Pink petals fluttered overhead as his eyes opened for the first time in his new body.

The former Incantatori lay among the blanket of flowers in that place, Avalon. Cievo had deposited him in the realm of his own creation; though, he returned to it no longer a creator.

His body felt heavier; he was roughly about four times larger give or take. Math was never a subject he claimed to care for.

He knew he wasn't a Natural, his face felt distinctly flat, and he lacked fur. He was not human though, as he felt the stub of what remained of his tail at his rear, and his distinctly cat shaped ears atop his head.

Time was already fake, and in a realm of eternal pink twilight, he lost more of it.

"Chath Chellwair," he spoke a new name for himself. Chell died to Sahji. He was reborn as a different being, and inherited the memories of a cat long departed.

His voice sounded foreign. Not the meow of a male cat, but that of deeper human speech. He flexed the digits of his new hands. These would be a great boon--he wouldn't need to use his mouth or magic to move things around.

Cievo even imparted clothes upon the newly created creature, though Chath Chellwair didn't waste the energy summoning a mirror. He was well covered with comfortable robes of some kind, blue in color. Outside of what his senses informed him against his will he cared not, his curiosity was dead.

"8000 years huh?"

That was the promised time. When they would hatch. His curselings. Of all the things he expected to create in his life, he never expected to create something capable of ending all life.

He closed his eyes. Avalon was warm. He was warm. So he went back to sleep, retreating into the world of memories to live blissfully with Harper once again.

Harper died again.

At least, that's how Chath Chellwair saw it.

Hundreds of years passed, and every time the Ethereal slept, his memories became foggier and foggier, as if being worn away from repeated use. Until one day, he could no longer dream of his beloved.

Harper died again.

Sleeping was too painful, so he wrote.

He documented every spell of the Incantatori. Every single one that lived on his his mental landscape. Why was his memory so sharp for such mundane tasks, yet faltered when he needed it most?

Now the cat Ethereal possessed a library of books, yet no library.

So then he built.

Brick by brick he constructed a tower. It was a gorgeous piece of architecture, fitting for the carrier of the Incantatori's legacy. It was taller than any construction the Naturals could ever hope to accomplish, surrounded in a sea of pink trees.

He was thankful for his never-ending grove of apples. They restored his magics with no adverse effects, so when he threw himself into a project he could go wild with it.

For thousands of years he worked, creating, building, theorizing.

All alone.

Forever alone.

He occasionally peeked at the outside world thanks to Incantatori magic. Yet, he only found Naturals. Terrible creatures, brutes really. They bickered and fought. They killed and pillaged. They ate and fornicated.

Like animals.

They were beneath animals, and beneath him. It was bad enough they sullied Harper's memory by using the magic he wove.

So he returned to more civilized pursuits, such as writing.

Two books in his library sat untouched though.

"Magia Suprema" "Magia Iocus"

The former was a blank ledger. It's rules laid out on page one.

-The Elemental whose name is written in this tome shall be granted Magia Suprema

-This tome will not take effect unless the writer has the Elemental's face in their mind when recording it

-An Elemental can only be recorded once, any subsequent loggings will be ignored

-The details of the Magia Suprema must be written in the same stroke as the Elemental and the quill will not be allowed to leave its page until one is written

-The Magia Suprema written must align with the the body of the Elemental. Incompatible Magia Suprema will refuse to be recorded

It was exactly how he designed it. However, it went unused; after all, he had no reason to write any names in the book. Naturals killed his best friend, his one true love. He wasn't about to hand them the keys to ultimate magic.

The latter tome, the Magia Iocus, carried a lock. There was no key hole, only numbers bound the volume shut. 3290 was the current reading. Chath Chellwair figured out this was a year counter.

It was impressive to the cat Ethereal that so much time had passed. Even so, he still carried pain in his heart.

Harper not being here with him hurt unlike any pain he had ever experienced. Dying hurt less.

He put himself further into his work. Mainly mastering every stupid little spell the Incantatori crafted. From bricklaying and road construction to the mundane door opening spell. He not only had them in paper, but in his repertoire. He doubted he'd ever use any of the 103,000 spells he had in his mind. Most of them were useless novelties such as "Bellezza Natura" which was a spell more akin to a funny party trick and anything with practical application.

Out of the thousands of spells he now possessed, there was none that did what he truly wanted--memory retrieval.

Another set back.

Another failure.

Another death for Harper--this time, it was the hope Chath Chellwair carried every day. The only thing that kept him going.

CLICK

And then it happened--Magia Iocus opened.

Chath Chellwair was the master of the Scherzando; the corruption that rotted Riterra. He could have written "and then the Scherzando took over the world."

