Story: Chimera: Class of 666
Chapter: Two "Boots"
Part: One "Waking Up"
Chapter: Two "Boots"
Authored by:
Hannah Nyland (The Irreverent Revenant)
All Rights Reserved.
Chimera: Class of 666
By Hannah Nyland and Jerad Sayler
“Do
you think your parents will interfere because of your strange behavior? Send
you in for therapy or put you on drugs?” he asks.
I
shake my head, “I don’t think that pills or appointments are going to be an
issue. They don’t push that kind of thing.” Maybe not even when they should. I
sigh. “So, lucky then. I think I can deal with the boots. . . . thanks.”
He
waves off my appreciation and grins.
“Your parents are pretty cool, I’ve always thought of them as very
progressive in their beliefs. I remember visiting and they would tell me all
kinds of factoids about Buddhism with my Christian fear nagging me in the back
ground. Glad I got over that.” He smirks, the trademark look.
“Speaking of which, does what happened to you
cause you any religious distress? That always makes it worse. People have a
certain world view and when it gets shattered it grows back funny… that’s how
you get cults and Banishers, insular mages who misinterpret their magic as
something destructive and vile. They tend to try to kill us.”
“You
should see our house now. Two new Buddha statues in the last month. That makes
something like – twelve?” I’m smiling a
little at the thought, but sober up at the idea of homicidal mages. Quietly I
add, “Uh, but no. I didn’t really have strong religious beliefs before. Not
much to be shattered there.” The talk of cults unsettles me a little, but not
because of the religious aspect. But misinterpreting magic as something
harmful? Alone, I could have done that. I was already starting to.
"Cool,
we have three Buddhas now as well.” He says, then snorts.
“Ha!
I never made the connection until now. As for my religious beliefs, I feel they
are a luxury that should only be kept if they are productive. My awakening
shook away any lasting ties with strict Christian orthodoxy. Who needs religion? I can literally interact with the divine, it
is real.”
“You
have a point.” I respond, mulling over the implications of faith for a moment.
“Well
anyway, it would be good to return your life to some normalcy,” he continues, “it’s
amazing sometimes on how simple behavior patterns and routines can get messed
up and how it affects people heads. Just know that it is going to be okay. Go
to whatever medical or psychological appointments your family wants you to go
to. I’m not surprised really, awakening as a warlock is never a pleasant
experience. Answer their questions the
way you know they want you to answer to be checked out as normal. If they give
you meds maybe don’t swallow them until we get a handle on this. Do your freak
outs in private if necessary. Give me a call or tamper with the amulet a little
and we will come running. I have so much to show you and so many questions to
answer, I’ll be meeting up with you for some education soon. I just need you to
be strong and hold out a little longer. Now that you know you are not crazy…
well not any more crazy than we are, it should held you focus on calling up or
dismissing your sights. I am actually impressed you already figured out how to
do them already.”
I flip the card in my hand over
and over and he notices me doing it. “Do
you know what it means?” He asks.
I look down at the Prince of
Cups and turn it over so it’s reversed as he had described it when he first
drew it out of thin air. “No… is it the
Knight of Cups? I’ve never heard of
princes in the Tarot,” I offer.
He smiles, “Good. Yes, in the more common representations it is
the Knight of Cups. Reversed it means
you are been given a powerful gift, but the gift is causing much emotional
turmoil. Or rather, your emotions
regarding this situation are controlling you.
I have a mind to flip that card around.
Purity, innocence, power.”
“Okay…”
“This
is you,” He says pointing to the tarot card. “This decides it. You will be my apprentice if you so desire or
as long as you desire.”
I
stop walking and raise an eyebrow. “What.”
“It
will be alright, your choices will remain your own. We are here to help you and
teach you.”
“I’ll
think about it… is that okay?”
“Sure,
I’m here to help.” He responds, nonchalant.
“Then…
I have a question now,” I ask, a little meekly.
“Cool,
what’s up?”
“What
is a warlock? How was my awakening different than others?”
Jack
smiles knowingly and does a quick flourish with my coat, extending a sweeping
hand as dramatically as possible. “You and I are warlocks, we are called by the
watchtower in Pandemonium. There we are
tested by demons from within or without, challenged, honed, tested and
sharpened through conflict. The realm is
attuned to Spatiomancy (Space Magic) and Neuromancy (Mind Magic) and common
threads between the two. Actually,
depending on which one you are best at becomes what type of mage you are
classified as. Those that favor
Neuromancy or Oneiromancy are called Psychonauts and those that favor
Spatiomancy are called Warlocks. Collectively both are called Mastigos.”
