Chapter 3
It was a long four day where Mason taught me about the world around me, I still couldn’t believe what he told me about spaceships and advanced technology, using mana and the cores that form in Manabeasts to get around the power requirements that plagued the scientists in my time. I was also pleased to find out I could scrape by in the Academy without knowing everything because students wouldn’t be asked questions about history or such, that was all learnt in Primary and Middle school. There would be advanced classes for some Magic based jobs at the Academy but mostly it was only about learning control and growing your power.
I was in a carriage, pulled by a large Manabeast Horse, apparently it was a sign of status in this day and age, between the guards and multiple carriages it was accompanied by an almost parade-like atmosphere. I studied the street through the window, the world looked almost the same to me, London was an old city two hundred years ago but I also wasn’t really all that familiar with the city in the first place.
I was quite pleased with everything around, using magic instead of mechanical meant all the appliances etc were very streamlined. I saw a cafe where a plate appeared to float out to a table all by itself, an argument between two people where actual sparks were flying between them and finally a man putting out a fire by conjuring water from thin air.
I turned back to Mason sitting next to me before asking,
“So run me through the different elements again.”
He sighed, this wasn’t the first time I had asked in the past week,
“Fine, but this is the last time since we are going to find out your affinities soon. You have the primary four, otherwise known as the most commonly found, Fire, Water, Earth and Air. Slightly rarer but not altogether uncommon are Nature, Metal, Lightning, Ice and Poison.” Mason started.
“I still don’t know how you guys aren’t freaked out by Poison affinity.” I interrupted.
“Because people using Poison can take out dangerous Manabeasts without having to actively fight them. It may fall under the uncommon bracket but many think the same as you and ignore it as an element. Can I continue now?” Mason snapped back.
I nodded in response and Mason continued.
“Ok and finally the Rare Affinities are Psychic, Light, Dark, Beast, Void and Space.”
“What is the difference between Void and Space when it comes to teleporting or jumping ships? I remember your Aunt telling me about it in passing.” I asked something I had been curious about for a while.
“In normal magic, Void is the antithesis of other elements, most Mana barriers are enchanted using Void mana. Space is pretty much useless in a straight up fight, it’s mostly a pilot or crafter magic. The major difference you are asking is when it comes to teleporting in space. Void sort of folds space around the ship to teleport it, apparently there is a limit to how far they can go per teleport but can use the magic more frequently. Space on the other hand links two places together, creating a gate between the two locations, it can go further per teleport but takes more mana.” Mason explained.
“Wow, that’s hectic. I’m not sure which I would prefer if I was lucky enough to get one of them.” I answered as I felt the carriage slow down.
“Personally I’d prefer Space, purely for the convenience of being able to teleport easier on Terra. Did I forget to mention Void can only teleport in outer space.” Mason laughed as he got out of the carriage.
I followed him to find myself in front of one of the last places I expected, Westminster Cathedral. The whole area had been walled off by the Royal Guard, my friends in the Dragon like armour, preventing any of the civilians in.
I followed Essie and Mason, across the plaza and inside the Cathedral. My eyes widened as I saw that nothing was the same inside anymore. The building looked like it had pretty much been hollowed out, a huge open area spread in front of us, which had clearly been cleared out recently and rapidly, evidenced by the fact there was actually rubbish spilt on the ground near us.
There were fifteen doorways spread down the walls, each of which had a small symbol representing each of the elements above them. What took up the most room was a giant altar in the middle of the building. There was a circle surrounding the altar that had been separated into fifteen smaller segments, each one representing an element.
A small figure, covered in a shimmer of light and darkness undulating over his skin approached us. I was fascinated by the effect, it was the light was endlessly being produced while the Darkness would be forever trying to snuff the Light out, it reminded me of something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
I assumed he was the ArchBishop that I was told we would meet, no one knew his name as apparently he had given it up in service to the God that had shown himself to the clergy of all religions alongside the influx of mana. Unfortunately noone would tell me anything about this supposed God, so I haven’t been able to compare him to any of the religions I remember.
