Raiya widened her eyes as she heard the explanation from Felix. It all started to make sense to her now, why he couldn't side with her when she was excommunicated, why he had never even attempted to make contact with her after she left, and why Felix waited until a few weeks ago to leave the arcanocracy and attempt to recruit her and mend bridges. The holy grail, the threat of execution for even attempting to disclose of the ritual. Felix had been bound and gagged by the ritual he was forced to perform to become an arch-mage. A lot of emotions were welling up inside Raiya, brimming forth and spilling over until her mouth began to move on its own, "[color=ec008c]"Felix, I didn-..."[/color] Raiya caught herself before she laid bare too much of what she was feeling. She did not know if she was quite ready to forgive Felix. But one thing was for sure, her anger was stoked even more towards the arcanocracy for stealing everything from her. 

	Raiya rolled her eyes at the half-hearted apology from Nemo. Not even sparing a moment of thought to reply with anything but, [color=ec008c]"Tch- whatever..."[/color] Her thoughts were too disrupted by the new revelations regarding Felix that she was still processing everything. She continued to remain silent as an emotionally charged Zuri began to spill tears over the disclosure of Felix's predicament and her pledge to remain until the mission was complete. Raiya also remained silent during Travis's pledge, his voice displaying the honesty he could not display himself. It was apparent how hesitant Travis was to pledge his life to this mission, but Raiya figured there was something more that Travis was getting out of this adventure than just some warm fuzzies for helping humanity. Finally Raiya broke the silence with, [color=ec008c]"I don't know if I believe you about everything you just said. But I have known you since I was a child, and your aura has always been a constant calming white. One thing I noticed when he first came to me was that his aura, while still calming, had a feeling of instability to it. It felt as if Felix was charging a massive spell constantly. I just figured he had kept a few portals open as escape routes. But it does make sense. Regardless of what I want, I am honor-bound to remain here until the deed is finished or I have been released from my contract with Nemo. So, I am staying until we finish this, or we die. Which, honestly at this point, it is looking pretty certain that it might just be the latter"[/color] Raiya said in a calm tone. It was clear that Raiya still had a lot of processing to do on the matter, but she felt secure with her answer for the time being.

[hr]

	As Nemo spoke Felix sat forward, placing his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands together, and resting his chin on his clasped hands. "I might have used the term curse a little imperfectly there. I'm not quite sure if it actually is a true curse by definition. I've ran many biocrystal diagnostics on my mana-well. There was no apparent curse attached to me. A curse is like a parasite that feeds on your mana-well, while producing many horrid effects with your own mana that the curse has fed off of. The afforementioned horrid effects are by definition what people think of when they use the term, 'curse.' But there is no parasitic spells attached to me. By all accounts, I am as healthy as the day I became an arch-mage," Felix explained, leaning back in his chair and folding his hands on his stomach. "What is afflicting me seems to be less of a magical nature and more of a physical nature. Like a disease, an illness. That is wherein the problem lies. I honestly cannot figure out what has been afflicting me. Although, I do have some working theories. It is quite unnatural to permanently remove a portion of one's mana-well. In fact, most of the time it is quite fatal. My first hypothesis is that the reason why I am going through what I am calling: retrograde mana-well atrophy, is because I removed a portion of my mana-well. My second hypothesis is that, in order to cure myself, I must regain the portion of my mana-well I cut loose. Although, that does pose a problem, because the portion of my mana-well I severed would have been stored within the paragon of the grail that I bound myself to. While it might be possible to access it if we possessed it, the grail is deep in the heart of the vatican. It is most certainly the last paragon I would wish for you to retrieve. With that said, there may be a few working cures we could attempt in the mean time." Felix paused as if deep in thought, then shaking his head briefly, he continued, "I've tried been down many thaumaturgical paths, attempting to find a solution to my problem outside of reclaiming my mana-well from the holy grail, but my research has bore no fruits as of yet. However, I am not giving up, and-" Felix waved his right hand at Travis, "If you'll assist me in coming up with a solution to my dilemma, I am sure we will figure it out in no time." 

	Felix was taken aback by the crying Zuri, Felix did not really know how to react as he had just met the newest addition to the team a few weeks ago. Felix began to awkwardly smile and scratch the back of his own head with his right hand while slowly waving his left hand in a gesture of assuagement. "Don't cry, Zuri. I didn't mean to make you sad. I just felt you all deserved to know what you were in for." Felix tilted his head down and clasped his hands together in an apologetic manner, taking a somber tone, "I would like to say I am very sorry for not telling you all the truth about me. It was my hubris that led to the grizzly deaths of our members. I have to bear that responsibility alone. And if this is to continue, I need my conscience clear. So thank you guys, for looking past my faults and instead, believing in the mission itself." Felix finished