There has never been much substance to Morgana's life. Most of her memories were occupied by a dark skinned woman with a wide, white witch hat, smiling at her and talking to her in a comforting voice. She was clad in white, wore silver lined glasses and had wide, circular golden earrings along with a pair of white gloves that Morgana never saw being removed even once during her entire lifetime. The one thing Morgana remembers more clearly than anything else about her was her eyes. Those large, gray eyes that never seemed to change to express any emotion, no matter how calming the witch's voice may have been or how reassuring her words were.
She always hated the moments when the witch talked, because that meant that the pain was about to begin. Morgana never actually got accustomed to the sensation of the witch's metal tools working their way through her flesh, and the sudden spikes of pain that occurred whenever one of her nerves was severed and then reattached through what she was told was healing magic. The posed as her mother, and had taught her a few words of Greek to communicate with her, along with the meaning of the word magic: a formidable force, taking many shapes and forms depending on the user. It was mustered from the divine energy provided by the planet, the Earth Mother Gaïa, and was accurately named magical energy. She was told that the magic that the witch was using was named witchcraft, a magic developed for the sole purpose of defying the laws of biology and mingling with life to create chimeras. She did not hate witchcraft itself: rather, she resented the witch for using it on her. Morgana's only moment of social interaction was during her meals, since her mother was personally cooking for about ten other boys and girls, and they would all eat in a common room with multiple tables and chairs, under the witch's watchful eyes. She had bonded with one of them, a girl that looked around her age, after her sixth year of captivity. She claimed her name was Test 46, had black hair and wide, pitch black eyes that made staring at her akin to looking into an abyss. By talking to her, Morgana learned that the witch was also Test 46's mother, meaning the both of them were sisters. One day, the witch approached the both of them after seeing them tossing a potato slice at each other to distract themselves.
- "Good morning, my dear daughters." The witch spoke in a soft tone. "May I ask what you are doing with your breakfast ?"
- "Go. Away." Morgana angrily replies with her very basic knowledge of Greek, that her mother taught her to communicate. She was frowning, and her lower lip was trembling.
- "Is it about yesterday ?"
- "Yes. Go. Away."
- "You shouldn't talk to your mother in such an aggressive fashion."
- "Then. Mother. No. Talk. To. Morgana." Morgana answers, throwing the potato slice she was holding at the witch. She sees her white pointy hat twitch, and the potato slice is pushed to the right by an invisible force, colliding with the ceiling and turning into a yellow stain.
- "You would be well advised to use "me" or "I" instead of your own name when referring to yourself. Regardless of that, I only removed your right leg from your body for five minutes."
- "Morgana. Leg. Pain. Lot-"
- "Didn't I tell you to use "me" and not your name for that ?" The witch smiles, the corners of her mouth rising unnaturally high. "I believe I could improve your speech by removing the upper portion of your skull and rearranging the synapses of your brain a little."
- "No." Morgana flinches. She hated that smile in particular, as it meant that the witch had an idea she was about to put to the test. The place she hated to be operated on the most was the head, since it was the process causing her the most pain of all. "Please. Mor- Me. Sorry."
- "Get up." The witch says, disregarding her pleas. "We are headed to the laboratory, your breakfast can wait."
- "Wait." The black haired girl panickedly says. She had been staying silent the entire time, waiting for the storm to pass.
- "What might be the matter, Test 46 ?" The witch replies. The other children were staring at the scene, silent as usual. As a matter of fact, Morgana and Test 46 were the only ones who weren't terrified of talking when unprompted, which was what brought them together in the first place.
- "I…" Test 46 hesitates before steeling her resolve. "I don't think you should do that to her."
Morgana's eyes widen in surprise, and the witch raises an eyebrow. Test 46 had only been speaking in a very crude and simple way, the exact same way Morgana was. The witch then has a wide, happy grin.
- "This is a most wonderful surprise, Test 46. Your learning abilities are far beyond what I expected, did you hide them on purpose ?" Her smile doesn't disappear, but her tone shifts to something colder, far removed from what her expression suggested.
