August 6, 2152
Four people in hooded robes sat around a square mahogany conference table. It was a bright Sunday morning on Mars, and for once it was real sunlight, not artificial. Though there were four people, no one sat at the head of the table. When in walked a man clad from the neck down in shining white armor. He had golden blonde hair and stood just a few inches shorter than the seven foot door. Beyond that, this man was wide and seemingly well-built underneath the beautiful alabaster armor with cobalt trim. He carried an azure greatsword on his back almost as long as the man was tall. Before the man sat down at the head of the table, he drew his sword and set it against the table next to him.
The man said, "You all know why you've been summoned. At 0700 yesterday morning, Proxima Centauri B went dark. We have tried several methods of contacting the base but have been thus far unsuccessful. Equally concerning, our scout ship around B is not responding either. When black box footage was received with its last upload at 0600, we later found an energy signature on the long-range scanner. This data was not viewed until 0900 when the scout ship did not upload its most recent location. From here on out, we are all in the hypothetical as no data has been received."
"Commander Shepherd, what do we think happened?" a young woman asked.
"Isn't it clear what happened!" an older man yelled, "The Mantoan attacked! It is war!"
Shepherd tried to calm the tension early, "Lloyd, we don't know that. Proxima Centauri could have had a flare."
"Our latest shields should be more than capable of dealing with a flair," Lloyd scoffed, "Go on, Greg, share the data with the class."
Greg, with a higher pitched voice, squeaked, "Between all lines of defense, Proxima Centauri has a 1.2% chance of producing a flare capable of knocking the RRS offline."
"Then it could be the Mantoan," an older woman slowly stated, "We never did find out where they went when they left, did we?"
"We did not, Betty. To make matters worse, we still haven't decoded most of the information they left behind. Let's assume that it is in fact the Mantoan. What's our next move?" Shepherd asked the group.
"How long do we wait to tell humanity?" the younger woman asked, "We can't keep them in the dark forever. After that, it's pretty simple, isn't it? We get our new kids trained up."
Shepherd nodded, "Good point, Liza. After our meeting today, I planned to make a statement both letting people know that B has gone dark and that our alert level has gone from yellow to red. Meanwhile, I've assembled a team to take our top-of-the-line ship and investigate B. Liza, since you're here, you will be staying here to help get the school ready. I expect you and Lloyd to have these students ready for battle in ten weeks."
"It will be done, Commander," Lloyd said with a head bow.
"Greg, I want a full work up done on their ships' capacities. I'm looking for speed and carrying capacity," Shepherd said as he pointed to Greg.
"Yessir!" Greg shrilled.
"And Betty, get in touch with the Council," Shepherd advised, "We will hold the outposts if they can defend Earth. Also see if they think this is the Mantoan or something else. I don't want to get caught unprepared."
"As you wish, Commander," Betty wistfully replied.
Shepherd stood up, "Dismissed. Liza, walk with me please." Shepherd walked past the others as they stood up but waited for Liza just past her chair. The pair walked out of the conference room and down a long silent hall. It was quite a sight to see the drastic size difference between the two; from behind, the two looked like a giant father and his little girl.
"How are your classes going?" Shepherd asked softly, "Do you have any standouts so far?"
"I've already narrowed down my top five if that's what you're asking. It's strange, the first few years, we largely had untrained kids learning magik for the first time. This year, at least sixty percent have powers but not just the basic ones either," Liza explained.
"Really? Are you saying there are some Council children attending this year?" Shepherd leaned in, not quite whispering but it was the best he could do, "What kind of magik have you seen?"
Liza continued, "I don't know about my homeroom much, but there are probably three Council children in my Hand-to-Hand class. I brought their files with me, for when you inevitably came to me." The pair stopped as Liza tapped on her watch twice. A cubic foot hologram revealed three girls next to each other.
"The first girl here with green hair is named Samantha Rice," Liza described to Shepherd, "I verified this girl's identity. She is from the Rice family, the clan of shifters. Though she hasn't shown anything spectacular in our first week, she also hasn't transformed once which she's clearly holding back."
"A shifter? I remember fighting alongside a shifter named Boro. A stronger beast than most. Who else?" Shepherd remembered.
"The middle girl, the little black-haired beauty, is registered as Gwendolyn Snow," Liza continued. "I would guess that her first name is correct, but her last name is a known Council fake. She uses a dark sphere and is incredibly fast."
