"You're lying."

"Have I ever lied to you, I'm telling you it's true!"

"There's a first for everything, why are you here anyway?" Tyrell shook his head,

"I give you my word, on my name Serina they're fighting!" she sighed,

"I may have only met the man a few times but Triton couldn't harm a fly and besides how could you have seen them weren't you supposed to be in class?" The boy shuffled and looked down at his feet.

"I wasn't feeling well and I… you're missing the point, Serina. It's amazing; they're really going for it you have got to see this!" Serina highly doubted what the other boy was saying but his insistence was endearing so she allowed herself to be dragged out of her sanctuary (a small abandoned alcove hidden from the view of anyone who wasn't searching for it) and down to the Coven's lake. She heard it; she even smelt it before she saw it. Upon reaching the outer centre of the Coven she could smell the fire and by the time she reached its outskirts the roar of aggression was loud above the daily drone. One man, she couldn't quite tell who, was raised into the air in the centre of a hollow typhoon whilst another was dousing him with flame. A deafening crack sounded as the man jettisoning flame from his hand (whom Serina could now tell was Triton) roused the very earth from the ground far below, sending rivulets of mud and rock spattering towards his enemy whilst simultaneously rolling a large rock out of sight. Increasing the density and frequency of the mudflow Triton flicked his wrist and the boulder shot into the air connecting with the man in the sky and causing him to plummet towards the ground but not before Triton himself was floored by a particularly powerful jettison of water hitting him square in the chest. There was a deafening silence and Serina held her breath, she highly doubted either of the men could be killed by their injuries but the man in the sky fell a particularly long way. Why on earth were they fighting? Triton was the first on his feet, rushing over to the over man and placing a hand on his forehead "Thank the Gods," he the other man opened his eyes. "What were you thinking going up so high, you could have seriously injured yourself?"

"Yes, and I would have had you here to heal me afterwards."

"Not if you were dead! What would I do if you died, well?"

"But it worked, you were so focused on my height and water effects that you forgot about your own protection; if I hadn't been similarly distracted by your mud-balls this could have been a different story."

"Great minds think alike, it seems." Eamon nodded and rose to his feet,

"Although technically I threw the flooring punch first as it were, the masters would have viewed that as a draw or proclaimed you the winner. Not only did you inflict more damage than I but you were the first up after the fight giving you the advantage when it came to healing and delivering the finishing blow." He inclined his head, "Well done, Triton." The smaller man raised an eyebrow,

"You didn't go all out and you know it, you could have easily gone on the offensive but you didn't. It's not a victory if I know you can do better."

"Yes, but this was just the first lesson. Against any other Master at the Coven, baring Vin perhaps, that would have been a knockout performance, over the next few weeks I'll teach you to be faster, think quicker and spot their weaknesses before they even know them. You're powerful Triton, I felt it. Still can. All that is left is for you to hone your skills, the Master's see something special in you and they are not going to make it easy; quite the opposite in fact." Triton was biting his bottom lip,

"You really think I can pass, I couldn't even best you when you weren't trying how am I going to surpass a Master whose job it is to see me fail?"

"With a few more lessons you'll get there, you just need to use a wider variety of techniques. You can project fire further and more violently than anyone I've ever met yet you missed every opportunity to use water or ice techniques, granted the battle was short but I can't help but think you wouldn't have used them at all if given the option."

"You're right, I…" A movement to the corner of his eye caught his attention, "Serina?" The girl nodded and sheepishly made her way over to the men followed by an equally shamefaced boy. "Serina, I'd like you to meet Master Eamon, Master Eamon, Serina and her… Friend,"

"Tyrell," he mumbled with a bow "of House Ratween."

"A pleasure." Said Triton extending a hand which was met with caution, "pardon me for asking, Master but why were you fighting?"

"You don't seem very angry with each other." Added Serina,

"Oh the contrary dear girl, we're livid! Triton here has been selected for testing but the Coven Masters have misplaced his files, as such I am helping to prepare him for the power training element of his initiation." Placing a hand on Tritons shoulder, Eamon began to dry them; "it's all very innocent." Serina sighed away her relief; the initial thought of Triton in a fight was somewhat unsettling.

"Why isn't Seymour helping you?" The words were out of her mouth before she had even fully thought them through but the glare she received from Triton in return was almost shocking. Eamon merely changed the subject,

"Let's get back to the Coven shall we? And if I find out that either of you are missing lessons it will be detention and I promise you it will not be enjoyable."

