The OP Lich is a Returnee, Chapter 191

Chapter 191 – Arrival

Lucia Menton was excited. Well, she thought, as she patted down her dress to ensure nothing was out of place, excited seemed a bit too dull a term for it, but ‘thrilled’ or ‘ecstatic’ sounded a bit pretentious for the moment. She wasn’t going to a concert, or getting invited on a date by her crush, or anything like that. Those were moments of joy, a flash in the pan, and then they were done. This wasn’t like that.

Those were all isolated moments. This, however, was a beginning. Lucia, along with five others, were waiting here, outside the wall of an actual Japanese-style castle! Each of them had been selected out of who knew how many thousands of applicants that had flooded the website when the Lich Queen had announced that she would be taking on new disciples. They were the lucky ones, who would get to learn magic from the greatest, most powerful mage in the world!

Lucia tried to calm herself, to put on the ‘diplomatic face’ her father had made her learn, for those times when she appeared in public with him. Thankfully, her father was only the Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations, not someone who had to be out doing public appearances all the time, like the Prime Minister, or someone like that. They at least had some privacy as she was growing up.

As they stood in front of the castle gates, she stole a glance at her fellow ‘winners’. Almir Lobo was standing next to her. He was a good looking, athletic man about her age, dressed in a pair of black slacks and a red button-up shirt. She knew from their conversation on the drive here from the airport that he was Portuguese, an ‘aeromancer’, or Wind Arcanist, and enthusiastically single. His Aunt had also been one of the two ‘vessels’ who had been lost when the Seal of Wind exploded, ripping apart the Azores. Which explained why he was so keen on experiencing everything life had to offer, without getting tied down in a long-term relationship.

On her other side was Tabia Nassar, an Egyptian woman dressed in a lovely blue gown with a black head scarf. The style was a… shayla? Something like that. One of the looser ones, but still traditional. Lucia remembered wearing one like it when Daddy took her on a trip to Egypt, as a sign of respect. Tabia was apparently a Necromancer, or Death Arcanist, which had caused some complex feelings in her home town, to say the least. From what she’d learned on the ride over, it was one of the priests at the Temple of Murena, in Cairo, that had suggested that she try for this discipleship.

María Rodríguez was on the other side Tabia from her. She was a Mexican woman, though it was hard to tell given that she was completely covered from head to toe, bundled up with gloves, ski mask, and even a blanket wrapped around her. Unlike Tabia, who was dressed conservatively because of social and religious reasons, María was covered up for an entirely different reason. Namely, because she was a vampire! Lucia had never met a vampire before, and this one was a Reaper, or Death Sorceress, so they’d probably have a lot of time to work together, along with Tabia.

Won Sang-Ki stood on the other side of the vampire. He was from the Kingdom of Korea, and a Shadowbringer, or Dark Witch. Apparently, he wanted to have a career in Magic, and decided that applying for a discipleship was better than going for a University degree. He was not bad to look at, but more ‘bookish’ than she preferred. Not that she expected they’d have much time for dating while studying.

And then, there was Nawai Kai, a big, muscled Hawai’ian man. He was dressed in comfortable slacks, and a polo shirt that entirely failed to conceal those massive arms of his. Apparently, he was a Flame Sorcerer, which might explain why his hair was a vibrant red-orange, despite the fact that he was most definitely a native Hawai’ian by the looks of things.

Each of them had been told to bring no more than two bags, plus a purse for the ladies. The bags were for personal items, sleepwear, laptops and other devices, and so on. Some casual clothes for when they had personal time, as well. Everything else would be provided for them, during their apprenticeship. Those bags now sat behind them as they stood before the gates, the driver of the van that had brought them here doing the work of unloading everything.

Looking up at the walls, Lucia saw skeletons wearing the mark of Risen Athelia standing there, with bows in hand. They were not watching the six of them, but rather their undead gazes turned outwards, watching the perimeter. As she watched, one raised their bow, and, as they pulled back the string, a shimmer of inky darkness formed into an arrow. And then, the skeleton let fly.

