Mage/4
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[edit] First Encounters
[edit] The four play hide and seek
Before long the four youngsters had wandered far into the woods, following An and hoping that he knew where he was going. The trees had become denser once again, and all the trunks and branches and leaves made it hard to see very far away. An turned around to face the others. "We've been having so much walking recently, why not do a bit of running?" The others looked at him in a weird way, so he continued: "Let's play hide-and-seek. And I'll promise you that it'll teach you a bit more about magic, because I'll be bringing some of my spells into play, okay? So now, off you all go! And I'll be the seeker."
So the other three went their separate ways, running as far away as possible from An, who began counting to sixty...
Starlight was now lost. She had rushed through the woods for a whole minute, and had not found any of the others. Not that she should--it wasn't the object of the game--so she found a suitable place to rest. But then she had an instinctive feeling not to rest here, so she stood up again and began running once again.
There was no one there. There were plenty of trees, but none of the other three were anywhere in sight. Of course, she thought to herself. So she ran, first one way and then another, always going on a hunch, checking the best places to hide, rushing through the woods as the tree leaves and bushes rushed past her. She was running again, and it felt so good. So she ran and ran.
And, as An didn't find her, she kept running.
Deeper and deeper into the woods she ran. She couldn't stop. There was a euphoria in her, something that said that she should keep going.
[edit] Starlight encounters a cloaked figure
She ran smack-dab right into the side of a tall, cloaked figure. She didn't know what had happened, but before she could she found herself staring into the scariest pair of eyes she had ever seen. The face was covered in decaying strips of flesh; it looked as if it had just risen from the grave.
Which it had, incidentally, though not just before.
Starlight stopped running, and just stared at the being. And stared a bit more. The figure meanwhile was looking back at her, with the meanest appearance possible. Starlight was horror-struck.
Then Starlight remembered what An had just taught her. "Diffindo arm!" she called out. Boom! The figure just stood there, dazed and stunned by the pain of having its entire right arm suddenly, magically wrenched off. The bloody appendage flew past Starlight as she stepped out of its way. The cloaked figure toppled backward, and collapsed on the ground like a thrown rag-doll, and the whole where its arm had been was bubbling with blood coming out.
[edit] Starlight assumes responsibility
Starlight stood looking at it, dazed. She didn't know that her spell would have been so powerful. So powerful, so simple, and even... so flexible. She had always dreamed of having magic, but never thought that it would come out this way, so potent, so deadly. For the cloaked figure lying on the ground was already stiff and pale with death.
I must be more careful, Starlight thought. With my type of magic comes great responsibility. But then, this creepy figure was definitely a monster, no human; it looked like something risen out of the grave, and probably had been. If I hadn't done what I did, would I have met that fate then? The magic seemed so easy, it was hard to imagine that horrible fate not happen.
Starlight sighed. Something had to give. And of course she had to preserve her own life. Wasn't that the way of things?
She reached down to the corpse, and flapped the cloak aside. In rigor mortis, the abomination was still holding a beautifully decorated glass vase in its hands. It hadn't shattered with the impact.
I'll take this, she said to herself. It'll remind me of what I had done today.
She reached for the vase, and touched it.
[edit] Starlight gets taken captive
The next moment, she felt herself being wrenched, being squeezed; the entire world, and everything in it, seemed to magnify, grow larger within seconds; she tried to let go of the vase, but couldn't, and instead was being sucked downward; she couldn't escape, there was nothing she could do, nothing had prepared her for this; and the opening of the vase seemed to grow larger, herself to minimize, until she fit inside the opening of the vase, and dropped inside. Then a huge cork seemed to descend on the vase, and bottled it.
Starlight fell, collapsed onto the glassy floor of the vase, still more dazed. As she regained her composure, she saw a beautiful Sylfly fluttering outside the vase. She recalled that they were about the length of your little finger. But this one was no smaller than she was. In fact, everything, except for Starlight, had seemed to grow to colossal proportions.
Which of course meant that Starlight had shrunk to minute proportions.
Now how would she get out? The glass was completely slippery, and there was no way she could break through the class or pop open the cork.
[edit] Starlight is spirited away
Then there seemed to be several earthquakes at regular intervals. A giant-seeming figure appeared from behind a tree trunk--a hooded figure, with the same pair of scary eyes she had seen on the monster she had felled; the same cloak, the same body, probably, and a wrath that seemed even greater. It reached for the vase with its giant hand.
Starlight cringed, and gritted her teeth. There was nothing else she could do.
This time the vase did not swallow up the figure. The dead-looking abomination picked up the vase, with Starlight imprisoned within its seemingly impenetrable glass walls, made the nearby identical corpse vanish with a wave of its hand--just like that, so simple, it seemed--and walked off, through the forest.
With every step, the vase shook up and down; Starlight simply resigned herself to closing her eyes and protecting her head from hitting anything.
