by W. M. Martin
Maggie watched Lucy descend from the clouds and glide down to the ground below before tucking her own wings behind herself and dive-bombing towards the courtyard. She opened her wings and caught just enough updraft to propel her toward the door which would lead through to their enclave. Maggie landed with grace and ease just in front of the entrance as Elliot’s wings melted away from her back, and he took his falcon form on her shoulder. Maggie walked inside with Lucy, who was waiting patiently for her to land.
“I wonder what’s going on. Do you have any clue why we’re all being called to the Spire?” Maggie asked Lucy.
Lucy shrugged her shoulders and answered, “I don’t know what’s going on. Maybe they’re going to go through with the Appointment of Clans tonight.”
Maggie quipped, “Or maybe they have news about Kylie.”
“I hope they have news about Thomas. I mean the Eye and all of the missing students,” Lucy said, correcting herself while trying and failing miserably not to show her embarrassment at the slip-up.
Maggie decided not to pick at or playfully chide Lucy for fear of fraying their fledgling friendship. She simply smiled and remained silent. Lucy was grateful that Maggie was far more tactful than she herself was. She would have normally leapt at the chance to grab such low-hanging fruit, but would now endeavor to show a little more grace to others like Maggie always seemed to do.
When Maggie and Lucy entered the Macrocosm Chamber, they took their place in the stands reserved for Clan Avior. They were joined by Sara and Alice.
Sara sidled up next to Lucy and asked, “How are you feeling, Lucy? Are you okay?”
Lucy nodded slightly and answered, “I’m fine. I’m very sorry that I tried to hurt you, Sara. It was me, but it wasn’t. Will you please forgive me?”
Sara smiled and answered, “You were forgiven the moment I found out that you were being controlled by the Eye of Kariagi.”
Alice chimed in, “You’re absolutely right, Sara! All is forgiven. I believe that this will be a lovely meeting, and perhaps we can get to the bottom of all of this Eye of Kariagi nonsense. I just know that the Praetorians will find the missing students and everything will get back to normal. I think that it’s brilliant that everyone is getting on so well, especially in light of everything that’s transpired. Isn’t this simply wonderful how we’re all being so nice to each other?”
Lucy tried, but simply could not help herself. She looked over at Maggie and made a gagging gesture with her finger and pretended to vomit. Going by the look on Alice’s face, it was obvious that she was displeased with Lucy’s representation of what she really thought about Alice and her sunshiny disposition. Maggie did not care for the exchange either, as Alice had become like a sister to her, but she was happy to see that Lucy was still going to be Lucy, even though she claimed that she would try to be a little less abrasive.
Once every student was seated in their respective Clan sections, the Macrocosm Chamber steadily began to dim. Only the stars, which hung in the heavens above the students in the great room, were alight. Each pulsing body of luminosity appeared to dance inside of the blanket of darkness that housed them. The beauty laid out above the quiet student body was resplendent and calming.
Maggie shifted her attention to the enormous Spire in the center of the Macrocosm Chamber as it slowly began to glow. Mr. Carver walked out from behind a large pillar which flanked the Secarn Hall. Mrs. Bonifassi, Mr. O’Sullivan, Ms. Holiday and Mr. Akiyama each followed his lead and stepped out from behind a pillar on either side of their respective Clan Halls. All five of the Clan Leaders made their way to the front of the radiant and enigmatic Spire.
Mr. Carver, once joined by his fellow instructors, said, “Welcome First and Second Years. Thank you all for getting here on time. We have quite a bit of things to go over, so your patience is much appreciated. First, I want to touch base with all of you in regards to yesterday’s events in Plimpkins. Not everyone made it back. We are missing some students who were taken by the Fallen. The Praetorians are doing their best to locate them, but as of this moment, they’re not having very much luck. Do not be afraid though. We will find and rescue our brothers and sisters. I swear it. On a slightly brighter note, everyone who made it back here yesterday is fine with the exception of a few broken bones, cuts, and bruises. Dr. Sobek has been tending to the wounded, and everyone is healing quickly. Dr. Sobek also has asked me to inform anyone who goes to the infirmary for anything, that they need to announce their presence to Cleopatra before entering. Crocodiles apparently dislike being walked up on from behind. Now, for the outgoing Second Years, you will each meet with your Clan Leaders afterwards to receive your placements. You all, no doubt, know where and what you will be doing once you graduate as you have all picked and mastered all of your Specializations Studies and have been working on them for the past year. Your ceremony will begin after all of the announcements have been made and after the Appointment of Clans if it is the will of the Spire. You will all be tasked with aiding in the rescue effort of finding our missing brethren.”
