The shock.
Their promise that they wanted the same thing we did.
I still wasn’t sure I believed them, or if I ever would. None of that mattered now. I straightened my back and looked over the crowded room, pushing the guilt and the questions away.
“All the glitters were never gold," I said with a nod, my heart swelling as more than half of the Undermortals repeated the words at full voice. "It's our mantra, it's our promise. It's the words I spoke when I destroyed the Gauntlet last month."
I had saved that part for last, unsure of how they would react. I had no way of knowing if I had injured any of our people after all. Instead of outrage, the room broke out into whispers. Questions, shock, and joy wiggled through everyone as they came alive.
"You were responsible for that?" Someone asked near the front, a girl with a dragon tattoo circling her arm, the winged lizard stretching as she flexed her muscle.
"I heard about that, but the Goldens were saying they killed the culprit..."
"I heard the same."
"My sister saw the attack; she saw them take the girl away..." One of the third or fourth-year students near the back whispered everyone turning to her "She said it was a girl with a pink mohawk."
She was looking at me like I had sprouted wings and turned into one of those damn Eternals.
"They made me trim it down. I guess hair can't be cool here." I snickered, but no one responded passed staring at me in shock.
"How are you here?" That same girl with the dragon tattoo asked. "Why didn't they throw you in The Wastelands? If you blew up the Gauntlet why would they send you here and not to the death camps."
Her question garnered another round of mumbles and questions, everyone suddenly looking skeptical again. I glanced at Eddy. We had talked about this; we had expected this. I also didn’t expect any of these guys to believe me if I told them that the Eternals didn’t run those death camps.
If you believed them.
Which I didn’t.
"I didn't come through unscathed," I began, speaking slowly as I jumped on the weird low table in the hopes of pulling their focus back. Gratefully the tiny thing held my weight. "Those damn royals got a few good hits in,” I rubbed my jaw, ignoring Ed’s raised brow at the partial truth. “They threatened to kill my family,” it was a lie but it was doing the job every eye was on me now, “They sent me to the CCC,” that lie got a gasp or two, “They shackled me,” partial truth, “they locked me up until they decided what to do with me,” more lie than truth, I doubt you could call the fancy hotel they put me and Ed up in a dungeon. “They restricted the magic I have,” unfortunate truth, “and I'm not allowed to leave the campus until further notice."
The mumbling continued, anger mixing with confusion. Too many people realized that I hadn’t quite answered their questions.
Shit.
"Look," I said loudly, pulling their focus. The two from the Ghostlanders looking especially perturbed. "It wasn't a slap on the wrist. Their damn Queen gave me a choice, let her bind my magic and stick me in this prison, or remove my magic completely. But I can't very well continue a revolution with no magic."
That got the Ghostlanders attention, it was nothing more than a side glance at one another, but I saw it.
"A revolution?" One of them scoffed, glancing behind him at the faces that were quickly becoming eager. "You can't be serious. So, you’ve knocked over a few stores. Congratulations. We've done that, too. Even without magic," he nodded to his companion, "all it led to was more of the CCC raiding our tunnels. More of our people murdered and dragged off to The Wastelands. More pain. When those vans showed up we knew we had a chance to change our lives, so we took it. We feel bad for those we left behind, but we can't fix everything."
"That's where you are wrong. We can change everything. You would be stupid not to see that." I was walking on dangerous ground, the two were glancing at each other with even deeper distaste. His fingers had suddenly begun smoking.
It hadn't occurred to me how dangerous this was, pooling so many Undermortals with brand new magic into one room. I already knew I wouldn't be able to stop anything that happened. I wasn’t sure what the older students skills were in that area.
Damage control before my dorm room was damaged.
"I know it seems impossible," I spoke calmly, letting my voice carry as I rotated on the table. Every eye turned to me as the wood below my feet began to crack. "It was when we were living in tunnels underground. When we were nothing but a whole bunch of Drains," a few near the front flinching as though I had spat acid on them. "But we aren't Drains anymore, we never were. Its time they know that. When they gave us magic, they gave us power.” More and more people where nodding, so I plowed on before the Ghostlanders could steal them away again. “Last Pyre was one community, with one person with a bit of drippy illegal magic. Every time I exploded a building I would pass out for days, too tired to do more than swear and demand food."
"She did too!" Eddy piped up, a few scattered laughs echoing from the back.
"I couldn't fight." I continued, giving Ed a brief smile of thanks. "I couldn't do much more than steal tampons and soda in the beginning. But we found a way."
I paused, waiting for the nods of approval, of eager anticipation. It hadn't taken this much to convince Last Pyre to fight with me the last time. But I guess it wouldn't take much when you were presenting a platter of food to a starving village. They were already surrounded by food, beds, and every luxury you could think of.
They had already forgotten the ones left behind.
