"Have you all heard what Vitaly said?" I asked, as we found ourselves in what looked like a forest.

"I have," Raegan replied. "For once, I have the upper hand. Jeff has cooler powers, but I am great at analyzing people --- if the gods have the weak spots of humans, I think I'll be able to understand them."

"You stink of beer," Jeff pointed out. "Why did you drink before the quest?"

"I don't get drunk on beer," Raegan said. "And I never stink."

I hoped it was the truth, because I didn't want to have to deal with a drunk Scottish Enchanter.

"I have an idea," Edgar said.

"Already?" Jeff asked.

"Yes," he replied. "But you might not like it."

"I like all ideas," Raegan exclaimed. "Especially if it means I don't have to come up with them. Lead the way!"

Edgar started walking. We followed him eagerly. I almost trampled on the gnarled roots of an ancient tree. Vitaly was right. The forest looked like something out of a fairytale.

"Look at that," Edgar said. "It looks like the tower we have seen on Morgan McCarthy's flyer, and like the one on the card of the Blasted Tower. Perhaps, it's a real Arcane!"

The tower did look like that one, but it was as tall as any lighthouse. I didn't know how big I was expecting it to be, but this wasn't that. It was huge. I couldn't believe it used to be a person.

"If it's a real Arcane," I commented, troubled. "That person used to be a god."

"Maybe not all the legends are true," Edgar offered.

I thought of the Empty Mirror. "It seems to me they are."

Striped white and blue, and with little windows all over, up close the tower looked legendary, really like an illustration out of a pack of tarot cards. We walked until we reached it.

"Solidified aether," Jeff confirmed. "But then again, even though it's a rare material, it's still possible that it's man-made. Perhaps we should stick to the facts."

"Like that ever worked out before," Raegan pointed out.

"I'm just saying... We got as far as we are now with the help of a god and opening our minds to believe in legends. I grew up thinking the Empty Mirror wasn't even real. But my reasoning is, we have no concrete proof that it is real, even now. Let's keep our feet on the ground."

Jeff could say what he wanted. I understood his frustration. Still, I knew him better than that. I knew that, in his heart, he just wished for an adventure and he'd always felt regretful that his frail health and his father's failures meant he was never going to live one.

But now he was living one. Even better, he was in one.

Which was something I could relate to. Guys like me, misfits like me, didn't belong in adventures.

"Who knows why there was the word Jono Mitchell all over the flyer, Jeff. Perhaps you're right and we should think about the clues we have so far, like that one," I said, mindlessly touching the tower. A little door appeared.

"I guess it's our cue to go inside," Raegan shrugged. "Though I don't think we'll find the Empty Mirror here. It's too easy."

"Maybe it's too fast," Edgar said. "But nothing about it was easy."

"And the New Faith?" Jeff asked. "What was the meaning..."

"Perhaps Jono is the name of the person who hosted godly powers before. Or maybe he or Morgan worked for my father," Raegan replied. "Let's not confuse ourselves with more questions."

I, for one, was still curious about many things, but I decided to keep them to myself.

That said, she drank from one of our water bottles. "I'm doing it for Jeff. This counteracts the alcohol. Not that I'm drunk, mind you."

She opened up the door of the lighthouse, and she entered. We had no choice but to follow her, and I realised that it was much bigger on the inside.

As soon as we entered, the door closed behind our backs and a writing started forming on the wall.

'You're welcome, heroes, to awaken me from my slumber

Since last time you've increased from three to four in number'

"Three?" Jeff asked in a small voice. 

"Four is the standard number of the heroes in a quest," Edgar added. "It usually indicates completeness, in spirituality."

"It's not that," Jeff frowned. "I thought there were only two of them --- remember, Edgar. The quest failed. From the way Vitaly always talked, I thought he and my father had gone on this quest alone."

"It's very likely that Brady was with them," I said, though I was not sure. "Didn't you get the feeling he's known Vitaly for a long time? I did."

Maybe it was the writing on the wall, that was speaking in rhymes as if it was some sort of riddle. Maybe it was being in a different dimension. Whatever the reason, I started feeling nauseous all of a sudden.

And then, another couplet appeared on the wall.

'Whatever is the purpose of the trip, no doubt

That I am sworn not to let any of you out'

And that was when I lost it. I threw up.

"Come on," Raegan said. "You can't be serious, whoever or whatever you are. Of course you will let us out. We know the spell, and Vitaly and Brady will help us from the other side."

"Erm, Raegan," Jeff whispered. "They do not mean they're not letting us out of KI. I think they mean we won't leave the tower alive."

"Why?" Raegan looked puzzled.

Then, she yelped in pain. I realised one of the windows had shattered, and a shard of glass had got into her arm.

"Because, as you have so brilliantly guessed, I am an Arcane," a disembodied voice said. "I don't have a good feeling about your quest. At all. If that makes you think I'll help, you're wrong. You can't win. Not really. Because you're just as obsessed with power as the other side. The fact that you got here just to get to the Mirror proves it. Young Winter, you should know what happens to people obsessed with power."

