Pelli is often used to save memories

Refusing to do the sampling because they refused to leave their departments was one thing but to leave that responsibility to their future emperor was another. These spineless magicians truly had no shame left within their bones if they let the crown prince casually waltz into danger that could guarantee him losing his life.

The unclaimed artifacts lost within the bottomless river? They dove into it without a second thought.

The sacred stone stuck above the highest mountain in the world which had been a habitat for vicious beast and parks for mischievous ghouls? Bags were packed before they even booked a ship.

They can't even forget attempting to steal the Sleeping Sirens pearl lung, to which had been a failed attempt, courtesy to finding out too late that the Pearl Lung had already been stolen before them.

This reckless trio knew no bounds to danger and limits when it came to the pursuit of magic, hence the great titles they had earned throughout the years of Magic. But to go study the Bishop's incantation? Don't get them wrong, the incantation in itself is also a form of magic. The problem was that, these magicians, with their own each individual interest in magic, found nothing of interest in the Bishop's incantation at all.

That was the moment Catrice discovered the Ministers shortsighted minds. If it did not interest them then consider it forgotten!

The glowing fog hovered above their heads as it coursed through the entire tower. Magic. Mike stepped further close to Catrice, face contorted into one of complete seriousness. His voice spoke low with doubt, "Are yoh sure about this, Your Highness?"

If the crown prince demanded to take over the sampling process for the Incantation project then they really had no choice but to hand it over to him on a silver platter. On the other hand...

"The Emperor has left this responsibility with us. If we ask this of you—" Catrice raised his hand, honey eyes sparkled under the magic's glow with determination, "You are not asking this of me. I am. If not me, then who?"

This time, Daelus stared agrieved at the young man in front of her. The very thought of this idea came bitterly at the back of her tongue. No matter how desperate they were, or how badly she would refuse to set foot out of the palace grounds, she could never in a million years agree to send Catrice out at the face of danger. That decision should be set in stone. It was far too dangerous to risk his Majesty's life. She will face the crown prince's displeasure at her later but right now she will have to outright refuse his proposal.

"Your Highness, I think—"

"We are so grateful to you, Your Majesty! You can count that we'll make this expedition easier for you." A hand forcefully pushed itself against Daelus's face as she was unexpectedly shoved aside. Siege, face glowing with delight, took Catrice's hands into his own, sealing the deal. "This will be a walk in the park, you can count on me!"

Daelus's s face froze, her dark eyes turned to Siege in icy-gaze. "What do you think you're saying?"

What was he saying? Only the one choice they had left, or so Mike and Siege seem to think. "He has a point Dael, if his highness insist then we can only lower our heads." Mike reasoned. A terrible reason if you asked Daelus. So it was that two against one could not win. Begrudgingly, Daelus left to go fetch a map as Siege and Mike began to discuss the matters with Catrice.

"Now Your Highness," With gentle hands, Mike carefully cradled the blue orb containing the incantation. As soon as those hands made contact with the orb, it burst into fog, leaving the incantation to sit on the palm of his hands, "Hold the incantation, careful! We aren't quite sure what else could set it off."

The flimsy paper was passed with intense care to Catrice, its rough and crimpled textured felt almost thin as snow in his hands. But the longer it stayed in Catrice's grasps, he found the paper to not easily tear at all. In fact, it felt tough as fabric, hard to stretch, easy to fold. The problem must not be it's physical form but the magic it holds within. After all, dealing with magic you understand was easy. Unknown magic? It was easier to walk around minefields than being handed an unknown artifact.

"So," Catrice flipped the paper. There were no other words on the back, only the front was filled with magic circles and rune writings. "How do I do this?"

"Our transcripts read the incantation can be activated as easily as putting band-aid on a wound!" Mike said as Siege took out his wand, with a swing of it, blue fog was immediately released, forming into what seems to be a giant cloud infront of them. The blue fog sparkled as it did back outside at the Magic Riddle, only this time, upon closer inspection, an image could vaguely be seen within the cloud. The image grew vivid in seconds, portraying what seems to be a figure of a person with a cartoonish smile on its face, another one stood on the opposite side held a piece of paper boldly labeled "Incantation".

