"Pollin was not a man of war."

Kristen spread her hands before her, her eyes bright with honesty.

"There had been far too much conflict between Karma and Hanna. I, and many others, felt we should not be using our magic to harm other humans. By choosing to learn magic, we are obliged to serve the country and her people, regardless of our own wishes and morality codes. The magic must only be used at the bidding of the king. By becoming a mage, we are stripped of our own freedom, our own right to decide what to do with powers we are naturally born with.

"Pollin felt such thoughts were treason. Despite history telling the tales of the sisters Karma and Hanna that began all magic, the Miracles would never accept reuniting the countries again. Even though the Hannans' summoning magic were impaired because of our occupation of Acrise. Even though our own, who could have been blessed with summoning magic, were not allowed to hone it because they were, by definition, Karmans and not Hannans. Karma would not relinquish to Hanna, nor had she the firepower and manpower to take over. Hanna felt differently."

"You betrayed your own country."

"Is it an own country when Karma and Hanna began as one single entity? It was the constant conflict between the two sisters that began it all, split to north and south, demon summoners to the north and celestial magic users to the south. We are only trying to reunite the two."

"Why? Just to stop wars? Why couldn't you just have a peace pact?"

"Because when there is power, there will always be conflict. Unless those with power unanimously stand outside the conflict, there will always be those who wish to use celestial and summoning powers for their own gain. Peace can't be gained that way. Prince Fautos of Hanna agreed to give us the same rights as their summoners in return for our service -- not slavery -- if we facilitate the takeover. The Karma rune is only a step in the right direction."

"So you'll take the magic away? From everyone?"

She shrugged. "Most people don't have significant enough magic to manifest or channel the energy anyway. It is of no loss."

"Severing the magic that links the soul and the body and destroys souls."

Kristen became very still. "Who did you hear that from?"

"Kommora Haigh."

"Kommora Haigh is an old mage with values and beliefs that are far outdated. She has always been steadfast against changes and rebellions against tradition. I wouldn't believe her. She can be very manipulative. She always knows exactly what to say to make you rally for her, but she wouldn't hesitate to throw you in front of a cart if it's to her advantage."

Seiren was vividly reminded of Kommora using her as a literal shield against Jarsdel's shockwave magic and how scathing she had been about every motive of the king's mages. She bit her lip.

"You say your aim is to stop the fights, but you're willing to kill so many people for this magic. How are you better than anyone before you? All the wars? You can't decide that for everyone else."

"I have the power to, combined with the other king's mages. I can and I will. If I don't, nobody else will. History will repeat itself. Magic has been abused for too long. Maybe I'll be remembered as the devil. It's for the greater good."

"It's organic magic, isn't it?" The words tasted sour on Seiren's tongue. Loren had died by organic magic. It tore the soul from the body and destroyed it entirely. It was a horrific way to die -- according to Kommora. But Kommora had no reason to lie to Seiren about Loren. Loren was dead -- Seiren saw her dying in Benover. Kommora couldn't have made that up. "It's cruel magic."

"Magic is cruel. Karma's magic tore her own soul to shreds to distribute it to everyone in the country. Organic magic was only an imitation based on history on the type of rune she'd used. Karma's magic bound life to bodies. In theory, it could also bind passed souls back to the body they belonged to -- or even to an object. I wasn't the only mage who looked into this."

"Ebanon Fernard." Seiren's realisation created a hollow pit in her stomach. The grumpy, bereft professor in Hartley. Little Kori's father, who was so obsessed with death and bringing back his wife.

"Fernard's studies were quite the breakthrough, theoretical as they were until he tried to summon his wife, but rune magic alone was not adequate to power it, and the rune designs were intricate and very tricky -- far above that of a regular rune mage. His theories came in very useful later, though. Burst was an adequate power, but it was still unpredictable and inconsistent. Flash was the necessary step -- one we found out on the night your father and Madeleine perished."

"You used flash to power Madeleine's rune." Seiren's blood ran cold. "Professor Fernard's wife's resurrection attempt. You didn't...?"

"I did research with him. He was one of the leading minds in investigating the afterlife and the origin of magic. But when he was so driven by his desire to bring back Kaia Fernard, I had to arrest him for breaking magical laws."

"You stripped him of his magic."

"It was his sentence by the Council of Magic, not mine. It was also the only way to stop Kaia Fernard's reanimation."

"How?"

Kristen knew Seiren didn't mean how the sentence went down.

"It was early, experimental core energy magic."

"Chaos magic?" A lump formed in Seiren's throat.

"It was a necessary evil. The man would have continued experimenting, maybe even on his son or innocent others. He paid for his crimes. And after so long, now we knew how organic magic worked and how to reverse the magic-soul tethering." Kristen gave a soft smile and spread her arms wide. "But let's not dwell on the past. We have a great future ahead. With great power comes great responsibilities, and only we are equipped to do so, with the experiences we have had and the hardships we have witnessed. You have a lot of talent, Seiren. And you have seen how cruel and unforgiving the world can be. We would love to have you in our ranks."

Mute, Seiren could only shake her head in disbelief. Kristen looked just the same. Except her hair was a little greyer and there were more wrinkles around her eyes. But the Kristen she knew had always been so kind, so accepting, so understanding of people's plights. She never had a bad word to say to anybody and was a good person.

