"Thea, are you ready?" Leila calls from the doorway.

Theo takes one last look around the room and nods. He is being discharged today, alongside Julian. Julian’s leg is healing well. As long as he stays off it and follows the physical therapy regime the doctors have laid out, he will be back to full strength.

They are leaving the hospital now, but they will stop by Arthur’s room first to say goodbye for the time being.

Arthur will remain in the hospital for now. Leila had wanted to bring him home to Arvion, to his own room, surrounded by familiar things. But the doctors had asked to monitor him for a few more days before clearing him for the move. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

When Julian heard that, he immediately decided to go back to his lab in Arvion. He wants to build whatever is needed to make Arthur’s eventual transfer easier and safer. Medical equipment, modifications, anything that will help.

Linus has already promised to provide whatever is required. But Julian wants to do something himself. He needs to.

Julian had already decided he will return to Arvion as soon as possible. The only thing holding him back is the fact that Theo needs to have a discussion with Rhaenas.

"Let’s go." Theo says.

------------------------------

That night, Rhaenas meets together.

Maurice and Leila have been staying in the Monfort guesthouse, a separate building entirely from the main house, with its own rooms and plenty of space for the guests to move around freely.

Four members of Rhaenas, plus Alicia, are sitting on the back patio looking out over the swimming pool.

Silence has settled over all of them. Each person somewhere inside their own thoughts.

Theo has just finished telling the group everything he had already told Arthur. Now they are processing it.

"Um." Maeve raises her hand slightly. "Hawk is part of the Hunters. You all remember them? Ethan Bartlett is an Apprentice, like me. His Teacher is part of the Custodians, the ones who do not want to share magic knowledge openly. You remember them?"

Liam nods. "Right. And the Hunters came to Solarys for something."

"Yes. I asked Victor about it and he does not know why five of them are here specifically." Maeve confirms.

"So it is not four groups, it is three." Julian says. "Though that does not change how little each group knows about the others. At least from our side. We do not know very much about any of them."

"And then there is what happened at the hospital yesterday, when Maeve and I were being discharged." Liam says. "We ran into Sonia and her group."

"Hm." Theo looks between Liam and Maeve. "What did you make of them? Maeve, you first."

"Sonia was uncomfortable. I noticed that before I even recognized her. She had her hood pulled forward and she was looking down. She did not want to be seen."

"She did not want to be recognized." Liam adds.

"Exactly." Maeve nods. "And when I called out to her, she stammered and flustered. Very unlike the Sonia who blew our apartment wall open."

"And then there was the blue-haired man." Liam cuts in. His eyes narrow slightly.

"He was powerful, Thea. The kind of power you feel immediately. Solid and deep. I knew right away he was dangerous. Stronger than me. Probably stronger than Arthur too."

"What was he doing at the hospital?" Julian frowns.

"He said they were there to visit Thea." Maeve answers.

"Why would he want to see you?" Julian turns to Theo.

"To ask me to stop the storm, most likely. Which has since turned into snow." Theo gestures toward the view beyond the patio.

"Speaking of which, Liam. Was that you?" Theo asks.

Liam nods slowly. "Yeah. It was." He pauses. "At the time, I thought Arthur had died. I felt so guilty about not being able to stop him. I wanted to do something, anything. So I asked Sonia if there was a way I could help."

He looks out at the snow. "She helped me understand how. And I turned the storm into snow."

"Can any of you sense corruption magic in it?" Theo asks.

The others look at each other, then close their eyes.

Alicia shakes her head. "No. Nothing."

"Same." Julian says.

"Nothing from me either." Liam opens his eyes.

Maeve stays quiet. Everyone waits.

"I..." She starts slowly. "I feel something." She pauses. "But I am not certain it is corruption magic. It feels similar to the green mist, but without the malicious intent. Without the fogginess."

She opens her eyes. "Am I reading it right?"

Theo grins. "I genuinely do not know. I have no magic right now."

"Right. I keep forgetting that." Maeve says.

"Thea." Liam leans forward. "You still cannot feel your magic at all?"

Theo shakes his head. "Do not worry about it. I will be okay."

