“We’re going to die!” Thornapple cried.
“I’m sorry!” Tabatha screamed as the lasers ripped open the ship.
“PROTECTION!” Simon yelled at the top of his lungs.
A golden sphere of translucent light instantly surrounded the ship. Simon floated in the air with one hand grasping his mother’s medallion and the other raised high above his head.
“This can’t be happening,” Tabatha exclaimed. “There’s no magic in the parastream.”
“You haven’t met Simon before,” Thornapple said, beaming from ear to ear.
The rockets melted away as two enormous tendrils shot from the gelatin mass protecting the ship. One of the giant arms drove deep into the closest space carrier. A moment later, the electric arm burst out the other side, essentially gutting the entire ship.
Escape pods sprang from the carrier as the massive vessel crumbled in on itself. The other space carrier was now fleeing towards one of the gateways, but just before it entered the portal, the yellow tendrils wrapped themselves around the ship and crushed it into pieces.
The debris vaporized upon contact with the yellow force field surrounding Tabatha’s ship. With the danger now gone, the tendrils shrank back to nothing.
Simon opened his eyes. The force field exploded all around him—just as it had done previously when Tonya had cast the Protection spell back on Earth; only this time, the shock waves rippled throughout the parastream, causing the orange walls to change colors as it passed.
“That was a rush,” Simon said, holding his chest and getting up from the floor. He felt very weak yet excited.
“You’re telling me,” Thornapple said, laughing.
“Did you see that, Tonya?” Simon boasted.
A look of terror swept over his face. Tonya, his beloved friend, lay motionless.
Griffen rushed to the girl’s side and put his cheek next to hers. “She’s alive,” he said quickly. “Barely.”
“Is there still time?” Tabatha asked.
“Maybe.”
The man put his hands to her forehead and chanted softly to himself.
“I thought you said there aren’t any E.M. waves in the parastream,” Thornapple said.
“Shhh,” Tabatha replied softly.
“I don’t require magic to heal…” Griffen said, trying to concentrate on the task at hand.
A light from his body entered into Tonya, and she suddenly gasped for air. Griffen lifted his hands and smiled at the young girl. Her skin was fair and white once more.
“You’re a Marmasuelian,” she whispered with a smile. “I thought your paraworld was destroyed.”
“I’m the last of my kind,” he said, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand. “You’re going to be just fine. Rest now and dream of happier things.”
She closed her eyes and slept.
“God has smiled upon us today,” Griffen said to the others. “The kingdom owes you all a debt of gratitude. In fact, I’m sure the Guardians of the Crown would like to thank you in person.”
“That sounds good to me,” Thornapple said with a grin.
“Sounds good,” Har repeated.
Simon looked at his friend sleeping peacefully at their feet. “Thanks for saving her,” he said. “I don’t know if I could have—” He stopped in midsentence and gasped in shock as a green swirl appeared on Griffen’s face.
Sensing their alarm, Griffen spoke with gritted teeth. “Don’t worry. This will soon pass. I just need to rest.”
Tabatha explained further, “When he takes upon himself the afflictions of other people, a part of their suffering stays with him for a little while—just until his body can fight it off.”
“Wow,” Thornapple said in amazement, “my dad would love to meet you.”
“Perhaps… someday.”
A sudden burst of blue light flashed around them as the ship entered a large portal.
Chapter 29
Answers
Imperial City, located on Paraworld Seven, was breathtakingly huge. Nestled within the network of tall buildings stood the royal palace, looking far different—ancient, even—from the futuristic buildings that surrounded the tranquil spot of land. Simon, Thornapple, and Har sat nervously on a bench. They were all dressed in fresh clothing and were feeling extremely out of place—especially Har, who wore a white shirt and a tie for the first time in his life. Har couldn’t stop rustling in his seat as dignitaries and politicians passed by. Paratravelers from all over were discussing the recent events, and more than once, someone recognized Simon from his picture on the front-page news.
