Winter 2045
Ally Fae
She stood amidst the crowd of chromages as the energy seemed to blossom to a tight crescendo. Her gaze was singularly focused on the man who stood in the back of the ever-shifting crowd—intermingled within the activity and energy. She could only see the top of his head over the others, but instantly she knew it was the person she had long been separated from. He had been the one she had borne a child with.
Felix.
Ryker was saying something but she was so zeroed in on Felix that whatever it was he said fell to the background and blurred—completely irrelevant to who she stared at now. For all intents and purposes it could have been the buzzing of a fly a million miles away for all it mattered to her. For all she cared he could have admitted to murder and her stare would not have been shaken. When she stepped out to meet him she felt her arm yanked back and she moved as free like water—spinning and in a fraction of a second she had Ichaival pointed at Ryker’s throat—he let go of her arm as fast as she moved. He took the meaning well, and she was aware the crowd around her had stopped to stare at the interaction. The energy behind her had frozen and stared at the singular point of the arrow of light that had been nocked in her hands. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Felix had gone from his place—she no longer spotted his mop through the top of the crowd.
“Now now, while unexpected, we do not need any sort of fighting here unless you’re training with one of our chromages. I would avoid doing this if you’re unprepared, however, regardless of your talent. You’ll find there are others with talents just as unexpected as yourself,” Ryker said, returning his hand behind him and speaking from a haughty stance.
“Don’t touch me like that,” Ally said, keeping the bow drawn. It glowed in the soft light emanating like embers fluttered to the sky. “Keep that in mind and we won’t have any undo problems, got it?”
Deep within she felt the shaky nature of her waning confidence, but she knew Jace was helping keep her stance firm and her face fierce. Ryker relented and offered a hand gesture, “Yes, very well,” was all he added.
The bow dissipated between her fingers and she felt the warmth leave as she nodded, then turned back to the crowd—who assumed their duties as if they hadn’t been interrupted. She had lost Felix in the chaos of it all and she cursed silently, and closed her eyes. Then, she returned back to Ryker and looked at him hard.
“You’ll meet up with your lost one soon enough, but that isn’t the first order of our business here, now if you’ll accompany me we’ll meet with the Exarchromage and we can move on from there,” Ryker said with a smile.
She sighed and nodded and the two paired off and walked toward the rear of the room. They passed by a few other chromages who had worn jackets of a worn leather that extended past their waists and tightened near the neck. It was an odd affair altogether and Ally was thankful she didn’t have to ditch her hooded sweater and pants for their strange ceremonial garb. It looked much too uncomfortable and unsuitable for when this area got colder. As they reached the rear, a central room bellowed out from the expanse and it led to a staircase that led downward.
“Down here is where the Exarchromage works most frequently,” Ryker took to explaining as eloquently as a beaver took to flying. “She dedicates much time to her lab as it is closest to the point from where our magic flows most freely.”
“Sounds like she’s more like a shut-in,” Ally said.
Ryker laughed, “I would not say so aloud, personally, but that is probably because I have a knack at getting under others’ skin when my words reach their ears.” There was a note of pride in his voice that was dissonant with his tone. “I’m sure coming from you it would be charming, even humorous.”
At least he recognized it. Humility does exist in this corner in the world in some form or fashion.
They trotted down the steps together at uneven intervals. Ally found as soon as she was walking in line with him she diverted to walking just a bit slower on purpose. It sent chills up her spine to even think of matching his pace down the steps. When they reached the lower level she saw the sight change to an unfamiliar metallic stretch of a lab that felt true to the most modern idea of the word. I honestly thought this would be a full on medieval magic hut with airy smoke and everything, guess I’ve learned my lesson to not assume so quickly.
At the end of the hall lay a large silver door—it looked like it had been shined to a fault and Ally could see her own reflection as she approached it. To anyone else they would have seen her eyes and wondered what hardships she endured to have that look. To Ally, she simply saw Jace overlayed her own eyes, a fact she let slide to the edge of her thoughts as Ryker stepped forward.
