The Magus Chronicles Ch 05

Authors note: The characters, places, names, and such are not to be used, copied, or such actions without the permission from the author. Any places, names, descriptions of real life people, places, and such is pure coincidental. Much effort has been placed in keeping everything in this series very original as possible. This story contains, scenes of sex, violence, and use of magic. Let it be noted that all characters engaging in sexual activities are of legal age of consent.

CH.5

Some young female voices could be heard. "Mama, are you all alright?" Beatrice hears as she comes to the present. Beatrice lets her eyes focus and sees her daughters standing over her, ignoring the trashed shop. On the couch, Jack began stirring, and his eyes focused in on what he thought were two possibly mocha-skinned twins. No, they weren't twins; they were mirror twins. They were alike but opposite. They looked more maybe possibly Iranian or Indian than anything else. And they had heart-shaped faces with beautiful bright aquamarine blue eyes that really popped out with the darkened tone of their skin. One had a fan-shaped flare from the corner of her right eye flared towards her temple. The other twin had the same on her left eye. The right eye had a sun necklace and braided hair. She wore a grey shirt, a white vest, and pants. Her sister wore a moon necklace, straight, loose, flowing hair, a black cut-up vest, a blue shirt, and black pants with cut-up legs.

Jack and the twins lock eyes, and again Jack sees another two pink and red butterflies fly from the twins. Unlike before, they're swirling around each other as they fly and merge into one butterfly before entering into him, and their eyes flash pink. Jack wondered why he was seeing these things. What were their purpose he wondered. Why did the two merge into one? The butterflies with Kendra and Jessica didn't do this. The twins looked shocked and glanced at each other, covering their hearts. Beatrice introduced the twins as her daughters. The moon daughter stood behind her mother, whereas the sun daughter stood next to her mother, forward a bit more. The moon necklace daughter was introduced as Zonarica Davis, and the sun necklace was named Alcaret Davis. Both daughters had slim builds with smaller, perky busts and peach-shaped butts. The twins tell them that they were outside about to bring groceries in when they were hit with a wave of pressure as if a bomb went off inside. They'd found the shop in disarray and the two of them unconscious. They'd been scared that they were dead until they found their pulses. While Beatrice pulls the girls aside, Jack searches the name Maniku and sees that it is from the Maldives. So Beatrice and her daughter were Maldivian Americans.

Jack hears Beatrice tells the twins to go outside and look around and see if nornmagins took notice of the incident that just happened. Jack asks what a nornmagin was. "In the Magi community, a nornmagin is someone who isn't able to use magic. There's also those we call 'Aurotheri' who are evil people. They tend to call non-magic folk by the ugly term 'Yallions.'. Best not use that terminology unless you want people who are magi giving you the stink eye or possibly even attacking you. Only Aurotheri or those like them use that term." Beatrice says in a lowered voice so her daughters didn't hear her saying what she did. Beatrice makes a quick pass through his mind again and notices the banners are now visible. She makes a note to search the crest up. She noticed that it felt more lively now and still a strong pressure in him.

Jack collected himself, and Beatrice sat down and had another cup of tea poured. "Well, at least the tea didn't spill over. Would you like another cup, Jack?" She asked, raising the kettle. Jack declined the offer, and the twins returned, saying they didn't see anyone that looked suspicious or curious about what just happened. Beatrice dismisses the twins, telling them she'd talk to them more in a bit. Turning to Jack, she asked what he knew of his childhood. She is told of what he knew, but it didn't help any. Not too many people remember things about their early childhood. She tells Jack she needed some time to go over what she acquired from his mind. She tells him that she'll be in touch with him in a few days or so after she does some searching.

She tells him that he should be able to get some restful sleep now. Jack tells her thanks for the help. He felt like a pressure had been released and felt more energetic. The girls, as they walked away, looked Jack over and smirked to themselves. Beatrice tells them to finish bringing in the shopping and waves them off. They wave before saying bye and heading back out, whispering to each other and giggling. Soon they're trotting back through, carrying the last of the bags. Jack sees them watching him and whispering as they walk out of view.