After a few minutes, the bumping stopped. She cautiously opened her eyes, and looked around.
She and the vase were propped on a desk, and around her the brilliant rays of the sun streaked in through the windows of the wooden cottage. "Wow," she whispered to herself. Everything was still immense, albeit not Starlight herself; and her giant captor now sat down on a luxurious seat, watching her.
Starlight looked to her sides. To her left, inside a vase, was Grace, also imprisoned and shocked to find Starlight imprisoned so as well. Starlight half-knew what she would see next, and willed in vain that it not be so. She turned to her right and saw Andrew inside a third vase. He muttered, "You too?!"
[edit] Starlight faces her captor
Starlight didn't even bother to nod. She faced her captor, who was looking at her eagerly, almost excited with its three captures.
Starlight then spoke to the abomination: "Why have you caught us? What do you want from us?" The terror was apparent in her words.
The abomination stared at her, and stated something seemingly off-topic: "There's a fourth one..."
"What??" Starlight didn't know what else to say.
"You're not worried enough. You think someone is out to save you."
Desperate, Starlight called out in anger, "Let us go! Let us go or our big brother An is going to capture you!"
"Ah yes, your little friend An. Haven't you wondered who he might be working for, if not for me?"
Starlight froze, and stared. Now she was beginning to feel doubts about An's purposes for his actions. After all, wasn't he the mage recruiter? Didn't that mean he had to be recruiting people for someone? Even though he had said that he was recruiting to form his own clan, that didn't mean it was exactly true...
"Of course An doesn't work for you!" Starlight almost hissed at him. But her face had gone pink. She knew that recently things had been going weirdly.
"No? You children always think that you know so much," the abomination replied. Starlight was beginning to have her doubts about this abomination, too. It talked too easily.
"Who are you?" Starlight ventured, this time softly, afraid of the answer that she had in mind.
[edit] The Teacher
[edit] An confesses to a nasty joke
"An, come to me," the abominative, hooded figure called out to nowhere in particular. Then he added, "I've got them."
A whooshing sound, and both Starlight and Grace screamed as the vases seemed to shudder and shake forward to the edge of the table, and about to fall. Starlight had shut her eyes, willing that death not come so swiftly.
When she opened her eyes a few seconds later, An was standing right beside the hooded figure, still dressed the way he was when he had called for the hide-and-go-seek game. "Ah, it seems that I've found you three after all, so I win!" An stated, rather elatedly.
But the other three weren't laughing. "You sold us out!" shouted Andrew from inside his vase. "How could you!"
An took a step back. "Me sell you out? What!?"
"You did, didn't you?" Starlight challenged. "We thought you just wanted to have some fun. I guess this must be your sadistic sense of fun!"
An remained calm. "No, I didn't sell you out. Didn't I tell you that the game of hide-and-go-seek we were to play was going to involve some magic? Well, I had to deliver on that, didn't I?" An explained. "It's just the next step toward your learning what magic is."
Now apparently satisfied that his explanation would be good for the others (which it wasn't), An turned to the abomination, still sitting comfortably in his chair. "All right, master, you can reveal your identity now." An prodded.
[edit] Starlight discovers Old Randy
The abomination covered his whole body with his dark cloak, but only for an instant. Then he took off the cloak, and behind it was--Old Randy, the same old man she had met back in Bahasa.
Starlight blinked several times. Was this possible? But then, with magic, what wasn't possible? She just stared at the two: Old Randy, and his niece An.
"Well, that was fun," said Old Randy to An. "I would particularly like to commend you on advising me to turn into an abomination, and then create three duplicates of myself, so that they'd be scared out of their wits. You know, I think it really worked..."
An was nodding, and rubbing his chin, rather happily. "Yeah, it gave them a bit of experience with fighting spellcasters."
Meanwhile, Andrew was looking around and, seeing the open window and the pebbles and leaves on the ground outside, thought a bit, and then realized: duh!
"They'll need it," agreed Old Randy. "It was another good idea on your part to have me play the part of the bad guy, wasn't it? Only you're not playing the rescuer right now..."
"Yeah, I...kinda got tired of that storyline a long time ago..." An answered, musing to himself.
"So, are going to free us?" Starlight interjected.
[edit] An unexpected emancipation
An turned around. "Oh yeah, the captives. Allow me--"
Just then a white piece of cloth materialized out of nowhere and flew forcefully into An's mouth, gagging him and pressing him into the ground. He struggled to get free for a moment, and the gag disappeared.
When An stood up, he was face to face with the other three youngsters, back in their normal sizes and not inside their vases anymore. "How did--" An began, but cut off his question.
The vases were scattered all over the floor, broken shards everywhere.
An turned to face Old Randy (who had a smile on his face and was looking at An disapprovingly), with his mouth open. "How--"
Andrew cut in: "It seems like we got the last laugh."