Too simple, too brutish.

No, the blade must be twisted. Twisted like that cursed sage had twisted when Chell lost his life.

So he started slow, only corrupting one or two animals at a time. The mundane beasts even became capable of magic. Quite fortuitous indeed. One sore spot was his curse only became active at night, when the rhythm of the sun no longer drowned out the magics that clung to the planet's leylines. It was a nuisance, yet night could never be truly avoided.

Chath Chellwair personally piloted the first blood drawn by the Scherzando. He found the long distant descendants of the wolf that killed Harper.

8000 years removed, they had proliferated to a massive extent.

Too bad for them, their ancestor played the fool.

An entire species of wolf--the Dire clan--was entirely wiped off the face of Riterra.

The pain didn't fade though. In his hunt, he witnessed many more atrocities committed by the Naturals.

...they hunted those who looked like him. Humans bearing animal features. It was like they were still hunting the Incantatori to this day.

Personally killing every Dire Wolf to extinction took a long time. A hundred years in fact.

His rage refused to subside.

Humans and Naturals alike--they were to be hunted. As timeless as he had become, Chath Chellwair sought more efficient means. He wrote up some rudimentary commands in the Magia Iocus, and set them off.

They were still forced to operate at night, but could spawn in a given location automatically. There was no way to turn them off. They appeared at night as soon as the sun's influence began to wane. The intensity was adjustable.

Again, he could have easily set their spawn locations to just be the middle of town.

But that wasn't good enough.

They needed to fear the dark, fear the unknown.

He surrounded them with ravenous beasts that ruthlessly tore them limb from limb, regardless of age, gender, or species.

The Scherzando feasted and culled the population of Riterra.

Some fought, more made their living as protectors of the weak. A righteous pursuit. Chath Chellwair ensured these virtuous hunters received an honorable death if they fell.

He watched for years as Naturals and humans lived and died.

The only time the pain in his heart ceded was when he saw them--the strange hybrid creatures. They were truly noble and beautiful.

It was a shame he was already in the process of burning the planet to ash. Acceptable losses. He moved on, slowly twisting the knife into Riterra itself, slowly killing those who clung to her surface, slowly freeing the planet of sapient life.

That was… until he heard it.

"LANCIAFIAMME PIANISSIMO!"

Spells were called all the time. Naturals always besmirched the memory of his beloved.

But… that wasn't a Natural's cry.

That was a human.

Humans can't use magic. Yet, that call carried magical weight. It was the spell heard around the world.

With a wave of his hand, Chath Chellwair summoned his far-sight and observed what human called magic to their aid.

A young woman with bright red hair held some kind of club. A Scherzando attacked her and a hybrid, a strange combination.

"Lanciafiamme, Pianissimo," she spoke with intense focus. Chath Chellwair leaned in, ready to witness a human mage, but he could never have imagined what happened next.

The hybrid cast the spell the human called!

The Ethereal's eyes went wide. If he looked closely he could see a connection between the girl and the hybrid. It was… beautiful.

I just want to connect everyone in the world with magic.

He would have cried if his tear ducts hadn't run dry eons ago. He watched with great interest as the two moved about the mountain. They cared for one another as partners. He couldn't tear himself away from the spectacle.

And in the end, they were heading to a specific location. It was one relatively close to him. About fortyish days if he started running now.

But then he started hearing them.

"Idrante, Pianissimo!" "Corrente Elettrica, Pianissimo" "Colpito da una Roccia, Pianissimo!" "Colpo di Vite, Pianissimo!" "Luce del Sole, Piano!" "Luce Lunare, Piano."

They came like a wave. Seven pure bonds illuminated the six continents of Riterra, and the seventh from Luna. They were loud, and they spoke their union, they spoke their desire, they spoke their solemn oath.

We're here! We're alive! We're together!

These… bonded. They fought together, hand in hand as partners.

Chath Chellwair looked upon Avalon, the realm of healing he crafted over eight millennia ago. He had turned his precious work of art into a battle station for war. He could sully it no longer. Sure, he could hide in this other world, and the seven paired would never find him.

What kind of victory would that be?

They all aimed towards one place.

Mount Clearoi

With a wave of his hand, a rift in Avalon opened. "Don't disappoint me, heroes."

Chath Chellwair pulled his hood down as he observed the fourteen gathered specifically to stop him. They were like candles in the wind compared to what the Incantatori of old could accomplish.

Yet--

He wanted to test them.

These Maestros and their Resonators.

He wanted to see what these people were capable of. He wanted to see what their bonds could accomplish against impossible odds. He wanted to find something to believe in again.