"Yes, they fought back. I can't tell you how many times the CCC raided us. How many times my people hid me and guarded me in the hopes of keeping our tiny little revolution going. In the hopes of blowing up one more building. We lost people." I paused, my throat closing up as hundreds of faces flashed before me. It still ached. It always would, but letting myself get bogged down over that shit was not going to convince any of them to stand with me. "We were going to lose people anyway. We lost people from the moment I was born. We lost people the day I was bitten and in the years before I learned how to control this," I flared my fingers then, the lights flickering as I sucked the electricity from them, pulling it into me and around them in a spark of light that looked much more impressive now that my magic was in working order. Even with the bind the queen had on me.
A wave of awe moved over everyone, even the more skilled Undermortals near the back smiled with a tiny bit of hope.
"Those dratted Eternals made one huge mistake. They put over a hundred Undermortals into this Academy this year, they brought us together. Us," I gestured to them widely, everyone looking around as the dozens of others that had crammed into this room. "All of us, people from more than a dozen Undermortal communities in the world. Communities I have only ever heard whisperings about," I nodded to the Ghostlanders, "And communities that have joined me in raids," Another nod to the lone Fire Fate that sat on the floor that led to my bedroom.
"We are here, a spiders web of people that can carry the revolution into every tunnel, every crack, every drain. We can flood the Chosen out of what should be ours. We can change the world."
"How do you suggest we start that?" a voice said from somewhere in the crowd. “It’s not like we can afford visits on the weekends. No one back home can read or write so I can get them a letter.”
"Food." Eddy provided from behind me, thankfully not joining me on the tiny table, I wasn't sure the thing could support both of us.
"Food?" The same voice returned, the owner lost in the crowd.
"Yes. I'm sure you've noticed there is no end to food in this place," Eddy chuckled, patting his belly and making it clear he had been hoarding more than coffee. "So much so that they have to throw it out. But if we take it back to our communities on the weekends we can start spreading the news, spreading plans. We can start organizing our fight against them."
The Ghostlanders shifted, eyes darting from them to us, before the t
aller of the two laughed.
"You think the Eternals--"
"I’m convincing the Eternals to give us the fuel to their own demise. They will be the ones that bring about their own end, that feed the armies that fight against them. That spread the plans and organize a force that they have underestimated for too long.”
I got a few nods that time. These guys were a tough audience. I had to be very careful about what I said. I wasn’t about to tell them that the chatterbox of an Eternal had already promised to take food to Last Pyre, but who knew if that included any other communities.
They had messed up this far, they couldn’t be trusted to do things the right way.
"How do you plan on convincing them to let us take the food back, or even get there? We are as trapped in here as you are. We may be allowed to leave, but we have no way to get there." More murmurs and head nods followed the red-headed girls' question. Not that I blamed them, the girl had a point.
I didn't like the answer any more than they were going to.
"After I blew up their damned Gauntlet, I struck a deal with the queen." The outrage broke out immediately. The glimmers of hope in their eyes heading to that of betrayal. I gave Eddy a told you so side glance, but he just stood there smiling and bouncing on his heels.
"So that is why you are still alive? You already sold yourself out, and you expect to keep leading us like some kind of pet project?" One of the Ghostlanders said, his lip sneering as though I was some kind of poison come to infect the air. "You can't defeat someone if you've crawled into bed with them."
His statement was only causing the rumble of disappointment to take control, the anger and frustration coating the air like a virus.
“Haven’t you ever heard of a double agent you dip shit?” I said, finally snapping, silence fell over the room. "I made the deal not for them to pad their ego. Not to work with the bitch, but to save us all. Let us eat their scraps, so we can leave them all to rot."
That shut them right up, the narrowed eyes and mumbled frustrations bleeding into the wave of smiles, of determination, or exhilarations that I was used to.
Knew we'd get there in the end.
"All the glitters were never gold," I said, letting my magic spark above my head like fireworks, the banner of the revolution coloring the room in glimmering shades of orange.
This time everyone responded, and my stomach knotted to my toes.
7
Sia
"By locking out all thought you should be able to remain focused on your magic, find that tight warmth in your chest, the hollow in your soul where your magic lives. Understand where it dwells and how it moves within you..."
Professor Etma Diarius was a madwoman. When I signed up for The Gauntlet, and Imdalind Academy, I hadn't realized that part of my magical education would involve me laying on my back in the middle of the classroom, with my eyes closed, listening to some weird flute music while Professor Diarius spoke in a voice that belonged in one of the seedy bars in the low district. Not in a classroom, and certainly not in a classroom with twenty-six students who were supposed to be 'acquainting themselves with their magic.'
Well, twenty-five students. For the second day in a row, Rowan was a no show. In fact, he had been missing for the past four days. I had tried to track him down all weekend, even pounding on his door at one point, but no answer. The plans I had made for us had gone to waste. I had spent days alone instead.
Days locked in my room, spying on Gemma. Practicing magic. Wouldn’t have been so irritating if she hadn’t woken me up in the middle of the night, dozens of voices bleeding through the wall.
Luckily for her, I was too tired to care or I might have blasted a hole in the fecking wall.
"Breathe in and bring your magic into that warm spot in your heart where it likes to hide, breathe out and press it out, let it spread over you and press against your skin..."
