Elishua had been ordered to attend an early morning staff meeting to discuss unusual students. She assumed this meant Tenthé. It wasn’t uncommon for her to go to faculty meetings to listen in, but this time she was to present. Material that was both troubling and contradictory.
The kid was an anomaly. From their first interaction she, an under-Magister in Tactics, had been knocked for a loop. No matter how she appeared, Elishua was not stupid, and, in this case, she was sure that this was a “learning situation” and it might not be pretty. Fortunately, Headmaster Tomas and Magister Graf were of the opinion that something strange was afoot and had given her their full support, come what may.
Upon entering the faculty conference room, she was surprised to see almost everyone present. The early time and the personalities involved usually meant that these meetings were not well attended. She took a seat against the back wall and waited.
And waited… and waited. No sign of the Headmaster. The Magisters were getting restless, which for some didn’t take all that long.
Magister Graf spoke up. “It appears something has happened to delay our illustrious leader. Elishua, could you pop over and see what’s happening?”
Since he was Elishua’s mentor, this request wasn’t really optional. She hurried out of the room, aiming for the faculty wing. She knocked when she reached Tomas’ rooms. A short time later, a sleepy voice came out of the speaking glyph.
“What? Who is this and why do you want to die?”
“Sorry, sir. This is under-Magister Elishua, um… you called a meeting? It started a few minutes ago?”
“Huh? I did no such thing! What are you babbling on about?”
“Uh, I beg to differ. It is on the calendar.”
“What? Let me check.”
There was some grunting and the sound of parchments being shuffled. “Nope, I don’t see anything here.”
“Really? In any case, everyone is waiting for you.”
“Gods help me. I was sleeping so well. Fricking…” and the glyph clicked off.
A short while, Tomas appeared at the door, looking a bit disheveled, like he’d slept in his clothes. He was holding a calendar parchment in his hand.
“See for yourself, there’s nothing scheduled!”
Elishua peered where he was pointing. The line specifically stated there was a meeting at that time. Concerned, she looked up at Tomas’ face.
“Um… sir. There is a meeting listed. Right here.”
“What? You’re utterly daft!”
“Sir! Look at the page.” She noticed his glance avoided the area she was indicating. “Look… I don’t know, hard! Look hard, right where you’re pointing!” she half-ordered.
Tomas took the sheet and moved it to a few finger-widths away from his face.
“I’ll be damned,” he said, finally. “There is something there! That’s the strangest thing! I still can’t read it and I want to scribble it out as nonsense… Hmph. How odd.”
“Maybe, sir, it would be best that we go to the meeting and see what we can figure out. Almost everyone’s there.”
Shutting the door behind him, Tomas followed, muttering to himself. After a moment, he quizzed Elishua, “Everyone? Even Destine?”
“Yes, sir, although she was getting a little vocal when I left. Come to think of it, she kept complaining that she didn’t know why the meeting was called, either.”
“Why’s that strange?”
“The notice specifically stated it is to discuss unusual students. Especially Tenthé.”
“Who?”
Elishua’s stomach dropped. Something very odd was going on.
“Uh… Tenthé. You do not remember who Tenthé is?”
“Nope. Never heard of him. I mean, I have heard of Tenthés, but not anyone I would call everyone together for.”
“Um… okay. Ah… why don’t we wait until we get to the meeting to figure out what, uh… why, or… I mean, the issue. What the issue is.”
“Sure, I suppose…” Tomas replied, not sounding sure at all.
They entered a conference room in bedlam. Not all the Magisters got along and after being left alone for this long, they’d started arguing. Everyone quieted as Tomas climbed up to the podium.
“Ahem,” he began. “I have a confession to make. Elishua informs me we are here to discuss a specific student and I have to admit that I have no idea what she is talking about. His name is… uh… I can’t remember. Elishua, you seem to know something. Come up here and brief the Magisters.”
Elishua was caught off guard. She was ready to present her observations, but it seemed that she now had to chair the meeting. Stoically, she rose and walked up to the podium as Tomas sat.
Looking at the crowd, she hesitated a moment, then pulled herself together.
