Fire Emblem: Last of the Manakete

One day heads up, and finding Apollo, studying for the test, and getting the lay of the land are winning, but meeting the Revisionists and sitting in on classes are in striking distance.

EDIT: Line version:



Rolling for the tied ones: 1-2 for Revisionists, 3-4 for Test

So the winning votes are Apollo, Finding things, and studying for the test.

So the update's chugging along slowly, but I did finish my rough map of the Marble Hall. It's not really to scale, but it's meant to give an idea of where everything is.


Let me know if there's anything that seems missing or doesn't make sense, and remember all this is on a big hill (I was too lazy to draw all the elevation lines.)

The little, unmarked rectangles are a combination of dorms and other auxiliary buildings. The larger unmarked rectangles are learning halls.

"I've learned that, when trouble comes, Lenora's first instinct is to try and remember if she's already read anything about it. Failing that, she wants to find something to read about it."
-Emperor Theodore Wyrmblood


As you make your way down the stairs, the faint crinkle of parchment from your pocket reminds you that you still have a job to do. "Um, Mistress Highwind," you say, "Do you know where I could find Apollo Cartese? He's my best friend's little brother, and I was asked to pass a message to him since I was coming here anyways."

Sunny studies you for a moment before glancing at Lacroix. You don't see what he does, but after a moment she nods. "Not off the top of my head, but I can check the records, Ryza," she says. "That will also give me a moment to find a place for you to stay while you're here." You nod, and so she continues past the main stairs. After a few minutes of walking through corridors, she stops in front of a door marked 'Current Residence Records.' "This will take a few minutes," she says, gesturing towards a bench set against the opposite wall. "If you would wait over there, Ryza."

"Okay," you say, setting your pack down before hopping up to take a seat. "Thank you." Sunny nods and gives you a small smile before unlocking the door and entering.

After a moment, Lacroix sits down on the opposite end of the bench. "Well, despite Donnor's best efforts, that went reasonably well," he sighs.

You squirm a little as you glance over. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you," you say. "I promised I wouldn't-"

Lacroix raises a hand tiredly. "I understand, Ryza," he says softly. "That is perhaps the greatest challenge of being a mage working in the world outside the Hall, especially for the nobility: we must constantly balance our own thoughts and wishes with our duty to our employers. We have a great deal of independence and leeway, especially Head Mages, but we still have our limits."

"Still-" you start; only to stop and shake your head. "Well, thanks for backing me up anyways."

"I would not wish for my worst enemy to have to face an angry Master Donnor Blitzbolt alone," Lacroix says. "Normally, Archmage Stormspeaker is much more neutral, at least at first. It was my responsibility to advocate for you." He smiles dryly. "Besides, Donnor was challenging Jenna's and my competence at sponsoring mages; I couldn't just let that stand."

"I know," you say. "But I still appreciate it." He hums.

The pair of you sit in silence for a minute before Lacroix stands. "Well, you seem to be all set," he says. "Archmage Stormspeaker will make sure Donnor doesn't do anything stupid, and that the test will be a fair one." He smiles. "I have complete confidence in your abilities, Ryza, and I expect that when next we meet, you'll be wearing a mage's cloak of your own. I need to get back to Callista."

You nod. "Thank you for everything, Lacroix," you say. "May the Mother light your path."

"And may the spirits fly with you, Ryza," Lacroix says before turning to leave.

…You really hope you'll still be friends the next time you meet.

As the echoes of his footsteps fade away, you settle back to wait. You consider getting out something to read, but you can't help but feel a little tense now that you're on your own. Still, despite the niggling fears in the back of your mind, you seem to be welcome. A few adult mages pass down the corridor, and none of them do anything more than glance at you or give you a nod, seemingly deciding that since you aren't causing any trouble they didn't need to worry about you.

Finally, as you're starting to get a little bored, Sunny exits the record room and locks it behind her. "You're in luck, Ryza," she says. "Apollo shouldn't have a class right now, so if he's not in his dorm someone there will probably know where to find him." She holds out a key for you to take, marked with three lightning bolts along its shaft and a stylized five on its grip. "This is for you: your quarters are on the third floor on the left. Look for the sign matching the number of lightning bolts, then it's the fifth one down." She looks down at your pack, frowning. "Do you want to stop there first and leave your things? They look quite heavy."

You're tempted for a moment, but with Master Blitzbolt still on the warpath you're not quite willing to leave some of the very valuable, irreplaceable things in your pack in easy reach. It's not that you don't… okay, it's exactly that you don't trust him not to snoop. Maybe Belle's rubbing off on you? "I'm okay," you say.

Sunny raises an eyebrow, but she slowly nods. "If that's your wish," she says. "Well, let us get going. If we get separated somehow, Apollo should be in the Flamewheel Hall. Just ask anyone on the way: they'll point you in the right direction and we'll meet there."

"Alright," you say, smiling. "Thank you, Mistress Highwind,"

The pair of you quickly leave the main hall, still undisturbed by the other mages. A part of you wonders just how long it'll be before news of your differences creeps out, before you once again become the subject of stares and whispers.

You resolve to make the most of the relative anonymity while it lasts.

As you step out of the gate and onto the slopes of the hill, you look around. "So what's it like, here at the Hall," you ask. "It looks… big."

Sunny smiles. "It is," she says, leading the way around the walls for a little before turning down one of the coiling paths. "And it can be very tiring, but it's also such a rewarding place to be. To be able to help guide so many different young minds, from all over the world, and help them grow into fine mages… there's nowhere else I'd rather be." She looks down at you, frowning slightly. "Ryza, I'm sure Master Skyfire already said this, but I do apologize for Master Blitzbolt. Whatever… whatever type of being you are, you came here in peace and wanting to learn. You didn't deserve the way he treated you."

