by E A Foley
“Thanks, Dad. I know."
Hello? sounded even louder than the first time.
“Can I be excused?”
He nodded. Iris rose, dropped her dishes in the dishwasher, and went straight to her room. She was already through her internal maze before she locked the door behind her.
“Hello!”
“Shut up! Jesus! You’re giving me a headache,” Iris yelled at Aerianna.
“Where did you come from?”
“That door.” She pointed to her prominent door behind her.
“And where are we?”
Iris explained everything for the second time in less than forty-eight hours. After asking Aerianna a series of questions, Iris realized she hadn’t managed anything magic-related besides entering the Gallery, so she gave Aerianna a few pointers on feeling out and drawing the power flowing through the Earth into her body. Knowing full well that Aerianna would want to try something that night, Iris explained simple levitation and gave her friend several options for successful completion of the task. Iris hoped it would be enough to hold her over until they met for group training the next afternoon.
“Hey Cirrus, Vi, Iris, wait up,” they heard a voice call from behind them. The three friends stopped and looked back to find Aerianna quickly walking to catch up to them. Her long strides made it an easy and quick process.
“Morning,” Cirrus said as Aerianna joined them.
Aerianna smiled at him briefly before asking Iris, “Did you tell them?” Iris shook her head and grinned back at Aerianna. “Cool. Let’s keep walking, shall we?”
“So,” Cirrus said with a grin. “What’s this big news Iris was or wasn’t supposed to tell us?”
“Jerk!”Aerianna said and punched him lightly on the shoulder. “You already know, don’t you? I can see it in that stupid smile of yours. Well fine then, I can use it too and Iris gave me a few tips, so I was able to practice on my own.”
“That’s awesome, Aerianna!” Violet said excitedly. “You should join us this afternoon, then. We’re going to have another study session because we won’t have a whole lot of homework yet and it seems like a good way to start our last semester of high school; learning life skills that will actually benefit us.” She smiled at the three of them.
“That would be awesome, if it’s cool with the jerk over there.” Aerianna motioned toward Cirrus. “I hear the studying takes place at his house, so I guess I have to ask him if I can come.”
Cirrus did his best to look insulted and hurt but didn’t pull it off to well. “It’s fine with me, but you should ask Iris. She’s the teacher, so it’s up to her if she can handle teaching all of us at once.”
“Me?” Iris asked, a little off guard.
“Duh. You’re the one who figured it all out. Let it be known that I hereby dub you The First.”
Iris crossed her arms and hunched her shoulders.
“It’s a good thing Iris, a good thing. I’m not making fun of you, I swear.” Cirrus chuckled and shook his head at her. “What happened to all that self-confidence you were exuding before the break?”
Iris shrugged and turned her head away from her three friends. Her eyes fluttered through several shades as she contemplated Cirrus’s new title for her. She was the first one to discover these new powers. The one who was able to figure out new tasks and teach them to everyone. She was confident in her powers and confident in her ability to teach everyone. Even her Little Self said she’d have confidence. The only thing keeping her from achieving true self-confidence was herself. And that wasn’t acceptable. Iris uncrossed her arms and consciously stood a little taller, determined to change.
“So, meet you in the back parking lot this afternoon?” Aerianna asked as they parted ways when they made it to the main part of campus.
“Yup,” Violet confirmed.
Iris ended the day with thoughts of Why does school matter anymore? running through her mind. She could use magic now. Surely school was beneath magic users. There had to be some reason she and all her friends suddenly had this ability. What did it matter if they graduated high school or not? Maybe some catastrophic event was approaching and they had to stop it.
Then again, maybe they had all been in some kind of freak accident. Like they’d been exposed to some experimental gas and were being transformed into superheroes. Or maybe she was in a coma from a car accident and she was imagining all of this.
You are not becoming a superhero. And you most certainly are not in a coma. Her Little Self scoffed at her.
