The Voice in His Head (Original Urban Fantasy)

February 9th, 1925
Saint Michael’s Home for Boys
Hampstead, London.

I was a quiet child growing up. The nuns found me one morning on the doorstep on a January morn in 1915, or so they told me. From the time I was an infant, I knew I was different.

When I was younger, before the abuse began, the Nuns would talk about the golden rule. That we needed to treat each other as we wanted to be treated. I, personally, did not believe that first part. I knew I was meant for more than dreary orphan halls, secondhand clothes, and a greatness few of these brats would know. I knew this because the little voice told me. The voice didn’t talk to me all the time, and sometimes went months without even interacting with me. But, it did give me impressions about my surroundings and the other orphans.

This meant that I preferred exchanging feelings with the little voice instead of talking to the other orphans. When the voice was silent, I would practically live in the library.

The little voice had taught me to read by the time I was three. It also acted as my conscience of sorts, teaching me when I should and when I shouldn’t do something.

The Voice didn’t speak to me, no, it just gave me impressions. Wrong and Right, feelings that felt like praise, and joy when I was doing things properly. These feelings helped me, and gave me something to hold on to as the Voice came and went as I got older.

My social reclusiveness led me to be bullied by the other children at the orphanage. There were a few moments that stood out. The first was the week Tommy Michaels killed my pet.

I had a hamster, the nuns allowed us to keep small animals in our rooms as long as we kept their cages cleaned and fed and watered properly. Tommy was a vile child. We had never gotten along, and when I was seven, my hamster escaped. It returned to me piece by piece. His legs, one after the other. Then his torso. Day after day. Until one morning I woke up to his furry brown head on my nightstand. That morning at breakfast his smirk told me everything I needed to know.

That day, in our playroom, Tommy taunted me about the death of my furry companion. I proceeded to lose my mind. It felt like a dam burst somewhere deep inside me. A wave of light surrounded my palm, and a shimmery blast of emerald light exploded out of it. Tommy was catapulted into the wall of the playroom and fractured his leg. I was sent to bed without dinner. The Voice had wanted me to kill him.
The next morning, I looked in the mirror. I noticed that my normally blue eyes had turned a startling bright, vibrant green overnight. When the nuns noticed, that was the first time I was locked in a closet and forced to pray for my sins. For my eighth birthday, I had my first exorcism performed on me. For Tommy’s, he got adopted.

I found out after some experimentation, that I could make things happen. I could levitate and move objects with my mind. I could force someone to tell me the truth and knew when they were lying.
I had learned to read early, and frequent trips to the library led me to discover and cultivate a passion for reading. I dove into the classics and the new. I was particularly drawn to fantasy novels for some reason. I knew what I could do was magic, or something similar. The Voice had told me this, and it was always right.

Those literary masterpieces, and a restless urgency from the Voice, gave me an impetus to learn all I could about my new abilities. It all made sense, from a literary perspective. I was the downtrodden orphaned magic user. Voice was my version of the Blue Fairy. Of course I’d be the hero in my story.
Meanwhile, as I practiced my newfound abilities, my hair changed from blond to the same emerald shade of green.

The nuns took offense to this, they called me a devil, or a demon; Insisted on praying over me and forced me to learn their scriptures in hopes of drawing out the demon they swore lived in my body.
This might have been a self-fulfilling prophecy, but I drew special motivation for training when they screamed Exodus 22:18 in my face.

My life became hours locked in a closet that was barred with planks, or chairs. Filled only with mental conversation. That was more me talking and the Voice giving impressions of sadness and helplessness that only served to add to my drive to train, to become more powerful. This was how my life was for those three dark years.

I’d attend the trivially easy school they had in the mornings. Then, I spent my afternoons having the bible literally pounded into my skull on a few occasions, and my evening’s were passed by sneaking out to the small green grove near the woods, experimenting with my magic or powers. I’d earned quite a few scars over the years from the nun’s tender mercies, and slowly, began to resent them and the religion they tried to literally cram down my throat. I certainly wasn’t the only orphan they did this too, but I was definitely one of their favorites.

One day, I had enough of the endless lectures, of being locked away for hours, or deprived of meals for some perceived slight against their God. The Voice was urging me to get me-us out of this mess. When the nuns decided they had enough of my “devilry” and decided to lock me in the prayer closet overnight one evening, I turned the tables on them. I broke the ropes they had bound me with. Then I locked them in the small room where I’d spent so many hours forced to pray to a deity, I frankly had my doubts about. Usually they left me with a candle. I didn’t grant them that luxury. I forced my magic to hold the door, and then let them stew for a few hours. They stopped trying to “convert” me after that, and I was allowed to eat on a fairly regular schedule.

This continued until shortly after my tenth birthday. It was Monday, and I had settled into the library. My homework was arrayed before me, and a day of pretending to care about basic sums and Latin awaited me. Some things, I instinctively knew, or the Voice did. I wasn’t sure which.
That was where Sister Agnes found me. She approached me as she always did, an aged leather hand clutching a wooden crucifix attached to the matching rosary in one hand. A glare on her face, and a murmured prayer on her lips. She was one of the oldest nuns at the orphanage and was convinced that I was the devil incarnate. She was one of the nuns that had led the crusade to remove the so-called demon from beneath my skin.

“Good day sister, what prayer are you muttering to the false god today?” I asked with a sneer. Okay, so I’d learned to play up to the sisters. Sue me.

“Stephen, there’s someone here to see you.” She said, a look of fear on her face. Her back was straight, and her posture stiff. I looked up from my compendium on Latin. That was certainly odd. I had no known associates in this life. I also knew that I was growing into the age where it would be harder for me to be adopted. I wasn’t concerned with that reality. I had my own plans for what life would entail after I aged out of this place, if not earlier.

“A prospective mother.” The nun said.

“Just the mother? Where's the father?” I asked.

“He’s attending to other matters. You’ll only be meeting the mother today.” She replied.

“Come on boy, before I drag you by the ear.” She said, and I closed my book.

“I’d like to see you try, sister.” I rebutted, and smirked at the glare she sent me. I followed her into the office that the nuns used for administration. Mother Superior sat at the front of the desk, and seated in front of it was my prospective parental unit. I took a seat, and Sister Agnes left.

The woman was dressed casually, in a dark blouse and skirt. Her hair was pulled up in a severe bun. She didn’t wear much jewelry. A string of pearls, a single diamond ring on her ring finger, and another ring on her pinkie. When she turned her gaze on me, I instantly felt a tingle come across my skin. I could feel the magic practically pouring off this woman. It was the first time I’d met someone else magical, and a weight I didn’t know I carried felt like it was lifted from my shoulders. The Voice was excited too.

“This is the boy?” She asked. Her tone was grim.

“Yes, just as you wanted, an older child, independent. Smart.” The nun said. The woman sniffed.

“His hair?”

“Not a clue. The boy is quite adventurous. He just showed up one morning with his hair like that. Don’t worry, he won’t be doing that again. ” The nun replied.

“I should hope so.” The women remarked with a murmur. “Stephen, my name is Bethany Andrews. If you’d like, I’d like to adopt you. My husband wants a son, and I am unable to conceive.” She said. Mother Superior gasped, and I gave the matron an innocent look of curiosity. We learned quickly in the orphanage, and I admired Bethany for how blunt she was. I looked into her eyes. There was something about her gaze that seemed to pull me in.

“Careful boy, you might not like what you find if you keep looking.” A voice in my head said. Her voice. I gave her a startled look, and recoiled visibly, almost knocking over my chair in the process, and she smiled softly, a knowing glint in her eyes. I nodded once, and the woman smiled.

“Fantastic!” Mother Superior said elatedly.

“I’m sorry you’re leaving us child, I hope you’ll carry the lessons we taught you in your new life.” I looked at the matron.

“Mother, I appreciate how you’ve treated me over the years, and I hope someone will return the favor to you one day.” I replied with a too-sharp smile. She faltered for a moment before she spoke again.

“Good! I’ll fill out the paperwork, while you go pack your things.” She said. I nodded. I knew there had to be other people like me out there, people with magic. There always was in the books, after all. My plan was to find them after I left the orphanage. I needed to learn more about these abilities, how to use more than the paltry telekinesis than I currently had access to.

I went back to my room and grabbed the few belongings that I had. I didn’t have much, a few sets of threadbare clothes. A stuffed bunny and a couple of shells as souvenirs at the beach from the one trip we had made there.

I shuddered as those memories came to the forefront of my mind. Lingering hands belonging to old men who had no place touching younger boys in those places. Memories I squished down. I quickly packed it all in a rucksack and went back to the office.

Bethany had finished the paperwork. She grabbed my hand, and we walked out of the front. A car was waiting for us. It was a gorgeous piece of engineering for the time, painted a shiny silver. I recognized the hood ornament, and realized this car likely cost more than the orphanage’s yearly budget. The rear doors of the car opened, and we got inside. As soon as we settled, the car roared to life and took me away from the dreary orphanage forever.

 

Bethany touched a small button on the door, and a shimmery gauzy haze settled over the car, and soon diminished. The Voice was curious, and it urged me to ask her about that.

“What was that?” I asked.

“It’s a set of privacy spells, anyone who sees the car will see a completely unremarkable vehicle.” She said. Bethany took the ring off her finger. Then, the most startling thing happened: Bethany transformed. Her skin paled until it was almost translucent. Her hair reshaped itself, turning from the severe dark-colored bun to long golden locks of hair. Then her eyes changed from brown to shimmering gold. It wasn’t like her eyes simply changed color, it seemed as though they actually glowed gold. It was like she was looking at me, and she wasn’t. Those eyes were hard to look away from, and I fought against the chill that shivered down my spine. She was looking at my forehead, but her gaze seemed to bore into me. Finally her attire changed. What was once a casual looking blouse and skirt, and sensible shoes was now full, pale blue dress and shiny leather boots. She smiled at me. I was mildly shocked by her new appearance.

“Oh come now child, you didn’t think that you were the only mage out there, did you?” I shrugged. Not from a lack of things to say, but from too many. I did not even know where to begin with that revelation. Even Bethany’s accent changed from the proper London accent I had gotten used to into an almost American twang.

“Well, you aren’t. I’m a mage. My entire House is magical.” She said.

“How did you know how to find me?”

“The governing body of mages, the Council Majeure has an enchanted globe that records magic use, but I had other means.” She replied.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“To my townhome in London.”

“What’s a mage?” I asked.

“Honestly, fiction is so lacking in this century.” She muttered.

“I would have to agree,” I murmured. I hoped she hadn’t heard that, and at the same time I wondered what exactly she meant by that, and why I would agree.

“A mage is someone who can channel magic through their body and use it to affect the world around them. Some mages are so powerful they can warp reality around them with a mere thought. I’m not of that caliber, but my mentor was a powerful Lord.”

“A Lord, like royalty?”

“Of a kind.” She replied. We had arrived at the townhome by now. The car took several turns until we drove down an old alley. The car sounded its horn twice, and the brick wall of the alley retracted into the buildings on either side. On every side, there were rows of townhouses. There were children playing on the street. A trio of them were throwing around a ball that changed colors every time it hit the ground and bounced back up. I kind of wanted to go and join them. There were a couple adults floating on brooms. Each house’s exterior was painted brightly. Floating through the park were small swarms of twinkling lights. As we passed the park, I noticed a large mirror in the center of it, and I wondered what that could be.

The exterior of the townhouse we parked in front of was painted a weathered sky blue. We exited the car, and the engine turned off. Its headlights flashed twice, and we walked up the weather-worn stairs. As we came to the door, Bethany touched my shoulder. I flinched away from her hand instinctively.

“Are you okay?” She asked. After a moment, I took a deep breath and nodded. I studied the plate on the door. It was wrought in gold. There was an hourglass, with a stick that crossed and a sword of some kind below it. In an arch, lettering spelled out the phrase Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat.

There was a few awkward seconds of silence, and then she produced a key from somewhere. As she held the key up, a slot appeared on the door, and she unlocked the house. We entered a house that seemed more like a museum than anything. It was brightly lit, and the floor was a polished light ash wood, and the walls were paneled a darker wood. To my left there was a small coat room. There was a ceiling to wall mirror mounted on the wall to my left, past the entrance to the coat room. Next to that, there was a spiral staircase leading to the upper floor, and a regular staircase leading downstairs. To my right, there was a sitting room with a pair of plush black velvet and lacquered couches the same shade as the paneling that populated the walls. On the far right, there was a trio of oil painted portraits.

“Do you want a tour first, or would you like an early dinner?” Bethany asked.

“I think I’d like a tour.” I replied. I wanted to explore every inch of this place. She smiled and nodded.

“To your left is the receiving room, where guests arrive.”

“Guests don’t arrive through the door?”

“Not if they’re welcome.” Bethany replied. We turned right and entered the sitting room. To our left there was a baby grand piano with a bench. I noticed that aside from the portraits, and the wall sconces that glowed with light, there weren’t many decorations. The windows, like the rest of the house, were tastefully, yet elegantly decorated with dark, plus velvet curtains.

“This is the sitting room, which, along with the dining room, becomes the ballroom when there’s a party.” She said, pointing to the far wall.

“How does that work?”

“Magic.” She said, and I glared at her.

“Until you learn more about the world, you’ll get that answer a lot.” She replied. I sighed.

“I guess we’ll have to teach you about magic then.” She said with a smile. We exited the sitting room. As we walked through the house, I noticed Bethany moved with an easy grace the stiff-backed nuns lacked, like a cat on the prowl.

“Where does the second staircase lead to?” I asked.

“That leads to the kitchen.” She said, and I nodded. We passed a pair of closets, and Bethany took me into a dining room. There was a long hardwood table, with enough seats for at least twenty, and the room was decorated almost identically to the sitting room. To our right, there was a closed door.

“Where does that door go?” I asked.

“That leads to the den, and the rear exit to the house.” She said, we walked in an almost half circle and exited out another door. There were a trio of closed doors.

“The door on the far right is a bathroom. The other two doors are off limits.”

“Why?”

“Because I said.” We walked to the other end of the house and walked up the spiral staircase. I noticed that most of the doors were closed, if not locked.

“The library is in front of us. You’re welcome to browse the books there, unless they’re warded.”

“Warded?”

“Protected from anyone without permission to read them. Some of them I’ll unlock for you. Others, well part of the reason they’re locked behind wards is to ensure you can read them.”

“What do you mean?”

“If you can circumvent the spells protecting them, then by all means, read them. Your skill with magic is advanced enough to use them.” She said.

“The room on the right is also off limits. It’s my private study, and I wish for it to remain that way.” The rest of the floor was taken up by bedrooms. The next floor had two bedrooms with ensuite bathrooms on either end. There was a second study, and another room. This one was sparsely furnished. There was a rack of weapons, with everything from bows to guns, and all manner of bladed weapons. A closed door led into another room. At the corners of the room’s ceiling, and the midpoints, there were sconces glowing with lights. There were a series of white lines drawn on the floor. Four thick white lines were the border, with a fifth drawn down the center. Two more thin white lines, followed by a white circle in the center, sectioned the box off further.

“This is the dueling room.” Bethany said.

“The dueling room?” I asked.

“Dueling is as much an art form as it is a way of holding unto traditional societal norms. The school you will be attending has a world renowned dueling team, and I'll be obtaining a teacher for you to learn this.” She said. We left that room, and then we traveled up to the third floor. Bethany turned right, and led me to a bedroom that was the size of three of the shared rooms in the orphanage. The floor was covered in a cream carpet, and the bed was enormous, and covered in comfortable looking pillows.

“There are some clothes in the closet. We’ll go and get more tomorrow. Now, do you remember the way back to my study?”

“Yes.” I replied.

“Good, when you’re ready for dinner, I’ll be in my study.” She said, and then she left.

I withdrew my souvenirs and put them on a small shelf hanging on the walls. I quickly found the closet, a walk in with an island of drawers in the middle. I noticed there were a few things hanging, and a few pairs of pants already on the shelves. These made my meager clothes from the orphanage seem like poorly tailored rags. After walking around my closet for a little while, I walked into a bathroom. The bathroom had a pool that was pretending to be a bathtub, and a localized downpour masquerading as a shower. Oh, I was going to like it here. I showered and enjoyed soaking in the almost scalding water, a far cry from the tepid and sometimes freezing water from the orphanage. I finished my shower, and then after some searching found a towel and bathrobe. I dressed in what was probably my first set of new clothes. I let out a breath and pretended the tears running down my face was water dripping down from my hair. After getting dressed, I walked back down the stairs until I came to Bethany’s study. I knocked on the door.

“One moment!” I heard her yell through the door. She came out a little later. after a moment.

“Sorry, I was returning missives.” She replied.

“What sort of missives?” I asked.

“My House, our House, has a wide variety of business ventures, and we’re involved in the magical government.” She replied. That told me absolutely nothing, but I had just gotten here, and I didn’t want to seem nosy. Even
though I really was.
We walked to the dining room and sat down. She sat at the head of the table, and I sat to her right.

“Is it just you?” I asked.

“No. Usually my husband is home and one of our business partners is present. I’ll admit that these absences are partially manufactured. We didn’t want to overwhelm you with too many new faces at once.” She said. A bowl of soup suddenly appeared in front of me. It was a delicious consommé. A glass of white wine appeared at Bethany’s place. I was given water. We ate the soup in relative silence.

“Tell me about the Orphanage, what did you study there?” She asked.

“Math, and English. Your usual school subjects.” I said evasively. I still wasn’t sure whether I could trust her.

“Who was teaching you magic?” She asked, and I almost choked on my soup.

“What do you mean?”

“Child, your hair is green as grass after a summer storm. No one’s aura manifests like that unless they’ve been practicing for years. What have you learned?” She said, and took a drink from her wine glass. We finished the soup and moved into a juicy roast. It was perfectly rare, and served with small whole potatoes that had been lightly seared and seasoned excellently. I watched as the wine glass emptied itself and filled with red.

“You never answered my question.” She said.

“I was self-taught.” I replied.

“Self taught?” She asked, and I nodded in confirmation.

“That’s interesting, I haven’t seen many self-taught mages before. That’s quite dangerous.” She replied.

“The orphanage was a dangerous place.” I replied, turning back to my food. I took another sip of my water.

“How so?”

“I’d rather not say.” I replied. I wasn’t protecting them by any means, I just didn’t wish to talk about that.

“Fair enough. Although, as your guardian, I am going to need to know at some point.” She replied, and I ate in silence.

“Well, what have you taught yourself how to do?” She asked. I looked at my spoon, held out my hand, and willed the spoon to lift. The spoon began floating in the air. Then I closed my eyes in concentration and forced the spoon to twist and turn into itself, until it was more of a metallic corkscrewed pretzel than anything.

“Good job.” She said.

“Now, pick up the spoon.” I said, putting just a bit of compulsion into my voice. Usually this had the desired effect of making someone do what I wanted.

“No, I don’t think I will.” She said, and with a wave of her own hand, the spoon blurred and fixed itself. “What else can you do?” She asked.

“I can definitely pick up things bigger than a spoon.” I replied, intentionally being vague, and she nodded.

“Not a lot of pre-novitiate mages can say that. There aren’t even many Journeymen mages that can. Psionic abilities are certainly a skill that we’re going to nurture.” She replied.

“Do you have any abilities like that? Where do you think they came from?” I replied.

“I don’t have any abilities like the ones we’re discussing, my talents lay in other directions. I’m not entirely sure where those kinds of gifts are coming from.” She said, I frowned. I’d gotten a very good sense of truth and lies since I’d begun training that part of my magic. Right now, my magic told me that was a lie. Perhaps a half-truth best.

“Is there something you aren’t telling me?” I asked.

“Everyone always has something they aren’t telling someone.” Bethany replied, and took a long drink of her wine.

“But, there’s something particular you aren’t telling me. Isn’t there?” I asked, intentionally evening out my tone. She sighed.

“Bloody psychics. Not even fourteen, and he’s already getting through my shields.” She muttered.

“Yes, there is.” She said. I sat back in my chair.

“Well, what is it?” I asked. She sighed. We had both finished our food at this point. There were two banana splits melting into a sugary soup. After a moment, Bethany finished her glass of wine.

“I need something much stronger than just wine for this conversation.” She said, and got up from the table, she began walking away.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“I’m going to the bar. I’ll be back soon, stay where you are.” She said. After a few minutes she returned, holding a crystalline bottle and a small matching glass. She sat back down, poured herself a long measure of the amber color liquor, and downed it in one go.

“I adopted you because I owed your mother a favor.” She said.

“You knew my mother?” I asked, ignoring the way my voice rose in excitement. Bethany nodded hesitantly.

“Who was she? What was her name?” I asked.

“Didn’t those idiots at that orphanage tell you anything?” She asked.

“No, no they didn’t. There was nothing to tell. I was wrapped up in a blanket, given a small note with my name on it, and left abandoned to the elements.” I replied. I felt my magic rising as anger shot through me. I took a deep breath and clamped down on my magic. I could feel it seething inside of me, ready to lash out, and I could not allow that.

“What happened?” Bethany asked, and I don’t think she was speaking to me.

“What was her name?” I asked.

“Her name was Alexis Bonaparte. She was one of the strongest, if not the strongest mage I’ve ever known. I was her apprentice once.”

“What happened to her?” I asked.

“I honestly do not know. I’ve certainly got a few guesses. She went missing after the war, and I’ve spent years trying to track her down. Stephen, I knew your mother. I thought I did at least. I’m not sure why she would have done that. I thought...” She paused and frowned in thought. She leaned back in her chair, and then she refilled the glass.

“Fuck.” She said, after a couple minutes. I thought I saw tears in her eyes, but that might have been a trick of the light. I bit my lip. My mother was someone close to her. I gave her a few minutes to gather her thoughts.

“What war was it? The Great War?” I asked. That would certainly fit. I didn’t realize that women fought in that war, and it was not something we covered in our history classes. It was too fresh in the public’s consciousness to recount, and I understood that.

“After the war, we thought she had perished. I was stationed in a different area, but during a battle. Their ship was attacked. My brother, Stephen, who I’m assuming she named you after, died. We found his body, but we never found hers.” She took another shaky breath.

“Were they married?” I asked. Bethany gave a small snort.

“No. Stephen didn’t prefer women.” she stopped for a second, and then restarted her sentence.

“Well, your mother and Stephen wouldn’t have been compatible with each other. We’ll keep it at that. Not to mention your mother was near twice his age. She was our magic teacher growing up. She taught me everything I knew about magic. How to use it for offense and defense. How to enchant. How to create potions with alchemy. She was an amazing magician. You’ll learn all of this too, some of it when you head off to school. Some of it in the coming four years that I’m going to have you as an apprentice. Do you want to have your first lesson today, or would you like to wait until tomorrow?” She asked. I still had questions, but I was tired.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t find you sooner. I looked for you both for ages. Lady Alexis was a great friend of my parents.”

“Why couldn’t you?” I asked.

“As I said, Alexis was a powerful mage. She also had a great many enemies. They both did. She wove an enchantment around you to protect you from them. It was a stroke of luck I even managed to find you in the first place.”

“So she left me there to protect me?” I ground out, and I felt my magic rising with my anger once again. This time, the crystal bottle did shatter in a thousand shards. A shimmer of magical energy protected Bethany from any debris, but they still scattered across the room. I distantly realized that I had stood up at some point, as had Bethany.

“Stephen, you need to calm down.” She said. That somehow managed to add to my anger.

“She left me behind!” I shouted. An unseen wind whipped up from nowhere, and I heard the table creak as it was pushed away from me.

“What kind of mother does that! If she was so powerful, she should have taken me with her!” I said.

“I’m sure she did the best she could.” Bethany said, calmly. I heard the table smash into a wall, but I was so focused on Bethany’s words, I didn’t see it.

“The best she could do got me treated like a freak for years! The best she could was BULLSHIT!” I screamed the last part, and I felt my magic lash out. It had been years since I’d had such little control over it, but I couldn’t find it in me to care. I blinked through the tears and bit my lip from outright sobbing. Years of suffering, of torture, because someone did the “best they could”?

“Stephen, calm down.” She said, putting out her hand in a placating gesture, and taking a step forward. My magic flared and pushed back against her. Her shield, or whatever it was held, and she took another step forward.

“Get back!” I yelled, partly as a warning, partly in anger. I wasn’t even sure if I could control my magic at this point. It seemed to have a mind of it’s own, I tried to reign it in but I couldn’t. I quickly moved from angry to scared as my magic failed to listen to me.

“How do I stop this?” I asked.

