Millennial Mage

Tala took a moment as she walked away from Viggo and Ula’s home to open Kit and speak to Terry.

“Hey, in there! Do you want to come out?”

She thought she saw some people give her odd looks, as she was hardly alone on the street, but that didn’t really bother her.

A long, disinterested squawk was her only reply.

“Fair enough. I want you to be able to get out if you want to, so there shouldn’t be any issues, but in either case, I’ll try to check every hour or so.”

-I can help remind you.-

Thank you.

-Oh, hey! While you were chatting, I think I figured out how to selectively suppress the illusion from the through-spike.-

Oh?

As Tala walked through the streets of Marliweather, letting her feet carry her wherever they wanted, Alat stepped her through the process she’d worked out.

Tala decided to test the process on her hands, as they were an easy thing for her to observe, and suppressed the illusion around them specifically.

Sure enough, her metallic-gray skin, surrounded by a blazing nimbus of power, started to fade into view. Tala immediately released her hold on the power, so as to not be noticed.

Alright. Not sure how we’ll use it, but it’s another step.

The whole process of learning from Alat had only taken a few minutes, but when Tala looked up, she found that she’d traveled quite a ways.

In fact, as she looked down the street before her, she saw an all too familiar sign, though it had likely been repainted or replaced since she’d last seen it.

Karweil Alchemical Solutions

Rust. Tala immediately turned and walked into the park that she’d stopped beside. It was, in fact, the park that she’d played in often as a child.

There was a mixture of open space and cultivated walking paths, and she chose the latter, hiding from the sign among the trees.

Less than a minute later, she found herself at another familiar spot.

Here, a bench rested between two closely planted trees, not hidden from the path by any means, but tucked back and out of easy view until she was right beside it.

The trees were evergreen, so the screen existed even in winter.

This was on my path home from school. I used to sit here when I didn’t want to go home yet.

Alat didn’t respond.

Tala brushed off the light dusting of snow, then slowly sat, feeling a whirlwind of emotions wash over her at the familiar surroundings.

She’d cried on this bench uncounted times, afraid to go home to her father’s quiet rage, afraid to abandon her family to the same.

Every day throughout that time, she’d stopped here, contemplating running away.

Every day, she’d chosen to do the “right thing” and go home.

Her last day in this city, she’d stopped here again.

By that point, it had been months since her father had been magically cured of the physiological portions of his addiction, and he was still in process with a counselor for the psychological parts.

Things had been looking better, despite her lingering resentment for the years of pain he’d put the family through with his addiction.

But that day, the Mages had come, pulling her out of class.

She was special. She could learn magic. She could have a better life and lift the burden of debt from her family.

She didn’t remember all the thoughts and emotions that had run rampant through her mind, but she did remember agreeing.

Then, she’d come here.

Tala had sat on this exact bench as night had fallen, trying to figure out a way to tell her family that she was leaving, all while staring at her parent’s signatures on the contract that would take her away.

They’d already known that she was leaving.

What was worse, the dates next to the signatures were more than a week old.

They hadn’t told her this was coming.

They hadn’t talked to her.

True, she’d avoided them whenever possible, but not entirely.

-Is it possible that it was as hard for them as for you?-

I’ll never know, will I? They didn’t even try.

That day, so long ago, Tala had chosen differently than every time before.

She hadn’t gone home.

Instead, she’d simply walked back past the school and to the teleportation tower. She showed them her acceptance letter and the signed contract, and she’d been transported away.

Of course, they took the contract first. It would have been obliterated by the teleportation otherwise.

They took my school bag, too, now that I think about it. They said I should have a clean start. She smiled ruefully. Easier than explaining to a twelve-year-old that anything she tried to take would be obliterated.

She remembered them asking after her family. She’d lied, saying that she’d already said her goodbyes.

The fully endorsed contract was enough after that.

Enough to leave my family behind, forever. At least she’d thought it would be forever, but now she was back.

She took a deep breath, checked on Terry, and let her mind continue to wander. As she considered it, this was about the time of day she’d usually come through here.

There should be a flood of school kids coming by, soon.

Sure enough, as Tala sat there for the next hour eating jerky and drinking ending-berry juice, kids started to come by in twos and threes, and sometimes in much larger groups than that.

Some jumped at the sight of her. Most ignored her, but some politely greeted her as they passed, not as a Mage, but just as an adult in their neighborhood. Though, now that I think about it, some aren’t too much younger than me.

Schooling was available up through the teenage years, even if most chose a profession, and finished their education by learning a trade or craft.

She tried not to stare, but she did get a reasonably good look at all who passed her. She didn’t recognize any of those who passed, not that she’d expected that she would.

Well, this is one of the routes to my family’s shop. It’s not unreasonable to expect one of my siblings to have come this way.

-Did you want that?-

She didn’t know.

She checked on Terry again, and found him quite content. She did her best to will some jerky near the sleeping terror bird, but she had no idea if it did anything. I’ll have to ask him later.

