As if it was a sign they had guessed correctly, the homeroom class started a week-long unit about colonization. When the group had a moment, they would exchange smirks with each other, knowing they had been right. To start, Ser Morris went into depth about the preparations that had gone into the original process, but Emory was tracking the difference between then and now, namely how things would be different with magik. Without thinking, she had drifted from active listening to passive listening and began to create lists off to the side of her paper. According to her math, each group of twenty-five would have two or three hand-to-hand and support students, with five coming from each of the weapon classes and five blasters rounding out the squad. Unfortunately, this meant, at the very least, not all the hand-to-hand friends they had could be in the same squad.
"If the group is going to be forced to split up anyway, would it be better to spread us out between all the squads or concentrate on two?" Emory thought to herself. Sam glanced over at Emory's paper and saw what she was working on before scribbling a little note and passing it over to Emory.
"Be sure to keep Tethys with you. To keep watch."
Emory clicked her tongue against her teeth before reconsidering what she had jotted down so far. "Sam's right, on top of everything else, I have to make sure Tethys stays with my squad. What to do?" The class continued on, yet she was much more focused on her lists than the lesson despite it being a rather important one. When class ended, Emory even failed to notice that she, her friends, and Ser Morris were the only ones left in the classroom until Morris cleared his throat loudly.
"While I appreciate your dedication to learning, the lesson has ended," he crassly called, "You can continue to research more about the topic in your own spaces. Not that I suspect you were learning with the rest of the class anyway." Emory could feel his glaring scowl resting on the top of her head but ignored him and continued to finish what she was writing first. The rest of her friends had gotten up and were standing by the door when Morris began walking towards Emory. "It's time for us all to leave this room, miss?" he grunted as he stood a few chairs away in the row next to her.
"Miss Reiss," Emory remarked while she stuck the pen in the spiral of her notebook and shut it, "I'm sorry; I had a thought and had to jot it down before I forgot it." She stared at him for a moment before walking to her friends.
Morris squeaked, "Excuse me, but did you say your name was Reiss? As in the famous scientists?"
"They were my parents," Emory said plainly as she walked out the door with the rest of her group. Morris just stood there, dumbfounded that he had their child in his class.
"I really should get to know my students a little better, though I suppose it is only a few weeks into the term," Morris mused as he left the room and shut the door. Then he decided to pull out his wallet and lift a picture buried within it. There were two men in lab coats, a tall young man with long red hair and a shorter young man with blond spiky hair. Clasped in their hands was a large copper coin; their smiles couldn't be any bigger. Morris thought to himself as he walked away, "Marty, is this why you were so insistent that day on erasing your information from the databases? What does she know?"
The rest of the evening carried on as it had other nights. Surprisingly, Tethys continued to train with the rest of the group, though this was a boon for Emory since it allowed her to keep a better eye on her. When they all returned to their rooms, Emory pulled out her spellbook and began reading. Tana sat cross-legged on her bed, practicing the initial motion of drawing her sword repeatedly while Tethys just curled up and played on her phone. But Sam did what she normally did and hopped next to Emory on her bed. "What are you reading about?" she asked as she leaned over, trying to read the indecipherable text.
"I was practicing my shield while we were meditating," Emory responded without looking up, "And no matter what I tried, I could only generate the same kind as always. But, in my mind, I should be able to do other things. Like setting up a temporary barrier or putting it somewhere besides just around me. So, I thought the spellbook might have some tips."
Tethys gingerly spoke up, "If you don't mind, I have some ideas as well. I noticed you working on it while we were mediating; it looks quite different than mine." Sam squinted her eyes towards Tethys, still not trusting her intentions.
"What about it looks different?" Emory questioned as she looked up, "Obviously, the coloring is slightly different, but I'm guessing you mean something more than that."
"When you make the shield, you channel the magik from your whole body, right? Well, when I make one, I only do that to make a linked shield. This kind of shield is connected to magik and will continue to stay active until you cancel it or run out of stamina. Most of the ones I make are unbound shields which stay active only as long as they have the magik to stay up. For those, I only channel the magik in my core," Tethys carefully explained.
"To make different kinds of shields, I have to channel magik from different areas?" Emory summarized, "That makes sense. What about shields that aren't around you?"
Tethys's slight smile disappeared, "Honestly, I'm not very good at those in practice, but I understand the theory very well. You can make distant shields with the same warm-up as the focused, or surrounding, shields except with one crucial difference: you must project your magik the entire time."
