Instrument of Chaos

by Rebecca Hall

  “Yes,” Miriama said. “Want me to tell everyone that you’re straight?”

  “Err…”

  “You are straight aren’t you?”

  “Maybe,” Mitch said, checking the time again and wishing that their lecturer would hurry up. Why did she have to be late today?

  “Maybe?”

  “I need to think about it,” Mitch said, unable to meet her eyes.

  “Who needs to think about that?”

  “I do.” There was movement at the front of the room and then someone announced that class was cancelled.

  “Thank god,” Mitch said, shoving everything into his bag and fleeing the room.

  #

  Much to Mitch’s relief Nikola was awake when he got home. Slightly less to his relief Amelie was still home as well.

  “I was wondering how long that would take,” Amelie said, looking up from her breakfast when he closed the door.

  “What?” Mitch asked, pulling off his coat and leaving it to drip on the wooden floors by the door.

  “Nikola got an email twenty minutes after you left.”

  “Oh right.” Sometimes not being able to use wireless was a pain in the ass though all it would have saved him this time was an awkward conversation. The aether had a number of theories on how to make magic and wireless compatible but so far none of them had panned out. “Are your classes still on?”

  “Looks like it,” Amelie replied, finishing her breakfast.

  “I’ll see you later then,” Mitch said, going into his room to change and put away his blood before scuttling across the hall to Nikola’s room.

  “Welcome back,” Nikola said blearily.

  “Aren’t you glad that I convinced you to stay home?” Mitch smiled and lay down on his half of the bed.

  “I am,” Nikola agreed, watching him curiously in the half light instead of shuffling over as soon Mitch was comfortable. “What is it?”

  “How did you know?”

  “Know what?”

  “Um…” Mitch glanced at the door, wishing he’d had the forethought to close it. Amelie might be leaving soon but she was still here now.

  “I’m not a mind reader, Mitch,” Nikola said. The door swung shut.

  “Yes you are,” Mitch smiled.

  “Well, yes, but a proper conversation requires that both participants talk. Besides, it helps you process.”

  “Can we cheat this time?” Mitch asked.

  “I never really thought about it,” Nikola said. “I liked Tal, he liked me,” he shrugged. “I was raised by Morrigan and Gawain, I never had the same hang-ups about this as you.”

  “I just…” Mitch shuffled across the bed and hugged him. “You’re not helpful at all, you know that, right?”

  Nikola coughed, “I know.” He hugged Mitch back and then settled into his usual position of using him as a pillow.

  “Miriama asked if I was straight and I didn’t know how to answer,” Mitch said. It was easier to get the words out now.

  “That must have been some conversation.”

  “For her perhaps,” Mitch muttered. “Everyone thinks that we’re together you know.”

  “I do.” Nikola sighed. “Does it bother you?”

  “No, but… I’m with Amelie and… I like you, I like being with you. I guess I just never thought about it before. And I don’t know.”

  “That’s allowed,” Nikola said. “You’ll work it out.”

  “This would be so much easier if you could just give me the answers.” Mitch let out a frustrated sigh and stared up at the ceiling.

  “And it will be so much more meaningful if I don’t,” Nikola replied, rolling over to look Mitch in the eye. “There is one question that you should probably answer now though.”

  “What?”

  “Do you like Amelie?”

  “Uh…”

  “Not the declaration of love she’s hoping for.”

  “I do like her,” Mitch said hastily. “Most of the time.”

  Nikola laughed.

  “Oberon was right wasn’t he?” Mitch asked, enveloping Nikola in another hug. “Amelie and I aren’t going to last.”

  “I think that’s up to you,” Nikola said.

  “I know, I just wish it wasn’t so confusing.”

  Nikola laughed and after a moment Mitch joined him.

  Aroha

  “Did the pyromancer really get put out by the rain?” Amelie giggled.

  “It was heavy rain,” Mitch said, recalling the freak storm that had put an end to his duel with Aroha’s coven. In hindsight he realised that it had probably been caused by the Eternity War. He was just glad that it had only been a storm and not an earthquake or volcanic eruption.