Turning back to Jack, Beatrice says to him. "Now, Jack, there's a lot you need to know about yourself. We're stepping into unfamiliar territory, and you have a lot more to you than you or I know. There's still more that I'm going to have to look into to help you find your place. First and foremost, you're a magi like my family and many others around the world, and beyond that, I am sure of. Magi use various items or trinkets called arcane focuses to channel the magic we use. Some like to use traditional things like wands or staffs, but most like being low-key using items that blend in with everyday things. Like this necklace I wear or the jewelry on the girls. Like the bracelet that Zonarica wears and Alcaret's ring. You, however, are unique with your focus. Your focus is within you in the center of the pedestal in your mind. That's a double-edged sword, though." Beatrice says as she touches Jack on the forehead. "The focus does two things for us magi. First, it allows us to focus our power and magic better and more precisely. And second it helps fight off the build up of flux. Flux builds up in the body with the use of magic. And we have to detox to get rid of the flux. Your focus is inside you, so therefore you unfortunately aren't getting the benefit of flux resistance and will definitely need to detox as soon as possible. But more on that in a moment." She says before moving on.

"Most magi are divided into types of classes and are bound to certain types of magics usually. Or specialization skills, if you will. My family is sorcerers who usually specialize in evocation, clairvoyance, soul magic, and divination arts. I dabble in runes and healing but am nowhere near as strong as clerics are. Some people are uniquely born who are of two classifications called ghestalts. They're rare and aren't to be trifled with. They're usually kept an eye on from afar by the magi high council. You, however, are an anomaly. You have tremendous power at your hand, and that will scare many people who haven't looked into you as I have. I'll admit I was taken aback and, honestly, a bit fearful when I saw what you are," she said, holding his hands in hers.

"Wha...What am I?" Jacks asks with much concern in his voice and on his face. "I'm not evil, am I?" he asks, following his first question. Beatrice shakes her head no and laughs a bit. "No, dear, you're not evil. An evil person is someone who DECIDES to DO evil. Not because of how they were born. I've known necromancers, who are looked at as evil, who spend their lives doing what they can to help lost souls pass onto the afterlife, and I've known of clerics, who are looked at as holy people, who have been sentenced to death for terrible crimes," she says, reassuring Jack. "You're what we in the magi community theorized as being someone we call a Magus. A magus doesn't need to wield an arcane focus. A magus isn't bound to a specific classification of what they can do. For most magic, a magus doesn't need the materials most of us magi need to perform certain spells or rituals. As you saw me with the candles, chalk, and powder. But it's important to know the what and how of magic components regardless. You never know what may happen to you," she says as she points to the things she'd gathered from before. Jack thinks a moment, then says, "In tabletop role-playing games, we call that eschew materials."

Beatrice tells him that there are several styles of magic. The first is enchanted item use. The second was spell magic, where you focus energy through the arcane focus and speak out a quick incantation of the spell you're casting. The third is ritual magic that takes a lot of time, energy, and materials, which is usually performed at a specific time and/or place. And the fourth is a rare style of magic called willful phenomenon magic. She tells him that willful magic is extremely rare and is brought about by the user's will being so strong that magic bends and responds to what they want regardless of whether they perform a spell or ritual or not. "It's basically saying my will will be done regardless if you like it or not. Not too many can use that form of magic. If you hear about willful magic, it's more than likely a god's doing, but not always." Beatrice says before taking a sip of her drink. "Jack, you are very unique. Most magi are bound to their classification; you are not." She said, Continuing.

Jack is told he's bound only by how hard he works to properly learn magic. With so many things at his disposal, he'd need to spend many long hours with his studies. He asks if he'd have to go to some sort of school of magic. She laughs a bit and tells him he's been watching too many movies and reading too many stories about witches and wizards. She tells him most studies are done alone, but sometimes there are magi who form covens with like-minded magi. She explained the various types of magic there were and some examples of spells. "But they're separated by the primary schools of magic and the sub-schools. As far as we know, unless it's magic performed by the gods, the primary schools have an energy color base that helps make some spells or acts of magic more identifiable when studying them. If it's by the gods, you'll have to figure the magic out in other ways." She said before she explained the schools and then their colors.