"Take variable A as the Incantations User, Your Highnes, and Variable B to be a potential victim. We can use A² as the incantion. Once A roams to find potential B, the A² can be—" Mike paused. Can be what? Mike couldn't finish his sentence as Siege gave a very audible sigh, rough hands aggressively running down his face in exasperation. "No one has the time for a math test, Mikey!" From where Mike stood next to the fog, Siege shoved him aside with his waist, using his hand to point at the figures in the picture.

"Now listen tight and listen well, Your Highness. We don't have much time so we're going to get pass this in a breeze," Siege tapped the picture with a sharp sound. "The incantion has only two features. One, to detect a person with symptoms. And two, to cure them of the disease. The symptoms of the disease are dormant, we can never really tell through the naked eye when someone has it. That's why six years ago no one could tell when the next death would be. It just...happened." Another image appeared between the two stick figures on the screen, a close up image of the incantation itself. "Once a person within your radius possess those symptoms, the incantation will be able to inform you. We don't know how, it just will. Once that happens, you can use the incantation! Planet saved!" Siege cheered, throwing colorful confetti up in the air before a staff hit the back of his head. "Planet not saved, at least not until you give a proper explanation." Mike withdrew his staff.

"That's right, some of it doesn't make sense. If what you said earlier was true, then wouldn't that mean I would have to wait until the disease goes off until I can use the incantation?" Catrice asked, a brow raised in question.

"Exactly," Mike glanced at Siege's cowering figure in ice cold gaze. "Your Highness is certainly right. You can not use the incantation unless the victim has already been paralyzed before you. Please take a look at this, Your Highness. It is a footage of the disease recorded six years ago through Pelli ," Mike fetched a magic device that sat on a long table, its rough features giving the expression that the device has been saved for so long. Pelli was, and still is, one of the worlds greatest inventions. "This Pelli was owned by a family member of a disease victim when the disease was first rampant. It was filmed by accident, and has been one of the only evidence we could get our hands on about the disease."

Mike set the Pelli in front of them, in an instant, it expanded flat on the floor before a hologram popped up before them. In the hologram, a family of four could easily be seen happily eating lunch at the public park.

"Why? What happened to other evidences?" Catrice turned to Mike in confusion for a moment before redirecting his eyes to the hologram.

"Most belongings of victims were burned down or thrown away in hopes to not spread the disease to anyone else. With a dormant thing as this, it was difficult to be careful having not known any causes." Two children played carelessly around their parents who stayed sat on a picnic blanket. The mother, a beautiful woman with dark curls, carefully placed the pelli in front of her and her husband, recording them holding drinks and eating sandwiches. Then right behind them, one older boy, likely around eight years old and the younger one a girl, laughed and giggled as the younger girl happily chased around for her brother. It seemed like a normal happy day for the family, almost.

Catrice could never imagine anything bad to happen in this pelli. Until it happened. A loud thud could be heard off the screen followed by a shrilling sound of the mother's desperate scream. Her eyes dilated as she stared at something...or rather, someone who could not be seen. Both parents panicked, and in their frenzy, they scurried off the picnic blanket. Amidst the shock and terror, the mother had accidentally knocked the pelli down. The pelli, now lying on the ground filmed the three figures gathered in the distance as the mother cried. The father grabbed a fistful of his hair, shouting a string of profanities. It was only when he moved away did they see the cause of all this distress. Catrice's eyes went wide in disbelief. It was the same little girl just a moment ago. Her rosy cheeks had turned cold, her honey-like skin turned grey. Almsot like stone. And her head had been detached from the rest of her during the fall.

That was when the Pelli ended, and the device curled once more back into it's cube.

Mike sighed, "As you can see. This is what the disease looked like when it first arrived. Almost immediately, the victim had been paralyzed. All breathing stopped, organs never moved, eyes can never glance. They just...died."

He couldn't believe what he had just seen, and he couldn't bear to take his eyes off the floor after all that. It was just too cruel. That family just lost their little girl, and that little girl just lost everything. So many people lost their family to this. A total 1019 of them.

