At first, Ethan could only hear buzzing sounds inside his head. But, as time went on these buzzing sounds slowly turned into words.
“Mr. Roberts, I think there is some kind of proble…” Ethan glanced behind him to tell the owner of the Aviary that something seems to be wrong. However, the middle-aged man was nowhere to be found.
“You won’t find him anywhere, you know?”
“The old man has a sick hobby. Always doing this to his customers.”
“Yes! He should be reported to the Magical Bureau!”
“Silly, if we do that, who’s going to take care of the shop?”
“Right. This is what they call Capitalism.”
“Well, I guess we just have to let him go then.”
“Agreed!”
“I second this notion!”
“I third it!”
“Everyone, we shouldn’t talk all at once. Just look at the poor boy, he looks like he is about to pee himself.”
Ethan vehemently shook his head and refuted the assumption of one of the voices that was talking in his head.
“I’m not about to pee myself,” Ethan stated. “Who are you guys? Why are you all talking in my head?!”
“Calm down, little boy,” one of the voices replied. “There’s still an hour before lunch, so we’ll make this quick. You are here to be interviewed, and whether one of us recognizes you will depend on your answer. Um, who wants to ask the first question?”
“Me! Listen boy, what are your future plans?” a snarky voice asked.
“Um… Lunch?” Ethan replied. “I’m a bit hungry.”
The owner of the voice scoffed. “No. Silly. Something long term!”
“Dinner then,” Ethan answered with a matter fact tone that made the owner of the voice almost choke in anger.
“This boy is dumb! I’m not interested in being his partner!” the owner of the snarky voice complained. 𝑂𝗏𝔩xt.𝚌𝗈𝓶
“That’s fine, who wants to ask the next question?”
“Well, the moment he entered, I felt as if we shared a bond,” a calm sounding voice commented. “How about I ask him a question?”
“Sure, go ahead.”
There was a slight pause as if the owner of the calm sounding voice was thinking of a good question to ask Ethan.
“What makes more noise than 50 crows sitting on 50 fence posts?” the owner of the calm sounding voice asked.
“My Grandma when she’s angry,” Ethan answered in a heartbeat.
“Um, okay. I’ll accept that answer. Old people are indeed loud,” the owner of the calm voice commented. “Next question. What is blue and sounds like a parrot?”
Ethan pondered for a bit before giving his answer.
“A blue parrot,” Ethan replied.
“Acceptable answer as well,” the owner of the calm voice chuckled. “Okay. Last question. What is the answer to this math problem?”
383 x (983 + 234) x 2,343 ÷ 243 – 62 (1+2) ÷ 6 = ?
Ethan looked blankly in space because this was the hardest question that the voices had ever asked him. Finally after three minutes, the blue-haired boy finally managed to squeeze an answer with great uncertainty.
“4,674,135.94?” Ethan blinked.
“… Yep, this person is dumb.” The owner of the calm voice sighed. “Not interested in making him my partner.”
The one acting as mediator sighed as well before asking for someone else to ask questions.
“Who wants to ask question nex–”
Suddenly, a high-pitched whistling noise spread in the forest. Although faint, Ethan also heard the flapping of wings, which made him look at his right side.
There, he saw something that made him wonder if he was just seeing things.
A white raven glided in his direction before nimbly landing on the leather gauntlet in his hand. The blue-haired boy stared at it, and the raven stared back at him with an amused expression on its intelligent eyes.
“Bloody hell,” Ethan muttered. “Grandma wouldn’t believe me if I told her I saw a white raven.”
“I came here to personally ask you one question,” the White Raven said in an amused tone. “Tell me, if you were given the choice to have one Magic, and only one, what kind of Magic would you like to have?”
Ethan closed his eyes as he pondered long and hard to answer this question. After being in Brynhildr Academy, he had been exposed to Magic, and for him, it is both a scary and wonderful thing.
Truth be told, he envied his cousin, Chloe, because she could shoot Fire Bolts with her wand.
He also envied Alice because she was able to shoot Icicles, and turn monsters into Ice Statues.
The Irony of this was that the question that the White Raven asked him, was the same question he had asked himself ever since he discovered that magic was real.
If he could only choose one magic in the world, what kind of magic would he like to have?
“I’m a very fickle person, and very greedy as well,” Ethan stated after he finished pondering the answer to this question. “When I first saw my cousin, Chloe, summon a Fire Bolt, I thought, I wish I can do that as well. Then, after seeing more kinds of magic, I thought that I wanted to have those as well.
“So, if I can only have one magic in the world. I wish to have the Magic that can copy the Magic of others. That way, I will be able to use many kinds of magic!”
A faint whistle escaped the White Raven’s beak, which made the blue-haired boy wonder if he gave the right answer. Although he knew that his answer was quite ambitious, that was what he genuinely felt after accidentally becoming part of the Magic World.
“You are indeed very greedy,” the White Raven replied. “And, pretty ambitious as well. However, what you wish for, is something you already possess. You just don’t know how to make it happen.”
“Eh? I already possess it?”
“Yes. I can see unlimited potential in you. This is why I’ve decided to become your Guide”
The White Raven bowed its head, and a white glowing ball of light emerged from its body. A moment later, this ball of light slowly flew towards Ethan’s chest, burrowing itself inside his body.
For a brief moment, the blue-haired boy saw a vision of him flying in the sky. Gliding in the air, and seeing the world from above.
However, it didn’t take long before he realized that the visions he was seeing were not his own, but the White Raven’s. It was as if the latter had shared his wisdom with him, allowing him to better understand the world he was currently in.
“The contract has been established,” the White Raven said. “Ethan, I will allow you to bestow a name upon me. Please, choose a good name because names have power. Depending on my name, I may, or may not be able to perform certain tasks that are deemed impossible by many. So, make sure to give me a good name.”
Ethan lightly brushed the White Raven’s back, feeling the smoothness of its feathers under his touch.
“Dantalion,” Ethan said softly. “From now on, your name will be Dantalion.”
“So it shall be,” Dantalion replied. “From this moment onwards, I am Dantalion. Your guide, your friend, your ally, and your messenger. I look forward to seeing your growth, Ethan.”
“Thank you, Dantalion.” Ethan smiled. “Guide me well.”
From high in the sky, a certain middle-aged man looked at this scene with a satisfied smile on his face.
“To think that someone without any magic in his body has been able to make a pact with the leader of the Unkindness,” Robert smirked. “I can vaguely sense the stirring of a storm in Eastshire. I wonder… will this boy be at the center of it all?”
Robert didn’t know the answer to this question. However, he was fine with that.
He was the Raven Master, and whatever his wards could see, he saw them as well. But, with the restrictions placed over him, the only thing he could do was watch, and never touch.
For that was the role he, and the other Roberts’ who came before him played in Eastshire.
(E/N: I am the Dread Pirate Roberts!)
They are silent watchers of the Magical World.
Unable to do anything except record the unseen history of Wizards, and Witches, and their struggles that were slowly pushing his beloved world to ruin.