by W. M. Martin
CHAPTER EIGHT
6 months later within the Veil
1 year total away from Earth
Time at the Kindred Academy had seemed to pass quickly for Maggie and for all of her friends. Much of that feeling had stemmed from how busy they were in regards to class work, weapons training, combat preparations and learning to utilize their burgeoning powers. In reality, however, time was slowed by half at the academy. An entire year had come and gone in the world outside of the Veil on Earth, while only six months had elapsed inside of it. With those months behind her at the academy, Maggie had grown strong in her connection with Elliot, and with the exception of their Armor Envelopment studies, the symbiotic relationship between them was producing quality results.
Maggie had earned top marks in Ms. Holiday’s class, though only in her book work and written assignments. However, try as she might, she had still failed, every single day, to conjure her armor. It certainly was not for a lack of caring or trying, because Maggie did both. Of course, Maggie was not the only student who had been unsuccessful in Armor Envelopment. There were at least ten others in class, including her best friend, Alice Pennington, who had each fallen short of the proverbial mark. Maggie walked out of her Armor Envelopment class that day feeling rather defeated and had decided to forgo lunch so that she could be alone to think with Elliot. Elliot was perched on Maggie’s shoulder, waiting for her inevitable pseudo-meltdown about Ms. Holiday's class. He did not have to wait very long.
“Envelopment class is such garbage, Elliot. I mean, I don't really need armor do I? I've made it this long without any and as far as I can tell I'm still alive. Besides, I have no desire, whatsoever, to be a Guardian, so when would I ever even require it, seriously?” griped Maggie to her totem.
Elliot answered in a conciliatory tone, “Perhaps you may not desire to join the ranks of the Guardians, but quitting is simply not an option. You are a Kindred, it is as simple as that. The Spire took you in and the Wise Ones accepted you for a reason, Mags. It is an impossibility to relinquish your power. You must focus on the positive aspects of being who and what you are.”
Maggie offered with a defeated moan, “I know that, Elliot. I'm just so frustrated. What am I doing wrong? According to Ms. Holiday, I'm ‘holding back’, and I don't have a clue what that's even supposed to mean. How and what am I holding back? Can't Ms. Holiday see how hard that I'm trying when I'm on the verge of giving myself an aneurysm everyday in that ridiculous class? This has me so stressed out, Elliot.”
Elliot continued on in his attempt to allay Maggie's anxieties, albeit in his own odd way.
“Never fear, there are a plethora of other careers in our world in which you could aspire to, where the knowledge of envelopment is not a prerequisite,” Elliot said.
Maggie's ears perked up at Elliot's statement.
“Oh yeah, like what?” inquired Maggie hopefully.
Elliot thought for a moment and answered honestly, “There is nothing which springs to mind. I am sorry, Mags. I was attempting to alleviate your worries. I have failed.”
Maggie sighed to her totem, “You haven't failed anything, Elliot. You were only trying to be helpful. I'm the one whose failing. Failing my Armor Envelopment class.”
“Come, let us go out into the courtyard. I wish to spread my wings and the fresh air will aide in the easing of your mind,” stated Elliot.
Elliot continued on in his tireless endeavor to sooth Maggie’s trepidation in regards to flunking her transfiguration studies.
“I love how strange you sound and the way that you speak, Elliot,” Maggie complimented.
“Of course you do. That is why I continue on with this particularly cultured, yet monotone, affectation. We are the cause and effect of one another. Where you end, I begin, and where I end, you begin. We are equal halves in a flawless cosmic whole. We are individual, yet not. We are both two and one. As such, I am as you desire me to be just as you are as I desire you to be. It is the way of our kind. Of course you know this already, and you simply enjoy the way in which I have just explained it to you. Yet again. Let us be away then, I truly wish to fly and our time ticks away as you plod along the path to the Courtyard of Clovers,” Elliot responded pragmatically.
Maggie obliged and made her way out into the expansive courtyard which was awash in a sea of beautiful and soft, green clovers surrounding an immense lake that immaculately reflected the surrounding features of the grounds. The lake, known as the Jagged Mirror, rested at the rear of the academy between the astronomy tower and the Forever Forests. Elliot felt that this was a good time to go over their Kindred History assignment about the Jagged Mirror. Maggie strolled along casually as Elliot recited Mr. Akiyama’s lesson from her shoulder.