Shepherd scratched his chin, "A dark sphere, huh? That is indeed rare. But I'm guessing you saved the best for last."
"I did indeed," Liza nodded, "The final girl's name is Emory Reiss. Like that Reiss."
"What did you say? Marty and Roselin's kid?" Shepherd stopped walking.
"Yes, I believe so," Liza agreed, "Even if she isn't, she has a sphere I've never seen before. Look at this video." Liza then showed Shepherd the video of Gwen and Emory sparring and paused it when Emory was shaking the dark sphere off herself. The two stared at the frame for several moments.
Shepherd spoke slowly, "That looks like what Cassandra used to do."
"I will be watching her closely," Liza commented, "Her magik is very strong for someone her age." The two walked out of the building towards a couple of shiny black SUVs. Before Shepherd got in the back seat of one, he turned back to Liza.
"Keep me up to date on the training of your top five," Shepherd directed, "We may end up sending some of our new students to deal with things; we're going to have our hands full dealing with the outposts."
Liza nodded, "Yessir! Travel well." Shepherd shook Liza's hand and got into the vehicle while Liza walked back towards the building to begin working on her plan.
~~~
After Emory's early morning jaunt with Innes, the two practiced drawing in magik. Innes's hands were still bandaged up, so Emory decided it would be sufficient to pull in and release magik through meditation. She could already see a little improvement in Innes, and their time was a minute faster than the prior day. While meditating, Emory started up a conversation with him.
"So how was school at Number Five?" Emory asked, "Were there a lot of students?"
"I graduated from a class of just over three hundred, Nothing like here. But I mostly stuck around the gym or the friends we talk to here. If you can't tell, I'm not big on words," Innes revealed.
"Me neither," Emory sympathized, "I spent my time working in a lab of some sort most of the time. I didn't really talk to anyone outside of school."
Innes changed subjects, "How long have you been practicing channeling magik like this?"
"My mom taught me when I was six or seven," Emory remembered, "In fact one of the last times she practiced with me, she told me it was extremely important to keep up with my practice. I was always trying to be as graceful as she was with magik."
"I understand. My father was killed when I was six. I still remember it like it was yesterday," Innes confessed.
Emory apologized, "I'm sorry. I know it doesn't help, but I know what that pain is like. Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not really," Innes said quickly, "Do you want to talk about your parents?"
"Not in the slightest," Emory quipped back just as fast. The pair continued to meditate in silence, though Emory did look at Innes near the end to see how well he was drawing in magik now. Using her Arcane Sight, she could see that he was pulling in magik better in his hands and arms. It was only a five percent increase from yesterday, but that was a marked improvement.
When the pair finished channeling magik, they met the rest of the group for a late breakfast. Sam was the first to speak, "Are you excited to go shopping, Emory?"
"Oh yeah, I am pumped," Emory replied sarcastically, "I couldn't sleep. No, really, is there anything else we could do?"
"Why don't you want to go shopping? I've never met someone who didn't like to buy anything," Gatrie groggily commented.
"It's not that I don't like shopping," Emory corrected him, "I just don't have anything I want to buy right now."
Tana cheekily said, "You strike me as a minimalist. When do you want to buy things?"
"When I need them," Emory glared back. It was clear she would not be able to get out of this excursion.
The girls headed back to the dorm room so they could get ready to head into the city. When Emory came out of the bathroom, the other girls were there waiting for her. She chose to wear a flannel, long-sleeved, unbuttoned, button up shirt over a plain black shirt with worn blue jeans while her long red curls came just past her shoulders. Tana was wearing a nice blue nylon jacket and long black leggings but kept her long black hair in a tight, high ponytail. Tethys had changed into another floral yellow sundress and let her platinum blonde hair hang below her waist, almost connecting with the end of the dress. Sam looked the most different as she was sporting a blue polka dot knee length dress that revealed a bit of cleavage, though her shoulder length green hair stayed the same.
"You look nice," Sam remarked, "While you were in the shower, we came up with a plan. Do you have everything you need?" Emory sighed and nodded reluctantly, so the girls set off to the shopping area of downtown.
