"Room of No Strangers p-02''

By;fernand jiro......

hey obediently got up, and followed, Briana in the lead, and Ael in the rear. She followed them through the door, down a corridor, and up a flight of stairs, another hallway and into an empty room.


The only furnishings were eight chairs, and beside them, stood Jon. He motioned for them all to sit, as he himself did.


Ael went to a chair, Jason sitting on one side of her, Fran on the other. Dave sat uneasily on Jason’s other side, Tim and Briana on the other side of Fran. Rob took the seat beside Tim.


Jon Burken smiled as he sat in his chair in front of them all. His voice was soft, but it caught their attention, and they listened to every word.


“As you all know, you each posses magic. Some stronger than others, some more natural than others. But all of this is to be expected. Now, as to why you posses it. Magic posses only good souls, not ones corrupt by bad thoughts or wrong ways of thinking. Each of you I promise should be able to have full confidence in each other, for each of your soul’s are still pure, unlike that of a grown person.


“Now, do not get me wrong, each of you has your own personality, your own opinion, your own quirks, but they will only help you learn, and you will each learn in your own way, whereas one might sit in a corner and think it out, another would be out, trying it, experimenting, learning by mistakes rather than his mind.


“None of you will leave here, without enough knowledge of your magic that you cannot live safely. Those rings help protect, but sometimes, even they are not enough. I think some of you might know the minor things that could happen…”


Ael looked down, remembering what had happened to Josh.


“Magic only chooses a few to live in. You six are the only ones chosen on that day. Most peoples sixteenth birthdays go by, with a celebration, and little else. Your birthdays were different because your magic chose to show itself. It gave us a good chase, trying to find all of you. Most of you know what happens, you probably heard it from your parents, and you were warned to what would happen. Others didn’t, so we had to go find them first incase something drastic happened.


“You see, a mage can tell when magic shows itself, for the first time, unheeding its channeler’s thoughts. And that is dangerous, we don’t’ know yet, the extent of what could happen.”


He cleared his throat, and allowed them a moment to resettle.


“But anyway, onto the rings. Each and every mage has one. Every ring is different, attuned to its bearer. It is impossible to take off, mar, scratch, or tarnish, or anything. It will never become too tight, not too loose. To say in short, you will never be rid of it. Until death, and then, even some do not go away. The few ghosts people see, wear one of these, but if you do not….become, for lack of better word, a ghost, they turn black, decay, loose all power, and disintegrate.”


“The ring will help you channel your power, so it doesn’t fly out at mere thought. Now, to actually perform magic, you must focus all your thought into one thing, and depending on how bad you want it, it will happen. Some tasks, such as heating things, creating fire, calling things, simple tasks, will come easier with time. Others, such as healing, transforming, or illusions, will always be hard, unless that is your niche. Such as Healing is Rob’s niche. He doesn’t need instruction in it; it comes to him by instinct.”


He opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it, as the pleasant chime ran through the house again. He smiled, and stood. “Lunch time.”


Ael found herself surprisingly hungry, and as she stood up, she found her legs and back stiff. She wordlessly followed the group back to the kitchen, fingering her ring.


Lunch, as was all the food she had eaten there, was good, and she ate her fill, before following them back to the bare room.


The adults came this time, each creating their own chair out of thin air, much more comfortable looking chairs than the teenagers.


Before Jon could even start talking, Fran raised her hand, eyes questioning.


Almost as if he was expecting something, Jon raised his eyebrows, waiting for her question.


“Sir, you say, that magic only enters one who has a pure soul, correct?”


At his nod, she continued. “So you are saying that everyone magic enters is a ‘good’ person, a ‘good’ mage? But aren’t there ‘bad’ ones? One’s who aren’t good? How do they get their magic..?” Her eyebrows were creased her mind rapidly thinking.


Jon however replied without a thought. “You see, a person can…go bad. They take the magic, and abuse it, therefore, the magic corrupts the person. Any power can be wrongly used and for every good there is an evil.”


Fran nodded, opening her mouth again. “But is there no way to fix that? You say for every good there is an evil, so for every evil, there must be a good. Isn’t there a way to…” She searched for a word. “…convert them back to being good?” She rubbed her nose, looking back to Jon.


Ael heard Mr. Moore mutter, “So there is a smart one in the bunch after all.” But his smile showed he meant no harm.


Jon thoughtfully rested his chin on his hand as he made a table appear in front of him to lean on. His green eyes pierced Fran’s brown ones, which stared back unblinking.


