Halfway Between Worlds: Bloodline of the Pure

by S. B Terra

  Alice froze for a moment, staring back at the raven, it was black with a few tinges of dark red on both its wings, and as she quietly opened the windows, the raven flew away.

  Alice then walked out onto the balcony and enjoyed the sun for a few minutes before going back inside and showering.

  After showering and getting ready, Alice walked down stairs and into the kitchen where Bella was preparing breakfast.

  “Good morning, do you need any help?” asked Alice.

  “Good morning, no, it’s just about ready” said Bella as she turned around to face Alice.

  “Where’s your wand?” she asked.

  Alice had forgotten about her wand and had left it upstairs next to the bed.

  “Upstairs in the room.”

  “Never leave it, always carry it with you, even when you sleep you should have it close by, under your pillow or something” said Bella seriously.

  Alice nodded and made her way back upstairs, and as she walked into the bedroom, she saw that the raven was back on the balcony, staring at her as she entered the room.

  Alice grabbed her wand and walked over to the window to get a better look at the raven, but again it flew away as she approached.

  Alice then walked back downstairs.

  “There has been a raven outside my window this morning, I just saw it again” she said as she walked back into the kitchen.

  Bella turned around and smiled.

  “That’s Red, he’s just curious and getting used to you, he’s quite shy at first” said Bella as she placed two silver pots on the kitchen bench.

  “Does he live around here?”

  “He’s my raven. Ravens are highly intelligent, magical creatures, they send our mail and sense when we need them.”

  “He’s your pet?” asked Alice, slightly confused.

  “Kind of, you could say that he’s an animal companion of mine, you will get one when the time is right. This one is lentils, vegetables and some herbs and spices and this one is porridge, help yourself. Apologies if you are a meat eater, I’m vegetarian” said Bella, pointing at the two pots.

  “Thank you, the food you made yesterday was delicious by the way” said Alice.

  Bella smiled.

  “You have your Education Department meeting and tour at 2pm today. So, in the meantime, I thought that I would show you the basics of how to use that new wand of yours and you can bring forth your first act of magic, what do you say?” said Bella with a big grin on her face.

  “Sounds great” said Alice excitedly.

  “I’ll be back soon, we’ll start after you eat” said Bella as she dished herself a bowl of porridge and walked out of the kitchen.

  Alice quickly finished eating and washed up, and then sat on one of the kitchen stools eagerly waiting for Bella to return.

  A few minutes later, Bella walked back into the kitchen and washed her bowl.

  “Let’s go out to the garden so we have some space and don’t break anything.”

  Bella grabbed two empty bottles from one of the kitchen cupboards and then led Alice outside into the garden.

  “Stand here” she said, referring to the pathway next to the flowers as she placed the bottles down a few meters away.

  “Now, the first thing that you need to know is that magic is governed by belief, intention, willpower and imagination. The more willpower, discipline and unwavering belief that you have, the stronger your magic will be. When you are practicing magic, as I told you before, you must never be thinking or using the analytical mind. You must be one with the present moment and guided by intuition and awareness or else your power and magic will falter, you will learn how to grow and to strengthen your willpower soon.

  “There are universal spells that make it easier for people who haven’t quite mastered their mind and imagination, which we call cues, that you can either say in your mind, aloud, or imagine, that will bring forth the intended result of the spell. As you progress you will be able to create your own cues that you can use to bring forth a certain intended result. However, not all magic is governed by cues, and as you progress and develop and become more experienced in the world of magic, the less you will need to rely on cues as most of your magic, with the exception of some advanced spells, will be brought forth by your belief, intention and imagination.

  “We are going to start by teaching you a simple cue to bring forth light from your wand, and then after that you will raise and control the movement of the bottles over there” said Bella.

  Alice felt excited but slightly nervous as she took in everything that Bella had said.

  “I’m going to demonstrate, after you see how it works and when you are saying the words, you must believe and imagine the light coming out of your wand, it will become easier for you the more you practice.”

  Bella raised her wand.

  “Luxora” said Bella calmly, and as she said the words, a bright light appeared at the tip of her wand.

  After about ten seconds, Bella lowered her wand and the light went out.

  “You can create a simple cue for yourself to stop any spell that you are doing, remember, your wand is now linked to you and understands you and will obey any command that you give it. Whenever you’re ready” said Bella.

  Alice raised her wand.

  “Luxora” repeated Alice, and as she said the words, light started pouring out of the tip of her wand uncontrollably, falling and disappearing onto the ground.

  “Stop” she said, and suddenly the light stopped pouring out.

  “Good start, the next thing you need to learn is how to gauge your power. When you start practicing magic, you need to come to understand how much power you are using with each spell. You just used too much for the light spell, which is why it overflowed onto the ground, but this will come with experience. Try again and try to imagine the light focusing at the tip of your wand.”

  Alice raised her wand again and tried to relax.

  “Luxora.”

