Hiya! It's been a hot second since I've updated, so I just wanted to post a little note that I'm back after that very long hiatus (Is anyone even still interested in this? *shrug*.) Hopefully I'll be updating more often, but things are hectic so I make no promises. There's a bit of perspective switching in this chapter, but it shouldn't be too confusing. Enjoy the gang being stupid and Dawn being everyone's mother.

~ Nick's POV~

"This is a terrible plan."

Ashlie rolled her eyes and shot me an irritated look. "Yes, I know, you've said it seven times already!"

"Yeah, well, I just want to make it absolutely clear just how terrible of a plan this is," I said, returning her expression with a glare of my own. The mage just laughed at me and booped my nose gently. I sighed. "You're not taking anything I'm saying seriously, are you?"

"Nope, not really," she admitted, shrugging. We came to a stop at the top of the staircase and Ashlie turned towards me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Trust me, Nick. Nothing bad is gonna happen. Besides, you have to admit, compared to most of our plans, this one is pretty tame." She grinned.

"That's not exactly reassuring," I replied, crossing my arms. Ashlie chuckled lightly, breaking the silence that echoed from the corridor walls as she turned around and continued up another flight of stairs. I sighed but followed.

Technically, she was right. The plan was simple and straightforward. Today, two days after their meeting in Ashlie's tower, was an Assignment Ceremony. An Assignment Ceremony usually took place at least once every month, sometimes more in special situations. It was during this that all children and new members of the kingdom visited the castle to be given an assignment by the Seer. While it was something that had become pretty routine over the years, the castle still made sure to make a big day out of it and treat it like a celebration. Things like this were supposed to strengthen the morale of the people or something like that. During the ceremony, the Great Hall was open to all and was usually filled with those being assigned as well as onlookers, townspeople, merchants, and even travelers who were curious about the tradition. Naturally, this meant that there had to be more guards then usual stationed around. Any guard that could be spared was moved more towards the center of the castle, acting partly as crowd control.

The plan Ashlie had come up with would take advantage of this. While Uni, Dawn, and Jon attended the ceremony as usual, Ashlie and I would sneak onto the fourth floor, tell the guard positioned there that they needed more help in the Great Hall and that he was being moved there momentarily. Then, Ashlie would open the door with a spell or something and would be able to assess the magic situation she suspected was involved. They had decided it might be suspicious if they all went at once, but maybe once Ashlie was in the room, she would be able to think of a way to magic up a way for them to all come back more discreetly in the future.

I bit back another sigh as we came to the fourth floor landing.

"I don't know, Ashlie, the plan just seems to rely a lot on magic..."

"Well, yeah, that's the point," she said, "why have a world class witch if you're not gonna use her?" Ashlie flipped her hair in mock arrogance and winked.

"There just doesn't seem to be a lot I can do in case things go wrong," I admitted warily.

"Oh, don't worry about that! I could always use you as a human shield if things get really rough," Ashlie said, bumping my shoulder. Before I could fully process and question her words, she pranced past me. "This way, right?" She took off down the hall to the west wing, leaving me no choice but to follow.

I nearly missed Cobalt's room, not recognizing it at first due to the lack of guard.

"Huh."

Ashlie glanced at me. "What's the 'huh' for? Everything alright?"

"We're... here." I went through our path in my head, wondering if I had made a wrong turn somewhere.

Ashlie raised an eyebrow, glancing around. "Are you sure? Maybe you have the wrong room?"

I shook my head, looking up and down the hallway to confirm. "No, I'm sure this is right. It just seems strange that they made such a big deal about who was guarding it before, only to leave it unguarded now." I tried to shake off the uneasy feeling that had settled across my shoulders. "I'm sure it's fine." I stepped back and gestured towards the door. "Anyway, you're up. Do your thing."

Ashlie smiled, flexing her hands in front of her as she cracked her knuckles. "Alright, let's see what we're working with."

Ashlie approached the door and closed her eyes as she began to murmur a low chant. Her hands ghosted over the door's surface, moving as though looking for something. As she finished reciting the spell, symbols rose to the surface of the wood, glowing and pulsing against the door. Ashlie opened her eyes and inhaled sharply.

"Woah."

"What is it? Is it bad?" I regarded the door warily, half expecting it to start blaring an alarm or come to life and flatten us both.

"No, not bad necessarily," she said, eyeing the door with a similar apprehension, "just... wow. From what Jon had told us, I was expecting a few spells and charms, maybe a hex or two, but this... this is insane. The amount of magic here, both cultivated and raw is enormous." Her voice held a note of awe and her eyes morphed into some form of appreciation I didn't understand.

"Ok, what exactly does that mean for us?"