Then, from at the end of the long hallway, came a vision of loveliness, walking with a bald man at her side. The teenagers became speechless as Tonya and her father approached.
“This makes me so mad,” they heard her father say. His stubs of hair turned red.
“It’s okay, Daddy,” Tonya responded. “I’m not ready to advance to the next level anyway.”
“But a whole year—wasted!” he said. “You’ll be older than everyone else.”
She smiled as all three boys stood up with gaping mouths. “I don’t think that’ll be a problem.”
“What happened to your hair?” Thornapple managed to ask.
Tonya played with her shoulder-length hair and said, “Oh, I decided I needed a change. Besides, those stupid disks in the cave hacked it all up anyway.”
“It looks nice.”
“Looks nice,” Har repeated.
Thorn nudged Simon in the shoulder, which brought him out of his daze. “Beautiful,” Simon blurted. Tonya blushed, as did her hair.
“So is this your father?” Thornapple asked.
“Yes,” Mr. Doyle answered, shaking their hands briskly. “It looks like my daughter has grown attached to you three… even to the point where she’s willing to be held back in school because of you.”
“Daddy,” Tonya scolded.
“Well, at least she’s safe. Shall we?” he said, opening the door for them.
The darkness in the spacious room gave Simon an eerie feeling. He looked up and saw thousands of empty seats. They were in some sort of coliseum.
Mr. Doyle left the teenagers in the center of the room and joined the adults, who sat behind tables. Simon could make out Tabatha’s long white hair in the dim light. She was sitting next to Griffen.
An older woman arose. “My name is Cassandra Vaylen. On behalf of the royal family, I would like to express our gratitude to you for helping to save our city.” The teenagers beamed. “Please accept these medals in your honor.”
She snapped her fingers, and four decorative awards materialized in the air in front of them. The teenagers took the medals and placed them around their necks.
“Simon, Thornapple, and Har,” she said, her voice turning somber. “We’d like to now discuss your requests to attend Imperial School of Magical Learning. Though it is irregular for us to accept new applications after the deadline—”
“Highly irregular,” one of the prominent-looking men spoke up.
“Leander,” Lady Cassandra said sternly. “Please.”
“Sorry, my lady.”
“As I was saying,” she continued. “I think we can make an exception in your case.”
“Quite right,” an elderly man said, standing up. “Let me introduce myself. My name is—”
“Ezra Bromwell!” came Holo’s excited voice from within Simon’s shirt pocket. The old woman appeared in the air without any coaxing from Simon.
“Holo-649,” he said in astonishment.
“I can’t believe it’s really you,” she cried. “You were just a baby, last I saw you.”
“I was 241 years old.”
“Amazing. Simply amazing! And you’re still kicking after all these years? I didn’t expect you to live past five hundred—with your wild ways and all.”
A surprised look appeared on Tabatha’s face. Griffen raised an eyebrow.
The old man blushed. “Well, I have matured
a bit since those days. Tell me, what are you doing with these children?”
“Simon’s my new master. I’ve been locked to his DNA.”
“Interesting,” he said. “Very interesting indeed.”
Leander Payne scowled. “I hate to interrupt your little reunion, but I have a school to run. May we continue with the proceedings?”
“Yes, of course,” Councilor Bromwell said.
“I’ll talk to you later,” the old holographic woman said with a wink. “We’ll do lunch sometime.” At that, she disappeared.
“Children,” Ezra Bromwell said, “I am the committee chairman for the school.” He looked over at Principal Payne and added, “Which means, I have the final say regarding who is admitted and who is not.” He turned back to the teenagers. “That being said, you must still convince us that you are worthy to attend.”
“Oh, they’re worthy,” Tonya said.
“Thornapple Troodle,” one of the committee members called, looking over a piece of paper. “I see here that you have no magical background… at all. In fact, no one on your planet has performed magic for over a thousand years. What do you possibly have to offer the school?”