You smile reassuringly. "It's not your fault," you say. "You don't have to apologize for him: he was just being a jerk."

"Still, it's the responsibility of adults to help young mages like you, not let our own prejudices cloud our judgement." She looks you up and down. "It would explain how you were able to cast without any focus."

You consider going further into this conversation, but decide that since Sunny wasn't on either list of Revisionists you'd gotten, it'd be better to keep the details to yourself for the moment. Besides, you don't want to distract her from finding her way, if she gets lost you'll never find Apollo! "Thank you," you say before trying to change the subject. "So what do you do here?"

"Well, adult mages at the Hall are expected to take on many roles, be they teaching or support. I help teach high-level wind magic classes, primarily focused on runic structure and ritual magic. However, most of my tasks are administrative, since I can count my number of students on two hands." She studies you. "What about you? What's your focus?"

"Well, I'm a Yellow manakete, so I'm best with Yellow magic, what you'd call lightning," you say. "I also have a working knowledge of white magic, and I'm practicing my runewrighting."

The mage looks impressed. "That's quite a wide skill base for one so young," she says.

"My parents always said I was really good at magic," you say. "And I intend to prove their faith right." Sunny starts to open her mouth to ask more, but you've noticed more and more people around. "Could we talk about this later?" you say. "It's not that I don't want to," you continue hurriedly. "It's just that there's a lot of people around and I don't know any of them…"

Sunny smiles kindly. "Of course, dear," she says. "Archmage Stormspeaker made it clear that you're to be treated with dignity while you're here, so that's what will happen. Come, let's go find your friend."

It takes a few more minutes of walking, thankfully downhill this time, but eventually Sunny points to one of the many buildings. "There it is, Flamewheel Hall," she says.

You look around, frowning. There are just so many different buildings, and so many of them look alike. If you're going to be here any length of time, you're going to need to spend some time figuring out where everything is, or else you'll get lost. Especially since you don't feel safe flying. "Thank you," you say as you follow her to the door.

As you enter Flamewheel Hall, you look around curiously. The main room that runs the length of the hall is wide open, set with chairs, tables, couches, and tables. Several large columns down the center have fire-pits at the bottom, though none of them are lit at the moment. Most of the light comes from windows set high on the walls, though there are also candles about.

Two arched "walls" run down either side of the main area, giving some separation to corridors that run the length of the building. All along both sides are doors. From the spacing, the rooms aren't very large, probably similar rooms to the one Artemis had given you when you got to Agrithe. Looking up, you see that there's a second floor, open out onto the rest of the hall with a balcony and holding more doors. All in all, it looks like a nice place.

There are a few people scattered around, all wearing the tunics and small hoods of students. They're all boys, ranging from about your relative age to a bit younger than Artemis. There's a mix of cloak colors, though red seems to be a little more common. A few of them glance up at you and Sunny curiously as you enter.

It's at this moment that you realize something very important. "Um… I don't actually know what Apollo looks like," you whisper to Sunny as you look around. "Do you see him?"

The mage, however, has her eyes fixed on a trio of older boys who're tossing a small fireball to each other in the hallway while several younger ones cheer them on. "Oh, not again…" she mutters, glancing up towards a slightly bigger door on the second floor, directly opposite the entrance. "Sorry, Ryza, I have to go remind those boys of the rules; I'll help you find him in a moment." With that, she stalks towards the boys, drawing a few snickers from nearby young mages who aren't involved.

As you look around again, hoping to spot someone who looks like Artemis, a soft, silky chuckle came from next to you. "Forgive me, milady, but I heard you were looking for someone here," a smooth voice says. Turning, you see a boy, about thirteen or fourteen if you're guessing, leaning against the pillar nearest to you with a smile on his face as he studies you intently. "Me, perhaps?"

You frown a little as you look the boy over. His green hood is off, showing off his wavy blonde hair. His sapphire eyes glint slightly as he continues to look you up and down. "Um… Maybe?" you say. He doesn't look like Artemis or anyone else in her family, but you can't just assume-

He grins as he steps towards you, taking one of your hands and bringing it up to gently kiss your knuckles. "A fine young lady like yourself, newly arrived here at the Hall? Of course you are. But never fear, milady, you have found me. Luis Starlight. A pleasure, I'm sure."

Swallowing slightly, you try and fail tug your hand out of his grip. It had been a bit weird when Alejandro had done this, but you'd gotten the feeling that he was just trying to be funny. Luis… you aren't so sure about him… "I'm sorry-"

"Never fear, milady," Luis says smoothly, using his light but firm grip of your hand to half-turn you before pulling you into position to put his arm around your shoulders. "Come, let's find someplace-"

Just as your about to more forcibly pull yourself away (and, failing that, jolt Luis in the side to make him let you go,) the sound of the door opening behind you is the only warning before someone slams into you and Luis from behind. "Oof!" a new voice says as the three of you fall to the ground.

"Sorry, sorry!" a new voice says as you clamber to your feet, your face heating up at the renewed snickers from nearby students. "Sorry, is everyone okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine," you say, rubbing your arm and silently cursing the relative frailty of your heart-form. If you'd had scales you wouldn't be achy! Still, you can't be too upset, as you're now away from Luis. Turning, you get a look at the newcomer.


He's another thirteen-ish boy, this one wearing a red hood. Peeking out from under the hood is a mop of light brown hair, almost blonde, and the eyes behind his glasses are a bright blue-green. He's looking between you and Luis, rocking on his heels nervously.