The park had mostly cleared within Tala’s range of hearing, and the sun had fully set, when a single set of boots crunched down the path in her direction.

Magical lamps along the path were providing plenty of light, despite the early winter darkness, so Tala didn’t feel like she was lurking, at least not too much.

The approaching steps had nothing to set them apart from the myriad others that had come before, but the sound drew her attention for some reason, nonetheless.

They were nearly to her when Tala heard others coming up behind the first set. Still, those following were at least a couple of minutes out.

A shrouded form rounded the path and came into view, and Tala recognized him, instantly, though he’d grown up a lot in nearly a decade.

He took a few more steps before his gaze drifted over to her, and he froze in his tracks, one foot having just set down on the slushy path.

He wore a hat and a heavy coat above his boots, and his gloved hands were tucked into his pockets against the cold.

Overall, the clothes of his that she could see were clean and nicely kept, but obviously hand-me-downs by their level of wear and the fact that they didn’t fit quite right. His eyes were red around the outside as if he’d been crying, though there were no tears on his cheeks at the moment. There was some dried snot on his sleeves where he’d seemingly wiped his nose recently.

His center blazed to her mage-sight, showing an unusually high through-put for an uninscribed gate. That wasn’t unheard of. Humanity varied across all its inborn traits, but it was still notable.

His eyes widened almost comically, and he whispered. “What? Are…are you real?”

Tala found herself smiling slightly, despite the massive wave of nervousness and the sudden, slight watering of her own eyes. “Hey, Nalac. It’s been a while.”

His hesitation broke, and he ran the last few steps to her, throwing himself into her arms as his tears started up again.

Tala caught him easily, despite her surprise. He was almost as tall as she was, but his weight was nothing to her heavy, strengthened body. He curled in on himself in her arms, pressing his face into her chest as he wept, his whole body shaking with each sob.

“Hey, hey. What’s going on? Are you okay?” She gently rubbed his back, remembering the little boy who would wake her up whenever he had nightmares.

The steps that had been following behind were getting closer, and Tala started hearing snatches of softly spoken words.

“-came this way, right?”

“-always-”

“-better than us-…-rust me if he actually has a Mage sister.”

No… this can’t be for real. Are they following him?

Tala leaned close and whispered loud enough that she thought Nalac could hear her. “Hey. Hey, Nalac. I’m sorry to press, but are you being followed?”

His head jerked up. “What? No!” He hesitated. “I mean… They haven’t followed me home before, at least not that I’ve known.” There was the tinge of fear in his eyes. “A bunch of kids were dropped from pre-magic, today. Apparently, they don’t have the proper mindset or whatever. If those following are who I think, their younger siblings were among those dropped. I wasn’t. They were…” He glanced at her, cleared his throat and seemed to amend what he’d been going to say. “They were upset.”

“They were rusting livid, eh?” She cocked a half-smile at him.

Nalac’s eyes widened, but then he nodded. “Are you really here? Am I dreaming again?”

Tala felt something break within her, and she squeezed him close once again. “Yeah, I’m here, my little titan.”

He let out one weak chuckle that had the tinge of tears. “No one’s called me that since you left.” He pulled back, his face scrunched; the mix of emotions playing across his features were easy to read, even for Tala. He didn’t know how to feel. He felt like he should be mad at her, but he was happy to have her here, and he was scared of the boys who were following him.

There was a lot more, too, but those were the things that seemed obvious to her. Tala frowned in anger. No one messes with my titan.

The boys were getting close. How old are they? “Have they picked on you before?”

Nalac shrugged, then nodded.

“So, just an escalation, then.”

-I know you know this, but please don’t kill random teenagers, alright?-

I’m a bit insulted that you felt the need to remind me, but sure, I’ll be reasonable.

“I don’t know why they dropped students today, except that it’s the end of the week.” His voice was small, almost pleading.

It’s the end of the week? She checked and just like the time, she was able to subconsciously know what day it was. Huh. I’ve really fallen out of caring what day it is.

-That’s because you don’t rest. Every day is the same for you. It’s not healthy.-

Yeah, you’ve said.

Tala turned her attention back to her brother, quickly wiping some of the tears off of his cheeks with her thumbs. “Pull yourself together, and sit beside me. They’re almost here.”

Nalac obeyed, shifting to sit beside her on the bench. He seemed like he wanted to ask her something, likely what was going to happen, but he kept silent and waited.

As she considered it, Tala realized that the boys wouldn’t have caught up to Nalac before he reached his home, had he not stopped to talk with her. Unless they started running for some reason, which seems unlikely.

So, this might have happened before and Nalac just didn’t realize. Is that because the boys are hesitant? Or just bad planners?

A group of six older boys rounded the path and came into view.

By now, Tala realized just how horrible a judge of ages she was, but if she had to guess, she’d say that they were all in their late teens, likely ranging from fifteen to seven or eighteen. Huh, almost my age, then.

