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Inan woke up to the cold. His first thought was: Is he dead?
He clearly remembered how his father stabbed him in the stomach. The pain was almost unbearable, and as he looked down, he saw red liquid leaking through his kaftan. He layed on the floor of the crumbling temple among tens of corpses, one of them was of his father.
Saran was fighting Amari, he suddenly remembered. Does this mean that Amari is alright? How about Zélie?
He forced himself to stand up and looked through the corpses, as debris began to fall down from the ceiling. He needed to escape. Or should he stay and die? He deserves nothing else than death. He failed Orisha.
No, my child, he heard a voice.
"Who are you?" he asked because he didn't see anyone.
In a second he found himself on the field he knew from his dreams too well. In front of him stood a glorious woman, her hair white and curly just like Zélie's, but the magus girl was nowhere.
"Is Zélie alright? Is my sister alright? Is... Tzain alright?" he asked.
Yes, they are.
The woman's voice was deep and sweet as honey. He calmed down.
"Who are you?"
Your sister...
"Amari-"
Your goddess sister. I am Orí, goddess of the mind and soul.
So there she was... the person, or god, responsible for everything happening to him. But he couldn't blame her anymore, the only emotion left in him was shame and disappointment.
Magic is back, my child - Orí said. - You should be thankful for it.
"Thankful?" he would've laughed if he hadn't been so afraid. "There will be war! A war between the Magi and the koshidans! I wanted to prevent it!"
Or you were just afraid of yourself, weren't you?
"I-"
I choose you for a reason. Your family left me behind generations ago, but I have been watching from afar. You are no better than your predecessors, but your sister... she acted selflessly. I knew that if I gave magic to you, your remaining love for your sister and your kingdom will help to solve this conflict between the nobility and the Magi.
He wanted to serve a good comeback, but he just stood there in silence. He couldn't help it, he just thought about what Orí just said.
He was no better than his dad, or any other noble. But... he has seen the truth. And when he was bleeding out, he saw his sister and a white streak in her hair. Was it...
You are right, young boy. Magic is back. Not only the Magi received their magical powers, but some noble people too, like you and your sister.
"That's not good, that's really not good..." He couldn't fathom what the noble folk like his father would do with magic.
"I need to stop them. No... I need to make them understand that magic is dangerous and... and that they shouldn't use it for their profit."
He sat down and started to think about the situation.
"Zélie, Amari and Tzain are probably working on making the Magi and the koshidans equal" he murmured. "That's what my grandfather wanted, and people like Zélie or Zu... who died because of me, again, should really be equal to another ordinary folk. But the nobility needs some serious work. I need to find the most influential ones with magic and I need to reason with them."
Orí smiled.
That's why I chose you.
He woke up in cold sweat at the shore. How did he get out of the temple?
He looked back, but there was no temple to see. How...?
Go... Find a group that will help you restore peace. But you have to wake up the conscience of the nobility first.
"Orí?" he asked, but no one answered. He let out a short breath.
Finally, for the first time in his life, he had a genuinely good goal. He had to start working on it!