Mars Base One was the largest and most metropolitan of any of the habitat bases in the Sol system, rivaling even smaller urban areas back on Earth. The shopping area was the jewel of the city with access to everything a person could want to buy. Due to the rise of robotics and high-tech automation, scarcity was largely a thing of the past except for items enchanted with magik. Skilled forgers would work with magik practitioners to give certain properties to weapons and armor. This was the first kind of shop the girls went to because they figured it would interest Emory the most. The shop had a hardened metallic exterior juxtaposed with a deep red cherry wood mixed in and smelled of hot metal and ash. Inside, the walls were lined with all sorts of weapons and armor though there was certain organization to the place. Emory started at the front of the store and looked through the smaller weapons first.
Emory picked up a jeweled dagger and said, "Look at this one. Although I'm not surprised there's a store like this here, I am a little shocked at the quality of these items."
"I am too," Tana agreed as she took the dagger from Emory, "This dagger has a rare corrosion effect bonded to it and is well balanced too."
"Look they have some trinkets here that are enchanted as well," Tethys pointed out. Most of the items in the shop were out of their price range as the cheapest pieces were two thousand credits. Without jobs, universal basic income was fifty credits a week. Still basic necessities, housing, and utilities were all free which took care of most people's lives. Emory had been saving up and working all summer though, so she had enough to buy one of the cheaper pieces. The group spent an hour in the shop, and when Emory had just given up searching, Sam came across a pair of midnight blue gauntlets. The thin metal exterior covered the hands and wrists while a pitch-black leather interior ran up the forearm almost to the elbow. They looked more like an elegant pair of evening gloves than a weapon.
"Emory, come look at these!" Sam squealed.
"What did you find?" Emory asked as she walked over, "These look nice. Let me try them on." The best part about enchanted armor was the ability it had to change in size to fit the wearer, though these gauntlets were already just about Emory's size as if they were made for her.
The shopkeeper walked up and described the gauntlets, "They are indeed a nice pair. The design is the highlight though. They only have a basic power and protection boost."
"I'll take them," Emory smiled, "2,500 credits, right?"
"Honestly, these gauntlets have been in my store for a couple months now. Why don't I give them to you for 2,000 even?" the shopkeeper grinned back as he rang up the sale. Emory thanked him very much and took the box with them away quickly. She normally wouldn't have been this excited about something new, but they reminded her of a pair of gauntlets she found in her parents' room when she was young.
After leaving the enchanted shop, Tethys insisted all of them go to the clothing sector. Emory couldn't care less about new clothes, yet most clothing places nowadays also did embroidery as a side service, like photo printing at every supercenter. When they reached the clothing area, the girls split up to look at different things but agreed to meet back up at the entrance in half an hour. Emory quickly headed for the little kiosk where she could get a crest debossed on her gauntlets. To her surprise, a petite girl with short curly hair named Gwen was two people ahead in line. Emory hunched over and turned away, hoping that if she avoided talking to Gwen, she would in turn ignore Emory. Slowly, the line moved forward, and she evaded any contact with Gwen. Then she turned and almost ran over the tiny girl as she was dropping off the gauntlets.
"Watch it, carrot top," Gwen blurted as she avoided Emory and realized who she was, "Wait, you're that girl from school, right? Emory, was it?"
"Gwen, hi. Imagine running into you here," Emory grimaced.
"What are you getting done here?" Gwen asked, straight to the point, "I got a pair of boots that I wanted some embossing done on."
Emory mumbled, "I'm also getting some work done, but on gauntlets I bought."
"Wow, enchanted equipment," Gwen gawked, "Someone has money to spend."
"No, no, not at all. They're very basic gloves," Emory blushed.
After a short awkward pause, Gwen started, "So, where are you from?"
"Mars Base One," Emory quickly answered, "What about you?"
"We just moved here over the summer. I grew up on Earth," Gwen finished.
Emory's eyes grew large as she slowly gasped, "You're from Earth? Was it as great as everyone says? Why did you come here?"
"Woah there, slow down," Gwen giggled, "I should have expected that response."
"I'm so sorry; I don't know what came over me. I've never met someone who has even been to Earth, let alone lived there. But in books and pictures, it looks amazing," Emory explained.
"The first thing I'll tell you is that Earth doesn't look nearly as good as the pictures make it to be," Gwen began, "It's being cleaned up but there's still a lot of trash from before we started turning things around. On the other hand, you can't reproduce a waterfall or mountains in a habitat unit."
Emory sighed as she tried to imagine those things, "You're absolutely right about that. It sounds wonderful still."
Then Jask as the kiosk bonged, "Gwen Snow, your package is ready."