“There probably is, but it has certain side effects that make one leery to even try that. You see, the magic and soul of a mage are very deeply intertwined, and the thoughts run through both. Suddenly removing the total thought of the bad from the person would make them go completely insane. It would be like taking half your mind, and leaving you helpless. There’s not telling what would happen, though there are science-mages who attempt to try and fix these problems.


I think the last person they tried to…convert, killed themselves before they finished.”


Westly suddenly stood up, his face slightly haggard. “Excuse me.” He said, and quickly left the room, with no explanation.


The teenagers looked after him curiously, and the adults just shrugged, but Jon had a slightly sad look on his face, as if he knew something the rest did not.


The adults stood, as Jon announced a short break and the kids left to mill around in the hallway for a few minutes, before Jon called them back in.


Westly was still missing as they all took a seat. Jon stood, speaking. “Now, I suppose since all of you are tired listening to lectures, we’ll practice. Most things you won’t need a teacher for, since it is simply a matter of the mind. Some spells need to be done in a certain order, some things need a word, motion, etc.”


He looked to each of them with a hard eye, making what he said stick. “Never blink. That is the easiest way to loose control of your spell, and loose track of what you are doing. Now, I would like each of you to hold out your palm, and concentrate on creating fire over it. Think fire, heat, compactness.” He told them himself holding out a palm, and almost instantly, a small flame licked the air. He closed his fingers, and is disappeared.


“Now, you.”


The five adults each stepped toward a person, evidently, there in case something went wrong. Nobody came near Ael, she supposed it was Westly’s spot, so she tried by herself.


Nothing happened.


Only Fran, seemed to be having any luck, her tiny flame flickering in and out.


Again, Ael, thought, this time remembering the flames in her room, trying to bring that to her palm.


She felt a small flare of heat, and was surprised to see a small ball of flame suspended above her palm. It didn’t hurt, as it grazed her skin, she just felt a little tickle.


“Nice job Ael.” Jessica told her, she was helping Briana a few chairs away.


Ael nodded her concentration on her fire. No one else seemed to notice her, so she experimented a little on her own. Concentrating on the flame, she thought to enlarge it, just a little, so she could work with it better.


It complied, growing the size of a baseball. She then thought of winter cold, and chilling. She thought of snow and ice, deep freezing rivers, and the flame went out.


Frowning, she brought it back. This time she thought of air of winter, chilling drafts, and freezers. Suddenly, the heat of her fire disappeared leaving only a small flame, a small cold flame. She smiled, moving her other hand over the flame, letting it lick through her fingers. The flame tickled, but she didn’t feel any heat.


Maybe this magic thing wouldn’t be so bad after all.


Jon Burken looked over from where he was helping Fran, and smiled. “Good job, but next time, wait until one of us can help you, we don’t want any accidents.”


Ael frowned, but nodded. Didn’t they want them to learn and experiment? She sighed, but did as she was told, and didn’t experiment. She just played with the small ball of fire, pushing it through her fingers and let it dance and bounce off them.


They soon stopped, allowing the kids an hour break, to go do whatever they wanted.


Ael went to her room, as she had no place else to go, and she almost wasn’t surprised to see Westly sitting in the chair staring into the fire, his blue eyes lost and sad. She didn’t know what to say, so she silently took the other chair, sat cross-legged, and looked at him, studying his facial features.


They were sad, all joy gone from his face, his blue eyes fathomless, devoid of emotion. The lines of pain and agony were strong, the laugh lines near disappeared. He blinked once, a heavy sigh escaped the big man, before he spoke, his voice just above a whisper.


“They took my wide. She was one of the greatest mages, magic just came so easy to her, and she was one of the strongest people I knew. One day, thought, something went wrong, and she claimed, ‘I don’t know enough!’ but it was too late. They had already noticed. I couldn’t do anything. I didn’t tell anyone, but it was obvious, once she was gone. They had taken her. They didn’t tell me when, or how, or even why, but she was gone.”


The man’s voice was pained, as he spoke, but he plowed on. “Then they came, and they took my little girl. They didn’t even ask! They told me I was irresponsible, and that I didn’t deserve her. I never saw her again. Jon found me, months later, and I hoped he could help, but he didn’t know anything, or didn’t think I deserved to know, or he was on their side.


“Today he told me. Not personally, but in front of everyone. They didn’t even realize it. You probably didn’t realize.” He grew silent, and his cheeks had an odd shine on them.


Ael herself felt pity for the man. She now knew why the lines were on his face, under his smiling mask. Once that was gone, he was just human, heartbroken and at a loss.


