walked out of the room and out of the house. She touched the conch again. Sorry brother but this is my payment for saving your life. I’ll probably use it better since you don’t want to be a mage anyway.

Later that night, Choice looked up at the ceiling trying to sleep but found herself still awake. No one had suspected her of anything. Fred had kept his mouth shut and hadn’t told anyone anything. She still didn’t know what Rachel and her brother had got up to yet but at least she’d done a lot in a day.

Now she was trying to sleep but it wasn’t working. She’d closed her eyes and tried to get as comfortable as one could in places meant for public use, yet nothing worked. She’d tried to enter that tranquil, indifferent mood she’d used to control the water but that didn’t work. There were so many things that distracted the mind from complete stillness.

Choice knew the real reason why she was finding it difficult to sleep, she just didn’t want to admit it to herself because then it would make her victory over her assassin pointless. Every time she managed to sleep she feared that she would wake up and she would still be floating in that lake, her life’s blood tainting the water. Every time she woke up, she checked her neck to see if it was still bleeding, but she didn’t even have any scars on her neck not to talk about a bleeding injury.

Even though she knew that she’d won, she always thought about the what ifs. The worry kept her up at night and strategising for the future didn’t help either. If it was in the past, she would have gone looking for a river or a pond or a lake she could sit beside but she hadn't dared to do that since her near death. This was what she really hated the assassin for doing. For taking away one of the few pleasurable things she had away from her.

Choice rolled and looked at the glass of water she had by her bedside. She held the conch in her hand, entered a calm state of mind and began to manipulate the water in the glass. There had been a noticeable improvement in using her powers since she’d got hold of the conch. Also, when she touched it, somehow it helped her to become calmer. She couldn’t be as indifferent as she was earlier and she still couldn’t control as much water as she could before but she was able to move small amounts of water. Choice manipulated the water to form random shapes of animals before she finally managed to go to sleep.

Almost as soon as she closed her eyes, Choice opened them. She looked around her quizzically because she was most definitely not in the room that smelled faintly of kerosene.

Choice looked below her and saw beneath her a deep blue sea. She’d never seen the sea before but she’d seen paintings of the sea. This wasn’t exactly like what was described but it was more beautiful than anything she’d ever seen before.

Choice raised her eyes from the sea she was on and noticed that she was sitting on a diamond chair. Her head suddenly felt heavy and when she brought it down, she was delighted to see that it a silver crown. She tentatively put a foot down and found to her pleasure that it felt no different from stable ground.

Choice got down from the throne, because that’s what it was, and looked around her in joy. The sky was green, the sea was blue and she was at peace. Ah, I’m dreaming. This is too pleasant to be anything other than a dream.

It was then that everything changed.

Choice looked down at the sea and saw that there were black specks appearing in the water. These specks enlarged until they became splotches ruining the look of the sea. Choice was upset with this interruption by her subconscious. This is my dream, it better be pleasant. She tried to move the water away from the splotches but while she found the water surprisingly easy to control, the splotches would just not be removed.

In the blink of an eye, she was standing on a black sea. She turned and saw the throne she was on beginning to sink. Oh come on. This is not the good dream I was promised.

The sky too began to change. It became a viscous red and it dripped red liquid into the sea. Choice stood and watched as body after body began to pop up form the sea. Some she recognised like Jon and her assassins the others she did not. It didn’t take long before the black sea was full of corpses. The fuck is happening now. Is this guilt? Is this me feeling guilty?

“Can you see all those bodies,” a voice whispered as if it came from the wind, “they’re the fruits of your labour.” Choice immediately knew something was not right with this dream. She could understand mysterious bodies and black seas but she instinctively knew that this voice was very foreign. And familiar.

“Who are you? What do you want to say to me? Why don’t you show yourself instead of whispering in my ear.” For a second nothing happened, until something grabbed around her ankles and dragged her down into the black sea. Choice struggled and tried to control the black liquid. For a second she thought she’d been able to do something but that moment passed and she kept on going down.

Under the black sea wasn’t any different than above it as bodies filled the sea. She even hit a few on her way down.

“You know me. We’ve met before.” The voice said in a louder tone of voice as she kept on going deeper into the sea.

“I haven’t met you before. I’m certain I would have remembered.”

“Oh but you do. You just ran away. You were so little then. You would have been so tasty.”

“Don’t tell me...You’re that being that was chasing me. But that was a dream.”

The voice scoffed before continuing, “So what if you thought it was. It was real. If I’d eaten you, you would have tasted good and you would be eaten but because of you…” Suddenly, Choice came to a stop, the black sea floated above her but there was no liquid where she had arrived at. Even though she had better senses than most people, she couldn’t pierce through the gray fog that surrounded her. What was weird was that throughout this entire encounter with this being, she hadn’t felt even a sense of danger, her neck didn’t twinge. That made her very wary of this being because she was clearly in a dangerous situation, it had talked about eating her for moon’s sake.

“So why did you bring me here? Why did you show me that images? Just to eat me? No I don’t think so. There must be something else.” Choice’s eyes narrowed. “What do you want?”

“I didn’t bring you here.”

“Then who did.”

“I just wanted to show you an interesting sight. You can take it seriously or not at all.”

“Wow. You know I’ve learnt to never trust anyone who gives you anything for free, particularly when that thing wasn’t asked for. There’s always a catch or something is wrong with that thing. So no, I don’t care what you’ve shown me, there’s something wrong with it.”

“If you don’t want to take it, that’s fine. I’ve done my part now. You can free me now!” Choice felt that the last sentence was not directed to her. As the voice shouted to be freed, the fog began to clear and Choice caught a clear look at the creature. It seemed like she had been transported to another place as the black sea was no longer above her.

It was a giant black mass of skin. It had two eyes that seemed as if it was made from fire and it had a massive mouth. She could see that it wasn’t really a threat as it was in a cage that stretched up to the heavens, it was surrounded with chains that cuffed and pierced its limbs. Around its body was teeth that had been pulled out from its mouth. It was quite literally toothless. Looks like there’s no more eating children for you.

At his scream, the place began to shake and Choice’s body started to rise to the sky. She knew she was about to wake up. As she was ascending, the screaming being paused its cries and looked at her with one eye.

“Never come here again. Your father should never have birthed you, you abomination.”

The massive cursing at her was the last scene she saw before she sprang up from her bed, her hands going to check her neck and her nose bleeding.