“Stephen, I’m going to cast a spell. It’s not meant to hurt you, and I swear on my own magic it won’t be permanent, but we need to calm your magic down. What I’m going to do is drain some of your magic out of your core and into mine. Is that okay?” She asked. I took a deep breath, and nodded. She drew a long stick, a wand I assumed, and pointed it at me. A long golden thread attached itself to my wrist and wrapped around it, and I felt my magic slowly bleed away as green light slowly wrapped itself around the string and began traveling towards Bethany. As soon as the storm subsided. I wrapped myself around Bethany, and she returned the gesture after a few seconds.

“Why didn’t she want me?” I asked, half question, half sob.

“Stephen, I wish I knew what her thoughts were. But I’m here now, and that’s all I can do.” Bethany said. I vaguely remember calming enough to wipe my nose with a handkerchief Bethany offered, but I don’t remember falling asleep, or being carried to my bed. That night, I dreamed of blue skies, restless oceans, and a city made of glass.



Author's Note: This is the first two chapters of The Voice in His Head, if there's a good response, I'll be posting everything I've released so far here and add QQ to my update schedule.
If you like this, please consider liking this poist. If you like what you read, and want to support the author, and don't want to wait please consider purchasing The Voice in His Head from Amazon or Audible, or supporting me on Patreon. You can discuss this chapter below, or in the Discord. This is already completed work.

 

February 10th, 1925
Andrews’ Townhouse
London.

You know how it is when you're traveling, and you get to your destination and fall asleep. Then when you wake up the next morning and for a few seconds you have no idea where you are? That was my mindset when I woke up in my bedroom. The events of dinner came rushing back.

Despite the fact I had slept like the dead the night before, I was still tired, but a full bladder forced me out of bed. I was still dressed in my clothes from the night before, so at least I still had some dignity. I got out of bed and stretched, my back twitching a little bit from scars on my back. A couple of times the Nuns had gotten overzealous, and had gotten me a little bit more than skin deep. Fortunately the room was warm, and this helped a lot.

After relieving myself, I washed my hands and looked in the mirror. I looked as tired as I felt.

I walked back to the enormous bed and fell back asleep. The next thing to wake me up was hunger. I left my bedroom and went down the stairs. I couldn't quite rememberbmy way to the kitchen, the events of the past day were a blur. I did, however,Vremember how to find Bethany's study. As I got to the door, I heard another femalevvoice.

"Bethany, you shouldn't have funneled that much energy. Or, you should have called me."

"I didn't have a choice Amy. His magic was so out of control. It was like a localized storm inside the dining room." I froze. I knew that they were talking about me, but I had a feeling that this was a conversation I should not have been hearing.

"He's got power then?" The first voice-Amy said. It had a thin quality to it that I wasn’t sure if I liked.

"He's got power and absolutely no control.” Bethany replied. As much as I wanted to hear where this was going, I wasn’t going to eavesdrop, or, at least, get caught doing so. I knocked on the door, and after a moment, Bethany opened it.

“Good morning Stephen.” She said.

“Good morning. I’m hungry and I forgot how to get to the dining room.” I said, ignoring the way my skin heated as it flushed from embarrassment. I did not like forgetting anything. Bethany laughed.

“Well, let’s see about getting you breakfast then, before we go, I’d like to introduce you to someone.” She said, and the other woman-Amy-walked out of the room. Unlike Bethany, who was tall and solidly built, she was short and lithe. She had closely cropped black hair and was dressed in men’s pants and a blousy shirt.

“Stephen, this is my friend Amy; I’ve hired her to be your instructor in the normal subjects you’ll be learning.” Bethany said, and I reached out to give Amy a handshake. Amy returned it after a brief hesitation.

“For future reference, Stephen, when two mages meet each other, they usually tap wands. It signifies that they’re equals. Shaking hands is seen as something only untouched do, and it’s seen as dirty.”

“Well, it’s a shame I don’t have a wand, and I’ve only been in this world for a few minutes.” I said. Bethany recoiled, and Amy laughed.

“He certainly has inherited Lady Alexis’ tongue, hasn’t he?” She said.

“Among other things.” Bethany said smoothly. The three of us went to the dining room. There was a full spread of breakfast food waiting for us, and I quickly grabbed some eggs and bacon, along with a few pieces of toast. I’d certainly get used to this. Bethany and Amy both helped themselves, and there were newspapers in their spots. I poured myself a cup of tea and began eating.

“How does the food get here?” I asked after a few moments. I had noticed a conspicuous lack of anything resembling staff.

“We have help.” Bethany replied.

“What kind of help?” I asked.

“Phobos. Appear please.” Bethany said, and then a creature appeared. It looked like a small monkey, but it’s head was that of a dog’s, and it was about the size of a human infant. The creature was covered in a fine down of black fur. A pair of leathery wings was on it’s back, and it had a forked furry tail.

“Mistress calls?” the creature said. It’s voice was creaky. Like an old unoiled door opening after being shut for far too long. The sound of its voice sent a shudder down my spine.

“Thank you Phobos.”

“This is an imp, Stephen. We have a small colony of them living in the attic.” She said.

“Phobos, you may leave.” She said, and then it vanished. I was unsettled by the creature's appearance.

“Those things live above us?” I asked. Amy snorted, and I gave her a look.

“Absolutely adorable.” She said, and I frowned. That caused her to actually laugh.

“Those things, as you so eloquently stated, are bound to our family. They’re absolutely harmless, and they’re damn useful.” Bethany said.

“They’re damn creepy.” I replied.

“Be that as it may, you will respect them, as you would me or Amy. And you will watch your language.” She said. I glared at her, and she glared back. After a moment, I averted my eyes and began eating my breakfast again. Midway through the meal, we were interrupted by a silvery-white spectral owl appearing in our midst, and then it spoke with the voice of a man.

“I’ve arrived in Thailand, the flight was uneventful. No need to respond.” The owl said, and then vanished.

“What was that?”

“It was a spectral message from my husband, he’s currently in Thailand on business.”
“
Is that the main form of communication in the magical world?” I asked. Bethany laughed.

“No. There are many ways to communicate. Journey books, mirrors, even astral projection if you're talented enough. Vincent prefers spectral messages because they’re extremely hard to intercept, and impossible to counterfeit.”

“Can I learn to send one?” I asked.

“In time.” Bethany replied. We had all finished our meal.

“Amy, what’s your agenda for the day?” Bethany asked.

“I’ve got to go see how our guest is doing, then I’m meeting Eli, and then I’m portaling to Hanover.” She said.

“How is the situation there?” Bethany asked.

“It’s better now that we’ve removed Haarmann from the situation, but it’s still volatile. What’s on your plate for today?” Amy asked.

“I’m taking him to Emrys’. We need to finalize the contract, and he needs clothes. But first, we’re going to see about getting him his Blade and Wand, and I’m keying him into the wards.” She said.

“Well, you two certainly have a full day ahead of you then. Do you mind if I take a car?”

“You’re meeting Eli in Untouched London?” Bethany asked.

“St. James.” Amy said, and Bethany nodded.

“Well, you know where the keys are. and what of our other guests?” She asked.

“He’ll keep, for the moment. He’s under guard, and under a stasis spell.” Amy replied. “She’s not just a teacher, is she?” I asked. Bethany gave me a look.

“No, she’s not. She’s also my attaché. Normally I would be handling a meeting with Eli, but you are going to be monopolizing my time for the foreseeable future. She’ll be taking care of a few business matters for me in my absence,” Bethany stated.

“If you're done with your breakfast, we can go see about getting you a wand.” She finished. I still had half a piece of toast left. As much as I hated seeing food go to waste, I wanted to dive into learning about magic.

“I’m done.” I said. Bethany nodded, and she led me to one of the doors she had told me I was forbidden to enter. As we walked, a thought crossed my mind.

“What other guest was Amy talking about?” I asked Bethany.

“I have a business guest staying here, in the other wing. You likely won’t be seeing him.”

“What other wing, I’ve seen every floor of the house.” I said, a confused look crossing my face.

“Every floor of the house that you know of.” She replied, walked up to the door. I noticed that it had a series of odd letters on it. I frowned. I knew what these were. What were they? Finally, after a couple minutes of concentration, the answer came to me.

“These are runes, aren’t they?” I asked, quite unsure of how I knew that, but certain that’s what they were. Bethany gave me a startled look.

“They are.” She said after a moment. She touched three of them in quick succession and then the door opened. It was about the same size as the dueling room. There was a rack of bladed on the opposite end of the room, next to a floor to ceiling mirror. On our left, there was a selection of wands encased in glass. Next to yet another door. On our right, a variety of different lengths of unvarnished wood. In the center of the room, there was a wooden table with a chair on either side.

“Bethany, there is something wrong with that door.” I said.

“What do you mean?” She said.

“This room is the same length as the room outside. That door could only lead into the bedroom. I was in that bedroom yesterday, and there was no door. Where does it lead?” I asked, and she smirked.

“Magical houses merely use their exterior dimensions as a guideline, not a law.” “So, that door leads, where, exactly?” I asked.

“Have you ever heard the term Non-Euclidean space?” She asked. The Voice, who thought a family of weird flying dog-monkey-baby things living above them was not just inconvenient, but absolutely terrifying, broke. I picked up on that fear and I’m pretty sure I whimpered. Whether it was in fear, or anger at the world as I knew it was slowly being dismantled, I couldn’t say. Bethany let out a small laugh at that sound. Then the Voice decided it was time to fall asleep, and it fainted away.

“It’s not funny!” I said.

“Oh, you’re right. It’s hilarious.” She replied.

“As I was saying, the doorway leads to a safe room of sorts. It’s also where I store artifacts that I’m waiting for a buyer to purchase. Currently it’s empty. Now, have you learned to call up your magic?” She asked.

“I think so?”

“Call it up.” She said. I closed my eyes, and took a couple deep breaths. My magic was dull right now, almost dormant, but at my mental touch it roared to life, responding to me. I coaxed it to the surface and opened my eyes. My palm had a soft emerald haze encasing it.

“Excellent! Now, I want you to go over to the rack, and see if any of those weapons calls to you. I walked over to the far right of the rack, and touched the first weapon. This was a silver sword with an ornate golden hilt, with a sapphire in the pommel. There was a small spark, but nothing. The next was a curved dagger, almost shaped like a half moon. The gem in this glowed, and then promptly dimmed. This process continued as I touched every weapon on the rack. The only one I got any sort of sustained reaction from was a small white handled knife engraved with runes on the blade that I picked up. As soon as it left the rack, it glowed once, and then it ripped myself from my hand and clattered back to the rack. I frowned.

“None of them worked.”

“That’s fine. It would have been nice, but I knew it was a long shot.” She said. “Then why did you tell me to try?”

“Because it would be easier to teach you with a family heirloom than it would be a new one.” She said.

“How?” I asked. She snapped her fingers, and a dagger popped into her hand.

“This dagger was my mother’s, she was a Master in Warding and other defensive magic.” She said.

“Okay.” I said, and she touched the dagger to a wall, murmuring something as she did. Suddenly the air was filled with different mathematical formulas and runes that glowed an ethereal white. She withdrew the dagger.

“Some heirlooms learn from their former masters. She used and enchanted this dagger to analyze and slice through wards. Over time, the enchantments on the daggers shifted and refined themselves. This dagger will break
smaller wards, and point to a weak point in certain schemas.” She said. Then she offered it to me hilt first, and I took it. I gave it a closer look. It felt cool to the touch. The dagger was double edged. A strip of runed silver twined around the hilt, and up to the crossguard. This chain of runes continued up the blade until it terminated at the dagger tip. There was an engraving on the pearl, De scientia veritas. I turned the dagger over. There were more runes engraved on that side, and this strip of silver led to a small emerald set into the hilt.

“Before her death, she put all her knowledge of warding into the gem, and it acts as a database of sorts for the dagger.” She said. She made a twisting gesture with her hand and the dagger vanished.

“As we train you, I’ll let you come back. Perhaps one of these weapons will eventually allow you to wield them.”

“Now, for your foci.” She said.

“According to the Nuns, your birthday is January 22nd. That’ll be Rowan.” She said. We walked over to the table, and she touched it with her wand. The tabletop melted into the table, and Bethany reached into the interior. She took out a bowel, and a length of wood that I assumed to be Rowan. She also grabbed a dagger from inside the cabinet. She handed it to me. I felt something in the wood tingle and felt something in me call to it, like a half-forgotten song. I felt a sudden sadness at the feeling that I knew that music once, but now it was gone.I let out a sudden hitching breath. She gave me a look, and I took another breath.

“Would you like to continue?” She asked.

“I want to continue.” I said, and she smiled, all teeth. A part of me, the same part that was gibbering about non-euclidean closets and puppy-monkey gremlins, yelped in fear. She put the length in the bowl, and runes glowed
around the rim of it.

“Now, most wands are made with a gemstone center. This is imbued and catalyzed with the aura of the wielder, so no activated wand can be used against or without its owner. With you, we’ll be doing something different. My father had a wand and a staff made of crystallized blood, bloodstone. It was powerful. We’ll be doing something similar with you.” She placed the metal bowl in the center of the table, then she handed me the dagger.

“This part will hurt.” She said.

“What do you need me to do?” I asked. “This dagger is a powerful artifact. Slit your palm, and as you do incant sanguinem, tredecim uncias appendebat and bleed into the bowl. The dagger will seal the wound when it’s task is done. Repeat the incantation for me. The nun’s teaching actually helped, and I recognized the words as Latin.

“Sanguinem, tredecim uncias appendebat.”

“You need more emphasis on the final syllable, and less on the first. It’s a long a at the end.”

“Sanguinem, tredecim uncias appendebat.”

“Once more.”

“Sanguinem, tredecim uncias appendebat.” I said, and this time, I felt a small jolt from my magic. I frowned.

“Let me guess, it’s your first focused spell?” She asked.

“It’s the first time I’ve spoken a spell.” I said. She nodded.

“Your aura spiked, and usually that only happens when someone’s core first spikes, or when they intone their first spell. Let me guess, most of your magic so far has been you willing your magic to affect your surroundings, instead of actually using invocations?” She asked. I nodded.

“That’s a great indicator of your power. When you begin wandless magic, that will be a great help.”

“Is that hard to learn?”

“It’s not something that’s hard to learn, it just takes focus to channel your magic, which you apparently already have experience in. However, we’re getting off track. I want you to repeat that spell for me once more, and if I’m satisfied then you can proceed.” I repeated the spell once more, and Bethany nodded.

“Good job. You may proceed.” I took the dagger and gave her a look.

“I know. It’s going to be painful to do, but I promise it will be worth it.” She replied. I sighed and took the dagger, resolving to become a ghost if I died. I put my hand over the bowl, placed the dagger against it, and sliced my palm downward, feeling a burn of white heat as I did. I hissed at the pain, and whispered the spell she’d taught me.

“Sanguinem, tredecim uncias appendebat.” The blood dripping out of my hand became a steady trickle of crimson life. A few emerald sparks swirled in my blood, and these rose to the top, and a soft shimmer of green hovered on top of the bowl. As this continued, a sudden wave of nausea followed by dizziness coursed through me, and I fought to not throw up my breakfast. I dry heaved instead, tasting bile and swallowing it instantly.

“It will be over in a second.” Bethany said. I fought another wave of dizziness and noticed stars dancing in my eyes. I leaned back in my chair, fighting to stay awake.

“Stephen.” Bethany said, and her voice seemed far away, like she was talking from another room. Suddenly I felt another line of white heat, this time up my palm. I felt Bethany slap my face, twice, and I gave her a look.

“What the fuck was that for?” I asked, and noticed my words had a slight slur to them.
She handed me a bottle. “Drink this. It will help with the blood loss.” She said, handing me an uncorked vial of something pink and shimmery. I swallowed the entire vial and gagged at the taste. It had a texture of oil, and tasted like chalk.

“You could have warned me.” I stated.

“I was trying to stop you from fainting.” She replied.

“What was that, anyway?”

“A blood renewal potion. It transmutes the amount of blood you’ve lost from the water in your body.”

“Nifty.” I replied.

“Are you ready to continue?” She asked. I nodded when the room stopped spinning and some of my energy came back.

“Now, this next part, all you need to do is grab my hand, and call your magic up.” She said. I did so. I felt her magic call. It felt like a warming fire and the cold of snow biting at my face. I smelled wood smoke and tasted salt. I basked in the heat and glow of the power. Images flashed through my head. A boy who looked like a reflection of myself. Another, one that looked like Bethany. The same high cheekbones and angular face, except older, with windswept green hair and an air of seriousness and darkness around him.

A man, gray at the temples with a mane of icy blue hair. A crown on his head. A staff held in one hand that glowed with icy-blue mage light. He was standing next to a woman with deep green, almost black hair wearing a circlet. Both wore black armor. The woman held a sword in one hand that was alight with flame, and a wand in the other. Her mother and father, perhaps?
Another Memory, Bethany when she was younger, my age. Next to the boy in silver hair. They were climbing a tree, and their mother called to them. A man with white hair stood behind her, dressed in a robe of some kind. Two swords were strapped to his belt, a daito and a shoto.
There were silver bracelets on his hands that shimmered with magic. His eyes were alight with the same mischievous air the boy had. Then, one final image. Bethany, a bit older than the last vision, and the brother. It was like a still frame in my mind, they were in a building, like one of the fortifications from the old war newsreels that was crumbling around them, and the man and the woman from earlier stood in front of them. The woman had her hand raised, a nimbus of flames wreathed her left hand, and a wand was raised in the other. In front of them, there was an army of metal soldiers. I was behind them. I felt the heavy weight of armor on my body, that somehow felt right.

“Stephen, are you with me?” She asked, and I nodded slowly.

“Until the very end.” I said. I wasn’t sure where those words came from, but those words felt right somehow.

“I know, the first time you feel another mage’s power, it can be intoxicating. But we need to move on before the blood starts to coagulate.” She said, ignoring what I’d just said.

“Okay, but I have questions.” I replied. Would I get these sorts of visions every time I felt someone call their magic?

“Questions that can wait until after we’re done. Now, hold your hand over the bowl and repeat after me. Solidatuar Sanguine.” She said.

“Solidatuar Sanguine.” I said. The blood shimmered with the light of my aura.

“Again.”
“
Solidatuar Sanguine.” I said, and the bowl took on a green glow.

“Once more.”

“Solidatuar Sanguine!” I shouted. The bowl pulsed with power one more time and the glow retreated into the wood, now a wand. Where there was once a pale piece of wood slightly floating in a bowl of crimson, there was now a deeply lacquered wand. I picked it up, a few notes of a melody echoed through the room. Like some sort of fanfare. I felt a heady rush of power and warmth travel up and down my arm. Something deep inside me broke, and I felt tears course down my cheeks.

You know the feeling you get when you arrive at a loved one’s house for a party or a family gathering? All the voices having hurried conversations at once? Your younger siblings or nephews and nieces running about playing some game in the yard that only small children understand the rules too? It felt like coming home. Like Christmas, and the Summer Holidays all at once. For the first time since arriving in this strange place, I felt like I was home. Bethany was silent for a moment.

“Good job, Stephen. When you are ready, we can go see the dwarves.” She said.

“Let’s go now.” I said, rubbing away the tears running down my cheeks. She nodded. She led me upstairs to our bedrooms.

“Go shower and get yourself fresh clothes. I’ll do the same, and we can meet here when you’re done.” She said.

“Okay.” I said. I went back to my room, stripped out of my clothes, and turned the shower as hot as it could go without burning myself. As I washed, one thought ran through my mind.

“Stephen, what have you gotten yourself into?”

 

After dressing in a suit, the nicest thing I could find in my closet, I met Bethany in the small sitting room that served as a landing area for the top floor. She was dressed in a flowy, full length dress cut out of a deep purple cloth I didn’t recognize. To complete the outfit, she wore a black cloak and matching shiny leather shoes that were almost boots. The cloak was fastened with a gold brooch in the shape of an hourglass. She wore a couple of gold bangles on her wrist, and a ring with the same design that was on the front door of the townhouse on her pinkie. She pushed my hair back with her hand, and with a wave of her wand, tied my tie, and summoned me a cloak from my closet.

“It’s cold out today, the spells on the cloak will keep you warm.” She said, I put it on, and she taught me how to fasten it.

“Before we leave, I want to give you something.” Bethany said, and she produced a small box that she handed to me. I opened it. This ring was silver.

“This ring goes on your pinkie. It is the signet ring of House Andrews. This will identify you as a vassal of House Andrews to our enemies and allies, and everything in between. Now, I must warn you, accepting this ring will be me offering or invoking a familial bond. Should you accept, this will be the first agreement to an adoption. The second agreement will be made later today, and we'll discuss the last later. If you are ever in trouble, say my name thrice while wearing the ring, and the ring's magic will allow me to travel to your location.”

“Is there anything I need to say?” I asked.

“All you need to do is put the ring on.” She said. I placed the ring on my pinkie, and I felt a connection snap into place. A connection to Bethany, and to the house. I shivered as I felt something almost Other slither against my brain, and I yelped.

“What was that!?” I asked, taking off the ring, and tossing towards her.

“What do you mean?” She asked, confusion evident in her voice.

“It felt like a tentacle touching my brain!” I shouted.

“I should have warned you. That was the house anchoring itself in your magic.”

“What?” I asked.

“Older houses, well, the ward schemas protecting them, gain a semi-sentience over time. This one has certainly been in our family awhile and has seen enough.” She said. I frowned and put the ring back on.

This time, I concentrated on the feeling. It was alien, to be sure, but it sent me an impression. Not quite a thought, or a memory, but a series of feelings of safety-defense-welcome and return-enjoyment-amusement.

Apparently, it had been a long time since the Andrews family Heir Ring had been worn, and the fact that a new one had been recognized gave the old house joy. I pulled myself away from the odd consciousness.

“This house has been in the Andrews family for years, but our house has dwindled. I was the last one before you to wear that ring, and before I claimed my inheritance, this house hadn’t been occupied in almost forty years. It’s happy to see you, and that’s a good thing.” She said.

“How did you know that?” I asked.

“I felt the wards.” She said. I gave her a quizzical look.

“You’ll see.” She replied.

“Now, the day is wasting.” She said, and we went downstairs, and back outside. The car from early had already pulled up and was waiting for us. Before we got in the car, she knelt so she was at eye level.

“Now, normally we would teleport into London’s magical center, but we’ll be taking the public entrance today, but before that, I need to teach you another spell. You’ve noticed that I look different, less human, you might say, then the nuns?” She asked.

“I did.”

“That’s because our auras change us, as does the use of magic. We use glamours when we are out in public. Untouched humans don’t realize there is a second world that lives right beside them. They can see magic when it is performed, but our world has been hidden for centuries because of fear. The Six Great Races wove a spell across the world that would hide us. There are laws that prohibit mages from using magic or not wearing their glamour out in public.” Then she said, in a loud voice,

“Mutare Faciem.” As she said this, she pointed her wand at her forehead. Then her
features shifted and blurred as she transformed back into the stiff-looking middle aged woman I had seen her as originally.

“Now, repeat the incantation back to me.” She said.

“Mutare Faciem.” I said.

“Right in one! Good job. Now, point your wand at your forehead, and think of what you want your face to look like. You need to be a hundred percent clear, or the features will come out smudged, and the glamour won’t take.” She said.

“Mutare Faciem.” I said, pointing my wand at my head, and thinking of what I looked like before I practiced magic. Holding the image in my head. The spell felt like hot oil coating my skin. It was an instant sear down my back, and face. I yelped from the pain.

Then, the feeling of oil began hardening, tightening up my skin on my face, red and I realized that it wasn’t oil I was feeling, it was candle wax. I opened my eyes, and everything felt tight, like I was cocooned by the metaphysical candle wax binding itself to my skin. I moved my neck side to side, and ran my tongue against my lips, afraid to feel wax.

I was pleasantly surprised when I felt chapped skin against my tongue. Bethany produced a mirror, and I investigated it. A face that was mine, but not mine, appeared back. Sandy hair, instead of the blond I remembered it. The eyes were mine, but the jawline was rounder, and the cheek bones were sharper. Even though I didn’t see candle wax anywhere on me, I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was stuck to my skin.

“I know, a glamour is unpleasant. Fortunately, we won’t be wearing them long, the car will take itself home, and when we enter magical London, we can remove it. We’ll teleport home.”
She said. We entered the car. Bethany activated the same spells, and lit a cigarette that appeared in thin air with a snap of her finger.

“How is the car driving itself?” I asked.

“It’s not.” She said.

“Yes it is.”

“No, it isn’t. Over the years, a few of us have installed a series of runes over Untouched London. This allows us to do things like access the portal network, and utilize a series of animation spells in our vehicles.” I shook my head in disbelief.

