Chapter 8 - The new line

He watched with satisfaction as Grace's face became ugly, but it was so quick that most wouldn't see it, she smiled, her fake sweet painted smile.

"You keep putting words in my mouth" She said "I was just worried, I didn't see Lily all day"

Oh the guilt card! She threw it again.

"Well, but we did" He said "Lady Rockfield and I, along with four more students, his highness the fifth prince included, were transferred to teacher Kaen's particular classes, we've been studying until now, we were planning to eat when you interrupted us and made a commotion"

She opened her mouth to speak, but he stopped her.

"I mean, why would you even wait here of all places and risk getting late for classes? Couldn't you just send a message and wait for a reply or just wait for the end of the day and knock at the door of her dorm?"

She looked like she wanted to contest, but couldn't find the words.

Oh yeah, he used The Truth, and it was super effective!

Now it was his time to smile.

He let go of the two noble children, bypassing them to stand in front of Grace, the same painted, sweet smile she always had on her, as he looked down on her, not that it was hard, she was short for her age.

"I know you were worried about Lady Rockfield's well being" He said "But why do you always cause a scene every time you want to question her? Why do you always talk your expeculations out loud to God and the world to hear? Why alway in a place with many people?"

He saw her face get red as the eyes all turned to her with full force, the voices grew louder and more shameless.

He held back the not so polite smile that threatened to surface and turned his face with fake doub.

"I'm aware that I'm still new to this noble thing" He said "But shouldn't you, a noble from birth, know how to be mindful of your words in public? Shouldn't you know that everything you say can and will become a source of rumors?"

He let the statement sink, then pulled the group of stuned noble children with him, passing by Grace and whispering to her.

"Pick better fights"

Then he left, taking his group to an empty table.

"You guys owe me a fancy meal" Was all he said.

They exchanged a look before nodding.

He did not miss how the prince signed "bat" to the other two.

He only smiled at that.

Bat… he liked the sound of it!

***

Elias had heard from his uncle about this shop, a place with sealed beasts that could help with magic.

So he decided to come and try his luck.

Of course, Jass was there with him, his mother would kill him if he got out of the palace without an escort.

So they arrived at the place just in time to see the owner fighting with whatever he was making.

His face and clothes were dirty with soot and many tools could be seen on the counter close to a device that looked like a laptop protopy.

He also had one of the said sealed beasts on his shoulder.

"Welcome to New Vestroia!" The man said with a vixen grin "How can I help you?"

Well, he had to give his uncle some credit, he thought the man was exaggerating when he said the owner looked like a scammer.

You truly can't judge a book by its cover, huh?

"I came here after my uncle recommended me" He said "I'm looking for a bakugan that helps with water and light"

The man paused.

"I can recommend some" He said "But may I ask for who you are buying?"

"Why is that important?"

Jass, as always, was skeptical, already questioning the man.

But the man didn't seem to care about it.

"Not everyone can take the same pill" He said "So I can't recommend the same bakugan for everyone either, it might even be dangerous"

He nodded at that, it was a common occurrence in the Magic Tower, as his uncle had said.

Young magicians that died by overestimating themselves and trying techniques that were way to advantaged to them.

He wouldn't want that to happen with his brother.

"I planned to get water for myself and light for my younger brother that studies in the Academy, his mana is strong, but he can only heal for now"

It would be better to just explain properly.

The man nodded before leaving the counter.

"Are you looking for anything specific for yourself first?" He asked "I already have an idea for you brother, but I'm curious about your necessities"

Elias stopped for a moment, thinking.

He didn't think much for himself since his mana wasn't really offensive and was actually quite unstable, so he never uses it that much, using more for minor healing most of the time.

"Anything to help with stability?" He asked "And offense, I never got to try any attacks because my mana is a bit wild, my healing is not that good either"

The man paused, then turned to the terrariums.

"You hear him guys" He said "Anyone interested?"

Elias was confused by this and was about to ask whom he was talking to when a series of murmurs erupted from the water themed terrarium while the man walked to a light themed one.

His uncle said they could talk, but he didn't believe it at the time.

Talking beasts were rare, so he didn't imagine there would be that many.

They heard the murmurs for some time, making him a bit nervous.

Was there a chance that none of them would want to come with him?

Just as he was getting anxious and the murmurs were getting louder, a melodious voice spoke up.

"I'll go"

And then chaos broke.

"Come on!"

"Thats unfair!"

"Who said it would be you!"

A fight seemed to be on the verge of breaking out when the man came back and took one of the bakugan from the terrarium.

"You guys can stop! It's your fault you took so long!"

There were complaints and snarky remarks, but the man ignored them and turned back to Elias and Jass while showing the bakugan, one white and yellow and one blue one with a crown.

"For your brother I got Haos Siege" He said "He'll help with control when the mana is too strong, and the other one…"

"I am Aquos Sirenoide.

The water one looked like a sea folk, her voice was melodic and sweet, but authoritarian.

