Magi apprentice, p.10
Magi Apprentice, page 10
part #2 of Aetheric Academy Series
But she wasn’t sure she wanted to tell him everything, or at least, she didn’t want to without some kind of show of trust. She needed something from him if she was going to bring him into their circle of trust.
“Alright, yeah. There is something, but I want to know something first.”
“Oh?”
“The rumour is that you killed someone during your Epiphany. I’ve heard several people say so, but no one knows who.”
Trenton shook his head. “No, you’re right, no one knows.”
“Tell me about your Epiphany, and I’ll tell you what we’re talking about.”
“I’m not sure that’s fair,” Trenton answered.
“Actually,” Katy replied, “I think it is, and when I tell you, I think you’ll agree.”
Trenton narrowed his eyes at her. “Are you sure about that?”
“A couple of weeks ago, we nearly died,” Katy admitted.
“Died?”
“Murdered. Killed in cold blood.”
Trenton raised one eyebrow. “Really?”
Katy nodded.
“Oh.”
“I understand if you don’t want to tell me though. You don’t have to…”
“No, I will. It’s just…” Trenton shook his head as if the train of thought he was on was wrong, and started again. “Alright, so, I’ve never really gotten on with my parents. They always seemed to hate us. The only time they ever showed any interest was when they were punishing us. By that, I mean hitting us. Okay? They were violent and unpredictable.”
“Us?” Katy asked.
“My brother, Davis, and I. My mom attacked him one night. She was drunk, or high, or both. I don’t know. But she just started wailing on him, you know? And I just couldn’t let her do that, so I started to defend him. I hit her. I hit my mom...” Trenton paused for a moment. “Shit, when I say it like that. It’s messed up.”
Katy could see the pain in his eyes and how difficult this was for him, and suddenly she felt terribly guilty for making him dredge up what were clearly painful feelings.
“I’m sorry, I had no idea,” Katy said. “You don’t need to say anything else…”
“No, I do. Let me finish.”
“You don’t need to.”
“Yes, I do,” he snapped at her. Katy took half a step back from him at his sudden aggressive answer. “Sorry,” he said, his voice calmer. “It’s just a little raw, that’s all.”
“That’s okay.”
“So, yeah, I was trying to defend my little bro from our mom, and then my dad joined in. He probably thought I was attacking Mom or something. I don’t know. But that’s when it happened. My Epiphany. It just exploded out of me.”
“You killed your parents?”
“Nah,” he answered as tears streaked down his cheeks. “My brother. I killed my little bro.”
“Oh… shit.” Katy could only stare up at him in shock. “I’m so sorry.”
“I put my parents in the hospital too. I messed them up pretty bad, but they survived, as far as I know. I don’t care about them, though. Couldn’t give a shit. They can die as far as I’m concerned. They’re scum. My bother didn’t deserve to die like that though. I was just trying to defend him.”
“I’m so sorry,” Katy replied. “I had no idea.” She pulled him in for a hug and held him as he sniffed and brought himself under control.
“I’ve never told anyone that. Only the staff know what really happened.”
“The Enrollment Team came for you and brought you to the Academy, then?”
He nodded. “Yep. Got me out of custody and took me to the school. I spent my first few weeks having regular visits with the nurse, like every day. She’s the student guidance counsellor too. I still see her most weeks.”
“I’m so sorry for your loss.”
“Thanks,” he replied, and pulled away from her, sniffing. He took a moment to compose himself before he finally turned to her. “Okay, your turn. Spill.”
“Of course. Fair’s fair,” Katy agreed. Sharing their encounters with the Red Witch was the least she could do after his admission. “Up until a few weeks ago, Dana was being controlled by a ghost. But not just any ghost. This one is the ghost of a Magus. A Nomad, we think. We call her the Red Witch, and she seemed to hang out in Tartarus.”
“What? You’re shitting me.”