Gwen went to the kiosk and grabbed a pair of crimson leather boots. Just before she put them in the bag she had been carrying, Emory saw a distinct emblem embossed near the top of one of the boots. It was a fist from the side with a single water droplet coming down; Emory assumed it was a family crest of some sort. Once Gwen put the boots away, she turned to Emory, "Well, I guess I'll see you back at school. Good to see you."
"Have a good rest of your day," Emory waved. Emory didn't know how long the debossing would take, so she just browsed the shelves nearby time and time again until her name was called. Before she put them away, she looked at the emblem she had gotten inscribed on the back of the hands of the gauntlets. It was the same symbol as her pendant: a pentagram inside a circle surrounded by a square. The gauntlets looked complete with the addition of the vivid insignia. She was more than satisfied with the work done and returned to the entrance to wait for her friends, though she didn't have to wait for very long. Sam returned first with a bag under each arm.
Sam scowled, "You didn't buy anything. You were supposed to go buy something."
"I have plenty of clothes," Emory quipped, "So instead, I went to the custom kiosk and debossed my new gauntlets." She was so overjoyed with the work that she pulled them out to show to Sam. Sam admired the gauntlets again and looked them over until she found the emblem. Her hands started shaking, and she quickly put the gauntlets back in the bag.
"Where did you come up with that design? It's rather unique," Sam asked as her voice wavered.
"It's a family crest," Emory said cheerfully as she pulled out her pendant, "See? My mom put it around my neck shortly before she left."
Sam's jaw dropped, "Quick, put those away. That's the most famous symbol in all the magik community!"
"What do you mean?" Emory responded with confusion, "It's just a silly design. You can get them anywhere."
"The pendant is one thing and can be easily explained; putting it on your weapons and armor is a different matter entirely. That's the family crest of the Aurelias clan. Why didn't you tell me you had a charm like this?" Sam explained in a hushed voice.
Emory huffed, "You know, I'm starting to get really tired of you knowing more about my family than me. What's the problem if I flash this symbol then? Lady Black is well respected."
"I can see one big problem with it. Ephraim and Cassandra Black have no children, so a younger person with this crest on their weapons or armor would imply several things," Sam elaborated, "Questions will start with how you afforded those and end with are you a secret child of the Blacks. I'm sure you were already getting questions about them at the kiosk."
"I suppose you're right. Gwen made a comment when I told her I was getting the work done on some gauntlets in the first place," Emory grumbled.
"You saw Gwen?" Sam's voice squeaked, "Did you mention what you were getting done to the gauntlets? Please say no."
Emory rolled her eyes, "No, I didn't tell her anything. Though I did see a cool icon embossed in her boots."
"Do I even want to know? Wait, let me think. I'm going to guess it was a fist with a blood drop underneath," Sam complained as she slouched over.
"You're right!" Emory replied happily, "What's wrong with that?"
"It means she's definitely a Grado!" Sam clapped to accent her point. Emory shrugged as she was still learning the intricacies of the Council while Sam started pacing and shaking her head. Emory continued to wonder what kind of boots Gwen had gotten. Originally, she had assumed that they were just for fashion, but Sam's comments now made her think otherwise. With both of them mumbling to themselves, it was an odd sight for Tana and Tethys who walked up shortly after.
"Are you two having a stroke or something?" Tana jokily asked.
"What?" Sam said as her trance was broken, "No stroke. Just thinking about things out loud. How was shopping?"
"Good! I got three more dresses," Tethys exclaimed.
"I found some track suits in my size, so that was a plus," Tana responded with growing anxiety in her voice, "Did any of you happen to see a television when you were shopping?" The girls all shook their heads, which panicked Tana a little more.
"Why do you ask?" Emory questioned Tana, "Did you see something we should be worried about?"
Tana hiccupped for a moment, "Let's go get some lunch somewhere we can see a screen. There was a countdown on one of the news channels."
"A countdown to what?" Tethys remarked with anxiety building in her voice too. Tana shrugged as she led the group to an open eating area with a large screen overhead. After they grabbed some food and sat down, the screen had been changed to a large display of Mars News & Media and showed a countdown just like Tana had said. Strangely, or maybe rather ominously, the countdown had no label or description. Suddenly while the girls were eating, the oversized screen let out a ring like a morning alarm clock and went on for thirty seconds or so. The screen changed to display a mahogany podium in front of blue curtains, a scene most people realized as the podium of the High Collective. The dull roar of the crowds and the hustle and bustle of the shopping district died down within a minute as all eyes turned to the screen or to a mobile device playing the same thing.
