CK's eyes squinted at the clusters of nebula surrounding her in translucence. Her hands reached out, as if trying to feel the air between her fingers. Incoherent mumbling escaped her lips.
"Twenty-three light-years southwest... Almost twenty-four. Hm..." she swiped her fingers right, "There doesn't seem to be any shortcuts. A few renegade star systems are in the way..."
CK zoomed in towards a section of stars. Her lips twisted as she contemplated. Then, she sighed.
"I'll have to take the long way then," she muttered and summoned the Manuscript. With a quill in hand, she began tracing the map of stars projected around her, her quill strokes mimicking something only CK could comprehend.
Tracing and reading a star map would take days for CK. Fortunately, she had time to spare while under house arrest. One could say that the Duchess' punishment was a blessing in disguise.
However, the process was too tedious for CK. Thus, she occasionally spends time refining energy conversion. Her encounter with the candelabra guards made her realize she spends too much time absorbing live energy before converting and releasing them.
CK observed the water inside her glass chalice. She tilted her head. What if she could transmute energy without absorbing it first, and transmute it upon immediate contact?
She flexed her hand open and shut while she pondered. Then, to test her theory, she poured a small amount of water unto her hand.
She delved into the sensations of the water: Cold. Free-flowing. CK felt each drop in her cupped palm, sensing as droplets escaped between the gaps of her fingers and spill unto the carpets beneath her.
Plop. Plop.
CK interweaved the water's energy with that of Syntax. With closed eyes, she could not see the faint threads of energy gathering around her palm. But she felt it.
Then, she pictured it: the freedom of the water being frozen in time. Reality bended to the wordsmith's wishes, and the water in her palm froze into a rough ball of ice.
Retaining control over the ice, CK poured the rest of the water into her palm. The ice climbed the thin stream connecting the cup to her palm, creating a fragile bridge of ice that shattered under movement.
CK looked at her empty chalice next. Her emerald eyes squinted in thought. A few seconds passed, and the glass morphed into a knife made from the same glass.
"Mm," CK focused more intently. Glass turned to steel underneath her fingertips until the knife was fully encased in the new material.
CK twirled the knife between her fingers and observed its form. It was rough and imperfect, but it was still sharp enough for cutting.
The knives she used to transmute were sharp and shiny. As if a blacksmith used to care for it. CK spent weeks perfecting transmutation, but that effort could barely be seen now.
"So this is what it means when the [Maiden] took away my Abraxas Chapter..." CK said wryly, "It's like she took away my time."
She giggled. There's still plenty of time to make up for it.
Thwack!
The knife struck the pile of papers on her study desk. CK tossed the ball of ice into a flower vase and wiped her hand with a handkerchief.
"A week without interruption from outside the Estate..." she smiled pleasantly. She could work with that.
So CK made the most of her time. A few days of map tracing and training passed by smoothly and without incident.
There were times when CK barely left her room due to focused training. Worried that something terrible occured, her parents would check in on her. But they would only find CK in the middle of meditation with nothing to complain about.
They feared CK would be upset with being locked inside the house. But strangely, CK has no trouble with it and even enjoys her moments of quietness.
Duchess dela Rouge sighed upon hearing this from the Count and Countess. It seems she has underestimated the introversion of the young Lady Vincenzo and her love for isolation.
The weekend arrived, concluding CK's house arrest. Like the Duchess instructed, Flavio brought CK to his office, where he discussed the details of her newfound mission.
"I first suspected something when the curriculum at the Academy of Dreams changed under the Marchen's orders. Students get deployed on missions but not many outside the academy know about the details. Fortunately, Joaquin managed to get some information in the past. Would you like to take a guess what he found?" Flavio asked CK.
"Hm... I don't know. They're making a private army?" CK guessed. "Close. They're amassing students as manpower, yes, but not for military affairs mainly," Flavio said, "The academy sends them to investigate the ruins of the fallen civilizations scattered across the continent, ordered to bring back anything strange or valuable."
"They sent students to hunt for treasure?" CK asked, amused. "I thought it was nothing else, too. Perhaps it was some sort of field mission to help the students get experience. But every time the academy sends their students to the ruins of certain civilizations, part of that civilization's history changes. Or at least, how people remember them," Flavio stated.
"One of the affected segments of history is the domestication of amphipteres by our House. How do you remember this part of our history?" Flavio asked CK.
"That as part of the Red Faction, we are tied to several creatures that live in the Farisian Woods. The creatures connected to our House are the amphipteres and those connected to House Lochlainn are the Farisian Songbirds," CK answered.
Flavio nodded. "That is what we know. But apparently, the textbooks say otherwise. They say that we 'worshipped' the amphipteres as our deities for a long time. That was until later when we decided to go against them and enslave them, making them do labor for us," Flavio chuckled.
"Enslave them? Mama oversees an entire sanctuary just to protect them," CK said in disbelief. "But that's what history says. People believe what is written," Flavio said, handing an open book to CK.
She accepted it. It was a book on the history of House Vincenzo. As a child, her tutors made her study the entire book. As result, each page was ingrained into CK's memory. She could immediately tell something was wrong at the first glance.
CK remembered that when the Red Faction was created by the Beast Princess, she sent each of her familiars to guide each family: a cervitaur to House dela Rouge, a Songbird to House Lochlainn, a stag to House DeWalt, a monkey to House Welton, and an amphiptere to House Vincenzo.
These creatures were the families' partners. Coworkers. But on the opened section of the book, the first Lord Vincenzo was depicted to be worshipping a glorified image of an amphiptere. The passage detailed how he saw the creatures as his family's gods and made his children worship them in the same manner.
None of it was true, of course. Amphipteres were beloved, but not loved enough to be glorified as beings above the Count's family.
"I'm guessing the same thing is said in all other texts related to us?" CK asked. "Unfortunately, so. People seem to believe we treat the amphipteres as servants after worshipping them for so long," Flavio sighed, "What we know differs from what the public know."
"How were you able to retain memory of the truth, then? When it came to the Star Station, you don't remember anything," CK wondered.
"We are connected to amphipteres through bloodline. They are unaffected by this revised aspect of history, which also helped us retain information," Flavio replied.
"Then does that mean only Kelterns are affected by altered history?" CK asked curiously. "I can't say. The Duchess is a cervitaur, yet she was also affected," Flavio replied.
"But cervitaurs are hybrids. They're part-human. Amphipteres are pure," CK pointed out. Flavio held his chin, "That makes sense."
'Then that means only humans are being affected. This is an aspect worth considering,' CK thought. She handed the book back to her father.
"So the Academy of Dreams... Do you think they have something to do with it?" CK asked. "I suspect they're involved, but I don't know how. That's where you come in, mi bambina. The Duchess believes you can find something," Flavio stated.
"Ah," CK said in realization. "I received a letter from the Duchess this morning. She needs you to visit the Red Manor tomorrow–most likely to give you more information. Although I am against sending you to the Academy of Dreams, you can access things there with a believable alibi. You've always been a talented academic," Flavio said.
"Of course, papa. Those tutors you hired for me made sure of that," CK grinned. Flavio chuckled, "I'm sure your time at the Nonaphrontistery also taught you a thing or two. The Academy of Dreams can't possibly be any challenge to you."