"Mage: The Awakening; chapter 1"

"Mage: The Awakening; chapter 1" 

By;fernand jiro

The Magecraft,Witchcraft and Sorcery Institute

“Look, there’s that weird girl!”

“What’s her problem anyway?”

“What the heck is she doing here? She doesn’t have any magic at all, and this is the most prestigious school for magecraft, witchcraft and sorcery in the world.”

“She probably slept with the headmaster or something.”

“She’s probably some snobby rich kid who comes here just to be able to boast to people that she studies here, magic or no.”

“Her name’s something like Harlequinn. What’s up with that? That’s not a normal name. Isn’t that some kind of clown?”

“What’s with her hair?”

“Whoa, did you see those eyes? Freaky!”

“Maybe she’s a demon. No human has eyes like that!”

“Great body though!”

“Why is she wearing a guy’s uniform?”

*****

Such were the comments that followed Harlequinn through the halls practically every day. Why did my parents send me here? she wondered for the umpteenth time. I know I don’t have any magic. I’ve known that forever, but they still insisted on sending me here. Why? She smiled bitterly as she remembered the day her parents told her she was going to the Magecraft, Witchcraft and Sorcery Institute.

“No!” she had yelled. “I don’t have any magic! Why are you always pretending I do? Get it through your thick skulls: I DON’T HAVE ANY MAGIC!” She had then burst into tears and run out of the room. Never before had she thrown such a tantrum. But she knew that her parents only wanted to be able to tell their friends that their only child went to the greatest school in the world.

What the hell is the point of attending a school for magic if I can’t practice what they teach me? she wondered. She attended every class the school offered: summoning, casting, banishing, binding, potions making, transforming, the history of magic, runic studies, and there was even mathematics and Latin. As much as she didn’t want to go to the majority of the classes, she had no choice: her parents were paying for her schooling, and they insisted she take every class. It was her misfortune to be a straight-A student, and was therefore unable to drop a couple classes under the pretense that she was struggling with the workload.

“I wonder what she’s doing here?” she heard in her mind. Stubbornly, she ignored it. She heard things like that all the time. “I mean, she’s got to have magic, or why else would she come here?” the voice continued. “And yet, she never uses any form of magic. Even her potions are useless.”

She tried to think of something else to block out the voice. But it was hard to ignore a voice when it came directly into her brain. Insults were never spoken near her.The students had learned from the start that she had excellent hearing and vision. What they didn’t know, was that she had the uncanny and annoying ability to read minds. In fact, she heard others’ thoughts whether she wanted to or not. It was really a nuisance. She hated knowing what others thought about her.

Not that it isn’t hard to figure out what they think. It’s really obvious; you’d think they would hide it better.

“Excuse me, Miss Harlequinn,” said the voice.

Oh, go away, she though bitterly, ignoring the rest of the sentence.

“Miss Harlequinn?”

“Huh?” She suddenly realized that the man had spoken aloud to her. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

“I said you look rather upset,” the teacher repeated patiently. “Is something wrong?”

“No, not at all,” she replied. He looked skeptical. “Please excuse me, sir,” Quinn said, “but I have to get to my runes class.” She bowed slightly and walked away.

“Poor kid,” she heard him think. “I wonder what’swrong with her?”

*****

“Miss Harlequinn, kindly pay attention,” the summoning teacher chided.

What for? she wondered, flipping her midnight-black hair out of her eyes. It’s not like I can cast these spells anyway, so why bother learn? She let her eyes wander. They were extremely unnerving to most people: an intricate mixture of gold, amber and tawny, swirled together.

The only classes that interested her were History of Magic, Runic studies and the Fighting Arts. Although runes were mostly used in spells and in divination, Quinn still liked to read them, even though she could not cast them. Even in the classes where magic was needed, Quinn was at the top of the class in the theoretical aspects: before they were permitted to cast a new spell, the students had to spend several hours studying how it worked and why we would cast it.

Maybe I should run away, she thought, not for the first time. She hated MWSI. She hated her parents for sending her there. She hated the students, the teachers, the classes, everything. There was nothing about MWSI that she liked. What I wouldn’t give to get out of here!