“I know I’m not. Wait, you didn’t say anything about there not being a catastrophic event on the horizon.”
Oh. Sorry. No. There’s not one of those either.
“Your tone is less than believable. Are you serious?” Silence filled her head. “If you are, I’m not sure I want to do this anymore. Why should my friends and I risk our lives to save a bunch of assholes?”
Because it’s your destiny . . .
“Oh, don’t give me any of that destiny bullshit. It’s my life and I have a choice. I have been treated like crap for way too long to give a damn about the rest of humanity. Have you seen the shit they do? I think it’d be better if something wiped out the whole human race.”
If you do nothing, you just may get your wish.
Before Iris could respond, she felt her Little Self disappear and knew there was no point in continuing the argument.
“Hey Iris, you all right?” Violet asked as she caught up to her in the parking lot.
“No. I just found out something that doesn’t make me too happy.”
“I can tell. Your eyes are a bit on the overcast-stormy-ocean side. Wanna talk about it?”
“No. There’s nothing I can do about it now, so why dwell on it, right?”
“Ah, my two favorite young ladies,” Cirrus called and joined them at Iris’s car.
“Then what the hell am I?” Aeri growled a few steps behind him.
“Uh, oh. What I meant to say . . .”
“Save it! So, ready to head out?”
“Hang on, I need to send a quick text.” Iris sent Cirrus’s address to Rozlynd so she and Zarina could surprise everyone. “Ready.” She climbed into the 4Runner and unlocked the front door for Aerianna. Teaching magic was the only thing that kept her from a long drive where she could contemplate her Little Self’s statements.
Cirrus had just asked Aerianna if she wanted the grand tour of the house when the doorbell rang. He went to answer it and a shout of “surprise!” echoed down the hallway past him.
“What are you guys doing here? And how do you know where I live?”
“We’ve come to join you guys for practice. Iris sent me your address.” Roz announced.
“What practice?”
“Oh, knock it off, Cirrus. We just couldn’t find a time to tell everyone because Morrigan and Aeri were around at school.”
“Hey Aeri! Didn’t expect to see you here.” Zarina grinned as she and Rozlynd followed Cirrus into the living room.
“Ditto. I found out last night. You guys?”
“We bumped into Iris in the Gallery Saturday evening.” Roz grinned.
“That’s pretty awesome! What gallery? I didn’t know you guys were fans of art.”
“No. Not an art gallery, the Gallery of Doors.”
Aerianna finally caught on. “Oh! Right. The Gallery.”
“So, I was going to start with a few warmup exercises and then move on from there. Does that sound good to everyone?”
“Whatever you have planned is fine. It’s not like we know the order we should be learning this stuff in anyway,” Rozlynd told her.
Iris nodded and pulled out her cryptic lesson plan for the day. Warm-up with connecting was written at the top of the page. Her stomach lurched. She squashed the doubts running through her head and squared her shoulders. When she looked up at her friends, she was ready to teach. For the next two and half hours, all five of her friends followed her instructions and suggestions. She answ
ered questions and advised them on being more efficient. It added to her confidence.
Iris was drained by the end of practice. The combination of using magic, keeping her focus in check for so long, and trying to act like the leader her friends expected her to be had sapped her of all energy. She put earbuds in when she got home, set an alarm, and fell into bed.
Chapter 16
Time started to fly by. Iris split her afternoons and weekends between planning magic lessons, training, and school work. She was always exhausted, but happy. Her eyes stung less than usual. She guessed it had to do with her overwhelming sense of purpose and happiness. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d gone so long without dropping into depression or believing she didn’t belong. It was an odd sensation and one she welcomed. That was, until lessons stalled for everyone.