An whirled around to face him, just in time to see a rock fly in through the open window extremely quickly toward his face, and ducked as the rock crashed into the wooden wall behind him. An was dazed.
Andrew continued, this time not quite so innocently: "So, you don't get to play the part of hero today, because you don't deserve it!" Starlight and Grace, who were standing right beside him, nodded in agreement.
"You still have a long way to go," Old Randy added, turning toward Andrew.
[edit] The three accuse An of being childish
He nodded. "Forgot how fragile a vase was, having for so long used magic to prevent them from falling onto the ground. Nice one, Andrew."
Andrew barely noticed. He was flushed with the excitement of having used what he had just learned from An to free himself.
An was irritated. "Hey, come on, I was just playing with you all, but none of you are laughing! What's this?"
Starlight replied, "well, that's because you joke around too much with your magic. So childish."
An could only hold his mouth agape at what Starlight had just said. Then he blinked. "Me?" He pointed to himself. "Childish? Are you kidding?"
"Yes you are childish," Starlight retorted. "Even though you're older than us, you still fool around too much."
"Oh, forgive me," he replied. "I was just trying to give you the fun that I thought you would like."
"Yeah, well, we had grown out of playing hide and seek some time ago," replied Grace. "It's not exactly fun any more. Especially now that we've seen some magic."
"Aww,..." began An. "Maybe I should never have shown you my magic..." He was trying to taunt her, and they knew it.
[edit] Old Randy commences his teachings
"Whatever," Grace quipped. "You're not all that important to me anyway. I was wrong about you..." She opened the door of the cottage, stepped outside, and without turning back even once, closed the door with a slam.
Exasperated, An turned around to face Old Randy, and gave him a look as if he was asking: "Aren't you going to make her come back?"
The old man just stood their ambivalently, and raised an eyebrow when he met An's leer. "Boys," was all he cared to say. Then he got off his chair--swiftly--and walked over to Starlight and Andrew. "Care to learn more magic? This time from me, if your friend An has got you too scared to take lessons from him." He looked at the two youngsters with a cool look, implying that it was just the simple question it appeared to be. "Well? Do we want to learn?"
And the eagerness that Starlight and Andrew both had within them was enough to convince them to agree. "We'll learn," Andrew declared first, though with a longing glance to the shut door. "Shouldn't we call Grace back?"
"No, of course not," replied Old Randy, in a calm tone and speaking both moderately and clearly. "We'll just show her what new magic you learn today, and next thing you know, she'll be pleading to come back in."
And behind him, An nodded slowly, as if in thought. Then he smiled. Then his smile got a bit wider. Old Randy smiled too, and Starlight could just imagine that Old Randy could see An's expression off to the side of his eyes. After all, this was a world of magic, wasn't it? Who's to say what's not possible?
[edit] Infinite Possibilities
[edit] Everything is possible
"Who's to say what's not possible?" began Old Randy, sitting back down to his chair and beckoning the other three to sit beside him on the other chairs around the table. The same table where the youngsters had been incarcerated within glass not long before. The cottage was small after all. It was meant as an introduction to magic, which he would now be teaching in the place of An.
The others sat down, so that they made a diamond shape around the table. So Old Randy began his talk, slowly yet forcefully, so that those around him could easily understand.
"All it takes is an open mind, and a creative spirit. A sage once said, that 'wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure.' And so it is." The youngsters were now listening intently, so Old Randy continued. "The study of magic is a lifelong endeavor, and those who will succeed are those who are wise, knowledgeable, creative, and cunning. You all have a bit of each within you, or that's what your dear friend, and my niece, An, has been saying.
"Now, just how good you are at it won't be obvious just yet. But you all have the interest, and a lively spirit, or else you wouldn't have managed to get here. Do you still remember, that it was An who in the first place encouraged Starlight to find something else that would be of greater interest, and that it was An also who convinced Andrew to venture into these parts looking for Starlight? That An then crafted a false story telling the villagers back at Bahasa that he himself had abducted Grace? Well, the fact is that he couldn't have moved you all if you didn't already have had the seeds of change buried deep inside of you. You all understood that your destiny was not to remain where you were or even where you were headed, but somewhere else, something that could satisfy your souls. That urge is quite common, yes, but most have stopped their souls from seeking for what they want. On the other hand, you two, as well as Grace, have demonstrated that your desire is somewhat greater than those of most, as you have all abandoned home, knowing that in doing so, you could not return.
[edit] Old Randy commends An
"So, I must commend An, yet again, that he has done a fine job and is a brilliant teenager. He's managed to awaken the sleeping spirit of adventure inside you, and that's what matters. So, that time in the woods when he told you that he was 'naturally' my mage recruiter, and that you were the recruits--you didn't know it then, but I believe that you do now--he was right.