Luis, meanwhile, has smoothly risen to his feet without a hint of pain or effort, though his face is clearly fighting against a scowl. "Despite your best efforts, yes, we are well," he says in a slightly clipped tone. "Though you should watch your step rather than just blunder about like a drunken peasant."

The new boy wilts. "Sorry…" he says again. "I just needed to find-" His eyes light up a little. "Oh, Luis, I needed to find you, actually, I need your help!" You cock your head: maybe Luis does just get people looking for him all the time and was just making assumptions to speed things up?

The first boy sighs. "I would love to help you," he says, though from his tone you doubt he'd love anything less, "-but as you can see this young lady and I are rather busy…" He starts sidling towards you, and you determinedly (but hopefully subtly) sidle away.

"Oh, come on Luis, it's important!" the glasses-wearing boys says, holding up the book in his hands. "I was in the library, doing some background reading for that class trip to Smokepillar, and I saw Fillia and Calta! They were looking for books on Ascendant, because they were convinced that some sort of super-powerful mage they saw was one and they'd need to save the school from her, but I think it's more likely she just has some sort of old magical artifact and we were working on that project for Mistress Forgefire so I know you have the second volume of Failed Paths so I need to borrow it before they try to do something silly!"

He says all this very quickly.

Luis pinches the bridge of his nose, sighing. "Or, more likely, those two troublemakers don't know what they're talking about and are just making up something dramatic to try and pretend they're important," he says. "And I simply must show this charming young lady hospitality while her guide is dealing with the hooligans over there." He throws you another smile. "I do apologize for Apollo, milady. His manners have improved somewhat from the sad state growing up in the border regions left them in, but I'm afraid he is still a work in progress."

You can feel your eyes lighting up. "Wait," you say to the glasses-wearing boy as he wilts still further. "You're Apollo Cartese?"

He blinks. "Yes?" he says.

Grinning, you step past Luis to stand in front of Apollo. "It's so great to finally meet you!" you say. "Artemis has told me all about you! My name's Ryza."

Apollo keeps blinking. "Oh, you… you know my sister?" he says. "I… I'm sorry, have we met before?" He blanches after a second. "Wait, no, that's not what it sounds like! I don't really remember you, and I think I'd remember you if we'd met before, but I don't mean-"

"No, no, I met Artemis after she visited you last time," you say. "So we haven't met, but Artemis said that you and I are a lot alike. You said there was at the library? Do you like it there?"

Slowly, Apollo smiles a little. "I love the library," he says, his voice speeding up again. "That's why we come here right, to learn things? Master Shadebringer did his best between when I figured out I had magical potential and when I got to come here but he was always so busy with things and he used dark magic instead of fire so it was great to get to come here and learn what I was really good at." He looks you over. "So are you a new student from Agrithe? There aren't a lot of us from the Kingdoms, so you must be really good to have gotten in, especially on such short notice." He looks around. "Wait, you say you know Arti, is she here? Did she bring you? Is Selena here?"

Seeing the hopeful look on Apollo's face, you slowly shake your head. "N…no, I'm afraid not…" you say. "It's… things are a little complicated right now." You glance around, seeing several nearby students trying to listen in with varying levels of obviousness. "Could we talk somewhere? Privately?"

Apollo's face flushes slightly. "I… ah…" he starts.

Luis, meanwhile, seems to have found his voice. "I- you two know each other?" he asks. "I'd thought you were-"

Turning, you frown at him. "Thank you for trying to help," you say. "But I've found the person I'm looking for, and I'm talking to him now."

The taller boy frowns himself as he studies you. "I had thought you were a more civilized girl," he says, his tone drifting dangerously towards the one Baron Cicenco had used.

A flash of anger crosses your heart, but you channel it to the side; it's not helpful right now. Instead, you meet his gaze with the same firm determination you'd used on the girls from before. "I am plenty civilized, which is how I know badgering someone who doesn't want to talk to you is most uncivilized," you say. "I came here to talk to Apollo, not you." He starts to open his mouth again. "And if you're thinking of saying anything else rude about him, then you should remember that his sister is my best friend, and she'd want me to stand up for him while she's not here." You let a faint hint of Yellow static fill the air as you speak: no lightning, but enough warning that a mage should pick up on your displeasure.

Before anything more can be said, Sunny steps between you and Luis. "Alright, simmer down, everyone," she says firmly, her own magic dancing around her and pushing away your Yellow energy. "We are all Mages of the Hall, there's will be no fighting."

Luis immediately nods. "Yes, Mistress Highwind," he says, though his gaze remains icy as he studies you. Still, you force yourself to nod as well, taking a step back towards Apollo and letting your magic dissipate. "Just a… minor… misunderstanding."

She looks between the two of you before nodding slowly. "Good," she says before turning her attention fully to you while Luis slinks away. "Now, Ryza, I see you found who you were looking for." She glances at Apollo as she says this, and out of the corner of your eye you see him nod.

"I did," you say. "Thanks for your help, Mistress Highwind,"

Sunny gives a small smile. "Of course," she says. "Is there anything else you need?"

You consider for a moment before shaking your head. "No, I don't think so, Mistress Highwind," you say. "I'm sure you're really busy, and I don't want to take up too much of your time."

"It's no trouble," she says. "Well, I hope you enjoy your stay here. I'm sure the Archmage will contact you soon about when you can take your accreditation test. Until then, I wish you the best." With that, she turns and leaves the building.

"So…" Apollo says after a slightly awkward silence. "You wanted to talk?"