"I thought I was already doing that. Can you show me a little bit of an example?" Emory huffed.
"I can try," Tethys said sheepishly, "You'll want to watch closely because I don't know if I can do it more than once, and I won't be able to move it very far either." She hopped off her bed and stood in an open part of the floor. Emory focused her magik in her eyes on the small blonde girl so the magik could be seen flowing through Tethys. Slowly the magik began building inside Tethys's chest into a tight little disk. Over a minute, the disk grew slightly while the magik current Emory could see inside became much more intense. Then, in an instant, the built up magik released in a wave that expanded from the disk she once had. Closely studying it, Emory saw how the wave grew beyond its normal range, started to flicker from power loss, and then generated a small shield big enough to cover two people a few feet away. Unlike a shield that covered the caster with a shell, this one looked more like a section of a conical wall.
Tethys wheezed, trying to catch her breath, "That's the best I can do. Were you able to see the difference between both how we create shields and distant versus focused shields?" Emory nodded and began trying to replicate what she saw immediately. First, she quickly created a disk of magik instead of the ball she had been making which was a rather simple task. Then she released a wave as far away as she could before crafting the magik into a standalone shield. Even though the shield itself was smaller than Tethys's, it was almost three times farther away and even straddled the wall itself, causing a small commotion in the neighboring room. Emory also didn't seem as exhausted by the action as Tethys had been. After the girls had a quick giggle, Emory waved her hand, and the shield came down.
"How did you do that so easily?" Tethys pouted, "Is everything magik just easier for you?
Emory shook her head, "It's not that straightforward. Now that I know what I am and have tapped into that power a little, it definitely helps. But you have to remember, I've spent more time studying and practicing general magik since I was a young girl than many adults have. I know how to perform all the motions already from that dedication to raising my general magik."
"Still, that only explains the speed you learn techniques," Tana pointed out, "Since we're all around the same age, all of us should have similar stamina levels. Obviously, there are outliers, but you're in a class of your own."
"I think you're underestimating how beneficial training can be. The technique that I showed to all of you to draw in more magik; I've been doing that for years. Each time you do it, you can expand the 'container' inside yourself," Emory elaborated further. The girls slowly agreed as they considered the cumulative effect the training would have on Emory's body.
"That all makes sense," Sam started slowly, "But don't you think you would've hit your limit eventually? Everyone has their own limit to the amount of magik they can harness at one time, a limit that's determined at birth. If you haven't hit yours yet, your training will just accelerate the path towards that limit."
Emory paused before responding, "I'm not sure if there is a limit. At least, if there is a limit, it must be astronomically high. Sure, stretching your 'container' does have diminishing returns after a certain point, but I've never felt it stop. I think the idea of having a limit was created for one reason or another. Even if there is a limit, the vast majority of people could stand to be better at either shaping the magik they can control or drawing it into themselves."
"No limits, huh?" Tana commented as she drew her blade from its scabbard, "I used to believe in limits, not because they make sense, but because I thought I was getting close to mine. But the more I'm around you, the more I believe you. Look at the difference between what I used to be able to do and now." At first, her blade glowed a light blue color, and it felt a little colder around it. Each one of the others inspected it, but it wasn't anything spectacular to see. Then Tana smirked, squeezed harder on the hilt of the blade, and swung it out from over her legs. As she gripped the weapon, a spiral of blue flame wrapped around the blade beginning from the cross-guard. Now the temperature of the whole room had dropped a few degrees with a cold air seemingly blowing off the sword.
"How did you do this?" Tethys gasped as she gazed at the beautiful weapon.
"The more I practiced with the new tips Emory suggested, the stronger it grew," Tana grinned, swinging the sword around a little, "It might be strong enough to cut through your shield now."
Emory returned the grin, "See? Tana thought she hit a limit, but she was wrong. I think we should at least train like there isn't one." All of them smiled while Tana continued to twirl her blade around for a tiny snow effect in the room.
