Fragments of Light

by Beth Hodgson

  “Huh?” Kohren asked, looking confused. “What is testosterone, an old scientific term?”

  “Never mind.”

  “Perhaps you should reconsider reading about another era?” Kohren suggested, turning back to his text.

  “Perhaps. But for now I think I will keep going with this era,” Ikaria called back, shrugging.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Ikaria saw Kohren completely focused on his tome. She turned her attention back to her book, then flipped the title page to the table of contents.

  Colors and Properties. Analogous and Adjacent Colors. The Dark Side of the Spectrum. Blood Consumption. This book had everything Ikaria had ever dreamt of knowing about. Throughout her life, she had read bits of scattered information regarding blood consumption. And what she could find of it were all theories, untested. Blood consumption had been outlawed by the High Courts throughout time, ever since the first establishment of the High Court itself. She hadn’t known what would happen until she tested it herself, and when that happened, it was obvious why such a ban was in place.

  It was clever, what they had done. Everyone was too afraid of the God of Light’s judgment if they were to consume blood, for the High Court and all the priests told the world that they would end up in the fiery pits of hell. But somehow, since the old holy book The Spectrum had been translated by the world’s third High Court, Ikaria had no faith, nor any trust, if that was truly what was going to happen. Considering the reward, it was a risk she was willing to take.

  Analogous and Adjacent Colors? What is that?

  Ikaria thumbed through a quarter of the book that dealt with colors and their properties before arriving back at the Analogous and Adjacent Colors section, then began reading the first page.

  Analogous colors are a mixture of the gifted’s main color, along with the colors that fall next to their color in the Spectrum of Magic. For example, say a gifted’s main color is orange. Their analogous colors are orange-red and orange-yellow. The adjacent colors are the true pure color that falls immediately next to the gifted’s color in the Spectrum of Magic. For instance, if the gifted’s main color is orange, their adjacent colors would be red and yellow. Each gifted has the automatic ability to tap into their analogous colors, which allows the gifted access to limited abilities within their analogous color magic. Some gifted have the unique ability to use the full magical potential of their adjacent colors, but these cases are quite rare. In fact, they are so rare that there are only a few documented cases throughout all of history.

  Ikaria was stunned. She reread the last part of the paragraph just to make sure she had read it correctly. Each gifted has the automatic ability to tap into their analogous colors. Every gifted had the ability to use their analogous colors. If this was true, why was it that the gifted in her time, including herself, did not seem to possess the ability to use analogous magic? Ikaria was sure that this bit of information was somehow connected to the current gifted losing their magic altogether. Somehow the present-day gifted were not only unable to use their analogous colors, but they were also losing their main color.

  Ikaria continued to read.

  One might note that throughout all studies that have been recorded with the red and blue-gifted, those particular gifted all had trouble accessing their analogous colors: red-violet and blue-violet. There have been no studies on violets being able to use their analogous or adjacent colors, as there have been no recordings in the history of man of a violet-gifted person.

  Many priests have concluded that if the Spectrum of Magic is observed as a line instead of a circle, that it ends with violet, thus breaking the cycle of moving back into the beginning of the spectrum, starting again with red. On this point, it has been argued among priests that the Spectrum of Magic should indeed be symbolized as a line instead of a circle.

  Ikaria stopped reading, as the chapter was now getting into priestly theories and arguments over their beliefs of the line verses the circle. By today’s standards, the Spectrum of Magic took to the circle theory, but it had evolved to a sphere. Priest theories were boring and made her think of Auron, who annoyed her to no end. She thumbed through the rest of the section, but nothing riveting struck her. Ikaria turned the pages to find the chapter on blood consumption properties, then began reading.

  The art of blood consumption is like the art of gambling. It is not ever consistent and not guaranteed that one would have the same results as another.

  A non-gifted who chooses to partake in the blood consumption of a gifted is not guaranteed to inherit magic, nor even the color that they consume. For instance, a non-gifted may consume the blood of the yellow. That non-gifted has a great chance of not ever becoming gifted, even by consuming the blood. “The magic chooses the person,” as stated in the holy book The Spectrum. However, if the magic does indeed choose that person, and they do become gifted, one might not actually receive the yellow magic they had consumed. The consumer has a chance of getting any color in the Spectrum of Magic.

  Ikaria thought back to Suri. When Suri drank the Lady Yasmin’s blood, the blood of the orange, she ended up receiving the orange magic, Lady Yasmin’s true color. Suri must have been incredibly lucky to even receive the gift, as well as the exact color she consumed. Ikaria smiled. It was further proof that fate was on her side, approving her quest to rid the land of the corrupt High Court.

  Once the gifted is bestowed with their given color, they are able to consume the blood of the other colors and inherit the exact blood and power that they consume. Also, when those gifted with other consumed colors use any form of magic, whether it be from their own color or their consumed colors, the magic will always appear to be their true original color, but a shade darker. The only exception to this rule is that their true analogous and adjacent colors will show as true, as those powers have attributes to their main power.