Behind him was Mount Clearoi. He hovered in the air, his robes billowed in the wind. The gems that adorned his clothes glittered in light of the sun.

The fourteen tensed upon catching sight of the Ethereal floating in the air. Watching them. Judging them.

A blade was pointed in his direction.

"Are you the asshole behind this whole mess?!" Lillith demanded.

Clarisse leveled her gada as her own partner stepped forward. "Be careful Nik," she advised.

"You gonna monologue at us? Or should we just get this started?" asked Felix. Bridget gulped, flipping open her book and readying for what was to come.

The remaining heroes simply glared.

That was except her. Among the ranks of the gathered group was a vixen. A fox in ceremonial robes he did not recognize. She was calm and composed. Her relaxed posture extended to her partner who had some sort of strange device.

Chath Chellwair realized it then--these were not Riterran natives. These were emissaries from Luna. The bonds of the other twelve were strong, yes; but these two were in a different scale of power entirely. The way the fox's eyes glowed told him she utilized magic foreign to the Incantatori. Not something they couldn't make, but an ability had been lost to the waves.

No matter what, he wouldn't back down. Not until they could best him. He couldn't die. They didn't know that. They didn't need to know that. He allowed them that mercy.

"Oscurità Oltre Crepuscolo - Lancia di Tenebra," he chanted. Black lightning wrapped around his fist and he took hold of it like a weapon.

Those on the ground braced themselves, ready to move at a moment's notice. However, the spell wasn't aimed at them. He threw it up into the sky like a javelin. The darkness struck the sky itself, and plunging the plains into the dead of night in an instant.

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Chath Chellwair turned to the heroes in his midst. "I hope you brought something stronger than just magic, heroes."

Scherzando began to creep out of the very ground itself, growing like the grass that dwelt underfoot.

The shadows were dispatched with the combined efforts of the gathered heroes. They had grown more efficient in the short time he hadn't watched them. Their spells landed easier, the Maestros maintained their vigor. The Resonators ensured their safety.

With a snap of a finger, chaos struck the countryside as a great beast broke free from the ground, scattering the heroes. Chath Chellwair was nothing but a sucker for a suitably dramatic story, he crafted the scenario in such a way where each of the Maestros was with their Resonator. More Scherzando crawled from the depths of Riterra itself. The shadow dragon loomed over the heroes.

Nikolas' flames scorched while Clarisse desperately shouted commands. Rhodon fired arrows of ice while Savrah joined him with her cross bow. Sarafyna and Lillith kept their distance from the shadows, with lightning punishing any who got too close. Felix took to the skies with Bridget in his arms, calling spells of him as they soared through the air. Ussun allowed Yolotli to lead the way, though kept himself at maximum alertness. Octavia shot searing light at the advancing beasts, and Viola held her flute at the ready.

Then there were the foreign elements.

Aeris was faster and far more accurate than her contemporaries. Her and Sholto's gaze met Chath Chellwair.

The cat smirked. "Fine. Let's play."

He flew away, hearing Aeris bark orders to the rest of the heroes. Just as he expected.

Finally, he landed at the base of Mount Clearoi. In the distance, the shadow dragon stomped about, while flashes of retaliatory spell fire told of a legendary battle in the making.

He cared not.

Sholto and Aeris appeared before him, both glaring as they breathed hard from their marathon sprint.

"What's your game?!" Aeris demanded.

"Is this how you get your kicks?" Sholto wondered.

Chath Chellwair chuckled, and then he laughed from his gut. "Sure, let's call it that. I've had 8000 years to consider what to do, and ultimately this is where all of that led." He tried to play the part of the conniving villain, as surely he was the Sahji of these people's story.

The Ethereal brushed his hood back, revealing his face to the warriors who stood in his path. Neither showed surprise at the revelation of a fellow Resonator being their enemy. He cared not. "I am Chath Chellwair. I am the one who cursed Riterra. I am the only one capable of stopping that beast. If you can convince me, you may come out of this alive."

He shifted a leg back, lowering himself as he fell into a defensive stance.

Aeris acknowledged his willingness to fight by dropping into her own combative positioning.

Wind still tickled the world cast in darkness, the grass swaying with innocence.

It began in that moment. Aeris charged the cat. He flew backwards, maintaining the gap between the two fighters.

"Luce Lunare, Piano Staccato!" Sholto called.

Chath Chellwair was caught off guard by that incantation. "You figured out the re-cast modifiers?!" he gasped. A barrage of shadow balls flew in his direction. "Fine! Luce Lunare, Piano Staccato!" The cat returned the favor, the two spells meeting and exploding.