“At the request of Headmaster Tomas, I have been helping Tenthé orient himself here, in the school. I was told to be prepared to present my observations today, but we’ve hit a snag.
“First, let me ask: who here has met Tenthé and knows who he is?”
She scanned the crowd. No-one, not even Mme. Destine raised their hands. From what she’d heard, that shouldn’t be possible. Mme. Destine would hold a grudge beyond death.
“Okay. We have a problem. I’ll summarize what I know about how Tenthé got here. I wasn’t there, but… uh, some of you really should remember him.”
She fumbled around for a moment as she organized herself, then began, “What I will present is mostly second hand, but has been verified. The boy we are discussing, Tenthé, was injured when Headmaster Tomas ran him over with his carriage.”
At this, a number of people gasped in shock, with Tomas as surprised as any.
“From all accounts, the Headmaster couldn’t heal, or even touch, him so he brought the boy here and Mme. Destine spent a week working on him.”
At this, Mme. Destine shouted out, “What kind of crap are you spouting? I can cure anyone in less than an hour, you useless horse of a woman!”
Ah yes, the famous Destine charm.
Using the advantage given by her larger than normal lungs, Elishua spoke, easily drowning out the muttering of the audience.
“Remember, I’m just relating hearsay. It gets worse. From the testimony of numerous individuals, Mme. Destine, you fought Tenthé and he dropped you without a problem.”
“What! No student could do that! I would have ripped him apart!”
“Well, he seems to have some ability to cancel magic. It’s why he was hit by the carriage, I think. It’s also why Headmaster Tomas had him admitted to the College.”
Again, Tomas didn’t appear to remember any of this.
Mme. Destine continued shouting, “Doesn’t matter, I’d have dropped a mountain on him. Let’s see him cancel that!”
“Maybe… but let me continue. It took a week, or so, for him to recover. The Headmaster sent out investigators to find out if they could identify any family, or where Tenthé was staying. It was obvious he was living rough, so they concentrated their search around the Mission district. Aside from a few inconclusive mentions in the Mission records, they didn’t uncover much.
“As support for this approach, Tenthé has talked about the Mission, but no evidence turned up to prove that he was ever there.”
Mme. Destine spoke loudly, “Well then, he’s a spy! Bring the man in and we will wring the truth out of him.”
“He’s only ten or so.”
“What! I lost to a kid? Impossible!”
“Just what I heard, ma’am.”
The noise level grew once again as the crowd digested what she’d said. At this point, Elishua was tired of yelling, so she held up her hand. Eventually, everyone settled down.
“Oh, there’s a lot more,” she added before she went on to relate her experiences: how he seemed so naïve, but still managed to find his way around almost immediately, tie her up in some kind of hold, talk to the Guardians, and about the Guard. This started another big round of discussion.
She related how scarred he was and about the mark of the Turtle God. She concluded by letting them know he had gone to Testing yesterday.
At this, Tomas spoke up, “Very interesting. I should remember a boy like that. Especially if I ran him over.”
Elishua thought for a moment. “Sir, if I may ask, would you have kept notes?”
“Oh, certainly, but I can’t recall doing so.”
“Well, could you get them and we’ll see if there’s anything there?”
“No need, they’re right here.”
He pulled a bound book out of his robes and opened it to the latest entry. After paging back and forth a few times, he announced, “Nope, nothing.”
“May I look, sir?” Elishua asked.
“Certainly. But I tell you, there’s nothing here.”
After handing her his book, Elishua saw page after page of notes discussing Tenthé.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
“Sir, you have at least ten pages about him. You even mention some suspicions about an ability to make people forget.”
“What! Are you sure?”
“Yes, I am, sir.”
“Well, that really is the damnedest thing!”
Elisha brought the book to the podium and read the content concerning Tenthé to the group. There was silence once she was done.
Elishua thought about what had been presented. “I’ve got an idea! Can we review the results from Testing?”
“That is a good idea. Lang, if you will?” Tomas directed.
Magister Lang struggled to his feet, appearing confused.
“Um… There was no student that fits the description you’ve given. I have my notes here, let me see… Nope, no mention of anyone named Tenthé.”
