Uther really liked the Hunters’ office, he had always felt that the magical world should make use of the more mundane things to hide in plain sight. The Hunters had gotten the memo and turned it into an idea that wasn’t only viable but also profitable. He could get behind that.
“I can let myself in if you’d be nice enough to get me the meat-stuffed donuts.” The kid nodded and rushed to the kitchen to start baking it fresh. Uther took out his Magus badge and touched it to the door of the office space. When he saw Hippolyta, he couldn’t help but smile. He hadn’t recognised her from a distance but now he could see who she really was. One of his most promising, if most reluctant, students who’d passed his courses with flying colors. When Hippolyta saw Uther, she could feel a headache coming. During her years at the academy, she’d always agreed with the opinion that Uther was a genius whose knowledge outweighed some of the more … questionable things he did, but she’d also realized that if he ever got dismissed from the academy and thus no longer felt the need to follow its strict rules, he would stop at nothing to get the knowledge he craved. He was obsessive to the extreme. Luckily he didn’t have to be her problem now. She pointed at Melody and simply walked out into the kitchen to help Perseus.
Uther looked at the girl and decided to take her in, truly take her in, for the first time since the day he’d found out about her. This was to be his final student, the one he’d pass his codex onto, so he wanted to be sure. The power flowing off of her was immense, but snubbed in a way, partially due to her inability to access it, and partially because of the information barrier.
Melody had curly light-brown hair, an oval face and striking blue eyes. She had this certain way about her that projected pride and confidence. And when she looked at you, you couldn’t help but feel observed, like everything you did was a move in a game you didn’t know you were playing with rules that couldn’t be divined even by Apollo himself.
Uther didn’t know why he did it but he lowered himself until he was face to face with Melody. “Hello Melody, I hope you haven’t been treated too badly by these people?”
“You’re the history teacher …” Melody mumbled as she took another sip of her hot cocoa. She shook her head before answering. “Most of these people have been a bit dickish but Echo’s nice.” The statement was so matter-of-fact that Uther couldn’t help but laugh.
Echo eeped as Hyppolita almost growled. “Listen here you girl, we have treated you with more courtesy than is necessary, be happy …” Uther held up his hand. “No, you listen here. Today you have shown your incompetence, Dux Hyppolita.” The words were spoken with a sharpness to them that made even the stoic Hyppolita flinch. “You were aware of the protections surrounding Melody here, saw her use a weapon that is standard issue for only the oldest of hunter families, and aren’t dumb enough not to know that I live here yet you chose to wait until the last second before you rescued her from a feral ghoul, let a cadet give only the most basic of first when I know you are very much capable of healing far more potent than that, and have treated her dismissively from the moment you killed that ghoul. YOU are the one I did not come here and raze this place to the ground for the disrespect you have shown MY student.”
Hyppolita sighed, “With all due respect Magus, but even you cannot kill an entire regiment of Hunters without repercussions so I’d request you not to threaten to do something like that lest your student be caught in the crossfire.”
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Uther smiled at her. “I can tell you from experience that necromancy and full resurrection aren’t that hard to pull off, especially with fresh bodies. Do not push one as far above your station as I am.” The air seemed to change within the room, everyone save for Echo, Melody, and Uther seemed to have difficulty standing. Melody could feel the pressure coming off the old man in waves with surprise. The sensation was new, yet familiar. It somehow felt like authority given a form.
“Melody, I will only offer this to you once. Are you willing to officially become my apprentice, studying the knowledge of the magical arts until I deem you worthy or I die?” Melody was taken aback but could feel what the best course of action was. Some part of her was pulling her in the right direction, seemingly aware of the best course of action. Some part of her channeled her will into her words, infused a power into them that she’d never been able to access before. “I am.”
“Will you protect my knowledge with your life if necessary?” Uther continued. “I will.” Melody answered before collapsing to the ground as she felt a wave of that same power that had infused her words move around the room, then outside.
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As Catherine Black arrived at Defenders’ Donuts, she could feel the wave of power leave the building. Uther had taken an apprentice, had bound his codex to Melody. She was too late. Catherine cursed, this wasn’t supposed to happen. If he found out that his daughter was the apprentice of that creature … And if She noticed, Catherine didn’t want to think what would happen if She noticed. She might simply be amused, or she might attempt to disrupt the Weave to the point that the world could barely hold itself together.
Catherine shook her head, She wasn’t on this world right now, and wouldn’t start showing interest in Melody until she awakened to her magic. She nearly tried to call the only person she knew of powerful enough to stop the carnage that those two could cause but stopped herself. Catherine had promised him that she’d let him be until he was well and truly back so that was out of the question.
She knew there was only one thing she could do. She sighed as she resolved herself. Tomorrow, she was going to meet with her siblings.
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Uther left the building with Melody in tow. “Okay teach, you’re going to need to explain to me how this entire arrangement is going to work. What do I do, what do you get out of it, etcetera.” Uther unlocked his car and motioned for her to get in.
“That stuff can be worked out tomorrow. Just meet me during lunch and I’ll explain the responsibilities you’ve just taken up, what you’re going to be taught first and so on.”
Melody nodded, she was getting tired and getting rest before she started delving into the arcane seemed prudent. “What about what happened in there? You called me your student but only offered after the claim.”
“Basic Wizard law, prospective students who are being counted still gain the rights they would have if they actually were fully accepted students. And Hyppolita definitely fucked up either way. If I hadn’t come to get you, someone else or something else would have. And I promise you, that would have gone worse than me bickering with one of my old students.”
Melody raised her eyebrows at him, “Didn’t you threaten to kill them all and then bring them back with necromancy? You call that bickering?”
“Details.” Uther answered. They drove the rest of the way to Melody’s house, she didn’t question him knowing since he had clearly been keeping an eye on her. Unbeknownst to her he slipped a small pendant into her bag before she left.