“Student activity is closely monitored for your own good.”
Even Grace looked affronted. “You were watching us?”
“Well, your whereabouts, not technically you.” He stopped talking suddenly and looked at the two girls strangely. “Why were the two of you headed to the academic buildings?”
Eve glanced at Grace before responding. “We weren’t. We were just exploring.”
“That isn’t what the map showed. It showed your destination as Seimei Hall.”
Taking note that whatever tracking they were doing of their students also showed the subject’s final destination, Eve narrowed her eyes at Henry. “What’s in Seimei Hall?”
With a sigh, he motioned forward on the path, past a group of people playing in a water fountain. At least, it appeared at first as if they were playing. As Eve passed them, she saw that they were making shapes with the water, bending and twisting it to their whim.
She should have brought a notepad with her, she thought as she stared. This short trip through the quad had proven to be more informative than anything else so far.
“It’s the administrative building, where you will find the offices of your professors and deans. It also holds our Academic Hall of Fame and Student Achievement Center.”
Eve couldn’t help but notice the twinkle in Grace’s eyes. The hope that somewhere inside that building there would be a mention of her father.
They followed Henry through the hedge maze, becoming more disoriented with every step until neither was sure which direction led back to the dorms. Finally, the old Victorian building Eve left a few hours prior came into view.
“This should look familiar,” Henry said as he climbed to the top stair. “This building also holds the RA’s office.”
Eve wasn’t extremely well versed in college procedures, but she’d seen enough movies to somewhat know how normal universities operated. “Aren’t RA’s supposed to live in the dorms with us? And be students themselves? Neither appears to apply to you.”
“Well, yes. But in Faust, your RA is also your guide. I am assigned two new students a semester until I graduate as part of my training. I assume, if you make it to that point, you will be too. You see, twice as many people start Faust than finish.” He focused his full attention on them, sizing up Eve and then Grace in a way that made Eve feel as if she was lacking. “Statistically, one of the two of you will not make it to graduation.”
“So, people drop out a lot?” Grace asked nervously.
Henry started moving again toward the entrance of the grand estate. “Or they flunk out. Or go mad. Or die. It’s really a toss-up here,” he called over his shoulder as if it was standard conversation.
“Yeah,” Eve mumbled to herself as she followed him inside. “That really makes me feel comfortable.”
“Faust University is not here to make you comfortable, Ms. Revere. It is here to give you access to the infinite well of knowledge that our founder was able to uncover. It is here to push the boundaries of all that you know and understand, to show you the fantastic and wonderful things that others are blind to. But with that comes the risk that you will be unable to handle it. That you will fold under the pressure of all that is available to you. Not all are meant to hold this kind of power.”
“With great power comes-” Eve started but Grace cut her off with a wilting look.
“Do not finish that sentence. This shit is already surreal enough.”
Inside the foyer to the building, engraved signs pointed this way and that, leading around in another maze. The only source of light were large ornate chandeliers that seemed to drip down from the ceiling like spiderwebs. The chill in the air left Eve letting go of Grace’s arm to fold her own around her middle section tightly.
“This place is more like a morgue,” she whispered to no one in particular.
“That would be in the basement,” Henry responded curtly.
Eve shook her head. “Of course it is.”
“Did the map thingy say where we were going in the building? Exactly how accurate is it anyway?” Grace asked as they walked forward.
Henry turned down the hallway that was marked as leading to the Hall of Fame. “It’s not a precise science. But it generally gets things right.” He held out his hand in a sweeping motion. “I am curious though. Of all the things to risk your life wandering around for, why this? Why long dead Faust alumni?”
Grace and Eve shared a look. They were indeed looking for information on Faust alumni, but not any who were long dead.
They inched forward, taking in the rows of trophy cases and portraits, some of which were labelled as dating back to the 16th century, and some that looked even older.
Each case appeared to represent a few decades, though the timeline seemed to shift. Instead of exactly fifty years in each case, one would represent thirty years of achievements and the next would hold eighty.
Eve looked at Henry. “What kind of system are these on? It doesn’t make any sense.”
“Each case holds a cycle.” He placed his bony fingers on Eve’s shoulder and turned her back around toward the entrance. She’d overlooked it before but the portrait of an old grey-haired man in robes looked down at her from a gilded frame. A chill went through her, as if his eyes were cutting deep into her soul.
Behind his shoulder loomed a black human-shaped cloud with piercing golden eyes.
Henry motioned at the man. “This is our namesake and founder. Johann Georg Faust.”
“And the cloud behind him?” Grace asked as she walked toward the painting, her feet dragging underneath her as if against her will.
“That is Mephistopheles. His own personal demon.” Henry cocked his head to the side. “How much do you know about the backstory to Faust, Ms. Revere?”
“Nothing.”
“You did absolutely no research after your acceptance? I find that hard to believe. Faust only accepts the brightest and most inquisitive. Those with a need, a hunger, for knowledge.”
“The only thing Google could give me was an old Marlowe play.”
“And have you read The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus?”