He held his gloved hand up in a curled fist and rasped the edge of the door thrice with some of the lightest knocks she’d ever heard. As his hand made contact with the door Ally saw that his fingertips began to glow. He turned to Ally as the tumblers began to shift. “Can’t open it without a touch of color in you, you see? This is the first step to even begin to make contact with the Exarchromage. Protection from those who may feel burned from not having color themselves.”
“Not really a good protection against those who have magic but want more, right?” Ally asked.
“No, I guess it’s not, but that would only be a problem if the Exarchromage were defenseless,” he winked and turned as the door opened.
The room opened up to a swathe of papers strewn about on desks and counter tops that lined the walls. It was the most amount of paper she’d seen in a very long time. It was like coming across an ancient national treasure. And they’re just being used...just like it was in the old days. What I wouldn’t write down if I had that level of access.
“Well now, quite the intriguing interest for someone new,” a voice called from the other side of the room. Ally looked over to see a woman with reddish hair tied up in a ponytail and wearing a long white coat. Her back was to them as she was overlooking a stack of papers laid out in front of her. “Plenty of energy and curiosity...a writer, I presume?”
The woman turned and Ally could see her face more clearly—she looked like she was in her thirties and there was a confidence behind her eyes that Ally was instantly enamored by.
The Exarchromage offered a smile and Ally felt herself staring into her hazel eyes. “It seems you’re useful sometimes, Ryker. Just when I think of why I keep you around you surprise me yet again.” She hadn’t turned to Ryker to say this—her eyes hadn’t left Ally’s stare as she said it.
“I aim to please,” Ryker had pulled himself into a bow. Ally was sure that massive smirk was plastered all over his face.
“I’m sure all broken clocks think they’re right all the time,” the Exarchromage said, a smirk forming on her own face. “You’re dismissed. I’ll take over from here.”
“Right, my fee is the same as always.” Ryker nodded and stood to attention before leaving the room. There was a noticeable lightening around her as soon as the door closed behind him and the air felt...cleaner at his leaving.
“I apologize for him being the reason you stand here today,” the Exarchromage said, a slight sorrowful look crossing her eyes. “His skill precedes him and he has a rather...electric way of getting people’s attention in finding new chromages across the world. I hate to say that his ability to peek into others’ minds is as useful as it is despicable. If I shared his talent I’d make more use of my free time covering his area...but alas, such was not my gift to share.”
Ally looked at her with a curious look, “Why are you here?” The question brought the expected confused reaction, but Ally continued forward. “I mean, I heard the story of you coming here and establishing this place up, but why? And how did you know how to do it?”
The Exarchromage studied her face for what felt like an extended period of time before answering. “You are very curious. I am happy that you’re not afraid to ask, but I am going to go over a few things first before I go into answering your questions. Please don’t think I’m pushing them off—you were brought to me for a reason and I wish to conclude that business before talking pleasantries.” She smiled and cocked her head.
Ally nodded and smiled too, “Yes, that is fine.”
“Excellent. Now if you would come over here, I’ll show you our process and we can get you registered.”
Ally walked closer to the Exarchromage and Jace faded in just beside her. “I’m glad the weirdo is gone, but I’m not sure how I like our new situation.”
“I’m going to keep on my toes,” Ally thought back to him. “Can never be too safe.”
“Watch your step, the floor is going to open up, Mind you don’t fall in when it does.”
Ally looked behind her and took an instinctive step back as from a central square in the floor a slot had opened up. It looked to be about the size of her fist, and as the slot had receded the next layer out had started to recede as well. It continued until three layers had receded back to reveal a hole now much larger and could actually pose a real threat if she were to fall in.
Then came a mechanical whirring as a spherical machine rose from the depths below.
“This is our registry,” The Exarchromage said. “It contains numerous records on our available chromages as well as a running record of their development and similarly houses the stored chroma from the Earth. Consider this the core of Achrom.”
Ally looked at the machine as the sphere inside started to glow. There looked to be a smaller sphere that had begun to spin just separate from the outer shell. Its spinning looked to be extremely hypnotic.
“It is very visually stimulating,” The Exarchromage chuckled. “Sometimes I find myself losing time to just looking at it spin—wondering at its underlying mechanics to hold all the magic within. But we should minimize that time here, now.” She swiped her hand over the surface of the sphere and a display projected itself in front of her face. She stopped and looked at Ally’s face, which had now turned from astonishment to awe. A smile appeared on the Exarchromage’s face and she looked back to the display. “More high tech than you thought a place like this would be?”