  One might note that when the gifted consume another color, they will not be able to summon the analogous color of the newly consumed color. The gifted are only able to summon their original analogous colors. Furthermore, the gifted might not be able to use the full power of the newly consumed color. It varies per color, and per person.

  So far, Ikaria had not had any problems using the full force of the red and the orange, but it could interfere with her plans to time travel. Hopefully there would be no issues when she consumed the blood of the blue.

  As stated previously, once the gifted has consumed a new color of blood, their original power appears a shade darker. With every new color consumption that is added to the host, their magic emerges darker each time. It has been written that if one has consumed all the colors of the Spectrum of Magic, a new godlike power is unlocked: the gift of the black.

  This theory has never been tested, as there has never been a time when all colors of the gifted were born at the same time or during the same era. However, there have been tests that have been conducted on a few select gifted individuals who consumed multiple blood colors. This test proved the theory of the host’s magic deepening in color.

  The gift of the black. Unlocking godlike powers. That statement was music to her ears. Ikaria had read once a long time ago that completing the Spectrum of Magic within one’s self could unleash power that increased one’s magic by a hundredfold. Whether it was true or not, Ikaria still wanted to have all of the colors of magic, because if she had them all, she could wipe the High Court out of existence. But it seemed that this gift of the black was a real thing. She had noticed her magic getting darker, and even her hair was growing to be a deeper violet. And each time she drank a new color of blood, her magic felt stronger.

  To think, not only would she have every ability of the Spectrum of Magic if she completed it, but her power would increase a hundredfold. No one would be able to stop her. Not Auron, not her sister and her fool husband’s gifted servants, and not the all-powerful High Court. And with that power, she could restore Earth to its former glory and establish a new era. The thought gave Ikaria much pleasu
re.

  Lingering on her daydream a little bit more, she turned her attention back to the text.

  There have been a few select cases that involved non-gifted subjects who consumed gifted blood who then were granted a tinted color by the magic, not a true color. Through various accounts, these “tinted-gifted” subjects only had a selected ability within that color and not the full power of the color. All “tinted-gifted” that have been recorded were born non-gifted and only became tinted by experimentation of blood consumption.

  Well, that’s interesting… Ikaria smirked, thinking about her ex-lover. That explains everything about him. No wonder he’s so defective. He’s nothing more than a tint. How nice. She turned back to the text.

  Please note that there have not been many studies on blood consumption as a whole, as it had been outlawed by the first High Court in 42 P.A. All tests were done prior to that date and have since then ceased.

  Ikaria looked over at Kohren, who remained silent, reading the text in front of him. She wrinkled her nose in disgust, knowing that another High Court spy was sitting in her midst, gathering information for them. He probably reported to them every night about her findings in the library, using his blue magic to teleport to them.

  Kohren could not find out about this book. More so, the High Court could not find out about this book.

  Ikaria turned her attention to the Colors and Properties section of the book until she came to the color blue, the color that she was most curious about. Anything she could learn about time travel and scrying time would be of use to her.

  The Angel of the Blue hindered the gifted’s ability to travel through time, for the flow of time would be disrupted with many blue-gifted traveling through the space-time continuum at once. Thus, one’s physical body cannot travel through time and have their body withstand that time, for their physical body was not made for that time, and their body would turn to dust in a mere matter of minutes. The Blue Angel made the gifted’s mind withstand time, not their body.

  All blue-gifted that have been recorded as time travelers have returned to their time with their findings, their bodies severely damaged, and all returned just in time to save their lives. However, it is theorized in the early writings of The Spectrum, from the Beginning Era, that the Angel of the Blue made a pact with the Angel of the Green, allowing the blue-gifted to withstand another time with the consumption of green blood.

  That in itself created a huge problem for Ikaria. She needed the blood of the green to complete the Spectrum of Magic. Ikaria was willing to travel through all of time to find a green-gifted, despite how trying that would be for her. Ikaria had the will to do it. But with this new information, it put a damper in all her plans. She had to somehow consume green blood in a matter of minutes in order for her remain alive in that time. That meant she had to find the green-gifted from across time and space, and somehow, through time, persuade the green-gifted to give her their blood.

  And if and when she did travel, her body would be weakened before consuming the blood, making it hard for her to overpower the green-gifted in that time. If she had to use forceful violet magic, she might not even be able to do it. Even trying to unlock a gifted’s mind swiftly would be difficult. Her body would disintegrate if she took too long.

  The only real way she had a chance was to try to use her control magic within a past person’s mind to convince them otherwise. It was already hard trying to unlock the mind of a gifted. But across time? It seemed impossible.

  Now, more than ever, Ikaria needed to find a green-gifted across time. And the book that could aid her was missing.

  Ikaria knowingly glanced over at Kohren. How convenient. That bastard.

  Ikaria had to hide this book somehow. This book had the potential to be dangerous, especially in the wrong hands. Someone else had recognized that this book was dangerous too. Why else would it be hidden behind the other tomes? But who? If the High Court found out that gifted had the ability to use their analogous colors, or even the full potential of their adjacent colors, they would find a way to make laws restricting it.

