Harrison strolled confidently through the halls of the council-chambers, holding in his hands the latest situation report on the museum incident, penned by Spider Janis Hall. Upon learning of the man's strange name, Harrison had him looked into by his servants, fearing a spy or worse. Fortunately for the Mind Mage, it was just due to some elvish strain in his family on his mother's side leading to that undesirable name.

The Monarchs had been called here only a few hours ago, but - perhaps because of the severe importance of what was brought to the table - they had arrived here in record time. This here was the centre of power for the entire continent, located in some repurposed ruin in the mountains, where Monarchs of all origins and allegiances would come to forge alliances and decide upon the fate of their world. Ever since the end of the Mage Wars, it had fallen upon them and not their Gods to undertake this most sacred of tasks. Maybe it wasn't its importance that had summoned them so promptly; perhaps it was trauma.

Swinging open another set of gargantuan doors, only possible with the unnatural strength granted by his mana body, he was only one hallway more away until he reached the main meeting chambers. There, he would face the entirety of the continent's power and alone. Not even his father could intervene to save him if another Monarch decided to do away with Harrison in a fit of anger. For the first time in his life, Harrison Clarke would be at the mercy of others; and he did not like that one bit.

He stopped outside the last set of doors, staring into them and admiring their designs, printed on hard iron, as he collected himself. Although his senses were blocked by the enchantments of the building, the Monarchs behind this door could no doubt see him clearly as he waited to gather himself. This too then was another mask, a farce to garner some sympathy from those heartless monsters before him. Before even teleporting into here, he had already done enough to build his courage.

All that was left to do was step on through.

Behind those doors was a large dome-shaped planetarium, stars of distant solar systems and galaxies high up in the sky above, projected onto it by some strange magic Harrison didn't quite understand. It couldn't be mere Illusion, either, as those stars in that sky were no less real than the ones above his head at night. Sitting in rows all around him, were Monarchs seated at their thrones, each one personally designed by those at them. Harrison spotted his father easily by his throne made of solid Fire, wearing a ruby crown, far up in the crowds, somewhat behind him. At the top of the rows were three Monarchs, known by their age, strength and wisdom. And sat in the middle was the most powerful of them all: the King of Time, Felix Smith.

Waiting for his moment, Harrison came to a stop in the middle of a large circular stage, a small stand at one end of it that could be used to project documents of his choosing into the air for presentation.

"Announce yourself, prospect!" Felix demanded, following ancient traditions.

"Harrison Clarke, Archmage!

"State thine purpose, Archmage."

"To elucidate the Monarchs on grave news. A possible lead on The Forgetting."

At that, not even their sense of decorum and politeness could keep the Monarchs from whispering between themselves, so quietly and quickly that Harrison could barely make out a noise at all.

"Silence! This hearing shall not fall into disorder already," a Monarch to the side of Felix called out, her voice supernaturally loud. To Harrison's shame, he couldn't remember her name. "Speaker, please continue."

"To claim sight of The Forgetting is not something to be claimed lightly, prospect. Present your evidence."

"As you wish, speaker," Harrison bowed, having been briefed by his father in the ways of the Council beforehand. He pulled out first a small photo from his folder and placed it on the stand. Lighting up, a small beam shone from the stand projecting that same photo into the air, for all the Monarchs to see. There was no doubt that the Monarchs there could actually perceive the entire contents of the folder already, but for tradition's sake, it was kept like this, proper and mundane. "Three days ago a Post-War Museum in the Iyrtiran Empire was burgled, having a large number of its mundane items taken, as well as a singular magical one.

"As is typical for these kinds of museums, the magical exhibits are usually all inert artifacts or curios so minor they might as well be mundane, for public safety. This particular stolen item, which shall henceforth be known as the Robe, was gifted to the museum by Archmage Christian Peel about twenty-three years ago. It was discovered after the Mage Wars fifty-nine years ago and was being researched before being handed over. It had a peculiar effect of disguising all the mana that travelled near it, making it invisible. It was pursued initially by the Archmage as a possible link to The Forgetting, but was later discounted due to its limited scope."

"I remember this Robe," a dwarven Monarch spoke out. "I petitioned the Archmage in question for it and studied it for some time. There is some subtle unknown Conceptual corruption of the invisible mana that passes by the Robe, but it was otherwise unremarkable. I believe the corruption to be some lost Element in the Wars with little practical usage similar in effect to Illusion."

"Thank you, Monarch Olhim," the speaker nodded at the dwarf. "Continue, prospect."

"Monarch Olhim would be correct in his assessment of the Robe. By all measures, the Robe was unremarkable and entirely forgettable. When it was stolen, some peculiar Magicks were used to hide the robber's presence and signature yet nothing was really out of the ordinary. Instead, it was a concerning similarity brought to focus by the same Spider that enlightened me to the possibility of a link to The Forgetting."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Harrison slid the photograph away and placed a report on the guard's memory recall in its stead.

"This here is a magical recount of a guard on shift the night of the robbery who had been affected by mental Magicks. In a normal situation, these mental Magicks would be crude and easy to spot, which, admittedly, partially were. It was the subtler part of the Magick that had slid under the radar for the most part until someone brought up something we had all overlooked. Perhaps, one of you Monarchs here today would be able to spot it!" Harrison smiled widely, pride shining through.

"This is not a show, Master Clarke," one of the human Monarchs frowned - someone from outside the empire - causing Harrison's expression to darken. "Get on with it."