Mr. Carver continued on with his announcements for a little while longer and eventually ceded the floor to Mrs. Bonifassi. The short yet powerful Avior instructor stepped up to stand in front of the Spire and looked out at the students before her. She was very pleased with how far the First and Second Years had come in their endeavors and she was not ashamed to brag about them.
“I am extremely proud of you, young ones. I am so happy that every single one you are here for this. I’m also incredibly heartbroken that some of our students are not. Mr. Carver is right. We will find them all and bring them home. This ceremony is for them. And it is for all of you,” said Mrs. Bonifassi while wiping away a tear from her tiny cheeks.
Mr. Akiyama came to stand beside Mrs. Bonifassi and tersely stated, “Kiyoko and I are working on something to locate all of them. Also, any student who wishes to see me after this meeting, don’t,” before stepping back to allow Ms. Holiday a moment to speak.
Ms. Holiday softly said, “Bless his heart,” in regards to Mr. Akiyama.
Maggie understood the remark to be a southern jab at the Terran instructor because she had heard Ms. Holiday say it to Thomas Baker multiple times. The connotation of Ms. Holiday’s remark was apparently lost on almost everyone else who was not a southerner like she was.
“Y’all are some of the finest students I’ve ever taught. I believe y’all are gonna do great things either here in the Veil or in the human world. If y’all believe in yourselves the way I believe in you, then y’all are all gonna be just fine and dandy.”
Mr. O’Sullivan walked with confidence up to the front to stand with the other four Clan Leaders and shouted, “We’re goin’ after all of those inky beasts, and I’m leadin’ the charge! Don’t ye worry, my young Guardians, our brothers and sisters are the only thing on me mind, and I promise ye that they’re comin’ home!”
The entire Macrocosm Chamber erupted with cheers at Mr. O’Sullivan’s declaration. Even though he could be a frightening figure whenever he lost his temper, Mr. O’Sullivan was easily the most popular instructor after Ms. Holiday. Maggie was cheering and clapping along with everyone else when the Spire began to crackle with a power that Maggie had not witnessed before. It was different than when Maggie placed her hand into the center of the Spire and her mind was drawn into the heart of the Nexus where she met Elliot for the first time a year ago. The core of the Spire shifted colors and gave off the impression of rolling waves of rainbows being bathed in sparkling sunlight. Suddenly the entire room was shaken by a series of blinding bolts of lightning. The colors and vivid activity inside of the Spire began to form a blurred and muted shape. More and more, as the seconds ticked on, the shape of a person could be made out. Maggie looked on, not understanding what it was that she was witnessing. As the representation of the person in the center of the Spire was slowly coming into focus, Maggie was surprised when the person depicted within the heart of the Spire was revealed to be N
ancy.
Each of the five Clan Leaders knelt down on a single knee, placed their right hands on their medallions and bowed their heads. Nancy walked out from the Avior Hall, in to the Macrocosm Chamber, and joined the Clan Leaders at the front of the Spire. Each Clan Leader’s totem stood before Nancy. Kiyoko the rabbit, Siobhan the salmon, Aisha the tarantula-hawk, Gaston the blue jay and Remy the chameleon each spoke simultaneously as the voice of the Spire. The Wise Ones had taken control of them all and spoke through them in unison.
“Nancy Decker, you have been chosen by Us. We are the Nexus. You and you alone will be tested by Us to ascertain whether or not you are the one who is worthy of guiding your fellow Kindred through the academy as the new Head Instructor. Your totem shall not be permitted to enter into the Spire with you. Siril must remain here with the totems whose voices We now utilize. This will be the first and only time, until you each join the Stream of Time in the Nexus at the end of your lives, that you will be separated. We have watched you and those around you, Nancy Decker. You are a positive force for good in Our sight. The test which is offered to you is a gift, whether you succeed or fail. We do not give this test lightly. Do you willingly accept Our offer?” asked the multitudinous voices coming from the Master Totems.