“Do they still use petrol?” I asked. Bethany made a face of disgust, as if I’d brought up a taboo subject.

“No, absolutely not. The untouched rely on that stuff far too much. We use enchantments so the cars are powered directly by ley-line.”
“That’s so cool!” I said.

“Yes, yes, it is.” She said, giving me an odd look. By now, the car had driven us to a deserted storefront. We exited the car and the car drove off. Bethany put her cloak’s hood up. From the outside, it would seem as though it was a long ago abandoned mercantile. However, that was not the case. The interior of the storefront was a plush looking waiting room. There was a door on the other end of it, and we went right through.

/////////
What did everyone think? If you like this, please consider giving me an upvote. This is an already completed work, and each post will be a chapter (or half chapter) of the first book in the Aether Cycle. If you like what you read, and want to support the author, and don't want to wait for updates, please consider purchasing The Voice in His Head from Amazon or Audible, or supporting me on Patreon. You can discuss this chapter below, or in the Discord.

 

February 10th, 1925
Emrys’ Concourse
Magical London

We exited into a modern for the times looking street. Along the paved gaslight streets, there were storefront signs advertising cauldrons and familiars. Potion regents and books. Other shops and signs advertising rejuvenation potions and age reversal. Carts filled the air with the smell of different food. Their owners called out their wares.

I stepped closer to Bethany. I disliked crowds on principle.

“Stephen, I’ll show you how to break your glamor later. We’ll keep it on until we get to Emrys proper.” She said.

Other carts still advertised magical amulets. Everything was painted in brilliant vibrant colors, and I could feel the magic pouring off the streets. Bathing me in power and sending a tingle across my skin.
There was even some type of rail station at the far end where a long line of bored looking commuters stood attired in suits and dresses. Each holding a briefcase or bag. I was quickly discovering that mages had a certain look about them. An inner glow that paled their skin. Hair every shade of the rainbow from using their magic, and eyes glowing with power, almost like a cat in the dark. I noticed that there were a couple in the crowd holding long canes that glowed from the runes along their length. Each of them held the leash of some small type of animal.

“How does this exist?” I asked in wonder. This should have just been a courtyard. Not a massive sprawling street filled with life.

“A combination of spatial expansion and compression spells along with a spatial manipulation spell that puts us out of phase with the mortal world. Essentially, The Concourse exists inside a pocket of nonlocal space-time. Space-time that has been torn from another universe and situated inside localized space time. Usually, this is a blank space, although things have been known to grow in black space-time.”

“What? What does out of phase mean?” I asked. I was still stuck on the fact that there was a street where a courtyard should be.

“In short, the runic relay removes us from reality.” I gave her an inquisitive look.

“I’m still stuck on how this place exists.” I said, and she sighed. “The concourse is anchored to a section of reality located on the confluence of two ley lines. It’s a separate reality from our own, that has been enchanted to act like ours.” My steps slowed.

“So, right now, we’re in London, but we aren’t.” I said.

“Exactly, but technically we’re just south of Norwich.” She replied, and that caused me to trip a little bit. She grabbed me and laughed.

"You’ll get used to it. You need to. The Andrews family specialize in phsyica and tempus.” She said, and I gave her an inquisitive look.

“Temporal and spatial manipulation. It’s how we made our fortune. Come, child, we’re headed for the monorail.” She said. We went to the front of the line. Two taps of her wand, and twin tickets printed out of a small machine.
Large white slips that had “Owner's Car” written in great letters on the top of them. We moved to enter the train.

“Oi, lady! Where do you think you’re going!” A man behind us said. Bethany turned. A man in a suit was standing at the front of the Queue, he was red-faced. His eyes had an eerie yellow glow to them, and his skin was papery and pale. He looked older than Bethany. He had a wand in one hand.

“I’ve been waiting here for an hour; some stupid crawler and her brat aren’t going to skip ahead of me.” He said. There were a few gasps from other people in the train queue, and the person behind him glared at him and took a few steps back.

“How dare you.” Bethany said, and the air dropped a few degrees. She lifted her hand up, and flashed her ring to the crowd and the man, and her glamour melted away, dripping onto the tiles of the monorail station. In that moment, she looked regal, and proud, and just a bit scary.

“You forget yourself, sir, and I suggest you return to your spot at once.” Bethany said.

“Oh, it’s an uppity crawler bitch. Even better. Now, move to the back.” the man said, and raised his wand. Quicker than I could track, Bethany flicked her hand, and the man flew backward, hitting one of the carts that were advertising newspapers. She turned to the attendant. “Sorry about that, Lady Andrews. Your car is waiting for you.” He said in a low voice.
“Have security escort that man off my monorail and have him banned from the premise, and arrange payment for whatever goods the idiot ruined.” She said, and the attendant nodded. He took her ticket without another word and we walked into the train. The compartment we found ourselves in was too big for the train. It was more like a smaller apartment. There were plush looking couches and hardwood floors. A mirror on one end, and a bookshelf on the other. I looked around in awe. Two giant windows were on each side of the carriage, and soon we departed the station. We took a seat. An attendant came by and offered us refreshments. Bethany declined but told me I could order whatever I’d like.

“Now can you teach me how to break a glamour?” I asked.

“Point your wand at yourself, focus on vanishing the glamour, and intone, Conteram Illusio.” “Conteram Illusio.” I said, pointing my wand at myself. Aside from a few green sparks, there wasn’t much of an effect.

“This is a spell that runs not on will power, but intent. You need to want this illusion to break.” She said, and I did. I wanted that waxy, soapy feeling off my skin.
“Conteram Illusio.” I said, and I felt the glamour begin to crack and peel away. I focused on my actual face, not the one I was presently wearing. Focused on the glamour vanishing, and then once more, I intoned.

“Conteram Illusio.” Relief washed down my face and I felt the glamour slide off my skin.

“What is this?”

“Haven’t you ever been on a train before?” She asked.

“Not one like this.” I replied. She snorted.

“When you go off to school in a couple of years, you’ll go by mirror. This train connects most of the magical world. From Emrys to the Americas and most of Europe.”

“But how?”

“It’s a portal train. It is connected via various portals across the world. The technical theory is a bit ahead of what you know, but it’s essentially a larger version of the mirror portal at my house. Emrys is the main concourse in Europe. It is also the center of commerce, where London is the center of learning. Emrys is also the capital of magical Britannia. We’ll be purchasing clothes for you today, along with your implements.” A packet of cigarettes appeared in Bethany’s hand. She drew one out and lit it with a snap of her fingers. A book appeared on the table before her and opened itself to somewhere in the middle. She lounged back on the couch and began reading.

“What’s a crawler, and where did all that stuff come from?” I asked, remembering the conversation between her and the man that had almost attacked us. She looked up from her book.

“A crawler is an insult. You see, Emrys is a city in the clouds. It hovers thousands of feet above the earth. Merlin himself enchanted the city during the Perdition. Those that live in the city forgo glamour. They call those who live among the untouched public crawlers, as in we crawl through the dirt like animals. They believe that the untouched are less than human, and House Andrews is new. We’ve only come into acceptance in the last fifty years and have yet to even form a coven. I have vast untouched wealth, and magic, but compared to the Lords of Emrys, we’re commoners. That man, however, was a simple peon. He didn’t have a house sigil on his neck or hand. He was without family or coven. Had it been a mage actually worth something in magical society, that situation would have been utterly different. The great Council rules the city. They decide the laws. However, House Andrews has something going for it many houses lack. Magical Power.”

“Wait, fifty years, you aren’t that old, and what does magical power have to do with anything?”

“Our House is the one who has a monopoly on the spell patents regarding many of the methods of transportation. The mirror portals. This very train. I pulled the cigarettes and the book from a spatial pocket I have anchored to my ring. It’s very advanced magic, and it’s not something we’ve released to the public yet. Before the mirror portals were invented, most of the transportation was done via fire travel or mass translocation. Both were costly, or cumbersome.”

“So why don’t we have a coven?”

“That’s a political situation which would bore you to tears. I’ll discuss it later with you, once you have more grounding in the background of the magical world.” She said simply. I nodded.

“As for age, well, I am much older than I look. I’m nearing my second century of life. Mages have a naturally long-lifespan. We can easily reach a hundred and fifty if disease or violence doesn’t kill us. That, combined with certain spells and auric transfer, and most mages are much older than they look. Lord Flamel is almost six hundred, and he doesn’t look a day after forty-five.”

“Auric transfer?”

“Is something I’ll discuss later.” She replied. I frowned. I knew what an aura was, could it be a way to transfer your aura to a different body? That frankly raised questions that I needed answers to.

“What were you saying earlier about things growing in Space-time?”

“Odd things happen in the void. Someone once left a picnic basket behind, and it turned into an enormous and self-replenishing supermarket. Most of Britain’s food comes from there. House Valmont is rumored to have a forest that has weapons growing in the trees. Now, wander around, child. Check out our compartment. I need to finish this book.” The train compartment fell silent. I took to pacing around while looking out the windows. Now we were traveling through a blue and purple field which I assumed was the portal. Suddenly, we exited the portal and I saw cloudy skies around us. There was nothing but air beneath us. Air and shimmering blue train track that only appeared when the light hit it just right. Then I saw the city properly. We were somehow above it, and the train was going downhill to dock. It was a great hovering city that was suspended on a rocky island in the skies. Five gleaming silver towers, one at each cardinal point, and one in the middle. The city seemed to thrum with life. I could see flying vehicles circling the skies. Great skyscrapers. A lush forest.

“Welcome to Emrys, Stephen.” I heard Bethany say. I had never seen something as awe inspiring or breathtaking. The train docked in a grand white tunnel and we disembarked. We exited the cavern and were greeted by the sight of two great white statues. The first was a statue of a woman in a long flowing dress. She held a wand in her hand, and a book in the other. She looked youthful and serious. The other was a man dressed in robes. He held a staff in his hands that had great diamonds up and down the center. The diamonds glowed with light. There were white arches at equidistant points where greenery and flowers hung. It was like a castle without a roof. I spotted families dining on balconies. Fountains burbling merrily. Children running to and fro without a care in the world. There were a hundred different shops advertising a thousand different things. The clamor of an entire city. A London in the skies, minus the smog. We traveled through this maze of life and shops until suddenly, the noise fell away. The area I found myself in was quieter, and the chaos of a city filled with life faded to distant background noise. There were shops with elegant golden signs. Window displays with impeccable designs showcasing the goods they offered. At each shop, a doorman was stationed. They all wore the same black trousers and odd jacket that looked like it had a dozen ferent buckles and buttons. Bethany strode to a shop that had a display in the window of moving mannequins dressed in a shimmering gown for a lady, and a vested suit for a man.

“Ah, Madam Andrews. How lovely to see you again.” The doorman said and stepped aside. We walked into something closer to a parlor then a clothing store. A woman in her mid-twenties appeared. Her skin was dark, although still papery and thin like most mages, as I was coming to find, and her eyes shone with a brilliant blue. She was dressed in a long flowing robe, and there was a small sigil on her broach.

“Bethany! Come to spend more gold, how lovely to see you again, tell me, how were the Azores?” The woman asked. Bethany smiled. “Absolutely wonderful Matilda. How has business been?” “Brisk as usual.” The woman replied. She looked at me.

“Oh, and this must be little Stephen.” She said. I reached out my hand, and Matilda recoiled. “Stephen, remember what I told you this morning.” Bethany said, I frowned for a second, then I drew my wand.

“My apologies Miss. Matilda.” I said. She tapped my wand with her own, and I got another brief flash of memories. These were mostly of school, and hours of sewing practice at her mother’s hand. She gasped, and looked at me,

“Oh, you poor soul.” She said and wiped a few tears off her face. We were all silent for a moment, then she seemed to gather her wits.

“You know Beth when I got your mirror message yesterday, I was shocked. I thought you said you and Vincent weren’t going to have children, then I found out that you have a ten-year-old!” She said and laughed again.

“Well, he’s a foundling. I found him in an Untouched orphanage if you believe.”

“No!” The woman said, a shocked look on her face.

“Oh, I know. Of course, I adopted him.” Bethany replied.

“Well, you can tell that the boy has power. His aura is practically blinding.” Matilda said.

“Enough chit-chat, what can I get you today?” She asked.

“A full wardrobe for him, including apprentice clothes and ritual robes. Also, something casual for today. He’s getting his implements.” Bethany said.

“A bit young for that, isn’t he?” Matilda replied.

“That’s true, but he’s untouched-raised. He’s already behind.” Bethany said, and Matilda nodded in a serious way. She clapped her hands, and a bespectacled shop girl appeared.

“Get the boy measured for a full wardrobe, a work set, and a ritual. I’ll be chatting with Madam Bethany if you need us.” The girl nodded and led me into a back room. As we entered the room, a boy stepped out of another. He was scrawny, and as young as I was. All knobbly knees, and a frame that spoke of lean times. His hair was a messy sandy blond, and his eyes were a color that I could only only describe as amber. His guardian was a severe looking woman, tall and willowy. A pinched face and eyes that took everything around her in.

“I need you to strip down to everything but your underclothes.” I hesitated briefly.

“Oh, a shy one. Don’t worry, my glasses are spelled to blur out any of the naughty bits, and you’re not stripping starkers.” I sighed and did as I was told. The girl waved her hand. The bracelet she wore sparked dark blue and then my body was covered by a sapphire curtain of light. The girl moved quickly, and the curtain formed into ghostly outlines of breeches and coats and bedclothes. They even measured my feet for shoes and my hands for gloves. I could almost feel her magic covering me. I caught a whiff of lilac and heard her laughter. The girl flicked her hand here and there, and a leather-bound book beside her hovered in the air, catching my measurements. In a few moments, she was done. She went to a cabinet beside her and fed the measurements into a machine. The door to the cabinet opened, and she produced a pair of black breeches, a pair of dark leather boots, and a fine linen shirt in black. They assembled themselves on a conjured mannequin and she waved her hand over them. The legs of the breeches shrunk a bit while the linen shirt’s arms lengthened. Then, when she was done altering the clothes, and my new-found family’s crest appeared on the shirt. I realized that same sigil appeared on Madam Matilda's brooch.

“Try these on.” She said, handing me the clothes. I did so. She adjusted them once more, fixing the neckline on the shirt a bit and tightening the laces on the boots.

“The boots are self-lacing. Tap them with your wand and they’ll tie and untie themselves.” She said. I did just that. We left the fitting room. Bethany and Madam Matilda were sipping tea and eating delicious-looking biscuits while chatting about Bethany’s last trip. They stood up when we entered the room.

“Master Stephen’s clothes will be arriving at your house in a week’s time Madam Bethany. All you have to do is decide the color scheme.” The shop girl said.

“Thank you. Matilda, what were you thinking?” Bethany said. “His aura is emerald, so I think gold will suit, as will a deep plum. Black and linen wouldn't be amiss, but we’ll avoid white. The boy is already pale. I'd focus on the darker shades for ceremonial robes. Use a classic black, lined with silver, I think for his cloak. The one he was wearing will be a nice template, I’ll check what fabrics I used for that. Navy wouldn't be amiss either.”

"House colors then?” Bethany asked with a smile, and Matilda nodded.

"Matilda, you know me too well." A glass orb sprang into being, and Bethany tapped her wand to the orb. It glowed green and vanished.

“Well, Matilda, I’d love to stay and chat, but we do have that appointment to make. It has been nice seeing you.” Bethany said with a warm smile.

“Don’t be a stranger.” Madam Matilda said, and we left. We exited the array of higher-end shops, and then went down another marble arched path.

“Matilda had your sigil on her broach. Does she belong to House Andrews?” I asked. Bethany nodded.

“She’s a vassal of our house. She’s untouched-born, and I financed her shop.” As we turned down another path, the loud boom of drums greeted us. They rattled the air with their rhythm. I could hear trumpets from afar, and crowds were gathering along the sidewalks of the streets. I could hear cheers in the distance. Despite my aversion to this amount of people, I was interested in seeing what was going on.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“I absolutely forgot there was a mage corp parade scheduled. No matter, would you like to watch it, or shall I teleport us to the bank?” She asked.

“I’d like to watch it.” I said, she nodded. The crowd we had found ourselves drowned in spoke mostly in a flurry of French, although there were a few English speakers. All of them wore matching uniforms, black and red pants and blazer, a complementing pair of shiny black shoes, and a red beret completed the outfit.

“Who are they?” I asked, pointing at the students around us.

“Don’t point, it’s rude. They’re exchange students from the Échole de Lumière, in Paris. Probably here on winter break. Do you see the black jackets on the younger ones?” She asked, and I noticed the other crowd standing just down from us.

“Yes.” I said.

“They’re from Coventry Lower School. It’s a day school.” Bethany said. Suddenly a trio of shadows blotted out the morning sun, utterly derailing my train of thought. I saw three dragons flying across the sky flying in perfect V formation, trailing a great union jack. I could see men aboard the dragons. Flying behind them were winged creatures that looked to be half-bird and half-lion. Behind them, there were men and women mounted on brooms and flying carpets. The broom-riders dove and corkscrewed across the sky. Soon the rest of the parade was upon us. First there were a group of giant walking metal statues, each pounding a drum. They were at least ten feet tall and made of what seemed like gold. The armor they wore was polished to a shine, and they had a round symbol on their breasts, almost like a stylized rook. They were three abreast and ten rows deep.

Following behind them were younger mages, dressed in the red and white of the old british uniforms. Staves were slung on their backs and they played snare drums. Their quick rat-a-tat-tat in perfect time with the loud bass of the golden statues.

A host of more mages walked behind. These had swords on their backs and were dressed in shimmering silver-blue armor that gleamed in the sun. Not one soldier waved to the crowd and they marched in lockstep with the timing of the drums. Another line of mages was accompanied by fearsome floating weapons shaped like cannons that glowed with power. Behind them were great ballistae and a floating trebuchet, followed closely by great orbs of diamond that shimmered in the sun. These were guided by mages, who held their wands aloft and were constantly murmuring incantations.
The trebuchet passed and the commanders strode forward on great black and dark purple striped cats that filled the air with a low growl. These commanders were seriously-faced and stiff- shouldered. Each of them wore a red coat and white breeches. They all had a somber air about them that spoke of hard-fought battles and hard-won victories. At the vanguard of the formation came the trumpeters, dressed in the same red and white of the officers. Soon, the parade passed, the crowds dispersed, and we resumed our trek to the bank.

We walked down the smooth white paths of the city until our arrival at a massive building. Like most of the city, it was made of white stone. Two great doors made of a dark blue metal were opened wide. On either side of the door, two great furry guards dressed in steel armor stood. They each wielded what looked to be an axe on a long pole, a halberd. The guards looked terrifying. They had spotted brown fur, and fanged muzzles, but there was a human intelligence in their yellow eyes. They nodded to Bethany as she passed.

“What are those?”

“They’re gnolls. The armored guard of the dwarves. They’re fearsome in battle, and you never want to cross wands or blades with them.” Bethany said. I had heard of gnolls from the books I read, I made a mental note never to piss off the dwarves. The hall we entered was enormous. The floors were wooden. Glowing orbs of light hung from above and lit the cavernous space in a flickering yellow glow. On each wall, there were a series of wooden booths. There were thirteen stone pillars in different positions around the room. Each held funny symbols, runes, I guessed. that seemed to glow with the same yellow light as the orbs lighting the place. Behind each booth a small stout man sat. They all had long beards and were dressed in plain black tunics. The bank was mostly empty. Bethany approached a booth and the dwarf regarded her blankly.

“Tell Account Specialist Wraithgrip that Madam Bethany Andrews has arrived for her meeting.” The dwarf looked at us, and then nodded.

“Right away, Madam.” He said and scurried away. In a few moments he returned. He tapped his booth, and it melted into the others.

“Wraithgrip is eagerly awaiting you.” He said, and lead us through a maze of hallways that I quickly got lost in. We found ourselves at an office door and were escorted inside. A positively ancient dwarf sat at a desk in front of us. His beard was snow white, and he looked wrinkled and thin, like a stiff wind would blow him over.

“Madam, how nice to see you. Before we begin, this is the paperwork you asked for.” He said and handed a curious yellow envelope to Bethany that she took. It rapidly vanished. His voice matched his appearance, quavery and thin.

“It’s nice to see you too, Wraithgrip, I’ll pass these documents unto Mr. Fawcett. How goes your plans for retiring?” She asked.

“I’ve actually settled on a replacement, and I’ll begin training him here shortly. Now, when we spoke yesterday, you said you wanted the standard contract?” He asked.

“That’s correct, and I would also like to hire a smith to forge his implements.” She said.

“Well, let’s get the contract out of the way first.” Wraithgrip said. He tapped his hand to a small crystal on his desk, and a stick sheaf of paper appeared. A feathered quill appeared.

“This will be signed in blood, due to the blood adoption ceremony that will seal the act. It is magically and legally binding, and once you sign it, we’ll file copies here to establish inheritance, and with the Council Majeure. I
would like to warn you that by sealing this contract, you are provoking the familial bond between You, and House Andrews.” Wraithgrip said. I went to grab the quill, and frowned. Something told me that signing this badly would end poorly.

"If you'll be so kind, Master Wraithgrip. My charge and I would like to place a privacy ward between you and us.

"I understand completely, Dame Andrews." He said, and pushed another button on his desk. A soft, wispy light covered him. Bethany waved her hand, and one of her bangles glowed, and a shimmering gold umbrella appeared around us. I looked at the sheaf of neatly penned parchment.

"How does this work?"

"The contract in front of you is a statement of intent from House Andrews to Stephen Bonaparte. We seek to adopt you via blood, into our line, as the heir Primarius. You will gain a trust account, which will be yours when you reach your majority, and we will pay for your education up to Mastery level."

"In return, what is expected of me?"

"To hold to the truths of House Andrews, Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat. To carry on our line, protect your house. Protect your family, and elevate our station."

"Our motto is Fortune Favors the Bold?"

"No, child. Fortune Favors the Strong. Right now, we are strong magically, and financially. Your job is to make us politically strong. This contract is the invocation of a familial bond. If you sign this, you will be reciprocating it. The bond will be sealed when we perform the ceremony.”

"This is a pretty thick contract, for a few words." I said.

"There are clauses in it. There's several of them. I'll explain them to you. There's a renegotiation clause. When you reach your majority, if you wish, that clause will allow you to break the contract. There's a royalty clause, a revocation clause, and an access clause. “

"Royalty clause?"

"Any spells or creations you artifice are registered under the Andrews’ family name. We split the fee fifty-fifty. Your income after obtaining mastery will also split along those lines. The house must make money back."
“Absolutely not. You get five percent. " I said.

"Twenty-five." she said.

"Twelve percent, all around, and only until my education plus ten percent of that has been recouped, at which point a royalty contract between myself and House Andrews will be negotiated." I said. Bethany nodded. I noticed that after we negotiated each term, it changed on the paper.

"Now, what of the revocation clause?"

“Should either party discover an act of bad faith, and one that violates the letter and spirit of the agreement and have three witnesses not belonging to the House testify to the fact, then they will be released from the contract."

"And the finance clause?"

"That's the contract giving you access to the Heir Trust of House Andrews, and the stipulations of how much you can withdraw or spend at any one time. It also contains the renewal schedule and the expenses that we're expecting you to pay out of this, such as your tuition to Coventry, and things like your clothes and educational supplies. There's a suggested budget in that contract, which will net you a certain amount of wealth if followed."

"And what about any other income?"

"That will be deducted from the cost of your education, and the remaining amount will be divided according to the royalty fee schedule."

"I'd like to add a caveat to both."

"Oh?"

"I'd like the amount you anticipate my education to cover, and the extra amount House Andrew expects to recoup for me, and then I'd like an option to pay that off completely and negotiate this contract at any time."

"That's a highly unusual subclause."

"Those are my terms."

I knew what it was like to be without funds, but I had a few ideas how to make money. I’d need to confirm a few theories first, just ideas bouncing around. The name Flamel seemed familiar to me somehow, in a way that
screamed money.

“You realize it’s me offering you an advantage, right?” She asked.

“I have three words for you Bethany, Papers and Pencils.” I said, and she gave me a look.

“He has a quill. These are on parchment. Is there some reason for that?” I asked.

“I’ve been too busy with other endeavors to pay attention to that.” She said.

“Let’s ask him, shall we?” I said. It was like my mouth was moving, and words were coming out against my accord, and I did not like that. Bethany brought the spell down.

“Mr. Wraithgrip, I’ve got a question for you.” I said.

“Yes, Mr. Bonaparte?” The dwarf asked with a smile.