At first, Iris thought it was because she wasn’t able to figure out how to put other theories into practice. Then she realized no one was progressing. Cirrus still had issues moving small items, Violet couldn’t draw in enough power to move items larger than a desk chair, Aerianna wasn’t able to complete anything smoothly, Rozlynd almost caught something on fire every time she tried to create a light source, and Zarina was inconsistent at everything. Add to that the fact that Morrigan’s door was forming at a glacial pace, and frustration became Iris’s constant companion.
She would have called the next training session off to give everyone a break and chance to recharge, but it was the last session before their Disneyland trip and she didn’t feel that pissing everyone off before the trip was in her best interest. She tried to bolster herself, but her heart wasn’t in the lesson.
There was too much frustration emanating throughout Cirrus’s living room and she wasn’t able to stem it. The desire to disappear and be alone caught Iris off guard. Especially in present company. She retreated into herself. Her shoulders hunched up and her eyes twinged. They’d be shifting toward shades of brown and grey. She needed a change of space. If the 4Runner was here she could step out for a drive, but it wasn’t.
The image of her door in the Gallery filled her mind. Iris focused on the door. Imagined each detail of its delicately carved surface and frame in minutia. Placed the hardware precisely as it appeared in the Gallery. Brought it all to life. Willed it to form in the space in front of her. A shimmering appeared in the air. She wasn’t sure whether she was seeing things through unshed tears or the door was actually there.
Iris couldn’t breathe. She stepped forward. Her hand alighted upon a cold wrought iron handle. She squeezed. The door opened and she stepped through. A thunk-click made her turn around. The door disappeared. A soft breeze ruffled her hair. Iris looked around and realized she was in the back corner of her backyard.
“Ah, shit! I have no idea how I did that.”
You really shouldn’t try new things when you’re that upset.
“You think? Wanna help me get back? I’m going to need a ride from one of them to pick up the 4Runner.”
Nope. You’re on your own. You got yourself into this mess, so you can get yourself out of it.
“Bitch,” Iris grumbled as she drew on the stores of power surrounding her.
It took a few tries, but Iris managed to recreate her doorway to open into Cirrus’s room. She had no idea what would happen if she accidentally formed the door too close to one of her friends and didn’t really feel like finding out. Or going to the emergency room and having to explain the injury.
“Where the hell did you go?”
“That was really cool!”
“When were you going to show us that one?”
Iris couldn’t distinguish the voices after she came downstairs. “I didn’t know I could do that.” She shrugged.
“Well, it was really, really cool. You have to show us!” Aerianna told her.
“How about tomorrow? I really need to go home and . . .”
“Be alone?” Violet finished before Iris could complete the lie.
She nodded. Bit her lower lip and tilted her head down.
“Not gonna happen. Come here.”
Violet held her arms out. Iris walked into them and accepted the hug. She was soon surrounded by all of her friends.
“Group hug!” Rozlynd announced before four more pairs of arms encircled Iris.
“Thanks guys,” Iris mumbled into Violet’s shoulder. “I needed that,” she added after they released her from their confines.
“Sooo . . .” Aerianna prompted.
“All right, all right, all right. First, I didn’t know I could do this. It just sort of happened. That was the first—and second through seventh—times I’ve ever tried recreating my Gallery Door and having it open somewhere else. I think I dreamed about something like this a few nights ago, but I didn’t realize it.” The more Iris spoke, the more her teaching persona came out. Five faces stared back at her, rapt with attention. She continued with the lesson, all desires to disappear forgotten.
“I’m not sure if anyone was watching as I recreated my doorway, but it was a perfect replica of my door in the Gallery. In minute detail. That’s the first step. The second step was thinking about where I wanted the door to open. I was thinking about being outside and alone, so my backyard came to mind. Once I had both pieces, I funneled power into my request and stepped through.”
“Sounds complicated,” Zarina said after everyone contemplated Iris’s newest lesson.
“Yeah, like any part could go wrong,” Rozlynd added.