"My surname is Tanaka," Jeff growled. "And don't you dare talk about my father like that."

For some reason, this hit us worse than the other times people talked about Samuel Winter. I realised that it was because Samuel had been on KI, and the Blasted Tower had probably met him.

"Well," I tried to reason. "You did let Samuel, Vitaly and Brady out of here. What makes us different from them?"

"Brady?" the Blasted Tower asked, puzzled. "Anyway, this was one of the reasons why I couldn't let you go. Why would I do that? To see one of you become the greatest Typhons of all time?"

"Vitaly joined the Reapers only to plan his revenge!" I shouted. I knew it didn't sound like much, as an excuse, but I believed Vitaly wasn't that bad. He couldn't be.

The voice paused, like he had his doubts. But I refrained from adding more. I felt like I had to defend Vitaly, but there weren't many nice things to say about him.

"Third reason," the Tower finally added. "You threw up on my parquet. You must die."

I laughed nervously, as Edgar was giving me a side-eye.

"You're wrong," Edgar finally told the Tower. "We can leave from the windows."

I couldn't help my nervous reflexes. When all the windows disappeared, I think I wet my trousers.

And, as usual, under pressure I had a brilliant idea.

I became invisible to the Blasted Tower.

"I do not understand how," the Blasted Tower said. "But one of you already left. The other three better follow his example."

"How did you do that?" Edgar hissed.

"You know how I did that," I replied.

"I meant — how did you manage to fool the Blasted Tower into not knowing what you did?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. But follow my lead!"

My friends became invisible too, and our voices became inaudible.

"So, does anyone have a plan?" Raegan whispered.

"Maybe," Jeff replied. "We could figure out who he is. Maybe there's something that can help us."

"Jono Mitchell," I said, as if struck by inspiration. "I did try to guess at it before. The name... Everytime I speak it, it almost makes me shiver, as if it was the name of someone or something important."

Jeff looked at me like I was crazy, but then he understood.

"That's right!" he exclaimed. "Jono Mitchell is his name! It's the name of the person he was before he became... that."

"So, you're telling me that now we're confident that we're inside a person?" Raegan replied. "Actually, don't answer that. Just fix my arm."

There wasn't a Mudra to heal small cuts, but there was one that would stop most of the bleeding. I performed it on her, because it was one of the basic ones and I didn't know whether Edgar wanted to test his magic at the moment.

"What are we going to do with this information?" Edgar asked.

"We're going to taunt him," I replied. "Let's think — why are we here?"

"We saw the Tower before and Raegan decided it was enough for us to go inside," Jeff said.

"It was a clue, though I don't know who left it there and why," I specified. "So, either the Empty Mirror is here... or we'll find a clue as to where it is."

"We have to look aroud for more clues!" Edgar reasoned. 

"Look at that — there is a wall that looks like all the others but moves away if you perform the Mudra for opening it," Raegan said. "I can sense it with a quick scan from here. Jeff, Ryan and I will see where it leads. Edgar can taunt Jono Mitchell about his past."

"No," I replied. "I'll talk to Jono Mitchell."

Edgar tried to reply, but I cut him off abruptly. "I'm the best at taunting."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? Haven't I taunted you enough?"

"I'm the most insufferable of the two, in a way. You know it's true."

I walked in the opposite direction from where my friends were going. Jono Mitchell must have seen me, because cracks started appearing in the walls and on the floor. I tried to jump from one fixture in the pavement to another, but I was afraid if I moved too far from my friends, I wouldn't be able to go back.

And the room I was in was a disaster already — all filled with cracks, and the ceiling looked like it was about to cave in and fall on my head.

I turned around. When I looked at where my friends were, I could see a piece of the ceiling had fallen to the floor. I hoped it had not crushed any of them.

"Jono Mitchell," I said out loud.

"Do not call me that."

"Oh, so I haven't earned the right? Mister Mitchell. Or was it sir? I wonder what you looked like when you were alive."

I heard a booming sound echoing off the walls.

"I was a very handsome man," the voice replied. "There must be my portrait around here somewhere."

The interior of the tower looked like one of those houses inside lighthouses, and above a shelf with mostly useless junks there was the portrait of a good-looking dark-haired man.

I wanted to point out that a man who was so vain might not have decided to let his soul linger on only to rest in the body of the Blasted Tower, but after all, what did I know?

After all, if Vitaly was right and hadn't lied about anything, it was also the kind of man who decided to turn himself into a god.

"Were you from KI, originally? We haven't met people here yet," I said. "We're still trying to guess whether they have two eyes like us or nine. Or you know, small details like that."

"KI is not a place for Enchanters," Jono replied. "I can't see how you can do magic here. You shouldn't be able to."

I felt my blood freezing in my veins. So used to being the misfit wherever I went, I had forgotten momentarily that Raegan and Jeff were using their magic too. When I realised this, I had enough strength to go on.

