After diner, Alex went to the back garden for a walk to help the digestion, together with Anika, Pearl, Wenammy, Suijin and Okami, leaving the Nobles and the King free to drink his wine in the dining room or walk along the several corridors of the Castle.
Alex stopped at the gazebo, and a maid that was following them rushed to ask him if he wanted some tea for him and his friends. While the maid went inside the Castle again, Alex sat in the lower wall of the gazebo, feeling the night breeze, and looking at the double moon in the sky. Pearl noticed that while the others were happily chatting, he was in silence, thinking, with a serious face. She approached him and touched his right hand:
“What’s the matter? You are awfully quiet, are you worried about something?”
“I was just thinking about what Shinatobe said, about the Consortium. I wonder if that group is still around and what they are up to. The King told me they were against everything that I like in this World, and it made me wonder what is their purpose, considering the ancient history of this World.”
The others went silent as he spoke, and Okami answered:
“Perhaps you should talk with Shinatobe about that. If she is willing to speak, that is. That particular subject tends to make her sad and angry, and she does her best not to speak or remember anything about them.”
Alex faced her and noticed her sad look:
“You know something, don’t you?”
“It’s not my place to say anything. She is the one that must explain everything to you, about her discoveries regarding the Consortium. I also thought that they disappeared long ago, but maybe a few escaped the purge we did and managed to gather more followers.”
Alex frowned at Okami, and he then noticed that Suijin also looked worried.
“You three went after the Consortium?”
While Okami was slowly nodding, Suijin said:
“We were all after them. I killed a bunch of those crazy Dark Mages and their followers at first sight, but it was Shinatobe that took care of the interrogations and gathering names for us. She… discovered a few things that messed with her. And with us, of course, considering our role in this World. It was because of them that Kagu-tsuchi made a contract with his previous Mage Summoner. Well, let’s just say that they were the fuel that started his rage against Humans. It took him a few decades to trust on Humanity again, and then he met that woman and helped her on uniting the countries against the Monsters, while she helped him on making sure that no one continued the ideas of the Consortium after they disappeared almost three hundred years ago.”
Alex slowly nodded:
“Nearly at the same time that Magical Voids first began to appear… What appeared first, the Voids or the Consortium?”
Suijin answered with a pained look:
“The Voids… I still remember the first one, it appeared right in front of me… I was the first to fight the group of Monsters that arrived, and then I raised the alarm. Soon after, Magical Voids began to appear everywhere. At first, with months apart, but then with weeks and once in a while, with days of difference. By the time we found out about the Consortium, the Voids were appearing with hours of difference, like it is happening lately.”
Alex went silent, and Suijin spoke with a slight frown:
“Perhaps we should continue this conversation in private, Alex. Maybe Shinatobe gathers her courage to explain a few important things to you.”
Anika pouted:
“Not fair. Why can’t we also hear, considering it affects us all?”
Suijin slowly shook his head:
“Better not, my beautiful daughter of the sea. Alex might get depressed after talking with Shinatobe, and he will for sure need the help of the ones that love him the most, to help him deal with everything. If you three also heard it, it would be impossible for you to help him, because you would also be sad and worried. Besides, this is a matter that concerns only us, the Great Four, and the Hero. Nothing good will come from knowing more than you should, believe me. Kagu-tsuchi previous Mage Summoner learned more than she should, and we all know what became of her.”
Anika opened her mouth to say something, but Suijin warned her:
“I am not joking, daughter of the sea. Cease your questioning, or the currents shall be my witness that I will punish you a lot so that you learn to never question me.”
Anika quickly closed her mouth and looked down, speaking in a trembling voice:
“I-I am sorry, Great Spirit of the Water Suijin. Please forgive my stupidity, but I am just worried about Alex and I want to help him… if I can…”
Suijin placed one hand over her left shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze:
“Your heart is in the right place, daughter of the sea, but Alex has a very important role in this World, and he might need your help in the future, but not right now. Alex, perhaps we can go to that meeting room where you talked with the King while they stay here and drink the tea the maid is about to bring?”
Alex got up and followed his two Spirits in silence. Anika kept on looking at them leaving while biting her lower lip. Pearl took one slow deep breath and said:
“We can only hope for the best. Maybe Alex is strong enough to hear what they have to say and come out of that meeting unscathed. He keeps on surprising us, perhaps he will also be able to cope with anything he finds out. We can only trust him and try not to think too much about things that are out of our reach. If indeed Alex needs our help in the future, I want to believe we will be able to protect him in case of danger, although I suspect he doesn’t need our help.”