Ally was shaken out of her stupor, she blinked twice and looked to her. “Y-Yeah. I admit I thought it would have been more Dungeons and Dragons in here and less Matrix.”
Her smile remained and her eyes seemed to glow at the references, “Old work. Reminds me of the world before.” She chuckled once more and began typing on a keyboard that visualized itself before her. “Yes, this place is where magic and technology marry. Magic is insurmountable, and we can do a lot with it, but we could not reach the heights we reach for without technology. And I can’t say that the registry here hasn’t helped us out infinitely in organization and categorization of almost a thousand chromages in our ranks.”
“That sounds like a lot.” Ally said.
“It can be, but thankfully I have a lot of experience in managing important teams,” she said. “Okay, I’m going to pass this over to you, are you familiar with keyboard inputs?”
Ally nodded, “It’s been a while but I used to write a lot on keyboard before…”
The Exarchromage nodded. “I get it. Things are different now. You know, you should have the power to type, at least, if you’re strong enough for Ryker to bring you in.”
Ally looked at her, confused. “I can what now?”
“Conjuration is the most common sort of magic we have around here—it tends to flow from the color purple, hence the color of the keyboard here, but if you’re capable you should be able to conjure up something like this no problem.”
“How would that...connect?” Ally thought how to word what she had concern over.
The Exarchromage grinned, “That’s the fun of it. You just do. It comes with the act. If you so decided you could paint the walls with your words. Go on ahead and try it. You’ll feel a sort of cooling feeling—like a breeze running through your mind to your fingertips,” she motioned with her own. “Though I’d recommend you avoid defiling property that doesn’t belong to you—it’s hard to undo magic not originated from yourself.”
Ally felt an excitement well up in her stomach. “Is that true? Jace, does that sound like something I can do?”
“I hadn’t considered it,” Jace said in return. “but if you can summon me to reality I don’t see why it wouldn’t be possible.”
Ally closed her eyes and envisioned the shape in her mind’s eye—she then imagined a signal connecting with the central unit. She felt the familiar breeze—something she had historically likened to a physical sensation of relief, as that was how Jace’s presence had felt to her. She felt him fade as in front of her fingertips looked a glowing display that certainly looked like a keyboard.
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“That’s insane,” she let slip. “I had no idea I could do that.” Her hands dropped to her side and the display cut in two—hovering down in front of her on each side. “And I don’t need to be in the position…”
“If you’re reasoned enough to type without looking,” the Exarchromage said. “Though I fear that is a skill that has passed in many ways.” She smiled. “I’ll conjure up the form for you—it’s nothing too invasive, just so we have some records to work with. You can fill out as much or as little in the fields but we ask you fill out all the fields noted as required. It helps us help those that are here.”
Ally saw there was quite a lot of information that was being asked for. There was the obvious surface level information like name and biographical information, but then there were categories that were more specific into different aspects of herself, followed by a description of magical abilities they possess. Ally’s gaze darted over toward the Exarchromage.
“We understand personal privacy is a right you’re fully entitled to, but we also understand secrets of power rarely end well for both parties,” the Exarchromage said. She swiped her hand over the machine again and her fingertips began to glow—an additional window appeared next to the form in front of Ally. “If it helps, I wouldn’t hide my information if I was asking of someone else’s.”
In front of her she saw a new form had replaced the empty one she was about to begin typing on.
Name:
Sarah Newman
Height:
5’7”
Age:
32
Weight:
170 lbs
Rank:
Exarchromage
Abilities:
Yellow [Telekinesis, Aetherkinesis]
Purple [Conjuration, Arcane Sensitivity (High)]
Blue [Somnus Sight, Postcognition]
Red [Aetheric Conduit]
Green [Absorption]
“A lot of this...is a bit out of my usual language,” Ally said. “And...Sarah is a pretty name.”
Sarah smiled. “Thank you, I tend to keep it out of my own mouth unless I need to speak it. I find people don’t take me as seriously if they know me as anything else other than the Exarchromage.”
