The Magicians and Magik
Author's note: Been watching the Syfy Channel's show Magicians. Rather like it. Nice to see it's a graduate degree program and not high school or freshmen in college. More... advanced as it were. As I watched I started wondering how Illyana would fit in (yea I'm somewhat focused on Illyana writing, some might say obsessed), not as a student and not really as staff either. Heck, Illyana never really got out of high school (although it was a private school so we can suppose that she is better educated then the average high school student).
First chapter sets the story up and is a bit of a comedy story. Don't know if there will be additional chapters (I've only seen three episodes of the show after all).
The summary of the show is that the primary figure, a guy by the name of Quentin, has been accepted at Brakebills University, a secret institution specializing in magic and specializes in the unorthodox education of spell casting.
I suppose this story takes place after Illyana gets her soul back and is post Utopia.
Part 1a: Physical house party!
Quentin was enjoying the party at the Physical house, his new abode as he was no longer in the dorms. Smoking and alcohol were in prominent use, and not just tobacco from the smell of it or the slight contact high. The physical house was like a dual gender Frat house for practitioners of primary physical magic. And being like a Frat house there was a large amount of horse play, drinking, and general carousing. Ahh college students, the same everywhere you go. Majoring in magic, minoring in alcohol .
Quentin was drinking a beer and standing with his new friend Eliot whom he had met a few months ago at orientation, Eliot was at least a year ahead of Quentin (Quentin wasn't sure and Eliot was vague on the topic). Eliot was smoking a cigarette and drinking a gin and tonic. They were observing the party which had morphed into bit of a dancing rave and the beat was thundering.
Quentin was dressed in his usual casual style while Eliot was dressed in his usual upper classmen snazzy attire shirt, pants, vest, tie (you get the type). The main common's room was dark, smoky, and very very noisy. They were having to almost shout in each other's ears to be heard. Midnight Oil's Beds are burning was currently playing, or rather thundering.
..
How can we dance
When our earth is turning
How do we sleep
While our beds are burning
The time has come
To say fair's fair
To pay the rent
Now to pay our share
...
Quentin gestured with his beer bottle. "Who's the blond"?! Quentin shouted. "The one dancing with Margo and that guy! I haven't seen her before! What year is she"?! Margo was a female friend of Eliot and also a member of the Physical house.
Eliot took a puff on his cigarette as he glanced over to where Quentin was pointing. He then took a generous sip of his drink and shouted a reply.
"She's not a student! She's... kind of a guest lecturer"!
"What do you mean kind of a lecturer?! And if she's staff then doesn't this violate the rules of fraternization between student and staff that were in the student hand book"?!
"She doesn't tend to follow the rules! By kind of I mean she sometime lectures, you never know when or on what! And by guest I mean she shows up from time to time! Sometimes she also attends a class or two for a day or so, you can never tell! You need a Dean's invitation to attend most of her lectures, and sometimes it's really seriously dangerous shit! She's a traveler, can move between worlds! I think she also personally tutors some students from time to time, I can't figure out if the students are being rewarded or punished! I think she's mostly here for the library privileges"!
"And the administration tolerates this"?!
"Yea! If you ever really meet her you'll know why"!
"What's her name"?!
"Magik"!
"What"?!
"Magik, spelled with a K. She's called Professor Magik"!
"Really, isn't that kind of... well presumptuous"?!
"No, it really isn't! Again if you ever really meet her you'll know why"!
"Well, how the hell do you know all this"?!
Eliot took another sip of his drink. "Let's go outside, I'm going to lose my voice trying to shout over the noise"!
Eliot led Quentin out back whereas the noise instantly subsided by a thirty or forty decibels (ahh the joys of noise cancelling magic, a must for any Frat house). Now they were able to converse, and inhale some clean air as well. They both took a seat at a patio table.
Eliot then told the story of how Magik came to Brakebills University.
