"Good. You have chosen wisely, Ashe Costeau. You may have not known yet. But you just made a decision that will change your entire life.
Come with me."
Siderius led Ashe to her bedroom and opened up the window to the scenery outside. The moon was full and its blue endearing light was cascading onto the land.
The moonlight filled the room and Siderius turned to her.
"Kneel before me."
"What?" Ashe blurted.
"Kneel!"
Ashe did as she was told. She didn't understand what was happening. But she knew she must do it to complete their pact.
"What's your full name?" Siderius said.
"Ashe Alaric Edmund Lysander Costeau." Ashe hesitantly answered. It was so long since she had last spoken her true name.
Siderius unsheathed his sword and rested its tip on the cold floor of the room. He took a deep breath before continuing.
"Ashe Alaric Edmund Lysander Costeau!
Under the moon of this world.
I call upon the Light-Bearers, the Dark-Chasers and the Truth-Seekers as witnesses.
Shall this blood replace the pact that we never had.
Shall this pain connect the fate that we never crossed.
Shall this world be willing for our bond."
Siderius lifted his sword and sliced his hand through it. His blood painted the steel blade.
"I, Sir Siderius Snow Satterblade, shall take you as my apprentice.
If you agree to take me as your master. United our blood!"
Siderius gave the sword to Ashe and she took it with two shaky hands. Beads of sweat ran on her face.
She now knew that it was something far more sacred than she imagined. But there was no way back anymore.
With a definite slash, Ashe cut her hand and let her blood fused with Siderius' blood. She let out a low weep because of the pain.
"Rise, my apprentice. From now on, I am your master." Siderius reached out his hand.
"Okay…" Ashe grabbed his hand to stand up. Her mind was still in a blur. She heard a different name from Siderius. He didn't refer to himself as simply Snow but Sir Siderius Snow Satterblade.
Either Siderius just made that name up or he wasn't an ordinary circus boy like she thought. Ashe leaned to the second scenario more. A mere actor wouldn't slice his hand without even blinking.
"Come. Let us bandage our hands. We don't want it to get infected."
"Right."
They sat on her bed. Ashe took out some clean pieces of cloth that she had while Siderius disinfected them with alcohol.
He carefully wrapped Ashe's palm first. His movement was quick and precise. It was as if he had treated the wounded hundreds of times before.
The truth was that he did. Ashe's gut feeling was right.
Once they finished dressing the small cut on their palms, Siderius sat down in front of the fireplace, feeling its warmth.
Ashe's bedroom was not as luxurious as his old castle but he didn't feel any discomfort. He had spent countless days sleeping on the dirt with the sky as his roof.
"Tell me more about you, my apprentice." Siderius took the fire poker to stir the woods inside the fireplace, making it burn more fiercely and delivering more heat to the room.
"What do you want to know?" Ashe sat down beside him.
"Everything. I need to know my apprentice. Let's start with your clan."
"Okay. Let me get you something to eat first. I can hear your stomach from all the way here."
Ashe still had some leftover stew from the evening. She put the pot onto the fireplace, heating it up for Siderius.
"My clan… It's a long story."
"We have all night." Siderius said.
"Alright. My clan inhabits the West of Eldoria. They own many lands and are one of the most powerful families in the entire kingdom. You may have heard of them before, the Costeau."
"I'm afraid not. Words do not spread far in this kingdom."
"You're right. The Costeau is a very 'influential' family. I was the second child of Alaric Costeau, the third elder of the clan.
The clan has plans and hopes for all of us. And when I did not meet those expectations, I was cast out like a stray dog."
"Let me guess. You didn't have any magic." Siderius smiled gently.
Ashe shook a little bit. "How did you know?"
Siderius didn't answer her. It was a simple deduction. A Noble clan wouldn't just abandon its people without a good reason. But a High Noble clan had every reason to do it if you weren't their kind.