“Nope. This is the honest truth. You know those kids who were removed early, taken away to be taught Magic away from the Academy? They were being contacted by the Red Witch. She was driving them crazy, but somehow Dana managed to hold it together enough that she was able to do what the ghost wanted.”
“And what did it want?”
“A few weeks ago, it was a book. The Libre Nox Noctis, and it got it. Dana stole it from the Headmistress’s office and took it to her in Tartarus. Yuki, Felix, and I followed her to try and stop her, but we were too late. The Red Witch attacked us, and we were only saved by the staff who had followed us in. We probably would have been dead, otherwise.”
“So, the staff know?”
Katy nodded. “Mainly the Head, Miss Hunt, Mr Spiros, and Mr Spencer.”
“But that was back then. Is this witch after something else now?”
Katy nodded. “We think she’s after a scroll. We went into Tartarus just before this trip, and the ghost chased us out of there again, but not before we saw drawings of a scroll on the floor and walls.”
“The ghost was drawing on the walls?”
“No, at least, we don’t think so. We think she’s taken control of someone else.”
“Who?”
“That’s just it, we don’t know.” Katy shrugged. “Could be anyone. But we think she’s after the Lazarus Scroll.”
“The one that Trevelyan was talking about?”
“That’s the one. We think she wants it so she can bring herself back from the dead.”
“Oh, I see. Yeah, she would. Shit,” he replied. “So, what are you going to do? You’re nowhere near Tartarus.”
“I don’t know. But we think Mr Spiros is involved in some way.”
“Really?”
“It’s just a feeling I have. He’s acting really weird.”
“Alright. Well, I don’t know about that, but you were right.”
“I was? About what?”
“This was a fair trade.”
“Oh, thanks.”
“And, I’m also impressed. You’ve got even more fight in you than I thought. I like it.”
Katy grinned. “Thanks.”
“I mean it, I’m impressed.”
“Alright, students,” Mr Spencer called out. “If you’d like to make your way back over here. We need to be on our way. We’ve got another stop to make.”
Library Talk
As Amanda’s Magic faded the feeling of disorientation left Katy slightly dizzy. She grabbed hold of Trenton’s arm to steady herself, and within moments she was feeling better.
Looking around, Katy realised they were inside a large library. Nowhere near as big as the one in the Academy or at Ultima Thule, but it was still an impressive room. It was spread over two floors and easily big enough to hold her entire class and their teachers. The mahogany shelves were packed with books, manuscripts, folios, scrolls, and other trinkets here and there, including at least one human skull.
Katy wondered if it was real.
The room was warm and inviting, and a welcome change from the impersonal, industrial design of the observation platform of One World Trade Center.
“Alright, everyone. If you’d like to find a seat, either on the floor or on one of the chairs. Thank you,” Mr Spencer said. Katy ended up on the floor beside Trenton, leaning against him. She felt a greater connection to him following their little heart-to-heart and wondered if the pain he felt, and kept hidden, contributed to his attitude, which could be harsh and stand-off-ish sometimes. He didn’t seem to like people getting too close, and given the pain he’d been through, she finally understood why.
Katy’s own Epiphany had been bad enough. She’d never wanted to hurt Carmel, even during their argument. She’d never had any desire to do what she did to her, and it made her feel terrible to imagine what Carmel had been through because of her. But Trenton’s experience had been so much worse.
Did it affect his view of Magic? Knowing that he’d killed his brother through the uncontrolled use of Magic, she wondered how that might taint his feelings towards this power they were learning to use and control.
It made her hate how mean Mikayla and her friends were to him even more. They had no idea what he’d been through, and it felt so unfair that they were teasing him about it. But there was no way of getting them to understand and realise what they were doing, without telling them what had happened to him and that wasn’t her place.
She didn’t know if he needed her help and support, but she decided she would do her best to be there for him as much as she could.