Only one person in the entire school seemed to care about her: Zephyr Kaze, the casting teacher. He was quite young for a teacher at MWSI — only twenty-three — but in Quinn’s mind, there was no one better for the job. He was smart, he was fun, he was kind, and he never, ever asked Quinn to do something he knew she couldn’t do. He had short coal-black hair and very strange eyes: the left one was a deep, royal blue, and the right one was a bright emerald green. Most girls found this attractive. Most boys found it“cool”.

“Today we’re going to try something a little different,” he said that afternoon. As usual, he was very enthusiastic. He led them out of the classroom and into the music room. The orchestra seemed to be waiting for them. “Today, we’ll test your magical creativity,” he told them. “The orchestra will play a piece that has no melody. Each of you must come up with a melody you think suits the accompaniment and play along with the orchestra the second time. Everybody grab an instrument.”

It was acomplete disaster. As a music lover and musician, Quinn cringed with pain at hearing the terrible melodies. This was a test of magic, however, so the students all cast some sort of spell before playing. Only one or two mildly worked. Finally, it was her turn.

“Not with that,”Zephyr said when she reached for her flute. “Use the violin.”

“But—” she protested. She didn’t know how to play the violin. Besides, this was to test their magical skills, not their musical ones, and Quinn didn’t have any magic.

“Don’t argue, Quinn,” he said cheerfully, pressing a violin in her hands. “Trust me.”

There was a light in his eyes that Quinn had never seen before. She shivered, not knowing what to think. Tentatively, she put the bow to the strings as the orchestra began to play.

Something happened. Her hands seemed divorced from the rest of her body as they played the violin as though they had been born to play it. Every note she played blended so perfectly with the accompaniment that it seemed the piece had been written that way. She held the last note for a moment, and nearly dropped the bow in shock.

“Now,” Zephyr said, his eyes shining, “I want you to play exactly the same way, but this time with a piece you’ve never heard before.”

“But how can I—?”

But again he wouldn’t listen. The orchestra struck up a haunting tune.

As Quinn put the bow to the strings for the second time, the musicians’ thoughts flooded her mind.

“It’ssupposed to be haunting but upbeat.”

“It’s a dance number. We need a bit of rock.”

Quinn played better than any of them could have ever imagined. Her hands followed the pattern of the musicians’ thoughts, hearing what they were supposed to play before they even played it. She could only stare blankly forward, not seeing anything beyond a veil of — something — over her eyes. The soft lilt ofthe violin was a bittersweet contrast to the harsh beat of the acoustic guitars. The piece ended with a long, low, quivering note. She dropped the bow, her hands trembling violently. What’s going on?

“Show off!”

“She thinks she’s all that.”

“What the hell is her problem?”

“I bet she cheated. She must have gotten a copy of the music and learned it by heart.”

Hatred and jealousy flooded Quinn’s mind. She staggered physically and was forced to grab onto a table to keep from falling.

“I knew it,” Zephyr said triumphantly. “None of the other teachers would believe me, but I was right!” He stepped up to Quinn and put his hands on her shoulders. “You have Free magic!”

He had been expecting an outburst of joy, but instead he got an explosion of rage.

“Why does everyone keep seeing something that isn’t there? I don’t have any magic, allright? Everyone already knows that, so there’s no point in me denying it. But then people start telling me I have to go to MWSI, and that I have Free magic, when it’s just a myth. Why can’t everyone just leave me alone with the magic?” Furiously, she stalked off into one of the small practice rooms. She slammed the door and leaned against it. Sliding down to the floor, she began to cry.

What's so great about magic anyway? It’s not like it can solve all your problems. If anything, it should make people feel even worse when there’s something they can’t solve, if they have an extra tool that’s supposed to be able to do anything, when really, it can’t.

They just didn’t understand. Quinn had suffered a lot, despite her cool exterior. I wish they could know how I feel. Then maybe they would leave me alone!

To calm herself down, she sat down in front of the piano. The moment her fingers touched the keys, however, she knew that she had made a big mistake. For the third time, her hands detached themselves from her arms and played. Memories streamed from her mind down to her fingers and out with the notes.

No! Stop! They’ll hear! I don’t want to them know that!

*****

Throughout the entire school, everyone stopped what he or she was doing to listen to the hauntingly sad and painfully beautiful music. Pictures formed in everyone’s mind; they all learned everything there was to know about Harlequinn in the five minutes it took her to play her song against her will. They saw every single horrible thing that had ever happened to her, and there was almost fifteen years worth.