"Well… I guess there is no point in hiding it. The Costeau is a High Noble clan. A clan of witches." Ashe continued. "My brothers and sisters discovered their magic one by one. But mine never showed up.
So at the age of ten, my father cast me out of the house. Forever banished and never to return."
The stew pot was boiling. Ashe took it off the fireplace and scooped out a bowl for Siderius.
"Thank you for the meal." Siderius said. "You're a very good cook. This stew tastes great, despite the few ingredients you have."
"Thank you."
"Now tell me more about the witches."
"Witches gained their power at birth. The sign of their power may be hidden until a certain age. The earlier you discover your magic, the more powerful you will become.
Witches, from what I know, have only four ranks.
Unawakened Witches, those who have discovered their magic but haven't completed their coming-of-age ritual yet. Their magic is usually very chaotic and weak in nature.
A witchling, those that have completed their coming-of-age ritual and have actual control over their magic.
A lesser witch, one that has mastered their Mana Core and is able to manipulate magic perfectly.
A major witch, the highest rank, one that is able to achieve wonder with their power. I heard that major witches are able to raise the dead, control the very essence of life and many more unimaginable things."
Ashe jerked back a bit when she noticed Siderius staring at her.
His gaze was piercing cold. An aura that made her skin crawl.
"Did I do something wrong?"
"No. But you failed to understand the subject. A witch can never raise the dead. What they can do is use the corpses for disgusted ritual and dark magic.
As you are my apprentice, remember this.
There is no good witch. The only good witch is a dead witch."
Siderius talked slowly, drilling these new ideas into Ashe's head.
"That can't be. The High Ladies and Lords are… Heroes. Warriors. They keep us from the harm of the Chaos Beasts and foreign enemies."
"I guess your father never showed you how a witch advanced their power?"
"How did you know?" Ashe nodded.
"Witch's magic is corruption. They gain their power by giving in to their desire. The more horrible and terrified the desire, the stronger they become.
What was the desire of your clan, hmmm? I bet there is one."
"My clan has a virtue, yes? But…"
And the memory came back to Ashe. How her brothers and sisters became more obsessed with their look. They didn't just want to be better, they wanted to be perfect.
But perfect was unknownable, unachievable. And the more they fixed, the more horrified they became. Even though they weren't aware of it.
Ashe suddenly remembered her mother. A witch that was quite beautiful in her young age. But then, her appearance became more and more doll-like. Her skin became ceramic and her face lost all the endearing traits of a human.
She became inhuman and unsettling. Ashe's skin crawled every time she looked at her mother's face.
Siderius read her like a book. He could see the trouble brewing inside Ashe.
"I guess you have your answer. What is the desire of your clan?" Siderius said.
"Beauty…" Ashe said.
"Vanity." Siderius cut in. "An obsession over one's appearance to the point of unrecognizable. I bet there are a lot of monsters in your house."
"It can't be… No. It isn't…"
Sometimes, you could live with a lie your whole life. Convincing yourself of the reality that was never true. But with a simple nudge, that lie could be shattered like a thin piece of glass.
"Rest, my apprentice. Rest and in the morning, everything will be clear."
Ashe didn't say anything and just nodded. She crawled into her bed and kept thinking about her clan. The unnatural and even disgusted appearance of her family. She never noticed it before, even though she had always found them a bit bizarre.
But after staying in the real world, where the normal human lived, she finally learned of normal appearance. Appearances that she did not find… repulsive.
She thought her way into her sleep.
And when she woke up. Siderius was no longer there. He had disappeared silently. The same way he had come into her house.
If she hadn't had to ease her needs, Ashe would've never been able to meet him.
It was a coincidence or maybe it was fate. Either way, he was gone.
Ashe thought she was too dumb to listen to an actor. It was what they did after all, pretending to be someone they were not.
But he didn't leave without a goodbye. On the kitchen table was a piece of paper.
The strokes were strong, mechanical with a soft curve at the end. It was Siderius' handwriting.
"I'll be back."