"I'll help you with stability" She said "And I can guide you in attack, but I'll warn you, you have no talent for healing, trying to force your way on it will only cause harm"

He froze at that, and he could see that Jass did as well.

He knew he had little talent for healing, his uncle had long told him that, but for it to be bad to the point of causing harm?

He frowned at that, hope failing.

His uncle told him how more efficient his magic became after the new method, so thought that he might fix himself if he learned how to heal properly.

But it seems that he might even get worse if he tries.

"Excuse me, are you in need of healing?"

Surprised by the new, feminine, voice, he looked up at the shop owner, who inclined his head towards the Bakugan on his shoulder.

"I might be of help"

The voice was calm and gentle, gut full of certainty.

"Don't waste your energy in useless actions Wavern"

A second bakugan jumped in the man's free shoulder, very similar to the other one, but with a strong male voice.

"Your power is not to be wasted on punny creatures like this" Said the Bakugan.

"Oh don't start it brother!"

That made the man groan before turning to them while the Bakugan fought.

"I'm sorry for them" He said "These two are Naga and Wavern, my personal Bakugan, and yeah, Wavern is your best option if you need healing, there's nothing she can't heal"

Elias didn't mind the fight as he was used to it as the oldest of fifteen, but he was curious about the healing ability.

"I don't mind you trying" He said "But know that I don't have any expectations, I long lost hope on being healed"

Elias has been poisoned when he was young, a poison that wouldn't affect many, only strong Demonic Beasts and those with a strong mana, aka the royal family.

It completely destroyed most of his mana circulation and, since he was too young at the time, it also affected his body, permanently crippling his lower body and slowly crawling up to his upper body.

He only lived that long because of his uncle, who helped him deal with the aftermath of the poison, but he still lost his place as the crown prince of the Bronze Empire as his days were counted.

Of course, he knew the one responsible for this, but there was no way to prove that the weak fourth concubine, who had just survived death after giving birth to her first and only son, Kiran, would be able to do such a thing.

But he knew, it was her and no one else.

Despite knowing that she would make sure he was incapable of inheriting the throne, he still had stupid hopes that he could find a cure, that he would be able to recover and stand tall over her schemes.

Yet, here he was, dying in a wheelchair and waiting for his expiration date to come.

So he let this shop owner amuse him for a moment.

After all, what bad could such a small thing cause?

***

"Um… Is he ok?"

They had come to the library after classes and after he successfully made an escape plan from Grace, they were talking about classes when the prince suddenly froze, eyes shining to a strange shade of purple before he took his tarot cards from his bag.

Koda was staring at the prince, who was messing with his cards so quickly that Koda couldn't tell if he was just moving them just because or if he was really doing something with them.

"He is"

Lady Rockfield and Gina didn't look worried, but they was far from calm.

"You don't seem so sure" He said.

Rockfield frowned, hesitation in her eyes as Gina fidgett with her hair

That is, until the prince stopped, a few cards in hand as he looked at the two girls and nodded before returning to his cards.

He didn't understand what just happened, but, by the calmer demeanor of the two, it should be important.

"Kiran is a Seer" Gina said "He can see the past, future, present and it's variants using his cards, sometimes he even get visions"

"Which lead us to the current situation" Said Rockfield "He must have had an important vision if he is checking it so desperately"

Oh.

Now so many things made sense.

There have always been rumors about the fifth prince, that he was crazy, that he could see things others couldn't, that he could read minds and much more.

The most popular one was that he was a Demonic Beast disguised as a person, brought to the palace by his mother herself.

Who would have thought that he was just a Seer.

Seers weren't rare, but they weren't common either, their abilities were way too limited and even though, just like all classes, they manifested long before the formal awakening at 14 or 15, the could only be used to determine whether something good or bad might happened without a concrete explanation to why it would happen.

But there lies the problem.

The members of the imperial family of all Empires had a boost in all and every class and bloodline ability they might have, a boost that grows the closer you are of the main family.

So the fifth prince, the son of the current Emperor and Kara, one of the most infamous witches of the Bronze Empire, was a Seer.

He was bound to have a scary talent.

That made one question surge on his mind.

"Why would you tell me that?" He asked "Isn't it dangerous to reveal this information"

"You would know eventually anyway"

The three of them jumped in surprise, then turned to the prince, who had stopped with cards and was now with his face buried in his hands, a smell of iron rising up around them.

"You always ended knowing in my visions no matter how long I tried to hide" Said the prince, voice tired "Be me telling you or your digging into my secrets, it's a Constant Event, it won't change even with this new timeline we're living right now"

They all froze at that.

Firstly, he was stunned, not at all expecting to be part of the prince's visions.

Secondly, why would he even dig the prince's secrets?

Thirdly, a new timeline?

He wanted to ask, but he couldn't utter a word as the prince revealed his face.

He was shedding bloody tears, screlas painted in red and his face was pale.

"Please, take me to my uncle"

It was all the prince said before his eyes rolled up and his head hit the table, hard.