The next morning over breakfast, Jasper shared with Althea and the rest of their group, which now included the young Elizabeth, that he had been asked to join some of the cadre members from the Parisian institution, to dispatch on an important mission.
When Althea had asked him where he was going and for how long, he just sighed and conveyed that he was unable to disclose the details of his sudden trip.
Althea's heart ached with the unknowing of where he was going or what he would be doing for the time he'd be away. Throughout her breakfast she had hoped that he wouldn't be sent anywhere unsafe.
They sat together now in their spot on the bench in the courtyard, surrounded by the autumn mums. Althea had limited time before her training was to start, but she used it, clinging to Jasper's warm embrace as he held her.
"I promise my love, I will be back before long and we will be together once more," he cooed in her ear, his light breath tickling her neck. She removed her head from his shoulder and looked at him as she sat in his lap. She hated the uncertainty that seemed to buzz in the air around them. But she supposed she needed to get used to it, this, the cadre, the powers, the missions… it was her life now. Well not the missions yet, but she supposed with time, it would be her venturing off to far corners of the world in search of recruits.
"Okay..." she breathed out, looking between his hazel eyes. "I am going to miss you though," she admitted.
He smiled warmly at her. "Not nearly as much as I will miss you." Jasper placed a gentle kiss to her forehead before standing and placing her steadily on the ground.
"It's nearly eight o'clock... allow me to escort you to the training yard before I leave?" he asked, reaching an outstretched hand for her to take. With a small pout, she placed her hand in his and let him walk her to her usual meeting spot with Arsalan.
When they exited the institution doors towards the large grassy field, Althea turned to him, not particularly seeking the sly judgement Arsalan would surely give her if he were to see the two of them together.
"I can take it from here," she announced, staring up at him admiringly. She really would miss him immensely while he was away. Not only because of the kisses and warm embraces that had become their routine, but because he was her dearest friend here at the institution… With the others so busy all of the time, Jasper was one of the only people who took time from his day to spend it with her… and that felt nice.
With a small nod, and a glance towards the large field behind her, he bent down to leave what she thought would be a quick kiss to her lips. However, as his hand latched onto the back of her neck, and he pressed his mouth firmly to hers, her knees nearly buckled beneath her. The kiss was full of longing and a surprising amount of desire and need. Althea locked her arms around his neck just to keep from falling down beneath the pressure, as his tongue roamed the inside of her mouth.
When he finally pulled back, Althea was breathless and panting like a fool. He'd never kissed her so... vigorously before. But she assumed that was his way of expressing how much he would miss her while he was away.
"Goodbye my love," he said, taking her hand in his and bending to kiss it.
"Goodbye," she sighed, and watched as he walked back inside.
When she turned around, Arsalan, to her surprise, stared at her from only a few yards away. Had he been standing there the entire time? Suddenly Althea's cheeks grew hot as she swallowed harshly and neared him.
She opened her mouth to greet him, but he turned away from her and said sternly, "you're late." She couldn't be that late, it was only nearing eight when they left the courtyard ten minutes ago. She rolled her eyes.
"Good morning to you too," she muttered. Clearly not finding her reply very humorous he tossed a long wooden rod at her feet.
"Today you will use that to master balance and strength," he grunted. Did he really need to be such a brute all of the time?
Picking up the thin wooden pole in one hand, she held it at her side, unsure of how exactly it would make to help her in her exercises for today.
"How is this wooden stick going to help me learn balance?" she replied dully. If he wanted to be a brute, she would spare him no extra time or energy than a brute deserved from her.
She could see his jaw twitch as he turned towards her, not meeting her eyes as he stared down at a rod of his own.
