Fun Fact: Every Magi has the opportunity to learn about other types of magic, but all of them end up specialising in one class as they grow older. This is usually done by picking up a trade or getting a degree in the relevant field. It is rare for Magis to specialise into a class different from what they were born as, although it is not unheard of.237Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHR1G3Nv6vQ
~ ~ ~
The morning sun was glaring. Or at least, Gaius assumed it was. The broad daylight never found its way into the building; it was the sparkling chandelier hanging below the ceiling that magically directed light to wherever it was needed.
Grimioria’s Central Library was the largest library on campus, furnished with state-of-the-art technomagick that gave its students the best environment for collaborative work. The room that Gaius was in was, but a small part of it. Although it looked plain to the average outsider, with a mere meeting table and a couple of chairs, its humble appearance could not be farther from the truth.
Equipped with the most consistent of muffling charms, this project room was one out of many that allowed even the most heated of debates to take place without affecting even a sleeping cat outside. Visualisations of library books could be pulled up and viewed for easy reference with nothing more than a small breath of Arcani.
As such, the booking of these rooms had to be done as early as eight in the morning, even if the student was not due to use it for another few hours. Not like Gaius minded, though. He was more than glad to get himself in the studying mood before meeting up with his new friend.
A few knocks on the glass caught his attention.
Gaius looked up at the waving girl and whisked his hand casually. Traces of magic flicked off from his fingers met the crystal ball on the identification panel, unlocking the door for his slightly drenched schoolmate. He glanced at the clock hanging on a nearby wall. His schoolmate was right on time.
“Phew, dreadful weather we’re having this morning.” Parthena snapped her fingers in quick succession as a blue light ran through her clothes, drying them instantly. “Terribly sorry about that; I hope you didn’t have to wait too long for me.”
“Don’t worry about it. You’re on time anyway; I was just early.” Gaius smiled warmly at her. “Shall we get started soon?”
~ ~ ~
“So, in conclusion, higher beings from other realms can influence any reality unstable enough, as long as there is a strong enough conduit that will not crumble under their power?”
“Yes, that’s right.” Parthena stretched lazily. “Fascinating, isn’t it? Our world is one of them. Can you imagine there are other worlds out there without magic? I can’t fathom living without using Arcani.”
“Metas can’t use magic either,” Gaius reminded her with a wry smile. “You really are interested in higher beings, aren’t you? Do Soothsayers use the power of deities as well?”
“We’re more than just our Magi Class, Sorcerer Gaius.” Parthena laughed playfully. “I don’t need to be a Cleric or a Warlock to be religious…”
Her voice trailed away as her eyes widened in apparent realisation.
“Oh crap, I almost forgot!” she piped, hurriedly sweeping her books back into her school bag. “I have service tonight. So sorry about this, Gaius. I really got to—”
The flustered Soothsayer interrupted herself, grabbing the boy excitedly before he could respond. “Hey, why don’t you come along with me?”
“W— What? Come along, where?”
“Come join me for service! It’ll be fun, I promise!” Parthena was pulling his arm like a pampered child.
“I— uh… I suppose I could… Wouldn’t hurt for me to try it out.” Gaius nodded hesitantly.
The girl took the cue to bound out of the room, ignoring the painful glares from the librarians and surrounding students. Gaius followed sheepishly behind her, nodding his head profusely in a pathetic attempt to apologise for his companion’s overly enthusiastic behaviour.
The library doors closed behind them.
~ ~ ~
Gaius found himself looking up at the tall birch trees that stood beside what looked more like a budget hotel to him. Through the building’s revolving doors came a dim red light, reflecting off the tinted windows of the already closed shophouses around them.
But that was no surprise. This street was in a Meta neighbourhood, and no rational shop owner wanted to risk getting their merchandise accidentally destroyed in the many Meta riots that had been plaguing Sirius City for the past year.
Gaius glanced at his companion, who was now waving enthusiastically at an approaching shadow. A white-haired man came into view soon. He looked no younger than thirty and was dressed in a very traditional-looking Druid attire, which was covered in green forestry patterns.
“You’re late, Soothsayer Mors.” The man tutted at Parthena, before motioning to Gaius. “Is this a new member?”
“No, no. Not yet, at least.” Parthena gave Gaius a mischievous sideways glance. “He’s just a friend I brought to observe our service.”
“Well, in that case—” the man chuckled heartily, gesturing for Gaius to enter the building. “—Welcome to our worship service. My name is Orion Severus, and I’m the leader of this church.”
“A church?” Gaius blinked in confusion. “What kind of church?”
