"Saturday, sure." Her emotions were too conflicted for her to focus during the rest of the conversation, so she was glad it was merely a few details. Eventually she was standing alone again, but everything had changed.
Hadn't she gotten what she wanted? A full professor as a patron was better than she had hoped, even if he was just taking her as a lost cause. And it seemed she'd only made a fool of herself inside her head, so it hadn't been so embarrassing. Why did she still feel so uneasy?
"An inauspicious start."
Laxir. He was standing just behind her and Aki jumped away in shock. Yet he barely seemed to be looking at her, instead gazing at the darkening sky through the street lamps.
"So you're enrolled at Axis University. Soon you'll be given all the answers you want and more, and be driven further and further away from the truth." His gaze shifted down to her and for just a moment she saw something inhuman. "You don't realize it, but you pushed the first stone of an avalanche. If only I knew which one."
"Do you stalk me whenever you get bored or something?"
"It's kind of like that." Laxir grinned easily and shifted toward her, but she kept out of reach. "You made a friend tonight. One day he's going to kill you."
She took a ragged breath. "What?"
But Laxir was already gone, leaving barely a trace of magic. The street lamps flickered all at once and when they came back to life they seemed to shiver. It was even colder than before and when Aki wrapped her arms around herself she felt no better. The friend had to be Blake, which meant...
Enough gibberish. She had heard too many people talking about prophecy and destiny today to believe any more of it. Aki shook herself and vowed to ignore it all until she had any evidence it would happen. This was modern magic; she didn't believe in those kinds of superstition.
That was small comfort as she looked up. Above the city's glow, the sky was dark as if the stars had gone out.
Chapter 5
The sky was blue and it could not have seemed more unnatural. Keisha understood why the normal sky was blue and doubted her knowledge had any relevance here. It was like a canopy lay just overhead, a solid dome that suffused the world below with a blue glow. Since she had arrived, there had been no night, no moon, no sun.
Reality was stranger than she had imagined, and if she had gotten into NYU she might never have known it. She would have been happy not knowing. However, since she was here, she appreciated the beauty for what it was.
Appreciated for a moment, then she went back to reading. At the beginning Tierdrial had given her several books and she had been left alone for the next two days. Other than the books, the only thing she had to occupy her time was her laptop, which somehow got wireless internet. Sites that detected location had only a blank where a country would have been. Her room was sparse but comfortable enough, like any low rent apartment in the real world.
Well, except for the blue light everywhere. It would have been impossible to sleep if the window glass hadn't become opaque to represent night. That was a concession for her, since nothing else she saw seemed to sleep. The creatures that looked like blue squirrels chittered from their nests at all hours, and the birds watched her every time she went outside. They were strange, unbalanced creatures with one enormous wing curled around them and a green eye burning within.
The door opened without a sound and Tierdrial swept into the room. Keisha sat up from the bed and closed her book. "Good morning."
"It isn't morning." Tierdrial spread papers on the room's small table and tapped them with one finger. "I will have less time for you until finals end, but even now you can develop a program of study. I would recommend two or three subjects and two practical sessions per week."
"Do you have time to answer a few questions?" She looked through the papers, which seemed to be basic classes and a schedule.
"I wouldn't have come if I didn't, since I know you'll ask them."
"I'm grateful for the books, but I'm still not clear about many things. They all seem to talk about magic differently and some of it has to be contradictory. I can't explain how we got here, or what this place is, or almost anything."
"Some of those books are there mostly to confuse you." Tierdrial folded her arms. "Humans want to understand everything, and that is their greatest mistake."
"So I'm in university to avoid learning about things?"
"Think of it this way: magic is like a tiger on a leash. You can pull the rope, or call commands, or any number of methods to control it. But in the end it is a tiger. We can predict how it will respond to various methods, but it is a mistake to believe those methods are absolute."
"I suppose that makes sense." Keisha stopped filling out the schedule for a moment and tapped her pencil against the table. "Still, it's confusing when everyone uses different names."
"In that, we agree with you. For this reason Axis University has made logical divisions and standardized names. Others might disagree with our classification and many would use different language, but by the time you graduate you will be able to understand others at a glance."
That was a relief to hear. Keisha suspected that Tierdrial valued mystery and the unknown more than she did, but she could still learn. She slid the papers around to face the professor. "How does this look? I don't know how difficult the practical sessions will be, so I guessed low for now."
Tierdrial's eyes scanned the page and flicked up. "This is several times what I recommended."
"It is."
"You really think you can keep up with a work load like this?"
"I've finished Introduction to Propitiation and another book I found in the room. I haven't attempted anything for the sake of safety, but it seemed simple enough to me."
For a long moment Tierdrial only stared at her, then she gave a thin smile. "We'll see how well you really understood, but I see you can keep up with the academic side of things. This is ambitious. What exactly do you want?"
The question took Keisha off guard. She could have bought time while she thought, but she knew Tierdrial would see through it. It was a difficult question even for herself. While she had enjoyed the past several days, she still wanted to forget about all this and go to NYU. That answer wasn't very likely to please Tierdrial, though, and-
"Don't think of lying to me. You give the answers you think people want to hear. Right now I'd like to hear why you're really here."
