"Maybe," Edgar said. "I thought it was better not to make friends. Befriend you was a mistake from the start. I've always worked alone, even more so when I found out my powers were dangerous. And I thought you could turn out to be a danger, too."

"I'm not sure I'll take it as a compliment," I said.

"Dangerous like fire," he explained. "Burning too wild, too quick. Passionate, determined, focused. I couldn't stand to be around you while I felt guilty about my life, my powers, everything. Besides, it was not wise."

"Is that why you said you couldn't stand me?"

"I wasn't protecting myself when I said that," his dark blue eyes looked right into mine, sending something that felt like pure electricity all over my body. "I was protecting you. From the hurt. I wanted to take care of this thing alone, and not burden you with more pain."

"Then," he added, smiling slightly. "You called me up. Said you wanted to talk about it. So many things have happened since that day that I don't know if you've realized you've never even mentioned it. But that's okay. It helped me to realize I could not try to avoid you. You'd always come back. I started feeling guilty, and I thought I owed you the truth."

"Wow," I said. "You've never talked that much since I met you."

"Never in my life," he confirmed. "I owed you the truth for too long. I'm sorry I lied about my powers when we first met."

"It was so long ago, and it made sense you didn't want new acquaintances to know..."

"What I had done," Edgar finished darkly.

"So, the vision...?" I asked, to change topic.

Edgar looked at me. I had never seen him look so sad and so defeated. There was tragedy in his eyes.

"The only way I can break the curse," he said gravely. "Is by dying."

"What do you mean?" I asked. "You're not even part of the family. You don't need to sacrifice yourself."

Edgar showed me his hands, as if he was showing me the very source of his powers.

"Maybe I should tell you what I did as a child, in detail. It eventually made me run away from home."

"You ran away from your home... to protect your parents?" I asked in disbelief. It was cruel the hand destiny had dealt me. I was beginning to realize how much Edgar was worth, and he was destined to die.

"You're making it sound honourable," he said. "It wasn't. There simply wasn't another way my father could have loved me and I wasn't sure that I loved him. I was unsure of many things."

"I told you the truth about my childhood," he added. "I never practised healing magic but I was good at mind spells. I was a weird little Enchanter. My father noticed my powers were strange. He was a hybrid, but his powers were more reliable than mine. He didn't have much magic in his veins, though."

"Like my mother," I said.

"He taught me the patience to read all those books about magic. He made no secret that he thought I was somebody else's son, and that he was worried."

"How old were you?"

"Seven. Then, things changed. One day, Brady Doyle was at our house visiting a patient. When he asked me if I wanted to be the one who did the healing, I didn't think much of it. Many families of Enchanters all over the world have weird powers. Take the Evanesco family in Spain. They know how to become invisible since they are born. They don't have to learn black magic to do it. And it is said that people in the Ember family... can bring people back from the dead."

When I raised one of my eyebrows, Edgar added, "There's a legend that says that, at least."

"You were telling me about what happened that day," I reminded him gently.

"Yes," Edgar confirmed. "When I used my magic, I was afraid of failing. I always want to do everything perfectly. So, when I felt a source of energy pulling from inside of me, I reached out. It was the wrong thing to do."

"Your powers came out wrong. You accidentally hurt the patient," I guessed, because that was what he told me.

"I hurt my mother," Edgar said, pained. "Yes, the woman in the story was my mother. I could never bring myself to say it. She left home and went to live in the human realm. I thought that by running away from home, she would have come back to Dad, who became a drunk when she left."

I was speechless. "And you have never told anyone?"

"I have told Brady and Vitaly, but they agreed nobody should know about this."

He put his face in his hands and made a strange crying sound. Like the sound of an animal that had been wounded.

"Hey, I don't blame you," I tried to comfort him. I put my hands on his shoulders.

"I'm not even sure my father is my real father," he said. "I mean, I used to be. But if you think about the wine..."

"Maybe it was an exception," I said.

I didn't know what to say. Not only Edgar was not a hybrid, he was not his father's son. And his father had always suspected.

And then, there was the tragedy of his mother. But I didn't blame it for that. I never would.

"Tell me why you think you're going to die," I said, even though it cost me a lot to get the words out.

"I still don't understand how it is supposed to happen, but it was in the vision," he grimaced. "My guess? I might have to use my powers to break the curse. Maybe that is going to drain me. Maybe that's what is going to kill me."

