Chapter OneThe New Beginning
The two guards standing watch on one of the several back gates into the Imperial palace grounds witnessed a strange sight that early morning. It wasn't a very common thing to see the overseeing Senior Imperial Sorcerer dressed in his gaudy party attire that had obviously worn overnight hastily ushering in another cloaked figure into the palace.
As was their duty, they stopped the sorcerer before he entered.
"Sir Komui, good morning." One of the guards lightly bowed his helmed head. "And may we inquire about your guest, sir?"
Komui patted the smaller cloaked figure at his side, prompting the figure to tip his hood back to reveal his face. Underneath the thick, grey woolen hood was a small, narrow face of a young boy the guard had never seen before. Despite the youthful age, the boy had a strange silver hair. However, the attention of the two guards failed to linger on the curious color of the boy's hair, for the frail beauty of the boy's visage greatly distracted them from noticing anything else.
Upon noticing the rather blatant stares of the guards, Komui cleared his throat to regain their attention.
"A new apprentice," he said. "Recruited him last night, and he will be soon officially notified to the court."
"Of course, sir." said the guard, tearing his eyes away from the boy with some effort. "Excuse us."
"Nay, gentlemen. As you were." Raising a hand in an appreciative gesture, he led the boy into the gate.
They crossed a wide courtyard of cobblestones and trees, and then entered a wide hallway that was open into the yard on one side. The open hallway seemed to form the exterior circumference of several palace buildings, and occasionally opened up on both walls to temporarily form a completely open road that crossed a garden or a small man-made stream. After a few minutes of following the road in a maze-like fashion, they met another gate of a wall that surrounded another secluded area within the palace grounds.
The boy opened his mouth for the first time in a long time. "What is this place?"
"The sorcerers' quarters. It occupies a corner of the palace grounds, which is vast enough for it. Komui replied. He pressed his right palm onto the surface of the black gate, and the moment his hand was in full contact with the metal, the heavy gate began to open slowly on its own.
Before entering, Komui turned to face the boy with a serious expression.
"Now, Allen. Upon entering this place, you will be admitted as the potential member of the Black Order of imperial sorcerers. It is not a decision to be made on a whim. I know I had rather dragged you into this, so I have to ask: are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure…to a certain point." The boy called Allen answered cautiously. "This is a bit sudden, so I won't lie and assure you that I will never doubt my decision. But I will hold responsibility for my own choices, regardless of how my opinions may change in the future."
"Good answer. I like you, boy." Komui gave Allen a brisk brush through his hair.
As they passed through the black gates, Komui saw Allen shudder slightly at a new sensation. The domain of sorcerers was packed with sorcerous energy that was closely contained by the walls surrounding the quarters. The sudden exposure to the energy was an unpleasant feeling to those who were unused to it, though to Komui it was a rather welcomed sensation. It felt like homecoming.
"What was that?" asked Allen in a slightly startled voice. "It felt…odd…"
"These walls do more than to stop occasional overly-curious servants from venturing into our quarters, Allen." Komui chuckled. "Because of all the magical activities within this place, it's dangerous to let all the energy seep out into the surroundings without a method of channeling it safely. So these walls form a magical barrier to contain the sorcerous energy until we figure out a use for all that excessive energy. Because of all that buildup, there's a dramatic difference in energy density on either sides of that gate. You don't feel weird anymore, do you?"
Allen shook his head. "No, the sensation's gone now. I guess I'm used to it already."
"That's right. Because you already are magically potent, the sorcerous energy in the atmosphere reacts nicely with you and forms equilibrium quite quickly. Had you been a normal boy with no sorcerous powers, you'd be nearly throwing up within about fifteen minutes."
"Pleasant." Allen remarked, raising his eyebrows.
They were now walking on vast, flat cobblestone grounds that were peppered with large, elaborate buildings of strange architecture. Somewhere further away, an ominously tall and black tower stood far above the roofs of other buildings.
Komui pointed towards the tower with his chin. "That's probably the most magical place in the entire empire; where all the terrifying and monstrous god-knows-what objects and secrets are held, supposedly." He chuckled to himself. "Which is...actually, quite true."
Allen could only eye the intimidating tower warily, not sure whether to laugh. However, before he could do anything, a new voice called out loudly from a distance.
"Hey! Sir Komui!"
They both turned to see a man with spiky blond hair waving at Komui. He soon approached them.
"Good morning, Reever." Komui greeted.
"And the same to you," Reever nodded, then looked at Allen closely. "Who's the kid?"
"Ah…excuse us for a moment, Allen." Komui said, and then pulled Reever a little distance away from Allen as to not let him hear their conversation.
Seeing Komui's secretive behavior, Reever's eyes widened. "Wait a sec, you went to the viscount's party last night, didn't you? You're still wearing your awful dress robes…and that pretty kid…you aren't trying to sneak in a lover, are—"
"Shhhh!" Komui hastily shushed the junior sorcerer. "Learn the word 'discreet', will you?"
Reever's reaction became even outraged. "You aren't denying it! Whoa, whoa! Since when did you turn to boys?"