- "I did." Test 46 waves her hand in Morgana's direction, and a stream of swirling shadows erupts from it. It takes the shape of a sharp blade made of shadows, and stops mere millimeters short of Morgana's right eye. The latter rears back in fear, but the blade accurately follows her.
In response, one of the witch's white gloves seems to come to life, the leather twitching and stretching. Suddenly, the index finger of the glove extends towards Test 46 at a speed that makes it practically invisible, stopping right in front of her throat and quickly wrapping around it. She doesn't flinch.
- "That certainly is an interesting course of action. What exactly are you attempting to do ?" The witch calmly says.
- "Test. 46 ?..." Morgana asks, confused.
- "Trust me." Test 46 replies before turning to the witch. "Mother, I ask that you release both Morgana and I."
- "I see." The witch replies. "And what exactly makes you think you would be capable of surviving outside of my laboratory ?"
- "Nothing. But I know you can't refuse."
- "Why so ?" She curiously asks.
- "I'm going to execute Morgana if you do so." She feels the glove's wrap tighten around her neck. "I've set my spell to always be moving in a given direction, and I'm the one holding it back right now. If you kill me, it will fly through her eye and pierce her brain, killing her on the spot."
- "A dazzling display of Shadow magic, I must say." The witch lightly claps, and her smile suddenly disappears. "Who taught you such a precise mastery of it ?"
- "I wouldn't tell you even if you threatened me."
- "I see… You have been playing your cards close to your chest, I commend you for that. You are right, I cannot afford you killing your sister. She is yet to be perfected, and is one of my most promising works to this day. She is destined to stand at the pinnacle of witch society."
- "I don't think she cares about that." Test 46 irritatedly replies.
- "She will, in due time. Even if you do escape, I will find you wherever you decide to hide. I will be searching through every realm in existence for thousands of years if need be."
- "Then, kill me. I don't…" She pauses for a second, mustering up as much courage as she could. "I don't want to live here anymore. I want to go outside."
- "I am afraid you do not have a say in the matter, you are too important for me to simply release you." The witch sighs. "One last question, you mentioned Morgana and yourself, correct ? Why would you not advocate for the other test subjects ?"
- "The other test subjects ?..." Test 46 looks around, crossing eyes with all the children in the room. "I don't care. The only one that talked to me was Morgana. If they wanted to get out too, they would've done something." She finishes, in an accusatory tone. The other children either are completely unresponsive or look away to avoid having to sustain her gaze.
- "I see. I have heard enough, you will be of great use."
- "What do you mean ?..."
- "Umbra mortem." The witch says before snapping her fingers, and the shadows that Test 46 manifested rapidly disappear, the latter falling face first on the table, completely limp.
- "What ?... How ?..." Test 46 manages to say, her lips struggling to move up and down.
- "Contrary to your sister Morgana, I've never had to forcibly limit your magical energy output in the past. I assume you were unaware I was capable of that, and that it would immobilize you."
Test 46 stays silent, staring at the witch's face with fear growing in her eyes as she looks down at her, a grin stretching across her face.
- "I heavily misjudged your potential, I need to relocate you posthaste. You could be perfected even faster than Morgana if luck is on my side." The witch says as she lifts Test 46 from her chair and happily starts walking away, whistling a tune Morgana was unfamiliar with.
- "Stop." Morgana says as she grabs her wrist. She is surprised by the amount of physical strength the witch has, and is violently dragged along for a second. She falls to the ground, scraping her knees.
- "Well this simply won't do." The witch comments, looking down at Morgana with pity. "I promise I will heal you when I return, do behave in the meantime." She turns to the rest of the children. "Finish your breakfast, I want everyone back to their rooms when I come back."
The children start frantically eating like they were possessed, and Morgana lunges towards her mother, biting into her arm. The witch effortlessly shakes her off, unfazed by her efforts.
- "Violence will not solve anything, Morgana." The witch calmly says as Morgana repeatedly gets up to bite her again.
