Tales of magic: grimoire of transmorfigration

Chapter 2

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Opening Arc- "Crow and Quill"

Chapter 2 - "Descent into insanity"

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There is a void beyond the depths of human understanding.

A chasm of ignorance. An empty well of oblivion that is covered with what humans could use to explain it. All futile though, after all, how can the sane grasp the understanding of that which is so profound, that their previous knowledge established as true becomes worthless. Indeed the wise are fools, holding on to facts, when they stand before the unexplained and unexplainable only fools and mad men can comprehend~ Words of Philosopher. He said those words on the 3rd of March 1875, right before his execution which was ordered by The Crown.

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April 28, 1886

Weidson, Pridon

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Jordan's eyes opened up. He looked at the clock.

6:48

He couldn't endure all the chatter and clatter that was going on outside his room. He couldn't sleep in. The young man decided to get up and stretch.

'Lisa is probably acting out again'

While tidying his room, Jordan looked back to the events of the previous night. How Lisa acted strangely, and the events leading up to getting kicked out of her room.

Soon, Jordan was done with his work. He proceeded to leave his room.

The moment he opened the door, he saw Risa who was coincidentally about to open the door to his room. She didn't say a word to him and marched inside.

'What's going on?'

"Jordan, have you seen Lisa ?"

"No, I just woke up, maybe she's in her room."

"She isn't."

Risa looked worried. She quickly scrambled out of the room leaving Jordan confused. Then it hit Jordan.

'Lisa is ..'

No. Jordan refused to believe that Lisa was missing. He left the room and started searching for her alongside Risa and Llyod.

They searched for several minutes. Around the house, in the bakery that was built into the house. They took the search outside too. They asked the neighbours. But at the end of it all, their search was futile.

Jordan had to believe the truth that was clear before his eyes. Lisa was missing.

The bakery was temporarily closed. The family was sitting in the living room, tired after their fruitless search.

'I guess there's no point in keeping anything from them.'

Jordan thought as he looked at the worried looks of Lloyd and Risa.

He explained what had transpired between him and Lisa the previous day. The fact that she was hiding something important from them seemed to only make Risa more worried. However, Lloyd appeared to be angry at Lisa for some reason.

Jordan left the living room, so he couldn't hear the conversation that ensued. He was thoroughly exhausted after the search, and decided to retire to his room.

Before he could reach his room, he heard a knock on the door to the house (not the bakery. The house and the bakery are divided into two, but are in fact the same building.). Jordan went to open the door, half-expecting it to be Lisa. He was wrong of course. It was a familiar face though, local sheriff Shaun Howard. He was a short, white muscular man with red hair, a mustache, and sideburns.

Mr. Howard wore a long face as he stepped into the house.

"We found her, Mr.Middlesworth."

Why would he look so down, while saying such good news. Maybe... it's not really good news.

"Where is she?" Risa interrogated. Lloyd put his hand on hers.

"She's dead."

Jordan was speechless. So was the entire family for a while, before the good policeman elaborated.

"She was found unconscious on the beneath the hill on the outskirts of town. We suspect it to be murder. She was dumped where someone wouldn't easily find her. One of our men, Sammy heard some gunshots around that area sometime in the night, and took his sweet time relaxing doing god knows what before he finally went to check it out in the morning. Poor girl was already gone, and the shooters were of course nowhere to be found, by the time our people showed up."

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Mr. Howard paused for a while. Risa was in tears. Lloyd was trying to console her. Jordan was stiff, not really moving or saying anything, his mouth twitching ever so slightly.

"My condolences..." Howard said before getting up, and leaving.

'She's really dead..I did nothing after what she said last night..I might as well have killed her. It was my fault...Lisa...'

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14:26

Jordan was still stunned. He was lying on his back in his room still thinking. Earlier that day, His father and mother had went to see Lisa's body. She still had her wavy blonde hair and petite nose....

'Whoever killed her deserves to die.'

Jordan remembered her cute smile and suddenly his anguish turned to rage.

'Whoever they are, they deserve to suffer and die'

Cursing them didn't change anything. They were still out there, free as they could be after doing such a horrible thing. Mr. Howard promised over the phone that they will do whatever it takes to find out who did it, and bring them to justice.

The police actually tried. They searched our house, but found no signs of breaking in. Nobody had broken into the house. And the door and windows were locked. Every single one of them.

The only explanation was that Lisa herself left the house. And proof that she did was there obvious. The door could be locked from the outside. And the keys were somewhere they weren't before- they were right in front of the house door.

The best explanation for these facts was that Lisa took the key, left the house, locked the door, and slided the key through the bottom of the door. But does that mean that Lisa willingly sneaked out to go and die?

'No. That's stupid. Something must be wrong with my head...'

Then, the other option was that someone knocked on the door at two am in the morning, and Lisa was the only one awake for some reason, and she saw it fit to open the door for her would-be killer.

'No. She wouldn't have known. And she's not stupid enough to do that.'

"Who, could possibly have killed such a sweet and innocent girl.."

'William.'

Somehow, that name kept coming up in Jordan's head.

'It's stupid. I shouldn't be like this. There's no way that strange man had anything to do with this.'

As he thought that, he realized that that man had slipped into their house from the bakery unnoticed. The same man, had explicitly told Jordan not to tell his family about his 'visit'. And to top it off, the man knew Jordan's full name.

Jordan knew that these weren't enough grounds for suspicion. He knew he was acting crazy. He knew it made no sense to blame a stranger...but he still couldn't stop thinking about him.

About how his eyes were fierce, how his back was slumped, how his face was hardened and his hands seemed strong. His body had reeked of blood. Mr. William could be...

