It was a night where Amelia was riding on her broomstick to Underwood with Toby. She wore a heavy, wool gray cloak and brown beanie to keep herself warm while they flew through the dark night sky. While usually against the Supernatural laws for mages to fly in the sky, the only exception was mages, who were to only fly in the sky at dusk away from airports. The Supernatural government did not allow mages to fly near heavily populated towns. The fewer people, the fewer complaints from Outsiders the Supernatural governments have to deal with. Luckily, Underwood is less populated than Clare Point View and Rockwick. Amelia and Toby flew over to Night Barista Tower in Underwood, where they will meet Darren and a person they knew from their old school days at Ruxserth Academy.
“Do you think this guy is gonna help us?” Toby asked as Amelia looked at Toby for a moment.
Looking at Toby for a second, she answered, “He owes me a favor. So he will do it.”
Amelia was gripping tightly on her broomstick, keeping her balance in the air. The wind was being a little rough tonight, but not enough to be a hazard for flying.
“We could have asked any necro mage for this job, but you chose this guy to begin with.” He sulked.
Amelia had to roll her eyes at Toby’s complaints about the guy she asked for help with Darren’s issue.
“Trust me, Tobias. Everything will be fine.” She calmed his worries as they landed to the ground.
They parked their broomsticks near the back entrance of Night Barista Tower in an alleyway away from the public street. The two of them waited outside until they saw Darren rushing into the alleyway. He was wearing a brown winter, hooded coat and navy blue sweatpants. Once the three of them exchanged greetings, Toby opened the doors, and they entered Night Barista Tower. The group arrived in a cave-like room, big enough to fit an entire concert.
This large room was open space, since the floor was nothing but rock and the walls had small cliff faces across the room. The cave-like room had graffiti designs, which is a list of artists that had performed here before. Of course, the room had some lighting, not strong lightning since it is an underground cave. Supernatural artists called this place “The Scarlet Cavern.” Amelia admired the cave ceiling, which has uneven stalactites of different sizes.
To an outsider, this place would seem pretty dangerous to hold musical performances and live events in. However, construction Earth Mages and other supernaturals with strength abilities designed the Scarlet Cavern. They knew safety procedures when designing it over four years ago and constantly have been testing it for safety ever since then. Gazing over at the tables, a dark-skinned, slightly chubby man, who was on his mirror interface, probably chatting with people on it, sat. The young man wore a long, black, hooded gown, which made him look like a dark wizard from a stereo-typical fantasy movie.
He had long, pointed ears, which signified that he was also half-Elf and Mage.
“Amelia, I have been waiting for you!” The man waved and called the group over with a crooked smile.
“Uh... Amelia, is this guy safe to talk to?” Darren asked.
Amelia sensed Darren was uncomfortable around this man, based on him being reluctant to walk up to him. “No worries. This is just my old classmate, Halden from Ruxserth Academy! It’s a Mage and Witch training academy that Toby and I went to. Halden is one of the Mages specializing in Necromancy and one of the best ones.” Amelia explained.
Nudging Amelia, Toby whispered in her ear, “Yeah, the dude that brought back a bunch of dead Mages along with other Necro Mages. Amelie, you shouldn’t be messing with this dude since he, like the other Necro Mages, is just reckless with messing with the dead!”
Amelia’s eyes drifted to Toby to give him a “shut up,” look until she focused back on greeting Halden.
“Amelia, how have you been?” Halden went up to shake her hand and Amelia went to shake his slimy, stiff hand.
While she did not know Halden very well from her school days, she knew Halden was the type that preferred colder weather. All her former classmates talked about how there was always just cold air surrounding him whenever they are near him.
“I have been lovely...” Amelia walked with Halden, while Darren and Toby followed close by.
They seated themselves near a booth at a metal table where it was far away from the performance stage. Amelia and Halden chatted for a little about what they have been up to since graduating from the Academy. The conversation seemed to go on until Amelia cut to the chase on the real reason she invited Halden here. After going back and forward between each other, Amelia introduced him to Darren. She watched Darren pulling the choker out of his jacket pocket, handing it over to Halden across the table.
For a moment, Halden stood in silence, observing the choker by his own hand.
“It sounds like there is some spiritual essence on this choker. Are you the original owner?” Halden asked Darren, which Darren shook his head in response.
“No, it was my brother’s. This choker is causing problems in my life, and two of those spirits are people that I knew when I was younger. I want to know what they want from me. It’s starting to creep out my friends and band with all this weird shit following me.” Darren explained while Halden listened to his concerns.
Amelia chipped in after Darren’s explanation, “So, what do you say, Hal? Can you help him?”
“I can help in exchange for your souls...” Halden smirked.
“What the hell, asshole?! No! Nope! Nope! Amelia, let’s just leave this creepy assed, death obsessed half-Elf, since he isn’t going to help us!” Toby got up from the table, until Halden waved his hand frantically to stop him from leaving.