- "You ! No ! Take ! Sister !" Morgana screams.
- "Ignis mortem." She sighs before snapping her fingers, and Morgana feels all the strength in her body leave. Her mother grabs her wrist before she hits the ground, softening her fall. "I will be back soon."
She walks out of the room, and Morgana is left crying on the floor. The last thing she hears is Test 46 calling out to her from a distance.
- "Morgana, I swear we'll go outside together !" Her voice echoes through the corridor leading to the dining room.
- "Swear ?..." Morgana painfully raises her head. "Come. Back…"
- "It's a promise, that means I'll do it no matter what !! I will find a way, so you don't have to cry anymore ! And if I can't manage it, then I'm sure you can escape on your own, you're stronger than Mother makes you think you are !"
- "A. Way…" Morgana manages to focus her blurry vision on the corridor, and she sees Test 46 flashing a bright smile at her, with her eyes closed while she is being carried away.
- "I might only be your little sister, but I-"
She doesn't have the time to finish her sentence as the witch whispers something to her ear and Test 46 immediately falls unconscious. She finally walks out of sight, and Morgana's sadness turns into rage.
Morgana's mother returns to her laboratory a few hours later, and finds it thrashed beyond repair. Originally, it was a massive stone room with surgical tools spread across the space, floating in the air. Tables were orderly placed across the space, with various items on them emanating magical energy. Jars containing liquids and fleshy, organ-like objects were placed on pedestals and stools along with some of the magic items present in the lab. Now, dozens of glass containers were scattered in pieces on the floor, some of the fine metallic tools were bent out of shape and the sharper ones looked like they had been bashed against a hard surface to the point where their edge turned blunt. Magic items of all kinds were sprinkled around the room, having been thrown off the tables and pedestals they were originally resting on. Morgana was standing amidst the chaos, repeatedly smashing a scalpel onto the stone floor with an expression of pure rage on her face.
- "Morgana ?" The witch gently calls out.
- "What ?!" Morgana aggressively replies as she whips around to face her.
- "What is the meaning of this ?"
- "Morgana ! Break ! Everything !" The blade of the scalpel comes off, flying towards the far wall and leaving a cut in her hand.
- "I hope that this made you happier." The witch replies without a hint of anger in her voice as she starts to pick up the tools that more or less survived Morgana's wrath.
- "Not ! Happy !"
- "Oh please, do not say that. You are perfectly happy as it is."
- "Morgana ! Not !"
- "I am saddened to hear this. However, hearing you speak reminded me that I still have to test my theory. Additionally, I will dispose of your memories of Test 46, they might pose a problem for your future."
- "What ?..." Morgana quickly understands, and she turns pale.
- "Get into the Ring, I will get my tools in order."
The witch starts foraging through the pile of broken objects, trying to find a usable bone saw. She notices Morgana, still standing in place with a terrified look on her face.
- "Morgana ?" The witch softly asks.
- "Ring…" She replies, a primal fear filling her eyes as her pupils shrink.
- "Morgana." She repeats, without asking this time.