Part 1b: Day of Magik
Intro to summonings is a hard class. The lab is even worse. They really lock the sucker down because... well summoning is dangerous even with all the controls. After the first few lectures they have a special lab, where they summon something extra scary just to freak out the students and help drive home proper summoning protocols and safety.
I was in the lab, back row. Not actually a class you want to sit up front, when they cast the enchantment. The lab was one of the lecture halls where the lab is at the center of stadium student seating. Triple extra protection wards and half a dozen instructors on hand. The lights dimed and a blackness filled the circle of protection, but there was this red glow in the blackness that was kind of odd. Then a voice was heard and I saw one of the instructors start, like this was not what was expected.
"What"? The voice said with a bit of an eastern European ascent. It was female and sounded irritated. "Damn it. I was almost to level 18! Shards, I haven't saved the game in over an hour"!
Then she walked out of the darkness as it were and was revealed. She was a tall and leggy blond female demon. Had horns, a devil's tail, goat hooves, glowing orange eyes, and a chain mail bikini that showed that she was well equipped if you get my drift. Now I prefer my intimate company to be male and hunky, but I'd have to admit she was hot, even with the goat hooves and tail. You'd think chainmail couldn't show off a figure, well it can.
I don't know what the instructor was try to summon, a minor demon I suspect, but man did they screw up. Which I suppose really helped drive home the severity and danger of summoning.
"Ok, what's going on"? She asked. "And who the hell are you people"? She put her hand over her eyes like she was shielding them from some kind of light that only she could see.
"This... looks like a school lab"? She stated with disbelief.
"Be gone demon"! shouted the instructor as he did some fancy hand moves. She started to fade away but then she faded back in.
"No". She stated. "You summoned me and screwed up my game. I want some answers. Now".
The instructor did the little hand waving again but nothing happened this time other then she gave him a stare of disdain. The other instructors all started hand waving and she looked like she was starting to fold in on herself. Then it stopped and reversed. Man did she look pissed. Then she grinned and spoke while this massive sword appeared out of nowhere in her right hand. Guess it was her first lecture.
"You know, sometimes summoning is like baiting a hook, kind of like fishing. Most of the time you catch what you're fishing for; assuming you catch something. Sometime you catch the wrong thing, and very very rarely some very rude and unlucky fishermen get their nets tangled up with a nuclear submarine and everybody...".
She waved that freakingly massive sword over her head, looked just like one of those insanely impractical swords from the Japanese comics, and with that the wards of binding and protection were fried. The blast wave tossed everybody about and knocked out most of the instructors and half the class.
She strode out from the circle crackling with power. The words Oh Fuck do not begine to describe the situation. I saw several blasts of battle magic strike her and just get reflected or absorbed while her sword flashed each time. Then she zapped the remaining instructors with some kind of spell from her left hand.
I was still conscious so I bolted for the door only to have it slam in my face. I turned to find her walking up the stairs towards me.
"YOU!" she shouted at me. "My game is ruined and now I'm hungry"!
INTERRUPTION
"Shit, do you mean that she was going to eat you dude"?! Stated Quentin.
"Naaa, turned out to be a poor choice of words on her part. She was hungry so after first blasting the doors down she commanded me to lead her to some place that served food. I ended up taking her to the Student Union cafeteria. However, one the instructors was coming to at this point and he thought what you were thinking. Anyway, back to the story".
END INTERRUPTION
So she ends up frog marching me outside of the building and looks around. Now I'm scared shitless at this point as I think she's going to eat me too. Behind us one of the instructors staggers out of the building and let's loose some kind of magical blast. She's staggered, then recovers. She backhands him and he goes flying and is laid out cold; she's really strong by the way. Then she turns back to me and says.
"So, where is a good place to eat around here? I assume you have whatever the hell you people use as money. I'm the injured party so it's your treat".
