Legacies

by Bebe Lightsmith

  “What up, bro?” Owen greeted me when I got into earshot. “Come have a seat with us.” Ivy was sitting on her knees with one of those paper fortuneteller things in her hands. She faced Toby, who looked entirely too happy to have her attention.

  “Oh aye, ya better watch out, Ryker might deck ya!” Garret laughed. He and his parents had just immigrated to the United States from Scotland a few years ago. I wanted to punch him again, but I refrained.

  “I’d like to speak with Ivy please if you don’t mind,” I said. Garret and Toby laughed, razzing each other up.

  “You don’t have to go with him love, you could stay here with me,” Toby said, leaning close to her. Ivy laughed, throwing her head back.

  “Should we leave it up to fate?” She asked, with a bit of mischief in her eyes. Turning on her knees, she then sat in front of me, holding up the fortuneteller.

  “Should I go with Ryker?” She asked and then held it up to me. “Pick a color.” As she stared up to me, I felt that hypnotized feeling again. Why couldn’t I seem to function around her? It was jarring and alarming.

  “Green,” I said because it was the first color that came to mind as I stared into her emerald eyes.

  “G-R-E-E-N” She flipped the paper with each letter. “Pick a number.” She then said, opening it to the middle portion. We did this a few times until she finally pulled it towards her and opened the flap.

  “Most definitely.” She read letting out a laugh.

  “Oh, come on! Redo!” Garret demanding.

  “Sorry boys, the universe has spoken.” Ivy laughed, standing to her feet. “And who am I to go against the plans of the universe?” She then gave me a pointed look, like we were sharing a private joke. I didn’t get it.

  I led her away from the others, towards the large fountain that set in the center of the square. Ivy kept silent, but the triumphant look on her face kept me uneasy.

  “What is it, Ryker?” She asked once she deemed we were far enough away. We were out of earshot of the others, but they could still see us. Looking over, Garret and Toby were staring at us. As knights, they could probably hear us, if they wanted to.

  “It’s just, we haven’t, you know, discussed everything,” I replied stupidly. I should have taken time to form a plan. Ivy shrugged.

  “I mean, I thought we cleared it up last night?” She replied with that wide-eyed innocent expression. The night before, in dream world, I had lost my shit. I yelled at her and told her to leave me the fuck alone. If I was stuck with her in dream world then fine, I’d stay on my side of the plain, and she’d stay on hers. Then, she pointed out, in the sassiest way possible, that it was all her plain. The shock of her reaction calmed my anger. I had yelled at her, insulted her, and that’s what she came back with? Owen was right, she was strange, but in the most difficult ways.

  “That wasn’t quite the discussion I had in mind,” I replied trying not to think of how the conversation ended in dream world, with me pulling her into my arms and kissing her mouth. I had no idea why I couldn’t control myself there. I wasn’t a barbarian or a primate; I should be able to control my urges. But in dream world . . . It was different, safe.

  “Alright then.” She said, waiting for me to go on. My mind went blank.

  “I just, I wanted you to know that that is all over now,” I said.

  “Alright.” She nodded with a huge smile on her face. That wasn’t the reaction I had expected, and my face showed it. She took a step closer, her eyes growing dark, “What? You want me to beg for you King of Knights?” She tilted her face up, so our lips were inches apart. My heart pounded in my chest as I stared into her bright eyes.

  “I um . . .” My mouth went dry; I had no words as she took another step closer to me, her chest grazing against mine. She gave me another look as if she was daring me to do something. Then, she flipped on her heel and walked back to join the others, leaving me standing there, staring after her like an idiot.

  What the hell had just happened?

  That question kept repeating over and over again in my mind. That was not how I expected that to go at all. And still, I just stood there and watched her! I was losing my mind. Muttering a curse, I turned and headed towards the gym. Entering the facility, I headed toward the locker room to change my clothes.