“I willingly accept your offer, Wise Ones,” Nancy answered solemnly.
Each Clan Leader stood and turned to face Nancy. She was given a hug by each of them, even by Mr. Akiyama. Nancy turned around to look over at the Avior students and tried to find Maggie. When she placed Maggie’s face in the crowd as Maggie waved, Nancy nodded her head in acknowledgment and then she turned and walked up to the surface of the massive Spire.
Nancy placed both of her hands on the Spire, and Siril quickly melted away from her. Nancy screamed as though she were in the most agonizing pain imaginable as her totem struggled to take his place on the ground in front of the five Master Totems. Siril was fluttering and falling over himself because he was experiencing each exquisite ounce of pain which was piercing Nancy all the way to the core of her soul. The Nexus took control of Siril as it had done with the Master Totems and braided his voice in with theirs.
“Be calm, Nancy Decker. Siril is with Us here and We shall be with you there. Go now. We are waiting,” ordered the Wise Ones through the gathered totems.
Nancy’s screams subsided as the words from the heart of the Nexus acted as a balm to her excruciating pain. She placed her face into the Spire’s formerly solid surface and disappeared into the mystical hurricane which had begun to spin and rumble as it was bathed in eye-burning fulmination. Maggie noticed that the Spire was far more active in testing Nancy than it had been while determining who was and was not worthy to join the ranks of the Kindred during the Appointment of Clans a year earlier. The Spire, after about ten minutes of churning, went completely black and silent as though it were entirely dormant. The entire Macrocosm Chamber was suddenly bathed in darkness once again, with only the stars in the expanse of galaxies above visible to the Kindred below.
Maggie nudged Sara on the arm and was about to ask her a question when, without any kind of warning, the Spire erupted with an earth-shaking, ear-splitting, bone-rattling ejection of lightning the likes of which no student currently at the academy had ever witnessed. The purple and blue electrical firebolt rushed against the massive dome of living galaxies overhead and rippled over the walls inside of the enormous Macrocosm Chamber. Nancy walked calmly out of the roiling surface of the Spire and was met by the five Clan Leaders.
The Master Totems, along with Siril, spoke as the Nexus, “You have been granted the title of Head Instructor of the Kindred Academy, Nancy Decker. You have been found worthy by Us. You are, from this moment on, the representative and executor of Our will until such time as you join the Stream of Time.”
“Thank you,” said Nancy as she bowed to the Master Totems.
Siril was granted the ability to become one with Nancy again, and the relief on her face could be seen all the way up in the Avior section. The Master Totems turned their attentions to the Clan Leaders who were gathered around Nancy.
The Nexus asked, “Do you, the Leaders of the Five Kindred Clans, willingly accept Nancy Decker as the new Head Instructor, or do you have reservations? We value each of your thoughts and concerns. If you have any in regards to Our choice, now is the time to voice them.”
Without any hesitation on anyone’s behalf, each instructor took a knee and removed their medallions and offered them up to Nancy willingly. Nancy took each medallion carefully and turned to show them to the Master Totems who were still under the control of the Nexus.
“You have been freely given the medallions of the Kindred Academy’s Clan Leaders by their own hands as a show of their faith in Our judgment. What will you do with such immense power which has been so freely given, Nancy Decker?” asked the Nexus.
Nancy turned and motioned silently with both hands for the Clan Leaders to stand. Once they were all on their feet again, Nancy then knelt down to them, bowed her head and offered their medallions back to each Clan Leader. Once their medallions were safely back around their necks, Mr. Carver, Mrs. Bonifassi, Mr. Akiyama, Ms. Holiday and Mr. O’Sullivan grabbed each other’s hands and formed an almost complete circle. There was a single open space for Nancy to join in. Once Nancy joined the circle, the Nexus addressed them one last time.
“We are well pleased,” said the Nexus before releasing the five Master Totems to return to their Kindred.