Suddenly Arsalan lunged the pole forward, turning and spinning so fast Althea's own eyes could barely keep up as he executed a manoeuvre he’d shown her last week. The sound of the bamboo rod soaring through the air thrust into her ears. He shifted the bottom of the pole into the ground and used his arms to push himself off of the grass, flying through the air with a swift kick towards her. She covered her face, preparing for impact, but then it failed to deliver. When she uncovered her eyes she found him landing and grabbing the wooden pole once more. He twirled it in circular motions with one hand, letting the wood glide between his fingers, before thrusting it nearly six inches into the ground. She couldn't hide her astonishment as his cool eyes met hers for the first time this morning. Her mind raced back to their time yesterday after the freezing rain had forced them inside. Today, however, there was not a cloud in sight, only blue sky above them. And with the sun shining down, it was already turning into quite the ideal day as far as the weather was concerned.
"Like that," he said shallowly, averting his gaze from her again. He gave no further instructions as he flopped down at the base of the large tree. Holding her stick in one hand, she glanced between him and her bitten nails which she held up in front of her face.
"Well?" he demanded, as if mimicking his movements from a moment ago would be a small feat.
"Well?" She couldn't help the sarcastic laugh that bubbled out of her throat. "You don't really expect me to be able to—" she began but he cut her off before she could finish.
"Nonsense Althea. How do you expect to ever learn something if you don't try it first?" His voice was laced with annoyance. Had she done something to offend him? Just as he had begun seeming tolerable to her, he had to ruin it with his loutish behaviour.
"How am I to learn if I have no idea how to start?" she retorted, dropping the rod to her side and crossing her arms.
"I'm not going to continue treating you like a child Althea, from now on you need to take control of your training. I'm here to instruct you, not coddle you."
Althea ground her teeth together, fighting the urge to say something she might regret later.
"Fine," she snarled lowly, picking up the daft stick from the ground. She got into the position she'd learned during their short training yesterday and shot the wooden pole out in front of her, wishing it was him she was hitting with it. In a quick sweep, she reeled the pole to her side, spinning and nearly losing her balance with the strength she put into the manoeuvre. She then did her best to use the pole to lift her body and kick her right leg out in front of her. She felt like a fool, and likely looked the part of one as well as she sent an awkward half kick into the air before the pole shifted to the side and she just barely landed on her feet.
But when she turned back to Arsalan he didn't smile, or laugh at her. To her surprise he just nodded and said, "good work. It wasn't perfect, but you did your best and I commend that."
She let out a sigh, just relieved to be somewhat in his good graces.
They spent the remainder of the morning and early afternoon practising various movements and balancing exercises with the wooden rods. By the time her training for the day was finally through, the sun was midway overhead.
Although the sun wasn't as unbearable as it had been in days past, Althea still felt as though she needed a good bathing after all the manual labour Arsalan had subjected her to.
When she got to her bathing chamber, she stripped off all of the tight fitting clothes from her sticky skin and filled the large bathing tub with hot water, dropping in some various floral petals and oils to create a lovely aroma around her.
…
When it was time for dinner, Althea made her way to the dining hall from her bed chamber, where she'd spent the entirety of her day, reading through one of the books she'd picked up from the library earlier in the week. This one hadn't contained the usual text pertaining to the cadre or the powers of its members. This book was closely adjacent to the books Althea used to consume during her young teenage years of reading. It was a fantasy novel based around the lives of six faerie girls as they went on missions for their faerie Queen. It amused Althea how seemingly parallel her life now was to these fictional characters, which is what had her so immersed in the pages that afternoon.
Dinner was a bit lonely without Jasper to talk and laugh with, but she was always happy to entertain the new young girl Elizabeth who now sat beside them at the table. It surprised Althea how intelligent she was, even at her young age. She’d certainly not been so articulate when she was fifteen.
"So have you gotten to practise your magic yet?" The Candidus girl asked, taking a bite of her roast pheasant. Althea chuckled and shook her head.
"No, unfortunately I don't think my trainer Arsalan is too set on developing my ability yet. He still remains implementing the importance of physical and mental training first," Althea said, sighing as she stared down at the asparagus and bird on her plate. There had originally been a rosemary glaze on the pheasant, but she’d requested it be removed, as she could no longer stand the taste or scent after that night. Even still though, the smell filled the room, causing her to feel a bit nauseous.
"Honestly, he is likely right," Elizabeth, or Zella as she preferred to be called, spoke with a shrug.