“The Jagged Mirror, once called, simply, the ‘Mirror’ had earned its epithet of ‘Jagged’ a few centuries prior when Liv of Egobahn from Clan Terran and her cheetah, Celer, infused a great deal of their power within a terravolt-orb, of their own design, creating an incredibly destructive adama bomb. The small, magical, handheld explosive was utilized to cave in the perimeter of the left side of the lake’s bank. The ensuing destruction had been swift and permanent. The sinkhole that the explosion created, swallowed and drowned an entire approaching Fallen cavalcade, astride their own twisted and evil totems. The black knights had managed to breach the Veil and enter dangerously close to the Kindred Academy grounds. However, through the efforts of Liv of Egobahn and her knowledge of Kindred magic and relic fusion, she single-handedly saved the academy on that day. The detonation of the adama bomb had resulted in a great upheaval of the surrounding earth, giving the edges of the great body of water the impression of a busted mirror with jagged edges. Since that day, centuries ago, the lake has been called the Jagged Mirror. At least according to Mr. Akiyama,” said Elliot.
After giving what Maggie felt was a great recitation of their homework for Kindred History, Elliot spread his wings and lifted off from Maggie’s shoulder, taking to the skies above the Jagged Mirror. Maggie looked on as her totem would soar and then dive headlong toward the surface of the waters. Elliot repeated his game multiple times before inviting Maggie into the sky with him. Maggie wanted to rid herself of the wretched feeling that had cast a dark pall over her usually chipper spirit since Ms. Holiday's class, so she agreed to meet Elliot in the air.
“Come and join me, Mags!” ordered Elliot with a song in his voice.
Maggie set off in the direction of the Jagged Mirror, running at her top speed. She cast a brilliant omniport out in front of herself, over the glassy water and dove inside. The air next to Elliot, who was still soaring high above the crystalline lake, split open and ejected Maggie, like a cannonball, from a glowing, crackling portal.
Maggie shot toward the Jagged Mirror’s surface, watching her reflection, as though it were a perfect doppelgänger racing at a breakneck speed to greet her. Elliot dove with Maggie and the pair were like two small asteroids, crashing swiftly to the surface below them. As Maggie and Elliot got perilously close to the water, which would have met the young Kindred and her totem like a brick wall at such a high velocity, she opened another omniport. This omniport’s exit portal was high above and horizontal to the lake below and when Maggie and Elliot both rocketed from it, the thunderous roar in the sky was akin to the sonic boom from a fighter jet on Earth, breaking the sound barrier. Elliot shifted into a vibrant, blue stream that braided itself around Maggie's torso, causing Maggie's eyes to glow like a pair of blue nebulae in the very heart of the deepest cosmos. With a cry of pure joy, a pair of equally elegant, ethereal blue wings sprung from Maggie’s back and lifted her higher up into the air. Once Maggie had breached the clouds, she could see the expanse of the universe laid out before her in the Veil. She still marveled, everyday, at the beauty of the galaxies that painted, without error, the everlasting, never ceasing and constantly expanding totality of the heavens and the Kindred Academy's tiny, yet prominent, position amidst the rays reflected off of an infinite numbe
r of solar systems. It was a glorious sight to behold and Maggie relished, with great fervency, every minuscule sparkle emitted from the farthest star to the most explosive gamma-ray bursts, heralding a far-flung planet in its death throes. Maggie flew down to the crystal blue waters, which matched her eyes that were glowing bright, and she dipped her fingers into the cool lake. Between the rhythmic beating of her graceful, sapphire wings and the trail in the lake left behind by her fingers, cutting through the beautiful waters like a razor, Maggie had found the relief from her stresses brought on by Ms. Holiday’s Armor Envelopment class.
Nigel had been searching for Maggie and he joined up with Stephanie and Sara who had also been sent to find her before the start of their Ancient Artifacts class. When they entered the Courtyard of Clovers, Nigel could see in the sky above them where Maggie was soaring overhead.
“How does she do that?” Nigel asked Sara.
Sara answered, “I have no idea. Mrs. Bonifassi said that it’s because she's a Legacy. Lucy can do it, too.”