Wenammy looked at her, surprised:
“What do you mean by that? He can’t…”
Pearl gently caressed Wenammy’s left cheek:
“You are cute, Wenammy, but sometimes you are too slow. Did you ever hear of a Human that managed to make a contract with two Spirits? Alex has four, and the most powerful of them all. You forgot what a contract grants to a Mage Summoner, aside from the ability to use new Spells or increase the amount of his Magic? His strength, agility, flexibility, endurance, stamina, sight, hearing and speed will increase. All of it will be multiplied by four, in Alex’s case. We already saw him fight, and he knows a few tricks. He wasn’t using his full power, because if he did, he might do more harm than good, and I guess that’s why he was so careful. Perhaps he is still getting used to his new powers, considering he said to us that Suijin and Kagu-tsuchi are his newest Spirits.”
Wenammy nodded and kissed Pearl’s fingertips:
“You are right… sorry, I was so worried about what they said that I totally forgot about that.”
Anika rolled up her eyes and grunted:
“Get a room already, you two are messing with my nerves!”
The maid arrived and while serving them the tea and biscuits on the small table in the centre of the gazebo, Pearl said with a kinky smile:
“You are welcome to join us, Anika, unless you prefer to be all alone in a room, worrying. We are going to have fun, and we will try not to overthink about things that are out of our hands. I know a few things that I want to try with this cute High Fairy over here, and you can join us or watch us if that’s what you like.”
The maid almost dropped her tray and Anika answered:
“No, thanks, I don’t like to watch or participate in those kinds of matters. I will go to my room and worry myself to death.”
While the maid was becoming redder by their conversation, Alex was entering the meeting room and sat at the round table with Okami and Suijin. Alex asked while fiddling with his fingers over the table:
“Shinatobe, do you mind joining us?”
A tiny ball of light came from behind his ear, and the little girl form of Shinatobe appeared seated in front of Alex, with a sad look on her face. She bit her lower lip and said:
“I… don’t want to talk about…”
Alex made a slight frown:
“Did I asked what you want or not? You have some information that I need to know, and you are not getting out from here without telling me everything. Stop acting like a brat and woman-up, will you? Tell me what you discovered about the Consortium, what you sense in the air when a Magical Void appears, and where are your parents, the God Izanagi and the Goddess Izanami. Because it puzzles me why they didn’t do anything regarding the Magical Voids until now, except creating the ability to form a contract between a Spirit and a Mage Summoner.”
Shinatobe looked at Alex with her eyes wide open:
“You… want to know all that, all of a sudden? Not even Yahei was so eager to…”
Alex raised his right open palm and frowned:
“I am not my father, Shinatobe. He is a man of faith, while I prefer to act and think about my soul later. Start talking, we don’t have all night.”
Shinatobe gulped and looked around:
“I don’t know about you guys, but I could drink some water, right now…”
Alex punched the table:
“Stop wasting time! You don’t need to drink! Speak up, already, geez!”
“This is not easy! If you saw what I saw, or you heard what I heard…”
Alex intertwined his fingers over the table and leaned forward:
“That’s why we are here, I want to know. Get on with it!”
“Ok… I told you that I don’t know much about the Magical Voids, but that was an innocent lie because you weren’t ready for that knowledge. I found out that the World from where the Monsters come is in a parallel reality like Earth is to Azurath. Each World is in another reality with different physics and Magic. Or in Earth’s case, physics and the lack of Magic, and in the Monster World, the beings that inhabit there have Magical Orbs inside their bodies that grant them the ability to use Magic. Around here, Magic is everywhere, from the World, beings, plants and trees. In the beginning, Magical Voids appeared randomly, caused by a sudden spike of Magic either in Azurath, or in the Monster World, because a Spell went terribly wrong, or a few powerful beings died at the same time. I suppose the Magical Voids were going to happen sooner or later because the spikes of Magic were piling up since the beginning of times. From one of those Voids once came a man from Earth, the first Hero. It was then that we found out how different and advanced Earth was, compared to this World. It doesn’t happen very often, so I have no idea why a Void connected to Earth at that time.”