Ally nodded, “I get it, I can continue to call you such if that’s what you prefer.”
She laughed, “I think you do understand my plight well. I don’t mind you using my other name. But I can explain a few of those entries there to clarify—with the registry it became imperative we use shortened keywords to describe the different kind of abilities one can manifest as to keep things as organized as possible, as writing down entire backstories of how the powers manifested—while possible, isn’t a required field, I hope for obvious reasons.”
“It’d push people away and others who loved to write about themselves would fill your storage space in minutes,” Ally guessed.
“Correct,” Sarah nodded. “So, I am going to assume you understand telekinesis.” Ally nodded, and Sarah then continued. “Excellent. Somnus Sight is an ability I use while my conscious mind is asleep. I foresee potential futures based on actions taken and receive visions of events that have a chance to come. There is also the ability to connect with other somnus sensitive in their dreams, although it has been quite a while since we’ve had another somnus sensitive around these parts, so largely the former is what is most relevant.”
“Prophetic dreams,” Ally said. “I think I read a story about that when I was younger. Fragments are lost to me on it if you’ll forgive me the chance to give a recommendation.”
Sarah studied Ally’s face and seemed eerily quiet. After a few seconds she nodded and continued as if the silence hadn’t happened. “The others are simpler to explain. Absorption sounds monstrous, but it merely is the ability to absorb magical energy from living force. It’s how this whole place began—it’s how we siphon magic from the earth itself and convert it into usable force outside of personal ability.”
“Living force implies more than the earth, though,” Ally said.
Sarah smiled a small look and nodded curtly, “Yes. I don’t make a public showing of it, but there have been situations where those with abilities like ours have threatened the safety of the guild and its people. We don’t like to take life if we can avoid it at all costs, but if we can cripple the threat of those who may do us harm, then yes I am capable of stealing their magic and putting it to more positive use. I try to make myself available publicly to not have this be seen as a threat against the people who work here. Nobody wins if fear is the motivator, after all.”
Ally nodded, but it would be a lie to say that it at all reduced the amount of concern over such a power like that.
“Next up is Arcane sensitivity, this should be obvious, but the listing is set to High because of the limits of my abilities stretch deeper than most around here. Given my rank as Exarchromage it only makes sense. This is not something you will list yourself—we have a separate test for that so when you begin to fill out the form you will not select that option—it will be retroactively applied to your form based on the results of the secondary test—and that’s the last test of the registry I promise this whole process isn’t painful.”
Ally looked to Sarah and could feel the earnest desire to not overwhelm her in her voice. “I get it. It’s not as if I have a full scope of my own talents as I’m still learning more under the surface every day.”
“I knew you’d understand,” Sarah said. “Aetherkinesis is similar to Telekinesis—kinesis just being the movement or physical manipulation of some force or object.”
“So, movement of aether?”
“Yes, aether is a way to describe the energy that makes up physical being. Energy of the earth, air, and other elements. This could be similarly known as the physical control over the elements—whatever we may have at our disposal.” She looked from the left to the right. “In a sterile environment like this there isn’t much available for me to demonstrate, but if we were up back on the surface I could manipulate the winds to blow back an opponent, manipulate fire to set aflame to a fire pit, or much anything else I put my mind to.”
“That sounds incredibly useful,” Ally said.
“It is, and it’s also been very helpful in showing pompous fools they’re in over their head when they try to vye for my position here,” she let loose another smile.
“I can bet,” Ally said, nodding.
“There is more to aetherial magic,” she began. “The theorist in me likens this to similarity with my somnus sight, as the two frequently bleed into one another, but this is an aetherial space manipulation magic.” She raised her hand and her fingertips glowed a bright blue color—the space around the two of them spilled into a starry background and blues and oranges of opposing might mixed below them.
“We’re not physically in the cosmos as you see it now, but what you see is the space outside of our physical domain as it is, live. And this,” she raised her other arm and the fingertips on that hand glowed a muted green color. “...is the way of our time, currently.” A burning comet trail became visible and from the tail of the comet she saw several nudges and offshoots. The head of the comet was a burning bright white that kept moving forward across the space.
“The way of our time?” Ally asked.