“Why do you use parchment and quill?” I asked.

“For lack of a better alternative.”

“What if I could introduce you to a form of stationary that was cheap, efficient, and could fix it’s own mistakes.”

“It would certainly be of interest in the academic circles.” The dwarf said evasively.

“I’d be willing to share with you such a form of stationary of course.” I said, and Bethany turned to me.

“For a fee. Let’s split the net profits of these two ways. Between Stephen Bonaparte soon to be Andrews, and Midas International. With any amount I make subtracted from the debt I’m about to accrue until that is paid.”

“I can be agreeable to that.” Wraithgrip said.

“Bethany, can you conjure a pencil, and a sheet of paper?” I asked. Bethany laughed. “After you cut me out of bounty like that?” She said.

“It’s not happening.” She said.

“Okay, what are your terms?” I asked.

“As your sponsor, I demand a fifteen percent stake, and I demand our House’s Royalty clause come into effect.”

“Why? Your house will get paid.” I said,

“Your contract says all around, that could also be considered ownership.” Bethany said.

“Well, fuck.” I thought.

“Only if the shares are taken out of both prior parties.” Wraithgrip said.

“Deal.” I said.

“We have an accord.” The dwarf said, and touched yet another crystal. Another sheath of parchment appeared.

“Let’s finish our first contract.” Bethany said. “How much will I end up owing House Andrews?” I asked.

“Page three of the repayment clause.” Bethany said. I looked, it was actually page 25 of the full contract. The chart had a repayment schedule that varied on income, and a final tally at the bottom.

“Thirty-six tremisis, twenty-eight aureas, and six dupondos. What is that?” I asked.

“Well, eight bits of bronze dupondos equals one silver drachma, and sixteen of these equals one golden aureus. Thirty two golden aureus, each of them with about two ounces of gold in them, equals a single half-carat diamond tremissis. Those are worth about twelve-hundred eighty- pounds apiece. In untouched currency, it’s forty-eight thousand pounds.”

“Holy shit.” I said.

“Language!” Bethany hissed.

“That’s a lot of money.” I said.

“It’s about five aureas a month, spread over twenty years.”

“How much would I make, roughly, when I began working?”

“About 20 aureas a month.” She said.

“That’s a steep repayment plan.” I said.

“In a way, you’ll be repaying yourself. Once you are named Heir, when I and my husband pass away, you will inherit the entirety of our house’s assets. The money you pay the House back will go to investments, which will fund you further.”

“I don’t like owing anyone anything.” I said, and Bethany let out a small laugh, and the dwarf smiled.

“Stephen, you’ll find that you need to grow past that idea, especially if you are to attend Coventry. You see, this world we’re in is a maze of favors owed, and favors given.” “Then I’ll owe no one favors.” I said, and she shook her head.

“I wish you the best in that, but now, are you signing this contract, or not?” She asked.

“I’ll sign.” I said. I picked up the quill, and began signing my name. As I reached the middle, Bethany put her hand over mine.

“Your middle name or names should be a secret. Known only to you and your allies. I know it, but, with all due respect Wraithgrip, even Midas isn’t ironclad from people ferreting out your secrets.” She said. I cut the “O” off with a flourish, and finished signing my name. As I did, they continued the conversation.

“No offense taken, Madam Andrews. We remember the Great War as much as you.” Wraithgrip said. Bethany signed the next, and then Wraithgrip produced a small box which opened to reveal a needle.

“Thumbprints next to the signature.” Bethany pricked her thumb first, and then pressed her thumb against the line with her signature. As her thumb came away, her print shimmered gold for a second. as I repeated her actions, I felt something snap into place from the paper, almost like a thread wrapping tightly around my thumb. It pulsed once and vanished. Then the contract duplicated itself, and folded over. A wax seal was produced somewhere, and Bethany sealed the envelope on the left side with her ring. Wraithgrip sealed the right side with his own, a balanced scale encased in a circle. These documents vanished.

“What was that, and where did those documents go?”

“The second one went to Midas’ central records, where it will be opened, and filed with the Council Majeure. The first went to the Andrews’ Family Archive.” Bethany said.

“What about the feeling I got, when I pressed my hand to the paper?” I asked.

“I added your aura to my holdings. You can make purchases within reason at any shop that has commerce agreements with the dwarves. Simply tap your wand on a purchase orb. It will draw from your trust account.” Bethany said, and then we launched into another discussion of the “invention”, and after a bit of a debate similar to the one Bethany and I just had, we signed an agreement. The dwarves would provide the graphite, our house would provide the rest, and we would split the profits according to our agreement.

“Now that this business is complete, you mentioned that you needed to commission a few artifacts with one of our smiths?” Wraitgrip asked.

“I do.” Bethany said.

“If you’ll allow me to escort you down to the forges, I’ll hand you off to one of our smiths.” He said.

“I would like that.” Bethany replied, and the dwarf led us through another maze of doors and halls, until we came to a round stone platform. This platform lowered into the ground, through several levels of the bank. Eventually, the wood paneled walls and plush carpet gave way to grey stone, and cool hallways filled with the smell of parchment and ink, gave way to heat and the sharp cloying smell of unwashed dwarves and ozone, and the quiet halls of the bank became the cacophony of shouting dwarves and men and hammers meeting steel. Wraithgrip led us to a room where a dwarf was overseeing a team of dwarves operating a series of forges. The clang of hammers was especially loud here.

“This is lead smith Oakenshield, he will assist you with your commission.” Wraithgrip said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you my lady.” Oakenshield said, offering his wand. Bethany tapped it.

“I’ll take my leave, if you don’t mind, my Lady. I have meetings I must attend to.” Wraithgrip said. “It’s been a pleasure, as always.” She said, and the elderly dwarf left.

“Now, what are you looking to commission for the young sir?” Oakenshield asked.

“I need a full set of instruments for binding and conjuration. The white and black handled knives. A stave of rosewood. The four swords of the quarters. A fifth blade for battle. The needle. The hazel wand. The short lance. A pentacle for defense and to light his path in the dark.” Bethany said. The dwarf gave Bethany a look.

“Those are ceremonial tools. I thought a simple pentacle would suffice.” Oakenshield said.

“No, I want him to have the full gamut of implements.” Bethany said, and the dwarf paused.

“Very well, it’s your diamonds.” He replied. He walked over to a long wooden bench.

“My lady, these will take time to prepare and consecrate. The young master will have to be present for the final ritual. These will take time and power to create.”

“You have full access to the holdings I have held in this bank, as well as the Time I have stored in the same vaults.”

“When do you need these implements prepared by?”

“Dawn on Mabon.”

“That is in a few months, Madam. We might need to use time in order to ensure that the Celestial Houses and Stars align properly if you wish for the enchantments on the implements to last.”

“Thus, my dear smith, the access to Time.”

“This will cost you dearly.”

“I am aware and accept the cost with no promise of return.” Bethany said. The dwarf nodded. “Thus, our bargain is struck.” He replied.

“Thrice asked and done, Dwarf. We have an agreement.” Bethany said. There was a hum of power, what I was rapidly recognizing as magic being called up, which quickly disappeared.

“We can at least create the pentacle today.” The dwarf said. He went over to the bench and pulled a block of dull metal from a recessed hole in the wall. He took a mold off the table. Then he placed the block of silver in the mold. He murmured a spell, and the two floated into the furnace. Moments passed, and the furnace flared. The dwarf took a bucket out and filled it part way with water.

“Blood quenched?” He asked, and Bethany turned to me.

“What he’s making for you is a pentacle. It’s a necklace that will light your way in the dark, a final focus if all else fails. If it is quenched in blood, then it will be tied irrevocably to you, much like your wand. Do you want that? You’ll lose quite a bit of blood, but I have the potions needed to ensure you have a swift recovery, and the knowledge to heal you.” I nodded after a few moments of consideration. This was a new chapter in my life. Away from the orphanage. The nuns, and the priests that were convinced I was the devil. The rich men the nun’s brought us to and their wandering hands. I shivered against a repressed memory, forcing it down, and nodded.

“Hold your wrist over the bucket, my apprentice. This will only hurt for a moment.” Bethany said. Then she drew a small black handled blade from nowhere and drew it across my wrist. The blood ran freely from the wound. I felt weakness and saw dark spots dance across my vision. My head swam. I heard Bethany speak, almost distantly.

“Sanguineum Consecrae. Blood freely given, bind this tool to your master. Blood freely shed, protect thy own. Blood, freely given, bind this pentacle. Be a light. Be a shield. Be a final defense. Sanguineum Consecrae, Sanguineum Consecrae!” Bethany shouted, and there was a flash of green. My head felt like it was going to explode. I heard a hiss of molten metal hitting water and knew no more.

 

///////////
February 11th, 1925
Andrews’ Townhouse
London.

There was a flash of light.
I saw a vision of myself that was slightly older than I was, and a pale boy with raven colored hair. We were both dressed in armor. We held our wands aloft, and magic flew through the skies. There was a vast army in front of us. Gnolls and tigers. Minotaurs and centaurs. Wolves and all sorts of woodland creatures dressed in steel armor. Women who threw fireballs hovered in the air, guarding swooping griffons and great eagles that were larger than any I had seen before, all posed on a great sea of high green grass.

Then there was a second flash of light. A tall woman with long scarlet hair stood in front of us. Her eyes were bright blue, and she flashed a smile that was all teeth. She was beautiful and deadly, a white wand held in one hand, and a silver sword in the other.

Then there was a castle, or at least the entryway of one. Strange music filled the air. There were seven of us, and four thrones, and a great armored bear bowed before us.

Then I saw a burning city from above. I smelled cooking meat and heard sizzling flesh and the cries of pain from those trapped in the city. In the distance, a great winged creature swooped and rained fire down on the city.

My blue eyes staring back at me, not the vibrant green they had become, from a chubby toddler who smiled and gurgled with happiness.
Finally, there was a sinister looking mirror gilded in silver, and a flash of purple fox-fire flames. There was another flash of white, and then I woke up with a start.
For a few brief seconds, I thought I was back at the orphanage and then I realized this bed was far too big and comfortable. I realized that I was back at Bethany’s. I frowned. The Voice had been oddly silent for the last day or so, and I wondered what that was about.

Someone had dressed me in bed-clothes at some point, and I frowned. That wasn’t good. I didn’t want anyone to see the scars I’d earned from the nuns. I looked at the clock on my bedside table. It was around seven in the morning. Somehow, I’d slept over twelve hours. I got ready for the day, and then I grabbed my wand off the bedside table, and wandered down to the dining room. Bethany was already sitting, a lit cigarette in her hand, and a cup of tea sitting beside her. A book hovered in front of her. I grabbed myself breakfast.

“What are we doing today?” I asked.

“Today, I’m teaching you how to use magic.” She said.

“Really?” I asked.

“Yes. When you’re done with breakfast, we’ll begin your instruction.” She said. I hurriedly grabbed a couple of pieces of toast, and poured myself a cup of tea.

“Eat as you would normally, you’ll need the calories, and don’t eat too fast. I won’t have you puking later.” She said, and I slowed down a bit.

We finished breakfast, and then we went up to the library. She opened a door, and I walked into a room that probably rivaled the ground floor of the townhouse in square footage.
This was my first time in the room, and I looked around in awe. Aside from one wall, which only had a floor to ceiling mirror, the other three walls were covered in dark wooden bookshelves.
The room’s walls were at least twenty feet tall. Scattered around the room were tables and comfy looking chairs made of leather. There had to have been at least a thousand books in that room. She turned to me.

“Before we begin, I want to give you something.” She said, and produced a box. I opened it, and there was a shimmery star-shaped necklace on a silver chain. There was a red, shimmering gem anchored neatly in the center.

“This is the pentacle the dwarves forged for you yesterday. Do you want me to put in on for you, or would you like to put it on yourself?” I placed the box on the table, and took the necklace out of the box, put it around my neck, and fixed the clasp.

“Why don’t you have one of these?” I asked, Bethany suddenly had a far away look in her eyes.

“I did. At one point, but it was lost.” She said finally, and I nodded. I had nothing to say about that, and I felt bad for bringing that up.

“We will be going to an island in the North Sea. This is where you will learn magic.”

“Why an island? Why can’t we stay here?” I asked.

“Magic is volatile. Especially in the young. In a few years, you’ll go to a school for magic here in London called Coventry. However, I would like you to get a basic grounding in the arts before you go there. We also need to do a ritual to adopt you into the family. Fortunately, Mabon will be upon us soon, and with it we can perform the rituals needed. Come now child, the day is wasting.” Bethany said and grabbed my hand yet again. I resisted the urge to pull away from her.

We walked through the mirror and into a simple stone hut. There was a fireplace in the front, which she lit with a wave of her hand. In the center of the room was a small wooden table. Off to the side were two beds. There was a sink, and a series of cupboards. I didn’t see a bathroom.

We walked out of the hut, and unto the island. A brisk wind was blowing, and the sun rising in the east painted the area with orange and crimson. The entire area could not have been more than an acre or two of land. I shivered in the cold.

Bethany did something with her wand. I could still feel the cold biting into my face, and I wasn’t any more comfortable than I was before, but the cold felt muted, like I was touching me through glass.

“The cold will help you concentrate. When you learn the warming spell by yourself, you can use it.” She said.
Bethany drew her wand. We walked the length and width of the island while she waved her wand, and almost sang a series of spells that left golden shimmers in their wake.

At the end of our walk, she stopped, turned to me, and smiled.

“Now that I’ve activated the wards, it’s time for you to learn magic.” She said.
She plopped down, and with her strange cat-like grace, somehow ended up in a perfect cross legged position. I gave her a look.

“Magic does many things. It increases our agility, our intelligence and lifespan and strength. As you grow into your abilities you’ll be able to do the same thing. Now. Sit down.” She said. I complied.

“Before we continue, I need to warn you, you have to do exactly what I tell you. I know I just told you this, but I will tell you again, and again, and again as your training progresses. Magic is volatile. It’s not just a quick way to tie your shoes, or a simple light show to terrify other children. Magic, when improperly used, is deadly for all parties. Do you understand me?” She said, and I nodded.

“It’s just like using a gun.” The Voice whispered in the back of my head, and I ignored the shiver that ran down my spine.

“Now, call up your magic.” She said, and I closed my eyes and did.

“Do you feel your magic?” She asked, and I did.

“What does it feel like?” She asked, and I thought.

“Like tree bark, and grass.” I said, thinking of my spot hidden behind the orphanage.

“Like satisfaction.” I said, and in my mind, recalled the satisfying thud of that door slamming shut on those vile bitches that had locked me away so many times.

“Close your eyes.” She said, and I did so.

“Put your hands on the ground, and tell me, what do you feel?”

“The grass beneath my hands.”

“Go further, search for the feelings you were just telling me about.”

“All I feel is the grass.” I said, digging my hands into the ground.

“There’s something below that. I can almost hear it. It’s like a hum, and I can taste something metallic.” I replied. It felt like being near a live wire, or the fuzzy feeling on the back of your hand from
an old TV after it powers down. How did I know that? What was a TV?

“I know what a TV is.” The Voice said, and he, I realized, sounded like an older version of me.

“Good. Listen for that hum. Can you hear it?” She asked, I nodded.

“Reach for it. Listen to it.”

“It’s all around me.” I said. I felt the hairs on my neck rise. Felt goosebumps down my back.

“Now, grab that humming noise. Grab it and don’t let go until I tell you to.” She replied. I reached out for it, and gasped. It was like the ice-cold ocean around us, deep and all encompassing. I felt it flow into me, and tasted copper on my tongue. The feeling of an icy ocean coursed into me and flowed through my limbs, settling just into my stomach. Soon I felt full, like after a good Christmas dinner.

“Now, Stephen. This is the hardest part. I need you to let go.”

“I don’t want to.” I said, and I meant it. This was mine, and hell would be unleashed on anyone who dared to take it from me.

“Stephen, you need to, or you will die. Let go of the magic. Let go of that power. Do it. Do it now!” She said, a note of urgency in her voice. I could have let that power soak into me forever.

“Let it go.” The Voice said, and he, I was beyond sure it was a male, sounded like an older version of me.

“What?” I said.

“Kid, let that go!” the Voice said, and an actual conversation, however small, with words instead of feelings, was enough to break my concentration.

The full feeling remained. I opened my eyes and looked down. A green haze covered my skin. Then I winced. When I had closed my eyes, it had been early morning. Judging from the sun above me shining down and making me wince, it was now mid-day, and I realized that while I had been sitting here for hours, I wasn’t stiff, cold or hungry.
The grass looked greener then it had ever been, and the skies bluer, streaked with colors that I scarcely knew existed in the mid-day sun. I could almost feel the salt in my nose from the ocean now.

My hearing seemed sharper, and I tasted my breakfast still on my tongue.
It was like the one time I’d gotten sick. One day all of my senses were muted, and the next day I felt great and everything felt fresh and new like I’d never known existed.
As I looked around, I noticed it was easier to focus on distant objects, and if I concentrated, I could see the markings of the individual seabird flock that was flying what seemed like a mile away.

“What was that?” I asked.

“That was a leyline. Mages tap into those to fill our magical cores and saturate our lymph system with magic. You have a small amount of magic, but to truly use your power, a magical charge is necessary. When your core is filled, your aura manifests, and the more you use your aura, the more it affects your hair and coloring. That’s magic leaving its mark on you. I’m proud of you. Normally that takes a new practitioner months before they’re able to even find magic. However, a seasoned practitioner can usually tap a ley for the first time in a few hours. You’ve never had to do that, have you?” I shook my head no.

“A magical superconductor?” The Voice asked, and I ignored it. It was suddenly so talkative and annoyed me somehow.

“All that power and you were running on ambient. That’s incredible.” Bethany said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Yeah, what does she mean?” Voice asked.

“There are three forms of magical energy absorption. The first is ambient absorption. This is the magic that is naturally in the atmosphere, and magic discharged from spells.
The second is communing with the family source. This will eventually attune you to the forms of magic the family practices, making you better in those fields, and worse in others.
Finally, there is leyline tapping. This allows you to directly absorb magical energy through your chakral nodes, and funnel it into your magical core. It is the quickest method of accessing more magical energy, but if you overwhelm your magical core, then you will explode.”

“Well, I am going to certainly avoid that in the future.” I said.

“I should hope so.” She said.

“Kid. Thank god, I don't know what that magical Duracell charge did, but I'm pretty sure we can hear each other now.” The Voice said*.* I ignored him.

“Stephen!” The Voice shouted. Hmm? That was new.

"What." I said aloud.

"What about what?" Bethany said.

"Uhh. What we were talking about?" I asked and she gave me a look.

"How magical energy is measured and how much energy you can conduct at once." She said. Oh.

"Pay attention. As I was saying, magical skill is ranked by how many thaums a mage can absorb and how much energy they can project. Are you following me, or do I need to use smaller words?" She asked. I was pretty sure that was the first time she'd ever talked down to me.

"I'm following." I said.

"As am I." The Voice said.

"We measure this using a Gellar-Rosen test. You'll be taking one after the blood adoption. You have a busy few months coming up."

"Ask her what our future plans are." The Voice said. I sighed and repeated his words.

"Well, by this summer, I hope to have you at least decently grounded in essential magics. You'll be traveling with me this summer, and I'll be introducing you to a few of my contacts in both worlds.
I plan on being in Brazil during the World Dueling Tournament Finals and in Saint Tropez during the World Broom Race Gauntlet. Think of it as a working vacation. That will take us into fall, and we'll be having a dinner party to introduce you to magical British society and part of our extended family.
After that, we'll have your adoption ritual, and then we'll continue full time education. But, today, I want to introduce a couple of base incantations, and a lesson about wandless magic.” She said, and drew her wand.

“If you’ll stand, I’ll show you the first incantation I’m going to teach you.” She said. I hopped up from the ground in a single motion, and drew my wand from my pocket. She winced.

“Remind me to get you a holster for that.” She said with a shake of her head. She drew her own wand.

“Now, there are a few safety tips. Unless you are greeting someone, never point your wand at them. This will be considered an insult at best, and in instant duel at the worst, and always keep it
with you, even if you manage to learn wandless magic. Always have a focus on you in general.” She said.
“Now, for your first spell, this is a twofold lesson, so do pay attention.”
“Voice, are you paying attention?” I asked.
“Sure.” Voice said, but he sounded distracted by something, and I wondered what he was actually doing.
“It’s useful because it will allow you to traverse dark places while keeping your hands free. Take out your wand, and from deosil to widdershins, up to down, carve a V in the air, on it’s side and intone the incantation Lux. The rune I’m invoking is Kenaz.” Bethany said, moving her wand from left to right. A bright golden orb of light hung at the tip of her wand.

“Nex.” Bethany said, and repeated tracing the rune in the air, but went from right to left.
Then her wand vanished, and she repeated the gesture, and incantation with just her pointer finger, except, she added a twist of her wrist at the end, and the ball hovered on the back of her hand. Just as quickly as the ball winked into being, it vanished.

“Now, you try.” She said. I drew the glyph in the air steadily, and intoned lux. A few stray emerald sparks trickled out of my wand and I sighed, and hung my head.

“Stephen, look at me.” She said, and I did.

“Magic is Intent. It’s fueled by what you want and what you put into the spell. Do you understand?”

“I can do this wandlessly though!” I said.

“Improperly, you mean. I’ll admit, you probably do have some great skill at the mind arts, and whatever spells you may have practiced. But I highly doubt you used the proper incantation or mindset. Let me see your light spell, but every time you do something wrong during the casting of it, I’m going to punish you.” She said.
I placed my wand back in my pocket, balled my hands into fists, and closed my eyes. Instantly I felt a stinging sensation smack me in the cheek, and I threw open my eyes.

“Don’t close your eyes to cast! If you can’t cast a wandless spell while holding a normal conversation, you’re doing it wrong.” She said, and it took some time before I was able to block out the sun’s glare enough to concentrate. As I called up my magic, I let it soak into my skin and allow it to cover me in a shimmer- and there was another sting as the spell hit me in the face.

“Great use of magical energy. I appreciate you wasting my time. You need a torch, and this is a spotlight.” She said, and I gave her a look.

“I don’t like you right now.” I said.

“The feeling is mutual.” She replied.

“Kid, maybe we should try it her way. Just think of the sun.” The Voice said. I frowned, drew my wand, carved the glyph, and intoned Lux.
I felt the energy spike as it flew out of my core, and suddenly a blast of emerald light flashed out of my wand, and hovered at the tip, and an unrefined beam of light shooting away into the midday sky.

If it had been night-time, the beam would have shown for miles, like an ethereal lighthouse warning all away from the island. My wand sang in my hand, and I felt a cascade of emotions, fear, longing, revenge, washed away by the feeling of magic singing in my veins. I felt a slight drain from my magic, but as I learned to tune the spell down until it was just hovering on my wand like a small, flat torch the drain became so low I hardly felt it.

“Excellent job.” Bethany said.

“The beam has a little too much power to it, and needs to be an orb, but that’s nothing further refinement won’t fix. Now, for your next spell, I want you to make the same wand movement you did early, except backwards, and I want you to say-”

“Nex.” I finished. I repeated the gesture she did earlier, and the light was extinguished.

“Will that happen whenever I use magic?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, when I first made my wand, I felt a wave of different emotions. Just not, when I cast the Lux spell, a similar thing happened.” I said.

“No, that will fade in time. Think of it this way. Magic wants to be free, it urges it’s users to unleash spells, to use it, to fight and feel and create with it. Have you ever had a new toy? One that you became absolutely enthralled with, and it was the only thing you wanted to play with?” She said, and I nodded. Well not brand new, occasionally I managed to pilfer a toy from one of the other children.

“Well, magic is like that. Except you’re the toy.” She said.

“What?”

“Magic has a mind of its own, and it can be fickle. Overtime, as you perform magic correctly, those emotions will fade.”

“So we’re metaphysical chew toys?” the Voice asked, and I swiftly silenced the feeling of panic that threatened to well up from him.

“So we’re metaphysical chew toys?” I asked her.

“While magic can influence its users, it does not control us. You will find, Stephen, that the same can hold true for certain people in your life. No one can control you Stephen, except yourself. What I plan on teaching you these next four years, will help you defend yourself when you finally enter the magical world, and enroll in Coventry.”

“Coventry?” I asked.

“What’s that?” Voice asked.

“Coventry is one of the United Kingdom’s premiere magical schools. All of the upper echelons of the Council Majeure send their progeny there.” Bethany said.

“Oh, a magical boarding school. That’s original.” Voice said, and I ignored his comment. I really needed to figure out how he could talk suddenly, but that had to wait.