I bit my lip. I didn't want to lose Edgar. It seemed like the worst thing in the world. 

"I have a plan," I said, weighting my words carefully. "To break the curse. It might not work. But I have it. I'd like to try it, before you do anything."

Edgar looked at me, shocked. He wasn't expecting me to have a back up plan. He wasn't expecting to survive, I realized.

"It might not work," he mumbled. "Don't get your hopes high."

I felt angry at the way he pretended he could keep his cool.

"Maybe it should have been me," I said. "It should have been me because I don't want to lose you, but you don't mind losing me."

I was feeling my face becoming red, but it didn't stop my words.

"When have I ever said that?"

"You keep staying away from me."

"I told you why..."

"Well, I want more than that from you," I rambled, angry that he could keep everything bottled up even when I couldn't. "I really, really care about you. I know you. I know you probably started planning since the day you met Ana. But I would never be part of a plan that doesn't protect you."

He opened his eyes wide, like he didn't know what to say.

"I've trusted you since I first met you," he said then, matter-of-factly.

"I remember you saying that you wished to all the gods that it wasn't so," I almost laughed. 

"But back then, you saved us from Samuel Winter, so I was right in my judgement. I remember saying I am always right, too," Edgar said smugly.

"If things were different..." I grinned. "If one of us wasn't destined to die, what a team of bonded warriors we would make."

Edgar looked happy enough to be on the verge of crying, something I hadn't seen often. I wanted to be able to add more, to tell him how much he meant to me. How I had been keeping those feelings bottled up because I thought I had to save the world before I dealt with them. How, through all of my life, I had always kept my feelings bottled up because I thought I didn't deserve my own happiness.

But before I could say anything, I started to feel a funny sensation. My vision was blurred, my body was tingling.

"Ed," I blurted out. "I don't feel so well..."

"Is it because of what I told you about the vision?" he asked.

I shook my head sternly. I felt like I was about to throw up.

I'm pretty sure people who pass out are not supposed to have visions while they're out. Apparently, I did.

I found myself in a white room that looked very much like the Void.

"What the..." I asked the people in front of me. "Let me pass out in peace, won't you?"

They were the Awakened. The all-knowing circle of people who tried to scheme behind my quest and behind my father's. An ex pirate, a monk, a circus owner, a woman that could turn into a crow and a non binary person that created the Void for them.

"Where is the Mirror?" Luther, the monk, asked. "I won't ask again."

"It's gone," I said defiantly. "Take the copy that's in the headquarters of the Circle if you liked it so much."

"There he goes with his fake bravado," Eileen, the ex pirate, said.

"I just want to know why I've been summoned," I replied, weakly.

"We have taken advantage of the only moment when you were weak enough to be summoned," Morgan, the circus owner, said. "Your defenses are usually too powerful. But don't worry, your body is where you left it. And, as you know, time don't pass when you're in the Void. It's like this little reunion has never happened."

"Unluckily," I said, "I always remember every detail of it when I wake up."

"Do you?" Jo, the creator of the Void asked. "If you do, then why did you destroy the Mirror instead of bringing it to us?"

I bit my lip. "It was us and Set," I explained. "In the same room. We did the only thing we could do before he got hold of the Mirror and use it to become more powerful."

"It makes sense," Aimee admitted.

"Glad to see you admitting it," I said with a smirk.

"That's because this your dream," Morgan said.

I felt a urge of panic. As a lucid dreamer, I could always tell at some point of the dream when I was dreaming. Except for the visions of the past, present and future.

"What kind of dream is it?" I asked. This time, I couldn't tell.

"A vision, and a powerful one at that," Morgan said. "It's half dream and half vision. And for once, you're not seeing it through someone else's eyes."

The realization hit me. I had never had a vision that was in my own point of view. I asked myself whether it was something that was supposed to happen, or if my powers were getting terribly out of control.

"Before you go, there's something we need to tell you," Eileen said.

The dream was already getting blurry. I saw Aimee trying to stop Eileen from speaking, but the pirate said, "he needs to know."

I never heard her words. The dream shifted.

I saw Risa in front of me. I heard the words that she said a few days before. It felt like a lifetime had passed.

If I were you, I'd stop thinking about it. But I'd start asking myself --- if I'm the liar, who am I lying to?

