Chapter 17 - The Prydwen VI

Characters!

Felix Sutter: Poor boy living in Sacramento, recently found out magic existed. Hard worker, knows the price of everything.

Hazel Winslow: Ran away from an abusive cult. Awoke as a natural mind mage.

Erik Morsin: Heir to the Duchy of the Emerald Isle. Just wants to play his violin.

Sora Park: Erik’s loyal friend. Loves flying. An absolute broombrain.

Vivian Merryweather: An expert on all things color, fashion, and of the heart. Gets seasick easily.

Alexandria Renard: Wants to be the next Morgana Le Fay. Can’t speak louder than a whisper. 

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Entry VIII – Of the First Miscalculation and the Dead That Were Not Meant

It was meant to be clean. It was meant to be bloodless.

Merlin, in his boundless care, did strive to replicate the world entire. Stone, water, timber - aye, even the homes we loved and the earth we tilled - were mirrored with sorcerous precision. But he dared not craft life. No soul, no beast, no bird was meant to pass into the new realm save we, the wixen.

Yet the spell - grand beyond all measure - erred.

All that drew breath in the Old World was copied into the New... as corpses.

One moment, we dined and drank beside our mundane kin. The next, a shimmer, a sound like a sigh from the bones of the earth - and they fell. All of them. At once.

Across the entirety of Arcadia, the mundane were dead. Slumped at hearth and table, in street and field. Even beasts and birds. The stillness after was unspeakable, and most unnatural.

Chronicles of the Sundering: A Personal Record by Mine Own Hand by Archmage Elowen Thorne, Keeper of the Black Flame, Scribe of the Meridian Vaults

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Erik opened the door to the new interlocutor.

She was, in a word, beautiful. Golden hoops complimented the gold necklace, made all the more striking against her charcoal skin. She held herself with an elegance and grace that most older witches could only dream at. Makeup was tastefully applied, and she would’ve looked right at home sitting on a throne, with legions of devoted troops ready to throw themselves at her command. Her hair was done up in an ornate style, with more glitz and gems holding it all together.

She looked like she should be at court, not aboard a ship for students.

“Erik Morsin.” She practically purred. “It is a delight to make your acquaintance. I am Naomi, of the House of Bones.”

She held out a hand. Recognizing the customs and traditions being invoked, Erik took it, placed his thumb over the back of her hand. He brought it up to his lips and kissed his own thumb.

“Bones, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Erik said. 

“Now that the royalty - excuse me, the nobility - has been greeted. Park, Sora. Sutter, Felix. Winslow, Hazel. It is my pleasure to meet you all. After all, with just the smallest hint of luck, we will be classmates together for the next eight years. May this be the start of a long and fruitful relationship.”

“Errr… nice to meet you too.” Felix said, feeling lame. In front of the sheer presence that Naomi radiated, he felt… insignificant. He was hyper aware of how poor he was. How tattered his clothes were. The two of them clearly ran in different circles, and it’d be a miracle if the two of them were friends. 

“Quite.” Naomi said. “A small piece of advice that all castoffs should know, knowledge that could save you from a fate worse than death. Never apply your signature to paper that is not from Mammons.”

Felix wrote it down, while Sora and Erik nodded along.

“Yeah that’s so basic I didn’t even think of mentioning it.” Sora said.

“Not like we’ve had a chance to.” Erik pointed out. “We practically just got here.”

“Indeed.” Naomi said, her bearing every bit as regal as when she first came in. “Erik - may I call you Erik?”

The boy in question nodded after a very short pause.

“Erik then. My advice to you is something I’m sure you’re aware of, just not in your heart. Where we go, the Bureau does hold sway. Now, as much as I hate to kiss and run, I do have additional appointments to keep. Fare well, and when it comes time to form covens, I do hope you’ll keep my name in mind.”

“Bye.” Felix said, stifling a yawn. 

“See ya.” Sora said.

Hazel was resolutely ignoring everything, staring out the port window into the endless depths that we’re passing by.

“I will certainly keep your name in mind when forming a coven.” Erik said with a smile.

“Most excellent.” Naomi purred, then smartly turned on her heel and left the cabin.

“Bets on when we get interrupted next?” Sora asked. 

“I’m more curious how she knew all that.” Erik said. “I get her guessing who I am, but it’s not like you’re famous, Sora.”

The girl shrugged.

“Hey, you’re the one who's always complaining that I’m slacking off in my lessons. You’re the one paying attention, what magic would make it work?”

“Divination.” Erik said. 

“See? That was easy.” Sora said. 