Nancy took the front of the stage ahead of the mighty Spire as the Clan Leaders made their way to the immense pillars that flanked their respective Clan Halls. The Spire calmed down once the new Head Instructor was chosen. It was very quiet inside of the Macrocosm Chamber, with the exception of the Spire which was humming softly as the raw power of the Nexus coursed through it once more. Nancy announced to the new prospects who were gathered together that the Appointment of Clans was about to commence.
After the Appointment of Clans and the Second Year graduation ceremony concluded, the new Second Years returned to their enclaves to prepare for their Specialization Studies which they were to begin on the very next morning. Maggie waited behind and sent Elliot down to ask if Nancy would come visit her in the Avior enclave once the new First Years settled in.
Elliot returned to Maggie and said, “Nancy wishes for you to meet her in the Head Instructor’s office.”
“Great, we get to go to that creepy office twice in one day. I really hope it’s not as dark in there as it was earlier. I didn’t like how that office made me feel,” groaned Maggie to Elliot.
Elliot said, “Yes, the lack of light was indeed oppressive. I believe that was the point. It was a magical darkness that I myself was unable to penetrate. The Master Totems created it in preparation for our interrogation.”
Maggie replied, “Well, I repeat, I did not like it.”
Maggie left the Macrocosm Chamber and headed directly to Nancy’s new office as she had been selected by the Spire to assume the role as the new Head Instructor at the Kindred Academy. Once Maggie reached the office, which was no longer being guarded by ten Praetorians, she knocked on the door and walked inside.
“Ms. Decker? Are you in here?” asked Maggie.
“Yes, Maggie. I’m here. Come in and have a seat,” answered Nancy.
“So, you’re the new head-honcho, huh?” Maggie teased.
Nancy sat down at her new desk and replied, “It looks that way, Maggie. I’m glad that you asked to see me because I was actually going to send Siril to go and get you. I have news that you’re going to want to hear, and it’s not going to be easy.”
Maggie sat erect and timidly asked, “What is it, Nancy?”
Nancy answered, “I found this in here earlier. I assume it was left behind by Mr. Evans before he died.”
Nancy pulled a plain and unassuming piece of parchment from a stack of scrolls off of her desk and held it up for Maggie. The paper was blank except for the scrawled signature of General S
apka Strato. Maggie was not sure what the point of the parchment in Nancy’s hand was until the voice of the Fallen general came from the empty paper.
“By now you have no doubt performed a head count and have come up pitiably short. You have also surely discovered that some of your students are keeping me company. I don’t mind saying that they are all terrible conversationalists. It is of little consequence however as our Lady Okeaous doesn’t require their ability to communicate, only their totems’ powers. She has instructed me to inform whoever the new Head Instructor is, seeing how your beloved Mr. Evans is no doubt dead by now, that she will release each of the Kindred students who are languishing under the strict hand of Lieutenant Ara at this very moment and return them to the academy once she is in possession of the Pentagem. Our Lady knows that all of the Guardians believe that no one can handle the Pentagem as not even your wisest artifacts scholar would be able to touch it. The fact of the matter is that there is one at your school who can indeed hold the Pentagem. Her name is Maggie Bennett. Do not concern yourself with why she can do it or how we know about her. She is to take the Pentagem and walk, alone, into the Forever Forests, where an omniport will be waiting for her and the Dark Lady’s prize. The omniport will be available for the next three days and will open exclusively for a Legacy currently under the tutelage of Cornelius Evans’ successor. Seeing as how none of the instructors or Praetorians at the academy are Legacies, Maggie will be the only one permitted to enter. We are also well aware of the other Legacy at the academy, Lucy Min. She has served her purpose for the Dark Lady, and her life is safe for now, but if she accompanies Maggie Bennett through the omniport we will kill her, and the Dark Lady will absorb her totem on sight. That is a promise. Once Maggie has delivered the Pentagem to us, she will be free to return to your pathetic academy. Remember, you only have three days to decide. Choose wisely, Head Instructor, because the lives of your students hang precariously close to oblivion,” stated the disembodied voice of General Sapka Strato.