Aeris ran through the cover granted to her and took a swing at the cat, but she missed, despite her future sight being in effect.

"I don't know what kind of magic you're using, but I've been run through by fate itself, you can't stop me with that!" declared the Ethereal.

"Il Limite Dell'alba, Lento!" Sholto cast.

"Wait! That spell--!" The Ethereal didn't have time to consider the ramifications of what they just did as Sholto continued calling spells one after another.

"L'Ordine di Michele, Lento! L'Ordine di Gabriele, Crescendo! Legame Ritmo, Fortissimo!"

Chath Chellwair watched the Maestro drop to a knee, his hair rapidly turning gray in the process. He put his all, his very soul into his partner.

I just want to connect everyone in the world with magic. Harper's voice rang louder and clearer in his mind. It had been several millennia since he heard the soft tones of his beloved.

Even so, he couldn't stop now. The fox rushed him, her speed and power practically bursting from her body, but she moved with unshakable determination.

"Fuoco di Prometeo, Ultrissimo!"

In that moment, Chath Chellwair reached into the very universe itself and pulled out the knowledge of hand to hand combat, which crystalized as a ball of fire that hung behind his head. He met the fox in her arena of choice. No more flight. No more magic. Just Ethereal versus Resonator. Immortal versus Mortal. Light versus Dark; though for this one, the lines blurred as to who was who.

Ultimate knowledge burst to life behind the Ethereal as they began their fight. Aeris' jabs were quick and efficient. She didn't aim for his head, she aimed for fleshier more vulnerable parts of his body. He knew why: punching someone in the skull hurt. It was so obvious he wondered why he needed ultimate knowledge to come to that conclusion.

She didn't just swing with her fists, she threw elbows and knees, harder parts of her body that could deal more damage.

The fox wasn't infallible. She took hits to deliver hits. Chath Chellwar struck her several times with his fists. It was all in service of grabbing him. She pulled his head down into her knee, then without releasing him, smashed her head right into his, which made them both reel back from the blow.

Between them there was one main difference. Aeris still had all her spells stacked on her. Legame Ritmo cast with an attack modifier added a rhythm drain type effect to physical blows. These people knew magic well. The Maestro knew his Resonator's strengths and gave himself to her so she could fight her way.

Her defiant glare. His defiant glare.

The Ethereal wanted to know more about them. They were the most stubborn people he had ever seen in his life.

Now wasn't the time for that. He shook his head and charged back in. Aeris met him again. Her fists flew free and wild. Chath Chellwair ducked and weaved around her blows, but couldn't get any closer as with each second her eyes glowed, it was like she saw right through him. He was the open book before her.

103,000 spells and none did this. He could see the entire world, yet he could not bear witness to the next instant like she could. Her hair grayed as they continued exchanging blow after blow. It was a rapid exchange of rhythm as she allowed herself to run down nearly to empty and suddenly surged forth in an intense burst of aggression.

Despite common sense dictating she was on death's door, it was the opposite.

In this moment, the fox from Luna was the brightest object on the entire planet. She outshone the very sun itself. Her luminous spirit dazzled the Ethereal in a way that he couldn't explain.

It wasn't just the pair before him. All of them did--the twelve fighting to their last drop of strength in the distance. These Maestros and their Resonators…

Their bonds…

Something changed in him, slow at first…

Until it overwhelmed him and he began to chant.

Beautiful, aren't they? "From the moon to the sea."

Blow for blow, Aeris cared not what he chanted, they continued to fight. She sapped every bit of rhythm she could out of him as he fell into blocking her strikes.

My name's Harper! "From the mountains under star-blessed nights"

Sholto rose and stepped towards the two fighting Resonators. Despite every bone in his body screaming to stay down, he refused.

You're so funny Chelly! "His quill scribes your story in this hallowed haven."

Aeris threw a kick aimed at the cat Ethereal's side, but he caught the the thrown limb. She didn't give up and swept around her other leg. He flew threw the air as she tossed him away in an impressive feat of dexterity.

Chell, I love you. I… hope that's alright… "By his will your journey is freed from strife!"

Petals streamed behind him as he allowed himself to fly, and once he was between the Maestro and Resonator he finished his incantation.

We'll be together forever! "Frutetto del l'Avalon, Ultrissimo!"

Even as the world grew impossibly bright, Aeris remained focused on the task at hand, as did Sholto. The second demonstration of ultimate magic was far more impressive than a little ball of fire. An entire world unfolded itself before the Lunar Heroes. Pink petals gently blanketed the ground as an orchard of shining red fruits grew as far as the eye could see.