Speaking of Gods, apparently that God was ony worshipped by those that served as the clergy and hardcore religious people, most people only prayed or gave offerings to the beings that represented their particular elements. I would have to look into it at another time, at the moment I was too excited to find out what my elements were going to be.
A voice that resonated deep in my chest came from the Archbishop.
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“Is this the child that you would have me awaken today?” he asked.
Essie stepped forwards as Mason dropped behind me.
“Yes father, he is an oldworlder that was propelled forward in time by the unleashing of Mana into our world,” she said, much to my surprise.
For a moment a deep feeling of betrayal burned through me. His chuckle wiped that away in an instant.
“I know exactly who Cain Prometheus Herondale is, my child, a boy propelled through time by the coming of our God companion Hecate. She who would be the herald of the return of Magic, it was but a side effect but there is a place for him in this time.” the voice intoned.
“Hecate? Were the greeks myths right? Are they the representatives of the Elements?” I asked, shocked at hearing a familiar name.
“Yes and no dear boy, it is true that some of the myths were based on the powerful beings that were locked out of our universe. They are merely the children of the true Creator, he whose name must not be spoken, lest his full attention is turned toward this universe, beware this eventuality as our universe could not bear the weight of even his attention.” the Archbishop intoned as if it was almost a prophecy.
“Never mind that information, I will tell you more about your patrons after we find your affinities. Come with me to the Altar, you two can stay over there,” he ordered me while pointing off to the side to Essie and Mason.
I followed the Archbishop towards the grand altar at the centre of the room, the closer I walked the more I felt like there was a weight settling around my shoulders, the weight of a choice, the weight of change, of mystery, danger. I slowed but didn’t stop, I found myself considering not taking this chance, I could just be a normal kid again, go to a normal school and eventually find an office job.
As soon as I touched the altar, those thoughts and feelings disappeared from my mind like steam rising from a kettle.
“That was a harder test than I have seen in a long while, I expect much from one named after the murderer and the fire giver.” the voice next to me whispered.
I looked at the person I was rapidly believing wasn’t even human, he might have started as one but there was very little emotion in his voice but his voice could stir emotion in me. I blinked and found myself lying on top of the Altar unable to move.
“I know not what you will see, the experience is unique to every person. All I can tell you in trust in your name and heart,” he said.
I was instantly wary when he said to trust in my name, I didn’t like the connotations that my first name brought up in heavily religious people. Named after the first murderer, the one who was jealous of his brother...My mother was interested in mythology from all religions, after all, she is named after the goddess of the moon after all, was more interested in what happened after the “great sin”, the followers and family of Cain became fierce protectors of family, they would avenge wrongs done to those close to them. I believe this is why she picked my first name.
My middle name is from the Titan who created humanity from clay, in other stories he stole fire from the other Gods for humankind. The same myths and religion that appeared held some fact to them if what is being said holds true. I wonder if that means fire will be one of my affinities.
The Archbishop started chanting in a language I didn’t know, I could barely understand the words but I felt like I was starting to fall.
I closed my eyes for a moment and jerked up once the sound of chanting disappeared. I looked around and saw that I was no longer in the Church.
Blackness, all around me. I couldn’t see anything through it. I didn’t know what to do, or where to go. I was confused, I expected to find something here, now I was struggling to find what that thing was, just that I needed to find it.
Looking down, my body was still there and I could see it just fine. I spun in a circle, looking for any indication that I wasn’t alone, I thought I saw light in a few different places but the problem with darkness is, when your eyes adjust to complete darkness, sometimes you can’t even tell if the light is really there or a trick of your eyes.
I chose to move towards the point of light that was felt closer, I still couldn’t remember what I was meant to be finding. Once I took my first step towards the light, the other points of light disappeared. It seemed like I no longer had a choice of where to go.
