"Is it permanent?" Tista asked brimming with joy. She couldn't wait to introduce Solus to her family and finally be able to show her around Mogar.
"I doubt that." Solus sighed. "The tower it's still too weak to preserve my body. If not for the Forbidden Sun constantly plugging the damages in my essence while also nurturing me, the energy would leak and I'd return to my usual state."
"Do you feel like telling us what happened inside the Light Torch of do you want me to do it?" Lith said after reverting to his human form in the hope to give her strength.
Solus took a deep breath and opened her mouth to answer, but only a hiccup came out. Warm tears streaked down her eyes as the memory of what had befallen Khalia and of the fate of half of Kolga's children flooded her mind.
She had long dreamed to learn about her past, about Menadion, and her legacy. The First Ruler of the Flames had turned out to be more than her maker yet the revelation had also come with more pain than Solus could handle.
The Hands that Menadion had gifted to her apprentice had been twisted into an instrument of misery that fed upon the lives of others. No matter how irrational the thought was, Solus felt responsible for each death that had taken place in Kolga.
She started to sob and quiver, clenching at her friends with all the strength that she could muster. For the first time in her life, Solus wished to be just a magical ring, devoid of any feeling aside from that of serving its master.
Lith had their mind fuse, allowing her knowledge to flow into him just like his calm soothed her shaken nerves. On top of that, even though he couldn't pass onto her his muscle memory, the mind fusion allowed Solus to familiarize with her human body.
Lith moved her limbs along with his own, using the mirror effect to teach her the ropes and instill in Solus's mind how controlling the joints was supposed to feel. Then, he used Light Mastery to project a hologram of what had happened since the moment Solus had left with the city guards.
A mind link would have been faster and more detailed, but it would have also caused the girls mana poisoning and further delayed their recovery. That way, instead, as long as they touched Solus, they could recover from the effects of the Forbidden Sun.
"With this, we have cleared all of this mission objectives." Lith broke the silence that followed the grisly images. "The mana geyser is controlled by Menadion's Hands. The ritual is held inside the Light Torch, but unlike what the Council believes, it takes place every day.
"It's not something big and flashy like the Black Star that can be disrupted easily. It's way more subtle and it would require an army to take care of it."
"What do you mean?" Tista caressed Solus's hand, glad to notice that sharing her burden with Lith had allowed Solus to calm and relax.
All those emotions had exhausted Solus and her eyes drooped slowly until she fell asleep.
"The Hands of Menadion are of secondary importance while the Light Torch is the heart of the ritual. You have seen from Solus's memories how many rooms and arrays are needed to safely wield the energy released by the Forbidden Magic.
"Without it, every newborn of Kolga would die. Even better, if we mess with one of the procedures, we might corrupt the Forbidden Sun and make it crumble." Lith said.
"Last but not least, now we know what fuels Kogaluga. The lost city of the Griffon Kingdom must have belonged to accomplices of Kolga who unwittingly accepted to turn their lands into a toxic waste deposit."
"Do you think she did it on purpose?" Phloria was flabbergasted.
"It's the only explanation. You heard the movie. Kolga came from the Garlen continent and she was the only one with the necessary skill to craft a device capable of harnessing the darkness element that the ritual produces.
"Even worse, to have left the device in Kogaluga before coming here, it means that Kolga is also the creator of the ritual. Her descendants must have killed her once they realized that if mommy dearest activated the Forbidden Magic, she would have become nigh-immortal." Lith said.
"Yeah. With an Awakened's longevity, there's no telling how long Kolga would have lived thanks to the ritual." Phloria nodded. "We can only hope that she didn't share with her descendants the secret of Awakening, or things might get ugly for us."
"What do you mean, us? This is just a recon mission. We're done here. We can leave as soon as Solus wakes up." Tista said.
"Even if we don't share the information about Menadion's Hands, the moment the battle starts and the King joins the fray, the whole Mogar will learn about them. How many people do you trust with that kind of power? Even more importantly, do you think that Solus would agree to it?" Phloria shook her head.
"Exactly." Lith nodded. "Yet that's not the point. For what I care, we can even say that this mission has been a complete failure and leave without sharing any of what with learned with the Council."
"What?" The girls said in unison.
"You heard me. I don't feel like taking Solus's body away after all she went through to get it back. Despite all of its dirty secrets, you've seen how beautiful Kolga is. She could live here, disguise herself as one of the merfolk hybrids, and maybe even make a life for herself.
"In Kolga, she has no need for me. She can spend all the time she needs for a complete recovery here and only once she is ready to leave on her own terms would we share with the Council what we have learned today.
"Once Solus contact us, we volunteer for a second attempt that will be conveniently successful and that will provide us with the opportunity we need to recover Solus."
"Would you really leave her here?" Tista asked.
"If that's what she wants, yes. It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. Some of the things that Silverwing said about me are right. Solus needs to have her space and her life instead of being an accessory to mine.
"You have no idea how long has she wished to be normal. Here Solus can sleep, laugh, and cry as much as she wants. Once she permanently regains her body, we'll meet as equals and maybe by then, she'll have sorted her feelings.
"Right now, her condition does to her what your congenital disease did to you, Tista. It's a cage that keeps her from spreading her wings and I don't want to be any part of that unless it's strictly necessary.
"Good or bad, Kolga is the first real chance Solus has for a full life. What we do next is her decision to make." Lith said.
Tista couldn't stand the idea of such a horror being allowed to continue, but both Lith and Phloria made good points. The Hands of Menadion couldn't be given to someone out of political gain.
All Awakened Lords of the Council had access to several mana geysers and with the Hands, any of them would become unstoppable.