Elisha made her way over to him, fairly sure what she’d find.
“Would you permit me a look, sir? Perhaps you were affected by the forgetting too?”
“My good girl, I have no reason to doubt my mental faculties!”
“Even so, sir, if you wouldn’t mind?”
“Alright! See for yourself. Here’s the schedule for the day, and following that are my notes on each student.”
Elishua studied the book. “Hmm… after an Anders you have crossed out Tenthé and written in Leonard LePoiterice. You don’t appear to have rescheduled Tenthé. Why not? I know he was there. I dropped him off myself.”
Magister Lang was looking a little uncomfortable, “Well… you understand how things work. The LePoiterice family gets priority, but I should have moved the boy to the next open time-slot.”
“So, you mean to say you let him sit in the waiting room and left him there?”
“No! I swear there was no-one there!”
Elishua looked over to Tomas. “Sir, is there a way to see what happened?”
“Oh yes. We record everything in those areas. Just a moment while I get the data crystal.”
He went still, presumably conferring with something unseen. The audience mumbled to itself for the few minutes it took for the record to be fetched by one of the Guardians.
“Alright, here it is,” Tomas announced when the crystal seemed to materialize in his hands.
A display opened up on the wall behind him, showing an empty waiting room. Miss Josepha walked in, turned on the lights, went to her desk, fiddled around for a brief time, and then took a long drink from a bottle she pulled out of her lower drawer. Everyone looked at Magister Lang, who fidgeted a bit. Tomas sped up the recording and shortly later, two students entered, registered, then sat down. Next, Elishua and a boy came through the main door and approached the desk.
“Stop here,” Elishua ordered. “That’s Tenthé.”
Someone in the crowd spoke up, “He’s so young!”
Tomas resumed the playback and everyone watched as a student went to be tested. After a time, Leo LePoiterice, a student everyone knew, and his companions entered. There was a little excitement as people moved about the room, then Leo was taken for testing.
The playback froze.
“What was that bit about fussing over the boy with the brown cape?” Tomas asked Magister Lang.
“No idea. I wasn’t informed about any problems.”
The playback started up again, showing Tenthé returning from lunch and then as he sat in the waiting room for the entire afternoon. He was still sitting when Magister Lang and Miss Josepha turned off the lights and exited. The recording ended.
“Is that all?” someone asked.
“Yep, that’s all there is. There should be more, at least the whole evening, but there isn’t. That is quite strange.” Tomas stated, perplexed as everyone else.
Magister Graf stood up. “If I may summarize. We have a little boy who is covered in battle scars, can cancel spells, disable a trained Magister, beat an under-Magister in a straight physical confrontation, talks to the Guardians and the mythical Guard, can maybe see magic, has a tattoo from the Turtle God, can’t be remembered, and who knows what else? Did I miss anything important? No?
“What do we do with someone like that? Anyone?”
Of course, everyone spoke up, yelling over each other. The suggestions ranged from kicking him out of the City to taking him apart to see how he worked, and then they got even more extreme.
Tomas used his power to mute the crowd and took over Elishua’s place at the podium.
“There is a glimmer of hope. I just realized that the more we discuss the boy, the more I feel I am getting some of my memories back. They are faint, but I am beginning to believe Elishua, now. Possibly familiarity lengthens the time you can remember him. I suggest we ask the boy about the ability; who would know better?
“As to the more extreme suggestions, all of you, act your ages! Elishua has presented her observations, and at this point, it appears we have a very strange boy, but… a boy he is.”
He glared at Mme. Destine. “Not a spy, not a demon. Just a student who’s in need of guidance. While we are organizing ourselves and doing our preliminary analyses, I recommend everyone stay away from him. I would like to make it clear that the wards have not found him to be a danger, and they are very capable at revealing threats.
“At this point, I think a very pertinent question is: why was none of this uncovered in Admissions?”
The entire crowd turned to stare at Magister Weddig as she stood.
“I have no excuses. Something has gone amiss in our evaluation of the boy. I will go over the transcripts with Elishua and see if we can find what happened.”