  “Ryker Pendragon.” I turned to find a beautiful older woman standing behind me. She had long silver blonde hair, and large exotic green eyes that slanted slightly upwards, and plump large red lips.

  “My lady,” I said, dropping to one knee and bowing my head.

  “Stand up, boy, let me have a look at you.” She said. I did as she told. I had never met her in person, but from pictures and videos, I recognized her. She was famous in Mythos, as she should be, but what she was most known for was her advocacy for the citizens of Mythos to work with the humans. She had been preaching that for a thousand years, and we were only just now starting to listen.

  Her eyes gazed over me from head to toe. I knew our paths would eventually cross, as she was Morgana and I was descendant of Arthur. Their history wasn’t clear. There were some rumors that they were lovers, others thought she was the bastard daughter of Uther, but most knew that they were best of friends.

  “My god, you look like him.” She said. I could detect a slight British accent.

  “Who?” I asked, not following her trail of thought.

  “Arthur, of course.” She replied. Her eyes ran over me again. “You’re bigger in stature, but your eyes, and the shape of your face, I see it.” I wasn’t sure what to do with that information. Did I thank her?

  “My lady, I did not know you were here,” I said instead.

  “But of course I’m here.” She replied in a haughty tone. “Who else is going to teach my granddaughter and the Emrys boy how to properly use magic?” She demanded.

  “I suppose you are the most qualified,” I replied, giving her a small smile.

  “Who is qualified to teach you?” She then demanded.

  “Agent Rogers, ma’am,” I replied.

  “Descendent of Hercules, I suppose he should be the one.” Morgana nodded, approving of the decision. We stood in silence for a long moment.

  “Was there something you needed?” I then asked, trying to be polite, but really I just wanted to go work out. Her eyes set on mine again, her eyebrow rising, showing her irritation.

  “Yes, I wanted to know what your intentions with my granddaughter are?” She demanded. I took a step back, wondering what she meant by that. “Ivy told me everything,” She explained, and then her eyes ran over me again. “Everything.” I felt my blood run cold as I realized what she meant. Morgana was from a time of courtships and arranged marriages. I had no idea what she thought of what happened between Ivy and me.

  “I swear, I did not know she was a real person.” I started cautiously. Her eyes began to sparkle, the green magic showing in them. I had noticed Ivy’s doing the same thing when she became excited or irked.

  “How did you access her dimension?” Morgana asked. I stared at her for a long moment, trying to both understand what she was asking and formulate an answer.

  “I don’t know.” I finally said.

  “You just went to sleep and arrived there?” Morgana demanded.

  “Pretty much.” I nodded. Her eyes narrowed.

  “Have you ever dream walked before?” She asked.

  “No, ma’am.” I shook my head. That did not seem to be the answer she was wanting, but it was the truth.

  “And now you keep walking to her dimension?” She asked.

  “I have no idea how to stop it,” I argued.

  “Yes, you do.” Morgana gave me a long look. “The universe listens to your wants, boy, and if it can, it grants them.” What was she saying? Her and Ivy shared the same sass. I could definitely see the family resemblance. Getting a double whammy of it was not what I had anticipated.

  “I don’t know what you’re saying,” I said after a moment.

  “Yes, yo
u do. And I want you to think about that long and hard before you go to sleep tonight.” She snapped. “Ivy is a smart, capable, powerful girl, but she is innocent and naive, that is my and her parent's fault, but that’s what it is. So, therefore, I want you to contemplate how this might be affecting her. Perhaps you can pull your head out of your own ego for just a few hours, King of Knights.” She snarled. Then with the same sassy movement, she turned on her heel and walked away. There I was again, left just staring after her, with my mouth wide open. Those Le Fay women were something else.

  Gathering my thoughts, I turned to go into the locker room.

  “Attention Cadets.” A voice through the intercom echoed off the walls. “Class A report to the testing facility, Class A report to the testing facility.” I released a series of curses as I made my way back out of the gym and towards the north side of the grounds. Over the horizon was a row of what looked like suburban houses.