"If you're not too busy," you say. "Though I might be able to help you with what you were wanting to ask Luis about."

The boy gives you an intrigued look. "Really?" he asks. When you nod, he grins. "Alright! Come on, let's go to my-" he cuts himself off, flushing. "Oh, wait, we're… not supposed to have girls in our rooms…" he says.

You glance up at one of the windows. "We can just talk outside, it's a nice day," you say. "Besides, I'm curious to see more of the Hall."

Apollo looks a little relieved. "Alright, that sounds like a good idea," he says. "Come on, there should be a nice tree that nobody uses around now; we can get out of the sun."

You follow Artemis's brother out of the dorm hall and up the hill a bit to one of the many trees you've seen around. It seems that, when laying out the Hall, the humans have made an effort to make it beautiful as well as functional. You can appreciate that, even if it does leave things pretty spaced out.

Finally, once the two of you have checked to make sure nobody's too close and settled down, Apollo looks at you curiously. "So you said you could help me figure out what Fillia and Calta are worried about?" he says. "I don't know a whole lot, I mostly just overheard them arguing, but they were talking about-"

You wave a hand, smiling. "Don't worry; they were talking about me, and I assure you I'm not Ascendant or using some sort of magical artifact," you say. "Well, I can use a tablet, and I did wake up recently, but not in the way any of you are thinking." You don't extend your wings: there are a few students talking several dozen meters away, not close enough to overhear but clearly in line of sight. "I'm a manakete, what most humans call dragons, but all those old stories are lies and slander and part of the reason I'm here is to be able to talk to some people who're out to prove that."

Apollo blinks at you in confusion. "But… wait… dragon?" he says. "But dragons are big and have wings and scales and a tail. Why don't you have wings and scales or a tail?" He cranes his head to try and look at your back, as if expecting a tail to be peeking from under your dress.

"Because I'm in my heart form, and I'm not using my wings right now," you say patiently. "Dragon-me does have all those things, but I haven't had to call on her for a while, just once to help Artemis and a few times to half-shift to move around faster." You smile. "I promise, I'm perfectly safe, and even if I wasn't somehow Artemis is my friend and so I'd never hurt you. She'd be upset if I did that."

The boy continues to stare at you, his thoughts clearly racing. "So… wait, how does that-" His eyes widened. "Oh, right, drag-"

"Manakete."

"-sorry, manakete could- can- use magic! Archmage Stormspeaker said that humans get a lot of their ideas for magic from dra…man… you. But wait that just brings up more questions if there are more of you all around why is everyone saying you're all gone did the Archmages realize that if they didn't tell the Emperors that there were still people like you around then they could learn more but in that case why would-"

Reaching out, you put your hands on Apollo's shoulders. "Breath," you say. "Please. I'll tell you what's going on; Artemis would want me to do that, but don't go fainting on me!"

Apollo blushes. "Oh… sorry," he says. "I just get really excited when I learn new things and then I start overthinking and I just start talking and can't shut up, sorry." He looks you over again. "Well, that does explain what Fillia and Calta saw… do they know?"

You shake your head. "No, no I didn't tell them," you say. "And I'd really appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone either, at least until I can get accredited."

"Oh cool! You're gonna be a full mage?" Apollo says. "Does the Archmage know? Who else knows?"

You can't help but smile; apparently Artemis had been right that you and Apollo were of a mind when it came to curiosity. "Here, only Archmage Stormspeaker, Mistress Highwind, and Master Blitzbolt."

Apollo winces. "Oof, I'm sorry," he says. "Blitzbolt's a jerk to anyone who isn't Imperial nobility. I hope he wasn't too nasty…"

"He wasn't nice," you say. "But Lacroix and Archmage Stormspeaker said they'll make sure nothing bad happens. Away from here, Artemis knows of course, as well as your parents, Sypha, Countess Mantrae… well, at this point, probably most of the Southern Kingdom nobility knows… as well as a large part of the population…"

Apollo blinks. "Oh yeah, you said you and sis were friends," he says. "So no offense, but how'd that happen? Arti's great, but she can get a bit prickly sometimes around new people."

Wait a minute… "Didn't Artemis send you a letter about what happened?" you ask warily.

The boy shrugs. "Probably, but getting letters from Agrithe to here can take ages!" he groans. "And sometimes they never make it at all. Otherwise, you can have the Whitewings do it, but they're really expensive so unless it's super important nobody bothers."

Personally, you think telling Apollo about what happened counts as super important, but you suppose Artemis knows what she's doing. "Well, a lot of things happened…" you say, digging in your pocket. "But on the topic of letters, I actually promised Dione that I'd give this to you. She might go into more detail…"

"Okay…" Apollo says nervously as he accepts the letter, but doesn't immediately open it. "Is it… bad?"

You consider. "It's… not good," you say. "A lot of bad things happened, but Artemis is okay, your parents are okay, and we're all doing everything we can to fix things."

He studies you for a moment before slowly nodding. "Okay…" he says, slowly opening the letter and starting to read. His eyes flash through surprise, pain, anger, fear, confusion, and a bunch of other emotions you can't name off the top of your head. The parchment crumples in his hand as tears start to gather at the corner of his eyes. "Is… is this true…" he whispers.

As much as you don't want to, you have to nod. "I'm so sorry…" you say as he wilts. "I don't know exactly what it says, but I know your mother loves you, so she wouldn't lie to you…"

Apollo crumples in on himself, shaking. "Selena… Master Shadebringer…" he whispers.

