“It’s been three weeks.”
Cillian was sitting on his neighbors porch, drinking a beer and smoking a cigar. His neighbor, Tony, was across from him. Brian and Tony’s daughter Bella were in the yard, Brian trying to teach the young lady how to do some sort of athletic feat.
“If I hadn’t personally watched Ol’ Rufus across the street float away, I’d believe it was all a dream.” Tony followed this statement by finishing his beer, crushing the can, and immediately grabbing another from the cooler sitting between the two men.
“Kinda hard to believe in 30% of the world’s population flying away on a sunny Saturday afternoon.” Cillian paused after saying this, then looked down the street towards another home. “I wonder how the believers who were left behind are feeling. This can’t be good for their mental states.”
“Miss Betty down the way went to church every Sunday for 60 or so years, and she’s still sitting on her rocker, complaining about the noise.” Tony said with a chuckle. “Makes you wonder what the criteria was for getting chosen.”
“I imagine not being a miserable old bat was high on the list of requirements.” Cillian said dryly. “Abagail was so disappointed that that old bat was still here when we got home that day. Her face was a riot when she heard her shouting at the sky when we pulled up.”
“She really hates Abagail, don’t she?” Tony laughed and shook his head.
“I still can’t understand what happened between them. It’s not like Abagail to hold a grudge, but she absolutely despises Miss Betty.” Cillian watched the children in the yard with a smile, not really concerned about Miss Betty and Abagail’s discord. “You best be careful, I think my boy is growing a little crush”
“Nothing to be careful about, he’s a good kid.” Tony said, also watching Brian and Bella in the yard. Bella was dancing around, laughing while Brian chased her. “Hell, with the brains your whole family has, it could only be to our benefit if they hook up.”
Tony squinted and said in a low tone, “Not for a few more years, though. Twelve is a bit too young to be dating, I think”
“Indeed.”
“I’m hitting the head.” Tony stood and walked to the door. He was a large man, well over six feet tall and heavily built. He typically wore simple button down shirts, jeans, and cowboy boots. He had short curly hair, dark brown and wore a close cropped beard.
“I’ll go check on my ribs, should be getting close to finished.” Cillian also stood and began moving towards the yard. Cillian was wearing a floral patterned button down, with a pair of chinos and simple canvas shoes; his typical weekend clothing.
It’s been three weeks and a day since the Rapture and the world has mostly carried on as usual. Losing 30% of the world’s population was massively detrimental, but people are endlessly adaptable and were quickly filling the gaps. Cillian and his family have been mostly staying home, Abagail taking a leave of absence from her role as a professor. The local school, which Brian and Aine attended, has closed indefinitely as all but one of the administration had left the world.
Brian had spent his time playing baseball with his friends who remained and trying to figure out how to flirt with Bella. Aine has been communicating with her friends in Mensa, trying to identify exactly what those warm beads were and exactly how many people had experiences like ours.
Cillian, feeling an inexplicable threat looming at all times, has handed off management of his business and remained at home. Constantly training, with his rifles and physically, until Abagail forced him to take a day off. I don’t know why I feel this way, but something is telling me that I need to be ready to fight, Cillian thought while checking on the food in his smoker. The whole world feels like the dead air right before a tornado.
“Cillian! Come here!” Abagail shouted from the kitchen window, sounding both excited and scared.
Cillian ran to the house, worried about his wife’s tone. When he entered the kitchen, he stopped dead in his tracks, stunned. Sitting at the kitchen table was his daughter, who had a massive grin on her face. Before her were piles of papers, books, and writing utensils. The papers were covered in various languages, symbols, and drawings. Aine had her hand raised, palm facing upwards, and above her palm was a small, white flame.
“It’s magic. The beads are a source of magic!” Aine was showing more excitement that Cillian had ever seen from her, absolutely thrilled with her accomplishment. “I have to share this with everyone!”
The flame flickered and went out as Aine jumped out of her seat and dashed towards her room. Cillian looked at Abagail, who was standing in place still staring at the empty chair where her daughter was just a moment ago.
“Is this what she’s been researching the past three weeks?” Cillian asked absentmindedly, still distracted from the spectacle he just witnessed.
“I knew she was up to something when she asked me for access to research about ancient myth and paganism, but I never thought there would be any success to it.” Abagail approached the table and started to look over Aine’s research. “This is what she was looking at when she succeeded.”
Abagail handed a sheet of paper to Cillian. On it was an imitation of the Vitruvian Man, but with a symbol added to the center of the chest and lines radiating from it through the body. There were notes cluttered around the drawing, all in Aine’s handwriting. Unfortunately, there’s no one in this world who can read Aine’s script. The girl is an absolute genius, but I suppose everyone has things they’re bad at. Cillian thought
”It looks like something from those Chinese novels I read. Meridians and Qi and all that” Cillian glanced at his wife, who was standing at his side examining the paper. “I wonder if that’s where she got the idea for this.” Abagail continued.
“Looks like your guilty pleasures may have some use outside simple entertainment.” Cillian commented, still looking at the paper. “Looking at this, it seems that there’s more. That symbol in the chest looks like Norse runes.”