And yet this Kristen stood before her, promising genocide in return for great power as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Why can't you use chaos magic to take the magic away from people in Karma, like with Professor Fernard, instead of organic? Nobody needed to die. You still get what you want."

Kristen gave a small laugh. "If only it were that simple. Chaos magic is too dangerous in the hands of those who are unfamiliar with it. There was once a mage who developed it and went rogue with the power. He's now dead."

She must mean Cronin Sallows. Kommora had said he developed it to counteract Kristen's research into organic magic.

"And where's that magic now?"

"Gone. Forever. A petty thief stole it. The thief was killed because she would rather keep the magic for her own selfish gain than surrender it."

"You mean Loren Rummage." Seiren's jaw tightened. It was with a steady gaze she met Kristen's.

"Why, yes. You've met this Rummage?"

"I refuse."

Kristen appeared unsurprised at her words. Her eyebrows rose but then she shrugged, unfazed.

"You are a grown girl now. You can make your own decisions. There may be a method of restoring Madeleine, however."

Seiren's eyes widened. Her mouth fell open when Kristen drew out a heart-achingly familiar red amulet from the folds of her cloak. Seiren cupped her hands, eyes watering. Kristen carefully deposited it. Seiren clutched it to her chest, her heart thumping, tears falling silently.

"Organic magic is catalysed by places of high life or death events. The chaos outside makes this an ideal moment if you want to chance transplanting her soul into another body."

Seiren could barely hear her words as she fastened the necklace with trembling hands.

"You can wield both rune and flash magic now, Seiren. This is your playing field. Your possibilities may well be endless. Just think about it."

Madeleine didn't stir for several seconds, possibly due to the prolonged period of separation between the two. After a while, the familiar warmth on Seiren's sternum and the presence in her mind came back. Tears fell freely from Seiren's eyes, dripping onto the ground, her hands clutching the amulet onto her skin.

Seiren! Are you okay? Are you hurt?

I'm fine. Oh god, Madeleine. So much has happened. Everything--

Now's no time to catch up. The king's mages have an absolutely abhorrent plan for Karma and you have to stop--

Mother's alive.

Madeleine's urgent voice cut off. From Seiren's mind, she could feel her sister's bewilderment, followed by a frantic rooting in her mind.

No. Absolutely not. She sounded strangled.

I said the same.

Thank god, you grew a brain.

Kristen hadn't moved from her spot, watching Seiren's silent exchange with Madeleine without a word.

She's one of them. I can't... I can't believe it. Madeleine's voice stuttered. All this time. We've been played. We've all been played.

She's our mother, Madeleine. I can't go against her. But their plan is horrific. I can't go along with this.

Then don't. She won't kill you. She's not like the others.

She's not like this before, either.

It's fine. We'll be fine. Madeleine sounded more like she was trying to reassure herself.

Seiren made her doubt obvious.

We'll be fine. Stay calm. Continue to talk to her.

"I can't do this, Mother," Seiren said out loud, her voice shaking. "You're... this is too much."

Kristen nodded with an understanding smile. "It's all right, sweetheart. I understand this is all very overwhelming, especially when you've learnt so much about the truth in such a short span of time. There is no rush. You'll be safe here."

"What are you doing now?"

"What we've been planning for ten years. Karma will fall, tonight."

"All these people--!"

"I'm very proud of you and Madeleine. You two have shown remarkable bravery and perseverance, but no matter where you go, there will always be people wanting to make use of you against your will and threaten you -- or your loved ones -- with it." Kristen's face turned dark. "I was in the same shoes: naive, wanting to do good, believe in people. But people are horrid creatures. You satisfy their wants and they want more. You deny their wants, and they will seek revenge. It's an endless cycle of hate. As long as people like you or me are forced to submit, we will always be at their mercy. But not any more."

She spread her hands wide again.

"Amongst ones similar in power to you, you will be accepted and embraced. One day, you'll see what I mean."

Duck!

Seiren started and threw herself to the ground at Madeleine's scream.

White substances shot from all four corners of the room, spreading and connecting with each other like a giant spider web. They expanded into a square net wrapped around Kristen, each line spinning around her body until she was bound from neck down to her toes. The webbing glowed violet. It was rune magic Seiren had never seen before.

"You!" Kristen's demeanour changed immediately, becoming harsh. "I thought I had stationed guards around the outside."

"Nothing a few well-placed runes and well-trained military personnel can't take care of," said Kommora with a smirk. Seiren rolled out from beneath the net and stood up, panting. The other four figures approached from the other corners: Bellamy Southwark, Azriel Edevane, Halen Ashworth, and Maura Woodbead. All of them looking worse for wear, none of them she'd caught sneaking in. Neither had Kristen, apparently. Southwark, Ashworth, and Maura each held the ends of the violet rune net. "You always doted on your daughter, Kristen. That was your only humane trait -- and your weakness. You gave me enough time to lay my traps."

"You think you're so smart, Kommora Haigh," Kristen said with a sneer, a cruel curl of her lips turning the previously-benign features into a callous persona Seiren did not recognise. "But you're not the only one that can play the game."

Kommora's eyes narrowed before she glanced, briefly, at Seiren.

"Get out of here, Nithercott," said Kommora, jerking her head.

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