- No!
The boy screams, but he does not know why.
‘What is this? Where am I? WHO am I?’ he thinks to himself.
- James!
He hears the voice of another.
- James? Something the matter? We do not have time to sit around, you should know that.
The words come from another boy, slightly younger, with a pale complexion, white hair and pale blue eyes. He wears a white shirt, black pants and nice shoes.
- Who are you?! - he asks, with a dazzled expression on his face
- Alexander du Blanc, naturally. James what has happened to you here exactly? - he responds to the confused boy
‘James, my name’s James… it must be. But the good question really is, what DID happen to me?’
He worries more and more. He looks down and sees that he’s dressed in a black T-shirt, blue jeans and boots, clearly a less formal approach than his colleague. He has slightly short, messy dark brown hair and brown eyes. His complexion is definitely not as pale as the other boys, but not far either.
- Cat got your tongue Reeves? If this test is shaking you up this bad perhaps you are not fit to become master. - Alexander says in a smug tone, but jokingly at the same time
‘Test? Is that why I lost my memory? Is this all a test?’
- Test? Listen, Alexander, something tells me I should be sincere with you on this one, so here goes: I have no idea who I am or why I’m here. - James offers his thoughts
- …
Alexander is speechless for a moment, and then:
- James, look around you. What do you see? - Alexander asks
- I see a square room of stone, hieroglyphs carved into the walls, and… weird lighting pulsing from them and the lines between… is that circuitry? - James asks
- Unlikely, we are in the Halls of Being. It has to be magic. I do have another question though, what was the room before? - Alexander follows up
- Before? I just… don’t remember anything before you called to me. - James responds in a disappointed tone
- I ask you this because I have made a considerable observation. I have walked these corridors you see behind me for hours, and there is no doubt about it, these rooms?
They can completely recreate scenes from your past. And not only that, they can become larger or smaller according to your memory.
- What?! Is that possible? - James asks bewildered
- You clearly do not remember anything. We are acolytes of the Magi Order, on our last test that shall decide whether or not we are fit to seek becoming masters.
We were not told much about the Halls of Being though, I shall concede that to you.
The three of us were summoned inside the halls using a powerful spell. Since then, we were separated.
Truthfully, I cannot tell how much time each of us spent since we got here first. - he states everything calmly to James
- Wait a second, three? - James asks in response
- Cassandra? Cassandra Galanis? Thought maybe you would remember her, you have known her longer than me after all. - Alexander puts his hand on his chin in thought
- No. I’m guessing you didn’t come by her then. - James looks around, seeing Alexander alone
- Well, it would seem you did not lose your power of observation. - Alexander replies
Whatever, let us be on our way, I shall become master whatever it takes. - Alexander continues
Du Blanc turns around and walks out of the room, James following him out of instinct.
‘This guy is younger, shorter, and he’s got an attitude? Are we really friends?’ James thinks to himself.
They walk by a room that seems like a small, vintage studio apartment with not much, but a bed, a desk and a chair. It overlooks a city at night.
- So, what were you doing here, Reeves? - Alexander asks
- What? I don’t remember ever seeing this room, even with it right before my eyes, it looks unfamiliar. - James replies
- Hmm, perhaps your memory will take longer to come back, this might get annoying fast. - Alexander says
James almost starts to get annoyed at Alexanders remarks, but he can deduce the pressure of the situation they are in, so he stays calm and understanding.
They walk for a couple of minutes, through the Halls of Being, with their stone corridors dimply lit by the almost futuristic looking, but magic lights that emanate from the carvings inside them. James starts to feel like he might get his memory back, feeling fragments, but before he grasps anything of substance they reach a room.
Before their eyes lay an entire view of mountains, a Mediterranean countryside, with green foliage with stone edges from beyond which you can see other islands and especially the sea.
- Cassandra? - Alexander asks
A woman about James’s age is overlooking the view, standing still for several seconds since they entered. She has brown, wavy hair, tan skin and green eyes wearing a white blouse, brown pants and knee-high boots with short heels. She wipes away a tear as she turns back to them from the edge of a cliff-
- Hey guys! I’m so happy you could find me here! - she exclaims
Both of the boys pick up on that little detail and Alexander asks
- Are you alright? Because if something happened to you, I understand, James here is dealing with something serious himself. - Alexander says
- What? No, I’m just enjoying the view. - Cassandra replies quickly
But what’s wrong with Jim? Are you okay?
Cassandra turns to James with a worried look, but she sees nothing wrong.