“The most beautiful kind,” Parthena cut in, turning swiftly to walk into the building as well.
Gaius followed close behind her through the shadowy corridors. Although they were wide enough for an entire carriage to pass through, he remained behind the two friends walking side by side. After all, they seemed extremely close, and he didn’t have enough social skills to butt into their very lively conversation.
A wall of noise assaulted his ears soon enough, before a gust of cool air hit him.
The boy’s body gradually relaxed under the soothing massage of the blasting air conditioning as he took in his new surroundings. Pillars of crystal and white stone glittered under the glare of the technomagick candles, sending light scuttling in every direction. Throngs of people murmured among themselves over drinks as musicians slowly made their way to the makeshift stage at the front of the ballroom.
It took a while for him to realise that Parthena had long disappeared from his side and was now on the stage as well. She raised a wand towards her throat and sang the first note.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” The leader’s voice cut into Gaius’ mind. Gaius blinked a few times, shaking his head as though trying to get out of a trance.
“Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it,” Orion chuckled. “This girl has a certain magical quality behind her voice, and I don’t just mean that figuratively.”
“I suppose that makes sense…” Gaius said awkwardly, trying to keep his senses alert against the unusually soothing wall of sound. “So, how did you two meet?”
Orion broke into a small smile. “When I was thirteen, I was fostered with a rich old family, one who had lived in Sirius City way before it was even called Sirius City. My foster parents ignored me for the most part, which suited me fine. Adults were authority figures to my adolescent mind, and more than one social worker would’ve noted I never dealt well with authority. Or at least, that was until Parthena walked into my ‘home’ for the first time.”
“Parthena is your sister?”
“Wouldn’t have guessed, huh? I chose to keep my birth family’s surname, after all. It’s the only thing I know about them.” Orion nodded. “Anyway, I don’t know what came over me, but I had a compulsion to take care of her. Seeing a little girl lost and afraid in a huge mansion reminded me of myself, I suppose. I was a fully grown man by that time. So I began taking responsibility for her, teaching her the ways of school, magic, and life. To be honest, she gave me a reason to get my act together.”
Applause thundered as Parthena took a deep bow before preparing for the next song. Her eyes flitted to Orion, and a faint smile formed on her lips.
“They say blessings come in threefold,” the man sighed contentedly. “So it wasn’t long before I found out about this amazing church and joined it, along with Parthena. And after a few more sessions, the leaders found me to have a gift for teaching. I dove into our church’s teachings and eventually became the leader of this branch.”
“Which deity do you worship here?” Gaius asked.
“Well, it’s not entirely accurate if I were to say we worship any specific one,” Orion said. “To put it simply, we worship a particular… concept.”
“Which is?”
“Beauty.” The church leader smiled warmly. “Our congregation pursues the lifestyle and ideals of beauty. Today’s service is just a worship session, so there won’t be any preaching. But if you’re interested, you’re welcome to come again and learn more.”
“Beauty, huh…” Gaius pondered. “You know, there was this one… ‘deity’ known for his beauty—”
Orion turned to him, his eyes sparkling in excitement.
“So you know of him as well! This must be destiny!” He nodded vigorously. “Technically speaking, we don’t have a designated deity. But we do idolise a particular being that represents the pinnacle of beauty.”
“Lucifer?!” It took Gaius almost every ounce of his willpower to stop himself from leaping out of the crowd. He took a small step back as he looked around him, only now noticing that the interior of the room was subtly decorated with statues and drawings of the demon king.
“I know what it looks like.” Orion raised his hands in a placating gesture. “But I assure you, we are not a cult.”
That’s what every cult says.
Orion put a palm forward as a small flower grew out of his hand. Gaius watched warily as the man plucked out the plant and offered it to him.
“Go ahead, take it. It’s real.”
A pleasant scent wafted through his nostrils as Gaius brought it closer to himself. He relaxed his body, putting the flower back in his pocket.
“If I am under Lucifer’s thrall, my Druid magic would have been corrupted as well. There’s no way my life force would have sustained the life of another living being. If we can hate the sin but love the sinner, why can’t we love the virtue and not its deity?”
Gaius looked back at his surroundings.
The music had stopped, and people were back to talking happily among each other. Everyone seemed cordial enough, although he still spotted a few creepy members bowing to a Lucifer statue. He wondered how many of them actually shared their leader’s views about their religion.
“So, how did you find it?” Parthena drifted towards him with childish glee.
“You were great up there, Parthena. And I suppose… this is pretty nice too.”