~~~
High in the forest at the end of the frost line stood a wooden castle or mansion of sorts that overlooked an evergreen valley nestled between two mountain peaks. Although, to any average inhabitant or passerby, this architectural masterpiece was completely invisible. Still, an ancient stained-glass window at the peak of this several tiers high had the perfect view into the valley below. A tall, thin, blonde man looked out to the idyllic woodland as if he was a tree spirit tending to its lands. After staring out into the distance for an hour, he leaned forward to see a large bear dashing toward the house. This was not only an unusually large bear, three feet taller than a polar bear, but it was also a deep forest green color. A smile cracked on the man's face as he reached out his hand to create an intricate stave from his palm roughly the size of a large cane. The man rapped it against the floor three times and began tapping his toe a minute later. Finally, three minutes later a slender blonde young man rushed up some stairs in the back of the room.
"Lord Perceval," the young man greeted the older man with a kneel, "How can I be of service?"
Perceval grimaced, "Franz, if you intend to succeed me someday, you must be more disciplined. Please announce to the house that we will be having a guest. I will be down shortly to meet them."
"Please don't trouble yourself, Lord," Franz replied while he remained kneeling, "I can bring them to you."
"Nonsense. This is the kind of guest I must speak with personally. Now, go get the house ready," Perceval commanded. Franz nodded and bolted down the stairs to tell all the other members of the mansion to prepare for an important guest. At least he believed the guest to be important as the lord of the castle didn't personally greet just anyone.
Perceval strolled over to the steps and slowly made his way down. Though he did not look older than a middle-aged man, he certainly moved like a man in his twilight years. Still, who could say if this was due to his actual age being that old or if the sphere of magik he mastered had this latent effect. His mid-back straight blonde hair seemed to float along behind him as if he was always moving much faster than his true pace. And as people ran furiously around him, the constant sound of his cane kept the traffic out of his way. Despite his seemingly slow pace, the front door knockers rang throughout the house just as he entered the foyer. Franz ran to the door and took a deep breath before opening the door a bit.
"Good morning, ma'am. How may I help you?" Franz asked the woman standing on the other side of the door. She was a little shorter than average, but her other features made this hardly noticeable. Forest green hair grew like a bush until the center of her back while a buffalo skin cloak clung to her body's natural curves.
Her smooth voice replied, "I'm here to see the Lord of the house. I come on behalf of the Council." After saying this, the woman raised her hand to reveal a ring with a small crest on top.
"Lilina," Perceval called from inside the mansion, "You should have called first. We would have prepared better to greet you. Franz, bring in our guest." Franz bowed as he led Lilina into the grand foyer. It was rustic and impressive with several rare wood accents but devoid of animal skins.
"Perceval, are you sure you should be moving around so much at your age? Surely your First could have led me to your chambers," Lilina jested as she reached out to shake Perceval's hand.
"Like the mighty redwood, though I may be advanced in years, I continue to thrive," Perceval smiled as he shook her hand and led her into the house, "So tell me, why does a Lady leave her realm to visit an old man?"
Lilina whispered, "I know you must have felt the surge in magik coming from the nearby stars over the last few weeks. I've come to seek your guidance." The two, one seven feet tall and the other just over five, strolled through the long empty hall towards a sunroom. Once inside, natural sunlight highlighted an array of colors from hundreds of flowers. They sat in two hammock hanging chairs with a small cherrywood table in between them.
"Ah, I forget how rare these events are anymore," Perceval chuckled, "You were still a First when the last one happened. I believe an Aurelias has tapped into their latent power. A strong one at that." A servant quickly rushed in with a tray of juices and set it on the little table before leaving just as fast. Perceval poured himself a red pulpy juice as Lilina sat with her mouth open.
"I thought when we lost Cassandra," Lilina mumbled, "I thought that was the end of the line. How is this possible?"
"There are two possibilities. Either Cassandra had a child in secret, or her sister did. Clearly this youngling had not activated their dormant power until recently. Would you like sweet or sour? Perhaps a neutral like dragon fruit?" Perceval nonchalantly asked.
"Why are you so casual about this?" Lilina snapped, "We must find this child."
Perceval laughed, "Why are you in such a rush? Can a child unite the Council and bring peace to us?" He poured a pink translucent juice into a goblet and pushed it towards the flustered woman.
"No, I'm not that naïve," Lilina huffed before she took a drink of the juice, "But what about their education? They know nothing of our rules or their place in our world. Doesn't that bother you?"
"Not in the slightest. In fact, I think it may be better if they are ignorant of our past ways. The Council needs to change. I thought the Mantoan would cause us to grow the way we were intended to or the crises of the past, but we never do. You're still a new Lady, yet even you should be able to sense the power of this child," Perceval mused.