There wasn’t a knock at the open door. Instead, a girl stormed in, followed by Vivian. The girl had hair like a fox’s fur, tied back in a sharp ponytail, and eyes as bright green as a spring leaf. Scars coated her face and throat, looking like her skin had melted. Erik stood up again. 

“Hi!” He smiled brightly, extending his hand. “I’m Eri-“

He didn’t even get through his name.

“You!” The girl hissed with hatred, then swiftly and viciously brought her knee up into his groin with all the strength in her body.

Erik went cross-eyed and speechless at the pain. His hands covered his groin as he slowly and silently toppled over. 

Sora scrambled out of the booth, torn between helping Erik and attacking the girl.

“Let’s go.” Alexandria said, sweeping back out of the room. 

“Oh Hera I am so sorry!” Vivian squeaked out. “I didn’t think this would happen, I’m sorry! She’s not usually like that - I’m sorry, I need to go. Sorry!”

She didn’t stay at the scene of the crime, instead hurrying after her friend. Felix shuffled out of the booth and closed the door. Hazel was staring at everything with wide eyes.

“Okay Erik, very funny, the scary girl’s gone now. You can get up.”

Erik said nothing, gasping for air.

“…Erik? Buddy? You okay?”

After an eternal pause he nodded, still lying on the floor. Felix knelt down to his… yeah, after that he could say his friend. 

“Need a minute?” He asked.

“Ow.” Erik whimpered, finally finding his voice again. Sora punched one hand into her other.

“Right! You were nice to Vivian and then she went and did this. I’m going to find them and give them a piece of my mind.”

Erik shook his head.

“If you go,” he gasped out. “Who’ll protect me while I recover?”

Sora groaned and sat back down.

“Ughhhh fine being all reasonable and the like. Still, looks like me punching Moon isn’t going to go anywhere if this is happening regularly.” Sora said smugly.

“Or you both get kicked out and I’m extra screwed.” Erik pointed out. Felix offered him a hand, and Erik took it. He hauled the boy to his feet, and they all sat back down. 

“Thanks.” Erik said. “Okay, this has been nice, but I think I’ll head above deck to recover for a minute.” He closed his eyes and leaned back on the magically padded seats, putting the lie to his words. 

“Hey look, dolphins!” Hazel shouted, pointing to the mammals outside the window. 

Felix felt his eyes getting heavy as they looked outside. After a few minutes, Erik stood up with a limp.

“Felix, Hazel, it’s been great meeting you.” He said.

“Same!” Felix cheerfully agreed.

“It’s been nice. You two are nice.” Hazel said.

Felix wanted to mime an arrow to the heart, but it seemed like his fellow castoff didn’t like him too much.

“Felix, would I be wrong in guessing that you’ve only got the noonie books, and not the rest of the booklist?” Erik asked.

“Yeah, but I was told I can buy the rest in Corwin.” Felix said. Erik nodded.

“Sure, but instead, here. A token of our meeting. A gift.”

Erik reached inside his bag and pulled out a set of books. The four on top seemed to radiate something. A presence, a warmth, words faintly whispered in his ear.

“Okay listen.” Erik whispered to the books. “Felix here is going to take very good care of you. He clearly loves books in a way I don’t. He’s completely new to magic and all of this, so please be a little understanding. I’m sure, given some time, that he’s going to make some very nice bookcases for you, and a lovely warmer for your cover. If he makes some mistakes, be gentle. You’ll be his first books, and he’ll prize you all the more for it.”

Erik stood up and patted the pile.

“The rest of the books you need!” He proudly presented.

“That’s way too much, I could never-” Felix started to protest. Sora cut him off.

“Look, Felix, buddy old pal. Just take the books. Erik’s being super modest here, but he brought four extra sets of books with him. Half to give away, half because he’ll probably need replacements.”

“It’s still way too much!” Felix tried to protest. He had his pride… but he also knew pride was expensive, and could he honestly afford to say no? Felix had initially calculated the books at $1250, but that was using the absolute cheapest price. In reality, he’d be lucky to get them that cheap, although maybe he could get them used and cheap. The second years didn’t need their books anymore, right? Either way - Magic books were six to eight aureli, normal books averaged 2.5 aureli. Call it 21 aureli for the three magic books and 10 for the normal, that was 31 aureli, or approximately $1550. Felix only had $782.12 on hand.

It was either accept Erik’s generosity, or miss out on the books entirely. He had a vague shot of getting most of his critical supplies if he said yes… ugh, there was only one answer.

“I’ll point out that Erik’s part of one of the richest families in Logres.” Sora cheerfully said. Erik flushed in embarrassment.