"That's it for the primary schools. Any other type of magic abilities will have a grayish hue and the corresponding colors." She pulled out several different books from her shelves and added various supplies to some boxes. "Ninety percent of the time magic will be hidden. And you'll have to cause magic to reveal itself. Also, when performing magic, you'll leave an energy signature unique to the caster. Kind of like fingerprinting for magi. The greater the magic, the stronger the signature holds, but it is harder to find and decipher. These are some basic things for you to start with. I'll sell it to you at a fourth of the normal cost. Find a place at home for you to practice. Tell nobody about who or what you are. If anyone inquires about you, deny anything and everything. I'll tend to those matters when or IF I decide it's safe to do so. Society, like you said, for the most part thinks that magic is fake. The magi high council works hard to keep us a secret. People fear what they don't understand. And there's more I'll have to look into about you. But we'll get to that later." Beatrice said.

Jack asked if he'll be brought to the high council. "GODS NO! You're going to stay as far away from them as possible! Back to what I was saying a bit ago about flux. Using magic builds up something we call flux in the body. Flux causes you to feel as if in a drunken state with negative power. But it corrupts the body and mind." She says as she moves around grabbing things. Jack turns and looks at the crystal ball as he listens to her talk.

She moves around and continues talking. "It rapidly corrupts the body and twists the mind if left unchecked. Eventually it starts to show physically on the body. The skin begins to gray, and there are streaks of dark purple bruises over the entire body. The whites of the eyes turn green or purple. You have a lot built up in your body, but you've been oddly lucky to not have any noticeable effects. You'll need to soak using this powder called Artheriac bloom powder. Half a cup or a scoop that comes with it per tub of water. You can mix it with Epsom salt to work wonders while you soak. I'd soak for no less than forty minutes to an hour." She says.

She then said in emergency situations there was another way to remove flux. "There's also flux leeching. It takes a long while for them to suck out the flux. They take forever and leave sores and bruises. Bloom powder is more expensive and harder to get, though. Due to population growth and development, the mana-rich environments have dried up a lot. And Artheriac blooms only grow in mana-rich environments, so getting them is expensive and time-consuming, traveling out to get them. There are only five or six known places that you can still find the blooms growing; one small area is in Canada, and the others are all overseas in hard-to-reach locations." Beatrice says as she moves. She points to a picture of the plant in a frame near the shelf she'd gotten the powder from. Jack looks at the picture and sees that it's a white and blue flower that looks like a lily mixed with a peony and has golden filaments coming out of the center. He tells Beatrice something that she wasn't expecting. "There's a lot of those on my property." Jack says. Beatrice looks at him in disbelief. Jack shows her the pictures he took. She tells him that they'll have to talk more about that later. "I might have to come out to your place and look around myself." She said.

Beatrice talks more. "As I was saying, flux is really NASTY stuff, though. It rapidly corrupts the body and twists the mind if left unchecked. It weakens the mana of the magi after a some time. Eventually it starts to show physically on the body. The skin begins to gray, and there are streaks of dark purple bruises over the entire body. When the whites of the eyes turn green, you're pretty much looking towards the end. You have a lot built up in your body, but you've been lucky to not have any noticeable effects. You'll need to soak using this powder tonight. If you go too long without detoxing, you'll start corrupting the land and things around you. We call this taint." She says before moving onto mana buildup.

"You would think that just not using magic would solve the issue, but that's not the case. Having too much flux is bad, but having too much mana can also be bad and have side effects on the body as well. We call this mana inflammation fever. Or mana fever in short. When mana isn't used, the body will begin to suffer as well. First, the magi will feel a euphoric sensation. Next from the buildup, they'll start having blood pressure rise, causing a burning itch to spread throughout the body. Then after that, ringing in the ears and vision will begin to blur along with headaches. Finally they'll suffer from strokes and seizures. If it builds up to those points, specialist magi have to help do what's called a mana burn, and that usually leaves the victim having to recover for a few days of healing. So it is important to manage mana levels. The amount of mana pressure you have in you, I'm surprised you're not suffering from any of the symptoms." she says as she turns around and stops talking. Jack was staring at the crystal ball on the table. To normal humans, he'd look like he was just staring at the crystal ball. But he wasn't. His eyes glowed with a yellow energy mist coming out of his eyes like steam. His mouth moved, but no words came out.