  He leaned back on the bench and Amelie snuggled a little closer. It was one of those deceptive winter days with clear skies and a bright sun that looked as if it should be warm from the safety of inside. It hadn’t actually been that bad while they were walking, in fact it had been so not bad that they’d decided to stop in the botanic gardens and now Mitch was using magic to keep the cold at bay.

  “Pretty sorry excuse for a pyromancer,” Amelie said. “Can you imagine any of our teachers standing for that?”

  Mitch laughed. He didn’t think that any of their pyromancers would have let the fire go out regardless of how wet it was. Their teachers had been fond of demanding the impossible.

  “And the others were just as bad?”

  “Yeah, the weather witch looked as if she was milking a giant cow and Gwen trapped Aroha in her own illusion.”

  “And she’s the one Miriama warned you about?” Amelie asked with a raised eyebrow.

  Mitch shrugged, “Maybe she’s been practising. We should get going,” he added, eyeing the clouds forming on the horizon.

  Amelie sighed, “I guess, Nikola won’t be happy if we’re late for dinner.”

  “I think it’s chicken tonight,” Mitch said, pulling Amelie to her feet. “He’ll complain if it starts drying out.” He frowned, “That storm is forming really fast.”

  “What storm?” Amelie asked. “If you’re attempting to be metaphorical you’re failing.”

  “Those clouds,” Mitch said, they reminded him of the duel, perhaps because it was already on his mind. Probably just the Host, he thought. Again. But storms were better than earthquakes.

  “Over there?” Amelie pointed. Mitch nodded.

  “They’ll all wispy and white,” Amelie said. “You couldn’t fill a teacup with them.”

  “What?”

  “That one looks like a bunny.”

  Mitch frowned, Amelie sounded completely serious despite the grin but wispy and white weren’t the words he would have used to describe the clouds and they were distinctly non-bunny like as well.

  The wind picked up, whipping Amelie’s hair about like Medusa’s snakes and pulling at their clothes. Mitch frowned, for what looked like a howling gale it was awfully quiet and he couldn’t actually feel his clothes moving. He could feel traces of magic though and he doubted that he’d suddenly become sensitive to the Eternity War.

  “An illusion?” he said, wondering who could be that stupid.

  Amelie shrugged. “I was trained to see through glamours. If I can’t see it then it’s not there.”

  Mitch nodded, now that he was looking for them he could see the signs that the storm wasn’t quite right. The clouds weren’t as textured as they should have been, the lightning flashing across the sky too slow and orderly and lacking in thunder. Rain started to fall and again it was wrong. It fell straight down despite the apparent wind and he couldn’t feel it even though he should have been soaked to the skin in seconds.

  “We need to find her,” Amelie said, jumping to the same conclusion.

  “I know,” he replied. Aroha had to be nearby. That storm was directly overhead now and–

  He heard the squeal of brakes followed by the blaring of a car horn and he winced. The people on the road didn’t know that the storm wasn’t real a
nd it had reduced visibility to almost nothing.

  “There she is,” Amelie pointed further up the hill though Mitch couldn’t see anything through the illusory rain.

  “Lead the way,” he said. Amelie took his hand and pulled him through the rain. Aroha must have put everything she had into actually making the storm. The rain lost definition as it reached the ground and despite the downpour nothing looked wet.

  Aroha finally appeared through the rain. She was bundled up against the cold, her once bleach blonde hair now an unnatural shade of blue. She gazed intently at where he and Amelie had sat, either oblivious or uncaring of the chaos on the roads.

  “You’re responsible for this?” Amelie asked, gesturing at the sky. Mitch frowned, picking out the sound of sirens.

  “Pretty awesome isn’t it?” Aroha smirked. “I bet no one at your school ever did something like this did they?” she asked Mitch.

  “They know better,” Mitch replied. At least they did when they weren’t under the influence of the Twisted Curse. He still had nightmares about the zombie horse.