I had nothing to say in regards to her statement so I point over to where the Student Union is and with a flash of light we're both at the main entrance. She then cast some kind of ward around the building that kept everybody out while she forced me in and had me buy her lunch. Before you ask, it was sushi and noodles, it was Japanese Thursday and they do a really good job. Needless to say most folks ran, including the cashiers so the meal didn't end up cost me anything.
So there I am sitting with a demon and watching her eat sushi and slurp noodle soup while drinking a coke. She starts questioning me as to who I am, my name, and just what the hell is this place. I can tell you that I was very prompt with my answers, told her everthing. By now most of the people had fled, the ward would let them leave the building but was preventing anybody from coming in. We were sitting by one of those big windows so the faculty finally figures out that I'm not being grilled or deep fried and that just maybe this wasn't a hostage situation. I think her drinking the coke with a straw was the final clue.
Dean Fogg was out on the commons (Dean Fogg is the head of the university), by the edge of the ward, and started waving at her to attract her attention, which I might add I had to point out to her. She then looks like she's listening to something. She finally sighs and speaks out loud, but not to me.
"Ok, ok. I suppose I over reacted. I had a bad experience with... another school as it were. I thought you guys were another version of them".
And with that the sword fades away and so does her demon form. Now I sitting across from a tall blond woman, early twenties, dressed in a black pair of short shorts, a black top with a boob window, tall black boots, black gloves, plus she has some kind of black sticks stuck in her hair. There was also some kind of weird black spiky armor on her left shoulder. Did I mention that she liked black?
With that the ward went down and Dean Fogg was able to walk over and enter the building. So there I am, present at the table for a brief and odd conversation between the two of them. He introduces himself and inquires as to her name. That's when she told him to call her Magik with a K. He asked where she was from and she said it varied.
They got to talking and cleared up the little misunderstanding That's what she called it, little misunderstanding. She then asked to see the library and Dean Fogg escorts her over, I tagged along for reasons that now escape me, likely I was in shock. She ends up voicing her approval and asks what it takes to get a library card.
Got to give the Dean credit, talk about making lemonade out of lemons. Within five minutes she's on staff as a non salaried visiting guest lecturer. Office and everything, which I think she sleeps in when she's here. I hear she prefers the student parties to the faculty events, more... lively. Plus she likes to dance.
Part 1c: Back to the party
"She has an office?" asked Quentin, not really sure if he was believing any this. "Where"?
"On the fifth floor of Howllet Hall. Posted hours are, and I quote, when I feel like it. It's weird. I was in her office once and it was bigger on the inside then on the outside. And it was on a mountain top, a blasted little purple dragon kept dive bombing me. I asked another student I knew who had been in her office and he claimed that the office was in some pit in hell; burning lava and all. Not sure if it's an illusion or just keeps changing localities".
"Wow, that's... weird".
"Yea, she shows ups ever few weeks on average for a day or two. Likes to spar with the sword fighting team. I have friend on the team and he says she fights dirty, real dirty. Combat style as it were, all about the win".
"How'd you get in her office"?
"I've... been invited to a few of her lectures and she reviewed a paper I wrote. Got a C, my first C ever. I protested, but she said that I'd spent more time formatting the paper then I'd spent writing it. That I was playing it safe instead of trying to stretch".
"Was she right"?
"Yea, rather pissed me off. I was swamped with work from my other classes and I kind of phoned that paper in. I complained to her and asked how she handled it when she was in school".
Quentin finished off his beer. "And..."?
"Shit, she said she'd never even graduated high school".
"What? But this is a University, even the gardeners have degrees".
"Well... don't think she's not qualified. Man if there's one thing Professor Magik knows it's Magic".
"And the staff isn't freaked out by having a demon walking around"?
Eliot finished his drink as well and stood up to return to the party.
"Jury is out on that. Is she a demon with a human form or a human with a demon form? But Quentin my good man, this is Brakebills. Of course the staff is freaked out, so are the students and the mascots as well".