"They're crazy... not sadistic" Imp looked up at her with his huge eyes and grinned, "They won't force you to do anything you don't want to."

"But, child" Solara stared into Cybelline's eyes, "There are others in this world who would not hesitate to kill you for your Spark."

"Why?"

"The Spark is used to purify magic. It filters out the impurity and makes the magic stronger." Jinon answered, "All Fae are naturally born with the Spark. And that's why they're slaughtered village by village."

"And while it is illegal to kill a human with the Spark, some mages have been known to practice it. Magic is now a reason for slavery and slaughter." Solara's eyes were hard.

"It didn't use to be this way." Imp told, "There was a time when magic wasn't so warped." Solara kissed the top of Imp's head with a soft smile, "There was a time when the Spark could simply bloom into magic. There was no need for bloodshed."

Cybelline studied Imp. Gone was the grimy clothes and the filth on his face. Now the seven year old little boy was a picture of cherubic health. He reminded her of the angels she had seen in the Sistine chapel.

She looked at the red crystal, "So what's my option?"

"We can hide your magic. The spell will need to be renewed every hundred years."

"What?" Cybelline blinked, "Won't I be dead by then?"

Solara gave her a puzzled look, "The lifespan of a mage can last up to a thousand years. And that's those who don't have the spark or increase their magic."

"There are three ways that mages can increase their magic." Jinon sighed as he explained, "They kill for it, absorb it through dwarf mined crystals, or because their Spark will continually purify their magic as they grow older, their magic grows stronger."

"The last way takes the longest and can be the most dangerous." Imp pipped up, "So most just kill others or enslave dwarfs." He pointed to the red crystal, "This will tell us how strong you are. Solara will then be able to create a potion for you."

"If you want to become a Mage, I can also help you with that." Solara said with a smile, "We just have to nab a mage and kill' em."

"Solara." Jinon said with a frown.

"It's not like we can't offer that." Solara shrugged, "Becoming a mage means you can live as long as your power grows. She'll have wealth beyond imagination, respect and admiration will follow her where ever she goes."

Jinon frowned, "A mage without an Order is dangerous. If she becomes one, what then? She joins the orders and help reign more chaos into the world?"

"The Darklands are growing. The world is becoming more twisted." Solara pointed out, "Mage magic is the only thing that keeps death at bay. Why not have her join the fight?"

"Because it's not her fight!" Jinon said suddenly, his eyes hard, "Why ask a child to clean up the mess we made?"

Silence followed.

Cybelline looked at the crystal, it looked like an ordinary red glass marble, albeit a little on the bigger side. Suddenly, she stood up. "While you guys argue, I'm going to go take a nap." And walked away.

"Do you think we scared her?" Solara asked as she watched the waif of a child walk away towards the garden.

Jinon shook his head, "She doesn't scare that easily."

"And what do you make of her? What will she choose?" Solara wanted to know.

Jinon shrugged, "I don't know." He took out his knife and picked up an apple, "She's razor sharp but I don't see any kind of ambition within her. She keeps to herself." Slowly he began to peal the apple, "She doesn't trust easily, not like the way children do." He handed a piece to Solara, "But she has a good heart."

Solara said softly. "I can not see her future."

"For a powerful seer, you say that way too often." Jinon grumbled.

"I am not powerful. Not compared to the Fae seers." Solara said quietly, "But even they failed in the end."

-----

Cybelline walked away from the courtyard into a garden of roses and peach trees. She picked a clean spot and laid down. Slowly she sank into the quiet corner in her mind and closed her eyes.

This is a very nice. Most minds are just a jumble of thoughts but yours... I'm impressed. A voice sounded within her mind, someone else was in her mind.

Cybelline's eyes flew open and her hand shot out automatically to grip whoever was in front of her.

She found herself reaching into thin air.

Imp looked at the hand that had gone through his chest, "Umm...I think I forgot to mention this about me."

Cybelline's eyes widened as she slowly retracted her hand.

Imp patted his chest, "Sorry, it happens occasionally."

"What...are you?" Cybelline asked.

"I'm a soul without a shell." Imp answered and floated a few inches off the ground.

"Are you a ghost?" Cybelline asked as she inspected him.

He shook his head emphatically, "Ghosts are shadows of their former selves, unable to move forward from whatever issues they had in lives. I'm different."

He bent down and grabbed a blade of grass, "My soul can take on a corporeal form at will. Took me a long time, but I'm quite good at it now."

He turned on the spot and the street urchin she had met earlier returned, the dust and grime covering his tattered clothes. "And sometimes I can change my form."

He clapped and suddenly he was back to the image of the cherubic boy, "I just tend to like this form, it doesn't take too much energy to maintain."

"Are you dead?" Cybelline asked, fascinated as she poked him again, her hand going through him. He felt like cool silk, almost a little watery to the touch.

"Not sure." Imp admitted, "I woke up like this one day and I don't really remember what happened. Solara didn't really tell me either."

Cybelline nodded, "Okay." She sat back into the original position and closed her eyes. His voice sounded in her head again.

Why aren't you asking me more questions?

Or screaming in fear?

She ignored him.

Why aren't you screaming questions in fear?

She sighed and answered back, "I want to get back to what I'm doing."

But why aren't you scared? Everyone is when they see me.

Cybelline gave up, "Ahhh." She said and opened her eyes, looking into the boy's eyes, "There I screamed."