“See, I told ya you would like it!” the girl piped. “I found most of my friends here. We have big dreams of letting the world know about our lifestyle, but for now, I’m content just being here with everyone I love.”
“Most?” Orion smirked. “I thought all your friends were here. Or have you finally mustered the courage to start talking to other people?”
He turned his head towards Gaius, and Parthena’s face began turning red again. Gaius looked back at them in confusion.
“Anyway,” Parthena blurted. “Since service is over, shall I send you off, Gaius?”
~ ~ ~
“So… what did Orion talk to you about?”
Gaius walked leisurely across the small bridge as the river below shimmered in the moonlight. Parthena kicked a stone idly, clearly in much higher spirits than usual.
“He told me how your congregation worships beauty, and that the demon king Lucifer is a much-revered being in your church,” Gaius replied.
“Nothing else?” Parthena raised an eyebrow cheekily.
“N— No?” the boy said, avoiding her gaze. Fortunately, Parthena did not bother probing him further.
“I’m impressed,” she said instead. “Most people run away in fear once they hear that we welcome beings from Hell in our religion. We worship beauty, not its representative deity. They just don’t get that.”
“I won’t lie. I would’ve been rather uncomfortable too, if he hadn’t shown me this.” Gaius took out a tiny lavender flower from his pocket. It was still alive; its lifeline was evidently still tied to its creator’s own life force.
“Pity people aren’t as lovely as flowers, are they?” He held out the flower to her, motioning the blushing Soothsayer to take it.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Parthena pouted a little, trying to hide the grin creeping up her face.
“W— What? I… I didn’t mean anything by that!” Gaius stared at her wide-eyed, taken aback by the girl’s reaction. She giggled a little as she kept the flower in her robes.
“Justice! Justice for Meta-kind!”
Gaius whipped his head towards the mob turning out from a street corner. They were marching with the precision and elegance of a drunk army, and their chants were even less coordinated than one. The boy groaned; they were heading straight in his direction.
Don’t these unemployed people have anything better to do at this time of the night?
“Hey, Parthena.” He turned to the girl beside him. “Let’s find another route—”
“Cease this riot at once, or we will use force if necessary!” a voice blared through an amplification charm.
Gaius quietly cursed at the group of constables who warped into the street from behind him, effectively cutting off any other path he could take to avoid the rioting mob.
“You’ll use force anyway! Down with Magi-kind!” a rough-sounding woman yelled over the chants as the rioters jeered at the constables. The law enforcers materialised their staves in response.
Energy shot through Gaius’ Arcani channels as his magic screamed in warning.
He grabbed an outstretched tongue before it could reach Parthena. Dark magic coated his fingers as the Sorcerer sent a trail of blue flames back to a frog-like Meta. The hostile Meta yelped in pain and flinched violently, retracting his tongue as he hopped back towards his fellow rioters.
Yells of indignation erupted as the Meta rioters powered up, apparently outraged at Gaius’s response to their unprovoked attack. He stepped in front of his female companion as a fire and ice ball materialised in each of his hands in response.
“I recognise that guy; he’s a Guardian!” a voice bellowed.
“I knew it, the government sent them to oppress us again!” another shouted. “Comrades, we won’t stand for this!”
Irritation flooded Gaius as the orange magic within him lit up his irises. The constables rushed forward, the crystal balls on their staves all glowing in preparation for a fight—
A piercing whistle cut through the commotion.
Gaius glanced at Parthena, who had closed her eyes and was still blowing in the same high-pitched tone. He looked around in amazement as both the rioters and constables powered down, letting their bodies relax under the seemingly hypnotic sound. The magic note seemed to contain some sort of sleeping charm, and it was trying its best to lull him to sleep as well. Energy bubbled within Gaius, fighting to keep him awake.
The Soothsayer stopped after a while, letting the final resonance of the whistle echo through the completely silent streets. The people around them turned to leave, stripped of all their aggression. Parthena heaved for a moment as Gaius stared at her in awe.
And then she crouched without warning, hugging her knees close to herself.
“Oh gods, that was terrifying.” Parthena shivered uncontrollably, as though winter had arrived five months early.
“That was amazing, what you did.” Gaius beamed at her. “I’ll never underestimate Soothsayer magic from now on—”
The girl cut him off with a tight hug as she bawled like a baby, burying her head in his chest. He put his hands on her back awkwardly.
“Thank you for protecting me just now,” Parthena said, wiping tears off her face. She broke into a tired laughter. “I… I think I had just enough adventure to last me for the night. I’ll see you around in school, Gaius.”
She turned around abruptly and walked off into the distance.237Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX1585CwCPs
