Tale of Four

”Slowly, girl.” The black Magi said softly as Alice rose. Grabbing her head, there was still a lingering pain in the back of her skull, but compared to the sudden explosion that had preceded it, it was nothing. Looking around, she saw another Magi standing by her desk, holding the quill, staring at it with wide eyes, unable to pull his eyes away, whilst another held her glasses, handing them back to her.

”Put that down.” Despite wanting to shout, her voice came out like an empty breath, without strength in her voice. The two Magi looking after Alice turned back to see the older man ignore her and continue to stare at the quill, running his hand over it.

”Oi.” The black Magi called out to him, finally making the man realise he was getting lost in thought. Walking over to Alice, he held the quill close to him.

”How much for it? Name a price.”

”Are you serious?” The black Magi snapped at the other, looking at him with disappointment, ”The girl has just woken up, and you’re already trying to take her things. Give it here?” Reaching out, the Magi pulled the quill back, holding it even closer to himself, ”What are you doing?”

”How much?”

”It’s mine. Give it to me.” Alice said with a low growl, the strength returning to her voice. Holding her hand out, she waited for him to put it in her hand.

”Do you understand what you have here, girl. Just name a price.” The man refused to let Alice take a deep breath. Reaching out to snatch it back, he pulled away.

”Fucking hell.” The Black Magi finally moved and took the quill when the man didn’t notice. ”She said it wasn’t for sale. We do not steal from our own.”

”You don’t know what that thing is.” The man sharply said and looked to Alice, ”It is a waste in your hands, girl. I will return it after a while, but allow me to study it. I have deep knowledge in runecraft.”

”I don’t care.” Alice held her hand out to the black Magi, who put it back into her hand, ”It’s mine.” The man stared at her for a moment before scoffing and turning around, storming out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The two remaining Magi sighed and took a seat, looking over Alice, smiling, seeing she was fine.

”What happened? We heard your screams through the hallways. Luckily, the customers below didn’t hear them, or they may have demanded an investigation.” The black Magi asked with a soft voice, inspecting the glasses that rested next to Alice, nodding in approval, realising it was made from the materials she had just bought.

”I experimented.” Sighing, Alice rubbed the quill in her hands, picking up the glasses by her side. Looking at the box on the table, the other Magi grabbed it for her. Putting the glasses safely inside, she stored them in her bag and frowned, ”I made a mistake, but it’s fine now.”

”No. You were bleeding heavily. I don’t know what your experiment was, but you nearly killed yourself.” The black mgai said with a shake of the head, ”You need to be careful, didn’t your teacher warn you about these things?”

”It’s fine.” Alice fell backwards, staring up at the ceiling, ”I know not to do it next time.” Happily saying, she kicked her feet back and forth, chuckling to herself. Even if she nearly died, it proved soemthing to her. The quill wasn’t just a good artefact, it was soemthing that held many mysteries and powers. In the whole world, if she were to guess, there were likely very few things equal to it.

”You’d better rest for a day.”

”No.” Alice looked up and met the black Magis’ gaze, ”I made what I wanted, I have no reason to stay.” With a shake of the head, the black Magi frowned.

”You don’t understand. You need to rest a little bit before you move. A potion takes a while to complete its effect. But if you wish to leave now, you must pay me back for it. If you wait, I’ll waive the cost.” Alice stared at him for a moment before rummaging around in her bag. Looking at what was available to sell, she sighed and collapsed back on the bed.

”I have no money.

”Then rest for a day. If there is any damage inside your body, the potion will solve it. And...” Looking at her cheek, seeing the dried blood on it, he smiled, ”If there is anything it can’t heal that is hiding, this way you are around people who know where the damage is.” Turning to the other Magi, the two shared a nod, ”We’ll let you rest. If you run off, at least leave some payment behind.”

With a meek nod, Alice stayed still for a moment, hearing the door slam shut. Grabbing the quill once they left, she held it above her and stared, taking the glass once more. Without hesitation, she put them back on, but rather than using the translation lens, she activated the magnification one.

Closing her right eye, she saw the sight before her zoom in and focused on the quill alone, narrowing in on the feather. Up closer, she saw even better what the feather was. Not only were they all individual strands of gold bunched together, woven to look like a feather, but along them all there was a thin carving, so small that it was impossible to see with the naked eye.