I shifted my weight against the hard floor, the magic that was supposed to be calm and controlled raging and boiling instead. This was a giant waste of time. We were supposed to be learning how to defend and heal, not how to let our magic breathe through us like some living thing. I was supposed to control it, not the other way around.
Someone snickered to the left of me. I wasn't the only person who saw this exercise for what it was. Stupid. My partner, the dirty Drain that I had been paired with for the entire year, seemed to actually be trying to accomplish the task. Either that or she was snoring.
"Focus on the power against your skin, on the weight of it. Imagine it becoming a wall, a firm base that nothing can press through. Build your magic into a protective blanket that wraps around you..."
Someone else snickered and I lost it, hair shimmering down my back as I sat bolt upright and turned to Professor Diarius. The madwoman was still wandering through the students, her own eyes closed as more than half the class snickered and smiled, a pair of Goldens one step up from me were even arm wrestling.
"I'm sorry, professor." I spoke in the sweetest voice I could muster, putting on innocent curiosity as Professor Diarius, and everyone else, turned to me. Madeline jerked as if she had been slapped. Guess she was sleeping then. "But is there a point to this? I know I'm not the only one struggling to stay focused or even stay awake for that matter. I had hoped we would be sparring today. I know I am not the only one."
Several of the Golden's around me smiled, nodding in agreement while most of the Drain's shifted away from us. The sparring matches on Monday hadn't gone well and I was eager to kick Madeline's ass again. Even if we were only testing the basic effects of sparks against skin.
"Mastering our shields and acquainting ourselves with our magic is vital to be able to spar and defend and even heal," Etma said with a snap, her eyes narrowing at me as she made her way over, the sharp tap of her leather shoes a hollow countdown in the massive space. I hadn't even noticed that the flute music had stopped. "If you expect to be able to accomplish any of these skills, then I would hope you take this class seriously."
"Oh, I am taking it seriously," I said, batting my lashes. Etma didn't seem phased at all by my charms. She huffed and pinched the bridge of her nose like she was irritated. Great. Clearly, she wasn't as supportive as Professor Analine. I would have to see if I could fix that. "I'm not feeling stretched. I feel as if I've already mastered my shield and am ready for something more complex. Many of those born to Chosen families feel the same."
Professor Diarius smiled in that slow lazy way that I had come to expect from the teachers, as though they had spent too long being underwhelmed by worthless Drains and Goldens that had failed to impress them. I already knew I would be the one to change that. Not because I had spent my entire life working towards this, but because no one in the room could match the strength of my magic.
"Maybe it's because I slept so long after my bite," I continued with an exaggerated sigh, looking from Professor Diarius to all of the wide eyes around me. Well, all but Gemma, the girl was still lying flat on her back in the high corner she usually sat in with Rowan, tracing shapes on the ceiling. "The queen said my magic was stronger than any other, I must be mastering things faster than everyone else."
"Care to test that?" Professor Diarius asked, more of the previously sleeping students around her popping up like daisies, looking between me and the teacher with wide eager eyes.
"I would be honored to." I jumped to my feet, smoothing my hair and skirt with extra flare, confident in my abilities after spending the weekend working on it.
I had to do something after my boyfriend went MIA. Shields and secret attacks had won out, perhaps I would get lucky and be able to try that out as well.
Bringing my magic up to the tight wall around me, I faced the teacher, ready for her to attack, ready to splinter her magic and show everyone in this room exactly what they were facing. I would have preferred to do it on a day that Rowan was there, but I was sure he would hear all about it.
"Gemma," Etma Diarius called, peering over my shoulder
.
"Yo.” The answer echoed from the back of the classroom. I was about to turn, sure the girl was being told to pay attention.
"If you would--" Professor Diarius' request was cut short when a flash of white exploded from Gemma's hand and something hard and warm and awful slammed against my side. Whatever shield I had pressed against me shattering as my magic retreated back into me, flooding bones and veins as it tried to heal whatever I had been hit with.
Biting back a scream, I dropped to my knees. I tried to snap the shield back into place, but it wouldn't come. I couldn't even find where the power had gone, Diarius's ramble about hearts and hollows had vanished in the pain.
"Well, that wasn't what I had in mind..." Diarius sighed from above me, her worried face cutting in and out of focus.
"You're supposed to breathe your power out, Sia," Gemma said as she and a few others chuckled. "Let it press against your skin and flower like a tree in the wind."
More laughter, even Diarius was smiling as she hovered above me, hands on my face as she checked for injuries.
"That's enough everyone," she said as the last of the pain eased away and I finally found my magic. "Let's take this opportunity to--"
I jerked to sitting before she could finish her sentence, letting my magic boil in the same way it had all weekend. The attack I had worked so hard to perfect flew right to Gemma and her ugly smug grin, to her stupid pink curls and purple eyes. Who the hell had purple eyes anyway?
Yellow sparks streamed right to her. Her smile never faltered, even as my attack shattered into nothing an inch before it crashed and burned on her nose. The sparks fell harmlessly to the ground, leaving black smears against the stone.
“What the hell?” I shrieked, fists pounding against my thighs before I caught myself, quickly rearranging my features from fury to shock.
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