Supreme Magus

"Marth has requested the Light Departments of all academies to join hands to deal with this matter and the other Headmasters have accepted. It will be nice working together again, my boy." Vastor patted Lith's shoulder.

"I'd be glad to give you a hand, Professor." Solus offered him her hand and he shook it.

"You're not one of my students so I hope you'll forgive me when I take advantage of my position to boss you around and test your mettle as a Healer, miss Verhen." Vastor replied, making Solus chuckle.

"Consider yourself forgiven in advance." Solus said.

"Just one question. Is the story about the twins that's going around true?" Vastor asked with a perplexed expression, his eyes moving from Lith to Solus.

"No, that was just our cover story!" Solus blushed up to her ears. "Whoever is spreading these rumors is a liar."

"Don't worry, young lady, I was just pulling your leg." Vastor burst out laughing. "I've read the mission reports and couldn't miss the opportunity for a good prank. Feel free to return me the favor."

He tipped his hat off to her and walked to the field hospital.

"That wasn't funny." Solus grumbled.

"Agreed." Lith's words surprised her since he was the one who had started the joke back at the bakery. "Let's go. I want to be the one telling Rolam what happened to his mother. I've failed him and I intend to take responsibility for it."

Solus opened her mouth to tell him that it wasn't true. That Lith had never promised to save Chyrsha and her death wasn't his fault. Yet no word came out.

She just nodded and followed him.

'Nothing I can say will make Lith feel better.' She thought. 'Until the last moment, he kept thinking of Chyrsha as Elina. Whatever demon he's fighting in his head, I can't help him. I can only be there for him when he needs me.'

***

Rolam didn't take Chyrsha's death well.

He cried at the news and begged Lith to revive his mother.

"I'm sorry, Rolam." Lith held the boy to his chest, letting him vent his pain. "Not even the late god of healing Manohar could bring back the dead. No one can."

"Did she suffer?" Rolam asked amid hiccups.

"She passed away peacefully." Lith chose his words so as to tell the boy the most comforting truth without actually lying. "Your mother was happy to know that you were safe and made me promise to look out for you.

"I'll find you a good family, you have my word."

"I don't want a family. I want my Mom!" Rolam said.

"And if I could, I'd give her back to you, but I can't. I'm sorry." Lith kept Rolam company until the boy cried himself to sleep.

He tucked Rolam in one of the hospital beds of the White Griffons and left the room.

"At least he didn't blame you, my boy." Vastor patted Lith's back. "I count that as a victory."

"That's very cynical of you, Zogar." Lith wanted to feel anger, to be outraged by those words.

Yet he just felt empty, mourning a part of him that had died inside the room used as the parasites' breeding ground.
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"I'm just pragmatic." Vastor sighed. "Life is not fair, my boy, and it never will. You'll become even more bitter than me if you focus on your failures. When you stay in this profession for as long as I am, you learn to focus on the small victories."

"How's Jirni?" Lith asked, wishing to change the subject.

"She's well enough to joke that her daughter's first official act is being late at her own birth. Jirni says the little Dripha is already bringing shame to the family." Vastor chuckled. "How's Kamila?"

"The last time I called her she was fine. It's not her I'm worried about." Lith replied. "Is it weird that I want to drop everything and go tell my mother I love her?"

"No, it's not weird." Vastor shook his head. "After a day like this, it would be weird otherwise."

***

Staying in Kophar for a whole day after clearing the underground lab and treating his patients was one of the hardest things Lith had ever done.

Solus gave him space and focused her attention on the victims of the experiments. Vastor was curious to meet her as a colleague and had his fun throwing trick questions at her like she was one of his students.

Solus had her fun answering all of them flawlessly and, sometimes, even before Vastor could open his mouth.

"If it weren't impossible, I'd say that you know exactly how I conduct my lessons." He said after being beaten to the punch one time too many.

"In a way, I do." Solus replied. "Lith always talks about his time as a student and often quotes you when he teaches magic to the children, Professor."

Vastor was flattered by Solus' fake anecdotes and embarrassed enough not to question her knowledge anymore.

"Did anything happen today?" Lith asked on the dawn of the fourth day of his absence.

"No." Kamila replied. "You were right. Meln won't come out of his hole until he's done with his preparations There's no point in you staying away from home any longer. Come back. I miss you."

"I miss you more. See you in a minute." Lith checked on his patients one last time before bidding Major Yerna goodbye.

"It was a pleasure working with you again, White." She held his hand in hers. "Thank the gods we didn't have Red weighing us down. I don't know if this time we could have done it despite his presence."

"I'll make sure to tell him, Captain." Lith replied with a sly smile. "Red won't be happy to know you still consider him a Saddle after all these years. He remembers our little adventure in Xenatos fondly."

"Wait, you kept in contact with Red?" Yerna was flabbergasted. "We spent three days together and not once the thought of mentioning this crossed your mind?"

"It's a long story." Lith shrugged. "As for you second question, you didn't ask."

"You're always the same, White. Never change." She chuckled. "I hope I won't have to wait six more years to meet you again."

"We'll see." Lith shrugged.

"It was nice to meet, you, Great Mage Verhen." Yerna shook Solus' hand next. "The next time we meet, I promise I will assign you a more flattering cover story."

"You better." Solus said with a smile. "It was nice meeting you too, Major, yet I don't want to see you ever again in a professional capacity. One time was enough. A civilian get-together would be much more pleasant."

"I couldn't agree more." Yerna nodded.

Vastor had already left and the survivors been sorted to various welfare associations that would take care of the survivors and return their home to them in case their properties had been sold.

With nothing else to do, Lith and Solus Warped straight to Kophar's branch of the Mage Association, and from there they Warped straight to his barn in Lutia.

The moment Lith was away from the public eye, he broke into a run and sprinted toward his house.