“Oh, that won’t do. Come now, dear one, wake up,” a hauntingly seductive voice whispered.
Gregory sat bolt upright, his heart pounding. His head whipped from side to side as he took in his surroundings. His panic subsided when he realized where he was. “Have I grown enough for us to talk again?”
“Enough for a short talk,” the darkness whispered. “I never expected you to take two lovers, but you did. It’s a shame you’ll likely never see either of them again.”
Gregory got out of the bed and noticed he was nude, “Umm…”
“What? I’m enjoying the view,” light laughter circled him. “There is clothing in the armoire, if you insist.”
Gregory opened the doors of the armoire and stared. Men’s clothing hung waiting for him, each outfit different from the others. “What?”
“Just pick what suits you best,” the darkness told him.
Gregory looked at the clothes for a long moment. There were kimonos of every color along with more ostentatious outfits, a suit of proctor’s armor, and even a set of armor for the emperor’s guard. Stepping back, Gregory shook his head, “No. None of these feel right.”
“Oh, dear one, you do so surprise me,” the voice whispered excitedly. “Here, have these for now.”
Gregory saw his novice kimono covering him. “Thanks?”
“You are welcome. Now, we need to talk about paths before these well-meaning, but flawed, individuals bias you. Train in any way you wish, or in every way all at once. Force your body to do as you command. Make your body, mind, and spirit all work together. You can, if you have the strength of will to make it happen. If you do, I’ll give you a special treat,” the last few words dripped with sexual tension.
Shivering as thoughts of decadent pleasure ran through his mind, Gregory exhaled slowly. “I see. That is motivation, even if this is only a dream.”
“Only a dream… if that is what you wish to believe. They have no idea about what you can do and the records have likely been destroyed. I’ll tell you more after the first tournament. Don’t disappoint me, dear one.”
“Wait—” Gregory began, but the room dissolved around him as a bell chimed three times.
~*~*~
Gregory woke with a shudder, sitting bolt upright when the third bell finished ringing. “Was that real, or a dream?” he asked the empty air. He got no response, so he forced himself to his feet and reached for his clothes.
He almost ran into Yukiko as the two of them left their rooms at the same time. “Morning,” he said softly, stepping back so they were not on top of each other.
“Morning, Greg. You were right to decline last night. I fell asleep soon after getting in.”
“I passed right out,” Gregory said. “Breakfast and then the archive?”
“Yes.”
They reached the mess hall in short order and the only other people eating were the four teachers. Those four looked at the two of them with varying degrees of interest before turning back to their own amusements.
While he was getting breakfast, the last eurtik smiled at Gregory. “I see you’ve already started to grow. Well done,” she said with her hand hovering over his medallion.
“How do you know?” Gregory asked.
The mink eurtik indicated the medallion on his chest, “Another ring is empowered this morning.”
Gregory looked down and blinked, wondering how he had not noticed before. Four of the ten circles were now faintly glowing with clear light. “Oh, um… right.” Bowing his head to her, he picked out a cup of tea and went to sit with Yukiko.
“I didn’t grow in power,” Yukiko said softly, her medallion still showing the four circles it had before. “Did you pick a path already?”
Gregory paused, his fork of salad halfway to his mouth. “No…”
“You seem unsure,” Yukiko replied.
“I think I’m going to try training all of them,” Gregory said very quietly so his voice would not carry to the teachers.
Yukiko looked at him curiously while she continued to eat. After a few bites, she spoke just as quietly, “Why?”
“I think it’ll work,” Gregory replied.
Yukiko shook her head, “The teachers—”
Gregory lost track of what she was saying as he felt a crossroads open before him. He could try to convince her to join him, or not. The outcome of each was shrouded in darkness to him, but he knew that something pivotal hung on the moment.
“I can’t rightly explain, but I think it’ll work,” he said as he came back to his senses. “Just trust me, with you and me both doing it, it’ll work.”
Yukiko blinked at him slowly, before she bowed her head. “I do trust you, Greg, I shall train as you do.”
Gregory smiled and started to thank her, but he was distracted by another vision. Behind Yukiko stood a copy of her. Clad in darkness, her face was mostly obscured, but the image had a warm smile directed at him. Blinking as the vision vanished, Gregory sat there motionless.
“Greg? You need to eat if we’re going to the archive,” Yukiko said, breaking him out of his stupor.
“Oh, yes, sorry,” Gregory said, starting to eat as fast as he could, but his thoughts were elsewhere.
Do I ask about it in the archive? Or would that be bad? The visions might not even be real… could just be wishes given form… I should wait, at least until my magic is known. With those thoughts running around and around in his head, he finished his breakfast.
They dropped off their dishes when fourth bell started to chime. More novices were arriving and there was a short line. On an impulse, Gregory got into the line again. Yukiko was watching him and standing off to the side.
“You’ve already eaten, Novice,” the weasel eurtik said.
“I was hoping to get my snack now,” Gregory explained.
“Ah. Yes, that is doable,” the eurtik grinned. “See Velma.” He motioned toward the mink at the end of the counter.
Gregory waved Yukiko over as he waited to speak to Velma. “Velma, we would like to have our snacks now. Is that okay?”
Her eyes were twinkling and she smiled as she handed two small bags over. Gregory and Yukiko each took one, thanking her and quickly left the mess.
“Jerky, cheese, and a piece of fruit. It will all keep easily,” Yukiko said, checking the snack as they walked. “Why did you ask now?”
“So we won’t have to go back there before conditioning,” he replied. “I think having the extra time to rest might be better.”
“We’ll see today,” Yukiko said.
They greeted Rafiq when they entered the archive. “Morning, Archivist,” Gregory smiled.