Stephanie spoke up and said, “We’ll all be able to harness our summoned totems eventually, at least to some degree. We’ll never be able to blend with them quite like a Legacy, though. Summoning just comes easier and more naturally to Maggie and Lucy. But Maggie struggles like the rest of us sometimes. She hasn't even transfigured into her armor yet, and all three of us have. Different strengths; different weaknesses.”
Sara, still watching Maggie, sighed with obvious envy, “I seriously can't wait until I’m able to do that; harness Mikey’s strengths I mean, not fly. I hate heights.”
Nigel, who had no love of heights either, said, “I agree, you couldn't pay me to fly. I hate it when Mr. O’Sullivan makes us dive out into the middle of nothing to make our omniports. I do agree that watching Maggie fly like that is impressive though. Wait. Hang on a minute, you’re in Avior, Sara. I thought all Aviors loved heights and flying around.”
Sara scrunched up her nose and answered, “My totem is a flightless bird, Nigel. You know that. That Second Year, Eduardo, is an Avior and his Totem is a silkie chicken. We aren’t all flyers.”
“I never really thought about that,” mused Nigel.
“Hey, Maggie! It's time for Artifacts class! Come on!” came the voice of Stephanie from far below.
Maggie peered through the clouds with the enhanced vision that being bonded with Elliot had afforded her and saw her friends who were waiting for her to join them on the ground.
“Ugh! I just want to fly a little while longer, Elliot. Oh well, I suppose the duties of a Kindred student never cease,” joked Maggie.
“A Kindred Legacy,” Elliot corrected her, sensing the joke, but missing the point, as the subtleties of sarcasm still eluded his grasp.
Maggie was carried down to where Nigel was waiting, with Sara and Stephanie, on a gust of wind that felt tailored to the lift her wings had required for a soft and elegant landing. Once Maggie's feet had touched the ground, her wings went up in a puff of blue smoke and the smoke molded itself into Elliot's falcon form, perched comfortably on Maggie's shoulder. Maggie walked past her friends with a smile, feeling completely refreshed and ready to tackle whatever scholastic nightmare Mr. Akiyama was about to throw their way.
The group, led by Maggie, left the Jagged Mirror and the Courtyard of Clovers behind them and made their way into the bowels of the artifacts antechamber, the entrance to which was conveniently just inside of the astronomy tower near the courtyard in which they had previously been. Mr. Akiyama stood impatiently waiting for everyone to enter the candlelit room, growing steadily more irritated with each passing second. He was constantly looking down at the mystical sundial watch on his wrist to let everyone in his class know that he was getting seriously annoyed. Mr. Akiyama’s students had received his nonverbal message loud and clear, no questions asked.
Mr. Akiyama looked around at his students as they gathered around an obelisk with the images of a scroll and an hourglass carved into it.
“This is the Monument of Time,” began Mr. Akiyama before continuing. “This statue represents the Scroll of Ages and the Reverse Hourglass. These two artifacts have each been used only once. The scroll, depicted here in the carving, was created using the elements of time-magic, papyrus and, of course, it was fueled by a totem’s power. The scroll that had been used by a particularly curious Kindred, Violet of Veltūcia, who had been a member of Sauropon, was created to right what she had seen as an injustice in her Haven. In her arrogance she very nearly wiped the aforementioned Haven of Veltūcia from existence. Violet had failed to understand the magnitude of what she was preparing to do and without consulting the Wise Ones, she carried on with her endeavors alone. The fallout of her meddling with time was swift and harsh. Violet had almost lost her mind when she had found and witnessed her own alternate’s death at the hands of the very Kindred whom she had gone back to save. If it had not been for her totem shielding her hastily fracturing psyche, she would have gone mad indeed. With the help of her totem, a tortoise by the name of Tempus, Violet was able to craft the hourglass to reverse her mistakes and vault her forward to her own timeline, with only minimal changes. Violet of Veltūcia was fearful of her creations and rightly so I should say. She had decided to send them into the Nexus, never to have them returned. This monument is a stark aide-mémoire, as Mrs. Bonifassi calls it, of how very dangerous swimming in the Stream of Time can be. There is a reason for this very important reminder, young ones. Take heed of Violet of Veltūcia’s hard-earned words of wisdom: ‘To flirt with time is to court disaster,’ because they are words to live by. Now for a little deeper explanation about time travel. First and foremost, it is forbidden by the Nexus. Even the Fallen respect this particular rule of law. However, if there were a Kindred or Fallen who were ever foolish enough to attempt it, these are the facts which they would need to know. A Kindred may only travel through the continuum in his or her own lifespan, meaning that you can arrive to witness your birth, which is a set point in time and can not be altered. You could live out your life in tandem to your original timeline and the continuum which you would then at that point occupy. This would create a time-loop of which your consequences would ripple across the waters of time and space creating a butterfly effect wreaking havoc on an infinite number of possible timelines caught inside of an ever-expanding circle of junctures and that would be a veritable nightmare. Finally, you could be unfortunate enough to witness any number of your own deaths in the continuum, like Violet of Veltūcia had the misfortune of doing, as the future is always in flux. If one were to travel backwards or forwards and meet themselves, your alternate would go insane and if you were foolish enough to make physical contact with your alternate, you would create a time paradox with far reaching consequences which could undo our version of the present, circling around and ripping apart our past and entirely annihilating our future. The resulting sum of time travel could very well wreak chaos in the universe and rain destruction down on all existence as we know it. In short, it’s a very bad idea. Any questions?”