Shocked by what she saw, Beatrice touched her necklace quickly and recited a few words, then began seeing what Jack saw. The images were dark and cruel. In one scene, a dark fog is sweeping across the land, and plants, trees, animals, and people turn to dust as they make contact with the fog. People and beasts run from the fog as though it were a wild forest fire. A dark structure with many prison cells surrounded with runes. There are shadowy figures who are imprisoned, being withered away. Many have already passed away and others decomposed. The scene is repulsively grim, and the atmosphere is full of fear, sadness, and agony as the inhabitants writhe in painful torment. Grouped shadows of something wander the halls of the prison as though they're patrolling the different corridors. But Beatrice can sense a slight sense of hope coming from the prisoners as though the will to live had been reinvigorated by something.

The scene changed to somewhere not of this realm as they saw a long-haired blonde female elf child with small marks on various parts of her body exposed from the gown she was wearing. She sleeps in peace until she is grabbed from her bed. She's taken as she slept by a huge, gruesome demonic being that vanished in a puff of fire and smoke. They reappear in another place that is far away from where she called home. She's bound at her neck by a collar with glowing runes while she sleeps. The girl ages through many images, but none of the scenes around her were good. The girl, when not being watched, looks through many scrolls and books around her. She practices magic when she's alone, which isn't too often. The demons find her looking through the books and throw her in a makeshift prison cell.

From what Beatrice saw, she was being used as a living arcane focus. She's bound by her feet and hands, and energy is channeled through her, killing many before her. The girl cries out in agony and sadness. Back alone in her cell, she curls up in the corner and cries herself to sleep. Beatrice had only heard about such grotesque things being done. This was forbidden to do within the magi community. The small marks began growing on the girl's body as she became a young adult. She was bound and watched helplessly as other young children were taken and many consumed. Another version of a large hooded being with two heads appeared. It seemed to notice Jack's and her presence. It goes to grab them with its huge hands just as the visions stopped.

Beatrice is shocked by what she witnessed.'Amazing, just amazing. He performed divination and clairvoyance without any training. He's performing willful phenomenon magic out of instinct.' Beatrice thought to herself. She repeated to Jack what she had said before while handing him a business card. She was thanked for her help even though Jack was actually more confused than before. "Understanding will come with time." Jack hears a female say. Waving bye to the twins watching from the stairs and gathering his things, Jack paid for his stuff and left. Jack loaded up his car and checked his phone; it was after five in the afternoon. Jessica had sent a text message asking Jack if he wanted spaghetti; he replied saying that was fine. Jack gets in his car and heads home.

Jessica was cooking, and Jack could smell it as he walked through the side door. "I'm home." Jack called out as he brought in the bags of stuff he'd bought. He puts them in the day room near the study. He checks the time and tries to figure out where the time went. Jack freshened up and joined Jessica for supper. Jessica looks at Jack as he walked into the dining room, saying, "There's something different about you, Jack. I can see something changed. But that I don't know what it is." Jack tells her he's had a rough few nights of sleep having bad dreams. Jack takes his pain medication and sets his cane against the table and smiles as he looks at the food.

Spaghetti, salad, and garlic toast were fixed before them. "Thanks, Jessica, this looks marvelous." Jack said as she sat down beside him to his right. Jack sees that Jessica is wearing a tight t-shirt and a skirt that stopped just before the knees. They eat, and she tells him about her day and all that she did. "It's our last year of high school and our only year of college prep school, and we should have already been going through it last year. But things happen for a reason. I'm just glad things are getting better. I'm applying for college to stay here. I've selected my courses for applicable science and base chemical engineering. I believe Kendra is doing the same with opting to stay local for college." She takes a few bites before approaching an issue with Jack. "So Jack, it's your property and all, but I've noticed a few weird things around the property since coming out here. First, those statues have a strange glow on the swords. I was curious if you had painted them with some sort of new glow paint?" She asks, looking at Jack.