Ashlie rolled her eyes and cast me a look that bordered on condescending. "It means that this was the work of a very advanced magician. Either that or several highly acclaimed ones whose skills would still be considered way above average. And even better," Ashlie continued, practically bouncing on her feet, "it means that whatever is inside here also has a substantial amount of magic. See this?" Ashlie grabbed the collar of my shirt and dragged me closer to the door, pointing at a rune that looked like a slashed out square with a circle in it and a tiny circle in the corner of the square. "This mark is used in some advanced spells concerning ancient magic which is like, really powerful core stuff. Beginning-of-the-world kind of powerful. Could-very-easily-kill-you-if-you're-not-careful kind of powerful."

"You look way too excited saying that." I said, pulling back and scanning the almost hungry look in Ashlie's eyes. "So is it not breakable?"

Ashlie grinned, taking her staff from her back and spinning it around like a baton before stamping it against the ground. "Now, I didn't say that." She reached towards the string of pouches she had hanging around her waist and started to pull an assortment of powders and other substances out, combining some of them, while using others as is, sprinkling and dusting, drawing shapes and runes against the heavily enchanted wooden surface. "A lot of these are your basic concealing charms, things used for soundproofing, hiding traces of magic from other magicians, general reinforcement spells, you know."

I in fact did not know, but decided not to interrupt Ashlie's explanation to point this out.

"Well, those are easily counterable if you know what you're looking for, which, lucky for you, I do. I can undo those with just some runes and words. The stronger stuff like alarms and curses-"

"Curses?" I cut in.

The witch shrugged, hushing me with a wave of her hand. "Don't worry about it. Anyway, the curses need a bit more, just to make absolutely sure we don't end up losing our hair or growing cat heads with antlers, which is why I came prepared." She patted her pouches with one hand as the other traced the hinges of the door with a pink powdery substance that turned liquid when it touched the metal and sizzled briefly before disappearing. She worked for a few more minutes until the whole door seemed to shiver, letting out a hollow creak and a short whistle as the whole thing glowed blue for a second before appearing normal again. Ashlie stepped back, scrutinizing the door as she toyed with her bottom lip. "It's ready." For the first time this afternoon, the young mage's voie held no hint of mirth.

"But...?" I prompted, sensing there was more she wanted to say. She turned to me, keeping her eyes on the door.

"But, well... that ancient magic I mentioned? The stuff that's capable-of-decimating-an-entire-civilization kind of powerful?"

"Oh, it just sounds better and better each time you mention it." I murmured.

"Well," she continued, finally looking at me with an intensity that put the gravity of what she was about to say into perfect view, "the majority of that stuff is more focused on keeping stuff in than it is on keeping stuff out."

Silence fell over us as we both turned towards the door, processing what this meant.

"So what you're saying is... whoever made this..."

"Really didn't want what or who ever is inside to escape." She finished, nodding grimly. "It's a case specific spell, so we won't have any trouble leaving, but..." the rest of the sentence about the potential dangers of the room's occupant hung in the air like the fumes of one of Ashlie's failed potions. Thick and choking. I took a deep breath and shook it out, letting my head clear.

"Well, no point in prolonging the inevitable." I stepped forward and gripped the doorknob, hoping Ashlie didn't notice the slight tremble in my fingers. She nodded, holding her staff at the ready. Before I could back out, I flung the door open and stepped inside, feeling Ashlie follow close behind. There was a tense minute of silence as our eyes darted around the room, looking for any threats before hesitantly landing on eachother.

"Ashlie...?" I asked, hesitating over the unspoken question.

"It's empty." She confirmed.

~ Uni's POV~

"This is a terrible plan." I sighed and slumped against the balustrade, leaning my face against the cool stone.

"You are only saying that because it requires you to act normally," Dawn said, observing the crowd below us.

"Exactly! I want a piece of the action! Something dangerous and exciting! Not attending the same boring ceremony I do every month." I glared through my bangs and ran a hand through my hair, only to feel my crown begin to slip off my head. Before it could fall on some poor bystander in the Great Hall below, a gloved hand reached out and caught the silver circlet with nimble fingers. I immediately sat up and smiled gratefully at my advisor.

"I believe this is yours," Dawn said, holding out the crown with a smirk in his eye.

"What a knight in shining armor," I said, giving him my best 'damsel in distress' look as I plucked the crown out of his hands and placed it firmly back on my head.

"No, that is Nick. I am an advisor in a black vest." He reached over and started to rearrange my hair around my crown, apparently dissatisfied with the job I had done.

"Awww, you guys are so cuuuute!"

After swatting Dawn away, I turned to the jester who was grinning mischievously at us. Instead of sitting in one of the perfectly usable chairs, he was perched on the balustrade, feet swinging high about the people in the Great Hall.