“I thought I’d bring you here to talk a little bit about what it means to become a Magus,” Amanda began, as she stood before the group. “You need to think about what you want to do with your abilities and how you want to live your life. What you can do is incredible. You have powers and abilities that most Riven would kill to have, but those same powers and abilities bring certain responsibilities, and also dangers. You’re entering into a whole new world. One filled with people who would like nothing more than to kill you or convert you to their cause. You will all need to learn to work together if you want to survive, and I do mean that in a very literal sense.
“And I’m not just talking about the Nomads. Sure, they’re dangerous, but you can also find yourself in conflict with people who should, in theory, be on the same side as you. I’ve dealt with this many times, although two big ones spring to mind, and they can be just as dangerous. Look around at your classmates. There are people in here who you maybe dislike, or don’t get along with, and that’s normal. That’s human nature, and while you’re in the Academy, it’s normal to have disagreements. But one day, you might need their help. One day, you might need to trust them with your life.
“You’ve come here from Ultima Thule, right?” Amanda asked, and several students nodded.
“That’s right,” Miss Hunt replied.
“It’s impressive, right? I remember seeing that view of Saturn for the first time too. Yeah, that was a pretty special moment. It really brings home just how insignificant we are, but it also shows you just how infinite your possibilities can be. There’s so much you can do with your lives now, and yet also, so little. On Earth, humanity is unaware of us. They have no idea that we exist, and we commit vast resources to make sure it remains that way. So, unfortunately, you can’t go around curing cancer or overthrowing despotic rulers, the risk to the lives of so many Magi and Riven is just too great. It’s better that they remain in the dark, for now.”
“But why? Wouldn’t their lives be better if they knew Magic existed?” someone asked from the back of the room.
“Maybe, eventually. But it would take a long time to get there. For a start, on Earth, humanity outnumbers us massively. We’re a tiny fraction of a percent of the population, but if they knew we existed, I think it’s fair to say that the governments of the world would see us as an immediate threat that would need to be contained and controlled. It would mean war, I think. But not only that, this policy of secrecy keeps the Nomads and Scions from stepping out of the shadows, too. It forces them to stay hidden. If that was removed, there would be nothing stopping them from taking control of the areas where they are strongest and ruling them with an iron fist. People would die. A lot of people. So, for now, we stay hidden. I’m not sure how long we can remain hidden. Years, decades, longer? Who knows. But for now, things are calm, and that preserves life.
“That’s not to say you can’t make a difference, and if you want to work more overtly, you can always leave Earth behind and join the Nexus, where the Magi are the ruling class.”
The talk went on for a while with Amanda regaling them with anecdotes from her adventures. She gave them advice and answered their questions.”
Katy found she enjoyed listening to her Irish brogue and admired her calm, confident demeanour. She knew what she was talking about and had clearly experienced a lot over the years. Katy respected that.
Slowly, as the talk wound down, Amanda stepped back and said they could hang out in the library for a while before they made their way back to The Jade Palace. Katy got up along with everyone else and stretched. The room was nice, but the wooden floor had given her a numb ass.
“It’s amazing what Magic and unlimited money will buy,” Trenton commented, looking around the room.
Katy smiled. “Sure is, it’s a nice house. I’d like one of these rooms for myself one day.”
Trenton smiled and nodded. “I can see you hanging out in your own library, arranging your books and stuff.”
“You know it,” Katy said with a smirk. “Hmm, I’m going to find the restroom, they said it was that way, right?”
“Yep,” Trenton replied, pointing to a nearby door. “Through there.”
“Perfect,” Katy replied and made her way across the room. As she walked, she couldn’t help but pause and take a closer look at a couple of trinkets and a few books that caught her eye. As she neared the door, some gorgeous books with spines inlaid with gold grabbed her attention, and she veered to the right to admire them.
This room was beautiful, and what little of the rest of the house she had seen through doorways looked just as pretty and well looked after. As she ran her finger over the spine of a book, a voice caught her attention.