Carefully, you scoot forwards. "Do you want a hug?" you ask softly. "I know how you feel, and hugs helped me a lot…" He nods, still shivering, and you gently wrap your arms around his shoulders. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…" you say. A part of you wants to tell him everything'll be okay, but from experience you know he won't believe it yet. Best to just be there for him, as Artemis was there for you.

Apollo never truly cries, but he does sniffle and shake even as you embrace him. The two of you simply sit together for several minutes, trying to shake off the shock and pain. Thankfully, nobody intrudes, though you do see a few other students throwing the pair of you various looks.

However, he finally takes a deep, shuddering breath and tries to smile at you as you pull back. "I'm sorry," he says, rubbing his eyes. "You didn't come here to…"

"It's alright," you say. "Artemis is my friend, and I like you so I'm sure we can be friends too, and friends help each other when they're hurt." You pat his shoulder. "I'm sorry. I would have told you right away if I had known you hadn't been told yet."

He chuckled sadly. "That probably would have made it worse," he says. "At least this way I got to know you a little bit before I found out. I probably wouldn't have taken it too well if I hadn't had that. Not that I took it well to begin with…" He sighs. "Well, Mom did say that I could trust you, and you do seem nice, so it's nice to meet you I guess." He frowns. "But… if you're here and Selena's… gone… who's looking after Artemis?"

"She can look after herself," you say firmly. "And she's got Phoebe with her too. She'll be fine."

"But Mom says she's going to the Northern Kingdoms, and that the Empire's trying to pull something!" he says. "I mean, Phoebe's nice and all, but Selena was a paladin! If she couldn't… if she…"

You give his shoulder a squeeze. "I'm sure she'll be fine," you say. "She knows what's going on, so the Regent won't be able to do anything sneaky like he tried to do to Artemis. Besides, the North's Artemis is with her, so the two of them together should be able to solve everything. And if they can't; I'll be done here pretty soon and I'll go save them."

Apollo blinks. "The North's… what?" he says.

"Archduke Letoro said that someone named Alina came to ask for help, and she went with Artemis. She's apparently the daughter of the biggest Northern Kingdom, so I've started thinking of her as their Artemis."

Your new friend's mouth moves silently for a few seconds before his eyes light up. "Wait, you mean Alina Sundaughter? Arti's with her?"

"Yeah, that was her name!" you say. "Do you know her?"

"Not personally, but I know of her!" Apollo says excitedly. "She's the youngest mage to ever get accredited! She was sixteen, but not even Blitzbolt was able to deny that she was good enough!" He takes a breath. "Okay, well, if Arti's with her, then I guess she'll be okay."

Well, that's good to know. Who knows, maybe when you're able to link back up with Artemis she'll be able to introduce the two of you. "So that's why everything'll be fine," you say. "I'm here to make sure nothing bad happens to you or the other Kingdom children here at the Hall, Artemis and Alina are up north making sure nothing bad happens there. Everyone'll be fine."

The pair of you sit in silence for a minute before Apollo looks down at the letter. "So did you get to warn Archmage Stormspeaker about what's going on?" You nod. "Okay, good, good, that's good, hopefully he'll take it seriously enough to not have anyone leave… though that means that field trip'll probably get canceled…" he wilts. "Flamebreath, I was really looking forward to that."

"Sorry," you say. "Where were you going?"

"An old dra- wait, sorry, mani…"

You sigh. "Manakete," you enunciate slowly.

"Right, right, manakete, manakete, I can remember that…" Apollo mutters to himself. "It's an old manakete ruin a few miles from here, called Smokepillar. Master Darkstalker always takes his mid-level Ancient Magic classes there to let us look around and see how things were before the Empire."

Darkstalker… you remember that name. "He's a Revisionist, right?" you ask.

"Uh-huh," Apollo says. "He's great, really knows his stuff. Do you want to meet him?"

A part of you is tempted; after all meeting with the Revisionists is a big step on the path to getting more accepted in the world. However, you can't silence the niggling fear that something's going to go wrong. After all, while Archmage Stormspeaker seems to be a really powerful and smart man, if he decides that your warning doesn't have enough evidence, he might leave to go talk to the Regent. Then, by the sound of it, Blitzbolt would be in charge, and that sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

You survived waking amidst the bandits because you knew your home inside-out and backwards. If needed… you should probably figure out the lay of the land here, just in case. It'll also mean you don't have to keep bothering people to help you find things.

"Maybe later," you say. "But first, if you don't mind, I'd like to know more about the Hall itself." You look around, at the seemingly countless buildings stretching down the hill. "It's just… how do you find anything? There's so many…"

Apollo grins. "It's a bit overwhelming when you first arrive, that's true," he says. "But there's actually a cool trick that really helps." He points towards Flamewheel Hall. "So, all the Halls are named after famous mages, right? Now, if you look up there-" he points back towards the wall around the original building. "You see how the red flag's on the right side of the wall facing us?"

"Yes?" you say.

"Well, that's the trick," Apollo says. "They grouped the buildings by the element of the mage they're named after, so if you're ever looking for a Fire mage's building, you always go to this wall, where the red flag's on the right. It's the same with the others: yellow flag on the right for lighting buildings, green on the right for wind, and so on."

You slowly nod. "Okay, that is a clever trick," you say. "But how do you tell where a building is within that?"

Apollo grimaces, "It tends to get a little harder after that, but they usually put the learning halls near the top of the hill, so that the teachers don't have to walk as far from the main building," he says. "You can usually tell those names by them being really well-known mages from history, usually people even common folk've heard of." That's a bit less useful for you, but it's still something, so you nod along. "What else… oh, if you're trying to figure out the walls, lightning the one with the gate in it, since Archmage Thundercrier was a lightning mage. Fire and wind flank that, fire on the left, wind on the right when you're facing the gate. Then fire and light go together; I remember that because they're both warm, while wind and dark go together 'cause they're cold."