"You figure?" Althea asked, raising a brow. It's not that she didn't trust Arsalan, it's just that it felt like at the slow rate her training was moving, her importance here at the institution dwindled. She wanted to be asked on important missions, she wanted to know what it was that they really did here. And without much written text to go off of, Althea's only hope of understanding this place was by becoming important enough to be told the information she sought out.
"Mhm," Zella said, swallowing a mouthful of food, "from what I know of your kind, the ability within you isn't a very easy one to master. And considering he is like you and hasn't gone completely mad yet, I would listen to him."
Perhaps she was right... Althea thought back to the prior day at the waterfall with Jasper. Maybe she shouldn't have summoned her ability on a whim like that. The idea of going completely mad had been locked away in the back of her mind until now, but from all that she had read about time manipulation, much of the text expressed the dire consequences of using the ability without a full knowledge and understanding of its power.
She and Zella continued their conversation outside in the courtyard, where she normally spent her time after dining with Jasper. She liked the young girl and her candour when it came to the cadre. She had also admitted that her parents told her a fair bit about the board of elders. The Board of the Ageless was their full title, as they somehow had conjured magic strong enough to slow the ageing process for centuries. According to Zella’s parents, their main goal was to use the members' various abilities to better overall society. Due to the sparing few who inherited Althea's power, they knew what the future had to offer and sought to ensure that the pieces fell into place in order for the future to remain the same. This made sense, Althea supposed, but it still felt like something was missing. She just didn't understand why they wanted so many members and were on the constant hunt for more if their only real purpose was… well, existing.
When she made her way back up to her bed chamber that evening, she changed into her nightwear and laid down. She had been tempted to open her book from the earlier afternoon, however with a sigh, she withdrew to her bed, seeking rest before whatever Arsalan had planned for training tomorrow. She silently prayed it wasn't more combat training, as her body was still stiff and sore from today's workout.
Just as her mind began slipping into the darkness of slumber, she heard a faint scratching somewhere outside of her halfway unconscious state. She opened an eye, staring into the pitch black of her room. Had she imagined the noise? After a moment when it did not continue, she assumed her exhaustion had gotten the better of her and closed her eyes once more. Althea fixed her pillow, placing one hand under it as she began her descent into sleep at last.
Her eyes shot open at the sound of another scratch. This time it was louder than it had been a moment earlier. Althea knew she had not imagined the noise. She sat up, wiping her eyes as if to see through the darkness around her better.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Removing the heavy grey comforter from her body, she spilled her legs over the side of her bed. The scratching echoed again. It sounded like someone or something was scratching against her chamber door. Clenching her jaw tightly, Althea reached towards her nightstand, looking for something, anything, to aid her in the event that someone intended to do her harm.
Her hand scanned over the book she'd been reading earlier, that wouldn't do. She needed something that would be able to do some damage if she needed it. Althea kept feeling until her fingers swept over the metal vase she'd not yet had an opportunity to put fresh cut flowers into. Picking up the hefty container, she stumbled her way across the dark room. Her eyes had adjusted slightly now, so she could just barely make out the outline of her vanity and chair up against the wall leading towards her chamber door. Perhaps this was Arsalans idea of a cruel prank. That would be one way to ensure her training was working, by scaring the absolute daylights out of her. She wouldn’t put it past him.
There was another scratch, this one sounding layered, as if there were multiple objects or someones rubbing against the wood at the base of the large door.
Swallowing harshly, she held up the vase in her right hand and pressed her burning fingers against the cool metal knob. In a swift motion, Althea yanked the wooden door, letting it swing open, with a loud bang, against the wall of her bedroom.
"Burr-ow," when her eyes didn't immediately come into contact with anything in front of her, Althea looked down. Standing at her door was a small, calico cat. Her heart sank with relief as she lowered the vase in her hand.