‘I’m sorry…” She whispered into the silence. She wasn’t sure what to do, or say. A voice called down the hall, for them to go back to class, and she slowly stood up. She was leaving when Westly spoke.


“It’s alright, don’t feel sorry for me, it just came as a shock, finding out about somebody after so many years. Well, you better go on back to class, don’t be late.” He shooed her out the door.


When she reached the classroom, she found all the adults there, including Westly. She gave him a smile, as he came to help her.


Jon, once again went to the center, and instructed them. “Now, I would like each of you to practice doing different things with your flame. Use your imagination, but nothing to big.” He cautioned.


Ael smiled to herself, holding out her flame again, easily turning it cold. Then, she made it change colors, and got the small licking flames at the top to all sway the same way at the same time.


Westly grinned, his large hand held out, a small flame over it. “Try this.” He told her. His fire began to writhe, becoming first a cube, then a pyramid, and other shapes.


After a moment’s concentration, Ael got hers to do that as well. It was just easy. Jon had talked like it would be hard, but it wasn’t.


A sudden flare erupted at her left, and she turned to see Jason, a guilty look on his face.


“Oops...” he muttered.


Jon stepped back from where he was helping Fran, and said, “And that, it why you cannot close your eyes. I know it helps some concentrate, but it’s also away for magic to get away from you.


“Now, to do something different.” As he spoke, he went to a cabinet embedded in the wall and took out a crate.


Out of the crate, he took candles, and wood. He gave one of each to each student. “Now, try and light each. It is different than making raw fire, because it will feed on something.”


Ael held her candle, concentrating on the fire, and it appeared - above the wick. She frowned, her eyes following it, as she moved the fire downwards, onto the wick.


Westly blew it out. “You gotta light the wick - on the wick. Look, it’s not even burning.”


And Ael looked, and indeed, the wick did not burn. The fire danced around it, but it did not catch. She frowned again, forehead creasing. She brought fire again, but it still, appeared above, or around, on even on it, but the wick would not burn. She kept at this, for a half hour.


“Would you like a suggestion?” Westly asked.


She scowled at him, but nodded.


“Try lighting the wick.” He said with a grin.


“That’s what I’ve been doing!” She replied, exasperated.


“No, you have been creating fire. Creating and placing are different things. “Now, concentrate on the wick, and think of fire and heat.” He explained.


She did so, concentrating on the wick thinking of heat, and fire, and the wick began to smolder, before bursting into flame.


“See?” Westly joked, “That wasn’t so hard.” He blew it out, there was no need to let it burn.


“You could’ve told me that thirty minutes ago.” She accused him irritably. Magic took more concentration that usual, and her head hurt.


Westly grinned, “But that would have been no fun!”


She glared at him, and the small piece of wood he was holding burst into flame, ash falling to his fingers.


He yelped, dusting his hands off before holding them up. “Alright, point taken.”


The other kids soon got the hang of it, and the whole group went down to dinner.


Dinner was a quiet affair, as everyone was tired, even the adults. They were sitting around the table, the adults talking among themselves, as well as a few of the teenagers. Tim had gone as far as to put his head on his arm, and was suspiciously quiet.


Ael herself was sufficiently tired, but she forced herself to stay away, grunting when Jason elbowed her, cheery as ever.


“So, do you think you’ll like this place, and all this stuff?” He asked.


She didn’t bother to reply. “Don’t you ever get tired?” She asked him, putting a hand to her head.


He gave her a sarcastic grin. “Nope!” He replied, continuing to ask her questions, which she replied to with noncommittal noises.


Ael was relieved when Jon finally stood up, and bade them goodnight. She half stumbled to her room, and was asleep before she hit the pillow.



* * * * *




Over the next few weeks, Ael got used to their routine, breakfast around seven thirty, then they were lectured on various subjects by different people until lunch, then practical magic, until dinner around 6, with an hour break in the middle. After dinner was their time.


She found she liked the place, and the people in it too. Westly became somewhat a father-figure, Julie maybe a mother, Michael an uncle, the rest brothers and sisters she never had.


They were discussing magic one day, with Jessica Moore, when Jon came in. His voice was calm, but urgent.


“Jessica, take them to the kitchen, they can stay there. She escaped, we have to find her.” His lips were tight.


Jessica looking slightly stunned, ushered them all to the kitchen, and before she left, she said, “Stay here. Don’t do magic, don’t leave, and don’t cook anything.” Before quickly exiting and they heard the adults leave.