She was finally able to tear her fingers from the piano. The effort pitched her backward off the bench. To her shock, her hands were covered in blood. Her reluctance to play seemed to have affected her physically.

Only magic could do something like that, she told herself. But no, it was impossible. She didn’t have any magic. She was sure of it. But then, what the hell had just happened?

It was too much to take in. She tried to get up, but her world began to spin, and her vision went black.

*****

“Gods, is she going to sleep forever?”

“Wake up already, sheesh!”

Harsh thoughts were the first thing Quinn was aware of when she woke up. Stubbornly, she kept her eyes closed and feigned unconsciousness. She didn’t owe these people anything. She wouldn’t wake up just for them.

“Quinn?” said Zephyr’s soft voice. He knew she was awake. His voice was filled with concern and his touch was gentle when he placed a hand to her forehead.

For him, I’ll wake up, she thought and opened her eyes. She blinked rapidly, her eyes unused to the direct sunlight shining overhead. She was in the hospital wing with Zephyr, the nurse and a couple students standing over her, pretending to be worried. “What happened?” she asked, her voice raspy.

“You passed out,” he replied, relieved that she was all right. “You used quite a bit of–-” He hesitated to say it.

“Magic?” Quinn supplied grimly.

“You seemed pretty upset when I said you have Free Magic,” Zephyr said.

“I’ve been trying to convince myself I don’t,” she admitted. “It’s worked quite well for several years. Even when I came here, I still believed that I didn’t. But it was just a lie I told myself to forget. You know what I mean. The whole school saw it.”

“That man you killed?”

“My brother. He was the only person who ever cared a damn about me. He was my entire world. I don’t know what went wrong, but he turned on me. He tried to kill me in a rage, saying that everything was my fault. I don't know what he meant, but he would have succeeded, if my magic hadn’t kicked in and sucked the life from him.” A single tear slid down her cheek. She brushed it away impatiently. “No matter what he did to me, I still loved him. If my gods-cursed magic hadn’t acted of its own free will, I could have changed him. My magic, a gift? Ha! It’s a curse.”

Zephyr flinched. He had been thinking exactly that — magic was a gift to be used for good or ill, but it gave a wielder powers that could do the impossible.

“If my magic was really a gift,” Quinn whispered angrily, “why didn’t it do something to save him, instead of murdering him like that?”

“It was just trying to protect you,” Zephyr protested.

“I never asked it to,” Quinn shouted. She clutched the sheets. “I never asked for any of this. I didn’t want to come here, I didn’t want magic, I didn’t even want to be born!” She threw the blankets off her and stood. She swayed precariously for a moment, unstable on her feet, her head spinning so violently she was sure she would throw up. Zephyr took her arms to steady her. Still caught up in her fury, Quinn’s eyes flashed. Zephyr and everyone else in the room was thrown back by a violent surge of power. Quinn, breathing heavily, stalked out of the room.

Outside, thunder boomed as heavy, black storm clouds rolled in.

*****

Quinn was distant and cold to Zephyr for several weeks. She still listened attentively in his class, but avoided his gaze and left the instant the bell rang. Her female classmates were insanely jealous of Zephyr’s obvious concern for the girl. They were angered by her contemptuous attitude toward their handsome teacher. The boys in Quinn’s classes were all angered by her coldness toward them. Granted, she had always ignored them, but now, she not only ignored them, she completely brushed them off.

At last, the inevitable happened: Quinn stopped coming to class. Having heard what everyone thought of her, despite the visions of her past, she had locked herself up in her room and refused to come out. Also, she was tired at people staring at her hair; it had spontaneously turned blood red at the bangs, though she didn’tknow why. She ignored students and teachers, and yelled at Zephyr through the door to go away and leave her alone. She refused all offerings of food as well.

Zephyr knew she was practicing magic. He could sense intense magical activity in her room but chose not to comment on it. He knew that Quinn was casting every spell she had ever learned and had — so she had believed — been unable to cast. He monitored her room carefully for two weeks. She had, by that time, cast every spell she knew. He had expected her to come out at last. But he was greatly disappointed. Magical activity ceased. She did not come out.