"You said 'Ahhhh." The boy pointed out, "I was hoping for 'AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" He screamed so loudly that leaves fell from the trees and a thousand multi colored birds left their nests. The next moment a torrential rain of bird excrement fell like waterfall on the pair in revenge.

Cybelline jumped up and ran out from underneath the tree.

"Seriously?" She glared at the boy who floated out leisurely. He gave her a wink, "I thought that would cheer you up."

Cybelline sighed, "Thanks. Do me a favor, next time you want to cheer someone up, go find Jinon."

"I do. All the time. Once, he was looking at this tree with red flowers and seemed really sad. I was really bored because he stared at it the whole day and didn't play with me. So I got an entire flock of birds to chase him up a mountain and down a valley. They didn't stop pooping on him for three days." He grinned, "He was a lot less sad after that."

"When you say 'cheer him up'...do you know what those words actually mean?" Cybelline wanted to know as she walked across the field towards the babbling brook.

"Well, he acts like he's my father some time, so I wanted to give him something in return."

"If that's how you treat Jinon, I pity your real father." Cybelline answered as she sat down in the clearing.

Imp hopped up to her, "Did it work? Are you feeling less scared about your future now?"

"Say what now?" Cybelline raised an eyebrow.

"Well, after you left, Solara asked Jinon if you were scared...so I came over here to see if you're alright."

Cybelline looked at him, "That's why you did it? To distract me?"

The boy nodded, "Yes."

Cybelline shook her head, "I wasn't scared." She looked at the brook, it seemed to stretch on towards the barrier that marked the end of this place.

"Then why did you leave?"

Cybelline touched the water, the cool wetness brushed up against her fingers, "I wanted a moment to think."

"About what?" Imp asked.

Cybelline grinned, "About what to have for dinner."

"Oh, sure. Wait what?" Imp looked at her, did he mishear?

Cybelline grinned, "I really just came over here to take a nap and think about dinner."

"Okay...Okay." Imp nodded, "So you weren't scared about your choices?"

Cybelline grinned, "Nope. I already know what I wanted to chose, I really just wanted a nap."

In her last life, she did everything out of necessity for survival. But here, she realized that she was finally free to do as she pleased. That feeling of freedom was intoxicating and while others may want to become powerful or what not, she just wanted a simple life.

Her eyes grew pensive, "But there is something I don't understand."

"What?" Imp wanted to know.

She turned to Imp, "Jinon, Ithos, Myrai, and even Solara. They're all helping me without expecting anything in return. Why?"

"Ithos and Myrai have a soft spot for children." Imp explained, "And Jinon owes them, I think he's doing them a favor."

Cybelline nodded, "That's it?"

Imp scratched his head, "I think so? Why is it so hard to believe that people do good things for others?"

Cybelline stared at him and then she smiled, "You're right. I'd forgotten about that." She got up, "Let's go. I have to get my powers measured."

"We're going back?" Imp said as he floated beside her.

"Yes. I think they're done arguing now." Cybelline smiled, "After this, let's go get some dinner. I'm starved."

"You're a strange one." Imp said as he watched her walk away.

"I'm just following my heart" Cybelline responded, "Which is following my stomach."

--------------

Cybelline walked back to the adults, "I've made my decision." She looked at them, "I don't want to kill anyone. I want to live a quiet life. Maybe even raise a few ducks."

Jinon looked relieved while Solara shrugged.

Solara pointed to the crystal ball, "Alright. Let's check how strong you are and what type of mage. Then I can make my potion."

Jinon pointed to the red ball, "Place your hand here. If you are a Fire Mage, the ball will glow red. The deeper the color the more potential you have to be powerful. Same thing for the other 3, Water Blue, Earth Brown, and Light is White."

He picked it up and the ball glowed a deep red, "Don't be shy. This thing is virtually indestructible. It's been used to test Fae, Folk, and Human mages for thousands of years."

"Sounds expensive." Cybelline said as she looked at it.

"Won it in a drinking game." Solara grinned wolfishly, "Poor bastard was in tears when I took it off him." She winked at Cybelline, "I think that was the day Jinon shed his first tear."

Jinon growled a little, "You're a cheater."

Solara blew him a kiss, "You're a sore loser."

Jinon ignored that and pointed to Cybelline, "Go on child."

Cybelline looked at the ball that was the size of a baseball, it was an ordinary red crystal sphere again, the deep red shinning light had disappeared. She reached out and placed her hand on the ball.

For a moment, nothing happened. Solara frowned, "Maybe she --"

Before she could finish her sentence, the ball flared into life. Fire the color of blood covered the ball, soon overtaken with dark saphire water that turned deep brown which melted into the white light that pieced the eye like rays of the sun. The colors warred over each other until...

CRACK CRACK CRACK

The ball had turned deep black, unable to hold its shape any longer and broke into thousands and tiny shards, as dark as the night.

But Cybelline didn't see any of that. For a brief second she was no long in the space Solara had created.

Rather, she was back in that strange paradise. That vast and rich world that seemed real and unreal. The land in which an ancient and giant tree that reached the roof of the world beckoned her.

And like last time, the vision came and went in a single second. Suddenly she was back at the redstone house, standing in front of the adults, a pile of ash in front of her.

Absolute silence followed.

Cybelline cleared her throat, "Um...I don't think it's virtually indestructible anymore."

Solara and Jinon's jaws were still on the floor. Imp looked like he had swallowed an apple whole.

"Well." Solara finally said when she remembered how to breathe, "This complicates things."