  Or perhaps they already knew this information and had found a way of dealing with it with their mysterious plague. The World Sector Six gifted were more powerful than they realized. Or were. Somehow everyone’s ability to tap into their analogous colors had ceased to exist, otherwise surely someone would have discovered they could do so by accident?

  Damn the High Court. They had to be the ones who were consuming and removing the magic from all the gifted through their so-called “sweating sickness” so they could become “gods,” forcing everyone to become non-gifted, leaving the people unable to defend themselves and rendering them useless. Perhaps they had been aware of the gift of the black this whole time, and that was their intended goal. She hated the High Court all the more. This had their stink all over it.

  Ikaria read the entire book from cover to cover, until she had a complete understanding of all the sections regarding magic. Putting down the book, Ikaria glanced over at Kohren. He was still in his seat, reading away at another selection.

  Getting up, Ikaria returned to the same spot she had found the Laws of Magic book. Luckily the spot was not in view from where Kohren was sitting. As quietly as possible, Ikaria moved the thick tomes, then shoved the mysterious book back against the bookshelf, behind the other books, then precisely placed the thick tomes back into place.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  GREEN

  Shouts pierced her ears as Emerald slowly opened her eyes. She wasn’t sure if she was in Arcadia or in the pits of hell itself.

  Shadows surrounded her in the abandoned alley where she leaned against a rough brick wall while the glow of car fires illuminated the main street before her. There were swarms of people crowded in the streets, screaming and yelling at Arcadia’s authorities, while more people passed her by to join in on the action. One person even tripped over her, stumbling for a moment, then hastily ran off to wreak havoc with the protesters. Emerald winced at the sounds of glass being smashed and shattered while fiery Molotov cocktails were thrown at the police. Mixed in the noise was the rumbling of powerful engines vibrating down the streets, shooting down the alleyways and into the main road. Turning toward the noise, blackened silhouettes of what appeared to be motorcycles drove past the fires, trying to make their way through the crowds.

  Grimacing in pain from the initial hit on the head, Emerald clawed at the brick wall behind her while trying to rise to her feet. Shaking, Emerald stumbled back to the ground, landing in a fresh pile of trash. The smell of urine, feces, and smoke filled her nostrils. Repulsed by the putrid scent, she began to gag, quickly holding her nose while choking on the lingering scent in her nostrils.

  Frightened and weak, she was unsure of what to do, so she scooted back against the wall once more, watching the fires flicker as the crowds became more violent. The agitated protesters began to beat several officers, causing the Arcadian authorities to unleash a small but deadly force on the crowd.

  The men in this unit were unlike anything Emerald had ever seen. Men that had flesh and bone but were infused with machinery of some kind, glowing an eerie red within the circuitry. Some of the men had grafted weapons on one of their arms, others were more normal but wielded unnatural strength.

  Emerald watched in horror as many people tried to set the men on fire by throwing burning bottles at them, but the robotic men were unaffected. They moved in on the crowd systematically, fighting the people into submission with their dominant force. Several of the mechanical men lifted their gun arms, and without a moment’s notice, they began shooting into the crowd, raining bullets throughout. Blood from the victims painted the living protesters red as their bodies squirted their lifeblood. Screams pierced the air, people cried for help, and many of them dispersed, trampling on their fellow dead protesters, trying to get away from the domineering machines.

  Emerald looked around in a panic. She had to get out of the alley before she got hurt or
killed—whether it was at the hands of the crowd or the mechanical men, it didn’t matter.

  Attempting once more to get up, she tried to rise to her feet, but her legs gave out as her strength failed her. The magic spent saving her from the fall had taken an enormous toll on her body, and she wondered if she had any magic left in her core to at least heal her frail body.

  Suddenly a lock of her hair fell in her face. It was green; it had revealed itself through her fall. She couldn’t have anyone find out who she was, especially down in the midst of a riot, and especially given who she was. She was in the midst of an aggravated crowd, a crowd who hated the royal family with such passion that they were destroying the very city they lived in.

  Looking around, she saw that the passersby were so engrossed in what was happening in the streets that they had not noticed her, and she deemed it was safe enough to attempt to summon her magic, though she’d have to do it quietly.

  Laying her hands upon her chest, she closed her eyes, calling forth the remaining healing life force within her. Her magic answered her, like a soft brush of wind flowing inside of her. Feeling her warm magic run through her veins, the green power seeped into her body as it renewed her strength, settling within the aches of her muscles.

  After the soft green magic restored her within, she reversed its flow, sending it back into the core of her being. The magic quickly responded, coloring her tresses a deep scarlet color once more.

  Opening her eyes, Emerald glanced at her surroundings. No one had seen her.

  Thank goodness.

  Still in her same position, Emerald watched the crowd in motion, continuing to retreat from the machines. But the mechanical men were pursuing the crowd no more. Instead they were stopped in their tracks, their eyes locked in her direction down the dark alley. Somehow she knew they were acutely aware of her gift.

  How did they know that I used my magic? Emerald asked herself, panicking.