"So you were from Earth."

"Yes, and since you're so intent on going on with your quest, I'll let you know why you can't. I was a young Enchanter a little older than you, once. Though my girlfriend tried many times to dissuade me, my friends and I had decided to use what we learned at the Academy to space-shift and go look for the Empty Mirror from the famous legends. I met one of the dark entities that populate this realm. I was killed on the spot. I decided to let my death have meaning and become the famous Tower from the card."

"You're not telling me the whole truth," I said. "There is a clue inside of you. You don't want other people to fail like you failed."

His story had almost moved me to tears, but I wouldn't let that stop me.

Then, I realised the meaning of it. It seemed that the Arcane was waiting for someone or something to wake him from his slumber like he said. Was it his girlfriend? Or...

"The girl you talked about," I said. "She never joined you. She didn't die. But she's not here either, is she? I guess that... Well, she had a baby, didn't she?"

"You're just making wild guesses now."

"But she did. That's why there's your portrait here. It's not because of vanity. That's why this place looks like a home, that's why there is a clue... you were hoping for your girlfriend and your baby to come back here. But you never told her the truth, because you couldn't. And you silently hope that your son never goes on the quest that killed you. I'll tell you something. I know for sure Samuel Winter would have never wanted the same thing for his son. But my friend here, Jeff, won't lose his mind like his father did. He's the most stubborn person I know, and his life is devoted towards good deeds. Just think that when I first joined the Academy, I'd never lived inside the Aether Realm before, and Jeff almost didn't want me to enrol because he thought I was an idiot!"

The Tower stopped replying. I hoped it wasn't thinking about me, being an idiot.

"You are right," he finally said. "I finally know why you're able to use magic. You and your friends have been claimed by destiny to be part of a quest. Only the people whose souls are marked by fate can maintain their powers on KI. And after all, a son deserves to complete the quest of the father."

A wall opened up, and behind this there was a crypt. It looked completely silver, and my friends weren't inside, which made me think that the door Raegan had seen before led either somewhere else, or that it was a dead end. But I didn't have to worry about them for too long. In a matter of minutes, my friends appeared next to me and I was surprised to see Jeff was injured.

"The potion!" I exclaimed.

"My leg must be broken," he said, wincing. "But the potion is for those near death. Let's not waste it."

Raegan was helping Jeff move. We entered the crypt.

"Have you noticed something?" Edgar asked. "If Jono Mitchell knew the Empty Mirror was in KI, many people who attempted the spell could know. How do we know the Reapers won't follow us here?"

"We will deal with them when it's necessary," Raegan said. From the rough tone of her voice, I imagined that she wanted that to be necessary.

"Don't worry about the Reapers. The Arcane told me only people who are part of quests can use their magic on KI," I replied. "Still..." a doubt crossed my mind, as I scratched my chin. "Am I the only one who heard a sentence being spoken about dark entities that kill people on the spot?"

"We all heard it," Jeff replied. "But Raegan is right — we can't think about the dangers now. Let's hope we do not get to meet them."

In the crypt, there was a tomb. When Raegan opened the lid, it was empty. But there was something — a map.

Jeff took a look at it, and put it back in his pocket. "Edgar," he said. "Prepare to open a portal. The next stop is far away from here."

Edgar seemed to be under a lot of pressure. He bit his lip, and I was reminded of how his panic hindered his magic. Still, he didn't say anything --- probably out of pride.

Still, when he tried to make a portal, he didn't have any difficulty. It was just that his magic was weaker. Something small and shiny appeared in front of us. It was shaking a little, like it couldn't form very well.

"Well," he finally admitted. "I promise I'm going to keep my anxiety in check and perform better."

"I don't get it," I interjected. "I can't be the only one who doesn't get it. Is the map the clue?"

"Maybe so," Edgar replied. "Beggars can't be choosers."

At that moment, writing started appearing on the wall as it had when we first entered.

'The first clue is this,

The truth is dangerous, and most of the time, it hurts

There are people out there who believe that no one should know the full truth

But you will meet them, young heroes,

And they'll tell you everything you don't want to hear'

"I... I don't get it," I replied, all the more confused because there were so many questions I didn't know, so many hidden truths about my life, and yet I couldn't think of any I didn't want to hear. "What is this world? What were those letters we found? Just how many people journeyed here?"

Raegan was thinking out loud about the things she might not want to find out — a certain uncle Ewan the Fearless and his legendary, but unlikely, quests came up various times in her monologues.

"Well," Jeff said cautiously. "I can't deny that there's something that feels... strange. About all of this."

Of course there is, I wanted to say. And probably, I couldn't help but think, Vitaly and Brady knew all of it. I tried not to be mad at them. They'd sworn oaths. But perhaps, if we thought about everything they'd been trying to tell us, we could figure it out on our own...

"I opened the portal," Edgar reminded us. "We should go anytime now."

"I've never travelled via a portal," I said. "What do we do?"

"We jump," Edgar replied, and he pushed me inside.