"Well hello there," she said, bending down to the cat's level. It blinked its odd glowing eyes at her, meowing again. One eye glowed a neon green, while the other was an iridescent blue. They stared up at her, big and round like saucers. She reached her hand out towards it and to her surprise, the cat pushed its face into her hand, petting itself with her fingers. She wondered where the cat had come from? Throughout her time here at the institution she'd never seen any pets, nor did anyone mention having them. She looked to her left and then to her right, glancing to see if maybe someone had left their chamber door open allowing the cat to escape. Althea noticed no open doors besides her own, and many of these rooms were vacant guest chambers anyway.
The feline was thin and frail beneath her fingers as she stroked the fur down the poor creatures back. It purred louder with each pet it received from her. Suddenly the cat sprung from her, walking down the hallway a few paces. Raising a brow, Althea stared at the small ball of calico fur. How could a stray cat have possibly gotten into the institution? It didn't appear to have any illnesses or parasites. In fact, despite looking rather hungry, the cat appeared to be in quite good condition for a stray, if that's what it was. Perhaps it was the institution's mouser? But why had it chosen her door out of all doors to scratch at? Something inside of her felt slightly uneasy from this encounter.
The cat turned its head to look at her. It tipped its head up, those multi coloured eyes gleaming in the candlelight, as if to say, ‘well, are you coming?’
"Am I really about to follow a cat down the hallway?" Althea asked herself aloud. She shook her head and stood once more. The cat walked in two circles looking back up at her. She could have sworn the feline nodded its head down the hallway. Was she dreaming? Perhaps she had fallen asleep after all and this was all a ridiculous dream. She had been engulfed in that fantasy novel earlier in the day.
The cat let out a loud yowl. "Okay okay! I'm coming!" Althea said, reaching for the candlestick on her vanity. She lit it with one of the sconces on the corridor wall. She couldn't believe she was really about to follow a cat to who knew where.
When she made her way to the patchwork ball of fluff, it turned away from her and began walking down the large corridor until they met the stairs.
The cat glanced back at Althea, seeming to make sure she was still behind it.
"Oh yeah, I'm still here," and being a complete idiot, Althea thought the last part to herself. This was absolutely insane and she knew it, but the cat began traipsing up the stairs.
She followed and followed the feline until they made it to the very top of the institution where the library was located.
"The library?" Althea asked, glancing down at the small cat. It meowed in response. She'd never met an animal so... willing to communicate before. But why not the kitchen? She had assumed maybe the cat was leading her towards a purpose, like a room it wanted to be let into, or the kitchen so she could fetch it some of the leftover pheasant from dinner, but the library? What could the cat possibly want from up here?
The cat pranced into the dark empty room. It was late and none of the other cadre members utilised the library at this hour. The feline crept through rows and rows of books. This was absurd. It was no wonder the cat had been aimlessly scratching at her chamber door, it was clear to her now it had not a single thought in its small little head.
"Now I know this is not where you came from," Althea said, raising a brow at the cat. It almost looked as if it were smirking at her.
Suddenly the cat stopped, and sat looking up at a shelf full of multi coloured books. It just stared at them, as if waiting for something to happen. Althea blew out a sigh, preparing to turn back the way she'd come. When she did, however, the cat hissed and tangled itself in her feet.
Althea let out a yell and fell to the ground with a hard thud. Somehow the little pest hadn't managed to get crushed beneath her.
"Really?" she huffed, picking up her candlestick from the floor and stood, dusting herself off. The cat meowed at her again.
"I don't know what you want from me!" Althea yelled, running a hand through her curls, frustrated.
The cat sat and stared up at the bookshelf again. Althea looked at the books. They were all in the category of nonfiction. Some were the journals of old scholars, others pertained to ideas and scientific studies conducted by theoretical researchers. She wasn't exactly sure why the cat had chosen to lead her here. The entire case was full of dust and looked like it hadn't been touched by anyone in a very long time.
With a sigh she lifted a random book from the shelf, titled, ‘The Ancient Ruins of the Han Dynasty.’
Her fingers gripped the textured, dusty, brown book and as she pulled it from its place on the shelf, the entire case began to shake. Althea shuttered, yanking her hand back, allowing the book to fall to the floor.