A crunching sound, followed by a crash, drew their attention. Using the basic Body Enhancement magic that had been included in the training materials that came with the testing kit from Phantomline, Lucia sharpened her eyesight, focusing on an area near the treeline. The wreck of a drone lay there, pierced by the black arrow which was now disappearing back into mana. The drone’s body was maybe eight centimeters in length, and four wide, though the rotors made the thing roughly the size of a dinner plate. It was at least three hundred meters from the wall to where the drone had been hit cleanly in the middle of its body. That kind of accuracy was insane, for a mortal, but the skeleton looked as though it had not even been trying!

A grinding sound drew their attention back to the gate. Slowly, the massive wooden doors were pushed open by what looked like trolls? At least, they looked a bit like the images of the Troll Patriarch she’d seen, though perhaps more docile? Or at least more controlled. She could feel a trickle of Death mana coming from them, so they were probably undead. Zombies, maybe?

One of the Lich Queen’s Death Knights sat on his steed behind the trolls, visible to them now that the doors were open. Everyone knew the look of her Death Knights, especially after she’d shown them off so publicly in London and New York. No one knew just how many of them she had, but Lucia bet it was easily in the thousands.

“Come. The Lich Queen awaits you in her throne room. Leave the bags. Servants shall take them to your rooms.”

Lucia shivered at the tone of authority in the Death Knight’s voice. It went beyond simple might, or an expectation that people would follow the command of his Queen. There was magic in the words, like it would only take a nudge for the words to become a Command, rather than an invitation.

She followed the knight as he turned his skeletal horse, and the others came after her. As she crossed the threshold of the castle, she breathed in, following the exercises that the materials from Phantomline had given her. She had never been in an area with so much concentrated Death mana before, and she could feel the power flowing through her like someone had gone from dripping a faucet to opening the tap wide. It was a heady experience. Was this what being high felt like? If it was, then she had a whole new understanding of how people could turn to drugs.

She barely noticed as they wound through the outer courtyard to the second gate, which lay open for them, already. A zombie in finely tailored clothes was waiting for them just inside the entrance. She didn’t hear what he was saying, but she started taking her shoes off, like all the others. Then, she felt a hand upon her shoulder.

The zombie was looking at her with a knowing grin on his face. So, not a normal zombie. “Young witch, I understand the urge to sink into the mana when it is so rich around you, but perhaps you should wait until after the oaths are sworn?” Lucia felt her cheeks heat in a blush, but the zombie just shook his head. Lucia caught the way how, when he spoke again, his voice was just a bit louder, and his eyes turned to look the other disciples in the eye. “You are not the first witch this Galeren has seen get Mana Drunk upon entering an area rich with their element. Her Majesty will explain more, in time, but each style has their strengths you will learn to tap into, and weaknesses you must seek to overcome.” A pause, as the undead looked to make certain everyone understood, and then he nodded, once, satisfied. “Now, come. Her Majesty awaits.”

They followed Galeren through the castle, to a pair of paper doors which he slid open. Lucia knew the room beyond from a glance. The Throne of Risen Athelia had been shown in several interviews over the years. The first time she had seen it was after the Lich Queen made her triumphant flight across Washington, DC, and gave her famous ultimatum to the CIA. The second, was years later, after Hawai’i and the other former American territories petitioned to be part of Risen Athelia.

In that one, she had explained why she would not move the seat of power from her castle, to one of her new territories. How she wanted the mortals under her care to trust in her and grow strong under her rule, but she did not wish to make them wholly reliant upon her, which would leave them weakened in the long term. Keeping her seat of power set apart, and letting the governors have more control over their territories, forced the people of Risen Athelia to strive to make the changes they desired. Her protection simply made it so that they had the freedom to do so without worrying about someone larger gobbling them up.

