Astria Faust

"I don't think these are considered children, Lizzie. Please take a look at their birth dates and the dates of their disappearance... The years between the dates are so big!" commented Bryan, astonished at the screens.

I had been looking down on the floor when Bryan exclaimed his findings. Once I heard about the abnormality, I looked up so fast that I thought I had broken my neck. Then, I quickly rushed to the monitors and compared the rest of the kids' profiles.

Bryan was right... These kids aren't children at all! They were all adults, but their images made them appear so young. Perhaps it was dwarfism? No... That doesn't seem right. Dwarfism makes the person very short but not childlike. These 'children' should look like grown adults!

"Maybe they are a certain generation of Mages? I know some Mages are incapable of growing, or they prefer to be in a child form to play a prank on others," suggested Bryan.

"Are you referring to Mavislin?" asked Z as he monitored Ysabeau's vitals.

Bryan shrugged his shoulders as I read through the files. As simple as it sounded, Bryan may have got the point about checking the origins of these five 'kids.' All five of the victims didn't have much of a backstory... They were born orphans; their parents are dead or redacted in the system.

I found it amusing that I couldn't remedy the redacted words. However, there was a girl who had golden hair and emerald eyes. Her father remained unnamed and unknown while the mother was single-handily raising her daughter at the outskirts of the Albion Domain.

The girl's name was Astria Faust, and she was known to be a troublemaker. Astria was a seasoned pickpocketer that got thrown out of the local church. Although, one day in 1330, when Astria had turned 10, the villagers banded together to kidnap and burn the child at stake.

The mother was subsequently burned along with her child. The reasons remained unknown the actual cause of the anger, but I would presume it's what the masses do to the criminals. I wanted to access the evidence that supported the case.

But, Bryan abruptly blocked my vision using his left arm.

"May I ask why you are blocking my vision? If you need a reminder, I need to see the files to proceed with the case. And I can't do that if you are blocking it," I asked, raising an eyebrow at the Slayer.

Bryan shook his head vigorously as I tried to move his hand.

"You don't need to look into those files. I can tell you what happened based on the archives of the Five Kings. Trust me. You don't want to open that box of cats. Especially if the cats are horrifically burned and disemboweled," replied Bryan, moving right in front of me to man the systems.

That's strange of Bryan to do... Suddenly shielding me from the horrifying truth.

"Alright then. What happened to that child?" I asked, admitting defeat to the Slayer.

"The archives mentioned that Astria was burned at stake but she wasn't killed. The villagers who attacked her died because, during the burning, they threw her mother into the flames. Her mother was a human, so she died rather quickly while Astria watched her burn."

"Upon seeing how much of a monster the villagers were, Astria freaked out and showed her Magecraft for the very first time in her life. My adopted mother called Astria's Element the Element of Crystals. Astria created large crystals to impale the village folk and went into hiding."

"Nova, my adopted mother, traveled both the world and history to find the loopholes and mysteries across time and space. One of her journeys was finding out the mystery of the Crystal Caves and who was responsible for it," explained Bryan, closing his eyes.

"So you're telling me... This girl could turn the entire village into a cave using her anger alone?! Was her Element based on something in the human body to create those crystals? And how did a village on land turn into a cave?" I asked, confused out of my mind.

"The ground broke apart and forced the area into the cave systems that were already hiding underneath. Astria escaped using the cave system and was forgotten by history itself. So Astria's whereabouts are still unknown. As for her powers, I've got no clue," elaborated Bryan.

Suddenly, I could hear the audible sigh of a very tired Glaxian Mage from the corner of the room.

"Lady Elizabeth, you may not know about the previous group that controlled the society of Mages, so you've got to ask Vania to help you give some background information. But once upon a time, before the Arks were created, there's an organization called the Congregation."