“It’s not Norse, at least not from what I can remember. Is it cuneiform?” Abagail asked under her breath, seeming to be thinking out loud.
“Wait for Aine, I’m sure she will explain.” Cillian put the paper back where it was and began going through the books stacked on the table. They all seemed to be outdated, out of print academic texts about ancient myth, demonology, witchcraft and various other mythical things. Aine’s tablet was also on the table, opened to a web browser with at least 15 open tabs. Every tab was opened to a college archive, or academic journal, also focused on mythology. Aine has clearly been working restlessly to learn what exactly those beads were and how they affect us.
Aine came running back carrying her phone, recently purchased so she didn’t need to take her mother’s to talk with her friends.“Ibrahim also managed to make something happen, though he said for him it only worked through a sword that his father keeps. He made it glow and it launched some kind of beam of light.”
Aine went back to her seat, and started organizing her research. “It looks like these beads give us the ability to draw in some sort of energy and then make use of it. It feels natural, like it is something we are meant to have.”
Aine turned and looked at her dad. “Try doing this. Imagine that the bead is the center of a whirlpool. There’s energy, ambient in the world around you and this whirlpool wants to draw it in. After some time, you’ll feel a warmth start to travel through your body to the bead.”
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“Okay.” Cillian closed his eyes and tried to imagine the whirlpool. There’s a whirlpool pool built upon the bead and it wants the energy around me. There’s a whirlpool. Whirlpool. Cillian repeated this to himself, both hopeful and worried. Minutes passed, Aine and Abagail both watching Cillian standing motionless with his eyes closed. Soon, a slight breeze seemed to blow, swirling around him. Aine’s eyes lit up and she bounced up and down in her seat, in her eyes which had already drawn energy Cillian appeared to be glowing.
Oh, I think I feel it. It is warm. Cillian thought. It felt like he was bathing in liquid sunlight, warm and bright. Soon, the whirlpool started to draw this energy, and Cillian felt it moving through his body, following some kind of veins or pathway. It came in through his head, at the very center of his forehead, traveled through his whole body from the fingers to the toes, then finally went into the bead. It almost feels like I’m drinking.
Cillian opened his eyes, and saw Aine staring at him, with a faint glow in her eyes. Abagail was watching at the side, waiting to see if it works.
“Now, imagine that energy is gathering from the bead into a point above your hand. Let it flow through you and focus on gathering it together where you want it.” Aine was almost dancing from excitement after seeing that what worked for her also worked for her dad. “That’s what I did to make that flame.”
Cillian raised his hand, and looked at his upturned palm. Let it flow and gather it above my hand. Sounds simple enough, but how the hell to I let it flow? Cillian tried imagining the bead that the strange man created forming over his palm. After a few moments, he could feel the warmth flow from the bead, down his arm, and gather in his hand. It slowly began to leave his hand, forming into a small, glowing light above his palm.
“Holy shit.” Cillian muttered, staring at the light glowing above his hand.
“See! See! It works! This is magic! It’s a whole new field of study! A whole new energy source!” Aine wore a huge smile. “Mom, you try too! You got a bead from that man as well.”
“Well, okay.” Abagail closed her eyes. Minuets passed, while Cillian and Aine watched as Abagail stood motionless with her eyes closed. Soon, a breeze started to blow, dancing around Abagail and ruffling her long hair. She began to shine with a soft glow, and when the breeze stopped she opened her eyes. Abagails bright green eyes had a soft glow in them, like Aine’s. “This is amazing!”
“Let me try the magic part.” Abagail raised her hand, palm upturned, and she focused. After a few moments, the room seemed to chill, and above her hand a small crystal formed. It shone in the light, and seemed to draw all the heat in the room into itself.
“All three of us had a different effect. Maybe there’s some kind of elements system to it or something?” Aine questioned before beginning to take notes. “Dad’s looked like a light, mine was flames, and it looks like mom’s is ice. BRIAN!”
“WHAT!” Brian shouted from outside, sounding annoyed.
“GET IN HERE, I NEED YOU FOR RESEARCH” Aine shouted without looking up from her notes.
A few moments passed and Brian came into the kitchen, closely followed by Bella.
“Hello, darling. Do you want a drink?” Abagail smiled at Bella and started towards the refrigerator to get the girl a glass of iced tea.
“Hi, Mrs. Abby. I would love some tea!” Bella smiled at Abagail. Bella is the only person allowed to call Abagail Abby. Abagail and Bella’s mother were best friends before she passed, and Abagail gives the girl special treatment due to that.
“Brian, stand there and close your eyes.” Aine pointed as a spot before her chair, and looked at him with expectation.
“Okay?” Brian followed orders, obviously confused but wise enough not to question his little sister when she was being serious.
“Now imagine that the little bead is a whirlpool. It wants to draw in the energy around you.” Aine was watching Brian intently, not wanting miss the slightest bit of data.
“Mhmm” Brian stood still, his face losing the expression of confusion and showing focus. After a couple minuets, Bella asked Abagail, “What exactly are y’all doing?”
