The Crystalline Prison

Leon is at his old room in the palace where he stared at the blue roses.

"Did you find anything?" he asked with a nonchalant smile.

"Nothing useful, Leon." Rufus answered. "Rana is either tight-lipped or she truly knows nothing."

Leon groaned loudly. "This is so suspicious! Mother has been quiet through the whole thing and the prisons are blocked."

"Are you suspecting your own mother?" Rufus inquired.

Leon turned his head to his best friend. "I'm a prince. I have to expect anything."

"Did she-"

Leon interrupted Rufus by shaking his head.

"She isn't responsible but there is only one person who is more powerful than her."

*

A few days passed since that day.

Viola is praised by the Kingdom as the Saintess of Solin or the second coming of Hekaton from their own citizens. She has become so famous now that she will make a mark on history.

"How is Alabaster?" Amy asked while she is powering the ship.

"He is fine now though he is a bit melancholy." Boris answered thoughtfully. Boris was checking up on Alabaster's health and while he seems to be recovering physically, it was still quite a blow to him.

She sighed. She hated what she did to him. It isn't because she made herself the villain but because she felt like a hypocrite. She had already killed people and enslaved some of them, but she tortured someone for personal reasons this time. She unjustly inflicted her pain onto someone. It is because of this, she didn't look into his head to know what he is thinking. She wants him to have his privacy.

Noting Amy's silence, he added, "I understand your pain. You are just worried of what would happen. Alabaster is not a traitor. He is just devoted to you and the cause."

Amy sighs again as she slouched from her spot on the circle. "Alabaster is the most ambitious out of the three of us. He wants to make a difference and I... tried to stop that. It was wrong to act on my anger like that."

"Alabaster is taking things too quickly without consulting anyone. He acted alone but he does have your best interest at heart even if you are against it." Boris says.

"I'll talk to Alabaster later to apologize. I owe him that much." She said.

"Not necessary. He got you a gift."

Amy was stunned to see Hecate appear in front of her and summon some snacks. These are from the capital.

"He told the mercenaries to buy some snacks for you. You haven't had any left since you left the capital. You must miss these."

Amy looked at the lemon drops, cookies and fruit jellies. She had missed these but didn't complain to the two about them.

With a small smile, she finally said, "Tell him I said thank you."

Amy then heard the door open. It was Lisa and they both stared at each other for a bit.

"You have snacks?!" She shrieked and jumped in to look at the pile. "We share the same room. How did you hide this?"

"I am a mage. I can do all sorts of things." Amy answered humorously.

Lisa grabbed as many as she can carry. "I just came here to tell you that it's dinner time. You better share this!"

Amy laughed in response, "Alright, I'll share."

*

After dinner, the interns stayed up all night to chat. They are given some time off since there won't be much to do later tomorrow.

Amy watched over her friends for a bit before leaving to the deck. She can see the dark sky and setting moon clearly.

She feels a bit numb to many things but despite needing answers she wanted to meet Selim.

Activating the circle beneath her, she teleported to the spot she needed to go.

She saw the area she is brought to.

According to one of their peony marked spies, they are not in a high security prison that everyone thought they are in. Instead, it is a bit more remote and far from the capital. The guards posted there are highly skilled and secretive, and the prisoners are separated into different cells and subdued of their powers so that they wouldn't try anything. However, it isn't difficult to get in as the guards are said to be overly confident people.

Amy is relieved that this would be easy but disappointed that the security is so weak and incompetent.

She walked in carefully to avoid any traps but there is strangely no magic to be seen anywhere which puzzles her until she walked in. The cameras are made from Bowen Gizmos and are disabled. It looks like Alabaster disabled them himself for today.

After walking in, she followed directions and found a switch that led underground. The moment she walked in, she is surprised to see that this isn't just a normal holding cell. Most of them are kept in crystalline prisons. It sucks the life and magic out of a person slowly to grow artificial magic crystals until the person is literally sucked dry. Natural magic crystals are a bit of a rarity so the crystals that people in Solin used are a secret from the public. Amy remembered the part of the story where everyone realizes where their magic crystal supply is from and how they reacted.

Amy had nearly forgot about this part of the story. No one knew who is in charge of this whole operation, not even Leon. Monsters have been used to make these crystals, but human lives are used as well.

She continued walking until she saw the one she is looking for. The boy with the cream-colored hair appears to be asleep in his crystalline prison. His expression is peaceful, but the crystal will kill him if she doesn't do something. Since she's here, she should try to save him. She quickly purified the crystal and caught him in her arms before he could fall.

The boy coughed for a bit before he looked up to see whose arms he fell into.

"Hello, Selim"