"Yes, Master. Of course, Master." Serina tried not to laugh; she had never seen Tyrell so flustered. Walking back to the Coven she was introduced to Master Eamon on a more intimate level; he was a Phoenix level magician, on the uppermost floor of the household and he was an alchemist. Somewhat taller than Triton he had long golden blonde hair tied back in a pony-tail and wore a slight pair of corrective lenses used to correct faulty vision. He was slight of frame yet somehow his eclectic features amalgamated into a slightly queer yet charmingly plain appearance.

"Congratulations on your promotion, I'm sure Master Seymour will be thrilled to hear the news." There it was again; the glare, and once more Eamon changed the subject

"How are you finding Coven life so far? I've been hearing some interesting things about both of you."

"About me Master?" It was Tyrell who spoke; he hadn't expected anybody to be talking about him, not whilst Serina was around. Eamon nodded,

"Word on the olive vine states that you are quite the artist… Ohh come now, child don't be surprised. When a student sketches the entire Inchantian skyline whilst bored in history class word tends to travel. Especially when your teacher is my primarily a specialist in art history and married to my sister." Tyrell dipped his head,

"Give them a break Emmy, besides what were you like at their age?" The term of affection slipped his lips before he could stop it; the look on Eamons face was priceless.

"Fair point." He turned to the students, "This is where we must leave you I'm afraid, Master Triton and I need to finish some preparations and gather some files before he can test for Phoenix and if I were you I'd get a move on, class starts in ten minutes." Serina nodded and dragged Tyrell away who was practically falling over himself performing formal goodbyes.

"And I thought my 'Coven face' was impressive, yours is practically a personality transplant." The older magician tutted,

"Ohh come now it wasn't that bad."

"Yes it was, that poor boy was virtually shaking."

"Do you want help with your application or not?" Triton opened his mouth to respond, but no sound came out. There was no reason to argue older magician were always somewhat cold to the novices, it has always been that way. Triton followed Eamon into the Alchemist research labs and down to his office, "Have you ever been here before?" Triton shook his head. "Have you given any more thought to which area you are going to specialise in, every other magician your age chose years ago and most have been working ever since."

"Yes I know," Mumbled the brunette as they rounded a corner "Arithmetic seems probable, but then again so does History. Healing is also attractive but…"

"So realistically you have no plan,"

"No." The men rounded stopped at a door whilst Eamon fumbled for a key, "Here we are." Triton stopped short as he entered the room, "What did you do?" He asked looking around the room in amazement, glass cabinets lined the room with all manner of things inside. There were bottles of live Leaches, dead leaches, Spider venom, Beetles head, Kolum scrotum, eye of mule,Gryphon feather, Centaur tail, Satyr fang, Banshee essence, Mermaid scale, Gorgon egg, Siren's song, Dragon's fire, Yeti hair and Cerberus horn. A Nidhogg skeleton stood, magically constructed to move when one came into its presence; the walls were lined with sketches and diagrams of various animals with certain parts labelled as useful, several large apparatus showed the various experiments Eamon was working on but what Triton was attracted to the most lay in the centre of the rooms uppermost cabinet, "Is that what I think it is?" Eamon came up behind the man and placed his hand on his shoulder,

"What do you think it is?" Triton turned around,

"Do you know what that could do? It can heal…"

"I'm well aware of its properties, Triton."

"How did you…"

"The single most expensive thing I have ever bought in my life. I cost me my entire life savings about four years ago but I've never regretted it, not once."

"It's amazing." Eamon smiled before walking towards his desk, a large oak finished piece with far too many draws for Triton's liking. He pulled out a file.

"This is everything I've collated from our sessions, combine this with the potions you made and papers you completed earlier today and it's everything you need to provide for the Master's." He handed over the file,

"So we're done? Does this mean you're not going to be tutoring me anymore?" He laughed,

"You don't need tutoring anymore, at least not academically. I'll still help you with Power Training, but you don't need me for anything else." A silence settled between the two men and Triton bowed his head,

"This is quite upsetting, you know? I'm not quite sure that I'm to do without you."

"You'll do what you've always done, procrastinate." Triton didn't even hesitate, he wrapped his arms around Eamon held him,

"Thank you. Thank you so much,"

"I wasn't expecting this when I woke up this morning." He said returning the embrace, "Ohh and Emmy, really?"

"Sorry about that, I wasn't thinking."

"Don't be- I kind of like it. Besides, I've never had a nickname before." Triton broke the hug and moved to collect his files, he had the feeling that something more needed to be said yet he couldn't quite place what. "When are you available to power train?"

