Chapter 15 - The Prydwen IV

AN: Posts will be going live at 2PM my time, instead of 4PM. That way I'm actually sitting down and working when posts go live. My kid comes home right before 4, and I like chatting with people over the launch. It was also daylight's savings just now, so if the schedule seems wonky, it is. I might switch to 3PM instead... we'll see how the new time works for me.

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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.

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Entry XII – Of Diverging Paths and the Factions of Logres

In the dark days that followed, the Kingdom of Logres - my homeland - did not shatter, but it splintered.

Three visions of survival rose from the ashes.

The Light, ever yearning for what was lost, declared themselves still kin to the mundane. They live now in hidden folds of the Mundane World, guarding what little harmony remains.

The Grey, pragmatists and profiteers, turned cities into tradeholds. They bargain in magic, weapons, secrets - whatever buys them another day.

And the Dark… the Dark remember that we are magic. They withdrew into great fortresses, sealed by runes old and cruel. They do not forget. They do not forgive. They grow ever stranger, and ever stronger.

May the gods help us should they one day decide the world must be remade again.

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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Felix imagined that everyone would settle down once The Prydwen had launched.

Felix was horribly wrong.

One student practically sprinted past as they launched, lugging a trunk that only kept one wheel on the floor. He barely glanced inside before continuing his mad dash down the hall.

“And to think, they’ve had hours in the morning to get ready.” Felix joked. He could’ve sworn the corner of Hazel’s lip twitched.

“Brits.” She sighed dramatically. “Shame they’re not usually disorganized, otherwise I could make a joke about it.”

“Shame.” Felix agreed. “Do we want the door open or closed?”

Hazel narrowed her eyes at him.

“Open.”

The naked hostility in her tone had Felix retreating back to the book he was copying, and the conversation died again. He cracked another yawn.

The noises from the other cabins suddenly cut out, making Felix’s ears pop. Sounds occasionally came from the hallway as students endlessly shuffled around.

A mere chapter and a half into the book, and there was a knock on the doorframe. Felix paused and looked over at the pair. One sandy-haired boy that any sports team would love to have playing for them, and a korean girl with blue undertones to her hair and crooked teeth stood there.

“Hi? Come in?” He said.

“Yeah. I don’t want to have to look at this guy’s face the entire time.” Hazel said. Felix wasn’t quite sure if the girl was trying to make a joke or not. He was pretty sure she was trying to make nice in her own way, there was no malice in her words.

“Hello, and fair morning to you two! I’m Erik, it’s nice to meet you! I’m trying to get to know everyone before we land!” Erik said. The girl elbowed him in the side. Erik rolled his eyes.

“And this is Park. Sora Park.”

“Hiya!” The girl enthusiastically bounded over and offered her hand. Felix took it, and Sora enthusiastically almost shook his hand off. “It’s great to meet you! I’m so excited for Camelot! Only seven hours to go! Oh, sorry, where are my manners? What’s your name?”

Without asking, Sora slid into the booth next to Felix. He didn’t mind, there was plenty of room.

Erik suddenly had a coughing fit that vaguely sounded like ‘you never had any manners’.

“I’m Felix.” Felix offered up, then paused for Hazel.

“Hazel.” The girl eventually bit out.

“Felix! Hazel! It’s nice to meet you two. I’d ask about family names, but I’m trying to keep mine under wraps just a little for now. Can you tell me one interesting thing about you?” Erik asked.

“It’s because people don’t like his family very much.” Sora stage-whispered.

“Um. I don’t know if there’s anything interesting about me?” Felix offered up. Erik waved that off.

“Nonsense! Everyone has something interesting. Where are you from, for example? What do you like to do? What’s your core? Tell me about yourself!” Erik’s words might be commanding, but the tone was friendly and he was all smiles.

“Well, I live in Sacramento.” Felix said. Sora started to open her mouth, then glanced at Erik.

“Sacramento? I’m not familiar with that place.” He said.

“In California. United States of America?” Felix said.

“Wait, you’re from the mundane world!?” Sora whipped her head around so fast Felix had to bite back a wince. That had to hurt. Or maybe not, there was magic.

“Yeah? Is that rare or something?” Felix asked.

“Wait…” Erik slowly said. “Are you from one of the Light enclaves? Or outside of that?” He was basing his guess half off the unknown location, and half on the unusual outfits the two of them were wearing. Felix’s outfit was just short of scandalous, but then again, different rules for different people. It’d do him no good to judge now.

“We have no idea what you’re talking about.” Hazel grumped.

“You’re castoffs!” Sora blurted out. Erik facepalmed.

“Sora. Be nice, that’s not a polite thing to call people.” Erik said. He slid into the booth. 

“Castoffs?” Felix asked.

“Sora, you get to explain the rude words.” Erik said.

Hazel shook her head.

“No need, I think we can guess what it means. I’m more curious what you mean by Light enclave.”

“Oh oh I know this one!” Sora waved her hand in the air.

“We’re not exactly in class.” Felix said.

“Frankly, I’m more impressed that she knows it.” Erik stage-whispered with a wink. Sora’s glare promised swift and terrible retribution later on.

Sora’s words tumbled over each other, a combination of excitement, actually knowing the answer, and far too many Productive Peppermints.

