Fortified. Goshiki thought he knew what the word meant until he was given a tour of the Temple of The Iron Wall. The grounds were blessed to empower all those knighted, the walls were easily thick enough to withstand a barrage of catapult fire and there were enough wizards to set up magical shields. It was... incredible. It nearly convinced Goshiki to start looking into defensive magic. Obviously, though, it didn't. Goshiki was good enough at defence, what he really wanted to look at was offensive magic.

The wizard followed the knights who led him to the heart of the Temple – that was where he'd see his hosts and his saviour. After all, he had heard, if it wasn't for the young knight who found him, he probably would've bled out.

Goshiki rubbed the spine of his spellbook anxiously. His mind was racing and he wasn't sure if he really wanted to see his host or his 'saviour'. He just really hoped he'd be allowed home. But, then again, would his home really want him returned?

One of the knights, who went by the name Kamasaki, stopped by a door and glanced back to Goshiki. "Are you ready to enter?"

It wasn't a question, obviously. Just simply disguised as one. Goshiki nodded and Kamasaki opened the grand doors to reveal a stunning room.

The ceiling was high and domed, silver rafters stretching far above his head. He could see old shields, polished as if they were new, displayed in glass cases along the walls, glamourously. They caught the light in a blinding manner. On the floor below him, a geometric pattern, filled with irregular triangles and rectangles, seemed to smile at him, coloured all shades of the palest blue. Thin windows let daylight stream in and lit up the room. A large chandelier glowed amongst the rafters.

Standing in the centre of the room were four knights.

One Goshiki recognised to be Aone, standing beside a slightly smaller but just as terrifying knight with brown hair and a bored expression that reminded him of Shirabu. The brown-haired knight's shield looked breathtaking but it was nowhere near as exquisite as the shortest knight, who stood in the centre of the four men with curly black hair and a slightly nervous gleam in his eyes. The final knight was tall, muscular, his age and he had stupid hair – it convinced Goshiki that even Tendou could look better than someone.

"Hello, young wizard," the shortest smiled. "Your name is Goshiki Tsutomu, right?"

Goshiki bowed respectfully, noting this man was probably very important, especially with the magical gleam on his shield that shone brighter than everyone else's. "That's right, sir. Thank you for saving me."

The man smiled. "I'm afraid you cannot thank me," He admitted, forcing Goshiki to glance up. The knight gestured to the boy with ridiculous hair. "Knight Koganegawa Kanji is the one who found you in the forest and brought you back here. I am Lord Knight Moniwa, this is High Knight Futakuchi and I believe you have already met Knight Aone."

Politely, Goshiki smiled at them all, stopping his gaze upon Koganegawa and bowing to him. "Thank you, then, for saving me. I'd have died without you."

Koganegawa went bright red. "O-Oh, of course! Any time!"

Futakuchi sneakily kicked Koganegawa in the calf, giving him a mildly disappointed look that caused Koganegawa to turn redder.

"So, Goshiki-san, may I take you on a tour? I'd like to know more about this God fight you witnessed."

Koganegawa seemed intrigued, as did Aone, but, when Goshiki nodded, only Moniwa and his High Knight stepped forwards.

Kamasaki and the other escorting knights left them to it, going to join the other two. The doors swung shut behind them and Futakuchi instantly slumped his shoulders with a sigh. "Man," He groaned, surprisingly casual in his tone. "It's hard to look tall with Aone and Kogane around. They're giants."

"Says you," Moniwa whispered, kicking his ankle lightly. "And try to contain your complaints. We need to hear about the Godfight. You don't mind telling us, do you, Goshiki-san?"

"Not at all," Promised the wizard. "Just call me Goshiki, too. The fight was between Kuroo and Daishou, I think. It was during the storm and they crossed onto the Academy's grounds. I didn't have enough time to get inside and a shockwave, I think it was, knocked me all the way over here."

Both knights had listened thoughtfully. When Goshiki had finished, Futakuchi hummed sceptically. "That's one strong shockwave."

"I believe it was from Kuroo."

"Still, the shockwave doesn't explain the clawing on your arms. Or why your spellbook was under your shirt. I was under the impression that most wizards hang their book from their belt," Futakuchi pointed out, as Moniwa watched on.