I woke up, startled. I tried to breathe, but it felt like I was running out of air. I was in Edgar's arms and he was looking at me. Then, I realized that Raegan and Jeff were looking at me too.

"What the heck?" Jeff exclaimed. "We lose sight of you for a few days, and you manage to save the kidnapped boy, get yourself blamed for Alice's death, prove she is still alive and now... this!"

"I think I'm amazing too," I agreed. Edgar looked like he was ready to drop me.

I wondered how he felt at the idea that I passed out during his confession. I wondered if I had said or did anything that proved that I loved him too. Sadly, I didn't think he got the hint.

"You two owe me an explanation," I told Jeff and Raegan. I got up, and untangled myself from Edgar's arms. "About what's going on with the Traditionalists."

"As a matter of fact, they probably don't want to be referred as the Traditionalists anymore," Jeff said smugly.

"Hey," Raegan gave him the stink eye.

"What? Agnes told me it's only a matter of time. Basically, they're tired of appearing like a cult. They thought they should evolve in some way."

"But they're more like philosophers," I said. I was thinking about those kind of Greek philosophers who were a bit out of their minds and did not wear shoes.

"Yes, but now it's different, what people know of Set," Raegan got to the point. "So, Humbert thought they'd become something better --- some kind of team that researches about the stories and see if there is a real life implication in what they tell, like your curse."

I let out a weak laugh.

"What?" Raegan asked. "It's a good idea."

"I... I thought we didn't like Humbert Russell much," I explained.

Humbert Russell had been rude to us. He might have been a better clan leader than Raegan ever was, but only if you believed it was a bad thing to attract attention. I didn't think so.

"Agnes was right," Raegan added. "He really does care about people. We might have underestimated him. Still, he won't be in the Traditionalists for long."

"Really?" I frowned.

"He's thinking about becoming a monk for the New Faith," Jeff said. He couldn't help but wince.

I raised an eyebrow. "So, do you and Raegan want to become part of this researching team?"

"I do," Raegan said truthfully. "It might be my calling, even more than being in politics. In that team there are the people I grew up with. It does not happen to everyone to become a leader at ten years old. At least, this time, I'll be part of something that's a bit less crazy."

It could have been Raegan's home, I realised. I remembered when, just a few days before, I really thought Mr and Mrs Barnes could be my home again. Turns out, I did not have a home. Maybe, if destiny was kind, I would be lucky enough to find one.

Still, Raegan had somewhere she belonged. I realised letting her go was for the best.

"Don't worry," she grinned. "I'll be living in Brighton for now. I want to finish my studies at the Academy. And after that, we're relocating our headquarters in London and I can reach it with a bus."

It was a bit dazzling to hear Raegan, who had grown up in a forest, talking about taking a bus to London.

"I won't join them," Jeff said, surprising me. "I'm not sure yet that's what I'm meant to do. I just like helping them out, that's all."

When he said the last phrase, his ears became pink.

"You like helping a certain someone out," I teased him, thinking about Agnes.

"Hey," Raegan said, not too kindly. "We're just friends, you know."

Everybody felt this was our cue to start a new conversation.

"Have you heard about Thomas Johnston?" Jeff asked.

Edgar gave him a look that could have murdered him. I wondered how he would have looked at Johnston if he had been here.

"We have heard too much," he replied.

"Oh... I wasn't referring to that," Jeff explained. "I was talking about the new role he wants to add in the council. He announced it this morning. Apparently, you haven't heard."

I didn't want to say out loud what was the last thing I had heard from Johnston.

"High Enchanter," Raegan smirked. "To help the Senate sort out the magical problems in the council."

"What?" I asked.

"The people in the Senate fancy that they're best Enchanters around," Jeff said. "But Johnston said they care more about politics than magic, so when things like the blackout happen, they know some sort of magic is to blame but they don't have time to figure out what it is. The High Enchanter would take care of stuff like that."

I nodded glumly. I couldn't help but be reminded of the fact that the blackout hadn't been solved yet.

"This must be why they were sucking up to you, Ryan," Edgar said. "But you can turn it down. It's up to you to decide."

I was too speechless to reply.

"Actually, I don't think Ryan would be their first choice," Raegan said.

"Thanks," I replied.

"Hey, man, you're still one of the suspects in Alice's disappearance. Even if you weren't, you are a seventeen-year-old who practises black magic and has been raised on the other side of town, so to speak."