The six were sitting at the table, when the door opened, and Rob slipped in, his face grim.


He sat down heavily at the table. “She got out and they went to find her. They don’t know where she went, of how she got away…”


Ael was very confused. “Who got out? Of where?” She asked.


Rob looked at her. “The latest corrupted. Her name was…um….Ramona, I think…. She got out of the mage’s cell she was in.”


Ael looked to her friends for more details. Fran, seeing her lost look, began to explain.


“A corrupted can only discovered, if they are doing magic. And even then, the one has to know what to look for. People have said, it is almost as if there were a taint on the magic.


“The mages cell,” She continued, lowering her voice slightly. “is a place that….cancels magic, I suppose. No one has ever been able to perform magic in one, without fainting. And the mages who guard it are some of the most powerful in the world. It’s considered impossible to escape.” She paused. “Until now.” She crossed her arms, and shivered.


Ael herself shivered, and stared at the scrubbed surface of the table, fingering her ring.


A place that cancels magic? She shuddered at the thought of it. It would like…know how much more you could do, and not be able to do it. Her blue eyes slowly blinked as she thought of Westly. Wouldn’t he want his wife to escape? He certainly acted like he wanted to catch her, but then, wouldn’t he have to go through all that pain again? She certainly wouldn’t want to.


“So where do they have these cells…?” She found herself asking.


Fran gave her an odd look. “Nobody knows where they are. The only ones who know, are the ones that are the keepers, and they never leave, and only are replaced when they pass.” She spoke the last part quietly.


“So how can they…cancel magic? Isn’t that near impossible?” Dave asked, lifting his head and looking to Fran. “I mean, how can it do that, magic is a part of you. It’s as if…oh…denying your existence.”


Fran shook her head. “I don’t know. Nobody knows. It just…does.”


They were quiet for a few moments, each pondering their own thoughts. Something even Fran didn’t know was something to think about. Ael rested her chin in her hand, letting her hair fall forward to shade her face.


She felt bad for Westly, she knew how hard it was to loose someone. She had never even known her mother, or father. All she remembered where a pair of blue eyes, and a reddish chestnut glow of hair. But then, for all that, she could have been remembering her own reflection.


Absent mindedly, she twisted her ring around and around her finger, her mind on her parents now. A thought came to her suddenly; did they have to have had magic, for her to have it also? Raising her blue eyes she sought out Fran.


Luckily enough, Fran’s own eyes were wandering the room. She raised her eyebrows as she caught Ael’s eyes.


Softly Ael spoke, not wanting to bring the attention to herself, thought it came anyway.


“Do your parents have to have magic, both of them, for you to have it as well?”


Fran was quiet a minute, before responding. “Usually. Sometimes, if only one parent has it, the child will have it, but usually, that doesn’t happen, because then you would have to reveal the magical world to a non-magical person. Which as you can see, we try not to do.” She rubbed her nose, before asking, “Why do you ask?”


Ael shrugged, and didn’t respond. She still didn’t want to talk about her past. “Isn’t there a record of everyone who’s ever gotten a ring then?” She continued to question.


“Yeah, but it’s miles long, plus, it’s not that easy to access. It’s high security.” Frans’ eyes seemed to bore into Ael’s mind, and Ael looked down, letting her hair hide her face again.


Briana suddenly looked up from her study of the table. “Anybody else hungry?”


Everyone looked at her, and Jason nodded. “Yeah, but we aren’t allowed to cook.”


“There’s a fridge,” Dave’s shy voice spoke up. His pale features were stark in the dim light of the kitchen.


“Right-ho then!” Jason stood up, always the enthusiast. He turned to Rob, who nodded agreement. “Ok then, let’s see what we got here…”


He opened the refrigerator, and began pulling out random jars and packages. Fifteen minutes later, he stood back, “A sandwich buffet!” He proclaimed, flourishing his arm.


Ael smiled in spite of herself, and got in the line. Her sandwich was turkey, mustard and bread. By far, it was the least on anyone’s, but it was enough for her.


Once back at the table, it was quiet again, until the food was gone, then Briana and Jason began a talk about their families, and Fran pulled a book out of some random place. Tim turned to Dave, and they began to softly talk. Ael sighed, and put her head on her arms. Everyone else had something to do. She was tired anyway, soon she was slumbering.


She awoke to silence, and found herself in her own bed. She heard footsteps as she turned over, and saw somebody softly shut her door. Rolling back over, she couldn’t sleep, too many thoughts were going through her head. Had they caught her? Why were they back? She knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep, so she got up and went to one of the chairs before the fire, pulling a blanket around her shoulders.