  Light momentarily focused at the tip of Alice’s wand for a few seconds after she said the words, but a moment later began pouring back onto the ground, although this time not as much.

  “Better, you’ll get there in no time. The more you practice, the more you will understand the nature of it, you can only truly get to know something through experience.

  “Now, I’ll quickly show you how to move the bottles and then you can take some time to practice by yourself. When you are moving or influencing something from a distance, you must believe that you are connected with the object, you must believe that you are one with it and that it will move according to your will. If your belief falters at all you will lose your connectivity and influence over the object” said Bella, raising her wand.

  “Moxara” said Bella as both bottles simultaneously raised into the air, circling and twirling around each other before dropping to the ground a moment later as she lowered her wand.

  “Go ahead, just focus on one of the bottles to start” she said.

  “Moxara” said Alice calmly, raising and pointing her wand at one of the bottles, and as she directed and pointed her wand up into the air, the bottle raised up in harmony with the movement of her wand.

  Alice moved the bottle around in the air for a few seconds before it seemingly lost connectivity and dropped to the ground.

  “Impressive, very good for your first time, how does it feel?” asked Bella.

  “That was awesome” said Alice, unable to contain the big smile on her face.

  “I’m going to leave you to it, keep practicing and experimenting with those two things and we’ll do more later, if you need anything, I’ll be inside” said Bella as she made her way back into the house.

  Bella walked back outside onto the porch, a few hours had passed, and Alice was still attentively practicing magic in the garden.

  “We better get going to your meeting, get some more food and water into you and then let’s go” said Bella as the bottle that was hovering in the air dropped
to the ground as Alice lost focus.

  After quickly eating, Bella and Alice made their way down the street to Rose Garden and transported through to the Magic Council. Bella briefly stopped whilst buying flasks and had a quick conversation with Alfred, who was working today, and then they proceeded through the T.P for the Education Department.

  They appeared in a smaller room that had only one T.P inside and an elevator on each side of the room, there was a long reception desk with three women sitting behind and a large nameplate above reading ‘EDUCATION DEPARTMENT – LOBBY.’

  “Go up and give them your name and tell them that you’re here for your introduction meeting” said Bella.

  Alice walked up to one of the women sitting behind the reception desk.

  “Good afternoon, how can I help you?” asked the woman, she looked as though she was in her early twenties and had long, curly blonde hair.

  “Hi, my name is Alice Teller, I’m here for my introduction meeting at two.”

  The woman looked at Alice with a curious, kind smile on her face and then leant over the desk and whispered, “you’re the one who crossed?”

  Alice nodded, smiling back at the woman.

  “Wow, it’s lovely to meet you, Alice. Simona will be free in about five minutes, take a seat and I’ll call you up when she’s ready” said the woman, still smiling at Alice.

  “Thanks, nice to meet you too.”

  Alice walked over and sat next to Bella on one of the chairs in front of the reception.

  “Okay, do you remember the way home?” asked Bella.

  “Yep.”

  “Your meeting and tour might take a while, I have to go and do a few things. I think you’re more than okay getting back by yourself, I should be back at the house by the time you’re done” said Bella, handing Alice two transportation flasks.

  “Okay, I’ll see you back there.”

  “Good luck” whispered Bella, before walking over to the T.P and transporting out of the room.

  Alice waited quietly, and after a few minutes had passed, the lady called her.

  “Alice, Simona is ready for you, through that door” she said, pointing to the door to the left of the reception desk.

  Alice walked over and into the room and shut the door behind her. There was a lady sitting behind a desk in front of a window that overlooked the trees outside and there was a large, framed, moving photograph of a woman that was hanging on the wall next to the window.

  The lady sitting behind the desk had shiny, silver hair that came down to her shoulders and looked as though she were in her sixties.

  “Hello, Alice” said the lady as she stood up and walked over to Alice, “it’s a pleasure to meet you, my name is Simona, please, sit down” she said, shaking Alice’s hand and then walking back around the desk and sitting down herself.

  “Pleasure to meet you too” said Alice, taking a seat in front of the desk.

  “How have you been settling in?” asked Simona.

  “Good, thanks, Bella has been showing me around.”

  “Ah, yes, you couldn’t have asked for a better mentor than Bella Turnox, that’s great to hear, please send her my regards.”

  A short moment of silence took over the room.

  “Who’s that lady?” asked Alice, breaking the silence and pointing to the framed, moving photograph on the wall. The woman in the photograph was beautiful, she was wearing a modest black robe and had long, black hair, green eyes and was smiling and waving at the camera.

  The lady turned around and looked at the photograph before turning back to Alice.

  “That’s Kyra Valeria, the beautiful soul that brought to us The Natural Laws of Karma” said Simona, smiling, “you will have a lot of history to read up on if that interests you. Now, I believe Darius told you a little about the introduction program that you will be undertaking. Today we will be giving you all your course materials, books and your hologram device, which contains all the program lectures.