She sat.
Tomas spoke, “Quite right! That is a proper response! We have an anomaly, and I suggest we have reacted badly, so far. We need to look at this case calmly, coolly, like the intellectuals we are. Since most of us appear to be compromised, I recommend we assign Elishua to set up a council to review the matter and find ways to resolve the issues we have uncovered. I also recommend that she interact with the boy as much as possible, so at least someone knows what is going on.
“Oh, and Magister Lang… Sebastianus, please test this boy before the day is out. I will have Elishua check that it has been done, and I want a report tonight. No excuses!
“Everyone else, see if you are able to dredge up any information on anything even remotely similar. Magister Jack, as head librarian, I require maximum effort from you. Conscript as many students as you require to research this boy, Tenthé.
“We need answers! If any of you have any ideas, talk to me or Elishua.
“Thank you for your time. Oh, and Mme. Destine… keep away from him!”
As everyone filed out, he called out, “Elishua! If you and Magister Graf would care to join me, I would like to discuss our next steps.”
Elishua and Magister Graf followed Tomas out of the meeting, each keeping their own counsel. Once they reached Tomas’ chambers, they retired to his small office. Tomas had arranged for tea to be waiting so each of them grabbed a cup, then sat, sipping quietly.
Tomas broke the silence. “Well. This is a mess.”
Magister Graf replied, “Indeed. We will definitely have a problem if we keep forgetting about the boy.”
“Yes, quite,” Tomas agreed.
They all took another sip and pondered the ramifications.
“As I see it, we have two tasks,” Magister Graf stated. “In the short term, we need to find a way around this forgetfulness, but more importantly, we have to figure out what that boy is.”
After a bit of thought, Tomas added, “I… was warned that something was going to happen. I’m not at liberty to reveal much more. The warning was somewhat vague, very irritating at the time, but I suspect if it had been more specific, then I would have forgotten it as well. That would have been a problem, since the warning came with some responsibilities.”
“Any hint as to the source of this mysterious warning?” Magister Graf asked.
“Hmm… I have become an acolyte. No, I was informed I was already an acolyte to an aspect I hadn’t known was a thing. By no less than the God of it.”
Magister Graf let out a bark of laughter, “Yes, she is that way.”
Elishua just soaked it all in. This was a behind-the-scenes level she’d never been exposed to, before.
Tomas looked at Magister Graf, “Any idea if this is the break we’d hoped for?”
“I suspect it is a part, at least. Maybe not in the form we expected, but it’s an unlikely coincidence if the events aren’t connected, large and small. Or it may be up to us to connect them. Either way, I would guess that we’re supposed to sort through the mess we have been handed and figure out what to apply to the proper problems.”
Tomas turned to Elishua. “So, are you suitably impressed by our vague maunderings and posturing?”
It was very easy to underestimate her. Physically, she was a large woman, not fat, just big, with a broad, honest face. She came across as the archetypal farm girl, but was, in fact, the lead student in Tactics and was well versed in connecting disparate bits of information together to draw a larger view of events.
Using those instincts, she realized this meeting had a hidden level. More than just a discussion concerning Tenthé, she was in an interview to join an undefined… something. Her answer would determine if she was going to be an unexceptional graduate, or if she would be allowed a peek into the underpinnings of something extraordinary.
Carefully, she responded, “Sir. We know the Horde is coming. Without the proper resources, we will have a difficult time getting through unscathed. The need for a resolution is dire, and if I understand correctly, now the Gods are becoming involved. You do not remember, sir, but there is a tattoo on Tenthé’s arm that is an unknown variant of the ones for the Turtle God. I suspect that because we aren’t solving the issues, the Gods feel they must. History, or what we have been able to deduce from the history we have been given, tells us that any solution they devise will be harsh.
“I have no reason to think that Tenthé’s a God himself, but he sure as Hells isn’t just any ten-year-old kid. Without even trying, he had me running in circles. He dropped Mme. Destine with almost no effort.
“On the other hand, he presents himself as nothing more than a little boy who’s had a hard life. I can’t explain this dichotomy. When you ask him about something, he seems upfront, but… well, maybe we haven’t asked the right questions.