“Mind
Magic and Space Magic…Mastigos” I
repeat, thinking to the Sights I had witnessed.
“You
see, everyone who has awakened was called by one of the five Watchtowers. One
of those towers is in the Supernal Realm of Pandemonium, and that is where you
wrote your True Name. Do you remember being tormented by demons? Lost in a
maze? See anything tower-like? Sign your name on something? Whether dreaming or
in a day-mare your soul traversed shortcuts in astral space and found yourself
in the realm. What can you tell me about your experience?”
At
the mention of my Awakening, I stiffen visibly. I look down, shifting the card
between my fingers, hands, and notice that my hands are shaking slightly. The
nightmare was cut short only a few days ago, and I can recall it all perfectly.
The lines of reality blurring and running together like rain on chalk. The slow
but complete disintegration of reason, leaving utter, helpless fear in its
place. Flooded consciousness and oily black whispers. Pandemonium – a world
completely alien. This doesn’t feel
real.
“I
didn’t actually go anywhere. A month ago, the world just stopped following any
kind of logic.” I freeze up, finding myself unable to elaborate. It’s something
I would prefer not to remember. “I’m not even sure how much of it actually
happened; I wasn’t getting much sleep for most of it, so it’s not like I was
playing with a full deck anyway. But like I said, I signed a slip of paper, saw
the inside of a tower and . . . here we are.”
Jack
nods knowingly, it is comforts to know that at least one family members can
relate to what happened. “I dreamed it all, the most horrible and vivid dream
of my life. I will tell you about it later.”
We
both walk up the driveway of Terry & Bab’s house. Jack turns to me and asks, “How about we get
a cup of coffee inside?”
I’m
relieved not to be pressed on the issue, and relax noticeably. Anxiety is
immediately replaced with curiosity about his experience of discovering magic.
For something so horrible, he manages to seem fairly casual about it. Although
that isn’t entirely surprising at this point, I think wryly.
“Okay.
No coffee for me though.” I make a face. “Too bitter.”
“Well
cocoa then.”
“Sounds
good.” I smile, the warmth of the amulet filling me with confidence and reserve. I actually feel pretty good at this moment.
He
look down admiringly at our switched pair of boots as he kicks off some snow on
the front step. “You know, I think there may even be extra room in these.” He
chuckles as we head inside.
Jack
does his covert hoodoo (I think, I felt it but he really didn’t do anything) to
make it look like we just came up from the basement. We re-enter the warm King home like we never
left. The younger cousins play and prowl around. Terry and Bab’s son is showing
off the show off the pregnant stomach of his new wife.
Back
inside, I’m at the kitchen counter, looking for a decent substitute for coffee.
Even after I’ve find something to drink, I hover uneasily near the counter away
from everyone else, attempting to look both inconspicuous and disconnected.
Despite that, I keep stealing glances over at everyone present. Stan building
god knows what out of legos. My parents, still chatting amiably. Zoe, Jack, and
my Grandparents. They all look so at home.
Jack and I spend some time with
our mutual grandparents before heading down to the basement where Keri, Jack’s
sister, and our other cousins and in-laws are hanging out.
We sit with our
warm beverages on the couch and talk quietly, just out of earshot. I walk over
from the bottom of the carpeted stairs and sit down.
“Every time I come
home to visit grandma and grandpa, grandma gives me these sad looks and says
really unfortunate things. She makes me feel like every time I see her it’s the
last time. But I don’t know what to do about it… “
At
the talk of grandma, I look down unhappily. I know what he’s talking about. In
fact, I’ve heard my mom saying very similar things recently. I don’t know what I can do, or even say about
it. Right now, I settle for a sympathetic silence and listen.
“I need to come
home more but there is no way to explain the frequent visits to the rest of the
family. Bending space for selfish reasons and all those shifts in locality
leaves marks, depositing traces of unbidden magic that could harm someone. Plus
it pings on people’s radar, supernatural or otherwise. And despite my knowledge
I can’t claim to know even half of what is really out there.”
“I sounds
dangerous, it all sounds dangerous.” I
sigh in worry.
“Fear of the unknown, I get it. You can’t just categorize all the weird,
that’s a fallacy. There are more things on heaven and earth et cetera et
cetera… Anyway, I was going to tell you about my awakening, hopefully that can
provide you with insight and maybe some clarity about all this. Let me know if
you want me to stop, I just figure since we are here and all we are going to be
able to think about is this hidden life stuff we might as well use the time…”
He sips his coffee.
“If
it was anything like my own, I want to hear it…” I answer without a thought needed.
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