Chapter Text
Thousands of years ago, when the wars between the three factions of sorcerers were still raging on, a group of red mages created a horrendous spell, one that chills to the very bone. The spell was vile and torturous, anyone who was bound by that spell would have their freedom stripped, with no way of escape.
Mana exists in every dead object and living being, the purpose of the spell was to bind those magical molecules under the control of the caster.
That spell is the command seal.
“Command seals were one of the horrors of the wars. Not only were they controlling other mages from the opposite sides, but they were also bringing humans and other supernatural beings into the war.” Conan sighed, his stomach churned at his words, leaving a bitter taste in the tongue. “They were violating the rules of the war, but there was nothing our ancestors could do, they were just that powerful.”
Kaito was not expecting that kind of dark story when he asked the origins of command seals. A sense of unease settled deep in his chest. “So in short, this spell is kind of… an enslaving spell?”
“Precisely. And this spell was so horrible that it’s not even mentioned in the history books, I only know of this spell's existence from Evan.”
“You sure got a lot of knowledge from that guy.”
Conan shrugged, scratching the back of his head. “Since Evan is the oldest in the gathering, I think he feels responsible for the younger ones? He always likes to answer our questions and even spare us his books. When I first joined, I didn’t know anything about the other side of the world, I only knew that I could control water. I was a curious boy and Evan would always be willing to fill me in.”
And he was the one who told the detective about Pandora too. Kaito glanced at the laptop screen, observing the white background of Google.
As soon as he left the meeting, the website exited itself to his surprise. Apparently, entering the link into the search bar was not the only thing needed to enter the website, it required mana as well. With insufficient mana, the website would kick you out automatically, even when you were still in a meeting. It was also the reason why the detective had texted him during the gathering. He was running out of mana.
He probably should have drawn more information from the guy when he had the chance, but the only thing in his mind was leaving the place as being surrounded by witches did not bode with him so well, especially when his first impression of witches was… not ideal.
“To think that we needed to use a command seal…” The detective muttered under his breath, breaking him out of his stupor. Small fingers grasping the chin, his brows furrowed. “Why can’t it be other spells? How about the taming spell一 oh, wait, no, that can only be cast upon living beings.”
“I know that command seals are horrifying and all, but is it really difficult to use them?”
“It’s not a matter of difficulty or not, command seals are considered to be a forbidden spell as of now. If you use a command seal without permission from the government, the punishment would be execution.”
“Oh…”
“And it’s a dangerous spell too…” Conan trailed off, frowning.
“So,” Kaito interjected, raising both eyebrows questioningly. “We can’t use it?”
“Unfortunately so.” The detective heaved defeatedly. “And it’s not only because it’s dangerous that we can’t use it.” Kaito knitted his brows puzzledly when the detective turned to him with a sheepish grin. “I don’t know how to make a command seal.”
Kaito blinked. “You don’t know?”
The detective nodded. “Yeah, I don’t know, I just know the history.”
Kaito slumped against the backrest of the chair, it creaked due to his weight as he released a tired breath. So even if they did find the way to make the command seal, the detective would still be inexperienced, and with such a violent spell, it could be severely deadly. Does that mean they were back to square one? His attendance at the gathering was meaningless? “So what are we going to do now?”
The detective hummed. “I think we should find a different method一” he paused, realization dawned on him as a piece of memory resurfaced. “Wait a minute. We do know someone who is much more experienced at this than I am,” he claimed matter-of-factly.
Kaito started, straightening his back. “We do?”
“Of course一 well, not exactly us ,” he amended. “But you know this person.”
Kaito narrowed his eyes in thought, seemingly confused before widening his eyes. His expression shifted into that of a scowl. “Oh.”
•
Kaito sluggishly trekked up the hill, carrying a sling bag that contained the binder, sweating under the heat of the rising sun. He trailed after the detective in front of him who is also following some sort of water spirit? That was what the detective called them. They are his familiars.
Both of them didn’t know how to contact Koizumi Akako. As the red-haired girl was already absent from school for several days before, Kaito doubted she would attend school next week, so the idea of meeting her next Monday was thrown out of the window. She was not responding to Aoko’s emails either, and she probably won’t respond to anyone’s messages. Thus, leaving them with no options but to directly meet her.
How? Kaito had inquired. No one knew where Akako lived, not even Aoko who is her closest friend. But the detective’s tone had sounded confident, calm as though he knew where she lived despite having never met her once.
“Spirits of Atlantis roaming upon the ocean floor, by the azure covenant, I ask for your guidance.”
And just like that, a blob of blue materialized in the air, translucent as water. Kaito smelt the light salty scent of the sea and the echoing crashes of waves from that one blue blob.