“It was. And it could,” Iris agreed. “It took me several tries to get back here. You guys are welcome to try it, but we only have a few minutes before today’s training session must come to an end. Maybe it’s for the best. We’ll all get a break this weekend and have some fun. It may get our creative juices flowing again and allow us more success when we get back.”
“Speak for yourselves. You’re all ditching me. At least my brother will be home to mock—I mean, entertain me.”
“Have fun!” Aerianna laughed.
Friday couldn’t end fast enough. Iris stared at the clock in her physics class and watched the seconds tick down. She was supposed to be getting a head start on her homework, but didn’t have the mental capacity to do anything, so she packed up early and tapped her foot. The second the bell rang, she slung her bag over her shoulder and was first out the door. She practically ran to the band room for her French horn, waved at Mr. H., who’d finished orchestra late, and reentered the halls as they flooded with students.
Violet and Aerianna caught up with her on the way to the back parking lot. Roz, Zarina, and Morrigan were already waiting for them.
“You can all toss your backpacks in the 4Runner if you want, since we have to drop it off at my place. You can grab them when we get back on Monday.”
Iris had picked up Aerianna and Violet on her way to school that morning while Rozlynd picked up Morrigan and Zarina so they could get on the road as soon as possible. Once overnight bags were tossed in the minivan and the back of the 4Runner was full of backpacks and one French horn, they headed out. Rozlynd followed Iris as she headed home to drop off the 4Runner. Iris took a moment to take her horn inside before hopping in the back of the van.
They managed to be on the road by three. Traffic was still a guarantee, but no one minded. They were all too excited. A buzz that had nothing to do with magic and everything to do with the fun-filled weekend ahead filled the minivan.
“How’s magic training going at Cirrus’s?” Morrigan asked out of the blue a little after four.
A stunned silence filled the van. Iris was glad she was in the back row. No one had a good view of the myriad of colors her eyes probably went through in the two minutes it took her to still her heart enough to find her voice. Rozlynd found hers first.
“Rand al Thor is the Dragon Reborn,” she quoted from Robert Jordan’s epic fantasy series.
“Yes, I know that. It’s not what I asked, though.”
“We’ve stalled, as a matter of fact. Ho
w long have you known?” Iris asked. There seemed little point in lying.
“I suspected something was going on after the New Year but didn’t put all the clues together until about a week ago. You guys aren’t nearly as secretive as you should be. I mean, having any conversation about magic while surrounded by so many people is really dumb. Especially since it seems like you’re not even trying to hide it.”
“Morrigan . . .” Iris began but had no clue what to say.
“No apology needed. I assume I’m not ready yet?”
“You aren’t. Weren’t, I mean. Since you know, you must be ready now.”
“How do you know when someone’s ready?”
“Their door in the Gallery of Doors has fully formed.”
“What does that mean?”
“There’s this room that links all of our minds through intricately carved doors. I call it the Gallery of Doors. Last I checked, your door had only started to form. In fact, it still is forming,” Iris added after a quick sprint to the Gallery.
“Does that mean I’m not ready to learn magic?”
“I’m not sure, to be completely honest. For everyone else, it meant they weren’t ready to hear about magic, let alone have a calm conversation about it. Maybe you’re different. Maybe the door actually has nothing to do with it. Or maybe you don’t fully believe you’ll be able to do magic.”
“No, I know I’ll be able to. I won’t be as strong as you guys, but I’ll be able to use magic.”
“How do you know that?”
“Call it a hunch. I keep dreaming about these doors that I can open to anywhere in the world. Every time I go through one, I look back to see someone coming after me, and I have this sense that my life is in danger. I figure I’m fleeing from them because I can’t beat them.” Morrigan shrugged.
“That sounds terrifying,” Zarina said.
“No, not really. It’s more of an odd sensation for me. I’m the second-highest-ranking black belt at my dojo, so feeling like I’m in danger is weird. Anyway, each time I stepped through a door I knew I was going to be safe because I was going somewhere I knew I’d get help or had someone waiting for me.”