"Same time next tomorrow?" He nodded.

"I'll see you then." Sparing one last glance for his friend and the object atop the cupboards he left the room.

************************************************************************************************************************************ "And so by taking this simple equation we can formulate the mass of Harlock venom needed for the potion. Anyone care to take a guess?" The class stared blankly towards Seymour; he shook his head and turned his attention towards the time keeper on the wall. "Consider that your homework. Formulate the equation on a piece of parchment and bring it back to me tomorrow, class dismissed." Groaning the students rose to their feet, "And don't groan at me or next week I'll give you double." The students filed out of the room, "stupid kids, I told them the mass not five minutes ago, no wonder they're all going to fail." "You talk about all your students like that, Master Seymour?" The last two words said deliberately as a taunt, "Triton, what are you doing here? " "I came to ask you a question." " I… I wasn't expecting you." "I gathered." The two men looked at each other, one terrified of what the other could do and the other totally oblivious. That was the problem, Triton was totally oblivious. Both to what Seymour knew and to his own feelings, if he ever found out what Seymour had done it would mean death- for the both of them. 'Only if he told' a small voice inside kept repeating those words: 'only if he told.' Sooner or later, the truth would out and they would both be forced to deal with the consequences… That was unless he found a way to fix everything. Not Triton. He couldn't fix that, the only thing he could do would be to pull away from the other man, but then he would be unable to gain access to the others mind in order to fix the mishap, he felt awful thinking of his friends in such a way. Triton had known him for years; they were best friends for heaven's sake! He owed him the truth. "I wanted to invite you to dinner in my quarters on the twentieth; Serina would be invited also if she wishes. I can't be with my father this year as he has left on a personal errand and as such I very much hoped you would keep me company- I don't want to be alone again at this time of year." His tone was light, but Seymour could tell his friend meant every word, and differences or no they were still friends. He owed him this, "Triton, there's something I need to tell you," "Could you just let me finish before you change the subject?" He nodded; Triton was playing with his fingernails, just another habit he had picked up from Seymour over the years. "One of the reasons I was slightly nervous about coming to you with the request is because of Eamon." "Eamon?" "Yes, Eamon and I think it's time you put this childish vendetta of yours to bed and set it on fire. He is more than willing to sit down to dinner with you and be civil, why can't you do the same?" "You know very well why I can't do that, he…" "All Eamon is guilty of is being an amazing magician, it's not his fault he is seen as stronger by the Masters and on a higher level than you are," "Thank you for rubbing it in." "I know your pain, Seymour. If Eamon hadn't have been there all those years ago, all the attention would have been on you but he was. You were forever in his shadow as number two but that's not his fault, just like it's not his fault that the Master chose him for the position of apprentice to the Alchemy Master. I am not asking you to befriend him; I am not even asking you to talk to him all I want is for you both to enjoy a nice dinner to celebrate another year here, in the company of friends. Who knows, you may even have fun. Seymour raised an eyebrow and groaned, "Not bloody likely, but I'll try on one condition…" "And that would be?" "I want a chance to re-examine the link between us, I'm not sure it was entirely successful." "And by that you mean?" "It's nothing serious, sometimes you simply need to reinforce the magic to make it last. I'm afraid the spells I used weren't strong enough to create a permanent link." Seymour could feel the lies crawling out of his mouth but he did nothing to stop them, they were necessary. "Does the link need to be permanent, I was under the impression that we only needed it to last until I was tested, are you sure you want it to last forever?" "Links can always be severed, it is just a draining and unpleasant task, besides I don't want a faulty link existing inside your mind- it could do more harm than good. For everyone." At least that part was true, he wanted this to end. "If it's so important, we can do it tonight. I don't want to live out the rest of my days in an asylum facility because my mind goes to the God's earlier than my body. Perhaps it's a good thing I have you to double check everything is alright." Seymour couldn't bear to look at his friend much longer, not with the way he was behaving, he loathed his own actions. He was a liar and he hated himself for it. "I'm sorry I'll have to rush you, I have a meeting to attend with some fellow staff members" Another lie, "Can you come to my quarters later tonight?" Triton nodded, "Of course, and thank you." "For what?" "For double checking the link… and for putting aside your differences with Eamon, you'll like him I just know it." As soon as the room was cleared Seymour sank to his chair, lying to someone's face, especially someone you cared for was not a pleasant experience. But he would have to carry on, it was for his own good; he just hoped he didn't get swallowed up by the lie and make everything worse.