  “Do you think she’s underage?” Amelie asked. Mitch shrugged, underage or not she was old enough to understand the consequences of her actions. She should have known better than to use magic that might hurt someone. The sirens had resolved into two distinct sounds: ambulance and police.

  “I’m right here,” Aroha snapped. Mitch was impressed, she hadn’t stomped her foot.

  “Siegfried’s still here right?”

  “Yeah.” The ancient vampire wasn’t happy about it but until he found a replacement for Rana there wasn’t much he could do.

  “We’ll take her to Tartarus then,” Amelie decided. “I don’t want to deal with the Unseelie Court.”

  “Right,” Mitch said awkwardly.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Aroha demanded, glaring at both of them.

  “Dispel the illusion,” Amelie ordered.

  “Make me.”

  Amelie said something in Faerie and the storm vanished. Aroha sagged back against a tree, staring at Amelie with wide eyes and finally seeming to register the sirens and the ambulance racing towards the intersection.

  “I hope for your sake that you didn’t just kill someone,” Amelie said. “I’ll take her to the Netherworld,” she said, turning to Mitch. “You find Miriama, they won’t release her on her own.”

  “What? Where are you taking me?” Aroha asked but she didn’t sound as demanding as before and she seemed somehow smaller.

  “Tartarus,” Amelie said.

  “That’s for monsters.”

  “Your point?”

  Aroha turned to run only to be snared in Amelie’s magic before she could go two steps.

  “I will march you there like a puppet if I have to,” Amelie said. She turned Aroha around to face them and stared her in the eyes. “Try to run again and I’ll let the Unseelie Court deal with you.”

  “Amelie,” Mitch said, he was ninety-nine percent sure she wouldn’t actually do it but there was still that one percent.

  Aroha yelped and flinched back into Amelie’s telekinetic bindings.

  “He’s a vampire.”

  “Someone must have tried to train her properly,” Amelie observed while Mitch frantically checked his ring.

  “Wait,” he said, his brain finally catching up. “If you can see through glamour…”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Amelie smiled. “Now go get Miriama, I’ll be fine with her.” Mitch nodded, it wasn’t Amelie he was worried about.

  #

  Mitch drummed his fingers on the desk while he waited for the system to finish logging in. He’d checked two libraries, their lecturers’ offices and the tutorial rooms to no avail. There was every chance that Miriama had already gone home for the day, it was dinner time, but he had no idea where she lived. The best he could do was hope that she’d responded to the email he’d sent half an hour ago.

  “Finally,” he muttered when the computer finished logging in. He checked his email and cursed, Miriama hadn’t replied yet. Nikola had though.

  I’ll meet you by the campus store in twenty minutes.

  Mitch checked the time-stamp and swore again. He was already late. He hit the log out button and left as soon as he was sure it was listening.

  “Took you long enough,” Nikola said when Mitch found him sitting on the stairs right where he’d said he’d be.

  “I only just saw your message,” Mitch said. They had to have come in through different doors, there was no way he could have missed Nikola on his way to the central library otherwise. “You didn’t have to come. It won’t do us any good if she’s not actually here.”

  “I have other ways of looking,” Nikola said telepathically.

  “Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Mitch asked. “I could just go ask Aroha for the address.” Even if she didn’t know it she’d be able to tell him how to get there.

  “That only works if she’s home,” Nikola said. “I can do this Mitch, I wouldn’t have offered if I couldn’t.”

  “Are–” he sighed. “Let’s use one of the study rooms, that’s about as much privacy as we’ll get around here.”

  Nikola put a hand on his shoulder. “If you think I’m pushing too hard tell me to stop and I will,” he said.

  “Alright,” Mitch said. They went upstairs and peered through windows and at schedules until they found a study room that wasn’t in use. Nikola took a seat and Mitch sat opposite him, carefully not biting his lip.

  “She’s not on campus,” Nikola said after a long moment, his eyes refocusing on Mitch.