“It’s a physical manifestation of the progression of time moving forward. Those offshoots are historically significant periods of time where alternate paths may have been created—at least, that was back in the old world. Notice how none of the recent time here has any of those branches.”
Sarah was right, there was a noticeable shift in how neat the tail looked—and she could pick out the time that the world had changed over—it was a very clean cut.
“I cannot interact with the cosmos here through this sight, but sometimes when I am granted sight of possible future events I can see the after effects play out on the timeline. So, I take that into account of which missions I assign the guild and attempt in keeping things moving forward as intended.”
“I see…” Ally said. “And what sort of things would those entail?”
Sarah smiled, “It depends. I don’t seek enslavement of the human race or decimation of the achromatic if that’s what that question is meant to imply. I simply monitor for threats that would bring catastrophic consequences to the world we now inhabit and actively try to protect against those consequences.”
Ally nodded, “I’m sorry for implying otherwise. It sounds like a very honorable thing you do here, and I’m sure the people here appreciate the work and the ability to feel like they’re contributing to something larger. I’m just wary of those with power due to personal history.”
“I understand,” Sarah said, and she had kept it short. “Conjuration we’ve gone over, the act of creating or giving physical form to matter from within your own mind. I’ve a feeling you have experience with this one.”
Ally nodded. She knew this was how she was able to summon Jace into having a corporeal body—and likened that similar magic was used because of her pact with Leptous to conjure Ichaival—the bow she had poorly revealed to everyone above in her haste.
“And then Arcane Sensitivity—this is just the natural proclivity to magical ability—those who are more sensitive to magic are more capable to performing wider feats and acts. Most of our chromages here have at least a low sensitivity, while a large majority of them show a moderate sensitivity, and thus, a moderate amount of magical capability.”
“What of the Archromages?” Ally asked.
“They are those who are like myself—they have a higher than average sensitivity and thus a higher than average capability with magic. In my experience thus far they are all people who have had experience with magic since before the world turned over, giving them more time to come to grips with the powers they have on display.”
That would make sense for Ryker’s situation, but it only made her more curious about who the other Archromages were and what kind of powers they had available. She then immediately thought of those that she knew who had magical abilities back in the old world—both Lilly and Ashley who—like her could affect the world around them. Though she knew of course that both of them were dead—so there was no chance either of them were in a position like that, but the fact that there were two other people like that at her old school had concerned her just how many people like that existed in the old world—and how many were left nowadays.
She then wondered if any of the others had forged pacts with the Elemantics like she had—if there was ever a title who could benefit from such a magical power boost, the Exarchromage would be her first guess.
This wasn’t lost on Ally as she began typing. “I hope there’s no misunderstanding for my reason for being here. I am interested in the community you’ve built up, but my primary purpose for registering with you is twofold. One is to reconnect with one of your own here I have not seen in a very long time, and second is to investigate the disappearance of a few colleagues of mine.”
“I admit I am a little disappointed, an energy like yours is something I value,” Sarah said. Ally couldn’t help but think Sarah was looking at her more analytically now, and she was wary of how she was typing on the display.
“I have goals of my own and unfortunately once I am finished with my business here I will be leaving as those goals have me on the road. I was told that registering here would be mutually beneficial, and I can see the benefit of collaborating with the guild to research the matter of the Underworld as I am completely unaware of how to proceed further with that trail.”
“I see, that’s why Ryker struck such an interest in you,” Sarah said.
“Hardly, he seemed to want to bolster his recruitment numbers it seems,” Ally said. “Although I will admit his mention of such was a key figure for me coming along.”
“Oh?” Sarah asked. “How do you mean?”
“I had believed it was going to be put up to a choice of finding my colleagues or reuniting with…” she held back as she finished typing.
“It’s an old love, isn’t it?” Sarah asked. “Forgive the intrusion, but it seems evident on your face.”
Ally nodded. “There’s complications with the matter of it, I don’t think anybody—even him—would understand the situation until I can fully explain it, but yes. I felt like if I were given the choice I would not have come here if learning more about the Underworld were not involved.”
“I understand,” Sarah said.
“Please don’t take it as anything personal,” Ally said.