Resigned, Morgana walks towards a very specific spot in the laboratory, still visible under the debris. She dreaded this as much as the thought of losing the company of Test 46, but she knew that if she refused, her mother would just paralyze her and perform her experiments anyways. Morgana had sometimes seen the other children also being brought to what the witch called the Ring, when she left to go back to her room, which was a stone cell with its heavy iron door connected to the laboratory. Its only furniture was a very comfortable bed, made of beautiful silks and stuffed with feathers softer than anything else she knew. The Ring itself was a large, chalk drawn circle drawn on the ground, glowing a bright blue light most of the time, and was where the witch operated on Morgana and the other children with her tools. Whenever Morgana stepped into it, gravity seemed to lose its hold on her and her blood would be stopped from properly flowing out of her body when cuts were made into her flesh. This was the most painful moment of her day, and the second one in that list was the burning. Every time she would go back to her room, her entire body would burst into flames from the inside out without fault, after about a minute. It was as if the fire itself was attempting to escape from her as soon as she left the confines of the laboratory or the dining room. She had grown completely numb to the physical suffering this was initially causing her, but what hurt her the most was that the heat would incinerate all the small critters that made it into her room, from cockroaches to mice. That was until she was completely alone again and surrounded by piles of ashes, the only thing unaffected by the flames being her bed. She particularly liked mice and other rodents, since watching them forage for food was the only distraction she had, when she wasn't burning. Well that is not entirely true. The other distractions, albeit ones she would rather not have as they would make her afraid she was next, were the screams of the other children coming from her mother's laboratory, in other words the location where the Ring was. This had been her daily routine for sixteen years now, or at least that's what the witch told her the time elapsed was. Morgana attempted to escape multiple times, after being inspired by… What was she inspired by again ? She didn't know anymore, nor did it matter to her. She has even attempted to fight the witch every time she was caught, to no avail. Her magical energy would leave her body immediately every time her mother snapped her fingers, rendering her essentially powerless to fight back. She would then be taken back to her room, and the cycle would repeat.
Eventually, she gave up on escaping and attempted to take her own life by bashing her head into the walls, only for her injuries to regenerate almost immediately thanks to a spell her mother placed on her to keep her healthy when she was locked inside her room. Her resolve wasn't strong enough to choose not to consume the food and water she was provided in order to succumb to starvation or dehydration, and the aroma of the luxurious, homemade foods presented to her was almost hypnotizing.
She was gradually growing unresponsive to any external stimuli, and she already knew that the children that became like her eventually were thrown into the pit on the other side of the laboratory, which she had never seen the bottom of. She never saw anyone that was thrown in there ever again, but they were quickly replaced with new children anyways. She didn't care if that happened to her anymore, she was simply tired of her own existence.
One day, the door to her cell opened unusually slowly, and Morgana figured the day had come. She was relieved, until she heard a voice that wasn't that of the witch, but one that sounded like that of the boys she could hear from her room whenever they were in the Ring, with a deeper tone to it.
- "Hmm nothing here huh ? Oh wait, the bed's on fire. Weird."
The figure standing at the entrance walks forward, and small, floating flames begin surrounding them, faintly lighting up the room. Morgana could now see the outline of the person's face, and she was surprised by what she was observing. It was a human, with an anatomy that she assumed was the same as the boys she had seen before, but way taller and wearing clothes that weren't torn or burnt like all the other people she had seen here, besides the witch. She immediately jumps back, getting closer to the wall, assuming that this person was related to her mother. They were wearing an elegant purple cape lined with gold, and had black hair, some of it being tied at the back of their head.
- "Holy shit that's a monster !" The man takes a step back, and takes out a book from under his cape, and the flames surrounding him increase in intensity, lighting up the entire cell. "Oh wait, it's humanoïd. Hello ? Are you some kind of demon or something ? Do we gotta fight it out ?"
Morgana doesn't answer at first, and she simply watches him silently. She could now see that he had green eyes, and wide with panic. This made her doubt his intentions, as she had no idea why he would be scared.
- "I'll take that as a no ?... What is this place even ? I just stumbled upon it in the woods, ran into a tree and here I was."
- "Who ?" Morgana finally answers.
- "Oh so you do talk ! What do you mean, who ? Are you the guardian of this place or something fancy like that ? Cause you sure look the part."
- "Who ? You ?" She pauses. "You. Not. Like. Mother."
- "Woah your speech pattern is scuffed. My identity is better kept secret ! I'm assuming that this mother person is the owner of this place ?"
Morgana takes a second to process the sentence, and nods in response.
- "...Mother. Not. Here." She adds after a bit of hesitation.
- "Great ! It's lootin' time. I'm sure I can find some great stuff here, and it certainly looks like she doesn't deserve it anyways. Place's morbid, I tell you. Also what's your name ?"
- "Morgana." she replies instantly.
- "Cool ! Morgana, you mind telling me where the good stuff is around this place ? Enchanted items and that kinda thing preferably."