“Morning to you both,” Rafiq replied. “Your books are on the table you’ve been using. Do you wish for any other books or scrolls?”
Gregory almost asked for information on visions, but shook his head instead. “Not right now, thank you.”
“Good studying to you both,” Rafiq said, bowing his head to them.
“Good day to you,” Yukiko smiled as she followed Gregory into the archive.
They got to their table and gave their attention to their studies. Gregory felt his focus narrow down to the book before him and nothing more. The text was slow and tedious, but it made sense as he read. The current chapter described how vela had been disputed as the currency for the empire; it had a dozen names before anyone settled on “vela” five hundred years ago.
Time ticked away as they learned, but the fifth bell chiming brought both of them out of their studies. Gregory realized he was a page from the end of the book so continued reading. When he was finished, he put the book aside.
“You finished yours, too?” Yukiko asked.
“Yes. I’m not sure any of it will ever be of use, but it was interesting,” Gregory said as he got to his feet and stretched.
“I feel the same about history. Father always said history was written by the winner. I think I understand that better now that I’ve read this tome. There is nothing about any wrongdoing by the empire in the entirety of it.”
“Because history is written by the winner,” the panther eurtik said from a row of shelves nearby. “Winners do no wrong— they are the ones who were wronged and were only seeking to make the world better.”
“Archivist,” Gregory bowed his head, “we’ve finished with these books.”
“Did you have a preference for your next study session?”
“I will leave that in your hands, as I feel you’ll guide me better than I could,” Gregory said, bowing formally to her.
A slight smile creased her muzzle, “I will do my best, but a direction would still be appreciated.”
“I want to know more about the wars the empire has fought,” Yukiko said slowly. “Surely there are other books that have a different view.”
The eurtik eyed her, “I would advise you to rephrase that carefully if you were to say that to anyone else. Some might view it as disrespectful or even traitorous to the empire. But, I do have a book for you.”
Gregory frowned as he thought about what he wanted, “A book on visions of the future, or maybe one about how someone who trained on more than one path managed it?”
The archivist nodded slowly, “Very well, Novice, I will find you something. I wish you both a good day.”
Gregory and Yukiko returned the bow and left the archive, wishing Rafiq a good day as they went past him. The pair was silent as they walked the path to their first class, each thinking about what the archivist had said to them.
Yukiko broke the silence as they drew close to the classroom, “Greg, how do we know if your idea of training all three paths is working?”
“I don’t know, but I think the hour of study every morning might count for the mind path. It’s not what we read as the preferred training, but maybe it’ll still work since we are expanding our horizons. I wanted the snacks early so we can meditate before conditioning to train the spirit path, and I’m fairly certain that conditioning will count for body. I hope that will at least work for the first steps of each, but we’ll have to see what happens in the coming days to know if anything is working.”
“Very well,” Yukiko said. “Early mornings and early nights for the future.”
“It does seem that way,” Gregory nodded.
~*~*~
They took notes during their classes, doing their best to learn. When the break before conditioning came, they made their way to the training hall, then went to the green arena.
“Changing it each day to keep us off balance?” Gregory asked Yukiko while they sat on the arena floor to eat their snack.
“To trick some into being late so he can make an example of them, I think,” Yukiko replied as she nibbled on a piece of cheese. “Your idea for snacks and meditation is even better now.”
Gregory chuckled, “Even a blind squirrel finds a nut occasionally.”
“What?” Yukiko asked.
“A saying Gunnar is fond of,” Gregory laughed, and explained what it meant.
“I see,” Yukiko giggled.
They finished their snack and no one else was there yet, so they each crossed their legs, closed their eyes, and concentrated on steadying their breathing. Gregory was not sure how long he sat there, but a memory came to him.
~*~*~
“Do you understand, son?” Marian asked.
“Yes, Mama,” Gregory said, looking up at her with bright eyes. “I’m gonna be a magi. I can make things better.”
Marian tousled the five-year-old’s hair. “If that is what you really want, then you should. You don’t have to be a magi, you can be like your father. Helping those close to you is just as important.”
“Papa is strong,” Gregory smiled. “I can be like Papa and a magi!”
Marian laughed, “Yes, that is certainly possible. I think you’ll take after me more than him, though.” Her eyes were sad as she gently brushed at Gregory’s hair. “I hope I am wrong, but only time will tell…”
“Mama? Don’t cry… I’ll be a magi, don’t worry,” Gregory said, reaching up to touch the tears on Marian’s cheeks. “I’ll be the best magi.”
Marian’s eyes went distant and after a moment, she shook her head, “Yes… yes, you will.” Hugging him to her, she kissed the top of his head. “With such joy and pain awaiting you, if I could only…”
~*~*~
“Greg, wake up,” Yukiko’s voice shattered the memory.
Blinking, Gregory shook his head, “Huh? What?”
“It’s almost time,” Yukiko said, looking at him with worry. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, why?”
“You’re crying,” she whispered, reaching out to brush the tears off his cheeks.
He wiped at his eyes, trying not to be too obvious. “A memory… it’s nothing.” Getting to his feet, he looked away from her as the memory started to fade. “My mother was speaking to me as a child. I haven’t been able to recall her face that perfectly in years.”
“Ah, I apologize for interrupting you,” Yukiko said.
“No, it’s fine,” Gregory said, turning back to her. “Thanks, Yuki.”
She gave him a tentative smile, “You’re welcome.”
“He’s here,” Nick’s voice carried across the arena.
Seeing Paul walking across the sands, the novices hurried to line up before the magus could call for them to do so. Gregory and Yukiko got into line just as his thunderous voice echoed off the walls, “Fall in!”