“It wasn’t exactly required reading.”
“It should be,” Henry responded with his hand over his heart in genuine offense. “Marlowe got as close as he could to the correct story without upsetting the headmasters. Or so he thought. Faust here,” he motioned to the painting again, “sold his soul to the devil for all of the knowledge in the world. And that is how he was able to open this institution, to pass that knowledge on to others.”
“I’m sensing a huge devil-sized ‘but’ here,” Eve interjected.
“And you are correct. Although it is more demon sized. You see, in order to hold him to his word, the devil assigned Faust his own demon. Mephistopheles, affectionately called Phylis, was sent to be both a messenger and an enforcer. He provides Faust with his orders and Faust is required to perform them. However, holding all of the knowledge of the universe can come in handy sometimes and Faust is always able to outwit the demon.”
Grace turned away from the painting for the first time since walking up to it. “Why are you talking in present tense? Wasn’t this hundreds of years ago?”
“Yes and no.” He paused and looked around the hallway before the lights began to dim around them. “The first time this happened was centuries ago. But Faust’s knowledge lives on beyond his mortal body, as does his curse. Every lifetime, Faust is reincarnated into a new student. And thus the cycle starts again. The first time they use their magic, the demon is released.”
“Ominous,” Eve said as looked back at the paintings between the trophy cases. Each painting held two people, people about her age. “So one of these is the reincarnation of Faust, but who is the other?”
Appearing behind her with lightning speed, Henry gestured to a painting of a blonde man and a man with black curly hair. “This,” he said as he pointed at the blonde, “was John Dimond. A reincarnation of Faust in the l
ate sixteenth century. And the man beside him was Francisco O’Hare, who was possessed by Phylis and later succumbed to the injuries he sustained during the possession.”
Eve walked closer and peered at the paintings. The fashions in them gave a sense of the timing as she moved forward to more recent years.
As she came to the last painting in the row, her loud gasp echoed throughout the hallway. “What the hell is my mother doing in this painting? She never came here. She wasn’t magical. This. No. It can’t be right.”
Her astonishment grew deeper as she looked at the plaque below. Rosamond Clark and Cooper Bishop. Class of 2000.
Chapter Six
“Grace,” she said quietly. “Grace, you’re going to want to see this.”
Grace’s white sneakers smacked against the hardwood floors and her white chunky-knit cardigan blew behind her as she ran down the hallway from where she was still staring at the painting of Faust.
“That’s my dad. You found him,” she said without missing a beat.
Grace threw her arms around Eve and began to jump up and down with excitement. Eve tried to remind herself that she was here to find answers to questions, not to fall for her dorm mate, but it was no use. She sank into Grace’s soft skin and even softer embrace.
But the moment she relaxed enough to enjoy the contact, Grace pulled away.
“Wait. Eve, why does the other person in the picture kind of look like you?”
She was barely holding on to Eve, looking at the portrait over her shoulder.
“That’s what I called you over here for. That’s my mother.”
“Your mother knew my father?”
Both girls looked down the hallway at Henry whose expression gave nothing away.
“Explain,” Eve said as Grace dropped her arms. Without the warmth of Grace’s skin against hers, the temperature in the room seemed to drop until she was nearly shivering.
His face grew solemn. “Rosamond was the last incarnation of Faust.” He didn’t continue. He didn’t have to.
By the way Grace was sinking to the floor and clasping her knees to her chest, Eve knew she’d already deciphered the rest of the story.
“What,” she said behind clenched teeth, “what exactly happened?”
Henry, showing the first true emotion since they’d met him, bent down beside Grace and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Cooper handled his possession the best the school had seen so far. Not only did he survive, there was very little long-term damage.”
“That’s bullshit,” Grace said as she jerked from under his touch. “I know that damage firsthand. He might as well not be alive anymore. He might as well have died here.”
“Not to change the subject, but there is no way my mother was the reincarnation of Faust. This can’t be accurate. There’s been a mistake. Rose Revere was basically a subservient little Stepford Wife. Not a powerful wizard with all the knowledge in the world,” Eve said as she paced up and down the hall trying to wrap her mind around everything.
Henry leaned against the wall with his arms folded in front of him. “There is no mistake. How the host and reincarnation choose to handle their experience here afterwards varies greatly upon the individual. We have seen it before. The reincarnation chooses not to act but instead, ignores it. Sometimes it is just too much.”
“Did you know?” Grace asked weakly.
He looked down at her. “Did I know what?”
“That they are our parents. That that is the reason we’re here?”
Henry stared at the tips of his immaculately shined boots. “No, I wasn’t aware until I saw the look on Eve’s face. We’re only given a list of names. Then everything clicked into place. Why the administration has been rumbling about the two of you. Why this assignment was so important. Why I wasn’t supposed to let you out of the dorm room until your trials.” He looked up, as though a thought was forming. “But one good thing is that since they are both still alive, we don’t have to worry about history repeating itself this school year at least.”
Grace’s head shot up as she searched Eve’s fallen expression. Eve, on the other hand, was frozen in place.