- "Don't. Know."
- "Ah. Well too bad, see you later then !" He leaves, then comes back a couple seconds later. "By the way, in case you're unaware, your flesh's burning. Doesn't that hurt or something ?"
- "Pain. No more."
- "Well, that's concerning at best. Here, that's my act of goodwill for the day." He waves his hand in Morgana's direction, and the flames surrounding her body are slowly absorbed into the book he is holding.
It is a very novel sensation for Morgana, as the flames are eventually completely put out and seemingly will be gone for some time before they start burning again.
- "By Hermes, you've probably seen better days." The man comments, as Morgana's appearance is revealed. She was covered in soot and ashes, and her clothes were in a pitiful state, barely recognizable as anything else than rags despites being strangely devoid of burn marks. She had a feral expression on her face, her hair was pitch black and her eyes were a striking red, almost glowing.
Morgana takes a moment to look at her hands. This was the first time she wasn't burning for an extended period of time, and all traces of animosity quickly leave her expression, turning into confusion.
- "Me. No. Burn ?..."
- "Well for some time anyways. No need to thank me, it'll probably start right back up soon enough, I'm not THAT good with Fire magic."
- "Thank ?"
- "Why are you saying this like you're learning this word ?"
- "Me. Speak. Few. Greek."
- "I knew something was up but wow. What kind of messed up stuff happened in this place ?..."
Suddenly, a flash of blue light illuminates the cell and the laboratory behind the man.
- "Mother. Coming." She says in a panic, and they start hearing extremely faint footsteps in the distance, slowly getting closer.
- "Oh. Oh no. Oh hell no !" The man runs for the door and seems to haphazardly grab something from one of the many tables of the laboratory that had books, notes and strange objects on them radiating magical energy. He then starts sprinting in a direction, before stopping abruptly looking hesitant. After that, he whips around and runs back towards Morgana's cell and grabs her hand. "Come on, let's go !"
Surprised, Morgana doesn't really resist, as she knows that she will be caught no matter what they do. There was only one way to get in and out of the laboratory, and it was a long corridor with an ornate wooden door at the end, that Morgana was incapable of opening. Every time she would get close to it, it would repel her with a powerful wave of wind, preventing her from ever touching the handle. As they enter the lab and get closer to the corridor, they both see the witch standing at its entrance, a light smile on her lips.
- "Well, well well. It seems like another curious soul has found its way into my workshop. What should I do with you ?" The witch says, her glacial voice resonating throughout the laboratory.
- "Sorry ma'am but you got the wrong guy here !" The man replies, as he takes a step back, hiding the item he seized in his cape.
- "Lying will not save you. Unhand my daughter." The entire laboratory starts to shake after she says that, and the man looks around with his eyes widening in surprise.
- "Woah an earthquake ?!" He exclaims. "I might be punching a little bit above my weight class here !" He takes his book out of his cape, and its pages start burning as they flip on their own. Morgana could sense a massive amount of magical energy oozing from it, larger than anything she had ever seen. "Whoa, that's the threat level ?! Come on Codex you know I can't control that much energy, especially if you mount an offense like that !" He continues, seemingly talking directly to the book.
- "How curious." The witch comments. "How are you in possession of a divine construct ?"
- "Hard work and determination ! Probably !" He brazenly replies. The book's pages start furiously flipping and its flames grow taller.
- "This is inconvenient." The witch says, detaching her gaze from the book and frowning at Morgana. "I do not wish for her to be injured, but this situation is bound to degenerate into violence." She sighs, looking up towards the ceiling, the light of the chandelier reflecting in her glasses. "Great Hecate, why do humans use magic for evil ?"
- "From what I've seen, if anyone's using magic for evil it's you…" The man observes. "Look at the state of your so-called daughter !"
- "Nonsense." The witch cuts. "All I do, I do for the happiness of my children. That is the furthest removed thing from evil on this earth."
- "She's shaking in fear at the mere sight of you, and you locked her up in a damn jail cell." The man abruptly replies, his face turning a slight shade of red in anger. "You call that happy ?"