“So, what’s the school like?” I asked.

“The grounds are beautiful, the curriculum is top notch, and the students are among the brightest and most well connected in the Britannian Empire. The amount of favors and aureas I had to pay out to allow you to gain entry was, frankly, ridiculous. Part of the next four years will include getting you an edge over the competition and your classmates. I want you to be at least three years ahead of them in knowledge, and the skill to use it.”

“What’s the point of me going if you’re pushing me that far ahead?” I asked.

“I have no doubt you’ll find ways to pass your time. Observe everyone around you and befriend the right people. Then you cultivate these relationships with your peers. At the bank, what did I say? What is House Andrews lacking?” She asked.

“House Andrews is lacking political power.” I said.

“Yes, we do. While we have a voice in the Vox Populi, we do not have a seat on the higher houses, your job will be to raise our political star to the heavens, and make House Andrews a house to be respected instead of being perceived as simply nouveau riche. Unfortunately, that requires you to attend a school I’d rather have you avoid.” She said. Her tone was grim, and she had a frown on her face.

“What’s wrong with the school?” I asked.

“I will explain when you’re older. Until then, I’ll be taking you to different social events to gain allies, and show you the right families to associate with.” That was a lot to think about, and I nodded.

“Until this autumn, I plan on keeping your existence underwraps. Matilda has been sworn to secrecy, she’s a vassal of our house, and those oaths go a long way. Midas knows that a discrete client is a happy client, and the Heir Ring has a Someone Else’s Problem spell on it. Anyone else that saw us yesterday would have paid us absolutely no mind. ”
Then I asked her a question that I’d remembered from the day before.

“If there are primary schools. Why wasn’t I found earlier?” I asked. Bethany let out a sigh, and looked away from me for a moment.

“Imagine trying to find a needle in a haystack that’s invisible. You know it’s there, and you desperately need to find it, but it’s impossible to even recall what the needle looks like. You’ll only feel it if it pokes you.” She said.

“Okay.”

“Now, imagine that this invisibility is fragile, like a soap bubble, except only on the inside.”

“Okay.” I replied.

“Well, when you began using your magic, you slowly started popping that bubble, I found you as soon as the tracking spells told me where you were at. I’ve been trying them since I discovered your general location, and I only just got a lead.” She said. That made sense. Bethany, while not overly friendly, did seem to care for me a bit.

“Now, there’s two more spells I’d like you to learn today, if you feel up to it.” She said.

“Okay.” I said.

“The first is Scuto, and the rune to invoke it is Algiz.” She said, dragging her wand in a weird cross like motion, a shimmering gold shield appeared, and vanished.

“Now, you try.” She said, and I carefully intoned the spell, while slowly sketching the rune. when I was about halfway through, Bethany flicked her wand and I felt something sting my shoulder. I yelped.

“What was that for?” I asked.

“You’re going too slow.” She said, firmly, “Do it again.”

“Scuto.” I managed, the shield shimmered faintly for a brief second, but when Bethany threw another spell, the shield broke, and I felt a sting on my other shoulder.

“Almost.” Bethany said. I focused all my energy in stopping that spell, called up my magic, and intoned.
“Scuto!” With a yell. A disc of emerald light winked into existence.

“Great job!” Bethany said, and launched another stinging spell, this deflected off the disc harmlessly, and gold sparks flew from the destroyed spell.

“Now, let’s see how long you can keep that up.” Bethany said, and then jabbed her wand thrice. The first, a golden arrow into being, and then it duplicated itself until there were three arrows floating in air. The third and last spell sent them flying towards me.
I gulped down a sudden lump in my throat, and raised the shield high. Two of the arrows flew towards me, while the third went off in another direction. I caught them on my shield, and then The Voice yelled.

“Kid, drop!” He nearly screamed, and I hit the ground. The third arrow slammed into my still standing shield and flashed away in a wash of gold sparks.
I stood up and marched over to Bethany.

“What the bloody hell was that for?” I asked. My earlier thoughts of her being a caring, sane individual, promptly thrown into the nearest rubbish bin.

“It was just to test your reflexes.”

“I could have been killed!” I said.

“No, you wouldn’t have been. It was my spell, and those were training arrows. I learned the same way when I was your age. The only harm I wanted was a minor injury, easily healable, but since you have such excellent reflexes, that lesson won’t be needed.”

“Now, your next spell, it’s an anchoring spell. This isn’t an actual every-day use spell, but it will be useful to you. I’m going to teach you your first basic enchantments. Take off your Pentacle and hold it in your palm.” She said. I put my wand back in my pocket, and took off the necklace.

“Now, do you know what stone is in that necklace?” She asked.

“A ruby?” I asked, recalling Stevenson’s Treasure Island.

“Great book, kid.” Voice said.

“Hardly, and that story didn’t turn out like that.” She said. I recoiled slightly, wondering exactly how she knew what I said.

“Because I know where to look- Oi, hold up, who the bloody fuck are you?” She said, her voice echoing in my head. All trace of a proper London accent was gone.

“I am Voice.” Voice said, the tone of his speech smug.

Bethany shook her head suddenly.

“Okay, we’re gonna need to get that looked at.”

“Tell her I am he, not that.” Voice said.

“He’s a he.” I said, and Bethany looked at me askance.

“Okay, it’s a he.” She said, and held out her hand with a shake.

“I need to send a message really quickly.” Bethany said, recovering her accent and held out her wand.

“Spectra, Nontius.” She said, and a golden badger appeared in thin air.

“To Amy Valentine, meet me in the infirmary before dinner. I’ve got something interesting to show you.” The golden animal ran off towards the south. In a few moments, a bottle with a thin pink
vapor in it appeared out of thin air. Bethany caught the bottle, and popped the cork.

“Okay, sounds good.” Amy said, there was yelling in the background. Something about a crowbar?

“I need to teach you and I guess your friend, this today, as this afternoon’s lesson depends on it.” She finished.

“Now, that gemstone is a garnet. This is your birthstone. It will be most powerful in your hands, and as you add enchantments to it, it will gain a bit of sentience to it. With any luck, this could very
well become a familiar of sorts.

“The first thing you are going to do is tie this to your blood. Do you remember how to do that?”

“Yeah, but I’m too interested to pass out now.”

“You won’t.” She said, and produced a dagger.

“Just prick your finger, press it to the garnet, and say the spell.” She said. I did, and with a murmured, Sanguinem Consecrae, the garnet glowed with my aura, until it looked like a dim crimson
and emerald eye.

“Now, cast Lux over the pentacle.”

“Lux.” I said, and the spell seemed to soak into the Pentacle. Like, a softly woven net of aura and will, powered by magic and thought. Soon the Pentacle was glowing with the Lux spell.

“Hold the spell until you feel the enchantment settle into the jewelry.” She said.

“How am I going to know when that is?” I asked.

“You will.” Bethany said. I concentrated on the spell, focusing on maintaining the flow while reducing the power until the spell was just slightly less than blinding. That required much more focus than just an incantation. It felt like the magic was fighting against me to be anchored to the pendant, but I threw out my will, and forced the magic to obey.

“You are mine to control.” I told the spell, and with a rush of power, and the satisfying feeling of a pop, the spell anchored into place, and a Kenaz rune scratched itself into the top of the pendant with a screech of metal on metal, and a flash of emerald sparks.

“Excellent spell refinement. Now, two more, and we’ll end this lesson.” Bethany said. I looked up at the sun, it was slowly drifting towards the west, and with it, promises of lunch.

“Nex!” I shouted. I wanted this to be done. My impatience was growing, and I found that added to a lapse of concentration as the area was suddenly plunged into shadow. A brilliant golden orb of light quickly burned the shadows away.

“Try again.”

“I’m hungry.” I said.

“And you won’t be eating until you’ve completed these spells. Try again.” Bethany said.

“Nex.” I said, carving and intoning, and aiming the spell properly. This spell fought me as well, but I expected it this time, and the rebellious enchantment was met with iron will and quickly submitted to me. Finally, I placed my wand over the Pentacle, and intoned the shield spell. This one I got right on the first try. This enchantment came easy as well.

"Excellent job.” Bethany said.

“Now, lunch is waiting for us in the hut, if you would.” She said, and I ran for the door of the hut and must have underestimated how fast I was running, because I almost crashed into the door. I heard a chuckle behind me. Bethany joined me.

“You’ll find that when you charge from a ley, for a short time your senses will be enhanced. I should have warned you, and would have had you asked me about it.” She said.

“Why didn’t you tell me anyway?”

“I thought it would be fun to watch.” She said with a smirk, and I glared at her. We went inside the stone hut, and quickly ate a lunch of sandwiches that were sitting in a basket waiting for us.
When we were done, and had returned the leftover food to the basket, we went back out. Somehow, a pair of targets had conjured themselves on the island. These weren’t dummies, they looked like wooden man-sized dolls, painted to resemble people.

“Stephen, you said you can move things with your mind, but how accurate is it?” She said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You can make things float, but can you throw them at all?”

“I can hit a bird with a rock with decent accuracy as long it’s not moving.” I replied.

“Well, that brings us to our next lesson then.” She said, and handed me two flat looking knives.

“Your next goal is to disable these dueling dolls.”

“What does she mean?” Voice asked. Bethany pointed her wand at the dolls.

“Animato.” She intoned, with a jab of her wand. The two dolls took on a golden glow, and then stood, and began to lurch towards me.

“Nope.” Voice said, and I got a sensation that he was suddenly terrified. The dolls didn’t bug me, even as they began lurching towards us at about a quarter of the speed of a normal person.

“How come you never use runes unless you’re teaching me?” I asked, trying to figure a way out of the situation I found myself in.

“Because I’ve grown beyond such crutches. The faster you learn to point-cast the better, but I want you to have a decent grounding in runes.” She said.

“So how am I supposed to disable these things?” I asked.

“Your goal is to stab their head with those daggers.” She replied. I smiled. I had learned to throw things, but I’d never learned to throw something quite this large.

“Doesn’t matter, kid.” Voice said. He must have dragged himself out of his fear induced stupor.

“What?”

“Size doesn’t matter. Just do it.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“Yes it does. Kid, you’re using magic. We were just walking around a bubble of space-time. Trust me.”
I sighed. I had my reservations about this, but I held up my hand and concentrated on the want to throw the dolls, to launch them across the small island, past the beach in front of me, and into the water. I focused my will, called up my magic, and I could feel the spell just sparking at my fingertips, ready to be released. It needed a catalyst, something else. I racked my brain, and smiled, and then I spoke.

“Iactus!” I whispered, throwing out my magic, and fell to my knees from the sudden loss of strength. The spell, my first spell I’d ever created, thought and will flew threw the air, a solid wave of emerald, and hit the ground. I knew something was wrong as dirt began churning in front of it. The spell threw the dolls, and about fifty feet of grass and dirt out into the ocean. Then it continued, and soon a tidal wave had sprung up, and was only growing bigger.

“Oh fuck.” Voice said. I think that was the first time I had heard him swear.

“What did you do?!” Bethany said.

“I used a spell.” I said.

"I had no idea!" Bethany said.

“Magicae Fractae!” She yelled, shooting a beam of golden light towards the spell, and suddenly she was shooting into the air, a ring on her off hand wreathed in a nimbus of light.
She threw half a dozen spells, and all of them washed off the spell like water on a brick wall. The wave was now at least several feet tall and wide, and the spell seemed to only be growing. She landed next to me.

“What was the spell?” She asked, her tone urgent, her voice loud.

“Iactus.” I said, and she shook her head and leapt back into the air. I felt more then heard her say her next spell.

“Nolite Carmen, Iactus!” She said, and for a brief second the spell turned gold, and then broke. Bethany did something with her other hand, and the wave abruptly ended. She landed next to me.

“This is why you are not to do wandless magic until you know how to control your power flow.” She said.

“Where did you even learn that spell?” She asked.

“I wanted to throw the dolls, so I used the latin word for throw.” I said, and Bethany rubbed her hand against her face.

“Okay, rule number one, and I’ll take the blame for this, and I’ll forgive you this time. Unless you know beyond a shadow of a doubt what a spell is, do not cast it. Do attempt to cast it. Do not even consider casting it.” She said.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” I asked. I got the sensation that the Voice was smacking his head, when did Voice gain a head? Against a wall.

“And never say that phrase.” She said. There was an almost frantic edge to her voice. At that moment, I knew that a madwoman adopted me. She sighed, conjured a pack of cigarettes, and lit one of them wandlessly. Then she took a deep drag and walked away from me.

“We’re done here for tonight. Go back to the Townhouse. I’ll be there shortly.” She said. I nodded and walked back into the stone hut and through the mirror.

 

AN: This Chapter contains depiction of abuse, and violence against minors.

February 11th, 1925
Andrews’ Townhouse
London.

Bethany came back through the mirror after a few moments.

“Now, before I forget, I got you a gift.” She said, and produced a black leather journal from the nether. I shook my head. I’d been in the magical world a few days, and object conjuration still bugged me. I took that, along with a fountain pen.

“The pen is spelled to refill endlessly, and the book will expand so that you’ll never have to buy another. I want you to write in them every night. Record your thoughts on life, your magical studies. Even the spells you invent. When you turn twenty-one, we’ll give you access to the Andrews Family Grimoire, and you’ll add your own findings to our existing knowledge.” She said.

“Why aren’t these sold everywhere?” I asked, shaking the pen.

“Because they’re hideously time consuming to enchant. As are your journals. That little trick you played with pencils is going to definitely add diamonds to our coffers. Now, we’re going to the infirmary.”

“We have one of those?” I asked.

“Of course we do.” She said, and led me down to the ground floor, to the other locked door. This opened to an endless looking hallway. She walked down to the third door on the right, and entered the room. I quickly followed her. As I entered, I felt what was almost a mist cascade down from the top of the door. On the far end of the room there were two sets of cabinets, and a door that led god-knew-where. The room had a dozen beds, made with starched crispy-looking white sheets and matching pillows, and it was painted in whites and creams so as to look as unoffending and calming as possible. Amy was already seated at the desk, and there was another woman, with red pupils, hair in a bun and wearing a nurse’s outfit, reclining in a chair next to her.

“What was that mist?” I asked.

“It was a disinfectant spell. It completely sanitizes everything on you, and does a quick scan for ailments. It’s nothing to worry about.” She said. The woman jumped off the chair.

“Lady Andrews, I’ll find something to do.” The woman said.

“Nonsense Gertrude, while I’m not going to say that this isn’t busy, things in here are certainly less hectic than normal.” Bethany said.

“Well, Dísablót has just passed, I'm sure everyone is still sticking to the treaty, for now." Gertrude said.

"For now." Amy echoed, turning on the wood backed chair she had been seated at.

"Gertrude, why don't you take the rest of the night off, with pay of course. Amy and I will be fine without you, and Helen will be here in an hour or so anyway."

"Of Course, Madam. Would you mind lowering the wards a wee bit so I can translocate?" Gertrude asked.
Bethany nodded, produced her wand and twisted it just so. Gertrude smiled, nodded her head, and faded away like an after image.

"How's she working out?" Bethany asked.

"She's fine. A bit wet behind the ears for a Coventry grad, but she's an excellent healer."

"That's good. Let me know at the end of her Probationary phase and I'll draft an employment contract." Bethany said.

"Now, we have a situation with this one." She said, looking at me.

"What kind of situation?" Amy asked, her voice suddenly gaining a hard edge.


"I want you to do a full scan on him. Skin to bone, and everything in between. Then you tell me." Bethany said. Amy nodded.

"Alright, down to your skivvies, and up on the bed." She said.

"Why?" I asked. I will not admit this came out as a whine.

"Voice is fine, and you've already seen my scars." I said.

"What scars?" Bethany asked.

"You had to have seen them when you changed me into my pajamas." I said.

"Stephen, I used a clothes switching spell. I would never invade your privacy. But, I want to know what scars you are talking about." She said. I let out a sigh.
After a long moment, I nodded, and took my shirt off. Then I turned to them, and they both gasped. I felt hot tears run down my face.

“This is it.” I thought. “They’re going to figure out what a freak I am.”

"Stephen. Who did this to you?" Bethany asked, her voice sounded shaky. I turned around, and there were tears rolling down her face. Amy had looked down at the floor.

"The nuns." I said.

"Which nuns?" She said, giving me a look that chilled me to the bones.

"Sister Agnes and Sister Mary Margaret." I said.

"Were there any others?" She asked, in a still, cold voice that matched the look in her eyes. I saw a couple golden sparks fly off the edge of her hair, and her skin seemed to shimmer slightly.

"Occasionally Father Murphy would assist the Nuns as well." I finally choked out.

"Stephen. Did they ever touch you, in a place you didn't want to be touched?" Bethany said, and the question came out half strangled. After another long moment. I nodded. Bethany came over to me and knelt down so she was eye level to me.

"Stephen, I am so very sorry I couldn't find you sooner. I wish this had never happened to you, but I am going to get you the help you need. I'll always be with you." She said, and I hugged her with a hiccupping cry. After a few moments, she patted my back and I released her from the hug. She wiped my eyes and face and cleaned my nose with a spell and we stood.

"We still have to do these scans, okay?" She asked, and I nodded, and I got up on the bed. Amy made a series of motions with her wand, and soon images appeared.
The first was of my back, which was a patchwork of scars. The nuns had been careful not to leave any marks where prospective parents could see them, but my back was otherwise a patchwork of scars that crisscrossed my back.

"What made these marks?" Bethany asked Amy.

"Leather mostly, but there are a couple of burn marks. Beth, if he wasn't magical, these wounds would have killed him."

"How can we heal these?" Bethany asked.

"If these were magical, there would be nothing to do, but luckily, these are mundane. I'd do a renewal poultice, but he may have to see a plastician for a couple of them."

"I'm sure we can find one." Bethany said.

"Anything else?"

"Some malnutrition, but nothing a nutrient regime wouldn't fix. Everything else looks fine, except he's small for his age. I'm not sure if that's the malnutrition or his genetics. The Bonapartes were a scrawny lot." She said. Bethany smiled.

"Now, his auric scans?" She asked.

"He'll need a potion for it." She said. She twitched her wand and an ugly brown looking thing in a clear vial floated out of the cupboard. It was nearly flush against the wall, but I swore I saw multiple rows of potions as the door opened and closed. She took the stopper off the vial and pricked her finger. A white-silvery looking liquid dropped out of her finger, and she placed the stopper back on the vial and gave it a good shake. The brown lightened into a light caramel. Then she handed the vial to me.

"Bottoms up." She said with a wink.

"That has your blood in it." I said with a disgusted look.

"That's just not sanitary." Voice said.

"Don't worry, I've got all my shots." Amy said with a smirk. I removed the stopper and chugged the potion down. This one tasted like salt and I gagged it down.

"Tabula monstrant potentiam." She said, and another image, this one entirely blue -white appeared.

"Celare me magicae." Amy said, pointing at the image. Another image of my back appeared. From the bottom of my spine upwards to the middle of my head in equidistant points were small round spots that looked like the size of half crowns. These spots were connected with small shimmery lines that spread throughout my entire body. Those glowed bright emeralds.

"What the bloody hell are those?" I asked.

"Those are your Ether nodes. It's how your body generates your magic." Amy said.

"Everything looks fine, Beth." She replied, my lie detector didn't go off, but she was still staring at the image, like it was a wild animal that was about to bite her.

"He's hearing voices. One voice. A male voice. From the sound of it, he sounded about mid twenties to early thirty." Bethany said.

"Really?" Amy asked, and it sounded like Bethany had said something life shattering.

"Well, Alexis' strengths did run towards the psionic. Maybe he's just following in her footsteps."

"Did you know her?" I asked excitedly.

"Oh, yeah! Bethany's parents, Alexis and I all went to the same school together." Amy replied cheerfully. Bethany looked almost thirty, and Amy looked about eighteen or nineteen. Once again, my lie detector stayed silent. My stomach suddenly growled, and I realized that I hadn’t eaten since lunch.

"Well Stephen, if you would like, we can run an affinity test." Bethany.

"What does that do?" I asked.

"It will allow you to determine what types of elemental manipulation you can perform. Alexis was extremely skilled in this area, and you may have inherited that gift." She said.

"Okay."

"We'll need to draw your blood for this, do you give your consent?" Amy asked.

"I consent." I said.

"What are you consenting to, Stephen?" Bethany asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"There are multiple spells and rituals that can use a mage's blood for good or ill will. If you ever need to give blood, be specific. Your blood will lose its effectiveness if it is used without your permission, but you should always be careful about leaving blood behind." Bethany said.

"That seems like valid advice." Voice said.

"Okay, I consent to give my blood, as long as the test isn't meant to harm me. " I said.

"Good job." Bethany said, and Amy drew a vial full from my arm.

"Now, Stephen, go grab supper. Amy will be back shortly. I'm afraid there are a few errands I've got to run, for your lessons tomorrow, and I need leave for a few hours. If I don't come back before you go to bed, have a great night and I will see you in the morning." Bethany said, and with a twist of her hand, vanished.
I put my shirt back on, and Amy and I went to the dining room. It was light fare, just a simple soup made of leek and potato, and a small crusty loaf of bread with butter on the side. Amy took a vial out of a pouch on her belt. This one was off-white and looked disgusting.

"Take this before you eat." She said.

"Why?"

"So it will draw the nutrients out of the food and direct it where your body needs it." She replied. I popped the cork on the vial, and downed it in one go. This one just tasted plain.
I ate dinner, and then had a second helping, and a third.

"Why am I so hungry?"

"Magic will do that." She said.

"Magic consumes ether, and it also burns through your fat stores. You don't have much of that to begin with, and you're due for a growth spurt soon. That will probably add to your appetite if anything." Amy said in a conversational tone, while flipping through a copy of The Times. I had finished my meal.

"Up to bed, bath, and then change into just night pants. I'll be up shortly to put that poultice on your back.” She said.

“Okay.” I said. I went up stairs and got ready for bed, and Amy was there shortly, holding a glass container of a slimy green looking paste.

“That’s going on my back?” I asked, grimacing at the sight of the poultice.

“Yes, now unto your stomach.” She said. I sighed, and laid on the bed. As soon as Amy touched the top of my back, I shivered.

“Stephen, are you okay?” She asked.

“I’m fine.” I said, and if my voice had a slight tremor in it, I didn’t acknowledge it.

“That’s right boy, stay on your stomach.” I heard Father Murphy’s voice echo in my head.

She began slathering the poultice down my back, and all was fine for a moment, as soon as she touched my lower back, I was done. I flipped over, coming to a sitting position somehow, and my wand shot off the bedside table and into my hand.

“Stay back.” I said. Amy held up her hand, and slowly backed away.

“Kid, she’s just trying to help you.” Voice said.

“I don’t care.” I said.

“Stephen, are you talking to the voice?” Amy asked, and I nodded.

“What did the voice say?” She asked.

“That you’re trying to help me, but I don’t care. I don’t want anyone touching me!” I said, that last part came out as a ragged yell. Amy took a step backward.

“Okay, let’s try this another way.” She said.

“I’ll be right back.” She said, and she faded away.

I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding, and breathed in deep, and then let out another breath, and another, drawing in air and expelling it. Soon, my breathing changed to short rapid gasps and I found myself shaking, rocking back and forth on the bed. I couldn’t stop it, it was like I was stuck on a runaway train going downhill, and try as might, I couldn’t stop it.
I was dimly aware of Voice trying to talk to me, and a loud rattle that seemed to come from everywhere. It seemed as though a window had been opened somewhere, and a gale of winter air had whipped up, causing a cold sweat to run down my back.

“Stephen?” I heard a voice say suddenly, and distantly. I looked up. Amy had returned, holding a brush. Every though I knew she was only a few feet away, her voice sounded miles away.

She dropped the brush, and then vanished again, appearing almost instantly, holding a vial of clear liquid in her hand.

“Stephen, listen to me. What you’re having is a panic attack. This potion will help it. I need you to take it. If you don’t, you’re going to break the house. Please, take the potion.” She said, and there was a desperate note to her voice.

I took the potion, practically ripping off the stopper, and downed it in one go, paying no attention to the rancid taste hitting my tongue. Almost instantly, I felt relief run through me, washing away and I suddenly felt like I was floating.

I took a couple deep breaths, and tried to center myself, feeling for a ley-line, and drawing that magic into me. I felt a sudden surge of energy, and realized that I’d unintentionally tapped into something that felt familiar. Whatever magic this was, it was a comfort. Like a warm blanket on a winter night. I suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion flow through me, and I laid down, curling into a ball.

“Goodnight, Stephen.” Amy said. Old memories haunted my dreams that night.

