ALEXiThymiA: Interlude VII

Interlude VII

Monday

Time Until Integration: 1 Month, 26 Days, 6 Hours…

General Markus Mackie

The general went over the scene again, looking for any signs of magical disturbances. There was a clear connection, a clear pull where a being of immense power from an alternate plane managed to reach through the veil between worlds and seemingly pluck out a spirit from the void between worlds. There was such a feeling of loss coming from the disembodied spirit of the Red Countess that General Mackie could almost feel pity for the creature.

Of course, pity was only for what had happened. When he stopped to consider the ramifications of what happened and more importantly who it happened to, one’s concerns about right and just went out the window.

He was in the middle of trying to figure out the exact nature of the spell Countess Alexa Thyme used, when he felt the sensation of the very devil cross his senses.

Poof.

As he appeared, he saw the very subject of so many recent headaches appear right before him. Then as if expecting his appearance, she spoke.

“Good evening.”

Not wishing to be ruffled by her forward natures, Mackie responded. “Good evening to you Ms. Thyme. Might I inquire as to the nature of your departure?”

Then looking back, he saw the complete gaggle of Sophomore class students, and Gina Rojas. His mind tried to contemplate what so many students could be doing on a school night like tonight. Fortunately, Alexa provided a quick answer to satiate his curiosity.

“Indoctrination to the faction.” Alexa said, succinctly.

Markus Mackie stared at Alexa for a moment, then nodded. “Ah very good, will you be needing any assistance?”

“No, please don’t bother us, this could get intricate.” Alexa said her voice enchantingly soft to take out the sting of her words and inflections.

“As you wish.” Mackie said, then proceeded to go back to his lab. He waited until he felt all twenty-two bodies go through the barrier. He felt first trapped, as he was needed to serve, he was all but compelled to protect his charge. To his knowledge Countess Thyme was the most influential person on the planet, someone like her needed to be protected at all costs, and yet she was going to initiate the rest of her pack to the cause. This was a monumental feat, literally taking resources away from the orc faction and adding them to his own.

He sat and pondered the situation for only a moment, before he realized that while his compulsions told him not to bother the process. The commands did not cover those who might otherwise be considered an assistance.

“I will stay, just as you have asked. What my subordinates do, that will be entirely upon them.” Mr. Mackie mused to himself as he pulled out his cell phone and placed a quick call.

“Yes, I just thought you should know that our mutual countess is off campus right now adding more people to our cause as we speak.”

“I can’t go, as I have been ordered by the Countess not to interfere. You on the other hand have no such compulsions laid upon you.”

“Eastern side of campus, I would assume you would just have to look for the open fire.”

“No, I have not seen the place, but they are kids out for a good time. Of course, there will be a fire.”

“Right, let me know if I should be aware of any developments.”

Click.

With that conversation over, General Mackie sat back in his chair and let out a sigh of relief. While he couldn’t have direct eyes on, the two assets that he sent would be more than capable of handling anything that might arise.

With that minor challenge done, he once again turned his attention back to the crime scene and began trying to go over the contents of the spells used. Sure enough, the Countess had to have used a variant of Water magic in her crafting. How such a thing was possible was unknown to the General. From all he had known there were only four learnable schools of Magic. Yet, the more he watched the young countess, the more he wondered if she was hiding even more.

“Eight.” General Mackie said softly to himself. Looking back at Countess Alexa Thyme he distinctly saw and accounted for eight different schools of magic, one of those newer ones was Water, then was the never before heard Creation magic. Then on top of those, she also had two more schools of magic available to her that he had never seen, one was golden, and the other was brown. The deep blue he attributed to being Water. The purple one was obviously Creation magic, but what of the two new schools?

He had been tempted to ask her about her new schools of magic right there in the middle of the gymnasium for all to hear. Fortunately, he thought better of such an act at the last minute, if the Integration was going to be as chaotic as he had expected, then Countess Thyme might just be the very weapon that could change the shape of the world. At the very least she had insights into the way dungeons were run. She could almost instinctively tell where hidden power resided within each stage of the Trials of Ascension. Also, she was fearless, going from facing down dragons to facing down the red countess all in the same span of time. It was clear that she was being groomed as one of the main leaders of the planet, but for what end?

Mackie himself didn’t know. For now, all he could do was piece together the attacks used during the duel and try to come up with a counter for each with his wards. The Death magic was simple enough to counter, there was no nuance, no finesse, just a straight bolt of death energy. Countess Thyme’s magic on the other hand was intricate, practiced and most importantly performed by a deft hand at the art. Trying to counter her forms of magic would be far tougher. Then another question came to him, should he try to counter his Countess? Logically no, but then he realized that learning to counter this spell alone would likely be worth a level in his class, if not more. It was for that reason, the fact that he could become more powerful to serve his Countess better in the future that he forced himself to figure out the new runes needed to block not only Water magic, but the runes needed to block a combination spell using both Water and Healing magic combined.