The group shuffled to a stop as they saw Tala and Nalac sitting on the bench.

She heard them exchange a few whispers, then one of the boys, neither the largest nor the smallest, stepped forward and spoke a bit hesitantly, “We have business with Nalac.”

Tala stood, finding herself shorter than most of the boys before her. Should have stayed sitting down… “So do I. You’ll have to find someone else to bully.”

That sent a murmur through the group. The one who’d spoken before shook his head. “No bullying. He insulted our families, and he needs to be reminded of the wisdom in respect.”

Tala cocked an eyebrow and looked back to her brother who was doing his best not to hunker down on the bench.

“Nalac? Is that true?”

He made an almost whining sound in his throat before answering. “I simply pointed out that none of their families had ever produced Mages, while mine had.” His eyes flicked to her quickly, then away once more.

The representative of the group laughed. “See? He admits it. His sister up and vanished, so the family claims she’s a Mage. They try to say that they’re better than us. You wouldn’t get in the way of a lesson in wisdom and respect, would you?” His tone conveyed utter confidence in the fact that she’d agree with him. To his mind, it was a forgone conclusion. Those who disrespected the families of others needed to be taught a lesson.

Tala sighed. “There seems to be a misunderstanding, here.”

The boy’s smile faltered but didn’t start to fade until she continued.

“It is not a shame to lack a Mage in your family. It just is. His pointing out the fact can hardly be called an insult.”

“Respectfully, I disagree. He’s an uppity bit of slag and needs to be taught his place.” The joviality in the teen’s tone was utterly gone, now.

She sighed again. Can I? She made her idea clear within her mind.

-I don’t see a downside.-

“Unfortunately, I can’t allow that.” Tala forcibly suppressed her illusion on her hand as she raised it up before her, causing her skin to darken. Her mesh of power blazed forth, obviously glowing without throwing any light. The interweaving, interlocking manifested spell-forms carved from light into reality itself were, without a doubt, magical. “You see, I’m his Mage sister.”

The group of boys stumbled backwards disjointedly, several bowing or clasping hands on reflex.

Tala saw Nalac’s eyes widen once more, out of the corner of her vision.

-Oh, yeah. That’s a downside.-

The spokes-boy stumbled over his own tongue a few times before getting out. “Our apologies, Mistress! No offense intended.” Then, the whole group turned tail and departed, barely keeping from running in their haste to be elsewhere.

Tala allowed her illusion to snap back into place over her hand as she turned to Nalac. “So, now that’s sorted.”

Nalac was staring at her, open mouthed.

“What? You’ve never seen a Mage before?” Play it cool, Tala. Maybe, he doesn’t know any better?

-Um… He’s clearly not an idiot, Tala.-

He closed his mouth, visibly swallowing before he responded. “Your hand didn’t look like any part of any Mage I’ve ever seen before.”

She snorted a laugh. “And you’ve seen many parts of many Mages, have you?”

He looked down and rocked side to side on his feet. “You know what I mean.”

She scratched an eyebrow. “Yeah, well, I am a bit unusual, I’ll grant you that.”

It was his turn to chuckle, though it came out with a tinge of nervousness. “Yeah, that was pretty scary…I bet some of them even peed themselves.” He was clearly still uncertain of her, though the reasoning behind it had changed.

She shook her head. “No. That’s a hard smell to miss. They kept their composure at least in that regard.”

Nalac looked at her with obvious skepticism but didn’t argue. “So…what now? Are you here to eat us? Or will you leave again, and I won’t see you until I graduate from the Academy? Is this some sort of sick reward for making it this far in pre-magic?”

Tala winced. “No… I didn’t actually know you were in that class. You’re twelve, right?”

“Eleven,” he corrected. “Won’t be twelve and old enough for the Academy for another three months.”

Oh… Right. “That’s right. I remember celebrating your birthday mid-winter.”

“Really? I barely do. I was four when you left.” His irritation seemed to be rising once more, helping to cover over his trepidation. The accusation was clear, and her brother’s temperament towards her was cooling along with the night air. “I’m freezing and want to get out of the cold. Do mom and dad know you’re here?”

She shook her head, feeling a bit ashamed of the fact.

“Are you going to see them?”

Tala hesitated, then nodded. “I just didn’t really know how to go about it.”

Nalac grunted, looking her up and down. “You promise you aren’t some crazy beast, come to devour us all?”

“Would you believe me if I said ‘No’?”

“Of course. Everyone knows that the Arcane King and his ilk can’t lie.”

Tala blinked at that. Well, that’s just not accurate. Still, she was hardly going to help the situation by convincing her brother otherwise. “I am Tala, your sister. I’m not here to hurt or devour anyone.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, seeming to consider. Finally, he let out a long winded sigh. “Come on, then. Let’s go.” He held out his hand towards her, inviting her to take it.

She did, feeling silly and awkward even as she did so.

“Let’s go home. It seems like it’s going to be an interesting night.”