HP: The Arcane Thief
chapter-164

As they approached the castle the general turned to him and gave him something. It was a translation amulet similar to the one they were given at Hogwarts in the beginning of the year.

"Put this on. The princess should have to bother translating to your language. And Here, keep this in your pocket," said the General, handing him an enchanted seashell. "You can't get access to the castle without it."

As soon as Axel grabbed the shell, a magic current ran through him as an imprint appeared on the shell. It seemed that now, no one else other than him can use it.

!

Though, Axel didn't think he needed it. As soon they entered the wards, he 'felt' it. A connection… a calling. It was as if the castle itself was welcoming him.

'The fuck?!'

Axel flinched. He looked at the General, wondering if he noticed something, but the man seemed too busy with his own concerns. He was barking orders at the communication device on wrist, surveiling the castle from the height.

Unnoticed by everyone, a throne lit up deep inside the castle. Too bad, no one was there to see it.

The general took Axel to what seemed like the training field of the army. In the vast space, a huge number of Atlantians were milling around. A number of ninjas were also intermingled among them, but they seemed to be mostly training others rather than training themselves.

As the General arrived at the field, everyone stopped what they were doing to make a three signal with their fingers and put it adjacent to their chests.

"""General!"""

The General nodded before continuing to walk. As Axel followed him, multiple glances were cast on him, some curious, some puzzled, some outright hostile as whispers followed.

"Outsider."

That was the word used multiple times, which was apparent by his clearly different style of clothes. Soon, the general reached a particular section of Atlantis where there were a lot of women. Surprised by the General's presence, they parted to reveal a woman in light blue armor busily discussing something with several people.

"Princess Antilla, I have brought him as you ordered."

The princess turned around to the General, then to Axel, and quickly nodded in understanding. She excused herself and parted from the meeting.

"It's him, right?" She asked the general, gesturing towards Axel. "Please, Come with me," she said to Axel upon receiving confirmation as she began to lead him away.

While walking, Axel studied the woman. This was his Aunt, right? He could see the resemblance with his mother. She walking with grace befitting a princess. Her long blue hair blew in the air as she walked and her soft blue eyes would look back at him to make sure he was following. Overall, she gave the impression of a kind and wise woman.

She led him to a secluded resting place at the side of the field and gestured for him to sit. After that, she studied him with a critical eye. "Have I seen you before?" She asked all of a sudden.

Axel controlled his expression to not appear nervous. "Well, have you ever been to the Outiside world?" He asked back.

The princess chuckled. "I wish. Pardon me, it was silly of me to ask that. What is your name?"

"It's Chris."

"Chris, the reason I called you here is because I just came to know that someone, an outsider, no less, used a royal seal," said the Princess, looking at him like he was a naughty child.

"Now, possessing a Royal Seal without having directly received it from the Royalty is a punishable offense. And all the shells given by father and I are accounted for. So," she paused, narrowing his eyes at him. "I want to ask you, how did you, an outsider who has never been in contact with us, came in possession of the seal?"

'Busted.' Thought Axel. He hadn't thought that the Royal Seals would be so heavily regulated. Though Now that he thought about it, it does seem quite impossible for an outsider to have even met the royalty, let alone get a seal.

Unless…

It suddenly clicked to Axel. If this princess really thought he was guilty, she wouldn't have directly sent the General to bring him. And neither would she have taken the time to meet him in person and treat him so courteously. There actually was a way in which he could have had contact with the Royalty, even while being an outsider.

Axel activated his trusted skill again.

[Bullshiting]

[Your lies would sound more convincing.]

He pretended to be angry. "Well, I don't know anything about what you just said. All I know is that the lady who gave it us said we can go to Atlantis and show this in case we needed help."

The princess's eyes widened in expectation as half of her suspicion seemed to vanish. "Yes, what was her name? Can you tell me more about her?"

"She called herself Atlana, or Atlnena, I think that was her name. She was trying to find her husband."

"My uncle Thor didn't know who she was, but he helped her anyway. After that she revealed her identity and gave him this seal, to look for her in case we needed help," said Axel, a look of remembrance on his face.

"I was too young back then. But I do remember blue hair. We don't have those around there. And also," he paused, pretending to dig around his storage pouch. "We have this. A portrait of her husband. We used it to find him for her," he said, taking out his dad's portrait which Bellatrix had given him and hammering the nail in the coffin of lies he had created.

'You are finally useful for once, you mother fucker.' He thought inwardly, looking at the annoying portrait.

The final bit of suspicion from gone from the princess's eyes as soon as she saw the portrait. A look of loathing appeared on it instead. "Well, they weren't officially married. He was only her lover at best…"

Axel took some indirect damage from that. 'Thanks for calling me a bastard, aunty.' He thought.

"Anyways," The Princess bowed. "Let me begin by saying that I am so sorry for the inconvenience you had to go through! And I am sorry for testing you just but I had to be sure it was not pretender." she apoligised sincerely. "The one you helped was my sister, the successor to the Throne."

Her gaze went back to the happenings of the field, and at the communication device on her wrist that was continuously blinking. "As you can see, the situation around here is extremely chaotic right now. We are a preparing for war. So my subordinates didn't consider it important to report to be about this matter. I had you summoned as soon as I heard of that someone from the outside world had come with the Royal Seal," she explained.