"Have you tried contacting Teacher Theo? I am sure he could help with something like this." Liam says.

"I have not told you yet that someone sneaked onto our floor to spy on me, and Arthur blasted them away." Theo says at the same time.

Maeve’s eyes snap to Theo immediately.

The rest of them go still.

Theo unclenches his jaw slowly. He has been turning this over since Arthur told him that the clues had always been there. Sooner or later, he is going to be exposed. He has known it for a while now.

"Wait, what? Someone sneaked onto the floor?" Liam asks, his own question already forgotten.

Theo exhales quietly in relief and begins to recount what happened.

A few minutes later.

"Wow." Julian grins. "That is just wow. But are you sure it was Arthur?"

"Pretty sure. There was no one else in that room."

"I wonder who the spy was." Maeve says.

"I would bet on Sonia’s uncle. Everything about him is suspicious. Even his name." Liam’s frown deepens.

"Loujt." He makes a face. "What kind of name is that?"

Everyone laughs.

"I believe it is an Emeralian name." Alicia interjects. She has been quiet for most of the conversation.

"Emeralian? He is from Emeralis?" Liam asks.

Alicia shrugs. "The name suggests so."

"And what does knowing where he is from actually help us with?" Julian asks. "He could be from anywhere. Do not be racist."

Liam’s eyes go wide. "Racist? How did we jump to me being racist? What did I say?"

Julian chuckles.

"You have been very quiet, Alicia." Maeve says. "Is something on your mind?"

Every eye turns to her. Alicia smiles and shakes her head.

"Nothing much, really. I was just..." She pauses. "Thinking about not coming tonight." She adds quietly.

Maeve glances at the others.

"Oh, Alicia. I am so sorry." Theo cuts in before anyone else can speak.

Everyone looks at Theo, confused.

"What is going on?" Julian asks.

"This is our fault. I apologize. Though in our defence, we have had a great deal going on." Theo says.

"No, no. Do not apologize. It is my own fault for always hanging around." Alicia smiles awkwardly.

"Someone please explain what is happening." Julian says, completely lost.

Maeve grins. She looks around at the others.

"I think I speak for everyone here when I say, welcome to Rhaenas, Alicia."

Alicia’s face lights up. "Really?"

"That is what this is about?" Liam chuckles.

"I thought you were already one of us." Julian says.

"I was not. Nobody ever said anything officially. I did not want to assume." Alicia smiles widely.

"You are Rhaenas. Honestly, I am not even sure when that happened. You just became part of us." Julian nods.

"Which reminds me." Julian reaches into his space bracelet and produces a small box.

"This is for you. I am sorry I did not give it to you sooner. Everything that happened pushed it out of my mind."

"What is it?" Alicia’s hands are already opening the box.

"Oh my God." She gasps. Inside are two items. A watch and a bracelet. "When did you prepare these?"

"Arthur told me to get them ready for you as soon as you unlocked Wind."

"That early?" Alicia’s jaw drops. "Wow." She slips on the watch and then the bracelet.

"They look good on you." Maeve smiles.

Alicia looks around at the four of them. "None of you have any objections to me being Rhaenas?"

"None." They say at the same time.

Alicia smiles and turns her wrist over, admiring the new gadgets. An official sign that she is, finally and properly, a Rhaenas.

"Do you know how to use them?" Julian asks. He spends the next few minutes explaining while the others chime in to help answer her questions.

"Thea, have you finished sharing everything?" Liam asks eventually. "I am asking because we need to start talking about what comes next."

Theo looks around at the others. He blinks slowly, thinking.

One thing has been sitting at the back of his mind this entire evening, and no matter how many times he has pushed it aside, it keeps surfacing.

Maeve notices. "What is it, Thea?"

"Yeah, Sis. Whatever it is, say it. Arthur always insisted we share everything. It is for the good of Rhaenas." Julian adds.

Liam and Alicia both nod.

Theo nods slowly.

"Okay. Okay. You are right. Okay." He takes a breath.

"Now that we have all caught up, there is one thing left that we need to talk about."

He pauses.

"About what happened before Sonia destroyed the wall."