The forbidding feeling of something approaching didn’t leave Giovanni even after an entire day. He had gone through the motions of his work, keeping guard in the Seal of Palien while, at the same time, taking care of the many needs of its populace. He was technically a mere deacon, another assistant of the many performing duties before their formal education in the Seminary of the Saints, but he had been calling the shots in Palien’s church for a while now, a little advantage of being a friend of the local family of priests for several generations.

He instructed the older priests on how to properly perform the sacraments, he oversaw the renewal and maintenance of the Seal underneath the church, and he listened to the woes and problems of the general populace with a smile and the wisdom of many lives behind his back.

It was a tiresome duty, but one that Giovanni performed with a satisfied smile on his face… except for today. Today, he couldn’t shake away the bad feelings, the unnerving sensation of something being deadly wrong in the world.

The dread would follow him even as he finished his occupations and climbed the stairs of one of the church’s towers, right up to his bedroom.

“This climb will kill me one day.” He said, shaking his head slowly. He knew the degenerating process of his body better than most, and he knew for a fact he wouldn’t be able to make that climb once he grew older. “I guess it’s best that I enjoy the view now that I can.”

He was just a pessimistic mess that day! But he was confident that this was nothing that a nice cup of sleepytime tea couldn’t fix.

Once in his bedroom at the top of the tower, Giovanni looked around the place with a smile. There was an electric kettle, an old laptop, some bookshelves, the door to his bathroom and his comfortable, cushy bed. The sight brought a smile to the young man’s face, this had always been the peaceful kind of life he had craved for so long… Why couldn’t he simply enjoy it?

He carefully sat by the laptop after filling and getting his kettle to work. Checking on the latest news, the world continued to spin in the same way he always knew. News of war in the West brought pain to his heart, especially knowing that he, as a mage, couldn’t really do a thing about it beyond donations and general sympathy. Capitalism was still rampant in most of the world, corruption was even worse, the news of the Sleeper World had always been kind of… depressing.

But maybe it was better than the absolute lack of motion in the Mage World. The Eclipse was coming soon, an event that would connect the different Layers of Reality far more intensely than ever before in some portions of the world, and that was concerning; the mages of the great Empire of Bisontia were involved in some heated conversations and the word ‘Revolution’ had been thrown out several times.

Alright, so maybe it wasn’t a ‘lack of news’ as much as a ‘lack of GOOD news’.

And then there was Mustafá.

Giovanni sighed, rubbing his temples softly while watching the recordings Blanco had sent him. Mustafá was already showing Tav some powerful magic, so he could only assume the woman was serious about training her. But why? After forsaking the magical world and the Brotherhood, why did she suddenly decide to act?

What did she know that he didn’t…?

The answer would come to him in the form of a call. Just as the young mage got ready to prepare his tea, his phone started vibrating to the tune of an old poppy, happy song. He wasn’t used to getting calls at this time of the day, but he had promised himself to always be open to help anyone, no matter the time of the day. Big was his surprise to see Mustafá’s name on the caller ID.

He tried to temper his excitement, but he couldn’t help getting a bit giddy. The old alchemist never had anything good to say to him, for the days where they could collaborate and speak to each other on friendly terms were far gone… and yet he always had a feeling of relief when hearing her voice.

Knowing that she was still out there, doing her thing, was a confidence booster to Giovanni.

Eventually he stopped dilly dallying and finally answered.

“Well hello ther—”

“Be quiet. I don’t have much time.” Mustafá immediately stopped his attempts to make conversation. “The Second Sacrifice is upon us.”

Giovanni paused. Now that was bad news… he didn’t even bother doubting the woman’s words, mostly because: a) She never made jokes, and b) She must have been real desperate to share this with him.

“...How long do we have?” He finally said. He could have complained, demanded to know for how long she had known and why hadn’t she said anything sooner. But, this wasn’t the time to bicker.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“Months. Not sure how many, but it won’t be beyond this year.” Mustafá was speaking fast. Clearly, she wanted to keep this brief.

“So this is what this feeling was about…” Giovanni closed his eyes. “Starting point? Dobrand again?”

“The North Pole.” She stated, simply.

“Why there of all places?” The young mage sighed, shaking his head slowly. “Fine, I will start investigating this at once.”

“Keep me informed. I have to go.” The alchemist didn’t give time for a retort, she immediately hung up.

With a sigh, the man of the tower looked out his window for a moment, shaking his head. He couldn’t just take a trip to the North Pole all of a sudden, the Seal would be left unguarded and insecure, and he had made a promise that he would never allow such a thing to happen again. It was what he owed the Blair Clan, after all, at least until they reached a breakthrough in their investigation.