The bookcase shifted further into the wall. Stone grinded against stone and Althea felt like she might faint. What was this? Once the shelf was back a couple of feet, it slid to the side, revealing a hidden passageway. Never in her life had Althea seen anything of the sort. She thought back to the dozens of novels she'd read. Things like this existed outside of fiction? Her head spun and for a moment she'd nearly forgotten about the odd little cat sitting beside her.
Suddenly it stood, sauntering into the eerie depths.
"Wait!" she whisper-yelled to the cat, reaching her hand to grab it, but before she could, it was swallowed up into the darkness of the passageway.
Althea's insides felt like liquid as she reached her candlestick out in front of her, attempting to see further into the blackness.
Swallowing, she took a hesitant step forward. She had to duck in order to fit under the top of the tunnel. It smelt of old paper and mould, causing Althea to crinkle her nose.
In front of her she could just make out the white tip of the cat's tail. After a few paces, the narrow passageway led into a small room. She was able to stand fully now. What was this place?
Around her sat a small desk with an old feather quill and a pot of dried up ink. A large wooden bookcase filled the entirety of the far wall in front of her, containing at least fifty books on its various shelves.
Her eyes widened as she took in her surroundings. It occurred to Althea that this had been no accident. The cat had purposely led her to this place... but now the question beckoned... why?
Althea used her night shirt to wipe away the dust on one of the books in front of her. Her eyes widened at the title. It read, The Ancient Origin of the Cadre, translated to modern English in 1457. Yeah, really modern… She opened the book, skipping to a random page and reading the top of it.
Though the book was written in Middle English, Althea was able to decipher the meaning of the sentence as something along the lines of, ‘it was only after the flame was created that the cadre itself was formed. Originally consisting of six members, Audaxus Gaius, Cyneric Marcus, Emilia Tullus, Dorius Caeso, and Rivina and Velaria whose praenomia is unknown. They were chosen to protect the security of the cadre and their powers from human interaction.’
Althea nearly dropped the book on the floor. She gripped the small desk to her side to support herself as her head spun. Why wasn't this information in the main library? And what was the flame? Somebody had wanted to hide these books from the members of the cadre... Althea didn't know why but she dusted off a few more of the books, planning to take them with her to read in the safety of her own room.
When she made her way back out of the narrow tunnel, the cat followed behind her. She had no idea how to re-conceal this hidden passageway.
Luckily for Althea, she didn't need to think about it for too long, for the cat kicked one of the mortared bricks with its hind legs, causing the stone wall to shift and the shelf to rearrange itself back into its original position. She’d definitely been incorrect in her original assumption that the cat was daft. Althea placed the book about the Chinese dynasties back in its place on the shelf.
Just to be safe, she kept the books shoved under her nightshirt, clutching them with her hands over the fabric. She and the cat walked quickly back to her bed chamber. Was this to be her new companion? She assumed the randomly appearing feline was no stray, but also didn't believe it to belong to anyone else.
With a shrug, she patted the cat's head as she opened her chamber door. It strode in before her, and she removed the books from beneath her tunic. The three she had taken were the first one she'd started to read, another titled simply, ‘The Fourth Dimension’, and the last one didn't have a title. It appeared to be a journal of some sort. When she had flipped to the inside of the cover, a name was written there, she assumed that the journal must have belonged to Julia of House Octavia. Interesting... this was the journal of a woman. Althea had been shocked to see that three of the original cadre members cited in the first book she had picked up in the secret chamber, had been women. How had they somehow come backwards throughout time? Or perhaps when you carried unbiased power, men understood not to undermine you.
Unable to help herself, Althea lit a fresh candle and went to work reading and reading the night away. There was no way she could sleep knowing that so much open knowledge lay beside her.
The cat curled up at the foot of her bed, clearly determining himself a part of her bed chamber now. She'd realised it was a male cat when he'd lifted his hind leg to groom himself earlier.