“What?” Henry asked as he saw the glances between the girls.
“Her mother is dead,” Grace said.
“No. That’s not possible. We keep track of these things.”
Eve walked forward, every step feeling like she was walking through wet sand. “Then someone failed to keep track hard enough. She died two years ago. She drove her car off an exit ramp and into a ravine. Not exactly hush hush.”
It was clear that Henry had more questions for her and the girls were swirling with confusion, but all of that was wiped away when a girl with curly red hair sheepishly poked her head into the hallway.
“Henry,” she called in an almost whisper. “We had an appointment.”
“Sorry, Athena. RA duties called me away. I am coming back for our-” He coughed loudly. “Tutoring session.”
And with that he pushed off the wall and headed down the hallway. Halfway down he turned around suddenly and flicked his wrist at them. A yellow glowing orb floated down the hallway until it reached their eyes and sunk itself into them. “You should be able to get to the dorms now without getting lost. Just don’t go south. You’ll end up at the beach and there are things in the water. Oh, and don't go north either. Lake Marlowe is very testy and what awaits within may eat you if you get too close.”
As they walked through the quad, which was quickly emptying of people now that the overly fake Van Gogh painting style sun was setting, the girls did indeed find that it was easier to navigate the hedge maze. Whatever was keeping them disoriented before was gone, and as long as they stayed on the path which passed by the statues, they appeared to be safe.
As Eve closed in on their dorm, the unmistakable smell of pot roast infiltrated her sense and rendered her in an unexpectedly euphoric state. She opened the door to room 108 and there was, in fact, pot roast on two plates placed atop a small kitchen table, which had not been there when they left. The center of the table held rolls and each plate was paired with silverware and an empty cup.
“Hell yeah,” Grace said as she walked in behind her. “It smells just like my mom’s.”
She sat down at one of the cheap metal chairs on each side of the table. As she touched the cup, it filled with some sort of brown liquid. Grace held it to her mouth hesitantly.
Eve scrunched up her nose as she took a seat across from her. “You aren’t seriously going to drink that are you? Who knows what it is or where it came from!”
“Relax. It’s sweet tea. I don’t think it would do them any good to poison their students on the first day.”
“I don't know, man. Nothing about this place is normal. I wouldn’t put it past them.” Eve eyed the cup as if it were a serpent in the grass. “The fact that we’re not even allowed to eat in the cafeteria like normal people should tell us that something is off.”
Despite her reluctance, the need to eat won out over Eve’s skepticism and the two dined in silence. Questions hung heavy in the air, but both knew the other didn’t have all the necessary answers. When they finished, the table disappeared and as soon as they got up from the chairs, those did too, as if the items appeared to interpret their needs like automatically flushing toilets.
Grace looked at her bed and then back at Eve. “Well, goodnight, I guess.” Her voice was shaky, as if she was scared to go to bed.
“Are you okay?” Eve asked as she picked up on her hesitation.
Grace sat down on the edge of her bed and looked up at Eve through drooping eyelids. “It’s been one hell of a day. Coming here and then finding out my father was possessed by some recurring demon wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when I woke up this morning.”
Eve’s hands stilled on the zipper of her suitcase. “I completely know what you mean.”
“I’m a bit scared of what nightmares this is going to generate.”
“How can I help?”
/>
“I’m not sure anyone can. But knowing I’m not the only one going through this is something..”
Eve pulled out her sleep shorts and an oversized t-shirt. “Well, if misery loves company, then it’s good we have each other.” She placed her hand on the doorknob. “Just let me know if you need me,” she called out as she headed out to the communal bathroom.
When she walked back in, Grace was curled up like a cat in her bed. She was trying to be good, but clearly Grace needed comfort and she didn’t want to be an ass. So she crawled under the comforter which somehow made its way from Boston with Grace’s help, and wrapped her arms around the sleeping girl.
Chapter Seven
Despite the emotional roller coaster after the discovery of Eve’s mother’s past connection to Faust University, the next morning there still remained the exams that every new incoming student needed to participate in.
Over a week’s time, the newly oriented freshmen to Faust University were assessed in the five different magical schools to determine where they would be placed for the remainder of their term.
Each morning began with a written test, and after a break for lunch, the afternoons were spent in the training fields for the hands-on portion of the exams.
While they were reading the schedules that magically appeared pinned to the back of their dormitory door while they were sleeping, the girls noticed they weren’t taking the same tests together, which saddened Eve.
“I don’t know anything about music,” Eve grumbled as she read over her schedule for the first day.
“Then it seems you won’t be a shoo-in for Magic of the Muses,” Grace mused as she sat on the edge of her bed, tying her sneakers.
“At least you get to start with something cool, like Summoning,” Eve conceded as she fell to her bed. “Maybe they’ll have you summon something delicious like coffee. Or cake.”
Grace frowned as she stared down at her fingers. “I doubt that.”
“Or tea?” Eve offered. “Or water. I’m sure they’ll let you summon anything you want.”
Academy of Magic Collection Page 29