And he knew that wouldn’t come for at least two or three more generations.

So, instead of dwelling on possibilities that may never come to fruition, Giovanni decided to do the best he could and simply start moving the pieces he did have at his disposition. He started serving himself a cup of tea, while tapping the numbers on his phone and calling Blanco again.

He knew the old vampire despised phone calls and vastly preferred messaging, but for things this important, Giovanni felt like they had to talk.

Eventually, the call connected.

“Hi G, is this about the whole ‘Second Sacrifice’ thing?” Of course, the vampire had heard everything. Giovanni smiled bitterly, thinking that this at least made explanations easier.

“Yes Blanco. I need you to divert some of the time I commissioned from you into investigating the North Pole, and any North Pole-related stories that you find.” The young priest sighed. “I am sorry I keep loading you with work.”

“It is a little boring but I can do it, no problem.” Blanco sounded upbeat about the whole thing. “So… the end is nigh?“

“We are actively trying to stop it.” Giovanni frowned.

“Well, not to be a downer, but you don’t exactly have a good record doing that.” The vampire snickered. “Should I start renewing the security in my bunker?”

“As if you weren’t going to do that regardless of the situation!” With another sigh, the priest took a sip from his tea. “Just, please inform me if anything changes… I have to go to sleep.”

“Have pleasant dreams! As long as you keep paying, I’ll keep you informed of everything!” That was the closest thing the monster had to a code of morals.

“Thanks, Blanco.”

Click.

The young man sighed, he sighed like a man several times his own age. Despite the immortality of his soul, Giovanni could feel the years accumulating on his shoulders, weighing him down no matter how young his body was. Maybe he was an old man, as Mustafá said so often.

With the arrival of the night in Palien, the young mage took a seat on his bed, finished his tea, and got ready for a full night of sleep. His speciality was magic of the soul, after all, and there is no point where our souls are more free than during sleep…

He had many questions to ask, and very little time… he could only beg that the visions would be less cryptic this time.

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I take fifteen minutes or so cleaning my face, and my thoughts. The feeling of cold water on my face is refreshing and honestly really nice, even if it kind of makes the hairs sticking out more obvious. Maybe I should invest in a better razor or something.

“Shaving is good!”

“It’s kind of useless though, no matter how much you shave, it will just pop out again.”

“Not a reason to not do it though!”

With a sigh, still thinking about so many things at the same time, I walk back into the living room. Mustafá is not here, I assume she must be in the kitchen or something… so I just shrug and check on my backpack to pull out my meds. Even if this whole ‘trans’ business doesn’t pan out, I really should talk about my psychiatrist about the dosage.

“You should talk to him about many things, like getting you in contact with a therapist…”

I flinch a little there. I really don’t feel like asking another therapist for help, considering how badly my last session went, but… maybe you’re right. Maybe I should give it another whirl. I smile a little bit to myself, feeling proud of actually reaching this conclusion, when Mustafá walks out of the kitchen. Her lips are doing that thing again, the high-speed casting, as she guides a line of octarine light from the kitchen and around the living room. I stare as she walks on top of my furniture, tracing the edges of the room.

Soon enough, she walks to the hallway, leaving behind that line of light which, I assume, is a spell. I walk a little closer, squinting, just to see that indeed, the line of light is actually several runes forming a repeating phrase. I don’t see any shapes I recognize there… so I sigh. This is going to be a hard task, translating things, right?

Mustafá returns from the hallway and then, ignoring me completely, she goes back into the kitchen. I hear a strange sound, like a bell ringing… and the line of light disappears completely. I assume the spell is now in place.

“The spell is now in place.” The woman confirms, walking out of the kitchen. “Are you ready to go out? We have one final task to take care of before we can actually start your instruction."

“Are we going to the Elysium?” I tentatively ask, tilting my head as my teacher (oh how weird it feels to call her that) walks over to the door and opens it.

“No. You’re taking me to the Department of Motor Vehicles.” She says. “Take Gato’s book too, you will continue to read while we go.”

“... To the DMV.” My old arch nemesis. I still remember when I had to get my driver’s license… “Why?”

“Page 24.” She mentioned, walking off.

With another sigh, I pull the book to read it carefully after I exit and close the door behind me. I really despise having to read while I walk, but fortunately Gato’s book isn’t especially heavy or hard to understand, besides, I can just check it out while we enter the elevator!

I have to wonder though, wouldn’t it be easier to just tell me, instead of ordering me to read the information in a book? I am starting to think Mustafá is quite lazy…