  “Damn it.” They’d been in the botanic gardens when they encountered Aroha but that was only a short walk from campus and that entire end of town was inhabited by students. Mitch just hoped that she didn’t live in South Dunedin.

  “If she’s that far away then you’ll have to ask Aroha,” Nikola said. “Too many people if I have to go that broad.”

  “Don’t push yourself,” Mitch said. “And no using your bracelets.”

  “That one is back in Faerie,” Nikola said. “Aunt Titania said it would be a bad idea with the impressions. Now hush.” His eyes lost their focus and he fell silent. Mitch drummed his fingers and the table and stopped, worried that it might distract Nikola. He bounced his foot up and down instead.

  “Nikola.”

  He didn’t respond.

  “Nikola,” Mitch repeated, shaking his shoulder. Nikola started and Mitch handed him a tissue. “Your nose is bleeding.”

  “I found her,” Nikola said, pressing the tissue to his nose.

  “Thank god.”

  “You pulled me out before I could give her a message.”

  Mitch groaned. “Can we just cancel the rest of the day?”

  Nikola smiled. “Don’t worry, talking to her is a lot easier than finding her was.” Mitch gave him a look. “Worry quietly then.”

  Mitch rolled his eyes and tried to worry quietly while Nikola worked. At least his nose had stopped bleeding though he was still white as a sheet.

  “Ugh,” Nikola said a minute later. “Why do people always assume that I have nothing better to do that voyeur my way through their minds?” He rubbed his head, blinking as he refocused on reality.

  “Is she coming?” Mitch asked, rummaging through his bag until he unearthed his half empty drink bottle and handed it over.

  “She’s coming,” Nikola said between gulps. “She’ll meet you in the Link in fifteen minutes.”

  Mitch sighed in relief, “You ok?”

  “Well enough,” Nikola coughed and took another sip of water. “The Host is nearby and the Fallen can’t be far behind, they never are.” He set down the empty bottle and slumped in his chair.

  “Go home and go back to bed Nikola,” Mitch said. “You’ve done enough.” After a second Nikola nodded and Mitch knew that despite his claims to the contrary he had to be feeling terrible to agree so readily.

  “Take these,” Mitch pulled th
e packet of tissues out of his pocket and handed them to him. “And thank you.” He shoved his bottle back into his bag and hugged Nikola before walking him out.

  #

  “He’s not here is he?” Miriama asked. Mitch started, almost spilling his coffee.

  “Who? You mean Nikola? No, he left as soon as he called you.”

  Miriama shuddered, “Good. What was so important you had to ask a telepath to poke around in my head anyway?”

  “Nikola isn’t interested in your head,” Mitch muttered. Miriama raised an eyebrow.

  “It doesn’t worry you at all does it? He can hear your every thought and you just don’t care.”

  Mitch shrugged, “He’s my best friend. We should get going, this took longer than I expected.”

  “Going where?” Miriama asked sharply, not moving from where she stood.

  “The…” Mitch sighed. “You sister caused a car crash, she was taken to the Netherworld.”

  Miriama gulped and fell into step beside him. “We usually deal with a representative of the Academy,” she said.

  “I don’t even know who that is,” Mitch said. “Aroha created an illusory storm in front of a vampire and a member of the Seelie Court. I think she was trying to show off or get even or something…”

  “You keep some strange company,” Miriama said with an odd grimace that Mitch thought was an attempted smile. “Let’s just get this over with.”

  “I don’t think it’ll be that easy,” Mitch said. If she wanted to believe that he was human then he’d let her, that wasn’t what was important now. “That storm attracted a lot of attention. The police and an ambulance were called out.”

  “The… the crash didn’t kill anyone did it?” Miriama asked, almost managing to keep her voice level.

  “I don’t know,” Mitch said. They’d find out soon enough. He fished out his medallion and pressed it to the Nethergate. “I don’t think so.”

  Miriama sighed in relief. “Your friend really didn’t go poking around in my mind?”

  “He has better things to do,” Mitch snapped, yanking the Nethergate open.

  “Good, I don’t want him seeing…” she trailed off.