”Brian told you about what happened to us at the ballgame before the Rapture, right?” Abagail didn’t take her eyes off her son.
“Yeah, he said some blond guy in leather did some magic stuff.” Bella was also watching Brian. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him this still.” She said softly.
“Apparently, people all over the world had similar experiences. Aine has a number of friends who met people the way we did that day.” Abagail raised her hand, palm upturned. She concentrated, and soon the small crystal of ice appeared over her hand. “And now, we can do stuff like this.”
“Keep this to yourself and your father for the time being, Bella. This is a new thing and people tend to be afraid of new things.” Cillian looked over at the young lady, making sure she was listening.
Bella was staring at the floating crystal of ice, with her mouth open and shock on her face. “Wow” She said faintly, before looking at her own hand. “Can I do something like that too?”
“I don’t know. So far, those of us who met those strange people are using the beads of light they gave us to create these phenomenon. We haven’t even began to look into others.” Aine was still watching Brian, who was beginning to produce the same breeze that the previous three did.
“Here it comes” Aine stood up and approached Brian, walking circles around him while examining him from head to toe.
Brian began to glow faintly, and the breeze suddenly came to a stop. After another moment he opened his eyes. “That feels really weird”
“Now, raise your arm with your palm upturned. Imaging that energy you just took in gathering into a point above your palm.” Aine stood before Brian with her hands on her hips, an amusing image of a small ten year old girl acting as an adult.
Brian raised his hand, and looked at the point above his palm. His eyes shone with a faint glow, and he frowned slightly. After a few moments, a small bead of liquid gathered above his palm and the air in the room seemed to become more humid, like right before a thunderstorm arrived. “This is super cool” Brian said, looking around the room with a grin. Bella’s eyes focused on Brian’s face, seemingly entranced.
Abagail nudged the girl with a small smile. “He’s not going anywhere, you don’t have to stare.”
Bella blushed a bit and looked away, “I’m not staring at anything”
“A ball of liquid. This must be water, but then is mom’s ice another version of water or is it its own independent thing?” Aine started taking notes again, pulling her tablet towards herself. “Everyone should experiment with their different magics and report your findings to me, I’m going to share what we’ve discovered with the group and see if there’s more information to be gathered.”
“Yo, what are y’all doing in here, it’s too nice to be cooped up inside.” Tony walked in, looking around the room. “What’s the little one getting into this time?” He asked after seeing Aine at the table, surrounded with books and papers.
“Remember how we were saying that nothing had really changed?” Cillian asked “Well, we were wrong.” He raised his arm, palm upturned, and conjured the small light.
“Okay, that’s fucking spooky as hell.” Tony said, staring at the little light. “How the hell are you doing that?”
“It’s magic!” Aine exclaimed, still bubbling with excitement. “We can do magic!” The girl, who was typically apathetic, was absolutely glowing. Cillian looked at her with a smile, happy that she was showing so much interest in something. This whole magic thing is definitely worrying, but it sure is nice seeing Aine so happy.
“Y’all aren’t fuckin with me, are you?” Tony sounded as if he was hoping this was all an elaborate prank. “You know I’m gullible as all hell, this ain’t cool.”
“My friend, I am dead serious. Love, show him yours.” Cillian looked at Abagail.
Abagail raised her palm and created her little crystal of ice, and the room seemed to cool by a few degrees. “Definitely not messing with you” She said with a smirk, knowing that Tony wasn’t exaggerating by calling himself gullible.
“Why are you all acting like this is okay?!” Tony shouted while looking around at the family of four. Brian was still playing with his little ball of water, while Bella poked at it with shining eyes. Aine was typing away on her tablet, only pausing to write down notes as information was shared. Abagail was smiling and watching Tony panic with amusement.
“After Aine became able to talk and showed us that even toddlers can be geniuses, I suppose our ability to be surprised was taken from us.” Cillian looked at Tony with a chuckle. “It’s not like freaking out will change anything, and I trust that Aine and her friends will figure out exactly what’s going on.” He shrugged.
“Y’all have some serious issues.” Tony replied.
“Well, nothing to do, let’s have dinner and some drinks. My ribs should be ready” Cillian left the kitchen and walked to the yard.
“Yeah, I need to be drunk.” Tony muttered under his breath, following Cillian.
“I’m bringing out the peach wine for tonight!” Abagail shouted towards Cillian.
~~~~~~~~~~
”Honey, I’m worried. From what Aine has said everyone who met one of those strange people was asked to fight, and now we’ve discovered we can do magic.” Abagail was lying in bed, on her side facing Cillian as he laid down. “It seems like this magic is meant to fight whatever they were talking about”
“There’s nothing to worry about, love. Either there is something to fight, and I’ll fight it. Or there isn’t something to fight and we have a wonderful new source of energy.” Cillian turned towards his wife and hugged her. “And if there is a fight, I will do absolutely everything in my power to keep you and the children safe.”
Abagail smiled a bit and kissed Cillian. “I know you will.” Abagail looked at her husband, a small smile on her face. “What are you going to do now that you have this magic?
“I’m going to make a spear.”