As I approached the light, my eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness and it came into focus. It was a TV that was old even when I was born, it even had a knob on the tv to change to channel. The current channel was showing static so I tried changing it.
The first turn of the dial showed no change, but I couldn’t take my hand off the dial either. I kept turning until something other than static appeared on the screen. It was the day of the experiment, I watched myself follow my teachers into the nondescript building that was concealing the machinery for the scientists, and my fathers, experiment. Seeing random days like this was something I had done many times across my life as my father would take me to work with him.
Everyone looked so excited and were staring at the box in the centre of the room, I looked around instead, barely paying attention to what was actually happening.
Suddenly, there was shouting coming from every direction, everyone panicking, I turned back to the box just in time to see it explode, a mist-like shockwave exploded out of the box, hitting everyone in the room. I was furthest away and watched all my classmates, the scientists and my father disappear as the mist hit them, I stared at the spot I last saw my father right until the mist hit me. I watched my body get slammed like a ragdoll, and start falling, where I expected to see my body hit the floor, it just kept falling, as if the floor wasn’t even there.
The image changed, now it was a figure wearing a cloak sneaking down a shadowed hallway. The figure kept stopping a turning its head, listening for any sound of movement. The figure pulled a goblet out from under its cloak and tapped some powder from their other hand into the goblet before entering the door they were next to.
Another change, A forest fire, cackling laughter flowed from the speakers. A man stood in the middle of the flames, his face glowing red in the darkness from the flickering of flames.
Another, Animals tearing each other apart, hungry dogs fighting for scraps out of a bin.
A man climbing up the side of a glacier.
Another, Sitting under a waterfall, the pressure beating down onto the body of a figure.
The flicker of different scenarios, places and people, constantly changing. I was only able to grasp some of the things I was seeing.
One even made me laugh as I saw a much younger me begging my father to take me to see a meteor shower.
I was finally able to let go of the dial and slumped back onto the ground, breathing heavily.
I opened my eyes again and I was back on the altar and the circle was still on the ground. Shadowy forms were appearing and disappearing all around me. I could hear muttering from them all, some whispering, some yelling but I couldn’t understand anything being said. It was like they were in a different dimension than me because none of them reacted to me, I tried to get off the altar but was rebuffed by some kind of wall around the altar.
I could see a different being come into focus standing at the top of each of the fifteen segments of the circle. They were all me with noticeable differences, their hair and eyes were different colours depending on the element.
Some of the more noticeable ones were Poison with purple hair, Void with white hair, honestly I was expecting black and Space with normal hair but eyes that looked like a night sky.
I couldn’t figure out which spoke first because of how quiet it was, but after a few iterations of the words they were all speaking together, loud enough for me to hear.
“The price of power is to reveal yourself
The cost of power is to open your soul
The consequence of power is the debt to above
The reward of power is control of self
The prize of power is strength of soul
The award of power is the love of above”
A dazzling beam of light burst from each of their chests and slammed into me from every direction, I could feel it slithering throughout my entire body riding along with my blood. It started to pool in my chest, behind my solar plexus and a core started to form.
As time went by, the flood of power diminished from some of the figures, the ones I was least compatible form most likely. First Earth dropped out, followed closely by Psychic, Light, Metal and much to my disappointment Nature.
It was a little while later that the next stopped sending power into me, in order it was Water, Air, Lightning and Space. Upon noticing that Poison was still sending me power I was a little concerned, but as soon as that thought entered my head it also stopped, along with Dark and finally Ice.
I was left with Fire, Void and Beast, instead of slowing down they seemed to be pushing more and more power into me, I could feel the elements changing my body a small amount. I wouldn’t know until I could find a full-length mirror to look into.
Suddenly all three elements stopped at the same time and I could feel my new mana core condense completely.
I blinked and found myself looking up at the room of the church again, I jumped up and turned to go back to Essie and Mason but immediately tripped slamming my face into the ground.