Lilina nodded, "Not only is this one strong, but the rate of their growth has been incredible. Were Cassandra and Roselyn like this?"
"No," Perceval grinned as he leaned in, "They were less than half as strong as this child is from the start of their pulses. And they were on Earth! Can you imagine the potential?"
"Even more reason we should find them! They should be here, learning to lead," Lilina protested.
"I say let them grow a little on their own for now," Perceval shook his head, "Still, we should call for a meeting for the full Council. The eminent return of the Mantoan would be enough to conclave if we were who we were supposed to be."
Lilina swirled her glass, "Tell me honestly, Perceval. Just how powerful is this child compared to Cassandra?"
"Powerful? I cannot say. Lady Aurelias could cast the strongest magik in each of her spheres while I can only imagine this child has only just begun to study the depth of Arcane, let alone a second one or Meta form," Perceval explained as he too swirled his glass, "However, I can tell you this. I have only felt more than this much magik from another person twice, both times it was her performing actual miracles. The first time, she activated Meta form and kicked the Mantoan off Earth. The second time, she defeated the Mantoan general on Triton, but I don't know if she had activated Meta form then. Yet based on the frequency of these pulses, this is in normal form. I mean, this is their passive strength."
"You mean you never felt Lady Aurelias's magik at this level in her normal form?" Lilina gasped as she nearly dropped the drink.
Perceval beamed, "When she was at her strongest, she was very far away, but at the start of the war, she could not control this much magik. This very well may be the child of destiny. I never thought I'd see the day in my lifetime."
"The child of destiny?" Lilina scowled as she regained her composure, "What do you speak about Perceval?"
"Ah, I assumed your Lord before would have shared this with you. Let me call Franz first, and then I'll tell you about a tale from long ago," Perceval began as he rapped the end of his cane against the hardwood floors.
Moments later, Franz came through the doors and bowed before the two, "Lady. Lord, you summoned me. How can I be of service?"
Perceval smirked, "Franz, reach out to all the Lords and Ladies and request a Council meeting. Tomorrow morning at our house."
"Of course, Lord Perceval," Franz obliged as he left his position, "I shall also prepare the house for more guests. Lady Lilina, will you be spending the evening with us?" She turned to Perceval, not realizing he had intended to act this quickly, then looked back at Franz and nodded. Franz bowed again before leaving, though the sounds behind the door echoed in chaos and panic, but Perceval just smiled and refilled his glass.
"So, you've certainly heard of the legends of the Aurelias clan?" Perceval restarted his tale.
"Of course," Lilina affirmed as she too poured herself more juice, "It was said that they were first led by Merlin Aurelias, and he started the Council of Witches. Also, he was regarded as the most powerful witch of all time."
Perceval took a sip before continuing, "By your tone, I would guess that you believe that to be just a fable. However, you forget just how old I am; can you believe I turned four hundred thirty-seven this past Saturnalia? Still, even though I never met the man, I know he lived."
"But he's dead now," Lilina scoffed as she tried to move the story along, "What does this have to do with a so-called 'child of destiny'?"
"He is said to have had the power of foresight, a gift not seen since his days. And in his final days, long after he had left the Council and turned over leadership of his house to another, he approached the Council and told them of one of his future descendants he had seen in a vision," Perceval recalled.
"Foresight?" Lilina mocked, "Certainly you have lost your mind if you believe someone could see the future."
Perceval sighed, "Just listen, youngling. He warned the Council that they had become greedy, holding all the magik knowledge for themselves, and that a child from his line would be born during a time of great upheaval. This child would lead the Council back to its true purpose, through their own volition or through force."
"I don't understand," Lilina scrunched up her face, "You're saying a single person strong enough to force the whole Council to kneel? That's crazy. No one could be that strong."
"It is incredible to think so a person would exist, I agree. But let me ask you this then. Even when we leaders flexed our muscles against the Mantoan, did you ever feel magik this strong?" Perceval countered.
"No, I didn't. Even sitting here with you, one of the most powerful leaders, I don't feel this presence," Lilina conceded quietly, "Then what should we do? How do we deal with someone this powerful?"
Perceval shrugged, "I would suggest nicely. Look, we can assume that this child is on Mars, right? Doesn't your brother and his family live on Mars? Reach out to them and see what they know. Then rest before our meeting tomorrow; it is sure to be interesting."