It was the first time Kaito had seen the detective mutter some sort of spell. It awestrucked him.
“This is how we’ll track down your mage friend,” Conan had remarked, giving him a grin. “Meet one of my familiars, it's a water spirit. This little guy will help us search for the red mage by tracking the source of the magic surrounding you.” Like a dog following a scent, Kaito had thought. “I’ll leave them here with you. We’ll go tomorrow morning after breakfast. Goodnight.”
Kaito spent the whole night staring at the spirit, enamored and curious, poking on its liquidy form until it splashes cold water at him.
“The place should be nearby,” Conan uttered absentmindedly, eyeing the nature around them with narrowed eyes. This presence… it was the same presence he felt years ago at the clock tower, and it was getting stronger the more they neared the heart of the forest. So Kuroba’s classmate is the same mage he sensed back then. Was she trying to save Kuroba that time?
“Can all mages summon these things?” Kuroba questioned, staring fascinatingly at the water spirit.
“In my knowledge, yes. Evan had mentioned once about summoning an earth spirit so I think all mages can summon them, though I haven’t seen it in action.”
“Do they… all look like blobs?”
The water spirit bubbled in anger at the comment, splashing yet another cold water into his face. Conan laughed.
“No, I don’t think so. I think green mages summon earth golems and white mages summon wind fairies. I don’t know about the red mages though.”
“What about black mages?”
Conan halted, fully turning towards the thief with a perplexed expression. “What?”
“I heard during the gathering that there are black mages. I’ve never heard of black mages in your explanation, what kind of element do the black mages wield?”
“Ah, they’re not another faction of mages. Black mages are just another name for red mages.”
“Oh? Why?”
“There is a reason as to why the red mages still thrive with power even to this day when the mana of this world has diplinished a huge amount. Red mages do not obtain mana from Earth as all of us do, instead, they obtain it from the underworld known as hell.”
“What?”
“Through a contract, they made a deal with the demons in order to acquire their flames. Because of that, their magic power is almost infinite. The only drawback is, the more you use the underworld’s magic, the more your life force will be drained.”
Kaito’s eyes widened. “Then, Akako一”
“I don’t think your friend’s life is in danger.” The detective gave him a reassuring smile, and he found himself calming down. “Does your friend have any followers? Perhaps in school?”
“Uh, yes? She has a lot of guys worshiping her. What does that have anything to do一” Then he gasped, his eyes bulging out. “Wait, don’t tell me一!”
“Wait, don’t panic, calm down. Your friend may or may not use her followers’ life force to fulfill her side of the deal, but if she has many followers inside and outside of school, she may only take a miniscule amount of life force from each person. So, don’t worry, I’m sure your friends’ lives are fine.”
It’s reassuring but at the same time it’s not.
“This is also one of the main reasons why the red mages created the command seal in the past,” Conan added. “Using other people’s lives in exchange for infinite magical energy… and they were far more greedy in the past.”
Kaito felt bitter in the tongue.
After a couple of minutes of trekking the hill, Kaito caught a sight of a roof in the distance. He was about to inform the detective when the water spirit abruptly jolted, frantically hiding itself underneath its master’s blazer. Conan himself seemed tense, his pupils glowing blue.
“What’s wrong, Meitantei?” Kaito oddly felt left out. “Did something happen?”
“A barrier was placed around us.”
Kaito blinked, glancing around but spotted nothing out of the blue. “You mean an invisible barrier?” He turned, reaching towards the air and felt nothing, he took a step. “Is it close一?”
“Don’t take another step,” The detective demanded and he froze in place. “This barrier functioned to hide one’s presence while keeping outsiders at bay. We are quite close to the borders, so if you’re not careful and take a step outside, you won’t ever find this place ever again.”
Kaito hastily took a step back.
“Fortunately, this barrier doesn’t seem to be locking us in. We can exit whenever we want but we won’t be able to enter again.” He glanced towards the sky with a passive expression. His eyes gleamed, he barely could see the pulses of magic surrounding them. “This could also mean that your friend is well aware that we’re here. Come on then, we shouldn’t keep her waiting.”
The two continued their walk, albeit a bit more alert. The water spirit had relocated into Kaito’s sling bag, hiding underneath the flap.
When they neared the entrance of the daunting mansion, a man, presumably a butler, appeared to greet them.
With an eerie smile, the man bowed respectfully to them. “Kuroba-sama, Kudou-sama.” Conan’s breath shook when he heard his true surname being addressed. “Welcome to the Mistress’s residence.”
“We have been expecting your arrival.”