  “This is bullshit!” I heard from behind me. Turning I spotted Owen jogging to catch up with me. “It’s Sunday! I thought this was illegal or something. Child labor laws and all that.” Owen bitched the entire walk over there. A scream and laughter brought my attention to the other side of the lawn. Ivy was walking with Garret and a few other guys also making their way towards the testing facility. Garret had picked Ivy up and set her on his shoulder. She cheered, raising her hands to the sky as the others laughed with her. Fury filled me like molten lava.

  Owen grabbed my arm. I hadn’t realized I was on my way over there. Shaking my head, I tried to get control of myself. I watched as Ivy and the others walked ahead.

  “You going to tell me what’s going on?” He asked. In all this, I realized, I hadn’t even told Owen.

  “Dude, just . . . the shits.” I didn’t even know where to start. I contemplated it while staring at Ivy. “I broke it off with Beth.”

  “Finally.” Owen huffed, “Christ, I thought that would never end.” Owen made it no mystery to me that he didn’t like our relationship. “But why did you?”

  “About a week ago, I dreamed of Ivy. Well, I didn’t know she was her then, but yeah, so we’ve been sharing these dreams ever since.” It felt good to finally tell him. I hated keeping Owen in the dark.

  “Well, Ivy does have dimensional magic, so it would make sense for her dream state to become its own dimension.” Owen assessed.

  “But how would I get there?” I asked. Owen knew a lot about magic. He wasn’t as knowledgeable as say, Morgana, but no one was.

  “I don’t know, man.” Owen shook his head, “I read one time, but this is just a theory, that some possess the magic to release their spirit from their bodies, to walk among the different worlds and plains that are around them.” Is that what Morgana was getting at? Was I one of those who could detach my spirit from my body? Then how did I get to Ivy’s plane? She was here, and I was on the other side of the planet.

  Then it hit me. I was on the other side of the planet, deep in Siberia, freezing my ass off while watching the older Knights conduct surveillance and collection on the Russian Mythos. I was thinking, while I fell asleep that night, about wanting to go home. Did my spirit get there only to be sucked into Ivy’s dimension? If so, then why would I be drawn to it? The second night, after I dream met Ivy, all I could think about as I went to sleep, was wanting to see her again. . . Was the universe listening to me? And if so, why?

  The class met Agent Rogers in the center of the street in which the houses lined.

  “Welcome to the Testing Facility.” He said with a large smile, gesturing to the twenty or so houses that line the street. “This will be your first test. Each of you will be assigned a house. Inside, you will find everything you need to solve the situation. That is all I can tell you. I and some other teachers will be watching you all through cameras set up in the house to understand your thought processes, but also to ensure you do not fall into a dire situation. This test is dangerous, but should not be fatal. You will have twenty-four hours to complete the exam. Your team names are taped on a piece of paper on each front door. Good luck.” He explained and then walked away.

  There were ten teams in Class A. Ivy caught up with Owen and me as we headed towards the nearest house. Focusing my eyes, I could see that the sign read “Team Trojan.”

  “Not us,” I said and then looked at the other houses. Zooming in my view, I found our house at the end of the street. It was by far the biggest of the houses, standing three stories, with a basement.

  Opening the front door, it looked like any house that an upper-middle-class family might own. All the rooms were tastefully decorated, and they even set out family photos and left dirty dishes in the sink. The only clue of foul play was that the kitchen table was turned over on its side, chairs were strewn across the room, and large kitchen knives were stuck into the wood. In the living room, there was a folding table set up with three computers, and a bunch of other equipment. A dossier sat on top. I reached for it, but Ivy snatched it giving me a glare, and then sat on the couch, opening the folder. She started to sort the papers on the coffee table, which drove me nuts because everyone knew that they put those papers in that order for a reason.

  “What are you doing?” Owen asked, sitting next to her.