"You want the truth?" There was no chance of telling that, not if it endangered her life, but perhaps partial honesty would help. "All I really want to study is law. But until I get into a good school, I need to support myself somehow. I would have refused this opportunity, but it seems they're willing to pay my way."
"So that's how it is." Tierdrial leaned on her elbows to be face to face with Keisha. "I think that attitude will mean you'll fail miserably. But if you prove me wrong, this could work well for you."
"Work well?" Keisha sat back in her chair, though she kept her gaze locked on the white eyes.
"Let me be honest with you as well: most of the classes here are menial labor. The faculty would eliminate them if we could do so without the students complaining or accidentally killing themselves. The end goal of all this is your personal strength and research. If you quickly reach the point where you can assist the professors, you stand to profit from this experience."
"Really? Even if I do well on the examination I didn't think the scholarship money could be used for personal reasons."
"It can't." Tierdrial took her pencil from her hand and began changing the classes on the schedule, though she did not reduce the number. "But if you help a professor publish in magic academia, you will be compensated. I'll start you on the path that will get you to your degree and publishing as quickly as possible... assuming you don't fail."
"Thank you, but don't take away all the physical classes. Those could be useful later."
"Very well." Tierdrial straightened and jabbed a finger at Keisha's forehead. "You've been blessed
with a Light Essence. Most who have them are interested in fighting the war and all of that nonsense. But since you're not, think of yourself as an incubator. If you develop that Essence to a mature state, Axis will pay you a substantial amount to take it when you graduate."
They spent a while longer negotiating the exact schedule. It was easier than she expected, now that she was back in her element. She might avoid Roger's fate if she gave the university what they wanted, and maybe even come out of this at a profit. Eventually Tierdrial took the sheet of paper and nodded.
"I suppose this will do. Propitiation is a valuable field of study and the physical aspects will grow the Essence. Though the load is balanced, I suspect you won't be able to keep up with it if you're just in this for the money."
"Why are you bothering with me if you're so sure I'll fail?"
"Maybe I like to see people fail." Tierdrial stopped at the door and glanced back over her shoulder. "An ambitious failure is more likely to be seen as useful than someone who attempts nothing. I assure you, if you are viewed as useless, you will never make it to law school. We start tomorrow."
Then she was gone, leaving Keisha in cold sweat. It would have been a threat except she didn't think Tierdrial was the real danger. It was the administration, Fredrick Hall and whoever else, that had profit in mind. She thought back to what Roger had said before he was killed and shivered since she finally understood some of it.
But there was a way out, back to the rest of her life. Tierdrial was sure she would fail, but Keisha was used to proving people wrong. She just wasn't used to betting her life on it.
~ ~ ~
She shifted from foot to foot and wondered if she should ring the doorbell again. No, it hadn't been that long, it just felt like it. Coming to Emile's home was ten times as nerve-wracking as it would have been at the beginning.
Though the plan had been to have dinner to start things, it had been put off multiple times due to his wife's schedule. Aki wasn't sure exactly what she did, but Emile didn't seem to want to disrupt his wife's plans. Things had finally worked out after several weeks of training, and now she was afraid this meeting would be some kind of test.
It hadn't been what she expected. They put her up in a nice hotel and she met with Emile most days to study or train. Mostly parks and coffee shops, though some of them seemed to be frequented by non-humans and Emile didn't see the need to keep his voice down. She was much more comfortable with him now, since he'd never been anything but friendly and professional.
Just as she raised her hand again the door opened. Even at home Emile was dressed for work, this time a blue dress shirt with dark slacks. "Welcome to our home, Aki. We're not quite ready yet, but feel free to come inside."
"Thanks, sorry I'm early." She was late, actually, but better not to mention it.
Inside the house was brightly lit and colorful. There were abstract paintings on the walls and afghans thrown over most of the furniture. Though it was a mansion compared to Aki's apartment, it wasn't even as large as her parents' home. Some of it seemed a little tasteless, but Aki wore t-shirts with Nintendo characters on them so she wasn't brave enough to judge. She wished one of those shirts was appropriate now, because her new white skirt was scratchy.
Past the empty dinner table, something in the corner caught her eye. It was a sculpture of a man carrying a stone on his back, reminding her of Atlas. She crouched by it, trying to figure out what it was made of, then gasped. Though it seemed like wood, the grain was multi-colored, creating patterns all over the design that seemed to shift before her eyes.
"So you like that?" Emile was leaning against the table just behind her. "I bought it from some sprites in Rothil."
"It's pretty. Rothil... what realm would that be in again?"
"Spirit. If something doesn't live on Mundane Earth, it probably lives in one of the realms in Spirit. We can talk about that later if you're interested, but I imagine you could use a break from studying."
"No kidding." She found her gaze drawn back to the statue and felt the grains with her fingers. "Is this actually wood?"
"Trees are like that in Rothil. I wish more people knew they make nice art. Their economy is struggling because they don't have any valuable exports, but with the Earth markets they-"
A woman's voice intruded. "Are you looking at that horrible thing? I should have put it away."