"I wish someone wouldn't remind me everyday," I mumbled.

"Technically, they were reminding me," Edgar said, to my surprise. "Not that I had forgotten about it. Thinking on it, it was rash. You would be a terrible politician."

"So, who are they considering for the position of High Enchanter?" I asked.

"Our grandfather," Jeff replied.

I couldn't help but widen my eyes in shock. "His reputation is hardly better than ours!"

"Not really," Raegan said. "He's friend with all the horrible people like Branard Autumn or Thomas Johnston. I think that's probably all that matters."

The day after, my friends and I met up with Risa. She told us she had some news to share about the jobs we had given to her.

"Which one of our problems are you closer to resolving?" Jeff asked her.

As always, she seemed to find his gaze mesmerizing. She stammered something, but I couldn't make out the words.

"I'm thinking she's got leads on Alice's disappearance," I said. "It's what she said she would focus on."

Risa looked at her cup of tea. We went to this place where they served peculiar tea that tasted like flowers. It was the way tea tasted in the Aether realm, because of some tradition that had been passed on. I had chosen the lilac and lavender one.

"I can't focus on that anymore," Risa finally found the courage to say, looking up from the cup of her rosemary and thyme tea. "I already had leads on that, but Flora told me to rule out the fact that Jake did it. So, I don't know how to follow any other trail."

"So, what is it about?" Raegan asked.

"It's about the person who wrecked the Academy," she said. "I know you basically don't go to school anymore, but people are tend to be high-strug when there's a criminal around."

"Speaking of which," I realised, with a smirk. "Perhaps I shouldn't be out there drinking tea."

"Where would you rather be?" Risa asked. "In a prison cell? They can't prove it was you."

"Well, tell us about what you found," Jeff said.

Risa started speaking, when an elder Japanese man started making his way towards our table.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I have been living in Japan for the past decades. But when I heard... I couldn't help but come to Brighton. Pleasure to meet you."

"I'm sorry..." Jeff stuttered. "I don't understand."

I had always thought Jeff looked like a Winter, but the similarity between him and the older man was striking.

"My name is Kai Tanaka," he said. "And I'm your grandfather."

We sat at Kai's table. Jeff seemed to find shocking the idea that all that was left of his family were his two grandfathers, one so different from the other, but Kai assured him that his grandmother was alive as well.

Her name was Aina. Kai and Aina had gone back to Japan after their daughter's death, but Aina was willing to meet Jeff as well. 

"I didn't think you wanted to meet me," Jeff said.

"For what happened to Miuyki?" Kai asked. "You're not your father."

Jeff smiled sharply. His other grandfather did not agree.

Kai ordered mochi and offered them to us.

I beamed. I loved Asian food, and mochi were among my favourite. They were yellow, but when I tasted one, it didn't taste like lemon. Not quite.

"It's the lemons Enchanters grow in Japan," Kai explained. "They taste like a mix of lemon and tangerine, but they're sweet too."

"Do they magically grow lemons there?" I asked.

"The best in all the realms," Kai confirmed.

While we were drinking our tea, the Japanese Enchanter seemed to notice Risa.

"Who would you be? I'm not sure I've heard of you," he said. Then, his eyes shone and his voice became softer. "You must be my grandson's girlfriend!" he decided.

Risa's cheeks became bright red. "No... I'm not," she stammered.

"She's a detective," Jeff said. "As a matter of fact, she was telling us some news about a mystery we were involved in."

"My bad," Kai said. He looked sorry he had interrupted us. "Then, by any means, proceed."

I exchanged looks from my friends. In that moment, we decided we could trust Mr Tanaka with our secret.

"It's Jake," Risa said. She said it quickly, as if she wanted to be done with it.

"You already told us that," I said.

"No," she said, her voice more confident. "It's Jake who has written 'Liar' on the mirror."

I froze. For some reason, I couldn't help but think the writing was directed at me. But, like Risa asked, who was I lying to?

Since I didn't reply, Risa mistook my silence for something else.

"Look, I'm sorry," she said. "It must look like I'm blaming him of everything. But I got proves this time."

Jeff blinked back tears from his eyes. Jake had never liked him much, but he was like a brother to him. A super annoying brother, but still.

"Proves?" he asked softly.

Risa nodded. "The Senate let me run a test. Jake's blood matches the one on the wall."