Wow, Apollo had put a lot of thought into this. Or at least, he'd figured out the thought that the designers had put into it. "Great, thanks," you say, mentally drawing them map in your mind. "Okay, so big, well-known names at the top in the learning buildings at the top," you continue after a moment. "And smaller names for the student dorms further down." Apollo nods. "You mentioned a library, where's that?"

Apollo grins. "There's actually five libraries," he says. "Six if you include the one that only the masters are allowed to use in the main hall. They probably could have fit everything into one, but I get the feeling Archmage Thundercrier really wanted everything to be organized, so she made five library buildings, each near the top of the hill on their respective sides." He points, and as you squint you realize that one of the buildings near the top is noticeably bigger than the others, enough to block out a fair part of the wall further up. "That's Trueflame Hall, but pretty much everyone just calls it the Fire Library. Same with the others. They sort the books by topic, so if you're looking for something to do with fire magic, you go to the Fire Library."

You can't help but be impressed; this is a genuinely well-thought-out system. "So are there any other important places I should know about?" you ask.

Apollo hums slightly as he thinks. "Well, the infirmary's on the light side of the hill, of course, up near the study halls," he says. "Drives the wind mages mad, having to walk all the way over if something goes wrong, but honestly they can move the fastest so that sounds like a them problem. What else… well, be sure to avoid the non-marble buildings, especially if they have a flag up. The-"

"-wyverns roost there, I know," you say. "Master Skyfire brought me here on his wyvern. Firescale's a sweetheart; you just have to know how to be careful not to spook them and recognize when they don't want you around."

The boy blinks. "Wow…" he says. "I'd never seen a wyvern before I got here; and when I did… well, Arti didn't take it too well when I told her I wanted a wyvern, but who wouldn't want a wyvern?"

You smile. "I know, right?" you say. "Angela and the other Whitewings were getting so huffy about Firescale's existence, but she's really nice! Maybe we can get you an egg at some point; Lacroix told me a bit about how he raised her."

The two of you spend the next minute or so just talking about wyverns and how much fun it'd be to raise one, and a part of you is glad to just get a chance to cool down after having upset Apollo earlier. Finally, however, Apollo looks at the letter again and grimaces. "Dad asked me to try and pass on the warning to as many non-Imperial students as possible," he says. "Tell them to be careful, just in case." He sighs. "Spirits, that's gonna take me all week…"

You cock your head. "Why don't you get some of them to help?" you ask. When Apollo gives you a confused look, you elaborate. "I'm sure some of them are friends with each other, Fillia said that she and the other Whitewings hang out a lot, or at least she invited me to join them when she thought I was one, so get her to tell them, then find someone else to tell the Northern Kingdom people, and so on."

Apollo nods slowly, "Yeah, that could work…" he says. "I should probably get on that…" He doesn't look particularly happy as he says that.

"Can I come along?" you ask. "It'll give me a chance to get used to this place with a guide, and if anyone has questions you can point them my way." You'll also be able to help him feel better, but you don't say that out loud.

Artemis's brother perks up. "Yeah, that sounds great!" he says. "Come on, let's go. Fillia and Calta are probably still tearing up the Fire Library if they haven't gotten kicked out yet."

As the two of you start climbing towards the building, you look at Apollo. "If you wouldn't tell them about me, I'd be really grateful," you remind him. "Everyone at home seems to have calmed down, but it… it was a bit touch and go for a while, so I'd prefer to get a chance to work through who knows myself."

"Sure, sure," he says immediately, waving the letter. "Yeah; I'm gonna have enough trouble convincing them to listen to me about this mess, let alone that a member of an ancient species thought extinct saved my sister from certain doom." He gives you a weird look. "How old are you, anyways? You must be over a thousand years old, how do you still look so c… young?"

You shrug. "I was asleep for most of it," you say. "Father put me in a spell that kept me in stasis for a thousand years. I'm really only ninety-three."

…Are you a bad person that you still get a kick out of the shocked looks on people's faces when you say that?

---

The rest of the day is mostly you following Apollo around as he passes on Archduke Letoro's warning to as many of the other endangered students as possible. It's slow work, but you can't help but be glad that you're doing it. You want to trust the Archmage, but it's best to have a backup plan, to have the others know that there could be trouble, just in case.

Plus, it gives you a great excuse to look around the Hall and map it out.

Just as Apollo had said, it was a very organized place, once you figured out the system. You quickly notice the sign-posts along the spiraling roads, pointing you towards nearby Halls. So long as you can get a general idea of where a particular building is, you're pretty sure you'll be able to find it relatively quickly.

You also see a few more of the interesting places Apollo mentioned. The libraries are fascinating, easily the biggest buildings outside of the main hall. Each is almost the size of the general use library back home, and all together they're probably about as big as the Deep Library. You're grudgingly forced to admit that, factoring in the fact that books are more efficient than scrolls, the Marble Hall probably has a bit more total knowledge than Kepesk-Okar, even at its height.

Still nothing compared to what you'd heard about the Storm Library, of course, but impressive.

"They also keep tomes here," Apollo says as you leave Fillia and Calta. Neither of them are glaring suspiciously at you anymore, seemingly too caught up in indignation at the 'stupid evil Regent and his stupid plots.' "If there is ever trouble, not that there has been for a long time, older students'll come up here to arm up to help the teachers protect the school." You nod slowly: that's good to know if there's ever trouble. Not that you'd use the tomes yourself, but knowing where help might be is good.