“Countess Thyme, you are truly a worthy subject to study.” He said to himself as he mentally mapped out the energy strains being observed and began trying to find the resonant frequency of the spell being used, so he could institute wards of the exact opposite nature to counteract the very frequency of mana he was now observing.

To Markus Mackie, solving magical equations and puzzles like this was his true calling and reason for existence.

Rayne Johnston And Bullford

Rayne Johston stood on the second story balcony of a cheap motel room that had a direct view of Dawning Light Academy. In her hand was a lit cigarette that she idly took a puff from.

Whoosh.

A light breeze caused her silken nightgown to cling tightly to her small frame.

A few minutes later Bullford came out to join her, as he wore a white complimentary bathrobe that did little to cover his large frame.

“This was good.” Bullford said.

“This never happened.” Rayne said, a note of her normal commanding voice coming back to her.

“Of course.” Bullford said, as he leaned forward and rested his arms against the railing.

Silence, the two looked on in the distance, seeing a slight fire appear off in the west, directly between their hotel suite and the Academy grounds.

“Looks like a fire.” Bullford said.

Rayne nodded, then took in a deep puff from her cigarette.

“I thought you quit?” Bullford finally said, not in an admonishing tone, just as a conversation starter.

“I thought we quit.”

At that Bullford just smiled. “I’m glad some habits are hard to break.”

Rayne just nodded, then let out her puff of smoke that seemed to be far larger than the breath she took.

“This your first time since that moment?” Bullford asked.

“Smoking or Sex?”

“Both.”

At that Rayne just nodded, “both.”

Silence.

Rayne finished her cigarette, puffing it down to the filter before letting out a long sigh of relief.

“Should we go check out the fires?” Bullford asked.

Rayne took one look off in the distance at the fire that while large did not seem to be growing in intensity.

“No, I am off duty for tonight. Besides that is Mackie’s territory. He likely has people that can scope it out for him, if he himself is too busy.” Rayne said, as she made her way back in the room. As she turned around, she gave the robe one quick pinch that was hard enough for Bullford to feel through the thick cotton.

“That looks ridiculous on you, you should take it off.” Rayne said, as she sauntered her way into the room and made her way towards the king-sized bed.

A smiled filled Bullford’s face as he realized that his captain was right, as usual, before he proceeded to join her.

***

Luke Thyme

The energy of the night was electric. He could feel everything going almost as if it was preordained, as if everything was going as it was supposed to go. Then there was a slight moment as things weren’t quite right, there was an element at play that would be missed.

He scanned the woods but didn’t see what he had hoped to see. Or rather, he didn’t see who he hoped to see. Looking around quickly, he didn’t see anything. Even as Alexa gave her speech.

“As you might be aware, I am a Countess for the new system that will be coming…” As she spoke, Luke felt the all too familiar feelings of Déjà vu come over him. But that wasn’t everything, something was wrong, there was a discordant note. Something that would be lost if they rushed, something would be misaligned if they hurried this process too much.

“…Everyone who is not ready to place their faith in me as a leader, know I hold no grudges or ill will and wish you only the best in your future, but I also ask that you leave.” She said, and with that people began moving.

No, no, this is too quick, we are out of rhythm. Luke thought to himself as he once again scanned the tree line, only to have his vision come up empty.

“You are doing it now?” Luke asked as a stalling tactic. Then almost as if his words had spoken the moment, he had been preparing for into being, he saw the two figures appear right where they were supposed to.

“Yes.” Alexa said, her tone brokering no argument.

“Oh.” That was all Luke could eloquently state, as he now no longer felt the need to stall for time. Everything was in place, or rather everyone was in place.

“HOPE.”

WHOOM!

With the discordant note no longer playing loudly for him to hear and be distracted, he could focus on the moment. He could feel the energy that his sister had fill up the wilderness. Then he heard it, the word that filled him with infinite possibilities. The one word that let him realize he should change his ways and strive to be better. The word he knew the people in the woods desperately needed to hear right now as well.

Then with the one word spoken, Alexa began giving a speech that made goose flesh rise on Luke’s skin.

“Tonight, I will tell you the truth about what awaits us. About what I have found, and most importantly what I have done to counteract this…”

As she spoke, it was the words of a General talking to her enlisted soldiers. As she spoke, Luke clearly saw the future coming. He saw a myriad of events happening all over the world and doing her part in it all was Alexa.

Hahaha.

A chorus of laughter pulled Luke from his visions of the future. To find Alexa give the words that would forever change the course of his markedly unimpressive life this far, “…now I offer the same choice to you. Will you join me in my faction?”

“What faction is it?” Alecia asked, as if it was a perfect question to ask. The moment of that would change Luke’s life once again.

Alexa paused and stared at Alecia for a moment, then answered clearly, “The Human faction.”

There was a murmur as not everyone present truly understood the ramifications of those comments. Even Luke with his brief glimpses into the future only had a fraction of the knowledge of what such a comment would mean for the future.

“As for now. I have gifts for everyone.” Alexa said, holding up her backpack and letting her recently acquired crystals ring out.

What followed next was a night, of camaraderie, crystals, and magically created chocolate.