CHAPTER XIV (14)- Echoes of Footprints

The boy with the lazy eye he’d sat next to yesterday was absent in Enchanting C. Kizu scanned the class for somewhere else to sit. He figured Finn’s blatant refusal to even look in his general direction meant he wasn’t welcome near his little brother. Just as he was about to sit alone, a bald boy with a bit of a pudge waved at him. Kizu’s memory grasped for any sort of familiar trait, but it came up completely blank. The boy was a complete stranger to him. Even still, Kizu wasn’t about to toss aside a peer who actually appeared inviting. He’d seen few enough friendly gestures at the academy to dismiss one out of hand.

But before Kizu had a chance to strike up a conversation with the pudgy boy, their professor walked in and immediately launched into the lecture.

Instead of yesterday’s practical work, Professor Kateshi used the day’s class to talk about theoretical uses of enchantments and how they’d been used - and misused - in the past. Kizu listened, intrigued as he connected her points to stories the crone used to tell. He started writing down notes comparing his knowledge to what Kateshi taught now.

Before he realized it, the bell rang and the other students stood up to leave. The class period had flown by. With everyone filing out, he realized his day was already over. He trailed after them, trying to decide what to do with the rest of his day. He had history homework, but he put that in the back of his priorities. First, he wanted to experiment with some more actual spells.

Although the cafeteria doors were closed when he arrived, there was a little stall outside the double doors that served water and snacks. Exactly what he was looking for. He took a clay cup and found a quiet corner nearby to work on his studies.

Dipping his fingers in the water, he focused on it. He willed it to heat up. It was grueling and uninteresting work, but he dedicated himself to it. Occasionally, other students would wander by, often in pairs and likely looking for their own quiet nook, but they all left without bothering him. He did his best to keep his mind completely focused on the task at hand, shifting the water’s temperature. When he finally stood hours later, he felt woozy. But the cup of water now had tiny wisps of steam rising from its surface. He celebrated his triumph with a sip from the cup. It tasted like warm water and victory.

“What time is it?” he asked his orb.

“The time is half past midnight,” it told him.

“Seven hours of practice,” he mused. He’d missed dinner entirely, and the library was already closed. Mort was probably going crazy in the room. He didn’t envy Basil trying to sleep with the rowdy owl monkey in there with him. If Basil ever even slept there. He still hadn’t met the other boy.

He walked through the dark halls, not bothering to light up his orb. He knew the general direction of the dormitories, and his night vision was more than good enough.

As Kizu walked, another set of footsteps echoed directly behind him. He stopped and listened. Nothing. He continued on again. They resumed. He stopped six more times, each time with the echoed footprints ceasing immediately with his own. A search of the area revealed nothing. Deciding it must have been a quirk of the hall’s construction, he kept moving forward. Still though, it bothered him. He took a detour, walking outside where there should have been no echo at all. And still the footsteps followed after him.

He tried walking in place but made no sounds beyond his own soft footfalls. He decided to try walking in circles next. After a dozen circles, he realized the steps were louder in one direction and softer in others. His curiosity outweighing his common sense, he followed the louder steps.

The echoing footsteps led him down into a different courtyard, this one a blooming garden full of flowers. He walked over flowerbeds, closing in on the source. Then, as suddenly as they had arrived, the footstops stopped entirely. But with the final step, he thought he heard a stifled giggle.

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Again, he looked around himself. Nothing and nobody. Just flowers and a stone bridge crossing over a little stream.

Not sure what else to do, he knelt and dug his fingers into the flowerbed. After only a minute of digging, his hand scraped against something solid. His fingers sought around the edges and pried up a wooden box the size of a large melon.

For a while, he simply stared at it. He longed to try to open it, but that seemed like another extremely foolish idea. After a few minutes of deliberation, he decided on what to do.

Using the technique that Arclight had taught him, he created an anti-magic shield. Then, doing the opposite of what she had taught him, he stretched it out as thin as possible. He laid the box on top of the shield and waited. Nothing happened.

Kizu let his curiosity win again. He slid his fingers under the wooden planks and pried the top off. Inside, an iron chain necklace rested on top of a leatherbound book. Beside the book, wedged between its spine and the side of the box, there was a black knife with a wickedly serrated blade. Kizu let his shield fall on the objects. The shield shattered instantly. So at least one of the three objects was enchanted. He tried three more times with smaller shields, one for each item. All three shields shattered. Now the question remained - were the objects enchanted, or cursed?

Kizue placed the lid back on the box and debated burying it again. He doubted anyone else would be able to find it any time soon. Still, if he wanted to study any of the objects again, he’d need to go back into the garden in the dead of night to avoid suspicion. Another option would be to turn it over to Professor Kateshi. She’d probably know what to make of them. Though that likely meant he’d never see them again.

In the end, he tucked the box under his arm and refilled the hole before heading back to his dormitory.

The crone had only taught him the basics of cursing items, not how to identify or break them. He would need to start studying more about enchantment theory and identification spells. He sighed. His to-do list was quickly expanding.

As he rounded a corner into another courtyard, he almost walked straight through Professor Grove. She hovered in place, as if studying him. Her light cast a blue tint over the small courtyard, giving the plants an ethereal aura.

“Kaga Kizu?” she asked after a moment. Hesitantly, as though she thought she might be talking to herself.

“Yes,” Kizu admitted.

“What brings you out beneath the stars?” She sounded almost relieved.

“I couldn’t sleep.” Not a lie. But not an actual answer, either.

“Students should remain in their dormitories while the moon is out. I understand the urge to be out beneath the stars better than anyone, but there’s a reason why the curfew is in place for students. While the academy is a safe haven to mages, it still isn’t a place for recklessness. Dangerous creatures lurk about this time of night. I will escort you back to your chambers.”

The wisp bobbed, then began to guide Kizu back to his room. She never asked about the box under his arm, and he wondered how she managed to perceive the world without physical eyes to guide her. Could she even see the muddy box? Then again, she seemed to see other non living things like walls and stairs just fine as she guided him.

Thankfully, it wasn’t a silent escort back to his chambers. Professor Grove filled the empty night with chatter about the different constellations out that night, and Kizu told her about the names the crone had used to describe them. That more than piqued her interest. She asked him about the correlations and what the witches believed in. By the time they reached his dorm’s painting, Kizu was chatting more than she was.

“Remember not to go out late after dark in the future,” she said to him. “You never know what might surprise you.”

With those words, she left him alone in the hall, holding his new box.

Once back in his dorm, he stashed the box under his bed just as an irritated Mort pounced on his head. He bit the top of his ear hard enough that Kizu worried he’d have a new undesired piercing to add to his collection.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” he apologized as Mort yanked on his hair. “Agh! I’ve got food. But you’ll need to climb off my head for it.”

Mort compromised, perching on his shoulder as he snacked on an orange slice Kizu had acquired at lunch. Juice soaked through Kizu’s shirt’s collar. He paid it no mind as he opened his library book back up and resumed his divination sketches.

Still, in his peripheral vision, the corner of the box poked out from under his bed. He fought against the curiosity to examine his new prizes. Instead, he pushed it further under the bed with his foot and turned to the next page.