Jordan covered his face with a pillow.

Even now, not a single tear had left his eyes. It felt unreal, like a dream. He wanted to believe it didn't happen. But it did. He wasn't waking up to reality, this is reality.

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17:08

Jordan was out running. He didn't work on his book all day, neither did he help with the bakery. The bakery wasn't even open after all. Risa was too shaken to bake anything, Lloyd decided to rest too.

Jordan ran for awhile, until he heard his name.

It was a voice he had only ever heard once.

'William'

"Mr.William" Jordan said as he looked at the man. He tried his best not to inject any indignation into that sentence, but failed woefully.

"Jordan. It's nice to see you again. Could we talk for a minute?"

"Yes..we could."

Jordan stood there awkwardly as William turned to move. It took a moment for him to realise he was meant to follow.

The two of them walked for a few moments in silence. It seemed that William was moving away from the road. The man headed towards the less-populated part of town. It wasn't far from where Jordan was running.

'Is he going to kill me too?'

Jordan could have stopped following him, and just walked away. But he was curious. He wanted to know what this man was trying to talk about.

After making sure no one was watching them, Mr.William stopped. So did Jordan.

"I see. You blame me for the death of your step-sister Lisa."

Jordan was stunned once again.

'How does he know that?'

"Don't worry, there's no need to feel guilty about blaming me. Indeed even I don't understand why you think that, I believe the heart of a man can be an enigma sometimes."

"How.."

"You want to find out who did this?"

"Yes...I do." Jordan responded.

"I know." William took out a cigar, and lighted it.

"Huh?"

"I know who killed her, and I helped them do it." He smoked before he continued.

"So yes, your gut isn't wrong. I am responsible for her death."

Jordan could not express the depths of his anger in words. He could only stare at William with intense hatred..

Jordan didn't know when he rushed to attack the bastard, without thinking it through first.

He didn't succeed in touching him.

William, suddenly a few steps away, was grinning.

"Weak.. It seems I won't have a hard time getting rid of you."

Jordan panted.

'I'm tired just from that? I need to work out more often'

'What am I thinking about! My sister's killer is right in front of me. He confessed to his crimes....no. He didn't kill her. He help someone else in killing her.'

"Who did it. And Why?"

'Since he's talking I might as well press him for more information...'

"What are you doing, Jordan? You can't possibly think I'll tell you that now will I? I honestly didn't see this coming. Our conversation shouldn't have gone this way. I extend my sincere condolences for the tragic death of your..."

"Shut up! You helped kill her. It's your fault!"

"Of course. That doesn't mean I can't be sorry about it. It was tragic indeed. But enough of that, let's talk about the matter at hand. You asked me who killed her, right? I'll tell you. It was the Queen. The Queen of Pridon ordered her death."

"What kind of sick joke is this!"

The tall man took another puff of smoke, before responding. Jordan fought the urge to smack him in the face, and run away.

"The Queen killed her because she had to. Again, it was a tragedy. It would be great if you see the Queen yourself and ask her directly, you'll get the full story. If you want to, I can take you to her, but I don't guarantee your safety." He was smiling. The monster was smiling as he said that.

'I hate him.'

"What kind of.."

Then Jordan took the time to think about it.

'What if he's saying the truth. It's absurd, but I'm only blaming him now, on the assumption that his words are true. I don't know the Queen personally. But on the other hand, why should I trust the words of a stranger who might have killed my sister?He could have made up the entire story just to taunt me.'

William's face went serious.

"You want proof. You can't believe me without evidence... Well, there is no evidence. None other than magic. Yes. It was magic. The Book of magic is evidence that a Mage killed her."

"The what?"

Jordan was sick of this. This man was just spouting one lie after the other. First, he wanted Jordan to believe that the Queen of Pridon killed his sister. Now he's saying it has to do with magic.

'There is no such thing as magic! I don't believe in that nonsense because it doesn't make sense. Good non-fiction books about science do not in any way mention magic! The fact that he just had to say magic discredits everything else he had said. He's lying to me.'

"You don't believe in magic. Then how am I understanding your thoughts? How do I know what's going on in your head?"

"You...must be a very good judge of character."

"How did I enter your house without anybody spotting me?"

"You are very good at sneaking around."

"How did Lisa get captured?"

"She must have left the house herself, there is evidence that proves that."

"Staged evidence to throw off the police.. I'm done with you, young man. You won't believe it until you see it... Go to the hill on the outskirts of town. You'll see a cave, or rather what remains of it. Blood as well as huge claw marks are all over. Those marks couldn't possibly have been made by a bear or any normal animal. It could only be explained as a work of magic."

"I don't believe a word of what you say. If you're not going to kill me now, I'm going to report everything you say to the police."

"You almost sound like you want to die."

"I don't care anymore."

"You're lying. I know. Anyways, when you are willing to sate your curiosity, climb to the top of the hill. It's huge, it will take some strength, but you can do it. There you should find an abandoned shack. It would only be there if you come alone. Open the door and you will find the Queen, eventually. She'll most likely try to kill you."

'Why. Why am I still listening to him?'

"Good luck. I really hope you survive. Oh and I can't kill you. See, you're Fated to become a Mage. No matter what, it will happen. It's not really possible for anyone to change fate, so you will become a Mage, Jordan. My attacks wouldn't work on you until you do. Fate will continue to intervene to make sure you don't die until you reach the Book of Magic. Trust me, I've tried to kill one of you Fated. I kinda failed."

He sounded so warm and friendly.

"Well, goodbye Quill. My Title is Hunter, by the way. According to the Oath of the Book of Magic, next time we meet we shall be enemies."

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