Sarah shook her head, “None taken. I understand having goals that supersede personal wishes. It is a cross I carry and so I am incredibly thankful that your goals aligned to bring you here today. Let’s see what you’ve written down,” she said, swiping her hand and bringing the display back to her face.
Name:
Allison Fae
Height:
NA
Age:
NA
Weight:
NA
Rank:
Chromage
Abilities:
Telepathy
Conjuration [Purple?]
All in all it had seemed bare for how much she had typed, but in truth she had gone over and erased her answers to most of the questions several times over, and then finally decided to settle on NA for most of the key personal information, a fact that Sarah had raised an eyebrow to.
“I don’t wish to purposefully obfuscate information,” Ally said. “I simply do not know how to answer a lot of it, the height and weight are for a simple reason, the age is for a not so simple reason. And if I’m being honest I already forgot the color associations for the types of magic. Except for Conjuration, of course. I feel that one pretty frequently.”
“I see...I am curious as to what kind of reason would make your age complicated?”
“I do not wish it to become widespread information as I think it would draw more questions than I am comfortable with answering. But I am not originally from this time, I’ve crossed into this time...which is fourteen years after my own. So my age is...complicated. I do not know if I will return to the time I came from or will continue to spend my days in this age...and I’ve wondered if I should continue my age from what time my body would consider, or what society would expect of me.”
“I see...you are very interesting indeed. I don’t think I’ve experienced anyone else who has crossed through time. I would love to talk more about this at a future time, indeed. But I think you are fine to keep the information as it stands now—the information you have been unable to add is information we can add later on if need be. And do not worry about the color coordination—that is something the system will sort after registration begins its due course. Now, if you’ll come over here we’ll head to the scanner where we’ll take inventory of your chroma levels and abilities. This should be good for yourself as well—you’ll finally be able to put your self doubts to rest.”
Ally nodded and the display in front of her closed down. “Okay, let’s go.”
Sarah’s brow raised and a knowing look crossed her gaze. “So, your person of interest is one of our chromages...this tale gets even more interesting the deeper it reads.”
“His name’s Felix,” Ally said. “I had met him...well, it was more than fourteen years ago now. There was a settlement farther north called Home where we had met and spent quite a lot of time together before getting separated. I’m not sure if the settlement is even still around.”
Sarah nodded, “You take me for someone who would not normally be so open about talking about your woes. I appreciate you feeling so open here, but I would advise caution to be wary about how open you make yourself to someone you’ve just met,” Sarah said. “You don’t know what kinds of people lurk in this new world.”
Ally nodded, “Nothing I’ve said puts me in any danger, but I appreciate the advice. I’ve gotten myself out of precarious situations before and...I dunno. I figure you’re a good listener and one of the more reciprocative people I’ve come across in a long while.”
Sarah smiled, and led Ally toward the scanner. It lay at the rear of the lab and was a large cylindrical dome with a slot that opened horizontally. Sarah placed a palm on the front and her fingertips glowed a slight blue. The machine responded to her touch and the hatch slid open.
“All you’ll have to do is step in here and close your eyes. You’ll see some things that relate to your life—this happens as the machine interacts with the chroma inside you. Don’t worry about this, you’ll return to yourself immediately and we’ll have the results,” Sarah explained. “Once that’s done I’ll summon our mutual acquaintance and you can move on from there.”
“And what of the exploits in the underworld?” Ally asked.
Sarah chuckled, “Always the multitasker, it seems. Yes, I’ll have Felix bring you to Orion. He’s the head of our investigation team into that very matter.”
Ally nodded, and she agreed. “Okay, let’s get this underway, then.” She stepped inside the machine and felt a chilling cold emanating from the innards of the machine. Jace faded in beside her and she felt a slight warmth emanating from his presence.
“I think this machine uses electromagnetism to scan this chroma stuff inside your body. I wonder what the results are going to say.”
“I wonder what I’ll see…” Ally thought back.
“If anything goes wrong I’ll keep an eye on you.”
“Thank you, Jace.” She closed her eyes and felt the humming wash over her in its entirety. A flash of a similar machine thousands of years ago ran through her mind and a scream of a young child was picked out amidst all the chaos.
Who was that?