You also go into some of the Learning Halls. Like the dorms, they mostly seem to have a similar layout to each other: a front hall with a bunch of chairs and tables for students to sit and talk. However, most of the space is dominated by several large rooms with tiers of seating, where a teacher can talk to a bunch of students at the same time. You get the feeling that it's a bit inefficient to have one person trying to teach dozens of people at the same time, how would they be able to answer all the questions their countless students had? Mother and Father had barely been able to keep up with just your questions, what if there had been a dozen yous? That just never would have worked.

On a more immediately practical note, something you notice is the different sizes of windows. While the libraries and learning hall have nice, big windows that you could easily fit through, the dorm halls have much smaller windows. You might be able to squeeze through some of them, but it'd be a tight fit. You grimace a little; that would make escaping one or getting to someone who was trapped in one a lot harder. Hopefully it won't come to that.

Of course, there are other points of interest. As you follow Apollo around, occasionally chipping in to answer the questions of some of the more suspicious or worried Kingdom students he's warning, you realize just how much the Hall is a fully-fledged community. Apollo points out a small road leading towards a farming area. You don't have a need to go there now, but as you look, you see vast fields of the tall grass Artemis had called wheat. If all else fails… that wouldn't be a bad hiding spot…

On the opposite side of the hill, Apollo points out the main stables on the road that leads deeper into the Empire. You have no particular desire to see it closer, despite Artemis's best efforts, but it's good to know where it is. If only so that you know where unwelcome visitors from the Regent are likely to show up.

Probably the most interesting thing you find, aside from the libraries, is the only occupied wyvern den.

You can immediately tell it's a male, even older than Firescale based on his truly magnificent set of horns. He studies you mildly as he chews and cracks the bones of what had once been a full cow, but makes no move to rise. "His name's Inferno, and lives here pretty much full-time," Apollo says, leaning against the fence placed a safe distance from the den. "His rider's Master Searedstone, a Phoenix Lord that retired from the Wyrmguard about a decade ago. He sometimes gives lectures to the older students on combat tactics, but from what I've heard he's mostly just writing his memoirs at this point." The boy smiles. "I like him; he's pretty much the definition of 'chill old dude with cool war stories.' I think you'd like him."

Searedstone isn't a name on your list of revisionists, but you don't have the heart to tell Apollo that, so you make an agreeable noise and waved to Inferno. The wyvern does an admirable impression of raising an eyeridge, but goes back to his after-meal chewing, seemingly satisfied with your existence.

That had been fun.

Other than that, though, there wasn't much else that was super interesting by itself. There are some mildly curious buildings scattered among the dorm halls are other types of buildings that help the students live their lives. Apollo even shows you supposedly the best store on campus, and you're just wondering if the owner's going to be like Anna when you walk in and is that Anna?!

"What?!" you gasp, stumbling to a halt. "You- wait- but- how-"

The redhead grins. "Hi, sweetheart," she says, tapping her chin just like she had before. "Don't recognize you, which means you probably ran across my sister."

…wat?

"Hi, Anna," Apollo says, going over to the counter. "This is Ryza, she just got here." He looks at you, grinning at the absolutely bemused look that's surely on your face, but you can't even be embarrassed because she's absolutely identical?! "This Anna works here pretty much full time," he says. "But she does have a twin who's also a merchant who travels around the continent."

"…but…but…how are you identical?! How does that even work!?"

Apollo looks confused, glancing at Anna. The redhead just keeps grinning cheekily. "Um… I don't know," he says. "But sometimes, when a baby's born, there are two babies that come out, and sometimes they look exactly the same. Nobody quite knows how it happens, but it's not impossible."

Why are human births so weird?! First you learn that mothers can die giving birth, and now there can be more than one child at the same time?! What next?! Maybe there's some connection there… maybe it's only really strong mothers who can survive two… but no, that doesn't make sense, since Artemis's birth mother… you're so confused…

"I think we broke her," Anna says cheerfully. "So, while your friend pieces her brain back together, what can I get you?"

Apollo nudges you slightly, but you're still busy trying to puzzle out this new piece of strangeness, so he shrugs. "Do you have any of those honey-covered apples, Anna?"

The redhead's grin widens. "Of course I do, what kind of merchant do you take me for?" she asks, pulling a golden-looking apple on a stick out of a box behind her. "Want one?"

"I'll take two," Apollo says, pulling a few coins out of his bag and putting them on the counter in front of Anna. She snickers, but pulls out another apple and gives them both to him. He offers one to you as the pair of you leave. "Here, Ryza," he says, guiding you out of the store. "You look like you could use this."

Shaking yourself, you accept the treat. "Thank you," you say. "So, are there any other interesting things around?"

Apollo hums. "Well," he says, pointing down the hill towards a long, low building you'd noticed looked less ornate than the others. "Over there's a big storage area where they keep food, supplies, and other stuff," he says. "Students aren't really allowed in there, but it's not really interesting so nobody really wants to."

Looking past the building, you frown. "What're those towers?" you ask, pointing to the line of small, round towers near the bottom of the hill. "They don't have any walls…"

Apollo nods. "Well, by the time the Hall got that far down the hill, we'd pretty much cleared the monsters back to the forest," he says. "So the Archmage of the time figured that there wasn't a need for a big wall around everything. Still, he wanted to make sure that there was some protection, just in case. Those towers not only act as places where a mage can cast without being attacked as easily, but I think I heard they have some sort of runes on them that make it easier to cast while in them." He shrugs. "That could be just a rumor, though. As I said, nobody's used them for centuries."