- I’ve lost my memory it seems… - James says disheartened
Cassandra stops for a second and starts to concentrate. She closes her eyes and after a few moments says
- I don’t feel any arcane residue on you Jim, I don’t think it’s the effect of a spell, this could be serious. What do you think Lex? - she asks as she turns to Alexander
‘Lex? Jim? Does she have trouble with normal names or something?’
- Whatever it is we need to get out of here regardless. This memory of yours is beautiful Cassandra, but I do not do well in the heat. - Alexander replies to her in a serious tone
- Looks nice though, where is this? - James inquires curiously
- This is the countryside somewhere in Greece. I grew up not far from here. - Cassandra replies
- Why this memory? - Alexander asks placing his hand on his chin and looking at the view
- How should I know why? But this is where me and my family took a trip, and that’s why I’m happy that you guys get to be here and share in one of my happy moments before all of the Order stuff. - she replies
I’ve missed this, even though Costa Estrella isn’t bad herself.
- I still much prefer the stone walls of Fort Rey. - says Alexander
James thinks about their conversation and things start to come back. Costa Estrella, the town closest to Fort Rey, which is in turn the place where they have their acolyte quarters.
Fort Rey was a fort that was used by anti-mage soldiers hundreds of years back. After the decline of the mage domination, forts like these were turned into places used by the Order to house Acolytes during their training years.
- We should move on, if this room is a happy memory maybe it’s purpose is to keep us here and waste time. - Alexander states
- Yeah, I’ve had enough of my memories for the time being. - Cassandra replies
Oh… sorry Jimmy, that came out wrong!
- No problem, I think it’s all starting to come back to me anyway. - James replies unbothered
The trio press on, walking the Halls of Being. As they walk they hear a humming coming from a room. As they approach they see a strong white, emanating glow coming from the room. As they come upon the entrance of the room they see it: an imposing nothingness.
The room gives off a fairly small look compared to the fact that it has no perceivable edges, corners or even walls. It’s just a cold, white glow with a very slight hint of blue.
- This can’t be a memory… - Cassandra thinks out loud
But at that moment Alexander steps forward into the room:
- I do not know what this is, but something feels familiar…
As he steps deeper into the room his shoes tap the floor that can’t be seen and it sounds like stepping on a glass bridge.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
After a brief moment Alexander drops to the floor, kneeling, he grips his fists tight trying to fight it, but he cannot move. Bolts of lightning start to shoot across the room, almost as if they are generated from the boy.
- Lex! Lex please come out! - Cassandra yells for him
James looks at her, seeing her terrified and worried look.
There’s only one reaction his instincts tell him: jump in and take him out, there’s no point in hoping, action is needed.
James runs in but as he steps in the ice cold room he is reminded of Alexanders powers: he is a prodigy of both ice and lightning magic. Having a sorcerer’s affinity for both elements makes him dangerously formidable. The du Blancs are revered for their ice magic, and Lex had hit the lottery by having one of the rarest elemental affinities added to that: lightning.
James starts to march towards Alexander in the room that started to feel like -200 degrees Celsius. He grabs him and starts to pick him up, but he gets hit by the energy circulating around Alexander’s body. Thousands of Volts pulsate through James’s body shocking him with what would usually be lethal force every moment.
Gritting his teeth and with a determine look, James throws Alexander out of the room.
With Alexander out, the room reverts back to the stone structure, similar to what James remember his room having been when Alexander found him.
Cassandra kneels to check on Alexander “He’s alive…!” she exclaims in a relieved tone full of emotion. James comes out of the room and thinks to himself ‘I don’t know which is the bigger revelation, that she clearly has feelings for him, or that somehow I can walk and feel only a little sore after what I just went through… Although maybe what I did was not unusual for me considering she’s not reacting to it.`
- James, are you ok? - Cassandra asks
‘Ah, there it is’ he thinks to himself.
- Yeah, I do feel just a little bit hurt though. Still, looks like I’m more shocked than you, pun intended.
- Not funny, we can’t be making jokes like these now, clearly these rooms can hurt us in more ways than one. And after all, you may not remember it, but you were always a tough nut to crack. I don’t remember ever seeing you really hurt. - she explains her points while still being worried
- Reeves, thank you. - Alexander wakes up
- Hey, what happened to you in there?! - Cassandra asks him
- I… do not know. I felt a cold embrace, then I remember flashes of bright light, and a feeling like something metallic was drilling into my skull. All of what I am was slowly becoming terror and pain. I am sorry that I burdened you two with this. - he responds in a disappointed voice
- It’s fine. We’re fine. Let’s just get out of here, I need to remember who I am. - James responds in a calm, yet hasted manner
‘At this point I’d like to know WHAT I am. All acolytes cannot possibly be this strong, right? At first I remembered what a powerhouse Lex is supposed to be, but now I’m curious about myself…’
- Guys! I feel something! - Cassandra shouts surprised
I think it could be our way forward, follow me!
