Before I could say anything, the door closed, and I was alone. Turning to the bed, I sat up and grabbed the shirt she had balled and thrown in the box, folding it and placing it in gently.
“I love you too, Cory.” I whispered.
◆◆◆
Cory
As I descended the stairs into the kitchen, I held my hand out in front with a floating ball of a jade green light. Turning to the counter, I waived my other hand and thin cords of black metal melted out of the top and formed into a bracket just big enough to hold the orb of light that I set down.
I hope he uses his magic to pack the rest. Pappy will be so annoyed when he gets here and finds out that Az isn't finished.
I turned and opened the fridge to grab a late-night snack when I heard a rustling from the backyard. Closing the door slowly, I picked up the orb and silently went to the window to look into the yard. Squinting into the dark, I thought I could see something moving close to the orange tree. Lifting the orb closer to my face, I whispered a small phrase before letting it float into the air and phase-out of the window to float towards the tree. As it got closer, I could make out the movement as a mist shifted across the ground around a cat that was curled up looking like it was fast asleep.
Odd, I didn’t think any of our neighbors had a cat.
I let the ball of light dissipate and turned when I heard a car door from the front of the house. Rushing into the hallway, I almost ran into Pappy as he came in.
“Well, hello to you too, my dear Cory. I see you look just as put together as usual. But you did miss some of your mascara there. I promise I'll forget that I had seen that.” Pappy said, winking at me.
“Thanks, Pappy. I’m just trying to stay strong for Az, but it's not working very well.” I said, “Along with wondering what’s going to happen now. I was really hoping to use my potential rating in mental magic to get a nice position somewhere around here. But, I guess that’s not going to happen now.”
“Don’t worry about that, you’ll be able to use that rating anywhere in the world if you wanted to. And you could always come back and see your friends if you end up somewhere else. For now, we can just get settled into your rooms at mine and your grandma's house. I’m sure there are some decent places close to the island that you can apply at.” Pappy said sympathetically. “You won’t be away from here forever either. The house has been in the family for a long time. You’ll always be able to come back to the shop if you need to.”
“No, she won’t.” Az declared as he came down the stairs. “The shop is mine since I only got a promising mark in alchemy. She has the potential mark, so she’ll always be the top candidate and businesses would be stupid not to snatch up a hag like her.”
“We could always work together in the shop, troll breath.” I sneered at him.
“Alright, you two. Stop the bickering before you get too heated,” Pappy interjected chuckling, “I believe that you both will do great things. No matter whether or not you will both have to come back and run the shop here.” He sat back more into the couch and folded his hands in his lap. “Now, before we get any farther, are you done packing?”
“I got mine done yesterday. Az wasn't even close earlier.” I said while looking pointedly at Az.
Pappy looked at Az for a moment before nodding slowly. “I figured that one or both of you might have been reluctant. No matter, this procrastination I will bear since the reason is very valid. Cory, let's go help Az finish so we can be off. We'll talk more about the different places that might be hiring when we get back to my house.”
◆◆◆
Cory
Tape rolled across the top of the last three boxes as Pappy, Az and I finished the room an hour later.
“Jeez, Az. The next time I have to help you clean your room, you had better at least get rid of the garbage first.” I said disgustedly as I wiped my hands on my jeans.
“You're the one that tried picking it up with your hands. You should have used magic.” Az said mockingly as he tried not to laugh.
“Cory, he's a teenage boy. He's bound to be even dirtier than that. I'm sure he cleaned up more than he'd like to admit, so he wouldn't have been embarrassed. I was like that too.” He added before Az could object. “It’s actually good for a male Madgie to be messy this young. It helps feed their magic in a way that cleanliness can’t. For young lady Madgie, however, you must have things stay as clean as possible. If it were reversed for either, the magic in your genes would change in a bad way. That’s where most of those swamp hags that you favor with your expletives come from.”
“That’s absurd, Pappy. If it were true, then what happens to male Madgie that were always clean?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“They get obsessed with being clean. So they grab every cleaning product they can and scrub their skin off because of all the bacteria and dirt. If you don’t believe me, I have a video of my brother doing it. Highly fascinating if I do say so.”
“Ew, that’s nasty Pappy! I don’t want to watch some poor guy doing that to himself. How can you find it fascinating?” I stared at him with wide eyes.
“Go eat a worm, you squealer.” Az sneered at her before turning to Pappy. “Is that really true? Do male Madgie have to stay somewhat dirty?”
“Of course not, you silly toad. I had to have a little fun with you two. I fully expect you to keep at least a moderately clean room while you are living at my house. You never know what may be lurking in a garbage heap around Madgie. I had a goblin try to lay siege to my bed in the middle of the night once. My mother was not happy to hear me try to explain that a skylight would be a wonderful addition to her house when I woke up, shooting fire everywhere.” Pappy gazed off as if reliving a bad memory. “I was confined to my room for a month, cleaning the entire room, and then I had to fix the roof and the ceiling. But it had its benefits. I learned not to be so messy or there would be consequences that I would not like. And you will also learn those consequences if I ever find that you have a horribly messy room. Now, since everything is done in here, how about we get everything loaded in the car and we can head home?”