“The Lazarus Scroll?” It was Amanda. Katy looked around and realised she was on the other side of the doorway she’d just been about to exit the room through. “Why would you want that?”
Katy edged closer to the door to better hear who she was talking to. Her voice was hushed and low. It sounded like she didn’t want anyone else listening in.
“Elspeth Hartman wants it.”
That was Mr Spiros. She recognised his voice right away.
“The Academy’s Head? Why on Earth would she want that?”
“It’s more that she wants to know where it is, to make sure it’s safe and hidden. She doesn’t want it herself.”
“Alright, but why? That thing is dangerous, so it is. You know what it’s capable of, right? Raising the dead, overriding Magic, mind control. It’s a powerful artifact.”
“Oh, I’m aware. I’ve done my research on it. I know what it can do.”
“Good.”
“So, do you know where it is?”
“I’m afraid not. No one’s seen it for years now. It could be anywhere. The last time I knew where it was, was when Yasmin had it.”
“And you’ve got no idea where it is now?”
“Sorry,” Amanda replied. “The Scroll is inherently Magical and has something of a mind of its own. It’s been known to suddenly disappear of its own accord, and show up in random places. I don’t think anyone could say where it is.”
“Shit,” Mr Spiros cursed.
Katy was fascinated. She feigned interest in the books on the shelf before her as she listened, even picking one off the shelf and leafing through it. She wondered if Mr Spiros was telling the truth or not. Had he been sent to find the scroll on Miss Hartman’s orders, or was he using that as an excuse to get the scroll for himself, or worse, for the Red Witch?”
“What’s this all about? Why the sudden interest in the Scroll?” Amanda asked. “Is it to do with the Red Witch?”
“It is. She showed her face again, and we think she’s after it.”
“Right. Well, that kind of fits. You know my theory on that, right?”
“We do,” Mr Spiros replied.
“Then you know you need to keep that scroll well away from her. Under no circumstances can the Red Witch find that scroll, or anything similar.”
“We know. We’re doing our best, but it’s not easy. She’s a tenacious one.”
“That she is,” Amanda agreed.
“Alright, well, thank you for your help.”
“Anytime,” Amanda replied brightly.
Katy turned away as both Magi re-entered the library and luckily seemed to ignore her. Katy frowned, returning the book to the shelf as she glanced over at Mr Spiros and Amanda.
They were heading in different directions. Mr Spiros made his way over to Mr Spencer.
“What was that all about?” Mr Spencer asked.
“Nothing,” Mr Spiros replied. “Just something the Head asked me to look into.”
“Oh, okay. Sure.” Mr Spencer didn’t sound convinced and wandered off. Katy caught the frown and daggers that Mr Spiros gave to the back of Mr Spencer’s head. The look sent shivers down her spine.
She looked away before he caught her looking, and briefly looked at the books again.
At the very least, she thought, it sounded like their report from Tartarus seemed to get through to the staff. Maybe Miss Hartman really was looking into things back at the Academy. Maybe everything would be okay. But still, Katy couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something else going on. Someone had been inside Tartarus, drawing images of the scroll on the walls. Who had done that? Who was the Red Witch controlling now?
Feeling like she had more questions than answers, Katy stepped out of the library to find the facilities. She’d need to tell the others what she’d heard.
Reporting In
Katy sat with Trenton and Dana, fidgeting as she looked across the room at Yuki and Felix. Yuki was with Jasper, and Felix was with Josie and neither showed any signs of coming over to see them or say hi.
Of course, neither of them knew that she wanted to speak to them either, so it wasn’t their fault, but she couldn’t help but feel annoyed.
“What’s up?” Trenton asked. “You’ve been on edge since we left Amanda’s place. What’s wrong?”
Katy grunted. “I overheard something at the house, and I need to tell you all. I was hoping I could get Felix and Yuki over here so I could tell you all at once. But…” She waved her hands in the direction of her friends.