"Jon, get down from there, if you fall from that height you will either die or severely break something," Dawn said, frowning. Jon rolled his eyes but obliged, gripping the rail and hoisting himself up. I gasped as Jon balanced in a handstand for a moment before pushing off, flipping once in the air and landing safely beside a concerned looking Dawn.

"Ta-da!!"

"Yes, very impressive, you nearly gave me a heart attack, congratulations."

"Oh come on, we're not even that high," Jon retorted.

"We are very high."

I snorted, listening to their friendly bickering before returning my gaze to the balcony. The Great Hall spread out below us, bustling with colors and noises as people from all over the kingdom crowded together in preparation for the ceremony. I thought back to the first few Assignment Ceremonies I could remember. They had always been so exciting when I was younger, all the new faces, the buzz of anticipation that flitted from person to person, the shout of vendors, and the cry of newborns and first time citizens. I would sit next to the king and greet people with him, blessing new children and welcoming new citizens. Everyone was always so friendly and joyful. At one point a few years ago, I had brought my paints to the ceremony and tried to capture the feeling of the crowd in my art. Before I had gotten far, a scholar had scolded me, telling me I was a fool for wasting this opportunity on a hobby when it was a great chance to start building up my image in front of the citizens. If I were to rule, they needed to have faith in me, see me as someone fit to be a ruler, not a child playing around. Since then, I had lost much of my enthusiasm for the festivals, preferring to observe from a distance rather than be in the front and center of it all.

"When's it gonna start?" Jon whined, snapping me out of my reminiscing.

"Any moment now," I replied, glancing at the end of the hall where the king and some higher ups stood proudly, "I believe we're just waiting for the Seer."

"For someone god-like, they sure are slow. This is why I usually skip these things," Jon grumbled. Dawn chastised his disrespect, but chuckled fondly.

"Come to think of it, I never do see you at these." I said, suddenly curious. "Do you really skip them?"

Jon attempted to shrug from his new position hanging upside down in one of the chairs. His feet knocked against the headrest and his hat scraped the floor, somehow remaining on his head. "I mean, I never pay attention when they happen. When I am here, I'm usually in the middle of the crowd, playing with the kids or bothering the vendors. When that gets boring I just go to the town square. There's usually a lot of stuff going on there too."

"Really? I never knew the celebration continued past the castle." I said, trying to keep the jealousy out of my voice. Jon nodded vigorously.

"Yep! Because people come from all over, vendors have a field day selling stuff! You can find a bunch of great deals actually! One time I challenged this traveling bard to a musical duel for this weird flute-like instrument he had! He also had this fancy looking lute, but I knew..."

I found myself tuning Jon out as my attention drifted back to the congregation beneath us. They had started to quiet, shouting turning to murmuring as an official looking procession strode to the dias at the front of the Great Hall. I easily picked out the figure everyone was here to see. Even from this distance the deep azure of the ceremonial robes drew my attention, gold lining appearing every so often when the light hit off the clothing at the right angle. I couldn't see any distinctive features and knew that even if I were right next to the legendary figure, their hood would cover everything but the very bottom of their face.

The Seer is an enigma, even to me, I thought. I briefly wondered if my father had ever seen the Seer's face before a sharp gasp right by my ear brought me back to the present.

I held back a few colorful words as I stumbled away from the jester who had moved right next to me without my noticing. "Jeez, Jon! How does someone with so many bells on their clothing move around so quietly! Don't sneak up on me like that, I..." I trailed off as it was clear that the jester wasn't paying any attention to me. His gaze was glued on something else, eyes locked in an intensity I rarely saw on the jovial man. Dawn frowned, placing a hand on Jon's shoulder as his face mirrored my own look of concern.

"Jon?"

Jon didn't even register Dawn's voice, squinting and leaning dangerously over the balcony. I pushed gently against his shoulder, guiding him back to safety.

"Jon, what happened? Are you ok?" I asked, beginning to worry. Jon murmured something too quiet for me to hear. "Pardon?" I asked, stepping in front of him and trying to force the jester to break his gaze. He simply peered around me, struggling to maintain his eye contact with whatever was holding him captive.

Then, quiet enough that I almost missed it again, "It's him," Jon spoke.

"Wha-?" Dawn began to question before following Jon's gaze and going pale. "Oh."

"What?" I pressed, frustrated at being left in the dark. "It's who?"

Jon glanced at me, blinking. He ran his tongue over his lips and glanced back at the crowd before finally allowing his gaze to settle on me. "Cobalt," he said, and I felt my blood run cold as it came together. "Cobalt is the Seer."