- "She does not yet understand, is all. Let us come to a compromise: unhand my daughter, and I will allow you to leave my laboratory under the condition that you keep its existence a secret."
- "Seriously ?... How can I know you won't just track me down somehow to silence me ?"
- "I call upon the goddess Styx as a witness of my sincere vow. I swear not to pursue you, so long as you return my daughter to me. You shall be allowed safe passage from my realm to the outside."
The light level of the room suddenly drops, and the candles on the chandelier above them are partially snuffed out. A dark presence was now permeating the laboratory.
- "That's… really hardcore. That means you can't be lying, or your soul would be claimed instantly." The man says, his left eye twitching.
- "You would be correct. Come now." The witch extends her hand towards the both of them.
- "..." The man looks down and his eyes meet Morgana's.
She had been staring at her mother for the entire duration of the exchange, and her hand was still shaking. When she looked up at him, she mustered a weak smile.
- "You. Go. Outside. I. Find. My. Way. There. Alone. One. Day."
- "..." The man's grip on her hand loosens, and he stays silent.
- "Thank. You. For. Trying." Morgana continues with a tear streaming down her face. She wipes it, but another takes its place quickly after.
- "...Like I'd let that happen !" The man finally shouts, startling both Morgana and her mother. His grip tightens, even stronger. "Sorry, I had a lapse of weakness there !" He confidently smiles at Morgana.
- "This is nonsensical. I offered you the easiest alternative, why would you reject it ?" The witch asks, her eyebrows raised.
- "She reminds me of myself in more ways than one. Plus, what kind of adult would leave a kid fending for themselves when they're so obviously in danger ? Not the kind I am, I'll tell you that much !" The book he's holding emits a cloud of sparks, as if it was directly reacting to his words
- "I see. You are not even worth keeping as a test subject."
- "Well I'm glad that's the case ! Eat this !"
The flames of the book take the shape of a long spear, hovering above the man's head and pointed directly at the witch. She raises her hand in front of her, not casting any apparent form of magic to defend herself. However, the spear is never launched. Instead, the witch hears a sound coming from the floor, and sees a small glowing marble rolling towards her. The man was covering Morgana's eyes and his own when she looked up at them again, at a loss for words.
- "Release !" The man shouts, and the marble explodes in a flash of light, blinding her. "Lord Hermes, grant us your protection !"
He removes his hand from Morgana's face, allowing her to see again. She notices that the man was translucid, and so was she.
- "What. This ?..." She asks, worriedly looking at her mother. The latter was heavily disoriented, struggling to open her eyes.
- "An orb of condensed Light magic. I have a bunch of self defense items like that on me, in case I get attacked by freaks or monsters. I didn't expect it to work that well though, she must have really good eyesight. Now come on, she can't hear or see us for now so let's get to the exit !"
They run towards the corridor on the other side of the laboratory, and eventually the door Morgana had seen so many times during her escape attempts is in sight. As they approach, Morgana is blown away by an insanely powerful gust of wind. The man, still holding onto her hand, is also pushed back by the gale and they roll on the floor a few meters away.
- "What was that ?!" He loudly whispers.
- "Spell. On. Door." Morgana replies, resigned. "For. Me."
- "Damn it !"
The man takes out more various magic items from his cape and tries them on the door, aiming to destroy it. His efforts bear no fruit however. May it be fire blasts, lightning bolts or ice, nothing was enough to destroy the door or the invisible spell tied to it. After about a minute, they hear footsteps behind them and Morgana curls up into a ball on the floor.
- "Are you finally realizing the depths of your folly ?" The witch asks from the other end of the corridor. She was slowly approaching from the shadows, her face cloaked in darkness.
- "What is this door made of anyway ?!" The man exclaims.
- "Hard work and determination ? Most likely ?" The witch answers with a wide grin.
- "Did you just crack a joke ?..."
- "I am simply matching your ridiculous way of withholding information."
- " Please never do that again, it's somehow creepier than you throwing threats around."