  “Sorting by history, profiles, action, and protocol.” She explained, pointing to the four piles. Why would she do that? It was all mixed together that way for the sake of constructing a macro picture.

  “Why?” Owen asked. She stopped, turning to give him a smile.

  “Because then we know where we’re coming from,” She pointed at the history pile, “Who is involved,” profiles, “what happened,” action, “and how to approach the problem.” Protocol. “It’s a timeline.” Though it was simple, I had literally never thought of doing it that way. As she sorted through each paper, she stared at it for a long moment, her eyes moving all over the page, and then after a pause, she’d set it down.

  “How do you know what goes where?” I demanded.

  “I can read an entire page at once, and I have a photographic memory,” Ivy replied.

  I felt my eyes widen as I looked up at Owen. He gave me an I-told-you-so look. He had adamantly argued Ivy’s impressiveness. I already knew that though, from our conversations in dream world. Once the papers were sorted, Owen and I sat down and started to comb through the information. Ivy lay on the couch, her feet resting on the back, as she twirled a lock of her hair between her fingers and ate a sucker that she found in the candy dish. Had she actually read every page that quickly? She wasn’t looking over the notes, just staring off into space.

  Looking down at the files in front of me, I decided I better get started. Unlike Ivy, I was not a fast reader. I enjoyed reading and was adequate, but my speed was average at best. Owen hated to read, but even he could read faster than me. In the scenario, a dentist and a pediatrician owned the house. They had two children, ages five and eight. Three weeks ago the five-year-old female started to complain that there was a shadow in her room with wide yellow eyes. The parents, of course, did not believe her and chalked it up to her vivid imagination. Here’s a hint, kids are much more sensitive to magic and Mythos because their minds aren’t tainted with the sociological interpretations of logic and reason. Therefore, if a kid starts talking about monsters in their room, they’re probably seeing something the parents are not. Only the strongest of mythos spirits and apparitions can actually catch the attention of adults.

  The child complained of seeing the apparition every day in the early afternoon. Not all creatures wait till night to appear. Some can only create form during the day. The child then said that it seemed like the shadow was reaching for her, the oval-shaped yellow eyes glaring down at her, and a wide, shark-toothed grin.

  A fortnight after the girl started to complain, the boy also started seeing the shadow. It would greet him in the mornings. He described it looking exactly like his sister had described. The parents still had no idea until this morning. The family was seated a
t breakfast when suddenly they all felt weird energy in the air, like static, and goosebumps raised on their arms. Then the shadow appeared and started slinging kitchen knives towards them. Well, that explained the mess. The family was able to escape, and the dentist called the police. The police, of course, called MBI and diverted the adult attention to something else. They claimed it was a chemical leak in their pipes causing the hallucinations. Humans will believe anything to stay under the impression that they are at the top of the food chain. They loiter their superiority over the Earth and nature, killing it slowly with their selfishness, and will clutch onto their narrow perceptions with deathly grips.

  Regardless of the human's failings, it was either be an agent for the MBI or join the military. Owen and I chose the easy route. Besides, MBI has been recruiting knights since we were kids. In the generations before us, the knights had been more drawn to the military for their careers, but since wars are becoming less on the ground, the intelligence agencies are now receiving first dibs. The CIA even started a Mythos special forces of their own. For some reason, though, the MBI seemed right. Owen, being a part of the wizard race, would sooner peel off his own toenails than go against the plans of the universe, so the decision was easy.

  “It’s a dybbuk,” Owen said, setting the last of the papers aside. I wasn’t finished with the report, but I knew both Owen and Ivy had read it in entirety, there was no reason for me to read more.

  “What’s a dear-book?” Ivy asked. Owen shook his head.

  “D-y-b-b-u-k, it’s Yiddish.”

  “What is it?” Ivy asked again.

  “It’s a really pissed off spirit,” I explained, looking around the house anew. Dybbuks were dangerous creatures, unpredictable, and could appear anywhere.