Staring into the flames, it was awhile before she realized she was hearing voices. They were faint, and she could barely hear them. She glanced at the wall they seemed to be coming from, and slowly walked toward it, keeping quiet. She pressed an ear against the wall and the voices came somewhat louder.


“How the hell did she get out then?” It was Jon, and he sounded annoyed.


“I dunno, we’ve been over it time and time again.” That was Mr. Moore’s voice.


Maybe she…oh, I don’t know, had outside help? But…there’s no possible way…” Jessica’s voice could be heard as well.


“But the guards didn’t even know! They just said she was gone, suddenly, just like that!” Mr. Moore sounded tired.


Ael began to wonder where Westly was, when she heard Jon’s voice say, “Westly?"


“I don’t see why we can’t tell her!” He sounded annoyed as well.


“We’ll only let you tell her, if you tell us how she got out.” Jon’s voice came again.


Ael pressed her ear even harder against the wall, with no need, as Westly began shouting.


“But dammit! She’s my daughter, she had a right to know! And I told you, I don’t know anything! To me she was normal, nothing stuck out special.” Westly sounded almost desperate.


The room grew quiet again. So he did know his daughter? Ael thought they had never told him what happened to her. Ael soon grew tired, leaning against the wall, and she slowly slid down it to a sitting position, straining to hear voices, but sleep over came her.


She woke like that, back sore, as she had slid down to see Weslty there, a pained look on his face.


He noted her position, “So you heard?” he commented quietly. He didn’t look very happy.


Ael gulped, and nodded, slowly standing. "But that means…” She stumbled over her words.


Westly’s wife. The escaped convict woman. That was her mother? How could it be though? A man like Westly, and such an obviously dangerous, power hungry woman? It just didn’t make sense. Why her? Her life had actually seemed normal, under the circumstances, but now, everything had blown up again. Why couldn’t she just stay away from all this?


She could feel her eyes well up with tears, but she blinked them away, absent-mindedly twisting her ring on her finger. Maybe she should just leave this world to it’s magic, and the other to its own devices, and start off on her own.


She looked to Westly, a question on her tongue. “What would you do if she were caught again?”


Westly frowned, looking at her before he closed his eyes and leaned back in the chair, running his hands over his face. ”I don’t know…I suppose I would find someway to help her back out if I could.”


It was Ael’s turn to frown. Escape again? What? She was about to speak when he changed the subject. “Today’s your day off, right?”
She nodded, not really comprehending what he was saying.


“Meet me at the park after lunch then. I have to go do something, see you then.” And sighing, he got up, and left, leaving Ael to her very confused thoughts.


She sat in the chair all morning, since no bell for breakfast or class rang. Her mind sank into a deep stupor, as she thought, not even noticing when her eyes grew dry and blurred out her vision.


The lunch bell had gone unnoticed, until a hand touched her shoulder, making her jump. “Lunch rang five minutes ago…” It was Jason, and he looked concerned. His green eyes searched hers, “You okay…? You look terrible.” There wasn’t a joke in his voice.


Ael was silent, before she replied. “No, I’m not.” She didn’t give an explanation, and was thankful when he didn’t ask for one. Slowly she unfolded her legs from their cramped position, almost falling over as she attempted to stand up.


It was Jason’s arm that steadied her. “Anything I can do?” He asked, helping her toward the door.


She leaned on his large form thankfully, before she shook her head. Her legs burned and prickled, as the life came back into them.
Jason was quiet, and as they reached the door, she was able to walk unaided.


Lunch was a quiet affair, nobody seemed to want to talk much, and nothing that was said was irrelevant. It was only as she was taking her plate to the counter, that she remembered her appointment with Westly.


Announcing that she was going for a walk, she found her way to the front door, and escaped out of it with no one following.


At the park, she went and sat on one of the metal swings, watching the other little kids play as she waited for Westly. She kicked the dirt idly, setting the swing into motion, swaying slightly as it swung.


She gave an absent smile to a little blond kid who took the swing next to her, and began to slowly swing on it.


“Hey Ael.”


“Westly?” She looked around for the man, but he was nowhere to be found.


The blond kid on the swing next to her poked her grinned mischievously. “It’s me.”


She gave him the raised eyebrow, before she half smiled. “Oh. Hi. What did you want to meet me here for?” She leaned against the swing rope, watching the young kid.


He shook his tousled head, “Not here.” And he snapped his fingers and suddenly, they weren’t anywhere.