Chapter Forty: Forget-Me-Nots

  Jace stood in the grand hall, the Archmage’s speech still hanging in the air like a lingering smoke. The High Council members glided towards a hidden exit. Jace’s jaw tightened, his patience fraying at the edges.

  Ell, Dex, and Thistle were already making their way outside, disappearing into the swell of bodies. Jace stole a glance at Alice beside him; she was a stone in a raging river of students flooding outward, unmoving, resolute. He leaned in, his voice a low, urgent whisper. “I need to talk to him. Now.”

  Alice’s eyes widened briefly before hardening, a fierce light sparking in her blue depths. “I’m with you.”

  The crowd surged around them, a chaotic whirl of students and faculty. Jace pushed forward, his determination cutting through the sea of faces. Alice followed closely, her slight frame weaving through the gaps like a dancer navigating the floor.

  They wove through clusters of people, the noise of worried voices and discussions a deafening backdrop. He caught a fleeting glimpse of the Archmage ahead, the distinguished figure unmistakable. For a brief, electrifying moment, their eyes met. Jace could swear he saw a flicker of recognition in those piercing eyes before the Archmage turned away, disappearing through a hidden passage.

  “Hey!” Jace’s shout was swallowed by the din of the hall.

  They reached the spot just as the last flicker of a dark cloak—Professor Thorne’s—vanished behind a wall that sealed with a soft, mocking thud.

  “Son of a...” Jace snarled, slamming his fist against the solid stone.

  They stood there, breathing heavily, hands pressed against the cold, unyielding surface. Jace turned to Alice, his anger and determination reflected in her fierce gaze.

  “Let’s get outside. We need to talk with the others.”

  Outside, the murmur of the gathering buzzed with an electric tension. Voices, hushed and strained, clashed and combined, creating an undercurrent that made Jace want to shout just to break through it. Jace and Alice exchanged a look before guiding the group away from the thick of the crowd, seeking a quieter spot.

  Jace led them to the garden, a place he’d once spoken with Theon. As they stepped into the garden, it was like crossing a threshold into another world. Each plant shimmered with an otherworldly glow, casting soft hues of blue, green, and gold that danced in the dim light. A heady blend of blooming flowers filled the atmosphere, an intoxicating mix that clung to their senses, drawing them further into the enchanting space.

  Alice’s eyes sparkled as she surveyed the flora, her curiosity a welcome distraction from the grim news. “Look at these Forget-Me-Nots,” she said, pointing to a cluster of delicate, luminescent blue blooms. Each petal pulsed with a faint inner light. “They hold memories and can be brewed into a tea to share them. Whatever they experience is recorded.” She plucked a few and handed one to each of them. “In case we want to record anything for our families.” She gave a half-smile, the weight of her words settling between them.

  Jace took his graciously. They continued walking until they reached a tall, ancient tree. Its branches formed a natural canopy, leaves whispering softly in the breeze. Alice ran her fingers along its bark, feeling the rough texture under her fingertips. “This is a Silencer Tree,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “It catches all sound, making it impossible for anyone to hear you unless they’re right here with you.”

  Jace understood why Theon had chosen this spot for their conversation. The memories of that day flooded back, vivid and sharp. He pushed them aside, focusing on the task at hand. The weight of the moment settled over them, but within this sanctuary of magic, there was a brief calm in the world’s chaos.

  “Okay, Scooby Gang, what’s the plan?” Dex asked, trying to lighten the heavy mood.

  Ell shrugged. “We do what the Archmage said. Gather our strength and prepare. Attend class, rank up. Face our new reality for the time being. I can’t even believe I’m saying all this... I feel like I’m in a dream. Ouch!” She rubbed her arm where Dex had pinched her.

  “Still think it’s a dream?” Dex teased.

  “I was being poetic, you cretin.” Ell punched him back, and the group chuckled despite the tension.

  Jace turned to Alice. “Alice, does your quest give you any clues?”

  “Just what you saw,” she replied.

  A storm of emotions churned in his gut—numb confusion at the sudden change, a flicker of wonder that this might be his new life, self-loathing for the brief joy that thought brought him, guilt over what had happened to his brother, and a biting dread that he wouldn’t be able to do anything about it. He pushed them all aside, focusing on the task at hand. Deep breaths. Gather resources.

  “Maybe you can dig up some history on these glitches,” Jace said, his voice steady despite the chaos within. “And the Dark One. We need to know everything we can about him.”

  “Also, after the… incident at the dome, Theon and I spoke,” Jace added.

  “On a first-name basis, are we?” Dex smirked.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  “Point is, he brought me here, assuming no one else could hear. He told me he was worried about something coming.”

  “He knew?” Alice asked.

  “He knew something. I don’t know how much, but he asked me to spy on Hades for him. To find out what was really going on. He said that his patron goddess had been missing for some time, Clio, the Muse and goddess of History.”

  They all looked at each other for a long moment. “Gods don’t just disappear,” Thistle said. “There is something bigger happening here.”

  “Do you think Hades is helping the Dark One?” Dex asked.

  “No, definitely not. I don’t get that vibe from him at all. Fiction portrays him as power-hungry and evil, but that’s just not what I see. Besides, what benefit would he get? He hasn’t mentioned holding any grudges. We can’t rule anything out, but no, I don’t think so.”

  “Okay, so who could make a goddess disappear? And why the Muse of History?”

  They all exchanged uneasy glances.

  “There’s more…” Jace began, his voice low and serious. The others turned to him, their expressions a mix of curiosity and concern. “And this you must swear to total secrecy. I shouldn’t be telling you, but you need to know.” They all nodded in agreement. “Theon, the Archmage, is a Traveler.”