Thornapple stood as tall as he could and said, “Well, I may not be very good with magic, but I bet I’m smarter than any of the students attending your school.”
“Really?” asked an old woman in disbelief. “Tell me,” she said, “are you familiar with story problems?”
A flat screen appeared in the air, showing a long page of text.
“I’ll get you some paper and a pencil,” she said.
The old woman reached for her handbag but stopped when Thorn announced, “3.14 hours.”
“What?”
“It’ll take Mrs. Redlock 3.14 hours to reach her grandmother—assuming she doesn’t stop for a snack or a bathroom break.”
Leander Payne whipped his head around to examine the story problem. Simon hadn’t even read through the first sentence before Thornapple had answered it.
“Well, Mr. Troodle,” the old woman cooed, “very impressive. Maybe you do have a place at our school. Our academic scores are not exactly up to par with the other schools.”
“But this is a school of magical learning,” Principal Payne argued. “Academics are secondary. If he’s not magically inclined, then I don’t think we can accept him.”
“Wait,” Tonya exclaimed. “I’ve seen Thorn perform magic. He saved his entire paraworld by casting a spell.”
“And what spell was that?” Leander asked with an unpleasant smirk.
“The Foonati spell,” Thornapple answered uncertainly.
Several of the council members laughed, but Councilor Bromwell intervened with a bit of wisdom. “Even the greatest event is preceded by a series of smaller steps.” He cleared his throat and continued, “Though, I must admit, the Foonati spell is one of the most basic of spells.”
“What is your relationship with Har?” one of the committee members probed. “I see you’ve submitted an application for him, but it doesn’t appear that he has anything to contribute to the school.”
“Well, he’s my… uh… he’s my—”
“Body-guard,” Har said slowly.
“Yeah, he’s my bodyguard.”
“You have need of a bodyguard?” Leander Payne asked suspiciously.
“I am pretty small.”
“Hmm.” Councilor Bromwell pondered. “Tell me, son, what is the nature of the collar around your bodyguard’s neck?”
“It’s a… well… it’s a security collar.”
“For what purpose?”
Thornapple looked at the ground and mumbled, “To enforce obedience upon the wearer.”
Several members of the council gasped at his response.
“Slavery is strictly forbidden,” Lady Cassandra said. “Not just here but in all the paraworlds under our command.”
“Har’s not a slave anymore. He’s my friend.”
“Then you wouldn’t mind if we removed that collar?” asked Lady Cassandra.
“NO! I mean, yes—I would mind. He’ll die if you remove that collar. It’s specifically engineered to secrete a synthetic enzyme that inhibits his brain capacity. A side effect is that his body now craves that enzyme. His brain would literally shut down without it.”
“Very disturbing,” Leander Payne noted. “And this is the paraworld you represent?”
“My world is changing. That’s why I’m here: to help my people get a different perspective on life.”
“If that’s so, then why did you bring your servant with you?” asked Principal Payne bluntly.
“To protect him,” Thornapple admitted. “My people have been forced to readjust their thinking. It’ll take time before they learn to treat everyone as equals. If you sent Har back to Pudo, he’d probably get exiled to the mines.” The little boy looked up at Ezra Bromwell and begged, “You have to believe me, sir. Most of the security features on his collar have been disabled anyway. I can’t even control him anymore… I mean, not that I want to.” Thornapple tried to take his foot out of his mouth. “I don’t want to control him… and I can’t… even if I wanted to.”
“How compassionate of you,” Principal Payne said mockingly, “but our school is not a refuge.”
“I beg to differ,” Councilor Bromwell countered. “The paraverse is in conflict, and the Raiders instill fear in the hearts of many, but our students take comfort in the knowledge that, here, they can leave the troubles of the paraverse behind. Is this not then a refuge?”
“You’re mincing words.”
Lady Cassandra raised her hand. “Gentleman, we will discuss these matters later. For now, let us continue with the interview.”