“From what he’s told me, he doesn’t think what he does is special. Abilities we would question, he accepts as normal.
“I recommend we talk to him. From the short time I have been observing Tenthé, I feel that he has had such a different life that we aren’t really communicating. He hasn’t mentioned any friends, but then, we haven’t asked about that either.
“Although letting him mix with the students could go bad, I suggest we keep hands off for now. If we try to restrain or control him, I suspect the results would be… less than optimal. My impression is that he might be hiding a lot. I suggest we ensure the Guardians keep a careful watch and intervene if necessary. But, then again, these are just my feelings.”
She took a breath, then added, “I’m sorry, maybe I’m overreacting. I need time to collect my thoughts.”
Magister Graph blunted her self-recrimination, “No, no, that’s quite all right. Even though we all seem to be part of the problem, I want to point out that Admissions dropped the ball so hard that it shattered. I agree with you, Elishua. It’s imperative that we acquire more information.”
Tomas thought for a second, “We’ve already rescheduled him for Testing. Let’s ensure this actually happens, and meet tonight for a review. Plus, we have to find some way around this Gods damned forgetting! I still feel like we aren’t discussing anyone real, here.”
Elishua interjected, “I’ll talk to him and see if I can get some answers. At the moment, we’re too ignorant to make the appropriate decisions.”
Tomas responded, “Quite right! If you stick with him, then at least one person will know he exists. You did an exceptional job today, forcing us to realize that something was wrong, although we still do not have any sort of a proper solution.
“Bring him along tonight. I want to meet this anomaly. For the second time, I guess. Maybe seeing him’ll prompt some memories to resurface.”
Everyone sat, drinking their tea while they mulled over the discussion.
Magister Graf broke the silence. “Elishua, didn’t you mention a guard, or something like that?”
“Yes, sir. Um… Tenthé showed me a creature he said was the Guard. It’s supposed to be a myth, but I saw a huge eye; it seemed to be part of a big face. I… I’ve never seen a Guardian looking like that. If it’s real, then it’s another thing that makes no sense. If it’s what I think, why would it be here, at this time?”
She gulped. Even now, the memory was a little upsetting.
“I have to admit,” she continued, “up to that point I had been treating Tenthé as if he were nothing more than an annoying kid. What I want to say is that the Guardians seem to know him and he knows them. Maybe you, sir,” she nodded at Tomas, “can look into what is going on?”
Tomas thought for a few moments, then responded. “The wards appear to me as a page of controls with sections that display lists of events and other details. I think of them as a very complex clockwork automaton.
“The other aspect, the Guardians, are a police force, albeit of a magical nature. I usually get reports from them in the form of documents. If needed, one of them will appear to me and I can interact directly with that representative. To be honest, I don’t really understand much about how they are deployed. I’ve had no need to know, before now.
“It would probably behoove me to learn more about their operating structure. I wonder if this has been a resource we haven’t been properly utilizing? Hmm… a huge eye, you say?”
There was a pause, and when Elishua realized Tomas was done, she offered, “I can ask Tenthé for more details. If you did some investigating… it would be handy to have another source of information to check his responses against.”
Tomas mused, “Well, one more thing. I will look at what the former heads of the College have written in their journals concerning the Guardians. You know, it’s never come up. I always assumed. Hmph.”
“Sir, if I might suggest, when you schedule the meeting for this evening, don’t directly mention Tenthé. Make it more roundabout, like… student T, or something similar. Maybe that will help you remember, um… better?”
“A good point. If it doesn’t work, seek me out. In that case, you may have to repeat everything you did this morning, and if anything important happens today, let me know immediately. Otherwise, table any issues for this evening.”
Elishua was a little overwhelmed. In one day, she had gone from being a reluctant babysitter to consorting with the Head of the College in some big mystery.
Tomas made shooing motions, “Now go! You have things to do. Magister Graf and I need to discuss the matter further. And, Elishua, make darn sure he gets to Testing!”
At this, she left, excited, but also somewhat apprehensive about the vagueness of the whole situation. What was really going on?