Goshiki went red. "W-We do. I just didn't have time to attach it properly."

"So, your spellbook was unattached?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

The wizard swallowed. "It's a... long story. I'd rather explain privately."

Moniwa finally spoke, smiling at the first year, "Would you like to take this conversation to the Lord's Public Chambers? We can continue in there."

Goshiki looked at them both thoughtfully. If they possibly attacked him there, he wouldn't be able to fight back. However, he didn't have many options left. So he smiled back. "I'd prefer that too."

.:*:.

"That's one hell of a story," Futakuchi hummed when Goshiki finished his tale. "So you're not part of the Peak Selection, then?"

Goshiki glanced away shamefully. "I will be... soon."

Moniwa hummed, leaning back in his chair, if you could even call it that – it was like a throne, yet less ornate and slightly more modest. "So, you can't cast magic under pressure. Any clue as to why?"

"No. No clue."

Futakuchi hummed again, possibly a habit of his, and he glanced down at the Lord Knight. "A curse, maybe?"

This made Goshiki frown. "I can still cast magic, y'know. I'm not cursed."

"It could be a partially-limited curse," Futakuchi elaborated. "Maybe it comes into effect when you need magic to be around. Do you know of any curses in your family?"

"I- uhm..." Goshiki hesitated, the grip on his spellbook tightening. "I don't know."

Futakuchi looked back to Moniwa expectantly. "Do you think it's a curse?"

Moniwa nodded. "It could be. That's the only thing that makes sense to me. Could you cast magic now?"

Goshiki glanced down at his spellbook and then stood up, raising out his hand towards the knights. With a steadying breath, he let a sudden beam of white light appear in his outstretched palm. The light warped carefully into a perfect sphere and Goshiki flexed his fingers, letting the separate colours of the light pry apart from each other elegantly, before shutting his fist, squashing the light with it. He sat down afterwards.

"Hmm." Moniwa leaned forwards on his desk. "A curse seems like our only option. I don't think you'd be able to get into the Peak Selection if you're cursed."

Goshiki's heart stopped. "No, I have to get into the Peak Selection! Please, it's everything to me!" He leapt to his feet again, eyes wide with desperation. "Please, there's got to be something I could do!"

Moniwa stared rather dumbly, mouth opening and closing as he tried to find words of comfort or fact to calm the wizard. "I don't think- There's still, uh-"

"What about," Futakuchi said, getting the other two's attention, "a Cleansing Blessing?"

The room was completely silent. Moniwa frowned at his second-in-command. "A Cleansing Blessing? That's near impossible to obtain, there isn't a single God who'd just give them out to just anyone."

"If I even reach a God!" Goshiki yelped, narrowing his eyes. "Their guardians are fierce warriors and I'd have to cross into their territories several times. Not to mention, the God Tooru would not be happy to see a Shiratorizawa Academy student. A-and we all know what happens when he's not happy – we've all heard the legends!"

Futakuchi scowled defensively. "I'm just saying, a Cleansing Blessing will wash you pure of any curses. Even if it is not a curse, the Goddess Kiyoko can relieve you of any illnesses preventing this. Getting a Cleansing Blessing from any God would help."

"Well, I couldn't go on my own!" Goshiki answered. "That's the root of this problem, isn't it?" He looked back to the Lord Knight expectantly, trying to read his thoughtful expression.

Moniwa leaded back in his chair. "There is," he said carefully, "the fact we could lend you a bodyguard for this trip."

That shifted Goshiki's perspective. "Would they be a knight?"

"Naturally."

Wordlessly, Goshiki slipped into his chair, weighing up the pros and cons. He wouldn't be able to defend himself. The God Tooru's territory was vast and the God Tooru was territorial. He would be a prime target for bandits. He wanted to go home. However, he wanted to use magic. He could stay clear of easy-to-anger Gods. Bandits wouldn't want to attack a Shiratorizawa student. He'd have a knight, skilled in impeccable offence and defence.

"Which knight?" He asked sceptically.

Futakuchi barely tried to hide his smile. "You remember the knight Koganegawa, right?"