  “There will be a total of ten assessments, a final exam and a practical demonstration of magic that you will need to complete before graduating from the program. All the details and information regarding the program will be in your program outline book. There is no time line for finishing the program, but remember, the quicker you finish, the quicker you can pursue your interests. Do you have any questions?”

  “Where do I take my assessments to?” asked Alice.

  “You can either mail your assessments to the Education Department or give them to one of the girls at reception. Anything else?”

  “No, not really, I think I’m ready to start” responded Alice, she was eager to start learning and diving into her new world.

  “Great, I’ll give you a quick tour of the department before giving you your materials and then you will be good to go. Please, come with me” said Simona as she stood up and walked towards the door.

  Alice followed Simona through the lobby and into the elevator on the far side of the room.

  “Library” said Simona as the doors shut behind them.

  A couple of seconds later the doors swung open and Alice followed Simona out into the library. The library was huge, there were four levels with escalators leading up to each floor that wrapped around a large, circular room on the bottom level that had couches and tables spread throughout.

  “This is the library, you are welcome to be here as much as you like, it is open twenty-four hours. The reception is near the escalator on the first floor. The fourth floor is the restricted area, you must be nineteen years or older to go up there and it is guarded by security. You are permitted to borrow up to thirty books at a time for a maximum of two weeks. If there are sufficient copies available you can extend that, you just need to come in and let us know, and remember, you are able to use all of the facilities here at the department whenever you wish.”

  “Why is the fourth floor restricted?” asked Alice curiously.

  “The books on the top floor are of advanced magic and are only to be read by those who have fully developed and matured, the age of nineteen is a precaution.”

  After quickly touring the library, Simona and Alice then made their way back to the elevator.

  “Gymnasium” said Simona.

  A couple of seconds later the doors flung open and they walked out into another large area, there were two levels, on the bottom floor there was a large, lap swimming pool and a few strange looking saunas and on the second floor was a very nice, large, modern gymnasium.

  “As you can see, on this floor we have the lap pool and the saunas. The second level is the gymnasium, we have all the latest equipment, there are bathrooms, showers and change rooms on each floor. It is usually fairly quiet in here but a great place to come if you wish to keep in shape or release some steam and relax.”

  Simona then gave Alice a quick tour of the gymnasium before making their way back to the elevator.

  “Lecture Halls.”

  A moment later the elevator doors flung open.

  “These are the lecture halls” said Simona as they walked out of the elevator, there was a large, long corridor with wooden doors on either side and there were a handful of people walking around inside. “There are twenty lecture halls, ten on each side, they are all numbered. You can read the daily lecture schedule in the Terra Times which you can find in any transportation room or in numerous stores across the city. The practical tutorials are also held in these halls, you will be able to start attending the tutorials once you have graduated from the introduction program. You can check out the halls later in your own time, maybe when you attend your first lecture.”

  “Sounds good” said Alice, following Simona back over to the elevator.

  “Cafeteria.”

  A couple of seconds later the elevator doors flung open again.

  “And this is the final stop, the top level of the Education Department, the cafeteria” said Simona as they walked inside.

  The cafeteria was also quite large, there were tab
les and chairs next to tall windows along the right-hand side of the room overlooking the trees outside. On the other side of the room was a large, U-shaped buffet with a few people walking around and helping themselves to food.

  “The buffet is only four dollars and is open until midnight every night, there is a good range of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian foods. We try and look after our students as best as we can” said Simona.

  After quickly touring the cafeteria, Simona and Alice then made their way back down to the lobby to collect Alice’s program materials.

  “Any questions?” asked Simona as they walked back into her office.

  “No, it all seems pretty straight forward, thank you very much.”

  “Great, everything is inside, the bag has been made with magic, just reach in” said Simona as she picked up a small, black carry bag from behind her desk and handed it to Alice.

  “Thanks.”

  “Best of luck, Alice, if you have any questions or troubles feel free to let us know.”

  “Thank you, Simona, see you around” said Alice as she walked out of the office and over to the T.P in the lobby, waving to the blonde girl behind the reception desk on the way out.

  Alice appeared back at the Magic Council which had become quite busy, and as she walked out of the T.P, she saw Bella walking in through the entrance of the room.

  “What timing” said Bella cheerfully as she approached, “how was it?”

  “Good, I’m all set to start the program.”

  “Great. Come with me, I just need to pop in and see Darius for a moment before we head off.”

  Alice followed Bella across the room and into the elevator, there were about fifteen people inside.

  “High Court” said Bella, standing next to a strange looking elderly man with long, grey hair who was wearing a bright, sparkly, purple robe.

  “Nice robe, Bruce” said Bella, giving the man a mischievous smile.

  “Thank you, Bella. Have a great day, my dear” said the man, walking out of the elevator as the doors opened for his stop, apparently not sensing the friendly sarcasm in Bella’s voice.

  “This is us” said Bella as the elevator doors flung open again a few seconds later.