- "Nonsense." The entire structure starts to shake once more.
- "Again with the earthquakes ?" The man complains. "I don't think I have much of a choice anymore…"
A golden light suddenly starts emanating from his book, and its flames are extinguished completely. A small pair of wings emerges from its cover, their feathers emitting a soft blue glow.
- "Lord Hermes !" The man calls out to the ceiling above him. "I invoke my one and only favor here and now !"
- "Divine intervention ?..." The witch frowns, incredulous. The rim of her hat undulates and multiple, massive white fangs emerge from it. "I might have to resort to violence after all. I will do my best to heal any damage you sustain." She continues, talking directly to Morgana this time.
- "Clear the path in front of me !" The man finishes his incantation, and the door starts to emit sparks of golden light, similar to that produced by the book he was holding.
The witch's hat twitches and the fangs dart towards the both of them, expanding and filling the corridor with their sheer size. They were cutting through the stone like butter, but they stopped short of reaching them. The book that the man was holding was once again emitting terrifying amounts of magical energy, and he was standing in front of Morgana.
- "I'm not going down without a fight !" He shouts. "Codex is raring to go, and that spell I'm preparing is probably going to blow up this entire place if I unleash it ! Think about your next move carefully."
- "You would willingly put yourself and my daughter at risk ?" The witch asks in a menacing tone. She wasn't visible, due to the mess of fangs filling the corridor, but Morgana could tell she was not happy.
- "I'd rather go out on my own terms if I'm going to die !"
- "You thoroughly irritate me." The witch replies with a chilling voice.
- "Oh I have choice words for you too, trust me !"
With a creak, the door starts slowly opening and they all feel a light gust of wind blow through the corridor.
- "It's done !" The man exclaims. "This is the last stretch !" He extends his hand towards Morgana, who almost instinctively grabs it and gets back up on her feet.
- "You. Could. Leave. Alone." She says, confused.
- "Like I'd ever get a good night's sleep after willingly leaving someone in a situation like that. I'd rather be dead !" He smirks, and they both start carefully backing away towards the door, making sure to keep the witch in sight. Well at least, the man was. Morgana was simply incapable of detaching her gaze from her mother.
- "Morgana, let go of his hand." The witch whispers. She smiles, the same way she always does when talking to her, but Morgana could feel the underlying threat.
Paralyzed, Morgana stops moving as the witch keeps staring straight into her eyes with her chillingly serene expression. She could hear the man talking to her, but she couldn't hear anything he was saying. It was as if the only two people in existence at this instant were her, and her mother.
- "Morgana, this is your last chance. Let go of his hand." The witch continues.
- "...No." Morgana finally replies in a defiant tone. The fear in her eyes had left, replaced with an unwavering determination.
- "I see this wasn't effective. I will leave the cleanup to Test 782 then."
When she says that, both Morgana and the man run towards the door, and she is blinded by the golden light as she enters it. The next second, she is standing on grass, in the middle of a forest. Her senses are immediately overloaded by sounds, colors and smells that she had never experienced before, and she simply stands there without moving. Her trance is interrupted by a loud cracking sound, as one of the surrounding trees begins to glow a bright yellow light, before it is distorted and its bark is turned into tendrils of wood, forming a massive, twenty meter tall amalgamation of branches and yellow light in the form of a tentacular abomination. It starts advancing towards Morgana, slowly picking up speed as it goes, crushing trees and boulders in its wake.
She is frozen in fear at this sight, as she had never seen anything like this before. As the monster is closing in, a wooden construct with wheels pulled by two strange quadrupedal creatures stops next to her, with the man standing on top of it, his hand extended towards Morgana.
- "Hey ! You wanna leave too or you're just gonna let yourself get torn to shreds by this thing ?!" he shouts.
- "Leave !" Morgana vigorously replies as she takes his hand and climbs up onto the wooden construct.
- "Alright, we're off !" he tugs on the reins and the quadrupedal creatures begin a mad dash to get away from the abomination, who begins chasing them relentlessly.