“I guess so. I just don’t want to leave. This has been our home for our whole lives Pappy. I wish we could stay.” I said longingly as I stroked one of the walls. My eyes were glistening with unshed tears. “It feels wrong to just leave.”
“Cory, I want to stay too. But you know it’s better that we make our new home at Pappy’s house. We’d be too depressed here, and it wouldn’t be good for us. Besides, we can come back at some point.” Az picked up a box and started for the door.
“What do you think you’re doing, Az? We’re not carrying everything out and putting it away. Set that thing down and I’ll show you how we pack everything into a Madgie car.” Pappy went to the middle of the room and pushed the sleeves of his light baggy shirt up his arms, he waved his hands in a circular motion, creating a deep green haze that he cast over every object in the room that needed to be moved out. He pulled the last box sitting by the door that was still empty and put it in the center of the room, then waved at the mist again, making it swirl up and into the box. Once it all fit inside, the flaps closed and sealed themselves.
“Now that’s how you pack an entire room. In one box, then that one box fits great in a small space.” Pappy said with a grin.
“Awesome!” Az exclaimed. “That’ll make it all go even faster.”
“Yes, it will.” Pappy said, pulling out a scrap of paper from a pocket. “Here are the instructions on how to do this spell, go on and get the rest of the house done. I’ll go out back and see what I can get sent over from the garden.”
◆◆◆
Az
Cory and I walked into the kitchen together about fifteen minutes later. As we were about to start getting everything packed, Pappy walked in from the backyard.
“Ah, good. You guys finished everywhere else then?” He asked.
“Yup, the kitchen and pantry are the last of it.” Cory replied.
“Do you think we should just take the oranges back outside and put them under the tree?” I asked. “I don’t want any of us accidentally using them.”
“Oranges? Why wouldn’t you want to bring them?” Pappy asked.
“They’re from-” I started, but was interrupted from Pappy’s phone.
Pappy pulled it out and checked the caller id, sighing he answered.
“Look George, I thought I said I needed the rest of the week off to get my grandkids situated.” He said in an annoyed tone. “Wait, what? Why would they take that?”
He sat down at the table and put his head in his other hand while still talking.
“That gun has been dormant for so long that nobody even knows what type of magic it held in the first place. Just that it was some pretty potent stuff. When did this happen? How did they get past all the security at the Smithsonian?”
Pappy listened to the other end of the line for a moment longer and then stood, “I’ll be there as soon as I can, don’t let anyone in or out until I say differently.” He disconnected the phone and turned to me and Cory, “Have all the books been packed already?”
“Only the books in our rooms. The spell books and research books are all in the pantry.” Az said.
Pappy opened the pantry door and walked in, going over to the wall with the bookcases. He started looking at all the titles, running a finger down each spine individually and muttering to himself.
“Pappy, what are you looking for?” I asked.
“A couple of research books about weapons. There is one that lists thousands of different weapons, where they were found, and where they are now. The other is the book that gives information on what we know about each weapon. What type of magic it held, and what we believe it was used for.” Pappy said absently.
“Why wouldn’t they make one book for all the information?” Cory asked.
“Because each of the weapons listed in them are far too powerful, and we believe they were used for very bad intentions. We didn’t want someone to get ahold of one book and know everything we do and then use that information for more evil.” Pappy replied, still looking through the books.
“Well, if nobody has been able to figure out what type of magic this gun held, or what it could have possibly done, then why is it something that might be very dangerous?” I asked. “How long has it been around and sitting in the Smithsonian?”
“It has been in the Smithsonian since the place was founded in 1846. But this weapon is much older. If I remember correctly, it was found in the late 1600s. I don’t remember the exact date. But it was kept in various locations by different scholars that attempted to figure out exactly what it did.” Pappy said. “When it was first found, half of the team to dig it up died until someone decided that it needed to be handled in a way that nobody touched it with their skin. It apparently had a glow around it when it was first found. But after those people died, the glow disappeared. Every test done on it has only been able to get traces of magic. They believe that it was created sometime in the early 1500s.”
“Ok, so it’s a really old weapon that once held some pretty powerful magic. But if it’s possibly dead magic now, then what’s the big deal if it isn’t recovered immediately?” Cory asked.
“Because, if the wrong person gets ahold of it and possibly has some type of information as to what it was, it could be very bad.” Pappy said. “Now, enough questions. We need those books found now.”
Cory and I helped him search through all the books to see if they could find a research book on any weapons. But after half an hour of looking, we couldn’t find anything.
“I swear both of those books were here. I gave them to your father when your parents opened up the shop.” Pappy said. “Do either of you know of any other books? Anywhere in the house?”
“The only other books that I know of were our own books in our rooms.” Cory said, “I never kept any of the books from in here or took them past the kitchen table, really.”