~~~
A tall, broad man in shining silver armor came up to the podium after a few moments. He tapped the microphone a few times and then started, "Humans, I come before you today with troubling news. As of early Saturday morning, we lost contact with our Proxima Centauri B habitat site and have been unable to reconnect since then. Though we don't know what happened to the station, it is clear from other indications that an external, conscience creature or creatures forcibly split our connection to the site. We don't know who or why this was done. However, it is clear this was done nefariously. In order to prepare for a threat from outside our system, we are taking two steps towards full readiness today. First, we've raised the threat level from yellow to red to call up necessary preparations. This will help fill out the other teams faster by calling up our reservists. Second, we will be instituting a draft for all eighteen- to twenty-five-year-olds. Those in school will go through our ten-week intensive training course and lead their fellow young adults if we must take up arms against extraterrestrials. Rest assured; this will not be like the last invasion of our soil. We are ready to fight and win if necessary. Now, I will turn it over to the audience for questions."
~~~
The broadcast continued to go on as the man answered questions about intel, preparations, and other important topics, yet Emory had tuned him out. "Is this how the war started last time?" Emory thought, "The air feels heavy like when I was a kid. Just minutes ago, these people were all laughing and enjoying themselves. Now it's quiet and everyone is only whispering." She was indeed perceptive since the atmosphere had drastically changed from before the announcement. After it ended, most people speedily finished their food and left the area; in fact, due to the lack of noise, it was clear many people finished their shopping or other business and left swiftly.
"So back to the school then?" Tana said as she finished drinking her soda. The others nodded as they cleared their table off. It was a solemn walk back to the school spent mostly in silence, but Emory did speak up when they got close.
"I'm not happy they came back so soon," Emory slowly spoke, "But I am glad to have a goal now."
"Oh yeah? What's your goal?" Tethys asked defeatedly.
Emory forcefully spat, "I'm going to avenge my parents." When she said those words, Sam, Tana, and Tethys could not only hear the conviction in her words; they could feel the force of her magik on their skin. No one doubted Emory in that moment despite the massive power difference between her and an army of Mantoan.
When they got back to the school, they decided to message Gatrie and Innes that they planned to get dinner and bring it back to their room. A few words would be said now and then about the day before the announcement, but the conversations never lasted. Eventually, they all decided to nod off for the night. It was the first of many rough nights ahead for Emory.
Once everyone had drifted off to sleep, Tethys quietly snuck out of bed. She did the same routine as she had only a couple days earlier. When she connected with an operator this time, it was an older woman on the other side saying, "Agent number please."
"One hundred," Tethys whispered.
"Hold please, I'm pulling up your information," the older woman stated, "It says here you checked in only two days ago. Why are you calling?"
Tethys hissed, "I have new information concerning the mission. I have found a potential objective and need guidance to proceed."
"A potential objective? What do you mean?" the woman snapped, "You were supposed to report any sightings or descriptions you can of the Council of Witches and their descendants. Do you have pressing information about either of these two things?"
"I don't think one of my roommates is a descendant, but she's definitely a family member. Not just any family, I'm pretty sure she's related to Cassandra Black," Tethys murmured.
"Cassandra Black has no living relatives. Why do you think they are related?" the woman barked.
Tethys sighed, "They have the same sphere." Silence echoed on the other side of the line.
A squeaky voiced man responded, "How do you know it's the same?"
"Besides their magik looked the same and several people remarked that it is the same," Tethys muttered, "The person in question also has a spellbook that is written in a different language."
"A different language? Ethel, when was the last time humanity used more than one language?" the man asked away from the receiver.
The older woman replied, "The last major language besides English stopped being used at the turn of the century. Do you have any idea what language it is, Agent 100?"
"I do not," Tethys explained, "But I do know that it did not match a language on record here at the school." More silence poured through the phone, lasting a few minutes this time.
"Agent 100, the mission has changed slightly," the man stated when he finally broke the silence, "Please continue to observe this subject and report back at your normal interval. With the declaration today, we have decided to pause all current plans. Thank you for the update, Agent." Then the line was cut off, and Tethys snuck back into bed without a peep. Of course, she had no idea how much she had affected the future with just one little conversation about one young girl.