Keeping his eyes on his father's complete lack of reaction, Harrison buried his rage at the disrespect and tried to keep the most of it off of his face as he spoke, "As you wish. Refer to the section in the report labelled 'Anomalous Remarks'. Here, through deep analysis methods conducted by another Spider after the first suspicion was raised, the levels of mana corruption on his memories were recorded as 153% above normal levels. However, the mana attunement recordings were only 69% above normal levels, which is to be expected after the tests conducted on the guard. There is a clear unaccounted-for discrepancy of 84% that is not being picked up by our attunement sensors, yet is by corruption sensors. This means that more than half of the mana history of the guard is corrupted by an unknown and undetectable Element. This situation then should sound very familiar."

"There are other Elements that don't like to show up on attunement devices that would on corruption," that same human Monarch retorted, shifting uncomfortably in his Golden throne. "This isn't sufficient evidence for... what is being discussed."

"And if I'm given the time to speak, then I will - as you say - get on with it," Harrison scowled at the man. "Another piece of evidence is in the account of the guard's memories where the man's reactions to this 'Mage' are clearly described. The guard's senses seem to slip off the 'Mage' and have little leverage on them as well as a disconnection between the man's subconscious and conscious actions-"

"Again, this can be seen in other Elements and can be explained away using Mind, which the author of the report admits!" The human glared, leaning forwards.

"Monarch Nylund, please refrain from any more interruptions," the King of Time cut in, a sharp spike of his Domain cutting across the room and pinning the Monarch to the back of his throne. "Continue, prospect."

"As you command, speaker," Harrison said, struggling to suppress his smirk, looking gleefully as this 'Nylund' struggled around trying to collect himself after the reprimand. "More in depth details of the guard's behaviours can be read at your pleasure on the projected report, but suffice to say it is damning. Finally, there is the last piece of evidence. Through scrying into the past, more details regarding the heist were gathered. It was revealed that there were at least two mortal collaborators of this Mage who were not hidden by their Magicks, one who committed the vast majority of the mundane robberies and another who worked mostly on the outside. Yet, we cannot determine their identities. The vast majority of the mana history of the one who stole the most is corrupted. The only reason we know of this person's existence is the time they spent away from these Magicks and were exposed. Otherwise, it appears, for a brief period of time, like there was nothing there at all and that there never was."

"Preposterous-"

"Monarch Nylund. This is your last warning," the King of Time glared at the human, something undetectable passing across the room to strike at the man. Without sparing a glance at the man who was now writhing in his throne, he turned his gaze back onto Harrison, continuing, "What this prospect has brought to our attention I believe is motivating enough to call for a vote. However, is there any physical evidence that can be brought to perhaps encourage the more reluctant members of this council to your favour?"

"Yes, speaker, there is," Harrison grinned, pulling out a small sample in a vial from his robe that the King of Time no doubt sensed despite the protective Magicks surrounding it. Popping the stopper from the vial, the Wards around it broke, allowing the miasma of what was contained inside spread. Holding it aloft, Harrison explained, "This is a piece of the exhibited Robe that had been left behind. A small tag the museum attached to the Robe for archiving reasons. Yet, presumably falling off or having been removed, it was left to us as a clear omen to what is our worst fears. I believe this needs no more explanation, and everyone's mana senses would be more than adequate than whatever I could explain."

Sloughing off that paper tag was what could only be described as an empty abyss of mana, colourless and alien to all who felt it. For many in that room, it was an uncomfortable memory dug up from its grave, a reminder of what had plagued them since the end of the Mage Wars. For others, it was a direct confrontation with what they dreaded the most, the invisible killer of even the most powerful of them all. Pressure built from all sides as each Monarch's Domains grew more unrestrained and dangerous, Harrison barely able to keep himself standing up straight from all the attention.

"Calm! Order!" The King of Time shouted, his own Domain piercing through all the others and shielding the vulnerable 'Archmage' subsumed by them all. "All here should know better than to fall to this with someone like Archmage Clarke here with us today. Be better.

"Now," the King collected himself while the other Monarchs reined their Domains back in. Taking a small breath in, something he needn't do with his mostly magical body, to the shock of everyone in the council chambers, he announced, "I believe that I have a piece of evidence that I did not think relevant until now for this case. A week or so before this case was brought to the council's attention, I uncovered a Mage Tower in a forest just outside Harth. Yes, the very same Harth as today's case. Behind this Tower's abandoned defences, I found yet another victim of The Forgetting, let their legacies persevere-"

"And their memories rest in peace," the other Monarchs solemnly spoke as one.

"-who seemed to belong to some small School of little note that had also been Forgotten. Although surprising it was to find a School Forgotten this long after the Day of Remembrance, it was no doubt obscure enough to be lost to the Forgetting, as sad as that may be. In spite of that, I thought this just another situation that many of the Monarchs present here today have gone through many a time since the end of the Mage Wars. However... with another incident of this kind, one far more severe than what I uncovered, occurring shockingly near to each other, I doubt these incidents aren't without a connection. What if, if I dare suggest as the speaker, this School was not Forgotten at the end of the Wars, rather more recently?"

At that proclamation, Harrison couldn't help but resign himself to nonplussed silence just as the rest of the room did, unable to contemplate the consequences of such a suggestion.

"With this all in mind, I'd thus like to call a vote. Heading this investigation, Harrison Clarke will uncover the true source of this new Forgetting, leaving no stone unturned. Votes for nay?"

Though Domains and their Monarchs shifted in their thrones, no one spoke a word.

"And the yay's?"

With a resounding explosion of incensed shouts, the case was sealed.

"The yay's have it!"

Amidst the resounding cacophony of noise and conversation, Harrison could barely contain his glee.

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