“Sora!” He protested. “I’m sorry, I’m not trying to buy you as a friend or anything. I just see you’ve got some of the books, and you’re clearly studying hard. I figure you might want to study some of the other books while we travel. Books for the bookworm and all that. Also, the magic books are half-bound to you. They’ll probably rebound and go wandering if you don’t accept, which is a loss for everyone. I don’t think I can take them back even if I wanted to.”

“Then… thank you, I don’t think I can tell you how much this helps.” Felix said. Erik waved it off.

“I don’t want to say think nothing of it, because I know that’ll never happen. Just… don’t put too much weight on it, yeah? As Sora said, I brought a number of extras. You wouldn’t think too much of giving someone a quill that didn’t have one, yeah? Same thing.” Erik said.

“What do you mean by ‘go wandering?’” Hazel asked.

Erik stared at Hazel for a long moment, the two of their eyes locked. He reached into his satchel and brought out a potion.

“And I believe you will find this a most useful gift.” Erik said. The two of them stared at each other for another minute.

“Oookay, I’m officially getting a little weirded out here. Hello, Erik? You there?” Sora waved her hand in front of Erik’s face. He shook his head.

“Yes, I’m fine.” Erik said. Sora narrowed her eyes.

“You sure? What’s going on? I don’t need to ego check you, do I?” She asked.

Hazel started to speak, but Erik quickly interrupted her before she got the first word out.

“I have no idea how Naomi knows so much, but let’s pretend the walls have ears here. It’s not safe to say what’s going on. Let’s talk in a more private setting, yeah?” Erik said.

“I am so confused.” Felix said, looking back and forth between the three.

“Thank you for the potion.” Hazel slipped the vial into her hoodie’s pocket. Felix cracked another gigantic yawn. “What was that about books going wandering?”

Erik smacked his forehead.

“Right! Yes, okay. Magical books have… I don’t want to call it a soul, because that’s wrong. Personality? Intelligence? Ego? Awareness? None of those words are quite right, but they’re not wrong either. If you mistreat a magic book, it will flat-out get up and leave, and you’ll be stuck without it. Mistreatment comes in many forms, from ripping pages, leaving food in it,” Erik glared at Sora, and there were no prizes for guessing why, not with how guilty the girl looked. “Dogearing pages, all the way to neglecting it. Then the most powerful spellbooks are, for lack of a better word, prima donnas. They want to be pampered and spoiled. They want special alcoves built for them. Custom cover slips, protective enchantments. They want to be whispered sweet words and told how important they are. For all that, they’re the only books you can learn spells from.”

“How does that work?” Felix asked.

“Magic!” Sora gleefully shouted.

“And where do books go when they wander?” Hazel asked.

“Good question, and I’ll give you the short, short answer. We don’t know. We do know they’ll show up in large libraries in the future, although good luck finding a specific one. It’s part of why Camelot is the place to be. Its library is one of the best in the world, and books from all over the world find themselves on Camelot’s shelves.”

“Erik’s library also attracts books!” Sora cheerfully added in.

Erik very lightly bonked Sora on the head.

“What part about ‘trying to be a normal student’ did you… oh wait, it wasn’t about brooms, of course it didn’t stick.” Erik teased.

“Hey! I’ve been plenty helpful!” Sora protested.

“And on that note, we really should get going. Mind if we swing by later?” Erik asked.

Felix was about to respond, but he was forced to cover a yawn.

“I think I’m going to try the hammocks out.” He said. “I had to get to the Port of Dreams literally past midnight, and I really need some sleep.”

“Bye!” Sora enthusiastically waved to them as she walked backwards to the door. “I hope to see you both more at Camelot!”

Felix awkwardly waved back. Hazel nodded.

“Same here.” She said quietly.

The two of them left, leaving just the Americans behind.

“Okay books. You’re literally one of my most treasured possessions now. I don’t have much, but I’ll do my best.” Felix felt like a moron talking to the books… but he was in a world of magic now.

“I think I’ll take a nap.” He awkwardly announced to Hazel. She shrugged.

“Sure, go for it, don’t need to tell me.” She said.

Felix opened his luggage, wrapped his magic books in his nicest - only - scarf, then packed everything back up. He needed to sit on it in order to close the suitcase - it had been stuffed full even before he’d left - but managed to barely zip it up. Then he laid down on the hammock.

It must’ve had a sleeping charm or something, because he was snoring not even a minute later.

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Felix woke up with a fuzzy head hours later as Sora jammed her head through the doorway.

“We’re here!” She shouted with unnecessary force and energy.

The Productive Peppermints were still going strong.