‘Hmm. What do I remember about Cassandra Galanis? Now that I think about it I remember her having an extremely high sensitivity for arcane energy. This explains why she feels something now, but me and Lex are clueless. And it explains her checking for spell “residue” on me’
The three start running through the halls until they take one turn and at the very end of this longer corridor the walls simply start to fragment into shards akin to those of glass, reflecting the bright light of the area that resides on the other side. But in the middle sits a large circular pattern with other geometric shapes and glyphs that emanate from it with a bright purple light with hints of blue.
- That’s an arcane seal! It seems like it could be sealing off the actual exit! With that amount of energy it won’t be easy to take down. - Cassandra says
Alexander raises his hand and around it blue esoteric circles start to rotate while creating a visible drop in temperature around it, James raises his hand as to get ready to do whatever is necessary to take the seal down himself.
Cassandra turns around and as he sees them she says:
- Hey! No! That is NOT what I meant. - she waves her hands down to signal them to drop their idea
The two of them look at each other and nod, dropping their hands down by their sides.
- Hmph! What is it going to take then? - Alexander asks
- Patience. - she replies
- Damn. - James responds almost like a reflex
Cassandra realizes neither of the boys understand what she means so she gets ready to explain.
- I need to unbind the arcane energy used to create the seal. A pure arcane energy spell like this requires immense amounts of energy, and as you should know it’s incredibly hard to create pure arcane spells to begin with. And to add to that arcane has never been manipulated freely compared to using elements to give it shape. There, that was your lesson. - Cassandra stops explaining assuming they understood
‘Uh-huh. So I guess that means having a sorcerer’s affinity for something would mean you can manipulate the unused arcane energy around you and give it the shape of that element. Which would mean you don’t have to use a spell. Lex must have been like an overloaded arcane battery in that room in this case.’
- Guys, do I have a sorcerer’s affinity? - James asks almost ready to be disappointed
Alexander and Cassandra look at each other and then back at him.
- You know, I don’t have an affinity myself. - Cassandra replies
- You seem to have an affinity for arcane… that almost sounds better. - James says disheartened
Alexander walks away and stands against the nearest wall, looking away, almost annoyed at the question.
- What’s with him? - James asks Cassandra, almost whispering
- Well, I would guess he’s pissed at you. - she responds at the same volume
- What, why?
- You know Jim, you may not have an affinity, but you always pick up spells and techniques faster than us, unless we’re talking about our specialties, but even then you are not far behind. - Cassandra answers
Master Nero is really proud of you for that, I guess Lex just wants to be the strongest too much.
‘Master Nero, I remember now… He’d get new spell books just for the sake of it to see just how fast I’d learn.’
- Guess we’ll let you do your thing, I’ll go find a spot to sit and think to myself. - James tells Cassandra hinting that Alexander already started doing so
- Don’t get your hopes down now guys, we’re close, I can feel it. - Cassandra tries to get them to lighten up
And then she walks up to the seal, sits down, raises her hands and starts waving them around slower and slower, closing her eyes and then bringing her hands close to her head.
‘Guess I’ll let her focus as she mentally hacks away at that thing, it’s probably beyond my understanding anyway.’
James starts to walk back, ignoring the adjacent rooms in the corridor, but at a certain point something catches his attention in his peripheral vision. When he steps back and double checks the room seems normal.
‘I could’ve sworn I saw something just there, but now it looks like a small, studio apartment overlooking a city at night. A bed, a desk and a chair… a pretty dim light. Seems like a boring memory, I wonder whose it is?… wait a minute, it’s the same memory from before!’
- Guys! I got it! - Cassandra shouts with excitement
But it’s trying to close back! You have to hurry!
She’s on her feet now, almost trying to physically hold the swirling runes caused by the spell apart so that the way forward is open. Blasts of energy shoot out from the sides, they don’t have much time.
Alexander was closer, he looks back once to make sure James is coming and then leaps out.
James starts to run towards the exit, but for a split second… the room changes again!
When he does a double take he sees a pitch black room, with nothing but a pendulum, or at least a metallic object that was swinging left and right.
James stops in his tracks, his body ready to run forward, but his head stuck at what he was seeing. His pupils start to dilate, he feels his memory coming back, but Cassandra yells:
- What are you doing? We’re both going to be stuck here if you don’t hurry!