“Alright so the magical world is really like three worlds all mashed together, and the terminology is the most confusing thing you’ll ever see. There’s Light, Grey, and Dark, and that can refer to magic, culture, or politics, and they don’t need to overlap. You can have a Light mage with Grey politics and Dark culture. Of course, Light doesn’t mean good and Dark doesn’t mean evil, no matter what the Light bigots claim.” Sora thought for a moment, then nodded to herself like it all made perfect sense.

“Sora, that was possibly the worst explanation of it I’ve heard.” Erik said.

“It’s accurate!” She protested.

“Every word was true.” Erik agreed. “But I doubt our new friends have any clues about anything.”

“I mean, you’re clearly Dark, whatever that means.” Hazel said.

“And proud of it!” Sora beamed.

“Dark magic refers to anything that requires a sacrifice.” Erik explained. “Simple definition, it doesn’t mean it’s sinister. A few, ah, more interesting fellows will insist all magic is Dark and sacrificial, as time, energy, and magic goes into it. Defeats the point of defining it, if you ask me. Puzzle wards are infamous for having a harmless ‘sacrifice’. In exchange for there being a way to ‘solve’ a ward and get past it, the ‘sacrifice’ of total protection will greatly strengthen the rest of the ward. The worst of it is what you’d imagine. Full scale ritual sacrifice of a dozen screaming people to power the most powerful spells.”

Felix shuddered. That had not been in the introductory guide.

Then again, the School of Blood and Sacrifice had hinted at it, and the name suddenly made a lot more sense.

Sora clearly noted his distress, and pounded him on the back.

“Hey, don’t worry about it. That sort of stuff is stupid illegal. Even-”

The rest of what she was going to say was muffled by Erik’s hand. She protested being silenced by licking the palm. He quickly moved his hand away with a grimace.

“All magic can be turned to poor causes. It’s like a sword. It’s not the sword, it’s the person choosing who to stab.” Erik said.

“Then there’s Light magic. Basically anything with the mind is called Light magic.” Sora explained. “Mind control, memory editing and deletion, personality changes… it’s really nasty stuff. Even the ‘harmless’ stuff is nasty. Who wants to be involuntarily cheered up? If I’m upset, I want to be upset, not have my mind artificially changed. Plus there’s been some really nasty Light Magi over the years. Like Magus Roko.”

Erik was staring at Sora with a look of utter disbelief.

“What?” She asked.

“You broombrain!” He half-shouted at her. “What do you think the peppermints you ate are!?”

“Um. When I ate them, I thought they were sugar and candy?” Sora said.

Erik slammed his head onto the table.

“They’re Light magic. They’re not just a stimulant, they’ve got a minor mental effect. Less minor when you eat an entire bag of them.” Erik spoke the whole thing into the table.

“Oh. Huh. Yeah, I can see that.” Sora said.

Hazel laughed.

“So that would mean-“ her eyes opened wide and she shut up, her jaws closing with a sharp click.

“Mean what?” Felix asked. Hazel shook her head.

“Nothing. What’s Grey magic?” Nobody missed the change of subject.

Sora waved her arms while Erik picked himself back up.

“Everything else!” She said. “If it’s not Light or Dark, it’s Grey.”

“Well…” Erik said. “Not quite, but the other branches of magic outside of those three are tiny. You might encounter a Druid or Green mage at some point, but they’re rare. Same with the other branches. I don’t know if anyone in Logres teaches them.”

Sora snorted.

“I’ll bet you a hundred aureli that some stuffy lord has one of those mages tucked away.”

Around $5,000, Felix mentally calculated. Could she really throw around that type of money on a casual bet? He was suddenly super self conscious of what he was wearing. 

“You don’t have a hundred aureli to bet.” Erik said.

Felix was suddenly relieved, even if he wasn’t sure why.

“Yeah but it’s a sucker’s bet.” Sora said. “Easy money.”

“Lords? Is there an actual nobility?” Hazel asked. 

“Yeah? Why wouldn’t there be?” Sora asked.

“The states don’t have a nobility.” Felix said. 

“Really?” Erik said. “Weird.”

Hazel and Felix traded another look. To them, the idea of a nobility was the weird thing. They weren’t exactly patriots, but they could name the president and list off a few amendments. Still, when in Logres…

“How does that work?” Hazel asked. “Oh.”

She got a look from everyone else at that, and she pulled her legs back up to her chest.

“Never mind me.” She mumbled, pulling her hoodie down over her eyes.

“The shortest version without boring everyone. Landed nobility have a lot of power in their land. The BAT is the government, there’s two Houses of Parliament, one for lords and one for everyone else.” Erik rapidly explained. 

“Speaking of, culturally, Dark are the nobility and all their loyal minions, Grey are the people living in major cities, and Light ditched Arcadia to live in the mundane world.” Sora explained. “I - we’re - loyal minions, so we’re Dark.”

That misstep wasn’t suspicious at all. 

“Wait. You use the same words to refer to three different things?” Felix asked.

“Not confusing at all.” Erik sarcastically answered. “But yes. There is some logic to it. Light mages tend more towards Light culture, with how easy it is to use mind magic against Merlin’s Friction. Dark culture requires sacrifice, so we tend towards more Dark magic.”

“Yeah, because sacrificing people is sooo noble.” A new voice chimed in from the door.