Axel was not much moved.

"But why put me in jail if it really was the royal seal? Those guards didn't even bother checking its authenticity."

The princess sighed. "Once again, I am deeply apologetic for that. Actually, it is forbidden for any outsider to possess the Royal Seal. Whether it was real or fake, the guards considered it crime. Of course, rules never seem to apply to my sister."

"Fortunately, I found soon," the Princess bowed again, this time in sincere gratitude. "Thank you for helping my sister. Unfortunately… she is no longer with us. She died saving this kingdom," she said, a flash of pain flashing through her eyes.

"That's… that's really sad," said Axel, it was the first truth he had said. There was no point hating or blaming her if she was already dead.

The princess nodded. "It is, isn't it? But, let's not dwell on that. My sister's favor is Atlantis's favor. Tell me, how can I help?" She asked directly.

It was obvious that Axel was here to ask for something. The princess seemed to decide it best to just fulfil his demands and let him leave while it's still safe around here.

"Well," Axel didn't shy away. Even though he didn't really 'help' her sister, Well, this was his aunt. He was allowed to ask for a favour, right? She can do this much for her sister's son, right? He'll save her kingdom in return.

Axel raised his hand and removed the bandages, revealing a clear scar that was now connecting his once severed hand.

"I heard this can be fixed here," he said, flexing his fingers to show that they weren't working properly.

The princess checked his hand. "Was it…"

"Severed? Cut off? Yeah. I had it reattached but it's still not working smoothly."

"Oh… How old are you again?" Asked the Princess, now a bit concerned. Is the outside place so barbaric that to talk so casually about such injuries. Even though they can be fixed, the pain is still real, right?

"I'm sixteen, maybe almost seventeen," he said, adjusting it to fit his story.

The Princess nodded. "I see… Well, I can arrange it to be healed. But… is that it?"

"Yeah, that's about it."

The princess was surprised. She had thought that someone from the outside world would get greedy upon getting such an offer. After all, this was a favor directly from the Princess of Atlantis. There is so much he could have asked for.

"I will arrange for it right now," the Princess tapped her wrist. "Sylthia, could you please come here?"

Moments later, a tall girl made her way toward them with purposeful steps. She had a graceful and upright posture.

"Yes Princess?" She asked. She had bright emerald hair which were arranged in neat braids and her prideful emerald eyes focused only on the princess, directly ignoring Axel's existence. A shinning green emerald was tied to her wrist, which seemed to radiate power.

Princess gestured towards Axel. "Sylthia, this is Chris, my guest. Take him to the medics and have them treat his hand injury. Give him a tour while you are it as well."

"Your guest?" The girl regarded Axel with a vary gaze.

"Yes, treat him well," said the Princess, standing up. "Chris, I am extremely sorry that I can't give you the tour myself. Come meet me after you have your hand fixed, okay?" She said, looking apologetic.

"It's alright." Axel was already surprised with this much. The princess didn't put on any airs and treated him fairly. So his first impression of his aunt was:

'She's alright.'

"This way," Sylthia said as she began leading him away.

Axel followed the girl who was storming away as if not wanting him to follow. As soon as he would match pace with hers, she would walk faster, keeping away from him. As they walked, the males would glance in their direction, first at Sylthia and then at Axel.

Sylthia finally glanced at him when she realised she couldn't outpace him. "Is it true? That you're an outsider?" She couldn't seem to help asking.

Axel shrugged. "Yeah, sort of," he muttered. He was an outsider, but he was also the prince and heir to the throne. "Anyways, where is my tour?" Axel couldn't help but ask after realizing that the girl seemed to have no intention of giving him one.

Sylthia rolled her eyes. But she began speaking. "Right now, we are in the Militia layer. That over there is the training field, and the academic layer is in the wing across it," she said, point at the training field.

"Academic layer? Militia layer? I thought this was the Royal Castle?"

Sylthia gave him a 'you are an idiot as expected' look. "This castle spans over tens of hundreds of kilometers of land, not counting the fact that it's internal space is almost infinitely extendable. What is the royal family supposed to do with all that? Only the internal layer is for the Royal family. But the rest is the Royal Military and Royal Academy. Only the most talented prodigies in the whole kingdom are allowed here."

Sylthia seemed to respect the princess, because she was still explaining despite all the disdain and contempt she seemed to hold for him.

"Oh." Now it made sense why he was seeing so many soldiers and what seemed like students here. "So, are you a student or a soldier?" He asked. Judging by her looks and well developed body, she could be anything between 17 to mid twenties.

Sylthia looked like she had been insulted. "I am neither. I am the heir to the Varnox family. I am, of course, a relic wielder," she said, stroking her bracelet.

"Relic Wielder? Is that a different category?"

"Of course! It's everyone's dream. Relic Wielders are the top of top, whether it's power, respect, or wealth. Right now, there are only 12 in this whole castle!"

"And you are one."

"Yes, which is why I can't understand why the princess would give me such a menial task," she complained.

Axel found that to be true. A Relic Wielder should be someone as powerful and Theron and Nerio, right? They were the Overseers of Kraken. It was enough to make him curious.

"So tell me, what does it take to become a relic wielder?" he asked with some interest.