"So what's the verdict?" Marvi asked Rorric once he had stepped out of the room. He thought it best to leave the two boys be as he updated the apprehensive nurse.

"As best as we could hope," Rorric sighed. "Mentally, Nagan is a survivor at heart. With proper support and a good circle of friends, both of which he already has in Icarion and others, the trauma he experienced will heal in time. Physically, he's in your care so I have no doubts about his recovery--"

"He should be released by tomorrow."

"Perfect. Magically, however..."

Marvi frowned at that. "How badly has it been affected?"

Once again, Rorric sighed. "I'm not sure yet. As we both know, when a primarily light magic user starts using the dark arts, their ability to use magic, in general, could be stunted. Unfortunately for young Nagan, he unknowingly was using dark magic to get into that library and was slowly absorbing it as he stayed there." Rorric glanced back at the closed door, listening to the hushed voices of the two boys behind it, before continuing. "You checked his magic circulation right? How were they?"

"Sluggish," Marvi started slowly, "He did get quite the dose of dark magic there if it was enough for him to be purged, so the sluggishness is understandable."

"But was each circuit functioning?"

"Yes. His circuits were fine, and I didn't detect any major damage."

Rorric considered this for a moment. "Then I believe he'll recover fine. He's young and just starting to develop his magic. Worse case scenario...he may never be able to reach his true potential, but I will be keeping an eye on him and will send him to you for full evaluations occasionally to track his recovery. Perhaps he'll be one of the lucky ones who go on unaffected."

Marvi nodded assuredly. "I'm sure he will. As you said, he's young. Children have a way of bouncing back in remarkable ways," she chuckled. "I should know after watching many young mages grow.

"Moving on from that," she began to walk towards her storage room, trusting Rorric would follow, "Do you plan on letting Nagan participate in the Dragon Choosing Ceremony this year?"

Something in Marvi's voice made Rorric hesitate in his answer. "Yes?"

His suspicions were confirmed just as they arrived in the storage room. She turned sharply to him, causing him to instinctively raise his hands in surrender. "Are you sure, Rorric? He would be barely 13."

"He's well accomplished," he defended tersely, though was wary of the needles that laid nearby, "and it would be an insult to his intelligence to hold him back."

"That's not what I mean," she snapped. "And you know what I'm talking about! Once he gets his dragon, he is another soldier for the Council to use. Our generation was fortunate to skim by war, but I can't say the same for now. He's witnessed enough, must we involve him further?"

"That's not how the Kinsmen of the Dark work, Marvi," Rorric said gently. "He's already involved whether he likes it or not. He may now be at the center of it since he was the one to, unfortunately, deliver the Codex of Drakarmir to them along with other reasons..."

Marvi paused and studied Rorric deeply. Her scowl lightened to a frown. "There's more to this, isn't there."

Rorric chuckled dryly. "Nothing is ever as simple as it seems. How do you think I came into possession of the Codex in the first place?"

She stayed silent and waited for his explanation.

"It was sent to me by one of the ancient transportation runic circles you could find in the Codex, about a year after Nageth's official disappearance. Alongside it was a note." Rorric ran his hand through his hair with a frustrated sigh. "I could recognize that atrocious handwriting anywhere. It was from Nageth, no doubt.

"The note was short and only said, 'Hide this wherever that's not easy to find. It must not be lost under any circumstance.' At first, I thought it was some sort of cruel joke someone was playing on me since Nageth was notorious for rambling and drawing out simple messages, but as I held the Codex, I could feel the dark energy swirling around it. I don't know where he found it, but he must have needed to get it away quickly if he was desperate enough to use dark magic. After that, I never heard from him again.

"The pages were oddly red, but after months had gone by, I noticed the color fading along with the words. After around 3 years, it was completely blank. Judging by the metallic odor to it, I can only assume it to be blood. Knowing Nageth, he probably used his own blood or perhaps he found it that way. Either way, the thought still haunts me if he's still alive or suffered a horrible death just to keep this one item away."

Marvi rested a hand on his shoulder sympathetically. "Have you...told the Council of this?"

Rorric huffed humorlessly. "Only for them to label him a traitor? Of course not. Whatever that foolish man had gotten himself into looks too evil for them to even give him a chance to redeem himself. But as those who knew him, we all know he wouldn't do something like this without reason..."

She nodded her head solemnly before going back to work by sorting through her supplies. "What will you tell the Council now then? With Carthadeus Honoria having a grudge on Nagan, I'm sure he would notice his absence, hear the rumors, and then tell his father about what had happened. I wouldn't be surprised if you already have a letter from Councilman Honoria demanding clarification."

"I suppose I'll have to tell the truth," Rorric said with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. "I'll have to tell them how years ago I was sent this strange book, not knowing who sent it to me, such as the purpose of being anonymous, and unfortunately my school was infiltrated and manipulated one of my students to do such deeds. No one is at fault since it happened too fast for anyone to prevent it."

"So you'll lie to the Council," Marvi clarified with a raised brow.

"It's not as if I haven't done so before," he said with a sly grin.

Marvi whacked him with a small bundle of herbs and laughed. "Shame on you!"

The two of them exchanged a few more brash words until they were in fits of laughter. When they had calmed down some, they found themselves looking into each other's eyes. Each had a sort of longing in them.

The moment passed quickly as they realized what they were doing, and they looked away.

"Well then, Master Dagmire," Marvi broke the silence after turning back to her work, "I suppose we both have our duties to attend to. I should get back to my rounds soon."

"As will I. It was a pleasure to talk to you, however, Miss Matticus."

He left quietly after that, leaving both of them with a strange, empty silence.