The zombie stopped just inside the room, stepping to one side so that he did not impede their view of the Lich Queen, in all her undead glory, upon her throne. “My Queen, I present to you Lucia Menton, Almir Lobo, Tabia Nassar, María Rodríguez, Won Sang-Ki, and Nawai Kai. They wish to become apprentices under your tutelage, should you allow it.”

“Let them approach.”

At the Lich Queen’s command, Galeren turned to them, and said, “Her Royal Majesty, Queen Akagawa Kaori, First of Her Name, World Traveler, the Deathless, the Dragon Ascended, the Heroine of the Elements Undivided, Conquerer of Haerth and its Minions, Mistress of the Dead and Ruler of the Damned, Archlich and High Contractor of Murena, Agent of the Goddess of Death, Chainbreaker, Archmage of the Elements Undivided, Destroyer of Athelia-That-Was, Demon’s Bane, Legend-crafter, Weaponmistress, She Who Wields Both Spell and Blade, the Lost Sleeper Returned, and Lich Queen of Risen Athelia bids you approach, and kneel, so that you may offer the Oaths of the Apprentice to your new Mistress.”

They’d been told that there was a ritual to this. Aeko Naya, one of the Queen’s first disciples, had given them a briefing, before they got in the van to drive to the Queen’s castle. Still, even knowing that it was coming, she almost stumbled under the weight of the Queen’s gaze, but she pushed through, as she stepped to one of six pieces of paper set upon the floor before the throne. This was it, she was finally going to get to study under the Akagawa Kaori!

She knelt in front of the paper, and glanced at it. The words were plainly printed, but not in any language she knew. And then the characters shifted into English. A translation enchantment? Or just a spell? Either way, her excitement only grew as she saw the words of the Apprentice’s Oath in front of her.

“Speak your oaths, so that I might hear your intent before Magick itself.”

Lucia could hear the capital M and the k in the word. Not magic, or even Magic, but Magick. The stuff of true power. She took a breath, and then she spoke, dimly hearing the others speak alongside her. But that didn’t matter. All that mattered was speaking the oath properly, so that she didn’t blow the chance of a lifetime.

“I, Lucia Menton, hearby swear upon my Magick and my Life that I will in the future be faithful to my Mistress, never cause her harm, to keep her secrets, and will observe my homage to her completely against all persons in good faith and without deceit, until Death takes me past all Undeath, or my Mistress releases me.”

As they spoke, she could feel power flowing around her. Like a wind felt on the skin but which didn’t stir their hair. Higher and higher it rose, and tighter and tighter it swirled about them, like they were in the eye of a tornado, and the power was coiling, waiting to be unleashed. And then, the Lich Queen spoke, and what had been a tornado now seemed a summer breeze compared to the hurricane of power that was added into the mix.

“I, Akagawa Kaori, Archmage of the Elements Undivided, do in turn swear to aid and protect you as I would mine own blood, to teach you the ways of Magick, and to prepare you for the Trials of Initiation, that you might pass through, and plumb what depths of Magick as you might reach, until the day I release you, or Death takes you, past all forms of Undeath.”

And then, the walls that had been holding back all that power fell away, and it cascaded down upon them. Lucia felt herself crushed against the floor, only kept from sprawling because she was already kneeling. The power crashed over her and through her, through them all. For a moment, her eyes saw a brilliant sun of eight different colors before her, and then a thin trail of velvet black snaked between them, linking her to that sun, which then reduced into the shape of the Queen, her Mistress, now that she had taken the Oath.

And then, the Lich Queen spoke again, and Lucia realized that there was not the tinge of magic that had been in her voice before. The call and response had been part of the ritual, clearly. But the Lich Queen’s words made her feel warm inside, when she heard them.

“Rise, my Apprentices. Rise up, and take your place at my side. For we have much to do if you are to be taught the ways of Magick.”