Домагой Курмаич - Mother of Learning

"Ha ha!" Silverlake cackled. "See, I told you they would bring those two with them and none other. Pay up!"

"We never actually agreed to any bets," Red Robe protested.

"Bah! You’re supposed to play along for appearances sake!" Silverlake said, scowling at him. "Whatever. Zorian, did you reconsider my offer? It still stands, you know?"

"Shut up," Red Robe snapped at her. "Everyone, I’d like to apologize for her actions recently. I know you probably think I sent her to sow dissent into your group, but that was entirely her own idea. She seems to think there is a genuine chance of convincing mister Kazinski to join us in freeing the primordial, but we all know that is just a fantasy."

Yeah, as if Zorian was going to believe that. He fully believed that Silverlake being there was an attempt to make Zorian and Zach fight amongst each other. He also suspected it was an attempt by Red Robe and Silverlake to reduce the number of enemies lined up against them, since Zorian was far less likely to keep telling people about the time loop if he knew that would get Zach killed. Which was what ended up happening in the end.

One thing he didn’t believe for a moment was the idea that Silverlake actually made an honest offer for him to join her. Her natural instinct was to exploit others, not work with them.

"As if your plan is any better," Silverlake complained. "Why do you think–"

"I thought we agreed I’ll be doing the talking?" Red Robe protested with a sigh.

Silverlake clacked her tongue dismissively and then conjured herself a chair to sit on.

Quatach-Ichl did not react at all to his companion’s antics, opting to study Zorian and his group instead.

A short and very uncomfortably silence descended on the scene. Everyone involved was tense and seemed to be ready to attack at a moment’s notice. Even Silverlake, who was sitting on a conjured chair and tried to give off an impression of being bored and inattentive, was clearly twitching whenever someone made an unexpected move.

"What is this all about?" Zach finally asked. "You’re the one who invited us here, so why are you silent all of a sudden? Don’t waste our time."

"Ah… even after all this time, you still haven’t changed. Still so impatient…" Red Robe said softly, as if reminiscing about something.

Zach frowned at him, clearly considering the merits of just starting a battle here and now.

"I see you came here unmasked," Red Robe commented.

"You already know who we are," Zach shrugged. "Is there any point in hiding our faces?"

"True," Red Robe nodded. "Well, I guess there’s no point in hiding my identity any longer, either."

He pulled his hood down, and the path of darkness that hid his face suddenly disappeared.

It was Veyers. The same face, the same blonde hair, the same orange, slitted eyes. The main difference was that his hair was well-groomed, his eyes lacked some of that ferocity and violence he had seen in Veyers recently, and his entire attitude was calm and more assured.

"I’m guessing this isn’t much of a surprise to you," Red Robe said. Without the voice masking spells embedded into the hood of his robe, even his voice was recognizably that of Veyers. Just calmer and quieter. "Still, I hope you take this gesture of good will as just that. I’m not a monster you think I am, and I really thing we can come to a sort of agreement here."

Zorian studied the boy in front of him for a few seconds before shaking his head.

"You say it’s a gesture of good will and you show us a fake face and identity," Zorian told him. "How do you expect us to agree to anything when you opened the talks with such a brazen deception?"

Veyers looked honestly taken aback at the accusation.

"You’re overthinking things," Silverlake said, rolling her eyes at him. "It’s really him. Who else could it be, really?"

"No, he’s not Veyers," Zorian insisted. "It never made sense and still doesn’t."

Zach sent Zorian an almost imperceptible frown. He clearly didn’t understand why Zorian was so certain, but didn’t want to call him on it.

Zorian didn’t blame him. He had long had his suspicions, but it was only when he saw the true form of Zach’s angelic contract that he became completely certain…

"Are you asking me to prove that I’m Veyers?" Red Robe said with an amused laugh. "What would even satisfy you?"

"Every student has to give their mana signature to the academy for identification purposes," Xvim suddenly said, reaching into his jacket pocket and retrieving an inconspicuous looking ball out of it. He displayed it for everyone to see. "Proving whether or not you’re Veyers… should be an extremely simple matter."

Red Robe stared at the ball for a few seconds before bursting into short, barking laughter.

"Oh hell…" he said, chuckling to himself. "I can’t believe I overlooked something as simple as that…"

Silverlake gave him a shocked look.

"Feeling dumb, now?" Red Robe said, giving her a contemptuous look. "You spent all these days interacting with me and never suspected a thing, but mister Kazinski here saw though it immediately. Maybe you should have asked to join him instead."

He then ignored her and turned to face Zorian fully.

"I guess you also know who I really am?" he asked, tilting his head to the side with a self-indulgent smile.

"You’re Jornak, Veyers’s lawyer friend," Zorian said. "I’m guessing Veyers introduced you to Zach, and you hit it off with each other since you have both been cheated out of your inheritance and empathized with each other because of it. He didn’t realize you have ties to the Esoteric Order of the Celestial Dragon until it was too late."

"The Cult of the Dragon is nothing to me," Red Robe said. He still continued wearing Veyers’s face. "I was never seriously loyal to them, even before the time loop."

"So why…" Zach asked him, looking at him with confused eyes. "If Zorian could trick the time loop into letting him leave, then you–"

"You don’t understand," Red Robe said, shaking his head sadly. "You just wouldn’t understand, no matter how I tried to convince you. This knowledge… this power… it’s just begging to be used. Shutur-Tarana changed the world entirely when he left the time loop. Why can’t I? Why couldn’t we ?"

Zach seemed taken aback at the question.

"Have you two ever tried to look into what our country has been doing these past few years?" Red Robe said, looking at Zorian. "I just wanted to figure out how to ensure justice for me and Zach at first. However, I couldn’t stop myself from looking… and the more I looked, the more awful things I found. The prosperity we enjoy right now is all built atop of mountain of lies, theft, unspeakable corruption and even straight up murder. Even if I got justice for myself and Zach, it’s all just a drop in the bucket."

"The other countries are no better," Alanic pointed out.

"Yes! Yes, I know that!" Red Robe said, agreeing vigorously. "I’ve looked into them as well, and it was just as disgusting. And… even if one wanted to shut their eyes and ignore all the violations, the current state of peace is just a fragile illusion. Another round of Splinter Wars will occur soon, with all the pain and suffering that entails. Something had to be done. I had to do something. But Zach wouldn’t hear any of it. He just wanted to stop the invasion, get the money his caretaker had taken from him and look away from the ugliness of the world. We had this incredible opportunity to change things for the better, and he was fine letting it slip through his fingers."

"I hate to break it to you, but you’re trying to raze an entire city of half a million people to the ground and feed their souls to a wraith creation machine," Zach told him. "If that’s your vision of changing things for the better , I’m not surprised my forgotten self would have none of it."