Standing in the distance was a massive tower of white which overlooked the entire world. Chath Chellwair landed and resumed the fight. He didn't tap into Avalon's healing warmth, nor did he allow his opponents. He turned from defender to aggressor.

Two immovable forces clashed and bounced off one another. Punch after punch, blow after blow, their brutal brawl continued without end. For every strike Aeris managed to get in, she had to compromise by accepting one from Chath Chellwair.

He didn't know why he was even fighting at this point. It had lost all meaning in his mind. The bright image of Harper shone in his soul once more. He couldn't back down. Not yet.

"Luce Lunare, Fortissimo!" Sholto suddenly called.

Chath Chellwair snapped his attention to the Maestro, who was biting into an apple while he held his strange glowing device with his other hand.

"HEY! WHO SAID--?!" He had to focus. "Luce Lunare, Fortissimo!"

BOOM!!

Two massive lunar energies met with explosive results. Avalon was shook to its core, as its caster was thrown from the site of ground zero.

Aeris and Sholto flew back, also ejected from the site of the spells meeting.

Chath Chellwair lay in his orchid, staring at the pink sky. The same pink sky he spent so long staring at. It was nice to be home. With a breath, he allowed Avalon to do its duty.

He closed his eyes as he was enveloped in healing warmth, petals drifting to land on him as if the realm itself was welcoming him home with a hug.

"Why did you heal us?" asked Aeris.

The cat Ethereal sat up, shaking off the flowers that had roosted on him. "I forgot how to talk to people I guess," he admitted.

"Hell of a conversation," Sholto grumbled.

"Are you going to do something about the Scherzando?" asked the fox.

"Can't," the cat replied.

"Can't or won't?" Aeris challenged.

"Literally can't. I was run through by the End of Desire and cursed this planet. My punishment is I am the shadow's manager," he replied.

Sholto and Aeris looked to one another. "But you control them," the Maestro pointed out.

"I manage them. I don't have control over them. Even without my intervention they will continue to spill out from the planet. All I can do is move them around and make small changes to their settings."

Once more the bonded pair exchanged their visible perplexion at the situation they found themselves in. "So what now?"

"Dunno." Chath Chellwair lay in the flowers, once more appreciating the sky. It seemed more vibrant than he was used to seeing.

"Should we head back?" Aeris asked her partner.

"How the terra do we do that?" Sholto wondered.

"Don't worry about it. They already won."

The two turned to the Ethereal. He held a book over him, his eyes darting back and forth as he scanned the pages. "I can't stop the Scherzando, but I can keep you all strong, for what's to come."

"What's that?"

"An emissary of the stars will visit this world in a short 2000 years, I pray to Cievo your descendants don't stray from the path of bonds."

Aeris and Sholto exchanged yet another confused stare, opening their mouths to ask more, but thankfully he continued.

"I am Chath Chellwair--I carry the will of the Incantatori, I wish to unite the world with magic."

"Uhm, I know you're trying to be poetic, but, uh, your name kind of sucks to say," Sholto mumbled.

"Huh?" The cat blinked, completely taken out of his mood. He looked to Aeris who nodded slowly with her Maestro.

The cat's face flushed red with embarrassment. "I don't have to take that from you! I came up with it myself!" he barked. "You come up with something better if you're so good at naming things!" demanded the Ethereal.

"How about Merlin?" Aeris suggested.

"Merlin?" The cat hummed. "Merlin," he tested it on his lips once more. "Merlin!"

"Yeah, Merlin is a whole lot easier to say than whatever throat nonsense you were trying to say before," Sholto agreed.

The newly christened Merlin hopped to his feet. "Well, shall we go?" he asked.

"Go?" Aeris tilted her head.

"Go where?" Sholto raised a brow.

"To see the world of course! I've been cooped up in this realm for 8000 years. You can be my tour guides!" The cat smiled.

"Woah woah wait! Why us?!" Sholto shouted.

"Yeah, we just got here too! We don't know anything about this planet!" Aeris added.

Merlin frowned. "What, you don't want to hang out with me?" he asked.

"You were trying to kill us until ten minutes ago!" the pair shouted at him.

"Yeah, and that was ten minutes ago, live in the now, come on!"

Sholto and Aeris both sighed, allowing their shoulders to catch slack. They knew somewhere Sahji was laughing himself into a stupor over these developments. It did beat trying to fight him again, they both supposed.

Merlin.

It's a name only Ethereals know. Considered to be one of the most powerful due to his ties to the Incantatori. Very few challenge his opinion when he gives it.

He's more of a loner than most other Ethereals, but when someone catches his eye, he can either be a plague or a blessing depending on who you ask.

"Now isn't that interesting? Perhaps…"

Frutteto del l'Avalon

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