You nod, nibbling on the apple. That sounds like it might be interesting to check out at some point. There are a lot of cool things here, aren't there? "So is that everyone?" you ask.

Apollo shakes his head. "No, but we made a good start," he says. "The Whitewings should be set now, and I know a few people in Flamewheel who can help me spread the news further." He glances up at the sky, and as you follow his gaze you blink as you realize that the sun is starting to go down. You'd been at this for longer than you'd thought. "So, you're going to be taking your test soon," Apollo continues. "Do you know when that's going to be?"

You shake your head. "No, I'm afraid not," you say. "Archmage Stormspeaker said it might be either tomorrow or the day after." You frown. "I should probably study tomorrow," you murmur to yourself. "I needed some help on some of the human terminology when I was taking it with Jenna, and if Blitzbolt's going to try and make a nuisance of himself he might try to make it harder…"

Your new friend shakes his head. "I mean, it's possible, but legally the Archmage is in charge of all accreditation tests. He usually doesn't actually interfere, but with… well, with you being the way you are, he'd want to make sure you're treated fairly, so he wouldn't let Blitzbolt make it too hard." He takes a bite of his apple, chewing thoughtfully. "Probably not bad idea, though. If nothing else, studying makes me feel better about tests; I get worried if I don't study, even if I know I know everything I still worry that I might have missed something so I always want to study." He freezes for a moment before flushing. "Sorry, I know I talk too much…"

"It's alright," you say. "Do you want to study with me?"

Apollo's eyes light up. "I'd love to!" he says. "I mean, I do have class in the morning tomorrow, but I have some independent time in the afternoon, so I'd be able to help then." He pauses. "Though… if you're ready to get accredited, I'm not sure how much help I'll be…"

You shake your head. "Of course you'll be helpful," you say. "I've always gotten more out of things when I'm able to talk to someone else, and you know more about the history and terms than I do." Frowning thoughtfully, you consider. "So, could you meet me at the Yellow library when you're ready?" Hopefully you'll have all of tomorrow; you want to be as ready as you can be for this.

"Sure thing," Apollo says. "Do you have a place to stay? I can show you the way if you need?"

"It's up in the main building, so I'll be fine, but thank you," you say. A flicker of something passes across Apollo's face, but he nods.

"I guess that makes sense," he says. He glances up at the sky again. "Well, you're probably tired from the trip over here."

You consider that for a moment, and you're slightly surprised to realize that he's right. You'd thought that, since Firescale had been flying, you wouldn't be tired, but you do feel a little out of it. Some of that was due to walking up and down the hill over and over again while still lugging your travel bag, but you had been a bit tired before that.

"That does sound like a good idea," you say. "So I'll see you tomorrow?"

Apollo nods. "Yeah, yeah," he says. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Ryza." He finishes off his apple as he starts to turn and walk back towards Flamewheel, but after a few steps he pauses. "I… I don't think I ever said thank you," he says, turning back to you. "For everything you did for Arti and Mother and Father and everyone. So… thanks. Thanks for helping them."

You smile. "You're welcome," you say. "And really, I was happy to. Artemis found me and woke me up, and I've been able to see so much that I never would have gotten to before." True, not all of the things you'd seen had been good, but at least now you could do something about it.

Apollo's lips twitch up. "That's great to hear," he says. "I'm just… I'm glad that with… with everything that's happened, Arti found someone who could help her." His smile fades. "I just wish it didn't have to happen."

You ponder for a moment: if Artemis hadn't been betrayed, would she have found you? Would you have still chosen her to wake you up, or would the spirit have even given you that option? After a few seconds, you shake the thoughts from your head. You can't change the past, so there's no use worrying about it. "So do I," you say. "At least the parts where Artemis got hurt. But we'll make things right again."

After a moment, Apollo smiles again. "That sounds great," he says. "Well, see you at the library tomorrow." With that, he finally set off.

It takes you a little while to hike back up the hill and around to the gate on the Yellow wall, but now that you've been around the Hall you're not worried about finding things. Hopefully you'll never need to use that knowledge the way you used your knowledge of home, but better to have and not need than need and not have.

As you enter the gate, the atmosphere of the main hall is much different than before. All the older mages you see are standing in small groups, quietly talking to each other. When they spot you, they invariably pause and study you thoughtfully. You bite back a sigh: looks like your time of anonymity is over. Thankfully, nobody seems interested in questioning you right now, so that's a bonus.

Making your way up the stairs, you take a moment to dig the key Sunny had given you out of your pocket. It takes a few minutes of wandering to find the proper corridor, but eventually the you spot the three lightning bolts. Turning down the hall, nodding to a mage who simply watches you curiously, you make your way to the fifth door.

Your steps slow as you realize there's a piece of parchment pinned to it. Swallowing, you ease the message off the door and look it over.

Ryza,

Your accreditation test will be held on the day after tomorrow, when the sun has reached its height. Present yourself at the Yellow Tower at that time: the written portion will take place within, while the practical test will be at its foot.

Archmage Damien Stormspeaker

Taking a deep breath, you open the door and enter, glancing around. It seems to be a nice room, very similar to the guest rooms at Castle Legerius and similarly devoid of any signs of habitation. Locking the door behind you, you take a moment to look around to see if there's anything interesting about. Finding nothing, you finally set your bag down with a sigh and sit on the bed.

You'll have all of tomorrow to prepare. Everyone's said you can do it: Artemis, Jenna, Lacroix. You'll have tomorrow to study, and then you'll prove them right! You'll prove that a manakete can be a good mage, that humans don't have to fear you and your people.

AN: Decided to break chapters here. Next is study time, then the test.