  Alice raised an eyebrow, unsurprised. “I kinda gathered that.”

  “Yeah, it fits,” Dex added, while Ell and Thistle nodded.

  “Okay, I was expecting a bigger reveal there,” Jace admitted. “But that’s not really the point. He says he doesn’t believe death in Mythica ever came without a cost.”

  “You mean, like the aether drain and EXP loss?” Alice asked.

  “No, a bigger cost. Potentially much bigger. Our memories.”

  They all stared at each other, stunned, as Jace’s words settled heavily around them.

  “That’s not possible. It would have been reported,” Ell said.

  “What if it had been?” Jace asked. “Who would they report it to?”

  “Even if Excelsior ignored it, it would make the media,” Ell countered.

  “And who owns the networks that host those media?” Thistle asked her.

  “Excelsior,” she admitted after a long pause. “But he doesn’t own them all.”

  “Doesn’t he? Maybe not directly, but he has his fingers in everything, you said so yourself. And he is one of the richest people on the planet. I’m not saying it’s all a big conspiracy with John Rearden as some dark overlord… but I’m also not not saying that,” Jace said.

  “And it might not be reported often because it is so gradual. Just little things, here and there. And then bigger and bigger, until you’ve lost everything.”

  Thistle looked at him gravely and wiped a tear from his eye. “Did he mention any way back from it? From losing everything?”

  They all remembered Thistle’s loss of his uncle, and their hearts ached for him.

  “I don’t know, but I have to hope that there is,” Jace said, kneeling and placing a hand on Thistle’s shoulder.

  “Okay,” Ell said. “Then we need to find out what is going on. The Archmage knows more than he is letting on. The gods must be aware of Clio’s absence. It being Clio leads me to think that there must be something in the past that whoever is behind this doesn’t want us to know about. A piece of history they don’t want us to see. We should start with the library.”

  “And I’ll go see Hades. We haven’t spoken since…”

  The group looked at him, worry etched on their faces. “Jace,” Ell said gently, “we never really talked about what happened... in there.”

  “There will be time for that,” Jace hedged, trying to avoid the conversation.

  “No, Jace. The rest of us have been able to get our feelings out, at least what we can, before you arrived. It was terrible for all of us. But you... you were in bad shape when the healers came. We could hear you talking with it. While we couldn’t move or speak or barely breathe in those webs, we could hear you. And we felt something as you fought it. I can’t be sure what, but it was dark and deep and sad. Jace, you are our friend... and I just want to make sure you are okay.”

  A tear threatened to escape Jace’s eye. He quickly looked away and forced the feeling down. “I’m fine,” he said with a forced smile. “It was terrible for all of us. But it’s just a game, right?” He tried to lighten the mood with a wink.

  “I don’t think we can think like that anymore,” Alice said softly.

  “I know,” Jace replied somberly. “But I’m okay, I promise. Thank you, guys, for caring.” Alice startled him with a massive hug, quickly joined by Dex, Ell, and Thistle, though Thistle more just stretched his arms to hug Jace’s calf.

  They stood there for a long moment before bursting into laughter. “We are a weird bunch, eh?” Jace said.

  “The weirdest,” Dex added.

  “Come on, let’s figure this thing out,” Ell said, taking charge.

  “Okay,” Jace started. “Why don’t you guys dig into this at the library, see if there is anything we can find that could help us understand what is going on. I’m going to go see Hades.”

  “Okay, great. Just no venturing outside the campus alone. We might be Bronze Twos now, but we need to stick together.” Everyone agreed, except Jace who looked at them with a side glance.

  “You guys ranked up?” he asked, surprised.

  They all looked at him incredulously. “You’re not?” Thistle asked.

  “We didn’t even have any real direct involvement in the last fight, and we still ranked up from the shared EXP of it all,” Dex said.

  “Jace, have you not cultivated your aether pathways since the dome?” Alice’s voice was laced with concern.

  He looked at her, caught off guard. “I haven’t. Come to think of it, I haven’t really checked my notifications since then... I’ve just been too preoccupied with...” His thoughts drifted to Alex lying in the hospital bed.

  “Jace, before you do anything else, you need to take some time and come to grips with what happened and cultivate your aether.” Alice’s voice was firm yet caring.

  “Okay, okay. I’ll do that right after I speak with Hades.”

  “No, Jace. Now. You’ll do it now.” She glared up at him, her small stature not diminishing her intensity one bit. Though she stood noticeably shorter than Jace, he suddenly felt as if he were facing a final boss—one he was woefully unprepared for and certain to lose against if he dared to try.

  “Okay, Alice. I’ll do it now.”

  She smiled, relaxing a bit.

  Ell handed out a small stack of paper to each of them. “Magic Missives. It’s how we can communicate until one of us evolves a party telepathy ability or internal communication system, which I’m thinking will either be Jace or Alice when the time comes, or perhaps me. Those are usually around Three Stars. But for now, just write your note on this, picture who it is for and—“

  She doodled something obscene on the paper and closed her eyes. The name “Dex” appeared in glowing golden ink before the paper popped into the air and folded itself into an origami pegasus, which then shot up and landed in Dex’s hands.

  “Jace, when you’re done in the Underworld, just send me a message, and I’ll gather everyone up or redirect it to the next person. These things have about four or five good foldings in them.”

  With that, the group headed to the library, leaving Jace to make his way back to his dorm room in the Fields Below. As he walked away, he cast a final glance over his shoulder and saw Dex crouch down with a grimace, Thistle nimbly hopping onto his shoulders.