 

AN: If you’ve purchased the Kindle Version, you’ll notice that Chapter’s eight and nine have been condensed into one chapter. While reviewing these two for web serial publication, I found that it made more sense to combine these two into one.

February 12th, 1925
Andrews’ Townhouse
London.

The next morning, Bethany woke me up early and hurried me through breakfast. Then she dragged me to the island. The sun had barely started to rise. There were a trio of targets set up, tall, hanging from platforms from thick ropes and shaped like men.

"I realize we may have to go back to basics for this. You have power, you need refinement. So we will begin. I want you to throw all of these at the targets. Four in each target. You have one minute." She said. Having the knives hit the target. That part was easy. The hard part was the concentration of combining the images into one of a struck target. The first time, it took me a full minute to throw even one knife. This earned me a stinging spell to the back of my neck. The second, I had a target hit, and my second knife was hovering in the air. Until it wasn't as a stinging spell clipped me in the ear.

"Would you stop that?" I asked.

"If you're duelling your opponent will not. Learn to ignore them, or learn to shield from them."

"She's got a point, kid." Voice said.

"Shut up." I told Voice. I put my hand on my pentacle, muttered the shield incantation and activated my shield I had enchanted into it the day before. The stinging spells now bouncing ineffectually off it. I smiled, closed my eyes and threw the dagger.

"Excellent job." She said, and then hit me in the face with a spell that somehow skipped past my scutio. I felt my eyelids stick to the top and bottom of my eye socket.

"Never close your eyes while dueling, or in combat. This spell will act as protection against debris, and will keep your eyes from drying out. When you can prove to me you have sufficient accuracy and control, I will remove the spell. I'm also going to start increasing the frequency of my stinging spells. Get to it." This time, after a minute had passed, I had barely gotten my first knife into the air. Bethany reset the targets with a wave of her wand, and the knives zipped out of the dummies and back to the tables, where they landed with a clatter. The next round, I was back to my progress. Three more rounds in, and I had managed to nail all three of my targets. As I refined my skill, I realized that I didn't need three mental images, I needed one. I made a moving image, almost like a picture show in my head, of the knife flying through the air, and hitting the target. As I became familiar with this, I found I could speed the mental image up until it played instantly.

By the end of the day, after the sun had set, my arms were sore from directing the knives, spots of black and white were dancing across my vision, and my head was throbbing. Bethany dropped the spell, and closing my eyes was a blessed relief. I stumbled. I wasn't magically exhausted, I could have thrown out a thousand of these spells and been barely winded, I was mentally exhausted.

"Here." Bethany said, handing me a trio of small glass bottles with cork stoppers. The first was a gleaming bright blue. The second was deep purple, and the third was clear.

"What are these?" I asked.

"The first is Perry's Health Tonic. It will take care of your eyes, and your exhaustion. It's useless for serious injuries, and anything older than a day, but it will help you. The next is a muscle soreness potion, the last is a headache relief potion." The first tasted sickly sweet, and I almost gagged. The second was gritty, and felt greasy on my tongue. The third, the third tasted like ink. I gagged at the last one.

"Why do they taste so horrible?" I asked.

"Unfortunately, for most potions, anything that improves the taste turns the potion even more toxic than they already are."

"Even more toxic?"

"Magical biologies can handle a certain level of toxicity that untouched biology cannot. For example, the muscle mending potion has a bit of adder venom in it. Most of our potions would kill an untouched." She said.

"So am I gonna die?" I said.

"Hardly. You'd need several more vials of each before you began feeling the effects."

"Are there ways to mitigate this?" I asked.

"Emetics." She said.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"You would drink a potion to induce vomiting." She said, and I grimaced.

"Dinner is almost ready, let's go. " She said, and we left the island. We returned the next day, and this time, in addition to forcing my eyes open, she bound my arms to my side.

"Today, you'll be repeating the exercise. Without gestures." I went to move my arm to activate my pentacle.

"Any gestures." She said, and launched a stinging spell at my face.

"Good luck kid." Voice said, and I got the impression he was reading a book. We launched into the exercise, and it was a good hour before I managed to figure out how to activate my pentacle with a thought. Another two passed before I was able to reliably throw knives. At the end of the day, I was only able to throw five of them in a minute.

"Was your instructor this brutal?"

"No, she was worse." Bethany said flatly.

"Instead of binding my eyes open, she ripped my eyelids off. Instead of binding my arms in place, she broke them. Instead of the stinging spell, she would throw a spell that would cause boils that quickly burst, it's puss would cause more. Her methods were harsh, but effective."

"How effective? I asked. As we spoke, an ocean wave rose ten feet high behind us, and frozen instantly, a shimmering burst of heat came hurling towards Bethany and ignited into flame that wrapped itself around her. This fire carried her into the air, extinguished, and dropped her above the water. She landed on the surface of the ocean and walked unto the island, making a staircase of alternating fire and ice as she did. The last step broke off from the others, and she flew it over to us before stepping off of it.
Through this entire thing, I didn't see her arms move in a single gesture, or even her aura glow. For all appearances, she had looked like a stiff figurine being tossed about by the two different elements.

"Extremely." She said finally.

I sighed. I was too mentally exhausted to argue, and just the slightest bit crabby.

"You said that my mother was your instructor. Was she the one that was so harsh?"

Bethany was quiet for a long, unending moment.

"Your mother." She said, as if searching for words to say.

"Alexis had her reasons for being harsh. Her, my mother and father." Bethany stopped for a moment to collect herself.

"When they were young, war broke out in their country." She paused once more, and then took a deep breath.

"When I was just a few years older than you are now, that war reignited. Much like you, the first few bits of magic I learned were not for amusement or enjoyment, they were spells to kill. Spells to defend myself and to ensure I made it through another night, or another day, or even another bloody hour." She said the last part in almost a growl. After a pause she spoke again.

"I'm teaching you the exact same thing. Because another war is coming." She said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The Great War was the war to end all wars. We're never going to war again." I said, and she let out a sudden cutting laugh.

"I'll tell you after the adoption ritual." She said.

“Why don’t you tell me now?” I asked. Bethany hesitated. Then she sat down on the bench my daggers had been placed and, and sighed.

"I don't think I'm the best fit for this." She said after a moment.

“What do you mean? Am I going back? I like it here. My bed is comfy, and the food is good. The potions are icky, but I’m learning magic!” I said.

“Oh gods no. I have more of a chance of catching myself on fire than you do returning to that pit.” Bethany said.

“I mean, I don’t know if I’m going about this right at all.” She said, and for a moment, she was silent.

“Stephen. I’m training you because I have enemies. You shouldn’t even be learning this form of magic for at least six or seven years. I’m just worried. This is my first time being a parent, and I
don’t want you to get hurt. But at the same time, what guardian teaches their ward how to throw knives with their brain?"

"Creepy bald dudes in wheelchairs. That's who." Voice chimed in. I was absolutely going to have a talk with him. That night.

"Was the Great War bad, Bethany?" I asked. It wasn't a subject lightly talked about in the orphanage. Quite a few of those kids had parents that had perished in the war or because of it. She looked at me with a frown.

"The war was horrible." She said, finally, tersely. There was a long quiet pause where I tried to figure out how to word my next question, and Bethany seemed to be lost in her thoughts.

"Was my mother your commander?" I asked. I knew enough about the military to know about ranks. Although Bethany didn't seem like a private to me. Maybe a general, or a captain because of her apparent age, but certainly not a lowly grunt.

"She was. As I told you before, Alexis was my instructor. When we enlisted, my father pulled strings to ensure we were all stationed in the same place. The war was absolutely brutal, and by the end of it, the only survivors in my squad were me, my husband, and my brother. I know I'm being a harsh teacher, but I'm only being harsh so you'll survive what's to come." Bethany said.
We were both silent. For a long moment. Bethany was the first to speak.

"You know Stephen, if this training-" She stopped for a second, collecting herself, "if you find this training too hard, you don't need to have it. We can wait for a couple of years. You'll still be ahead when you go to Coventry." She said finally.

I thought for a moment. That would be easier than exhaustion, tired limbs and sunspotted eyes. It would be nice to not have to choke down potions I despised the taste of. For one long moment, I contemplated that decision. For one moment, I thought I could hear the Father's voice, and I was a flash of a furry brown head sitting on a nightstand. At that moment, I made a decision that would change my life forever.

"I want it. I want the training. Teach me everything you can." I said. Bethany nodded, and for one long moment we traded a determined look. I would never be helpless again, and she would help me achieve that. We left the island soon after our conversation and returned to the manor. Dinner was a quiet affair. Bethany had an errand to attend, Amy was gone yet again, and I was left to my own devices for the evening. So, after changing into pajamas, I decided to have a long overdue conversation with Voice. I sat on my bed, crossed my legs, and closed my eyes.

"Voice, do you have a name?" I asked.

"If I do, which I think I did, I don't remember it."

"Do you know where you came from?" I asked Voice.

"Honestly, no. I remember going to bed in my apartment, and then when I woke up, I was in your head. I'm pretty sure the only reason I gained the ability to talk was because you messed around with that ley line. I’m fairly certain I’m from the future, about a hundred years give or take." The implications of having a hundred year-old man in my head was mildly terrifying.

"So are you a mage, like me and Bethany?" I asked.

"I don't think so. I might have been a magical scholar, because a lot of the books I've read involved different magic systems. A few of them were similar to this, but none of them were completely accurate. The magic wand and words are common, but the ley line thing bugs me."

"How so?"

"Physics shouldn't do what they do."

"What." I said flatly. Voice let out the equivalent of a frustrated sigh.

"That little trick you did with the throwing spell shouldn't have worked like that. Something doesn't throw everything it touches in its path. I don’t think it should have caused the start of the tsunami. That bugs me. Plus, I know for a fact that ley lines didn’t exist where I came from." Voice said.

"And going against physics is bad?" I asked.

"Extremely." Voice said, letting out another sigh.

"So, are you the reason I know about runes?" I asked.

"Uh, I don't think so. I don't remember reading much about those, and even if I had, kid, I've been living life through your eyes for ten years. I know there's a lot I've forgotten." Voice said, and it sounded like he was sad.

"Like what?" I asked.

"Never you mind kid. We're gonna figure out how this whole world works. I've got an idea how to possibly get my memories back. Have you heard of the concept of a mind palace?" Voice asked.

"No, what is that?" I asked.

"It's a meditation technique I learned in my old life. Essentially, you think of a place in your life, whether it's an office, or a study, and you fill the office with your memories, that way you can recall them. Right now, my memory palace is dusty, for lack of a better word. I can't clean it, but I think you can help me do that. But first, I need you to build your own palace. Think of it like this. Together, we're in one neighborhood. You need to build your house in order to visit mine. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, it does." I replied.

"If you want, I can try and guide you through the first stage of creating one tonight, but I'm warning you, it's difficult. It took me almost five years to make one.” Voice said.

“How do I start?”

“Clear your mind, and think of a place you’d like to store your memories. You need to do this carefully. Start with a floor, building the walls and the roof, and then whatever you would like to store your memories in.” Voice said. I gave him the mental equivalent of a nod, and then set to work. My first attempt went fine, for a few moments. I decided to model my memory palace, or at least part of it, after the townhouse. I quickly ran into problems. Imagining the floor wasn’t the problem. The part was easy. When it came to building my first room, the entry room, I ran into my first issue. It turns out it’s really hard to keep a blank room fixed in your mind while adding more rooms, and my mental construct completely fell apart when I tried to add the second story. I gave it up as a bad job, and reopened my eyes. The clock on my bedside table told me it was late, and that meant the memory palace took longer than I had thought. That was when I remembered the journal Bethany had given me. I’d yet to write in it, and I decided to chronicle my first few days in the Townhouse. After that, I laid down on the bed and closed my eyes yet again to try and get a few hours of sleep before Bethany woke me up. I was just drifting off when I heard the floor above my bed creek. This was followed by a dozen sudden screeches, and the sound of loud screams. I jumped out of bed, and ran into the sitting room.

"Bethany!" I said, hoping she had returned from wherever she had gone. She was already opening the door.


"I know." She said, her wand in her hand.

"Phobos!" She yelled, and the imp appeared. He held another imp by the scruff of his neck. This one looked like it had been in the ringer. His wings were shredded, and his tail was half missing. His body was a patchwork of black fur covered in lavender blood.

“Crawler bitch! Where is he?!” The imp screamed in that creaky-door voice they all apparently had, struggling against Phobos’s hold. Phobos gave the imp a good shake, and the creature fell silent.

"My apologies, Mistress. We were dealing with garbage. We'll be more careful to keep the noise to a minimum." He said, snorting softly through his pug like snout.

"Where did this garbage come from?" She asked, looking at the imp like it was something foul she had stepped in.

"I do believe this trash was a gift, from Irene Thorne. I found it snooping in the cellar."

"Looking for her errant son no doubt." She said with a murmur.

"Well, she won't find him. Drop that thing." She said. As soon as he released his hand, she jabbed her wand forward, cutting the imp’s head off at the shoulders. I noticed that there was no blood, and the cut was clean.

"Send her the head. Make the message poetic and showy. Don't use anything with our coat of arms. Give the body to Amy. This may just have given us the in we're looking for." Bethany said with a smile. Then Bethany looked at me.

“Did that wake you?” She asked.

“Yes.” I said.

“Let’s get you back to bed.” She said, guiding me back to my room.

“Do you mind if I cast a sleep spell on you?” She asked, and I shook my head no. With a wave of her wand, a spell floated over me and covered me like a warm blanket. Soon I fell into a peaceful slumber.

 

That next morning at breakfast, a thought occurred to me.

"Bethany, did you and Amy ever figure out what Voice is?" I asked.

"No unfortunately, the test we ran was inconclusive, we have an idea what he is, but we're not sure." Bethany replied. Today, she was reading Britain’s magical newspaper, The London Eye.

"Well, what idea do you have?" I asked.

"We think you may have a form of Precognition, but to properly determine that, we're going to have you perform an affinity test. Unfortunately, that takes an entire lunar cycle to prepare. The next one doesn't begin until March, so you'll have your test by April. Hopefully, by then if the affinity test does show you have an affinity for those skills, I'll be able to obtain a tutor for you. Your dueling coach will be here Monday. He comes highly accredited. Monday is also when you begin learning untouched subjects and etiquette.

"Etiquette?" I asked around a mouthful of bacon and toast. Bethany gave me a look and took a sip of her tea.

"We are a family with feet in both worlds, and you will learn to comport yourself appropriately. This is something Coventry will teach you, but if you learn it now, you'll be that much further ahead when you go." She said.

"Today I'm going to teach you another spell, and then I'm afraid you'll have most of the weekend to yourself. I must leave for Munich today to meet with a prospective investment. After I teach you the spell, I'm giving you one last exercise and then I'll be off." She said.

"What investment?" I asked.

"There's a publisher I'm attempting to purchase before they make a rather monumental error, but I'm fairly certain one of my rivals has already beat me to the punch as it were. I still want to try."

"Is it Irene Thorne?" I asked. She gave me a look and shook her head.

"You are far too smart for your own good, and that will get you into trouble. It may also get you out of trouble as well, so it's definitely something I'm going to nurture." She said with a smile. After I finished breakfast she took me up to the library and with a wave of her bangled wrist, a blank book spun towards us, and halted in mid-air. She grabbed the book, murmured an incantation over it, and then the book shimmered once. Letters appeared on the cover and spine, A Guide to Wanded Magic, and then she spoke.


“The spell you are going to learn is a simple one, but powerful. It’s a spell that allows your memory to absorb the knowledge from a book. This spell is a family secret of ours that was invented by my aunt. Simply call up your magic, tap your wand on the book, and then state “Librum Memoriae” and the spell will give you the knowledge the book contains. It’s a way to perfectly recall chapters, even sentences and push your studies ahead. This is a spell you need to want to work. You have to force the magic in the incantation to shift the world around you. Power is important, but Will is key? Do you understand?” She asked, and I nodded.

“Read the introduction first, and then try to cast the Librum spell.” She said.

Below A Guide to Wanded Magic, there was a series of runes and a notice saying that the book was the property of the Andrews Family. The runes shimmered faintly as I read them, and once again, I felt a weird familiarity that I should know what they say.

“If you are reading this book, congratulations, apprentice. If you are just learning magic, I hope that this book will be a guide in learning the arcane arts. If you are reading this title after you’ve been practicing magic for quite some time, forget everything you’ve learned about casting so far. You may have been taught that magic and the proper movements, whether they are hand or wand, and that incantations are the crucial to using your magic to affect the world around you. Like most lies, there’s a kernel of truth in them. Wand and hand movements are essential. That’s true. Incantations are a crutch for these movements. Those mages that are truly powerful have learned that screaming into the void is unnecessary. Movements are a primal connection to magic that is routed through metamath and the runes that have powered spells for millenia. The more powerful and precise the spell, the more specific and detailed the movements become. Memorize this book. I hope it is a guide for your studies in the arcane, as it was for me and my father before.”

The first time I tried the spell, I felt the energies of the incantation I used break and scatter, like a spark suddenly fizzling away. The second, I felt my magic almost mesh with the spell, and saw a few glimpses of words across my vision that vanished abruptly, followed by emerald sparks shooting across my eyes and winking away almost instantly. The third and final time I used the spell, words swam across my vision. When the spell was complete, I suddenly knew more about magic than I did before.

I knew that certain spells required symbols carved with my wand in the air to invoke the runes the spells drew their power from. I had learned that depending on the spell, I needed to invoke the runes either deosil or widdershins, depending on if they were offensive or defensive, or if I was drawing power or sending it out. Certain wands were tied to certain months, and my wand used rowan wood because it corresponded with the month of my birth. I didn’t know any new spells, but I knew more about how wanded magic worked and why it behaved as it did. I also learned that specific gestures and runes were tied to certain branches of magic.

Then came the pain. It was like someone stuck a red-hot poker against my head, and drove a lance of fiery pain deep inside my skull. Somewhere the Voice was screaming along with me. I screamed bloody murder. Then I felt a wave of vertigo, and went to the ground, crying out in pain came again in aftershocks. At some point, the pain receded from an agonizing jolt to a dull staccato throb. Bethany was already waiting with a Perry's Elixir and another potion. I drank them both eagerly, gagged around the curdled milk taste of the second, but managing to choke the foul thing down.

Months of rote repetition had been distilled into a few seconds, and despite the pain I'd wish I had known about and could perform this spell when I was younger. It would have helped tremendously.

“Good job. I know this spell is painful, but I need you to do this once more, and I think that's all the magic you're going to perform today." She said, selecting another tome off the shelf with a wave of her hand. This one floated to me, and I looked at the cover through blurry vision. This book was thicker than the first, and was titled, A Novice’s Guide to Rituals. I repeated the spell, and my head soon filled with the differences between ritual magic and wanded magic.

Where wanded magic was simply channeling a spell, a ritual required more setup. You needed to create a circle in the ground using a bladed weapon, what the book called a black handled knife. You also needed four other swords, on at each equidistant point to call something called the quarters. Most rituals required a circle of salt, and certain symbols, runes, or regents drawn or placed at certain points. These rituals took longer to do, but with proper setup, they were far more powerful than wanded spells. This time, where the aftereffects had been a lance of pain, this was like someone had set my entire brain on fire, and I screamed in absolutely agony until my voice abruptly broke, and a final wave of pain forced me into unconsciousness.

I woke in the Infirmary. It was dusk, judging from the way the light came into the windows. I groaned.

"Did anyone get the plate of the lorry that hit us?" Voice asked. I looked up. Gertrude was sitting at the desk. She was speaking to an imp, although I couldn't hear what she was saying. She looked up, and the imp vanished.

"Oh, you're up and about! That's good." She said with a cheerful grin.

"Unfortunately, Madam Andrews couldn't put her meeting off, so she had to leave. She left you a note, and told me that you could leave as soon as you woke." Gertrude said, a smile on her face. Was this woman anything other than joyful?

I read the note.

Stephen, I shouldn't have had you perform that spell a second time. I apologize for that. I'm going to be gone for most of the weekend but look for me around Sunday afternoon. I'll explain to you further about how the librum spell works then. Do not perform any sort of magic until I have a chance to speak to you.
Bethany.

I crumpled the note. My head felt better, but still hurt. It was almost like a ghost of a headache.

"Do you mind if I leave?" I asked Gertrude.

"Not at all, dinner should be soon if you'd like to stay. I can call the imp back to get you a plate." She replied, and my stomach gurgled in protest.

"I think I'd rather just go back to bed." I said.

“That’s fine dearie, I’ll send a mirror message to the Lady. Do you want me to help you to bed?” She replied. I got up.

“I think I’ll be fine.” I said. Her cheerful attitude was beginning to annoy me. I got out of the bed, and walked out of the infirmary, and took a right. As we walked down the hall, I realized I must have gotten lost, because I had passed more doors than I had last time. We came to a stop in front of a door with an hourglass.

“Voice, where are we?” I asked.

“Somewhere in the townhouse. I have a shit sense of direction. I also have a migraine, which isn’t fair, because I don’t have a head.” Voice whined, he sounded tired, and just a bit crabby.

“Maybe we should walk the other way?”

That was when the door opened, and a man that could have been the male version of Bethany walked out. He had the same solid figure, and sharp features, but his hair was silver. He was dressed in a fine linen suit.

“Who are you?” The man asked. His voice was soft, but rough, making it hard to understand him.

“I’m Stephen, who are you?” I asked, and the man gave me a look as if I’d just told him the sky was purple, and the grass was red.

“I’m Bartholomew, Bethany’s brother. Are you lost, little boy?” He asked, and offered his hand. Not his wand. I drew my wand and offered it. He looked at me in confusion for a moment before returning the gesture. For once, after greeting a mage, there were no surprise visions or sudden feelings about them. It was as if he was a blank slate.

“I might be.” I said, and he smirked.

“I’m guessing that you’re the stray my sister went and collected? Is she here?” He asked.

“I’m not a stray. I’m a mage, and no, she’s not.” I replied.

“Of course she isn’t.” He muttered, as if he expected any other answer.
He gave me another look. Then he spoke again.

“Deimos.” He said into thin air, and another imp popped into existence.

“Master Bartholomew.” The imp said in that creaky voice that sent a shiver down my spine.

“Where is my sister?” He asked.

“She’s currently in Munich.” The imp replied.

“God's Blood. I’m too late. Take this one up to his room. If she or any of her entourage return before I see you again, tell them Munich is compromised. I’m going to go see if I can stop this before it escalates.” He replied. With a circular slash of his hand, silver sparks danced in the air, and a shimmering swirl of silver energy rippled into existence.

“I want to go with you.” I said. He gave me a look, as if considering it, before shaking his head.

“You look like you couldn’t get yourself out of a paper bag. You’d only serve to get me, or yourself killed, and then I’d have to deal with an angry sister. No, you’re to go to your bed. Deimos, is Phobos with her?” He asked.

“She went alone.” Deimos replied.

“Of course she did.” He said with a growl.

“When I leave, no one enters or exits the townhouse unless Bethany and I are with them. Redirect any visitors or entrances, including us, to the entrance room.” Bartholomew said.

“Yes master.” Deimos said, and Bartholomew stepped into the shimmering silver window, and left.

“Come, young master. Let’s get you up to bed.” the imp said.

“Can you change your voice? Your voice is creepy.” I said.

“Is this better?” He asked, in a perfect imitation of mine.

“Nope.” I replied.

“Then I guess my regular voice will have to do.” Deimos said, in his voice and he escorted out of the long hallway and up to my room.

“Have a good night, young master.” Deimos replied, and vanished. Right after that, I felt a wave of static cross my skin, and wondered what that was about.
I frowned. I was still tired, but I wanted to know if Bethany was okay. I had no way of contacting her.
“Kid, there’s nothing you can do. Let’s go to bed, and then we’ll call that puppy-monkey thing in the morning and see if there’s a way to reach her.” Voice murmured. I sighed and fell into bed. Sleep was a long time coming that night.


The next morning, I went down to the dining room and found it empty aside from breakfast and a single place setting. I frowned, and sighed.

“Deimos?” I asked, the imp didn’t appear.

“Phobos?” I tried, and this time was rewarded with a soft pop of air.

“Young Master calls?” The imp called.

“Is Bethany okay?” I asked.

“Mistress is fine. She is busy, and she’ll return tomorrow afternoon.” The imp said coldly. I frowned and nodded.

"Is there anything else?" The imp asked.

"Did Bethany say anything else?"

