Tournament of Ages
Chapter One
I do not own Wizard101, Merle Ambrose, Gamma the owl, or any garment or piece of quipment mentioned in this fic. I only own the wizards that I created.
Today felt... different.
The Commons was buzzing with activity, novice wizards playing by Rainbow Bridge and wise and respected wizards mentoring adepts gathered like honeybees at the hive in front of Merle Ambrose's house. For them, it was a beautiful day. There was only one cloud in the sky that was not drifting toward the sun. But to the few who dared to live in the cave behind the waterfall, this is not about the beauty of Wizard City.
Out of the corner of anyone's eye, you could clearly see a small wizard scampering about the cliffside, filth and greed written all over his face. He was carrying a satchel, brown and worn. It was bulging, probably with fruit he had taken from other wizard's gardens. A Thaumaturge, according to his appearance. Pale skin, pale blue hair pulled into a ponytail, dark silvery blue eyes. His face had been hardened by his situation. He'd been dealing with it for years. Older wizards whispered about him when he was out. Younger ones pointed or stared and ran away. This wizard was a bum, a poor, homeless boy who lived in the cave behind the waterfall next to Rainbow Bridge. Or, so they all thought.
This Thaumaturge ducked his head as the water poured over him. At the gateway to Nightside, he turned to the right and set down his bag. Then he pressed his hand into a small indentation in the wall and stepped back as it fell away. The boy glanced behind his shoulders before grabbing his bag and fleeing into the safety of the new cavern. He padded silently down a set of stairs as the broken wall rejoined its place in the cave side. At the bottom, he turned left and expertly made his way through a maze of tunnels. He had been this way many times.
At the end of his journey, the wizard had emerged into a vast cavern, which, if anyone else had managed to find his or her way here, appeared to be the center of an underground society. Which, it kind of was. It housed three others besides him. Two other tunnels ran off from this main one, which was where the four made their sleeping quarters. It was two boys and two girls, all who had sworn to look out for each other as bums. This was where the four lived, their central hub of operations.
One of the girls was sitting with her back to the wall, writing in a journal she had taken from a resident's trash in Olde Town. She had dark skin, much darker than the boy's, and piercing golden eyes. She emanated power, and while none of the others knew how she had fallen into such poverty, she was here. She used to be a very well-known necromancer, extremely popular and wealthy. Control used to cover her eyes, hardened and scrutinizing every detail of the crowds that flowed into and out of the Bazaar.
Now she looked up at the boy with sadness, all former control out of her grasp. All it took to get her power back was a simple flick of a spell card, yet she stayed. She had her reasons, and although she was asked many times, she had never told anyone. Some people have their secrets, Jack guessed.
"What'd you find today?" she asked. Her voice radiated lost authority and rang off the walls of the cave. In answer, the boy dumped the contents of the satchel on the low square table that looked like it was about to collapse and was just off center in the cavern.
"Not much. Just some evil snow peas, a couple of key limes, and six Elvis Parsley. I also managed to get a pair of boots."
"Gets smaller every day, the findings. We'll have to move out soon and find a better place." The girl sighed and stood. She brushed the back of her robe off and joined him. "I heard Merle was making an importnat announcement today, Jack?"
"I think so. There were a lot of people outside his house. You want to see what he had to say?" Jack replied, fiddling with a key lime.
"Yeah, but not without the others." The girl moved off to one of the caves. "I'll get Llewella."
Jack meandered over to the other. The little alcove had two matching futons with loose springs all over. On one, another boy sat, relaxed and reading a singed dragon manual. He had a dark shock of black hair, dark eyes, and dark skin. He was deeply engrossed in his project.
"Samuel. Samuel. Samuel. SAMUEL." Jack prodded the boy with his shoe until he got a reaction. Samuel glanced up, barely acknowledging Jack. "Dude, get up. Merle's gonna make an announcement."
"Does it concern us?" Samuel's voice was rough and forced. He hadn't used it in weeks. He doesn't speak unless he needs to.
"It might, but we won't know unless we go. Now get up." Jack was losing his patience. Samuel never wanted to go anywhere, he was stubborn, and he was a Theurgist. Didn't see that coming, did you? Every time Jack looked at Samuel, he got a flashback to when they first met.
It was years ago, before Jack had met the others. He had seen the boy before, always running, never stopping. It took only a minute for them to meet on the path over Rainbow Bridge, and when they did, they quite literally put their heads together. Samuel slammed into Jack, knocking them both over. Samuel had wide eyes and was shaking a little as they were picking themselves up.
"Sorry, dude. Hey, what's wrong?" Jack had asked, but Samuel had already taken off. As Jack looked to see what the boy was running from, he suddenly felt very small and was transported back to the present. Ever since then, Samuel and Jack have been looking out for each other.
"Alright." Jack pulled the Theurgist to his feet and they walked back to the main cavern, where the girls were already waiting. Sarai Willowtail and Llewella Shadowsong were sitting at the table, talking. Llewella was asking Sarai why no one ever saw her duel anymore.
But Sarai just shook her head and replied, "maybe when we have more time."
Llewella looked disappointed, but perked up when Jack patted her back and said, "let's go."
Once they reached the Commons, Merle Ambrose had already been introduced and was welcoming everyone blah, blah, blah... Jack tuned him out until he said, "and I have some very exciting news! As you know, Ravenwood School of Magical Arts won the Spiral Cup earlier this year. I am pleased to announce that this year, Wizard City will be holding a tournament of its own. The Tournament of Ages. All manners of wizards are allowed to compete. And the prize is no stuffy old trophy, either. The prize will be two million pieces of gold and fame throughout the Spiral! You must compete in teams of four in order to qualify for the finals. You will receive more instruction when you sign up, which you can do here."
Jack, Samuel, Sarai, and Llewella all stood frozen while the mob of wizards in front of them wrote their names down on the parchment floating in front of them.