Thomas jokingly whispered to Lester, “I got a question. When can we leave?”
Lester snorted, trying his level best to stifle a laugh.
Mr. Akiyama, who must have had hearing on par with his totem, Kiyoko, had caught the muted giggle and snapped, “Baker brothers! You both have this entire chapter due on my desk tomorrow, plus a two scroll essay on why time manipulation is a fool's errand. Both of your essays are to be neatly written, completed and in my hand by the end of this week! Any questions?”
Thomas had grown accustomed to having extra class work heaped on himself, but Lester was as straightlaced as they came, so the rebuke stung his pride far more than it did his brother’s. Kylie, who was the only student in the entire academy whom Mr. Akiyama had apparently grown to like, if only slightly, had the temerity to ask the surly Terran instructor a question.
“Mr. Akiyama, you said that when Violet of Veltūcia returned to her own time that there were only
minimal changes, what were those changes?” asked Kylie thoughtfully.
The entire class took in a single collective breath and held it in for fear of the torrent of rage and insults which were no doubt fixing to fly forth from Mr. Akiyama’s mouth, as if they were a deluge from a hurricane. Mr. Akiyama smiled broadly and with his grin came an even greater feeling of impending doom that was spreading over the students like a wildfire. Their communal trepidation was mercifully unfounded.
Mr. Akiyama answered, with only the slightest hint of annoyance in his voice, “That's a fine question, Ms. Hanson.”
The entire class was stunned at the words which had just left their instructor’s mouth.
Mr. Akiyama, unabated, continued onward with his answer to Kylie’s question, “The most notable change according to Violet of Veltūcia, upon her return to her original and rightful timeline, had been with the advent of deodorant. A welcome change to be sure. On the negative side however, the world was graced with those foolish human writing utensils, the ballpoint pen. Ridiculous. If I ever catch any of you using such a lazy invention there will be detentions all around for as long as you're at this academy! We use quills and ink in this class, nothing else! If I had my way about it, I would ship everyone off to the Nexus Prison Isle for using those foolish writing instruments. Any more questions?!”
Thomas spoke up and asked, “Mr. Akiyama? How come Kylie got to ask a question?”
Mr. Akiyama answered with dark glee, “Mr. Baker, thank you for reminding me about Ms. Hanson’s negligence in remembering my distaste for questions. I honestly believe that I had almost forgotten that she had even asked it. As you all know, very well by now, I hate questions. I really do. So, Mr. Baker, since Ms. Hanson and yourself have both apparently forgotten that fact, you and she both will be serving detention after your final class of the day, in here, with me. Ms. Hanson, you will go over all six tomes of the Leopard Lodestar Temples and write an essay on how their location beyond the Fallen Deadlands presents a fine, but dangerous, opportunity to study the minuscule creatures known as tandyls in their natural environment. You will study each of the tomes, cover to cover! And as for you Mr. Baker, you can polish the Firestone of Aegomar with a toothbrush. Oh, and by the way, the Firestone is larger than both of you. Put together.”