"Stephen, you still aren't allowed to practice magic, but there are books in the library that are about untouched subjects, and any books that aren't warded, you may read, but under no circumstances should you practice the magic in them. I will know." Bethany's voice said from Phobos' mouth. I determined in that instant, that imps were absolutely and utterly creepy.

I finished my breakfast, went up to the library, and browsed the subjects that weren't guarded with or behind shimmery walls of magic that felt like Bethany. There were Latin compendiums, books on the arts, on science and math, but nothing that was interesting. I sighed.

"Do you want to work on the mind palace?" Voice asked, hopefully. I had nothing better to do, so I chose one of the comfortable chairs scattered around the library, closed my eyes, and tried to visualize the construct again. This time, I succeeded in keeping the first floor stable long enough to begin visualizing the decor, but as soon as I finished and began the second floor, the construct broke. I opened my eyes and scowled, looking at the clock on the wall. Six hours had passed, and all I had gotten for my trouble was a headache. I closed my eyes again, and when my construct inevitably collapsed, it was dinner time.

I got up from the chair and stretched. I was stiff from sitting for hours. I wandered down to the dining room, ate dinner in silence, and decided to try my hand at the mind palace once again. This time, I chose my bed. I got a portion of the second floor's floor completed, but it collapsed. I checked the clock, it was long past midnight, and I was mentally exhausted. I wrote in my journal and fell asleep. Sunday, until the afternoon, was much the same.

Sunday afternoon I was in the library when the mirror activated in a flare of gold. I drew my wand and pointed it at the mirror. I could, in a pinch, use Iactus if I needed to.
Bethany came through the mirror first, favoring her leg. Amy was flanking her, and she was followed by a tall, bulky man with short white hair, and a long beard. Bartholomew followed them, and all were dressed in some sort of leathery looking armor. Bringing up the rear was a man I hadn't seen before.

His hair and eyes were white. He wore a dark suit, a suit so black that it seemed to soak in the light around it. His skin was nearly as white as his hair, a pale alabaster that seemed as though he’d never seen the sun. He had a look about him, like he'd been stretched. Every single aspect was elongated, from his tall, razor thin build to his spindly looking fingers, and his tapered ears. Something about him screamed danger, and I felt fear worm it's way down my spine. He gave me an appraising look.

"So, this is your new apprentice, eh Beth?" The man said. His voice had a smoky, silver quality that somehow put me on edge. Amy had already gone to work, closing the mirror with a whispered word, and walking the length of the library, wand in hand. It wasn't until whatever she was doing was done before they visibly relaxed.

"Bethany, are you okay? What happened?" I asked.

"I'm fine. It was just a bit of an occupational hazard." She said. Her armor looked singed in a few spots, and there was a crack on one of the pieces on her leg.

"Is that what they're calling it now?" Bartholomew said. Bethany gave him a look.

"He's going to find out what we do eventually." He said.

"Not when he's ten." She replied.

"Fair point. What about thirteen?" He countered.

"Bartholomew, do me a favor and please leave." She said, and closed her eyes.

"I just saved your ass. Leaving is what usually follows." Bartholomew replied, and with a gesture, a portal opened. He stepped through it and it closed behind him.

"What was that about?" I asked.

"Enquiring minds would like to know." Eli said.

"Stephen. This is my husband, Vincent." She said, gesturing to the bulky man. I offered my wand and he tapped it.

"Nice to meet you, kid." Vincent said, flashing me an easy grin.

"And this is Eli. He'll be your dueling instructor." She said. I offered him my wand and he laughed. It was a high, cold laugh that didn't add to my rapidly forming opinion of him.

"This boy has class, doesn't he?" Eli asked. Bethany gave him a playful glare and sat on one of the chairs. She sighed.

"Phobos." She said. With a pop the imp was there.

"Mistress calls?" He said.

"Whisky please, and a Perry's."

"At once." He said, and vanished.

"Beth! You can't mix those two!" Amy said.

"Like I haven't before." Bethany replied. Phobos had appeared with a silver tray. On the tray there was a vial of the Elixir and a crystal bottle of whiskey. She downed the Elixir and chased it with a long pull of liquor. Then she looked at me.

"Stephen, Eli is Winter Fae. They usually cast wandlessly, and normally they don't carry wands. The Council Majeure forbids it. You didn't know this, but because of this offering your wand is usually insulting to a Fae."

"So how is he going to be my dueling instructor?" I asked.

"I'm a Scion. I'm half Fae, half untouched." Eli said, drawing a wand from somewhere on his person.

"Well met, mageling." He said, offering his wand to me. I tapped it. Then I looked at Bethany.

"Can I use magic again?" She gave me a long contemplating look. Vincent took a mirror from his pocket and gave it a look.

"I've got to get back to Thailand." He said. Bethany nodded, and he translocated away, and Amy took a seat on the arm of Bethany's chair.

"Do you think you're up to using that spell again, the book I'm going to have you memorize is a basic dueling book. It has a couple of offensive spells in it that you'll be practicing this week. Now that you've learned the libre spell, I don't want you using it more than twice a week, and only on titles I choose, I've warded the rest against that spell, and I will know if you try that." She said. Her tone booked no argument.

She summoned the book from a shelf. It was titled the Novitiate's Guide to Proper Dueling. Like the other two books, this had no author title aside from the notice of whose property it was.
I used this spell. This time, it was just a headache instead of a painful skull splitting stab. But I found my knowledge had increased, I knew a fire spell now, as well as a throwing spell, a dagger conjuration, and a spell that sent a conjured ball of dye at it's target.

"Why did that one hurt less than the others?" I asked.

"Because it built on knowledge you already had. According to the file the nuns gave me, you already were fairly well versed in Latin, and the Ritual book gave you some knowledge in runes, correct?" She asked, and after thinking about it, I did realize I knew more about runes then I had before, and I could probably recognize most of the Elder Futhark if I needed to. I had to concentrate on the knowledge though.

"If you tried that spell with a book on a subject you had absolutely no knowledge about, or even worse, one written in a language you didn't know, it would probably kill you. You aren't to use that spell unsupervised. Ever." She said, and I nodded.

"Now, if you feel up to a practice lesson, Eli will take you to the Dueling room along with Amy. I need to visit the Infirmary and have this leg checked."

"Can you make it there yourself?" Amy asked.

"I can translocate just fine." Bethany said.

"I'll do it." I said, eager to learn something else about magic and practice my new spellwork. Amy got off the chair, and Bethany stood with her help. Then Bethany faded away, and the three of us went up to the Dueling Room.

"Before we begin, I want you to show me your stance." He said. I frowned, trying to recall the diagram that was in the book. Front foot, straight forward, back foot ninety degrees, legs slightly bent, wand in dominant hand.

"Move your feet apart a bit." He said, kicking between my feet until there was about a foot of distance between them. He adjusted my posture here and there, pushing my off-hand until it was tucked into the small of my back, straightening my wand arm until it was pointed straight out, and forcing me to work around my migraine until I had the position perfect.

"Can I have a headache potion?" I asked. Amy tossed me one from somewhere, and I drank it eagerly.

"It's almost like fencing in a way. Except with fencing you only get stabbed." Voice said. It was then I noticed that if I was experiencing a headache, Voice wouldn't speak much.

"Let's go into the ring. You take the left circle, I'll take the right." He said. We did. Amy touched her wand to the edge of the ring, and a shimmering wall of magic came into existence.

"Get into position." He said, and I did.

"Now, usually we count to ten, and then begin. But I'll be satisfied with a bow for now. That book taught you the paint spell, right?" He asked. I nodded.

"Good, until you get your reflexes where I want them, that's the only spell you'll be using in this ring. Now, bow, and first to five wins." He said. We bowed to each other, and he was the first to
strike, throwing out two of those paint spells that I used my pentacle to block.

"Restart the duel." He said.

"Why?"

"Per regulation rules, you're only allowed a wand and a secondary wand. No other foci are permitted." He replied. I sighed, and we bowed again. This time, he hit me with two paint spells in quick
succession before I managed to get my scuto up.

"I see I have my work cut out for me. You need to learn to point cast that shield." He replied. I frowned. I was rapidly getting tired of this. With a glare I intoned.

"Conjuris Mucare!" And sent a dagger flying towards him. He narrowed his eyes, easily parried the spell and then gave me a look, and with a speed so quick I could barely track, had me bound with a rope, disarmed, and had covered my mouth and eyes with some kind of silver tape. I heard him walk over to me, and then I felt myself being lifted off the ground by my neck.

"Child, I'm a four-time international champion duelist. You are nothing, even with the enormous amount of power you have for your age, but if you want to waste your guardian’s diamonds with such trivialities as figuring out how to unbind yourself, far be it from me to argue. We'll resume this in the morning. Maybe by then you'll have used that little hamster brain of yours to figure out what spells I used and how to counter them. Unless you agree that as soon as you walk into those doors, you will do as I ask. Do I make myself clear?" He said. I tried to nod, and he undid the spells.

"I'm going to beat you one day." I said.

"If you don't, I'm not doing my job properly. Now, let's begin, shall we?" He said. And begin we did.

 

Author’s Note/Micro Post:

While writing The Voice in His Head, I wrote several interludes, and two novellas for backstory.
These interludes follow Voice’s Journey to Stephen, or Bethany’s internal reactions to Stephen’s misadventures.
To explain, The original manuscript was huge, and spanned the same story from the alternating points of view. It read like the one overly long fanfic that has been stuck in the same month for several years.

In summary, these other viewpoints were discarded during the editing process because I couldn’t figure out a way to include them without interrupting the flow of the story or dragging it out an extra couple hundred thousand words. My backstory and side stories easily dwarf what I've actually written.
You can skip these, but they contain backstories and history about the world of the Aether Cycle. I’ll be including these for Patreon Subscribers. Patreon subscribers will be able to read a new chapter or short story every two weeks. Regular readers will get these at the end of every “arc”.

Interlude One: Preparation.
2019, Earth.

There are some events that change History. There are other events that collectively make mankind scratch their head, and go what the fuck. I was out for a walk when my world changed, and everything I knew was flipped on my head.

It was a Seattle Saturday in mid 2019. Life was good for the most part. The last two years had been kinda shitty, but my life was finally looking ahead. My app had just been sold to a Silicon Valley giant, and I was going to enjoy spending the next year or ten going on absolutely insane vacations. 2019 had been stellar, and 2020 was going to be fucking great! For the first time in my adult life, I could actually enjoy life and find happiness. It all went wrong with that stupid kitten. I was less than a block from my condo when I saw a little black kitten leap out of the trash cans on the street and run for the alley. I balanced my Starbucks cup on a nearby mailbox and dropped my bag to the ground.

I unzipped the backpack and started fishing around for the can of cat food I had in the bottom. I volunteered at the local ASPCA, and always had some sort of yummy for my other furkids. Seattle had it’s fair share of strays, but it was a kitten.

I remember moving my bag and starbucks to a bench. I remember walking down the alley and saw the kitten dart under a dumpster. I remembered opening the can of cat food, and placing it under the dumpster. Then I stood back up, and that was it. That’s all I remembered about dying.

The next thing I knew, I was in a white room. There was a screen hovering in front of me that I recognized as the character creation from one of my favorite RPGs, Gods and Monsters*. Gods and Monster was an Apocalyptic Sandbox RPG. In normal circumstances, this would have freaked me the fuck out and sent me into a panic attack, but something prevented me from reacting like that. I felt a calming sensation wash across me and I was able to keep myself sane.

The backstory of Gods and Monsters was interesting, because in this universe, nuclear fallout from World War III mutated creatures, and some humans, into creations that defied science. Some of these humans also had abilities that could be described as superhuman abilities. There was a single button on the screen, a question mark above the word `Help’. I pressed that button.
Instantly an NPC of some sort appeared. The NPC was using a hyper-realistic model of Mr. Patriot, AL Publishing’s Captain America expy. A Red, white, and blue bodysuit, and black utility belt, a friendly gleaming grin, blond hair, blue eyes. The avatar was 6’2”, and his muscles had muscles.

“Greetings Hero!” The NPC called.

“Where am I and who are you?” I asked.

“You are in an instance of the character creation screen of Gods and Monsters. I am an NPC designed to help you with your character creation. You can call me Rob.”
That was helpfully unhelpful. However, the rest of the character creation screen was now available. He talked me through my options, and vanished.
The first screen allowed me to choose my general path. I had three choices.

The first choice was Civilian. This was arguably the hardest difficulty. You started as a common villager in the nuclear wasteland. You needed to fight every step of the way, through diplomacy, aggression, or trading and the only way you could gain powers was through Infusions or Skill Points. Infusions were rare in the wasteland. I’d played as a civilian and clocked hundreds of hours, and I’d only found six. You also didn’t start with any skill points and if you wanted any extras, you would need to choose complications to gain points. These could range from “all animals hate you” to “pissed off one of the ganger bands” that populated the City, a post apocalyptic alternate version of Chicago.

The second was Mutant. You started with one of the six available powers, and began with six skill points to spend on any powers you wanted.

The third was Artificial Intelligence. This allowed you to begin with twelve skill points. However, you were stuck at an old military base until you could build yourself a robot, and later an organic body.

Sometimes, life hands you lemons, and you made lemonade. Sometimes life hands you a fuck-it button, and you smack it hard. This was the second of those scenarios. I chose Artificial Intelligence.

The next choice was the Power Selection Screen. When I gained an organic body, I’d have the ability to use any powers I chose. Since I had twelve points, and there were six powers that each cost two points, I chose them all. I could gain more points through taking complications. I was going to turn the City into a Utopia that would make Roddenberry proud.
The first power was called Combat Package. If I trained this power enough I’d have super strength and speed and all the reflexes and senses that went with that.
The second power was Luminescent. This would eventually allow me to fly, and manipulate light for defensive and offensive purposes. The City was a mess of gangs, and some of them were armed with laser and plasma weapons. This power could block these weapons if it was trained enough.

After that, there was Technopathy. This was an ability that allowed me to gain knowledge in five subjects a day. There was a Class Bonus with the AI character that changed it to ten. I’d be able to build the starter technologies from scrap found in the City, or the single Nuclear Transmutation Combinator that the AI had access to. This power, and the next were kinda bullshit to be honest. Victory would be mine.

This Power was Ability Control. The backstory was weird about the exact nature of powers. Surface Lore said that these were gained by genetic mutations, but mutations didn’t work like that. This Power let me gain “charges” that would allow me to unlock abilities with each charge. I could use this Power to add to my existing abilities, and use it to gain more of them. With enough training, I could also block and nullify powers in a certain radius. I’d play-tested the Beta of Gods and Monsters, and this ability was only available when seriously stressing the system.
The next was Psionics. The City and its outskirts, and the whole world were a weird place. Psychic abilities were a documented phenomena in the Gods and Monsters. This would grant me psionic abilities that I needed to learn over time. I’d start with limited telepathy, hypnotic suggestions, and telekinesis. If I was playing as a civilian, I’d honestly choose this path. It would be the easiest way to get quick resources.

Finally, the last ability was labeled Biological Manipulation. This ability allowed the user to create, control, and manipulate all biological matter. I’d need biomatter to use this ability, and a working knowledge of biology would help use this power. Eventually this ability would increase in range from touch to about a mile in every direction.
Aside from Telepathy, Telekinesis, and Technopathy, I’d be unable to use these powers until I gained a body. The screen offered options for companions, but since I was confident I didn’t need them, I chose to ignore those.

I flipped to the Complications and Perks screen. I choose Nice Guy, which gives me a good first impression on everyone. Then I chose Minions, which would always give me a decent stream of constant disposable minions. Then I chose Tinfoil Hat, which would defend me against any psionic abilities. I currently owed three points.
After choosing Backstabber, which made espionage easier, and Rationality, which prevented my decision making from being interfered with by my emotional well being. Last but definitely not least was No Speed Limits. Without this ability, I’d be limited to ten charges in Technopathy and Ability Manipulation. This allowed me to spend twenty charges a day. I was negative eight points.
I decide to choose my complications. The first complication I chose was Always a Bigger Fish. This meant that there would always be an enemy that would challenge me. This gave me four points. King of the Hill gave me two points, but changed my end goal to taking control of Chicago. After choosing those two complications, I was still negative two points.
The next complication I chose was Faction In-Fighting. There are multiple groups throughout the City, some help, some harm. In exchange for one point per faction, I chose two groups. The first the was Purifiers, they were xenophobic water barons. The second was the Technocracy of Bob. Bob was a pre-war AI that was slightly insane. In the games, he was also a pushover. These would give me the points I needed to finish my character creation. My points reached zero. Then I pushed the hovering button that said accept, and Rob popped back into existence.

“Do you wish to confirm your character creation**?**” Rob asked.

“Yes, I do.”


“Great, Character created. Good luck, Oly.” Rob said with a wink. That was my childhood nickname. I hadn’t been called that in years. I gave Rob a look. He snapped his fingers, and my vision faded to black.

*Gods and Monsters is a documentary about the War of Masks that was converted into a graphic novel and later into an RPG. The RPG is rated mature and published by Andrews-Lowe’s Pageantry Division.

BR/BR/BR

If you like this, please consider liking or upvoting this post. This is an already completed work, and each post will be a chapter (or half chapter) of the first book in the Aether Cycle. I'll be posting these chapters every week. If you like what you read, and want to support the author, and don't want to wait for updates, please consider purchasing The Voice in His Head from Amazon or Audible, or supporting me on Patreon. You can discuss this chapter below, or in the Discord. If you're a Troper, the Aether Cycle TV Tropes page can be found here. This needs Wiki Love, so if you like doing that, and you're a fan, be my guest!

 

February 16th 1925- April 8th 1925.
Andrews’ Townhouse
London.

The next day was indicative of how my next two months would pass. In the morning, after a barrage of tests, I resumed my untouched education with Amy in English, Math, History, and Science. Bethany also forced me to learn a language without the aid of the Librum spell that wasn’t Latin, which I already had a good working knowledge of. I chose French. In the afternoons, I would alternate between going to the Island where Bethany would drill me on the spells I knew, helping me refine them until I could cast them without using runes and to my pride with the Lux spell, without incantation. Or, I would be thrown into the dueling ring and subjected to Eli’s tender mercies. On the days they were there.

On one occasion, for a week, I was left entirely to my own devices where I found a book on conjuring other weapons and used the Librum spell to learn it. The resulting fire poker to the brain resulted in my expelling my lunch all over the library’s carpet, being forced to find the infirmary, and spending a week without my wand as punishment when Gertrude promptly, and cheerfully, reported me to Bethany. My magic lessons didn’t stop that week. That would have been a mercy. Instead, I was forced into a crash course of learning magic without a wand. This did however, result in great advances to my Scuto spell, and convinced Bethany that I was allowed to learn the stronger Clypeo.

At night, before bedtime, I would either work on my mind palace, or browse the library. I was nearly at the point where if the second level of my mental townhouse dissolved, the first level would be completed. Finally, after nearly two months of training, whatever enchantment Bethany and Amy needed to work for the Affinity Test was complete, and instead of training that afternoon, I would take that instead.


My morning went by as usual. I could have used my Librum allowance to skip ahead in one of the untouched subjects, but there were just so many magical subjects I wanted to learn that I never even considered that. And in order to learn certain subjects, I needed a thorough grounding in the base materials. Enchanting for example was something that really caught my eye, but aside from the basic enchantments I was slowly but sure working into my pentacle, those needed a thorough and extensive grounding in runes and higher level spellcasting that I wouldn't be able to learn until Bethany deemed me knowledgeable enough to use those books, or I managed to pick the wards apart protecting them, which were of course something you needed enchanting to learn. Then there were the etiquette lessons. The proper way to hold a fork, and which fork to use on what food. Lapses in etiquette were met swiftly by stinging spells, which was Bethany's favored punishment for everything. After two months, despite the luxury of the townhouse, I was growing restless. Aside from the greenhouse on the roof, there wasn’t much to do. At least the affinity test would give more a way to learn more magic and alleviate some of my rapidly growing boredom.


Then there were the branches of magic that I couldn't pursue until I reached Coventry. Herblore was one of them. The afternoon of the affinity test found me in the room we had crafted my wand in. I was wearing a tunic and pants not unlike I'd wear when I went to Coventry. The tunicm almost a jacket, except it would fasten and release by wand tap, was worn above a long sleeve shirt, both were black. The pants were the same color, and the shoes were the shiny leather the magical world apparently preferred. Bethany was wearing something similar, except her outfit was white, and she had a pin on each lapel. There was a table in front of us, the table had twelve stone bowls and each of them had something in them. She was the first to speak.

“Each mage has an elemental affinity. With practice, they can use this element without a wand. For example, if you had an affinity for water, you could swim without taking a breath or conjure spears of ice and unleash them at your enemies. My affinities lie in fire and water. I take after my parents.” Bethany said. With a flick of her wrist, she conjured a ball of flame that flared gold. The ball of flame shifted and rippled and steamed, transforming into a ball of water that Bethany threw into the air. The water shifted into snow and evaporated.

“What affinity did my mother have?” I asked, and much like her occupation, Bethany had never quite given me a straight answer to this.

“Alexis was special, and I doubt you’d have her affinities. Now, normally, since I am your master until you go to Coventry, I would be calling this circle, but, since you need the practice for the ritual this fall, you'll be doing it." She said. I nodded and went over to another table, where there were four yellow candles and a container of endless salt. I quickly surrounded the table in a circle of salt, and at each compass point, I placed a candle. Then I began at the first candle, lit the candles with a match, and worked my way from widdershins to deosil, and as I lit each candle, I spoke a different line of the ritual.

“I call this circle. I call thee elements. Join us this day, join us this hour! Ignis, light our way. Aquae, give us your peace, your serenity. Ventus, I call you, let your winds guide me to the proper choice. Terris, mother earth, steady my hand, guide my path, give me your strength!”

As soon as I lit the last candle, the flames changed from regular flames of orange and yellow to the bright emerald haze of my aura, and that energy spun out of the candles, into the salt, and brought the circle together with a snap only I could feel. Bethany was outside of the circle, and only I would be inside during the ritual.

“Novitiate Stephen Bonaparte, Heir Presumptive of House Andrews, Call up your magic, your aura into your hand, and let it saturate your skin.” She said, her voice ringing with her own called power. I closed my eyes and found my magic. It came easily to my hand, and a green glow covered me.

“Good. Now, go to each bowl, and reach for the contents with your hand.” She said. Magic in hand, I walked over to the first bowl. There was a small flickering flame inside of it. I reached out for it, extending my hand. The flame rose higher in the bowl until it caressed my skin. Wrapping around my wrist and tickling me, turning into an almost liquid. I released the flame and walked to the next bowl.

Water pooled in this bowl, and I waved my hand over it. The water rose into the air and formed into a sharp spike of ice. The next was a bowl of sand. It turned to earth, and then back to sand. The fourth seemed empty until a gust of wind came from nowhere and wrapped around me like a whisper. I heard a sharp breath behind me and turned to look.

“Keep going,” Bethany said with a nervous nod.

The next was a vial of something sparkling and glowing white that turned green when I touched it. The fifth was a vial of cloudy white vapor. As I waved my hand over that, I saw flashes of a grand city floating on a vast ocean. A city of great gleaming spires. I caught a glimpse of someone who looked like Bartholomew. The boy had silver hair, and shimmering eyes filled with mischief. Then, just as abruptly, the memory ended, and I found myself back in the wood-paneled study. She motioned for me to go on. This bowl held a plant that quickly grew when it felt my magic. It withered, and died, and turned to a pile of seeds in the space of a few seconds. nThe next bowl flashed with an iridescent green light. The one after that squealed when I laid my hand over it. The next bowl also flashed green. The next to last bowl held a single bone. When I waved my hand over it, I knew somehow that the bone belonged to a great wolf or a dog of some kind. The last bowl held a single angular tremis that grew and glowed with my magic. As soon as my magic touched the last bowl, something extraordinary happened. Each bowl lit again with my aura, and I felt a wash of power like nothing I had ever known course through me. Then I spoke, my tongue and lips moving of their own accord, and it sounded like thunder in my ears.

"The lowborn children shall come, winter will guide them.
The children of space and time will hide them.
The queen of metal will find them, and the golden kingdom will bind them."

Then, at once, the candles snuffed themselves, and the salt turned to ash.
“Bethany, they all reacted to me. Did I mess the test up? What did I say? I couldn't hear it.” I asked. Fear ran through me. I knew I had said something, but I wasn't sure what.
"I think you just spoke a prophecy. I'm not. I don't know. I need to figure that out. The test was a failure. You are still young. It could mean that your magic hasn’t settled yet. We'll train you in psionics for now, since we know you're capable of that." She said, and for the first time in a very long while, my lie detector sprang to life and screamed at me, Lie! Lie! Lie! I frowned, and I looked at Bethany, and there was an expression I hadn’t seen in her eyes before. A look that had been directed at me time and time again at the orphanage. Bethany Andrews was afraid.