“I, for one,” said another man, “would like more information about Simon Kent. I’ve never heard of this Earth you come from. What is its numerical designation?”
Simon frowned and said, “We’re not aware of magic on my planet, let alone the paraverse. Until Tonya came, I’d never even seen magic before.”
“So there are E.M. waves on your paraworld, but nobody has ever discovered how to use them?”
“Oh, yeah—there’s lots of E.M. waves on his planet,” Tonya answered in Simon’s behalf. “More than anywhere else, I’d say. For an hour, I felt like the most powerful sorcerer in the paraverse.”
Some of the committee members chuckled, but Councilor Bromwell froze like a statue. Griffen turned his head and whispered something to Ezra that made the old man’s expression grow even more solemn.
The ultramage spoke. “In a normal entrance exam, the applicant would be asked to perform certain magical spells to demonstrate his or her skills. Simon, I have been told that you have a unique talent with magic. I would like to see what you can do.”
Councilor Bromwell pushed a button on the table, and the air around the teenagers ignited with wisps of green. He then turned a dial a few notches to the right and said, “I’ve adjusted the electro-magical waves in the arena, and I’ve lit them up so you can see them. Go ahead, Simon, and show us something you can do.”
Tonya handed Simon her wand and stepped back. The young man pondered for a moment on what spell he should cast. Then, with a smile, he looked up to see how high the ceiling was.
“Oh, you’re just gonna love this!” Tonya said, realizing which spell Simon had chosen.
The young wizard pointed the wand at his hand, snapped his fingers, and said the word, “Shawnee.”
He immediately turned his head, so as to not burn his face, but soon realized the normal burst of fire he had come to expect was not there. Instead, a tiny flame flickered at the end of his thumb.
“Very impressive,” Principal Payne said with deep sarcasm in his voice.
The committee roared with laughter, which made Simon flush with embarrassment. A gust of green vapor swooshed through the young wizard’s body, causing him to extinguish the little flame with a violent sneeze.
Suddenly, the committee members stopped
laughing. Simon turned to Tonya, who was staring at him with a shocked expression on her face. He then looked down and realized that a faint blue aura surrounded his body. Every time he came in contact with the green vapor, his aura would turn red, as if fighting with the E.M. waves.
“Is this some kind of joke?” Principal Payne asked irritably.
Councilor Bromwell turned the dial to its highest setting, which flooded the arena with a green fog. Within the thick haze shone the red silhouette of Simon, pacing around, rubbing his nose.
“Very interesting,” the old wizard mumbled.
Tabatha leaned over Griffen’s shoulder and whispered something to Councilor Bromwell. When she was finished, the old man put his hand over the button on the table to make everyone think he was masking the E.M. energy. But at the same time, he cast a spell, which subtly rotated the dial until the green waves disappeared from the arena entirely.
“Mr. Kent,” Councilor Bromwell said, looking up, “there’s just one more thing I would like you to do.” The ultramage pulled a wand out of a drawer and flung it. Animated, the wand flew towards Simon—twirling as it went—until he caught it in midair. “Point the wands in the same direction, if you will.” Simon obeyed. “Now cross them and say the word…” The old man paused for a second and then said, “Valamure.”
The committee members stirred in their seats after hearing that deadly word, but Simon, being innocent, knew nothing of the spell.
The fledgling wizard crossed the wands and said gently, “Valamure.”
Nothing happened.
Leander Payne started to chuckle but stopped when a thin stream of gray mist shot out of the wands. Within seconds, a large wraith was floating in the air above them. Tonya screamed, and the committee members jumped out of their seats.
Bromwell turned the dial to its highest setting. Surprisingly agile for one so ancient, he jumped over the table and ran into the arena. The teenagers cowered as the gruesome wraith descended rapidly through the green fog—its mouth opening large enough to swallow them whole.
Paraworld Zero Page 33