“Wait! Wait! It’s just a joke, Tobias! A bad one. I’m not going to take your souls. All I want is $30 for the service.” Halden went back on his words about taking their souls.
Amelia muttered to herself, annoyed with that joke and watched Toby sitting back down at his seat.
“That’s not a problem, but seriously Hal, that joke is just messed up…” Amelia replied, pulling out her wallet. Suddenly, Darren just threw out his money to the table before Amelia did. She said to Darren, “I was going to pay him though…”
“It’s my problem. Plus, I have enough money to cover this dude’s service. You don’t need to pay for this.” Darren told her.
“I don’t care which one of you pays me, as long I get the cash. I’m ain’t doing this shit for free.” Licking his fingers, Halden counted the money that Darren had given him. “You’re lucky, that's cheap. Most Necro Mages charge more for ‘contacting spirits service’ than I do.”
Halden put the cash in his pocket, then directed the group out of the booth. The group left the Scarlet Cavern and the Night Barista Tower into the woods. Going into the woods reminded Amelia of her Mage training days; she would practice using her music magic to calm animals from attacking nearby hikers. She reminisces about those days, when she would practice her magic so freely into the night. The hike in the woods did not seem too long, but Amelia hated how she had to walk over a bunch of sticks and mud pits mixed with the dead autumn leaves.
Toby stood close to her, while Halden led the pack with Darren heeling behind him.
“It’s funny, a bunch of bohemians like you asking for my help. I’m just surprised that you guys are able to pay me.” Halden made conversation, though Amelia was even tired of Halden’s rude comments.
“You know that I’m rich.. My parents are…” Toby spoke out before Halden interrupted his sentence.
“Yeah, Yeah. My parents owned the biggest healthcare company in the Supernatural society. You’re loaded as fuck. Seriously, Toby, everyone knows your social ‘status’.” Halden air quoted the word ‘status,’ as Amelia noticed Toby’s face getting red at Halden’s comment. “Oh, by the way, I heard about Amelia and your band. You all seriously think that you’re going to make it in the Outsider society? I doubt your status would help you get to popularity unlike our society.” Taking out a silver machete from his belt and cut some dead vines, Halden created a path so they could continue forward.
“Halden, just do your job and help us! I know you and Toby don’t get along, and that’s why I almost hesitated on connecting with you. Just be quiet and do your job!” Amelia gave a blunt comment to shut Halden up.
Finally, the group arrived at an open spot in the woods. Looking up into the night sky, she could see the bright light of the stars. The open space only had sticks, dirt, and logs of old dead trees on the ground. Amelia watched Halden put his bag he carried down on the ground. He took out his work equipment, spell books, potion bottles, and other magic items.
While Halden set up his work spot, she heard Darren’s voice, which directed her attention to him.
“So, Ruxserth? That’s like the Ivy League Colleges for Mages and Witches. I know a couple of people from my coven went there… What’s it like?” Darren asked.
Halden took out another book and put it on the ground, “A bunch of stuck-up elites. They don’t like Mages who can do Necromancy, but they reluctantly accept them, because of the ‘Grand Commission of Magic Education’ told them too.”
“That’s because most of you all are dangerous….” Toby added, leaning against a tree as he stood close to Darren.
“It’s not all bad. It’s just a strict Magic Academy, which expects excellence. Most magic academies are like that.” Amelia crosses her arms and continues to watch Halden setting up.
“That’s why I dropped out and just self-taught myself. Fuck Magic Academies, anyway! Magic shouldn’t be controlled and be freely taught! I passed my magical trails without a fucking teacher and going to school.” Picking up one of his magic books, Halden flipped through them.
Amelia rolled her eyes at his statement: The old debate of whether learning magic is better if you were self-taught verses you needed to learn it in a school setting raged on for decades before her time, but she never bothered with things like Supernatural politics as much as Toby did. Continuing to observe Halden, who is looking at Darren’s choker and studying it more. He read through a book, completely focused on doing his work. Amelia is less knowledgeable about the rituals and spells Necromancy Mages use.
“So, Halden, what do you need now?” She spoke casually as she saw Halden directed his eyes at Darren.
“Yeah, I need that guy to use some aura to make the communication successful.” He answered.
“Uh... Okay? What do you want me to do?” Darren said, walking up to Halden.
Halden hands him the choker back in his hands.
“Close your eyes and think of the two sprits you want to contact. Put all your aura energy into it and hold on to this choker. You allow me to do the rest.” He explained.
Darren closed his eyes when Halden told him to. The environment felt different around Amelia felt cold. She went up to Toby to warm herself up while the ritual started. Hearing Halden chanting some foreign Elf language, Amelia could half make out what he said. Soon, a mist appeared in front of Darren and Halden as she saw two ghostly figures: A man and a woman.
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