"He was just right, he was your friend, he could motivate you all. And so you were. And that is what makes me continue with this talk right now, knowing that with every bit of magic that I teach you, I am making myself more vulnerable--I, with the help of An, have peered into your heart, and found the grains of truth within you."
Old Randy paused. Had he heard something? "Grace," he called out, louder than he had been in speaking to those sitting next to him. "You don't have to stay out there, holding your hear to the side of the walls and attempting to eavesdrop on me. I know why you're doing what you're doing and refusing to come back; you don't want me to make you look bad by requiring that you need to come in begging to be accepted. Well, I'll just give you that invitation now: you can come in. I figured you've learned your lesson by now."
Off to the side, An contorted his face into a frown. He wanted to see Grace coming in supplicative, and now Old Randy was denying him that pleasure. But the next moment he had put it aside.
[edit] Grace returns to the others
The door opened again, slowly, and the shy girl of twelve walked back in on tiptoe. "Didn't want to disturb your nice chat there," was the excuse that she gave.
Old Randy obviously saw right through it, realized why Grace had said it, so he didn't press the matter. "All right then, since there's five people here now, I'll ask that you all back your chairs and yourselves away from the desk for a moment," stated Old Randy pacifically. The youngsters did so, and the next moment the table suddenly changed from having four edges to having five--one for each person, as was customary.
Grace took it as an invitation to sit down, so she did.
Old Randy continued. "The possibilities are endless. Take, for example, the spell that An has just taught you recently, diffindo. You could, with that one spell, break a tree branch, snatch away a gag, or even rip off a limb from a person. You could also, with slight alterations to that spell, cut bread into loaves; blast through a locked door; pull fish straight out of the water without needing a rod; grab an item that you otherwise may have difficulty reaching. You could then combine that spell with other spells; you could cast it in different ways. Then consider all the other spells, which could likewise be as flexible. That's why magic is so interesting, and yet so hard to master; that's why it's an open world to discover, for you to find what you like about it. As spellcasters, your duty is to learn the magic that others have found before you, and add on to that body of knowledge with what you learn over the course of a lifetime. And that, my friends, is the introduction to magic that An should have given you."
[edit] Old Randy treats the four to some food
An winced. Then he thought of something. "So does that disqualify me? Do you want to disown me as your apprentice?"
Old Randy took it lightheartedly. "You still have much to learn, as you can see from our age difference. But each generation is going to be better than the previous, as long as the young aren't insolent toward the old."
Starlight smiled. That answer had in effect said "no, you'll be better, but you ought not to think that way, or you'll really find yourself behind."
An didn't give up. "Fine then, let's eat lunch now." He went to a nearby cabinet, took five plates, and laid them on the table.
Old Randy nodded, and got up to go to a closet, walking rather fast for his age. "Okay, time for lunch, everybody." He pulled out a small black silken bag, seemingly laden with something, and brought it over to the table.
"What's that?" asked Starlight, inquisitively. The bag could easily fit in her hand. If that was what they were going to eat, they would still be starving. She could have eaten all of whatever was in it all by herself, and still hungered for more.
[edit] Old Randy demonstrates cornucopeia
"It's a Secondary Inside," replied Old Randy. "I'll get to that later. But look." He tilted the bag upside down so that its opening pointed downward, then gave it a little shake.
Out plopped several loaves of bread.
He shook it a bit more. More bread, this time of all different sorts: some with an assortment of berries mixed in, some with a layer of mouth-wateringly sweet mlitk syrup on top, some toasted, some already prepared into sandwiches. He kept shaking it, and now a small bottle rolled out, filled with iridescent little round particles, shining in all its various colors. And as Old Randy kept shaking, more food tumbled out... It seemed to be an endless container.
Andrew gleamed. "Could that be sylfly eggs?" he asked Old Randy, his eyes wide open in amazement.
Finally Old Randy tilted the bag right side up. "I think that ought to do," he said to them. Everyone's plates were filled with an assortment of dazzling foods. He replied, happily. "Yes, it's sylfly eggs all right."
The children had not had such a feast since the duchess of Bahasa gave birth to her first son and invited everyone to celebrate...
Grace looked at the bottle in astonishment. Then, as she was sitting right next to Old Randy, she grasped him and hugged him, with her eyes closed in bliss, as if they had been old friends for a long time. "Oh my, but that's a delicacy! How come you're giving any of that at all to us? You're so kind--" It seemed that the only one who wasn't surprised was An, who had been Old Randy's apprentice for quite a while now.
Old Randy replied, rather matter-of-factly: "Oh thank you! Well you don't have to all hug me like this--I won't be able to stand it! One thing you'll learn when you become a spellcaster is that you enter a priviledged class, and that rarities in the mundane world can be quite common around here. It's all part of what I had been saying about infinite possibilities..."