He had just finished a class when he felt her spirit collapse. Frantically, he rushed to her room and turned the knob. He yelped and jumped back, his hand smoking slightly.

“Gods curse it,”he muttered, “she’s gone and sealed the door shut.” He looked around warily. He could get in big trouble for what he was about to do, but it needed to be done. No one was in sight. He put his hands over the lock and thrust his magic into it. The magical seal shattered, allowing the door to swing open.

Quinn lay, pale and breathless, by her window. Gently, Zephyr lifted her slight form and lay her down on her bed. He rushed down to the kitchens to get a plate of food, and left the door open when he got back — it was forbidden for two people ofthe opposite sex to be alone in the dormitories, whether they are students or teachers or both. He set the tray down on the floor by the bed.

“Quinn,” he said softly, sitting on the bed beside her and gently shaking her. “Quinn, are you all right?”

Wearily, the girl opened her eyes. “Go away, Zephyr,” she said weakly, trying to turn away.

“No,” he said firmly, grasping her shoulders to keep her from turning. “You’ve damn near killed yourself, and I won’t let this go on any longer. First you’re going to eat, and then you’re going to sleep. And tomorrow, you’re going back to class. Like it or not, you have Free Magic.

“Free Magic is unpredictable by nature, but I can teach you to control it, to keep it from getting away from you like it did with your brother. No, don’t look at me like that! I can, and I will help you. Now eat!” He watched her for a while, making sure she ate. When he was satisfied, he left.

Quinn though about it for a long time. Now that she had admitted to herself that she had magic, shouldn’t she learn to control it properly? If she could keep it from killing someone else — She deliberately shoved the memory away.

I will learn to control it. I am the master of my powers. I will not let them master me.

*****

Two years passed, and Quinn was still far from her mastery of Free Magic. She had progressed at an alarming rate, learning in those two years what it took most Free mages the better part of fifteen years to learn.

To say that the other teachers had been shocked when they found out that Quinn was a mage — a Free Mage — would be like saying the surface of the sun was tepid. They continued to teach her as they would any other student, but they gave her some difficult spells that the others couldn’t even dream of casting at their level.

As in every aspect of life, magic had a hierarchy. Witches and wizards were the most common; they had all the basics of magic and were most suited for potion making, but needed a magical tool — such as a wand — to cast spells.The next level of magical practitioners was sorcerers; they too had all the basics of magic, and did not need a wand to cast. They were most suited for healing, seeing and enchanting. The highest level of magic was mage. Mages could do almost anything with their powers, and were most often used for battle or tasks that required more power than a sorcerer had, such as the healing of a death-wound, or the seeing of something far off. It was rumored that Free Mages could do absolutely anything, even bring back the dead. They were also very rare — only a dozen regular mages existed in the world, and only five Free mages had ever existed, three of which were long dead.

Of all her classes, Quinn excelled at summoning. She succeeded in faithfully summoning a single being, always in the form of a small winged cat, barely bigger than a kitten, whenever she chose. Although her summon didn’t look formidable, it could easily destroy any of the teacher’s summons. She had obviously come to terms with her magic and had finally accepted it.

*****

“All right, listen up class,” called Zephyr, trying to restore calm after a fiasco with an enlargement spell. Everyone was talking, and hadn’t heard their teacher. “QUIET!” he roared. The room rang with the sudden silence that fell. “That’s better. Now, I hope you’re all packed for the trip tomorrow,” he said cheerfully, knowing full well that seven-eighths of the teenagers present hadn’t even given packing a thought yet.

A number of the teachers had decided to take their students on a little excursion in the desert to test their magical skills. Each student had to prove that they could survive in extreme conditions; they had to pack light, and pack well, they had to find water, food and shelter, they had to protect themselves and those around them from natural occurrences. In short, they had to prove that they could put their lessons to use in the real world.

Quinn, of course, was already packed. She lay on her bed later that night, thinking of what was to come. She would have the advantage over her classmates: she had much more power at her disposal. She knew they would hate her even more when they saw how easily she could manage. But in this case, magic had nothing to do with it; she had wandered on her own after killing her brother, and had even lived in the desert for a time. Magic only made things easier.

Listen to me, she thought. A couple years ago, you couldn’t for the world get me to admit I even had magic, and now look at me! She rolled over and went to sleep.