He senses the urgency, this test matters in enormous ways to them, maybe even to him if he could remember. He blinks once the room reverts back to the cranky industrial apartment he saw before, and now he sprints toward the exit. He almost hesitates when he jumps out, but he does it.
Bright flashes of light all around him, he finds himself summoned out of the Halls and in their underground entrance quarters where he assumes he had entered them initially.
‘Bleak stone walls, but torches, not bright glyphs to make the light. At least it looks like we are out.’
He looks around and he sees that Cassandra has arrived at almost the same time as him, and Alexander seems to have just gotten there himself.
- We are not alone. - Alexander tells them tilting his head toward a veiled figure in the middle of the room
The figure is wearing dark blue clothes covering all of their body. Most of the garments have thin gold runes engraved along the seams.
- You have made it out of the Halls of Being on your own. You have passed the test. You are now able to embark on your journey to becoming masters…
The figure speaks in a slightly condescending tone, approaching the trio.
- … but there are other ways acolytes can help the world.
As the figure approaches Cassandra and Alexander recognize her for who she is: Head Priestess Eyana of The Church of Arcane!
- Dedicate yourselves to the Church of Arcane! The One, the True Arcane!
‘What the-‘
Before James can finish his thought they hear the echoes of footsteps on the stairs.
They can see boots, jeans, a black trench coat covering a white shirt that could use some ironing-
- Oi, priestess! Bugger off would ya? These kids are taken!
The faces of three brighten up,
‘There’s no doubt about it now that I see this man…’
- Master Nero! - Cassandra and Alexander exclaim with smiles on their faces
A man that looks in his mid 30’s, with unkempt medium length black hair, tired dark brown eyes and a stubble approaches them.
Although a faint, thin veil covers Eyana’s face there is a visible frustration generated by Nero’s presence. Her anger switches into a stance of forced respect.
- Not everyone needs to become a master, certainly not everyone has what it takes, master Nero. You know that well. Serving a noble purpose is much better than risking your life and risking the lives of the ones around you! The True Arcane will help those-
- Oi, I said go bark somewhere else! - Nero doesn’t let her finish
- Such insolence! The Archons endorse the Church of Arcane, you should show respect to the head priestess! - Eyana is losing her temper
Nero raises his hand, and as Eyana almost starts to change her expression into a look of disbelief which would turn to horror, Nero simply waves her away in the direction of the exit.
She squints at him, getting even angrier, and then she simply leaves.
- Phew, that was something weren’t it then? - Nero makes light of the tension that has come to pass
- Master, what is our next step? - Alexander asks
- Patience Lex, tonight you all rest. I will explain everything you have to do tomorrow.
First, we get back to Fort Rey and celebrate! You with some sleep, and me with a vintage bottle of Irish. - Nero smirks and lets himself feel relief
- Master Nero, is it a bad time to mention Jim lost his memories? - Cassandra tells Nero
Nero looks at him with a surprised look and inquires,
- James, my boy, is that true?
‘This man, a British man with a love for Irish whiskey. But there’s no doubt about it, it’s Master Nero. He looks unapproachable, close to being in a dangerous way, but actually more like he just spells trouble, maybe in a more fun way.
I have a deep, unmistakable respect for this man, almost like I owe him my life, maybe I do?’
- Yeah… but for a while everything has been coming back to me, and the more familiar faces I see the more I recover. - James replies
- Alright… Now, The Halls of Being are known to mess with the heads of those who enter. I’m just glad all of you got out. Now let us be on our merry way out of here. If you thought this meant the end of your journey, you’re bloody wrong, the hardest part begins!
The three of them look at each other with questions in their minds.
- I was under the impression that we have to mobilize towards The Grand Citadel and request an Archons approval and we would become masters. - Alexander states feeling misdirected
- Right. Except The Grand Citadel is located in the Aetheria Elysium, which as you should know, ain’t easy to enter unless you are a master. - Nero answers and continues-
And to add to that, once an Archon has interest in you, they will probably require a lot out of you to allow you the rank of master. Which in fairness ain’t so bad, many times it means going through their special training, making you stronger! At worse, you become a personal pet for a while. - he continues, making light of that last mention, chuckling-
So, you told me you wanted to become masters of the arcane, are you ready?
- Born ready, no matter the cost. - Alexander answers hastily and full of determination
- Yes, it’s my calling. - Cassandra follows
- … - James sits silent for a moment, deep in thought
‘I remember what happened in that room now, before I lost my memory… Everything is becoming clearer, I will see this through!’
- James, my boy? - Nero asks
- Yeah, I will finish this! - James replies full of conviction