Nero had thought long and hard about what and how he would tell Koal about his past, if the time ever came when he was actually asked about it.
Now that the time had come. Koal leaned forward in his chair. "So?" he asked. "Who are you really, Nero Davis?"
Nero took a breath. "I wasn't lying when I said I'd lost many memories," he lied. "But there are some memories I still have, and they've come back over time. I was born into a strange family. My mother was a normal mortal, just like you and me, but my father, my father was a powerful mage."
Koal's eyes widened slightly. "You're the bastard son of a magician?" he asked in surprise. It wasn't uncommon for magicians to father children with mortals, though these children were often cast out of the family. Nero shook his head. "Not a bastard. My mother and father were married."
"A mage and a mortal cannot marry. That's like a king and a peasant woman," Koal objected.
"I know nothing of that," Nero replied, "But they were married. At least that's what they told me when I was still with them. As I said, I only remember fragments of my childhood, because over time my father made powerful enemies, powerful mages who one day, when I was probably about eight years old, came to our house. They dragged my mother out of the house while my father was away and burned her alive at the stake. They took me captive and waited for my father to return. I don't remember what happened after that, but I know they took my memories. I don't know exactly how, but I woke up, I don't know how much later, in a forest that was foreign to me. All my memories of magic, of my family, of my home, even the memories of my name, were taken from me. Everything that could lead me to commit evil deeds. I don't know why they let me live, but there couldn't have been a good reason,"
Nero paused briefly to let the information sink in for Koal. He told his story with flawless delivery and conviction, so that Koal didn't believe for a second that Nero was lying to him. Nero showed anger at the parts where he would feel anger; he showed frustration, sadness, and strain, as if it were difficult to remember.
He paused between his stories, acting as if he'd lost his train of thought, as if he had to return to the main narrative. Thus he told Koal of an elaborate, extensive past.
He told how he had wandered the world for years without a clear memory, kept alive by loose fruit, rotting meat, and dirty water. He told how, as his first memories returned, he wandered through eternal cities, unable to communicate with the locals, who spoke foreign languages. To ensure his survival, he had been forced to learn to fight, to trick, to kill, to make the most of even the smallest situations. He gave himself the name Nero Davis, as he had forgotten his own. Over the next few years, he grew increasingly confident in his endeavors, yet his mind remained plagued by fleeting memories of his past.
Then, some time ago, he was captured by mages who sent him to this camp without giving him a chance to defend himself. "...You know what happened after that, because on my first day I came straight here after seeing the notice."
He finished his story, but then he frowned. "I was actually going to ask you—why did you have that sign posted so far away from your district?"
Kaol smiled gently. "To catch the attention of new mortals entering the camp."
That confused Nero even more. "Why?"
Koal looked at Nero silently for a long time before sighing. He seemed to be wrestling with himself. Slowly, he stood up. "Come with me, Nero Davis. It's time I showed you what I've been working on for the past four years!"
Without another word of explanation, Koal stood up and left the room, heading toward the kitchen. Nero followed close behind.
They walked through the kitchen and into the adjoining room. From there, they walked down a long hallway that ended at a single door. Koal took out a heavy metal key, which he used to open the beautifully carved door. The room behind it was pitch black; not a single window adorned the walls, but Koal lit a small candle on a stand. This light was just enough to illuminate a small part of the room, but Nero immediately recognized it as a library. Instead of walls, there were huge shelves filled with countless books, ranging from ancient and dusty to seemingly brand-new.
Nero was quite amazed by this collection. "Are these all your books?" Nero asked the district leader, but he shook his head. "Many of these books were already in the house when I moved in. It's the collection built up over theyears by the mortals who've lived in this place, and some surely come from the mages who lived here before."
"Are there books about…" Nero began, but Koal finished his sentence for him, "Magic?" He laughed, "Of course not—these are all just books for mortals, nothing truly informative."
Nero looked around, unable to hide his disappointment. "What is it you want to show me here?" he asked.
Koal raised an eyebrow. "In this room, nothing at all, but here," he said, walking over to a wall. In his hand were four of the stones. Nero recognized them as four of the stones he'd received when he first arrived at the camp.
"What are you up to?" he asked, confused, but Koal didn't answer; instead, he pressed the stones against a slightly protruding brick in the wall. Nero's eyes widened as a symbol lit up in response, but it didn't take long for him to understand what had happened. Small amounts of magic were stored within these stones. It was so little, however, that this magic was useless on its own, yet the four that Koal had were apparently enough to activate a hidden symbol in the wall. He didn't have to wait long before he noticed the symbol's effect, as the wall suddenly slid aside.
"In here, though, there's something I want to show you." Together, the two men stepped through the new opening, which was already slowly sliding back into place. Before them, a curved staircase wound its way down into the depths, which Nero and Koal descended, illuminated by nothing more than a single candle.
The staircase was shockingly long; the two men descended for nearly five minutes before they finally entered a room.
Suddenly, Nero could clearly hear faint voices coming from a distant corner of the room; a faint glow shone from under a door, but Koal led Nero to another door, through which they entered a new, dark room. Using the candle, he lit more lamps here, which slowly illuminated the entire room.
"What kind of place is this?" Nero asked as Koal slowly closed the solid wooden door behind them. The room they were in was another library, but much, much smaller than the one above. Only three bookshelves stood inside, filled with old folios.
Scattered across a round table in the center were dozens of papers, books, and a large map. All the books and papers were covered in strange script that Nero didn't recognize, but thanks to the symbol he'd received from Ramor, he could read this writing as well. However, he pretended he couldn't decipher it. "What kind of language is this?"
"This is a secret script that was permitted only to members of the cult; not even mages can read this script," replied Koal.
"The cult?"
Koal sat down on an old wooden chair, "The Cult of the Caterpillars. The cult I founded."
Many questions swirled through Nero's head, but he started with the most obvious one: "Why caterpillars?"
Koal smiled, "Because we mortals are nothing but caterpillars, and magicians are butterflies. But they don't want us to become butterflies, too; instead, they keep us as their pets and prevent us from developing our own wings. So it's time we take matters into our own hands.
The purpose of the cult is to take power back into our own hands, to gain control over our own future. I—no, we—want to spread our wings as well, no matter what the cost!"
"You want to start a rebellion," Nero surmised. Koal nodded in agreement. Nero looked at Koal. "That's madness," he said immediately. Koal returned his gaze with an icy stare. "Why do you think that?"
Nero turned away from Koal, running his hand over the books. "You don't know what mages are capable of. They'll tear you to pieces; they'll never allow a rebellion."
"MAGS ARE NOT IMMORTAL!" Koal suddenly roared, seized by a strange rage. Nero spun around. "No! Of course not, anything can be killed!" he hissed, leaning toward Koal. "But there are mages so powerful they could destroy the entire Ascension Camp with a wave of their hand—wiping you, Christina Magrett, and everyone else out in the process!"
Koal glared at Nero, his eyes burning with rage as he met Nero's icy black gaze. "I am well aware of that, but do you really think such an important and powerful person would take on such a menial task as guarding mortals?"
Nero shook his head. "Probably not," he admitted. "But is it worth the risk to you? Would you be willing to take that risk, to put everyone's lives on the line?"
Koal snorted, "Who says it's a risk? There's a very simple way to find out how strong the mages guarding the camp are."
Nero straightened up, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, really? And what would that be?"
Koal laughed, "Don't you get it? You just met him!"