>>Amber

"I see." I nodded, "What about your story?" I asked, "I want to know how it went with the temple, with your whole being disappointed thing and then going to the Tower."

"I would love to tell you, but it would take too much. It's better you ask Enya when you wake up."

"Why?"

"If I tell you my whole story here, we won't know how much time will pass in reality." She shook her head, "I don't think we have that much time to spare."

Hm?

Come to think of it, I spent such a short amount of time last time and almost a day had passed.

"How does time work here?" I asked,

"Hmm. I guess every five to ten minutes here, a day passes in reality."

...

I froze,

But before it processed in my brain, my eyes came out wide.

"What!" I was so shocked to hear her words, they began to ring in my head. I was beyond baffled, "How much time has passed then?" I was about to bite my tongue as I managed to ask that.

"Uhhh," she passed me a nervous smile, "I don't know... Like half an hour? Ah hour?..." Her expressions twisted into nervousness, "...More?" She raised her hands up next to her shoulders and shrugged.

"MY GOD!! You should have told me that sooner!!"

"I thought you might have figured it out because of last session,"

"I didn't think about it!" I grabbed my head, "Lord!!" It was then I felt my body glitch backwards, "Oh!" It was a familiar feeling

"Someone's waking you." Rosie said and then nodded to herself as she balled her fists, like bracing herself for something, "If you plan on saving Illaris, we won't be able to meet using her."

My body got dragged backwards. I felt myself get a long exposure shot, my body glitching backwards

"I only need some sort of trigger to come here right?" My voice felt odd, it was like a voice coming out of a glitching radio.

"Yes,"

"Then I'll find something else!"

My mind seemed to go numb- then it flashed, waking me up

***

I groggily opened my eyes to find myself in a familiar surrounding. The same ceiling, the same soft bed.

I knew instantly I was in Hael's room

"You took your time," I heard Hael's voice, "Unfortunately though I couldn't let you sleep more. We're already late."

"I'm taking my leave," I heard Loid's voice

Hmm?

"Alright," Hael answered him while I pushed myself to sit up, but I felt a little weak.

"Late?" I looked at him, "Why?" He turned his face to look at me with his arms folded.

"We're leaving for Hollow Woods," He answered.

"What?" I was in shock, 'When?!?" All of my drowsiness left in an instant.

"In a few hours," He turned his head to look outside the window, "At Dawn," He looked back at me, "Did you get something important from Rosie?"

"Yes, she told me in order to save Illaris, I can take her power."

...

He slowly turned his head to look at me.

"Save Illaris?" He narrowed his eyes at me like I had done something dumb, "You-" I felt like he was going to say something very sarcastic but stopped and kept it to himself, "The temple is closed at the time." Hael said, "And we don't have the time to waste it on her"

I stood up from the bed, making my way to him, "She's near death." I said, "I want to spare her life."

"You have no reason to do that." He stayed firm in his spot.

"Come on, you don't feel bad for her?" I stood close to him, very close, "Lyal's been taking advantage of her." I placed my fingers on his crossed arms. And I saw his gaze go down to them before coming up at me again.

"No," His reply was so balant it made me shut up and look down in defeat.

Damn,

Sometimes I forget he doesn't give a shit about anyone... else...

I glanced at him and he let out a deep breath without opening his mouth.

"And how do you even plan on helping her?"

I smiled.

He doesn't give a shit about anyone else, but me!!

"Rosie told me you have an artifact that can extract things.... Including power."

He paused.

I could tell from his expressions that he was surprised but he relaxed fairly fast.

"I can't risk exposing that artifact to the public." He said, "The Tower Master who brought it here made it clear in his writing that he wants to keep it hidden."

"And how will the public know?" I raised my brows at him

"Extracting something from a human can take days," He said, "And we don't have that kind of time."

"But," I paused, "Is it possible to put her in the machine and then leave?"

"Do you think we're going on a vacation?"

"..." I looked down in shame

He then let out a sigh and unfolded his arms, "The machine will keep her alive for a while, and she won't be waking up till the time we get her out of that,"

My expressions lit up and I raised my head to look at him

"But," He started

"But?" I repeated his words, and looked at him with sparkly eyes.

"The temple will go into a frenzy."

"Yea~" I danced my head forward and backward, "But," I tilted my head slightly, "It's not like they will blame the Magic Tower for it?"

It's not like they have CCTV here.

Hael folded his arms back as he sighed yet again, and that made me conscious, "The first thing they're going to blame is the Magic Tower."