Althea read and read until the dim light of dawn fluttered through her partially opened curtains. She knew she would likely pay the utter consequence of her staying up late at training this morning, but with all she had read, it was worth it. The journal of Julia was written in a different language but somehow Althea could interpret and understand exactly what the girl wrote. She could only assume the language to be ancient Latin, for that is what Julia expressed throughout her writings, speaking of her time living in Rome. But Althea had no idea how she was able to decipher it. Never in her known life had she practised reading the ancient language or even heard anyone speak it for that matter. It was as if it were just naturally instilled into her mind. Perhaps that was another set of abilities she'd been gifted. The power to understand any language naturally. She chuckled at the thought, wondering how she had really been able to read it.
Althea had learned that Julia of House Octavia was born in the Western Roman Empire to a wealthy family who, like Althea, bore the ability to control the fourth dimension. Each word Althea read made her insides twist with both fear and excitement. Julia had started the journal in 404CE when she was only sixteen years old. That was the first time she'd summoned her ability. According to her detailed account of the experience, she had been robbed while running an errand collecting rents for her father. When riding on horseback through the woods, seven men jumped out of the brush with daggers, ready to take everything she had. She wrote that she had been terrified, so terrified that she froze up, literally. Everything around her stopped moving and she knew she had summoned the ability her mother had passed down to her. Aevum is what they had called their kind. Althea wondered why the word was no longer used for those who had the gift of time manipulation. It meant, everlasting time. The young girl had murdered all seven men without hesitation, and implied that she felt no remorse for those who lacked repentance themselves. Her parents teleported her to the cadre’s temple in a remote area of the world, so she could train. That is where she learned to write, and where she’d gotten the very paper she wrote on, as it did not yet exist.
Julia detailed the change in her power throughout the years. Like Althea, she had first been able to pause time by stilling her mind and freeing her thoughts. Shortly after that, she'd learned to see the past, the future and the present and eventually travel to these pockets within time. She mentioned the battles which the cadre was waging with what she could only describe as demons. She recounted their long fangs and leathery, rotting skin as something wholly inhuman. The cadre had called them daemonium. They spoke as people did, but lacked the characteristics and empathy of humans. According to other cadre members, they were being sent from other worlds in search for some sort of anchor to possess. To ward them off in battle, she had learned how to launch time attacks. To do this she would still her mind and picture multiple places throughout the space time continuum, summoning all of them. By doing this, an overwhelming amount of energy was produced, so much that she could release it at her projected enemy and it would explode with such force, most of the evil creatures would explode upon the impact.
As Althea read through the girl's writings, it became clear to her that as time progressed, Julia had begun to go mad. By the time she was twenty years old, she was the warlord of the cadre, leading battles and war missions throughout the known world. But in her journal, she expressed that sometimes she would forget things. It started as a small neglect to send off instructions to her battle commanders, or a subtle failure to remember an old friend's name. But by 409CE she wrote that she was beginning to forget much bigger, much more important things. In a long drawn out, and painful recollection, Julia admitted she had begun to forget when she was. Sometimes she would wake up and reach out for things from the future, things that did not yet exist. When she could not find them, she would begin to get hysterical, insisting to her maids that they must have stolen them. The people she loved, the people who had grown to depend on her, began to think her a demon herself, and had cast her out of her rank and position as warlord.
Her last journaling was written a year later when Julia wrote her own end to her story, believing that the only way she would be free of her torment, was by ending her suffering with a swift death.
Upon closing the journal, Althea's eyes brimmed with tears. She found herself longing and wishing she could help the poor aevum girl. She had only been a year elder to Althea when she took her own life. This made her wonder... How long would it be for her? How long before she too went mad? Or Arsalan for that matter? He had been practising his ability for much longer than she had... was he in danger?
Althea forced herself to recognize the difference between Julia and Arsalan. She did not have the sort of guidance Arsalan or Althea did, the cadre did not yet know the full risk of such power to a young, feeble mind… Arsalan knew of the dangers, and that is why he opted to not only pace his own power but hers as well. At this moment, Althea was incredibly thankful for him. If he hadn't offered to come and train her, she would have likely ended up just as Julia had.
Dead.