’How did he even carve soemthing so small. But I guess even he has limits; none of these is runes, just a valve to get rid of excess.’ Alice chuckled, staring at them. ’Maybe I should try to carve a rune on it one day just to mess with him.’ The thought made her smile, but as she pondered it deeper, it fell, ’Too bad I can’t rub it in his face. Maybe I should have brought his skull. That would be the next best thing.’

Shrugging, she focused on the actual body of the quill, getting an even better look at the runes. As she had seen normally, all of them were runes carved into runes, not a single speck of their bodies left untouched, allowing no waste. Her gaze was penetrative, and after ten minutes she finally realised how it was done, her mouth going agape.

’Although I can’t read them, I can tell those inside share properties with the ones they are carved within. Leaving just enough space to make them separate things, you can activate one without the other.’ Narrowing her open eye, she stared seeing soemthing more, ’Those inside and outside can be activated as different circuits, or all at once. The Limteless rune is holding it all together, no wonder it was so big, it wasn’t just a prank.’

With an exhale and chuckle, she focused on the tip that absorbed light. Seeing the thin carving that could carry the arcane power to its edge, she tried to find anything, but struggled, the material it was created from, like a void that even absorbed thought made about it.

Touching, it was cold, a cold that was unnatural, one that slowly seeped into the skin the longer someone held it. It was smooth yet also felt like water. With enough pressure, she felt that she could crush it between her fingers, yet when she tried, it failed. ’What is this? I’ve never heard of anything like this. It’s almost like it’s made of the night sky itself.’

Shaking her head, the door opened once again. Looking at it, the Magi who previously held her quill stepped in, ”Hand it over.” Saying with a deep voice, he stared at it with a greedy gaze.

”I already said it’s not for sale.” Alice snapped back, jumping up, nearly stumbling on her weak legs. The magi scoffed and raised a hand.

”Silence.” From his hand, a wave of power filled the room. Alice spoke, but not a single noise came from her mouth. The Magi stepped forward and reached out to grab it. Pulling it back, Alice looked at him, shook her head.

”IT’S MINE!” Her cry was silent, silenced by the power spread across the room.

The Magi groaned and rather than reaching for the quill he grabbed her arm and pulled her close, saying soemthing that couldn’t be heard. Alice took a deep breath and ground her teeth, seeing his hand reach for the quill.

Lifting a hand, she placed it on his chest. From her palm a strong stream of wind flew, throwing the Magi back, who looked at her in shock at being able to cast a spell without saying anything. The silence in the room shook as he clicked his tongue.

”A child fresh from the Mad House can already use spells without speaking.” In the flickering of his silence spell, he spoke and raised a hand to restore it before walking back over. Waving his hand, he cast another spell, this time without speaking. From his palm, a gas came from his hands.

Alice looked at it and felt her irritation boiling towards anger. It was hers; she had won it. Even her teacher relented when she said no. ”I will blow the room up if you don’t stop.” With a warning that couldn’t be heard, the gas slowly inched closer to her.

Taking a single sniff of it, a wave of tiredness flooded her mind. Clenching her fists, seeing him come closer, Alice raised both hands and chuckled before slamming them on the ground. She had given a warning, and even with it, the Magi never stopped.

’Fire, inferno, compression, explosion, wind.’

Thinking of the numerous different attributes she wanted to apply to the spell, a bright white light spread out from beneath her palms, spreading across the floor. The floor boards instantly erupted into flames, exploding outwards as the wind carried the flames around. The Magi looked at Alice in horror, realising what she had just done, but before he could react, he was thrown backwards.

Standing up, Alice threw a passing glance at the man as the sound finally returned, the cracking of flames covering a groaning. Looking to the door, she stepped outside and reached into her bag, grabbing one of the papers she had tried to trade earlier and what was left of the yellow liquid. Standing before her door, she scooped up some yellow liquid on her finger, heated it up, and used it as glue to stick the paper on the door, adding a note at the bottom.

’Payment.’

With a smile, she looked down the hallway and picked a door at random. Placing her hand on it, she spoke. ”Va’tar.” The door opened. Jumping through, the door closed, the sound of cracking fire vanishing with it, leaving behind the looming silence of the Mad House.