The monster gives chase for thirty terrifying minutes, matching the horses in speed and outperforming them in the stamina department. Luckily, it stops pursuing them at the end of said thirty minutes, when they finally make it out of the flatter part of the forest and into a more mountainous area. The man stops the wooden construct they were riding on, and the horses collapse to the ground due to exhaustion.
- "By Hermes, that wasn't easy… I can't feel my hands anymore." The man says as he jumps off the construct to lay on the floor.
- "Very. Weird. Tall. Mice." Morgana replies, as she points to the creatures that were pulling the wooden construct.
- "Mice ?... Right you probably don't know. These are horses ! And for rented ones, they did a pretty damn good job !" The man gets up from the ground and walks to the back of his carriage before coming back with a few apples that he feeds to the overworked horses.
- "You. Tall. Boy. Weird." she says as she points to him.
- "Tall boy ?! I'll let you know I'm 25 years old ! I'm a man ! M-A-N !"
- "Boy. Man. Not. Happy."
- "It's just man, not boy-man… Also you gave me your name, so it's basic etiquette that I give you mine. I'm Adelaios, a wandering merchant. Nice to meet you, even if the circumstances could be better !"
- "Adelaios… What. This ?" she points at the source of light above them.
- "Oh that's… the sun."
- "Sun… Ceiling. High. And blue. What. This ?"
- "That's the sky, not a ceiling. I guess it makes sense you don't know that, since you seem to have been living underground your entire life."
- "Underground ?"
Morgana keeps asking questions to Adelaios about various, seemingly basic things like what a carriage, trees or even grass are. This lasts until the horses finally manage to get back up, apparently having gotten enough rest.
- "Ah ! About time boys ! Sorry for working you that hard, I'll make sure the gal who rented you to me knows how hard you worked."
The horses neigh in response, and Morgana has a look of surprise.
- "You. Speak. Horses ?"
- "Hmm ? Yeah the horses understand me. Well to be precise, most animals and monsters can understand humans from the Golden Age."
- "Golden. Age ?"
- "Right. To keep it simple, most people in Greece are from the Golden Age of the gods: they are more resistant, have a higher affinity with magical energy and can do tricks like talking to animals and such. Then there are humans from the Silver Age of the gods, where the gods became less involved with them, making them a bit weaker and severing some of their connection with nature. You can find those in Britain."
- "Gods ? Britain ?"
- "In short, gods are essentially supreme beings that can do whatever they want. And Britain… well I don't know much about it myself but it's very far away, so you shouldn't concern yourself with it !"
- "I. See."
- "Anyways, before you ask me anything else, what do you plan to do from now on ? I can take you to Eretria if you want, since that's my destination and you don't seem like you'd last more than an hour in the wild. Besides that, you can also go do your own thing if you feel like it."
- "Eretria ?... Heard. Mother. Say. Eretria. Twice."
- "Well it IS the capital of all witches…" as Adelaios says that, he notices Morgana suddenly take a few steps away from him. "The good witches, not the ones like your mother !" Morgana seems to settle down.
- "I. Go. Eretria. I. Not. Want. Stay. Near. Mother." She pauses, as she looks down at her hands. "Also. Book. You. Have. Useful. No. Burn."
- "You know what, that's fair enough ! Alright in that case, get ready, this merchandise isn't gonna deliver itself ! Also, I'm really curious what this does. I've never been too familiar with witchcraft stuff, but that definitely looks like something relating to Nature magic." Adelaios reaches into his cape and pulls out the object he took from the laboratory of the witch, some type of seed the size of his head, with a small plant budding from its top and emanating a terrifying amount of magical energy.
- "Kill. Girls. Many."
- "What now ?... That sounds ominous."
- "Very. Bad. Kills. Boys. More."
- "Alright I got the message, not keeping this on my person !" Adelaios quickly throws the seed at the back of his carriage, into a small chest. "Well then, shall we get going ?"
Morgana nods and gets into the carriage, and they begin their journey.