"If I may ask... Do you know how they disposed of the corpses?" Catrice dared asked, already dreading the answer. "All 1019 couldn't have been kept after all these years,"

"That is true, we've seen some people try to keep them. However—" Siege answered. However what would follow those words were now left unknown as he gasp for breath. The strong elbow nudging his side took his breath away as Daelus gave him that ice cold look. "However," she continued for him, "We do not know what happened afterwards. We believe the family of those victims decided on their next actions."

This exchange left a heavy stone of doubt in Catrice's chest, yet he could not speak on it. Were they trying to keep something hidden from him? Perhaps even after taking his own risks they still treated him like a child. Mike sensed the growing tension between the three of them. He coughed, his voice cutting through the short silence.

"This is what you will be facing in the future, Your Highness. Once the victim turns to stone, you have no less than three seconds— five being generous— to destone those victims and save their lives." Mike retrieved back the Pelli off the floor and placed it back safely on the table, he glanced over his shoulder at the horror-struck prince behind him. "I'll ask you again, Your Highness. Do you have what it takes to save these people?"

Are you so sure you are willing after what you have just seen?

Is that really what happens to people who fell victim of the disease? A horrible, instant death with no chance of bidding farewell to their loved ones?

The excruciating moment seemed to drag on for hours in what was only a minute before Catrice finally spoke up, teeth biting his lips. "I'll do it," he answered, "I have to be the one to do it."

Daelus returned shortly after with the map in hand, "Well then, I guess we'll have to orepare you if that's truly what Your Highness wants," She tossed the map in the air. As if gaining life of its own, it dashed in the air and circled around Catrice before it came to a full stop in front of him. On the yellowing surface of the map, in thick red ink, the word "Gerevous" had been highlighted.

"Gerevous? That's an entire ocean away. What does this mean?" Catrice asked.

"It's as you think it is, Your Highness. You will have to travel all the way to Gerevous. The land of Sanctuary," Daelus explained, "After we tried reading the Incantation through magic, the transcripts mentioned of Gerevous. We can only assume it wants to send us there."

"And have you tried contacting the Bishop once more?" Catrice asked.

"We have but even with Transsage, he still has yet to reply. It's already the fastest form of relaying a message we can think of," Mike said. "Rest assured, Your Highness. If we ever receive new information, we will relay them to you immediately. Wherever you may be!"

Now with the map and Incantation in his possessions, Daelus took in a deep breath. Each breath she took sharply stabbed her chest in pure dread and anxiety. "Your Highness, the Emperor will have no idea of this. He had instructed us before to not let you get involved. Ever." Catrice nodded slowly.

"That's why, we fear we have to set a time limit for you." A time limit is only fair. Not only do they have to use the incantation sparingly, they don't have the luxury to dilly-dally either. They never know when the disaster would become rampant. It will only be a matter of time before people catch up on it. "You have to be back before the Celestial Ritual. Else your father grows suspicious and finds out your gone."

The moon had risen high above the sky in full, and down below it casted light upon the tower's skylight. In the luminous glow, the weight of Catrice's decision had never felt heavier. His face stiffened in full resignation. "I understand, when do I leave?"

Siege waved his wand once more and a pamphlet appeared in his hands. He scratched his chin in thought, "As soon as possible would be good but the next ship to sail to Gerevous isn't until two months from now."

"I guess they were dreading the sirens. The oceans to Gerevous is always treacherous but it's gotten to that time of the year when the sirens wake to resurface." Despite Gerevous being the land of sanctuary, it manifested many dangers towards it. Like how the sirens all lurked around the oceans of Gerevous.

"Two months is too far, it will only leave little time left for his Highness. Not to mention we have to account for his ride back to the palace too," Daelus pointed out. But Catrice raised his hand, a simple thought came to mind. "You don't have to worry about that, I'll find a way to get there."

Unsure, Mike glanced at him nervously, sweat trickling down his face. "Are you sure about that, Your Highness?"

Rolling the map in his hands, he safely tucked it away along with the incantation. "Rest assured. You can count on me!"