Alex opened his mouth to speak but instead signalled with his right hand for Shinatobe to continue, saving the questions to the end. She nodded and continued:
“That man fooled us because he hid his true thoughts, and when our parents told us to unite the Spirits and other beings with a contract so that we could fight the Monsters, somehow he managed to keep secret his deepest hate for the different races that inhabit this World. He refused to make a contract with a Spirit and preferred to use Magical Orbs to help him fight the Monsters. After some years, governments in several countries started to do strange things. In ‘The Kingdom of Bouria’, if Fairies, Elfians, Mermaids or Beast-kind wanted to live there, they had to pay a heavy tax, and Humans did not. In ‘The Galtian Khaganat’, Beast-kind were condemned to death for the tiniest crime and were under strict scrutiny, that watched their every move. In the ‘Imamah of Sanstan’, at West from Bouria, Fairies, Mermaids, Elfians, Spirits and Beast-kind were forbidden to enter, and the ones that lived there for years were expelled.”
Alex frowned:
“That’s weird, why the change in just a few years when every race used to live in any country they wanted?”
“We also founded it strange, but we dismissed that because we… well, mostly me, I thought it was because Humans were having difficulties accepting that there were races that outlived them, or could use more Magic than them. I foolishly thought it was only because of jealousy. Okami told me that there could be other reasons, but I didn’t try to get to the bottom of that, because every country always had the right to do as they deem fit. With all those changes in the countries, Beliersia became a safe heaven for Fairies, Beast-kind, Mermaids and Elfians, but when the King that used to rule this country tried to make up laws to limit the other races, he was overthrown and the Chamber of Lords was created, leaving the King with the role of presiding the meetings in there and to act as a representative of Beliersia, when dealing with other countries.”
Alex rolled up his eyes:
“Save me from the History lesson. I want to know why all that happened and where the Consortium fits in all those changes.”
Shinatobe continued like if he didn’t interrupt her:
“Some months after the creation of the Chamber and while the Lords were getting used to their new duties, a Mage dressed in dark clothes invaded the Castle of Bouria and killed every Beast-kind he could, until he was stopped. He killed himself to avoid capture and the next week, another Mage appeared in a City of Beliersia in the middle of the night and killed Fairies and Elfians that lived there. I was able to capture him before he could kill himself, and after some persuasion that lasted days with torture mixed with Healing Magic, he spoke. He was stubborn and strong-minded, but no Human can endure forever all the pain I can inflict. Sooner or later they will crack, and they speak.”
Alex gulped at the thought that Shinatobe would torture someone, heal him, and torture the poor guy again, for days in a row until he spoke. Shinatobe noticed his look and said:
“Remember that I am not an innocent little girl, Alex. I can be ruthless when needed. So, that Mage told me there was a group that called themselves the Consortium, that aimed to clear this World of everyone except Humans, because one certain first Hero was against living in a World where there were beings more powerful than Humans. He convinced and found out several Humans that either shared his vision or were convinced to join his cause. During the years that he lived here until I found out about what he was doing, he created the Consortium and their influence spread all over the World. I managed to disguise myself as that Dark Mage that was captured, and I went to a few of their meetings. In one of them, I saw one thing that…”
Shinatobe trembled a little and took a slow deep breath to calm down. Her voice came out lower as she continued:
“There were tables with Humans and Beast-king tied up, with their Spirit partners fainted on the ground near them in their Human or Beast-kind form, because of being hit by consecutive Magic blows. A Mage dressed in dark clothes and with a hood covering half his face placed a small pile of Magical Orbs on the ground near each of them, and at the same time, before I had time to realize what was about to happen, those Humans and their Spirit partners were killed by a few Dark Mages and with the use of a weird Spell the strange Dark Mage leader mumbled, the Magic was collected by the Magical Orbs. I had to restrain myself from killing all those Mages on the spot, but I needed to find out more. I saw a group of Dark Mages collecting some of the Magical Orbs that gained a dark colour in them, and they went out of that room. Then, the Dark Mage leader looked at the audience in front of him and took off his hood. I immediately recognized that crazy first Hero. He made a speech about getting rid of every being that wasn’t Human, and he then offered a dark-coloured Magical Orb to each Mage in that room, telling them where they needed to go and the words of the Spell they needed to use so that the dark Magic in the Orbs opened a Magical Void to the Monster World.”