“Um, I think I know of one.” I said slowly, “I don’t know exactly how to get it though. Mom and dad were looking at it when we came down for breakfast that one day when they told us about camp Cory. It was on the table when we walked in.”
“Did you see where they put it?” Pappy asked in a hurry.
“Well, when we walked in, mom's Madgie mist covered it and it looked like it got pushed into the table.” I said, walking out of the pantry and stopping by the table I pointed in the center, “It was right here.”
“Pushed it into the table, you said?” Pappy asked, “Hmm. That sounds more like a portal spell to me.”
Pappy tried a few different times to get the book out of the table, even knocking in different sections to see if there was a hollow spot.
“What if we tried sending our mist through the table?” Cory asked. “See if we can push anything out?”
“That’s a thought. Why don’t you try it out since it was your idea?” Pappy said.
Cory raised her hands and let her jade colored mist form just over her hand. Then walking around the table, she held her hand just underneath the table and left a trail of her mist behind. Once it connected at the point she started, it spread out and connected in the center, then slowly rose up and into the table, seeping in like water into a sponge. After a few moments, the edges of the top of the table looked as if it was leaking the mist back out, with the mist rising in a slow wave from the outside in. They all exhaled when the outline of a book did appear in the center, and then her mist disappeared, leaving the book sitting on top of the table.
“Now that is something I want to learn how to do.” I said. “Hiding a solid object inside of another solid object? Genius.”
We all leaned forward and looked at the pages it was opened to. Describing an orange-colored peacekeeper quarterstaff.
“Yes, this is the one that explains what we know about each of the weapons.” Pappy said, flipping through the pages until he landed on a page about a weird-looking gun with some gears coming out of the top, and an odd chamber in between. “This is the gun that was stolen earlier. And yes, I was right. All we know about it is that it was found on a dig in Athens in 1688. Three people died, and then it was transferred from there to New York for further study. Nobody that has had it since has been able to figure anything out about it.”
“Well then, let’s go to the Smithsonian and figure out what happened. We can help you get it back, Pappy.” Cory said.
“Oh no, this is a job for the council and MICAWs. You two are much too young. Not to mention you don’t even work for either faction.”
“Then hire us as understudies for the council.” Az said. “You’re the head of the council, you have the authority for it.”
Pappy smirked. “I knew I’d be having some difficulties with you two as soon as I told your grandma you would be moving in with us.” He said. “Alright fine, for the sake of time, and knowing how stubborn this family is, you’re hired. Let’s go.”
Pappy dug out his phone and hit a button, bringing it to his ear.
“Alright George, send Chris to take us to the Smithsonian. Yes, all of us, they’re my understudies.”
Cory
“Thank you Chris.” Pappy said to the man after we were all through the portal and it was closing behind us.
We turned to the building on the right with all the MICAW cars and an ambulance close to the doors, and headed over. Stopping only briefly for Pappy to show his badge to the officer at the tape cordoning off the area. Once past the tape, we stopped at the ambulance and spoke to the MICAW agent there.
“Officer Hengel. Can I get a quick word with the security officer that was on duty when this happened?” Pappy said to the man after showing his badge again.
“Yes sir, she just got done being checked by the paramedics and is just waiting to be released. She got a pretty nasty bump on the head.” Officer Hengel turned to the woman sitting in the back of the vehicle. “Ms. Charter, this here is Council m
ember Jimmer Stone. He’s here to get some information before we send you home.”
Ms. Charter lifted her head and looked at Pappy, one eye swollen almost completely shut. Blood matted her hair to the right side of her face.
“Good morning, Council member. It’s nice to meet you.” She said as she went to stand.
“No need for that, Ms. Charter. Please, stay seated. I only have a few questions and then I’ll have officer Hengel take you home so you can get some rest.” Pappy said, gently holding her arm down so she stayed seated. “I was told this happened around two in the morning, correct?”
She nodded.
“Do you remember what you had seen?” Pappy asked, “Any potential suspects you could describe or any vehicles you may have seen?”
“I had just come outside for my smoke break after I did a round of the floor, I didn’t see any vehicles. The only thing I remember was seeing a cat sitting about five feet from the door as if it was waiting for me. I want to say I think it was a Shifter because it looked like it might have had different colored eyes. It did have a split coloring on its fur, though. One side black, the other side orange. And then I don’t remember anything else from there aside from waking up to my partner finding me.”
Pappy had taken a small notepad from his pocket and wrote down the description of the cat, nodding.
“Was there anything else before this that you can remember that might have seemed odd?”
Ms. Charter screwed up her eyes and thought for a moment.
“None that I can think of. It all felt like any normal day. Get here, do my rounds every half hour, have lunch, do my rounds again, have a smoke break, then do rounds a couple more times before morning shift gets here. I rarely ever speak with or see anyone else aside from my partner. And he’s on the opposite rounds as me, so we don’t really interact a lot during our shifts.”
Stone Cold NV: World of Sin, Book 1 Page 10