 

April 11th- June 18th, 1925.
Andrews’ Townhouse,
London to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.

For three days, I moped around the townhouse. Voice had recognized my mood and helpfully remained silent. It was on the final day, that Bethany was finally fed up.

“Stephen, what is wrong?” She asked. It was morning. Tomorrow, after visiting the dwarves, we would leave for Brazil to attend the world dueling tournament, and I had yet to pack.

“Nothing, Bethany. Why do you ask?” I said, taking a sip of my tea, and reading yesterday’s Copy of the Eye. According to the Eye, Percy Fawcett, a renowned battle mage and explorer would be leaving Britain today aboard the Dauntless, a zeppelin I knew Bethany owned, in search of some lost city in Brazil. Well, the Untouched had lost it centuries ago. Magical society had only lost it a couple decades ago when something happened.

“Because you’ve been moping around this place like someone shot your dog since you performed that test. You need to pack, and you need to stop moping.”

“Where should I pack for?” I asked, taking another sip of tea.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“Should I pack for the orphanage, or should I pack for Brazil?”

“What are you going on about?” She liked, looking at me like I’d just grown a second head.

“I might have to if you keep moping.” Voice said, helpful as always. I sighed, sat my cup of tea down with a sharp clink, got up away from the table, and walked away.

“I know you’re afraid of me now.” I said, and closed my eyes.

“What are you talking about?” She said.

“I can still tell when people are lying to me, Bethany. I know you lied about my test results, and I know you’re scared of me. I know whatever I said or did during the ritual must have scared you. Just, please, don’t send me back there. I can’t go back there.” I said, letting out a ragged breath. There was a silent pause. I closed my eyes, readied myself for the inevitable. I was surprised when Bethany wrapped me in a hug.

“Stephen, I am never sending you back there. I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that, but that will never happen. Do you understand me?” She said in a ragged whisper. I returned the hug, and after a moment she drew away, and looked me in the eyes.

“Stephen, I’m not afraid of you. I’m afraid for you. You shouldn’t have gotten those test results. A child as young as you should never have prophesied anything. I don’t know what this means, but I’m going to find out. Whatever Alexis did, I think it changed your magic somehow. You should have never had that test react the way it did, and before I jump off the deep end and train you in magic I’m not sure you’re going to be able to handle, much less me able to teach it, we need to figure out what happened to the three of you between your mother and father vanishing and you appearing in Hampstead. I need time to figure out what the prophecy meant, and I'll tell you what you said when we come back home.” She said. My lie detector was silent, and for that, and the woman in front of me, I was grateful.

“Now, I want you to be packed by this afternoon. I've got a couple of letters to write in my study. When you're done packing, meet me there.” She said, and I nodded. She translocated away, and I went up to my room, and went to my closet. Bethany had given me a backpack that I could fit everything I needed inside of it. It was quite handy, but I wasn’t allowed to dissect it to figure out how it worked. A small pouch would be easier to carry than a cumbersome backpack.

I knew Brazil was hot, but the spells built into my clothes made weather a nonissue. I quickly packed a week's worth of clothes. I knew we would be traveling into the untouched world a bit, so I packed a week's worth of clothes from that section of my closet as well. I didn’t know what else to pack, and that had barely made a dent in the ridiculous amount of clothes I had. Bethany, it turned out, really liked shopping. There was still plenty of room in my backpack, and I’m fairly certain I could have packed my entire wardrobe and the small library I was slowly building and I’d still have plenty of room. I actually did decide to take my books with me. Packing completed, I put the bag on my bed.

“Phobos.” I said, and with a pop of air, the imp appeared.

“Master calls?” He said. The imps were creepy, but they were useful.

“Place this in our train car please.” I said. He nodded, grabbed the bag, and popped away. Packing completed, I went to the library. It was Saturday, and that meant I could use my Librum allowance. I was always careful after the weapons incident to ensure it was magic I was familiar with. I ignored the books that were above eye level and above. Those books were warded to all hell, and I knew that would be a waste of my time to even attempt picking them. I surveyed the section I had my eye on. Pyromancy for Fun and Profit by T. Winter sounded like a book Voice would love to read, but I didn't have a lot of knowledge about the subject.

"I resent that!" Voice said, and I snickered mentally. We would be visiting the dwarves before leaving for Brazil, and he had an idea that he wanted to run by them when we left. I turned back to the shelves. That was odd, I'd never seen this book before. It was entitled A Practicum on Practical Psionics by G. Cortez. I grabbed that, and then looked through the shelves. I didn't see any other books I'd want, so I left the library and turned right, and walked to the door of Bethany's study. I knocked once, and the door opened. Bethany's study looked like the rest of the house. All plush carpets, dark paneled walls, and furniture not out of place in a museum. She was at her desk, a giant oak thing. A floating nimbus of light was in front of her. She made a gesture, and the nimbus vanished.

"You're packed?" She asked, and I nodded.

"Good, what book did you choose?" She asked.

"It's a book on Psionics." I replied, showing it to her.

"Oh, that's a great title. George was a friend of my father's. He was one of the best Psykers I knew. Go ahead and use the spell." She replied. I tapped my wand to the book, and intoned the incantation, and gasped as the stream of information flowed into my brain. I winced at the ensuing migraine and lost myself in the flow of information that I suddenly had access to, and sighed as the knowledge overlapped mine and clicked into place with my existing skills. Oh, this was interesting. Apparently, you could defend yourself mentally as well, although Cortez only spent a small portion of the book on this. This book was mostly about telekinesis. More specifically, short range telekinesis, about twenty feet, and teleportation that looked exciting to use.

“I want you to go finish your homework. You can practice with your new skills after we leave.” She said.

“But!” I said.

“No buts, your history grade is deplorable. You’ll have time to practice in Brazil. Or, you can use the Librum spell." She said, and I made a face, which was quickly punished via a stinging spell.

"Finish that assignment." She said, and I left her study.

The next day dawned bright and early. We had a hurried breakfast, and Bethany translocated us to the Concourse. We grabbed a pair of tickets, Amy and Vincent would meet us in Brazil, and boarded our train to Emrys. Our first stop was the dwarves. The first orders for pencils were coming in, and Wraithgrip wanted to discuss their performance. While we were grabbing a few last minute things, The attendants at the station would be switching the car over from the Domestic Track to the International one. We sat in his office, and he produced two sheets of paper. Each line of the paper had a different pounds amount and an explanation of what the figure was, to the right of the figure, the amount was broken down into the different types of currency.

"As you can see from the figures, even with just a few schools purchasing them, the profits from this are quite lucrative. I'd like to thank you Mr. Bonaparte, my cut from this venture is going to make my retirement quite comfortable." He said. I read the figures carefully. If sales continued or increased, which I had no doubt they would, I'd be free from my debt by the time I'd entered Coventry.

"If you may satisfy an old dwarf's curiosity, Mr. Bonaparte, are you from Napoleon's line?" He asked. I was certain the answer was no, but I smiled.

"If I said yes, would I have more tremissis coming my way?" I asked with a wry grin, and Wraithgrip returned my smile.

"I suppose my next question is are you part dwarf?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Hardly." I replied, "I do, however, have another proposal for you. But, I want the same terms as before." I finished.

"You have my word, and I'm all ears." He replied. Then Voice began speaking to me, and I said exactly what he did.

"Have you ever heard of something called a line of credit?" I asked, and he shook his head no.

"Essentially, a mage or a dwarf, or any other species could borrow money from Midas, and pay it back within a certain time frame. If they do not, then interest, extra money based on a certain
percentage of the debt owed could be charged to a customer's account. Since you also control their bank, you could simply take the money out of their accounts, or force a sale of their assets. I'm sure you have quite a few customers that spend their diamonds almost faster than they make them. This would be the perfect product for them. Of course, short term loans could have higher interest rates then long term loans to give your customers more incentive to pay them back quickly." I said.

"Oh?" The dwarf asked, and I could see the wheels turning in his head. Bethany gave me a look, and I smiled at her.

"That sounds quite lucrative, but what if their accounts go into arrears?" He replied.

"You establish repayment plans, of course, and arrearage fees. It's all in the contract, which, if my own contracts are any basis of, you have developed into an art form " I replied, giving him a grin that was all teeth.

"Mr. Bonaparte, I do believe that you're going to be one of Midas' best customers." He replied, and we shook on the deal. We left the bank and we were silent for a few moments.

"Stephen, was that one of Voice's ideas?" Bethany asked as we walked along the path. It was Sunday, and the streets were relatively empty.

"It was," I replied, "and he has another idea." I finished.

"Oh?"

"In a few years, I'll have tremissis to burn. I'm going to offer to start buying those debts from the Dwarves, or begin loaning my own funds." I replied, and she stopped, and gave me a look.

"Sometimes, I wonder how much of this is him, and how much is your own intelligence." She said, and I stopped.

"The pencil and paper idea was all mine. He's just given me food for thought." I said, and we resumed walking in silence.

"Where are we going?” I asked.

“I need a new trunk, and I figured I’d get you one as well.” Bethany said, we had approached a shop that had a sign over that front that proudly read in blue and purple letters,
Sir Terry’s Trunks: Traveling Containers for All Occasions.

We went in the building, and it appeared we had stepped back in time. The smell of parchment and leather filled the air, and I could almost taste whatever spells were being performed in the shop. The shopkeeper was an older gentleman, he wore a black hat and a matching duster that I pegged as dragon leather. His face was kind, and despite his age, I could see a youthful exuberance. There were all manner of traveling cases on display from a rack of suitcases to a slowly rotating display case of pouches. In the center of the shop, there was a series of trunks. I approached one that was open and went to put my hand in it.

“Careful, that one bites.” The shopkeeper said, and I withdrew my hand an instant before the lid closed with a sharp snap. I swore the trunk seemed a little disappointed I had withdrawn my arm.

“Madam Andrews, how are you today?” He asked.

“I’m fine Terry, I’m just in the market for a couple of traveler’s trunks. The standard spells will do.”

I had a feeling Bethany would be busy for the next while.

“Bethany, could I go look around?” I asked.

“Don’t wander too far.” She replied, and turned back to her discussion. I walked out of the shop and turned left. I knew that the other way lay Midas and things I’d seen before, after wandering the streets, I found a book store and stepped inside. A young man was manning the store. I looked around for a few moments. There was nothing interesting on the shelves, but there was a bulletin board with each year's book list from Coventry. Below was a notice that said,

"Tap your book list and they will be waiting for you on the counter."

"Might as well get started early." Voice chimed in.

I tapped my wand on the First Form list, and there was a ding. Books began flying off the shelves and assembling themselves in a stack on the counter.

"A little young for Coventry, aren't ya?" The man said. He didn't have any ring or insignia, so I knew he was untouched born.

"Never too early to start." I replied.

"As long as you have the funds, I really don't care what you buy. That'll be 12 aureus." He said. And a purchase orb popped into being. I tapped it with my wand, and it glowed green before vanishing.

"For a fee, we can deliver these, young sir." The shopkeeper said.

"Can you deliver them to the Andrews' Family car?" I asked the man, and his eyes widened like I'd just asked him to walk across the desert barefoot.

"Of course sir." The man choked out.

"Excellent." I replied.

Then Bethany walked into the store. The man gave her a look.

"Lady Andrews, greetings, how can I help you?"

"I'm just looking for my charge. Stephen, our car is ready to leave."

"Okay, I was just getting some books for Coventry."

"Four years too early, but I suppose I can let you read ahead," She said, "are you ready to leave?" She asked.

"Sure." I replied, and grabbed my bundle of books. With a nod to the shopkeeper, she grabbed my hand and we vanished.

////
BR
///
If you like what you read, and want to support the author, and don't want to wait for updates, please consider purchasing The Voice in His Head from Amazon or Audible, or supporting me on Patreon. You can discuss this chapter below, or in the Discord. If you're a Troper, the Aether Cycle TV Tropes page can be found here. This needs Wiki Love, so if you like doing that, and you're a fan, be my guest!

 

We rematerialized in our car on the train. Bethany tapped her wand to what looked like a gramophone by us.

“Conductor Edwards, I’m ready to depart at your leisure.” She said. After a few seconds, a male voice came out of the record player.

“We’ll be leaving shortly my Lady.” A man’s voice called through the gramophone

We took our seats and I pulled out the dueling book from Coventry’s first form curriculum. Voice was trying to work through the theory of the wavelength of a specific shield, when we heard a voice.

“Attention Passengers, Welcome Aboard the Andrews Express! We’ll be departing shortly! We would like to remind our passengers that this is a non-stop transatlantic ride from the Concourse to New York City, and anyone who finds themselves in the wrong car needs to leave now!”

I looked at Bethany.

“New York City is in the States.” I replied.

“I’m glad you’re at least keeping up in your geographic studies.”

“How are we going to cross the Ocean? Are we taking a ship or a zeppelin?” I asked, and she smiled.

“You’ll see.” She said, and a few moments later we, our train began moving into the sky. This train was going much faster than the one I had taken a few months earlier and in an hour we had reached Liverpool.

We waited as passengers embarked and disembarked, and then we departed. We went through an actual portal, a long purple-blue expanse of light before arriving in Dublin, where we had a bit of excitement.

Outside of the train, I saw finely dressed men and women, their skin all various shades of green, pale pink, and golden-fiery orange, all of them dressed in armor that appeared to be spun from glass. They entered the train. They surrounded two people, a man and a woman. She was tall, and regal, fine boned and graced with beauty that I have yet to see again. She was dressed in white, a circlet of gold-pressed leaves on her head.

The young-looking man was dressed in an elegant suit of black that was trimmed in burn orange. He carried a cane with a silver skull carved into the top, and a circlet of silver maple leaves that was pressed into his long, black hair. The tip of each maple leaf glimmered as if the colors were fading to rot, and they were perpetually frozen in that last moment of fall.

"Who's that?" I asked.

"That is the Faerie Queen of Summer. The other is the Faerie King of Fall."

"What are their names?" I asked, and Bethany gave me a sharp look, and quickly wrote them down.

"Stephen, never say the first. We are allied with Winter, and to invite Summer into our midst would be folly. You must never ever mingle with Summer Fae. The second name, only say it under the most dire of circumstances. While Fall stays neutral, they're still a powerful force." I nodded, and carefully committed the two names to memory.

We left the station, and the train carried across vibrant green hills until we finally came to Galway, then the train climbed into the sky, where it halted for a moment, before dropping vertically into the ocean. I let out a scream, and heard the same from voice before I held my breath and closed my eyes. Then I heard a laugh and Bethany spoke.

"Stephen, you can open your eyes." I heard her say, and I gingerly opened one eye, expecting water to be pouring into the cabin, only to find us completely dry. I gave Bethany a suspicious look and looked out the windows. The train appeared to be in a bubble of air. Outside, just past the bubble, I could see the brackish green of the ocean and a few fish swimming past, a couple of them curiously looking at us, like we were in a reverse fishbowl.

I noticed we were still in a downward path, and that the water was steadily becoming darker. I touched the window, and it was still warm from the London sun.

Then I looked at Bethany.

"That was a mean trick." I replied.

"The best tricks are those played on the unknowledgeable." She replied.

"How far deep are we going" I asked.

"We'll level out at about a thousand feet under." She replied.

"How long are we going to be underwater?"

"For an hour or two. We'll arrive in New York around morning, their time, and then after breakfast, we'll go to our hotel. Tomorrow morning, we'll leave for Salvador."

I didn't respond to her, I was in awe of the ocean around us. Great spotlights had come alive on top of the train, and they illuminated the area around us, bathing everything in yellow.

As we passed around and through schools of fish, I was quickly beginning to realize that while we dove through the ocean past fish and creatures I'd only ever seen in books, we were somehow separate from them, judging from the whales that occasionally swam along side of us, their mournful songs washing over us like a mournful aquatic symphony, and the fish the occasionally darting through our cabin. I reached out to grab one, and it was like grabbing the air. We watched the fish for a time, and then Bethany laid her hand on my shoulder.

"Do you want to see something really cool?" She said, and I nodded. She guided me to the front of the train, to a dining car where a few passengers had already gathered. I noticed that there were only a few children my age. The dining car, unlike the metal of the rest of the train, was almost entirely made of glass aside from places where the panes were riveted together with long strips of runed metal. These same runes ran along the glass, softly glowing. We took a seat at a table at the front of the car, and ordered tea, and we watched the fish some more. Here and there, we saw glimpses of men and women with gills on their stomachs, and long serpentine finned bodies.

"Meremen and women, and don't point." Bethany asked as I pointed at them.

We passed above a giant squid-like creature with an enormous shell on its back. The shell was studded with odd rock like growths, and schools of fish darted around them.

"It's a Kraken. Seeing one is a treat. They're not usually this far up." Bethany replied, in answer to my question.

"Voice, have you ever seen anything like this?" I asked.

"I can't say that I have, kid. As far as I can tell, I'm from about a hundred years from now, and we don't have anything like this at all." Voice said.

"Bethany, how is this possible?" I asked.

"It's called the route of the Mariners. We're not quite sure if they're mage made, or something natural, but it's a useful way of traveling quickly."

So, we sat for a time, drinking tea, watching aquatic spectacles and diving along waterways no untouched had ever seen.

AN: QQ and Space Battles are now current with Reddit.

 

Chapter 13: The Wrong end of a Wand

After an hour or two, we slowly began surfacing, eventually entering a tunnel in the earth. We didn't enter the world above ground, instead surfacing in an electrically lit untouched tunnel, where the train came to a stop.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"The untouched have recently begun building tunnels and trains for their undergrounds. We slightly pilfered this tunnel from them. It's a useful stop off point." She said.

"It's almost morning. We've traveled back in time a few hours because of international datelines." She said. The shehe led me out of the tunnel, past a queue that we quickly went through, and up into an enormous, bustling city. A car was waiting for us, and Bethany drove us to a hotel that was the level of luxury I was quickly becoming accommodated to. We ate breakfast in our suite.

"I have business that I need to attend to while I'm here. I'll be back before we leave tonight. Don't fall asleep." Bethany said.

"We aren't going to see the city?" I asked.

"Not on this trip, I'm afraid, but perhaps on another." She replied. She vanished a minute after, and I spent the day reading the books I'd purchased. Later that night, Bethany returned.

“We’ll be leaving shortly.” She said, and walked stiffly into her room. The door quickly shut itself, and felt the static of wards being raised.

"Beth?" I asked.

"Go away, Stephen." She said.

"What's wrong?" I asked, and she sighed. The wards vanished, and the door swung open. She had taken off her dress. There was a black bodysuit under it. The leg was rolled up, and there was a thin red line oozing blood.

"What happened?"


"I had a meeting with a business partner. I got on the wrong end of his wand." She replied. She touched her wound with her wand, and while running a line across the cut, intoned.

"Bacterium Fractae." Her wand hummed, and the cut glowed gold. The next spell she spoke stopped the blood flowing down her leg, the next sealed it, and the third knitted the skin back together.

"Why didn't you use a Perry's?" I asked.

"I did. Perry's healed it a bit, but with dark magic, it will only heal a wound so far."

"How lethal is dark magic?" Voice asked, and I repeated the message.

"Very, black is worse. Dark magic is meant to harm. Black, black is intended to Kill." Bethany said.

"How did this happen?"

"The deal fell through. It won't affect you any." She replied.

"What did you do to your business partner?" I asked.

"It was his son, and nothing that he wouldn't do to me." She replied.

“Are you packed?” She asked after a few moments.

“I never unpacked.” I replied.

"Good, there's a car already waiting. We're leaving." She said. We went down to the hotel lobby, and checked out. A car and Eli was waiting for us.

"Thank you for coming." She told him.

"Bethany Andrews, thanking someone? Wonders will never cease." He said. She was silent, and we got in the back of the car. Eli drove us to an abandoned field, and we got out.

"I was going to take you via spear flight to Brazil, but my meeting derailed those plans. Eli, can you dump the car?" She asked him.

"Bethany, who did you piss off this time?" He asked with a sigh, as if used to such requests.

"He cast first." Bethany said. She drew her wand.

"I'm not as good at this as my brother, but we're taking a portal." She said. Then she drew her wand, and began twirling it in a circle. As she did, trails of gold sparks began falling away from her wand, and the air gained a static charge. In the distance I saw an approaching trio of cars, followed by someone on a broom flying above us.

"Eli, hold them off." She said. A blast of blistering cold shot from his hand, and a wall of violet light sprang up. Suddenly, shots fired through the dark, glancing off the shield. The broom rider suddenly sped up and dived towards us, and threw a spell. Neon blue met violet and the spell bounced off our shield. Then with a sudden flare of aura, and a downward slash with her wand she shouted,

"Treddian!" And a sparking gold hole ripped away the reality. Unlike Bartholomew, this portal was jagged at the edges, and stray motes of light sparked off it.

"Fae magic?" Eli asked.

"Harder for them to trace." She replied, then she grabbed me and pushed through. It was like stepping into a whirlwind, and I felt like I was spinning across the world, a dozen sights from half a dozen places spun past my vision. It was an endless instant, a moment of travel that seemed to last hours, and suddenly I was in an apartment overlooking a city I'd never seen before.

"You're early." Amy said.

"Bethany is in trouble. There's guns. And Eli and a broom rider!" I shouted. Amy and Vincent shared looks.

"Europa." Amy said, and an imp I'd never seen before popped into existence.

"Stay here. Guard Stephen." She said, and they went into the portal. Seconds later, I felt a wave of odd magic. It felt old, weathered, but strong. Then one of the windows blew inward and a trio of bats flew in, turning into two men and a woman. Europa swooped towards one, and a wave of force slammed into the imp and threw it into the wall behind me.

"Our information is wrong. The Andrews' aren't here." She said. She had a faint spanish accent.

"What little morsel do we have here?" She said. slinking towards me with a cat like grace.

"Get back." I said, raising my hand, and calling my wand into it.

"This must be the street rat she took in. Señor Cortés is going to love this."

"Conjuris Mucare!" I shouted, and a conjured dagger appeared. I sent that flying towards the woman and she deflected it easily, sending the dagger into the wall with a thud.

"You're feisty, chamaco. I'm going to enjoy breaking that." She said, and flew towards me at a speed I'd never seen. I gathered up my will, and threw out a wave of telekinesis that drained my power considerably. The woman was caught by the blast and sent hurling backwards towards a wall. The wall broke, and the woman fell. I was too high up to tap a ley line. So I ran. Ran towards a kitchen. Then one of the men stepped out of the shadows in front of me, and grabbed my wrist.

"The little rat has power." He said. I spat in his face, and he snarled. Dropping my arms. I jumped backward and he grabbed my pentacle. It burned his hand in a hiss of burning flesh. He screamed and let go of me. Cooking meat filled my nose and I gagged. Suddenly the other rushed behind me, and pinned my arms to my side. I tried dropping to the ground. But his hold didn't break. I'd been caught in this position once. I twisted, and as the other came walking forward, tried kicking off him. He grabbed my feet, and I knew I was caught.

Then Europa came rushing from nowhere. I smiled. I was saved. Suddenly, unseen force grabbed each wing, and ripped them from the imp, who screamed in pain and dropped to the ground. I heard a stomp, and an unholy squelch combined with something breaking.

"I'm glad you caught the brat." She said. She looked no worse for wear. She looked down at me, and I saw that her face had elongated. Her features were twisted, almost melted looking, and two prominent fangs jutted from the top of her face. Two leathery wings hung from her back, and a forked tail wrapped around her waist. I spat in her face too, and she growled.

"Sleep." She said, her voice had a melodious quality to it. I felt a wave of exhaustion overcome me, and I knew no more.

////BR/////

If you liked this chapter, please consider giving me an upvote, or a like if you're reading this on SpaceBattles or Questionable Questing. This is an already completed work, and each post will be a chapter (or half chapter) of the first book in the Aether Cycle. I'll be posting these chapters every week. If you like what you read, and want to support the author, and don't want to wait for updates, please consider purchasing The Voice in His Head from Amazon or Audible, or supporting me on Patreon. You can discuss this chapter below, or in the Discord. If you're a Troper, the Aether Cycle TV Tropes page can be found here. This needs Wiki Love, so if you like doing that, and you're a fan, be my guest! Finally, I'm going to be starting a newsletter shortly, and you can find the signup form for that here! Anyone who signs up for my newsletter will gain access to an exclusive short story from Bethany's point of view.