Aki straightened just in time to see Emile's wife. Nanette Martin was startlingly beautiful, with striking green eyes behind platinum blond hair. She was exquisitely dressed and the gems in her earrings and necklace might have been real diamonds. Before Aki could react, Nanette kissed her on both cheeks and then examined her.
"So you're the new student, are you? Well, come into the kitchen and help me finish."
"Um, alright." Aki had no choice but to follow obediently. It wasn't magic - she was fairly sure about that thanks to her training - Nanette simply had a forceful personality.
Their kitchen looked like it came out of a catalogue except for the ingredients laid out over the central table. There was an entire rack of jars with spices, and that was all Aki needed to see to know she was outclassed. Nanette moved back to a cutting board and used the knife to gesture in Aki's direction.
"Can you cook, dear?"
"A little." It was probably a good idea not to tell them how long she had gone eating nothing but ramen. She was a little embarrassed about that even when not in the presence of connoisseurs.
"Then cut these. You should be able to manage that."
As Aki obeyed, Emile started to open one of the spice jars, but Nanette swatted his hand. "Go get the table set. We need some time for girl talk."
Aki mouthed "don't leave me" but Emile smiled ruefully and left with some plates. Well, there was no choice but to cut the vegetables in front of her. Even trying to keep up with Nanette already beginning a stream of conversation, it shouldn't be difficult.
Within a few minutes she had managed to cut herself. The job was so boring she tried to do it faster and faster, and eventually she hadn't gotten her fingers out of the way in time. When Nanette saw her sucking on her finger she rushed over.
"You're bleeding... all of these are ruined now!" She pushed the cut vegetables off the edge of the table into a trash can and put aside the knife and board, all the while making tsking noises. That wasn't so different from her own mother. Aki felt at home, which wasn't a good thing. "I'll just do these myself, then."
"Sorry."
"Oh, we'll get more. Just try not to bleed on anything else."
"Maybe we should have Emile help."
Nanette frowned at her. "He's even more useless in the kitchen than you are. We should have taken you to a nice restaurant, but he wanted this to be 'low-key' if you can believe he said that. I'm sure you've realized the man can be insufferable sometimes."
So far he'd been nothing but patient. Aki idly wondered if he could be the type of person who was pleasant at work and abusive to his wife, but couldn't imagine Nanette taking any kind of abuse. Before Aki could come up with anything to say, Nanette removed the need.
"The truth is I didn't want you to have to see this house. We should be able to afford a better one, with his salary, but he says it isn't enough. If he'd taken a better job we might not have to endure like this."
"Isn't he head of the Maleficium department? I thought that was a high position."
"You can't get anywhere teaching all of the time. He had a chance to be dean of students, and half of all deans go on to join the board of directors. But he wouldn't take it."
Against her better judgment, Aki kept speaking. "Maybe he wants to teach?"
"Oh, that's well and fine, but he never thinks about what I want. And where will we be in twenty years?"
When a few of the dishes were done, Aki was glad to volunteer to take them to the table. There was a tablecloth now and everything had been set up carefully. Her thumb had stopped bleeding, but she showed the cut to Emile. "Is there any way to he
al this?"
"Several, but right now you're-"
"Dear!" Nanette's voice came from within the kitchen. "Can you come here for a moment?"
He shrugged apologetically and headed off. Since Aki had already put her food on the table she wasn't sure what to do. She started to head back to the kitchen before realizing that Nanette sounded angry. Instead she stepped to the nearest wall, feeling ridiculous for eavesdropping but too curious not to listen.
"-practically holding her hand? I'm not comfortable with this."
"I offered to have all her lessons with you present, but as I recall you didn't like that."
"You don't understand! It's not just her, it's all of them. You're always picking the young, pretty women and you know I don't like it."
Aki blinked. How could Nanette possibly feel threatened by her? She might have felt pleased if the whole situation wasn't so awkward. Emile sighed and his voice dropped lower, so she had to strain to hear. "It isn't even 40% women, and Axis is disproportionately-"
"You're doing it again! Whenever I try to talk about anything you just hide behind numbers!"
They were moving in her direction. Aki hastened to the table and pretended she was straightening the silverware. When they entered they were both smiling, but Nanette's expression was like a mask. Emile's was even worse, hiding a deep weariness she hadn't realized before now.
The meal would start soon. Aki found herself wishing she could stop relaxing and go back to work.
~ ~ ~
Going downhill was harder than climbing. Blake pushed himself off the ground and spat out the dirt, which tasted like blueberries for some reason. At first he thought Drawde was manipulating gravity to make things more difficult, but now he doubted it. Rather, the lower they went the thicker the atmosphere became, so now he had to pull himself down a gentle incline.
It didn't help that Drawde stalked around him at random. "What would you do if I left you here? Honestly, I'm curious."
He had no strength for rhetorical questions when it took much of what he had to breathe. Each breath had to be pulled into his lungs and the air tried to flee from him at every opportunity. By this point he was just glad it was breathable: they had passed an ocean of fire that Drawde had splashed in for a while.