I pouted, "Why?"

"Because, My Lady," I noticed something in his tone. He's using that voice, it's the thing he does when I ask something dumb. I've noticed it before! "If their saint vanished without a trace, that only means someone teleported her out of there. And all the people who are capable of teleporting work in the Tower."

"...."

Yea, if I used my brain a little I would have thought of that.

I looked down in shame again.

Hael let out a half a sigh, unfolded his arms, and stepped back, "Why do you want to save her?"

I pouted softly and raised my head to look at him, "I feel sorry for her. She got entangled with a shit person like Lyal."

"Didn't Lyal have feelings for her?"

I rolled my eyes, "I thought he did-" I paused, "And maybe he did, but then he must have seen where Illaris brought him and then he got," It made sense, "Power-hungry." I felt even worse for her now, "And his relationship with Illaris must have turned toxic..." My gaze dropped, "As a fellow female, I don't want her to suffer."

Hael took another step back, "Oh, the things I'm ready to do for you," He whispered.

!!!

My eyes lit up, "What?"

"I'll be right back," He said and a glow came from underneath him, the wind gathered around him, swaying his and mine hair, "Stay here. I'll bring her." A teleportation circle formed under him and the next second he was gone.

He was gone, and the wind died down, but my smile got wider.

Did he say 'The Things I'm ready to do for you' To me?!

I giggled as I stomped my feet on the ground while circling around.

Gosh!!

He totally said that!

Then I froze.

'The Things I'm ready to do for you' His words began to echo in my mind and my smile dropped, my expressions turned to horror.

Time manipulation is something not anyone can do. It has to be someone with a lot of mana, alot of high quality magic, and a lot of innate talent.

I turned to look at the place where Hael disappeared from.

And I can't think of anyone but him who did this.

But I can't even ask him.

He doesn't remember anything from that time. My heart throbbed and my chest felt constricted.

But if it was him, he's going to die in a few months.

I began to move around in a panic. I get that Rosie didn't want to tell me so that I wouldn't start feeling miserable before it actually happened, but this feeling of constant panic isn't good either.

It's going to eat me up just the same!

Oh God!

Maybe I should go and visit Enya!

***

Woah

The secret door opened and we entered another secret lab.

"I could never have thought there was another room in here." I said softly.

"If you could tell, it wouldn't be a secret room." Hael answered and I looked at him, then I turned to my head to look at Illaris

I was expecting Hael to bring Illaris in his arms. The thought did make me a little jealous at first but then I told myself that I shouldn't do that since I am the one who asked Hael to do that.

I tried to suppress a smile as I stared at the translucent magic box Illaris was in. The box looked like a coffin and was floating behind us as we walked ahead.

This is funny.

He really doesn't like touching people. I turned my head to look back at him.

Well, except me

And I failed to suppress my smile.

We reached a slim stone podium that held the shape of a hand at the top part, carved right in the middle of its surface.

Hael put his hand on it, and put his mana in. As soon as he did, the machine in the middle of the room woke up.

WOW

I stared at it with glitter eyes.

The sphere flew up a few inches and then stayed afloat there. A humming sound began to emanate from it, while It radiated a glow, casting a soft, azure light across the polished stone floor. The patterns shifted within the sphere, Encasing the luminous orb were curved bands of a metallic substance that gleamed in the dim light. These bands wrapped around the sphere, their surfaces etched with magic symbols. The bands contained the sphere and interacted with it.

Hael then flicked his finger and the magic coffin Illaris was in floated towards the orb. The sphere opened up like an inverted flower, then it gobbled her up, making me flinch

I wasn't expecting that. It was a little scary.

I don't think there is enough space in that thing for a human.

"A fetal position is comfortable enough." Hael answered without me asking and I turned to look at him in suspicion while he kept his eyes on the machine.

He didn't put something in my mind did he?

"No," He answered, startling me.

"I didn't even say anything!" I was genuinely freaked out.

He merely chuckled lightly as my reaction, then turned to place his hand on the stone podium again, then chanted a spell.

The sphere began to work, the bands began to move, catching my attention.

"How does the machine work?" I asked

"There are a number of ways to use it, but the main purpose is extraction." He took his hand off the podium, "The spell I used this time will keep Illaris's body intact while removing her power at the same time."

!!!

It hit me then

Right...

Rosie's case was different. With her, the spell removed her physical body.

"So," Hael looked at me, "Now did you get something useful out of Rosie?"