"I am not sneaking in a bed partner!" Komui whispered furiously, beginning to blush. "He's a new recruit! I—I discovered him last night, saw his large potential, and brought him in—"
"And exactly how did you 'discover' him?" Said Reever, narrowing his eyes. "You do realize that you're blushing like a cherry, right?"
Komui groaned. "Fine. Man to man. This does not leave in-between us, alright? After the party, Marian Cross took me to the brothel that he owned sometime past midnight. And—I was pretty drunk, wasn't really sure what was going on, and next moment he got pushed into my room—" He said with emphasis while twitching his head towards Allen, who stood idly away from them as they talked. "—and after that I guess I just passed out, because the next thing I knew I woke up and it was dawn. And the weird thing I noticed was that I felt really, really good when I woke up, which doesn't make sense since I drank like a pig last night. And the room was filled with magical traces it was suffocating me. Then I realized that it's one of those cases, you know—when two magically potent people become…intimate…their sorcerous energies become fused and flow to settle down the more chaotic of the two, which in last night's case, was me, because my control was pretty addled. That was the reason I felt completely revived while the kid was passed out. I looked into his internal energy to make sure, and my suspect was correct. He's magically potent, all right."
Reever had a lot to take in. "So…the kid's a prostitute."
"Was a prostitute."
"Whatever. And you're saying that you brought him for legitimate reasons, not just to fuck him again at your own place."
"Yes! Heavens, believe in my integrity for once, will you?"
"Fine. But what I'm shocked about is the fact that…"
"That I discovered a new apprentice out of nowhere by pure luck? Amazing, right?"
"No, that you swing that way. I never knew."
Komui groaned again. "Forget it, you're hopeless. But I'm glad I met you here, because I needed someone to show the place around more to the kid. His name's Allen. I need to go report to the treasurer about the payment I made for Allen this morning. It cost a fortune to buy him out of the brothel."
"Like?"
"Two thousand eight hundred and twelve crowns."
Reever whistled. "Damn. He must've been the hotspot at the brothel."
"Yeah, he was. The best one they have, apparently."
"You would know." Reever sniggered. Before Komui could slap his shoulder in response, however, Reever added with a more serious tone. "But is he worth it? I mean, I'm not saying this just to piss you off, but you say you were really drunk, you just got laid, and since it was Viscount Dulmar's party, it's pretty likely you drank a lot more than just alcohol, know what I'm saying? You weren't the best judge of matters in the house. You should have called me over or something before you made the deal. Now we can't even back out. We can't exactly just return a prostitute."
"I am certain." Komui said with a firm voice. "His potential is extraordinary, and if I can train him as effectively as I trained you or Kanda, he could be really something in a few years."
Reever shrugged. "Alright. I'll know when I start testing him around a little. I'm expecting you were planning to make me in charge of the kid?"
"Yes. I'll be overseeing his progress, but I'll trust you to supervise the education of the boy as you did for other apprentices."
"And I am to suspect that he has never had been educated in sorcery, no?"
"That's right. He's never been trained, though he says sometimes he would be able to do small stuff with hand gestures and such. Like making little whirls of wind, causing a still puddle of water to splash a little, the basic stuff."
It was now Reever's turn to groan. "You would enjoy pushing me into more trouble. If he didn't even realize what he was doing was sorcery, then we have a lot of work to do. How old is he? Fourteen? Fifteen? He's too old to be starting at the very beginning; he'll have a really hard time grasping his internal energy. You know that once a kid hits his eighth year or so his senses become very dull towards sorcerous powers."
"I believe in you enough to at least try your best." Komui gave him a hearty pat on the other mans' back. "Now, I've got to go and explain to the treasurer, so take care of Allen. Explain a bit about what's to happen then you can pass him on to Johnny for a tour of his quarters and other trivial matters, alright?"
"Right." Reever replied gruffly. "Just…whatever. Go along."
"Thanks." Komui grinned a satisfactory smile, then remembered something that caused his smile to falter. "And…the brothel story. I doubt Allen would be telling around that he's a former prostitute, so if I ever hear a rumor that I got on with Allen, I'll assume it's from you, understood?"
"Yes, sir." Reever dutifully replied, while in his head inventing numerous ways to blackmail his senior with the valuable information for his benefit.
"Good. Now I want you to report to my office this evening with anything you found out about Allen as well as an update from Daisya."
"Yes, sir."
Komui waved a bit to Allen in the distance then disappeared into the nearest building built of impressive white pillars and walls inscribed with old runes. Once he was gone, Reever turned towards Allen and gestured him to approach the man.
"Allen, huh?" said Reever, holding out a hand. "Name's Reever Wenhamm; call me Mr. Reever, Mr. Head Assistance Sorcerer Reever, Sir Reever, or just Reever, whatever. Just don't use my last name."
Allen nodded, shaking his hand, and Reever instantly liked the way he didn't ask why and just kept his thoughts to himself.
"I'm Allen Walker." He said in a quiet voice.
"That's an unusual name," The older man commented. Allen merely nodded again. "Well, my job is to supervise your education here. So let's walk while we talk, why don't we? I will have someone else actually showing you around the place later, so for now we'll just walk by the perimeter walls, alright?"
They began on a casual walk, keeping themselves close to the boundaries of the sorcerers' quarters, which was quite impressive in its vastness. Reever liked to walk while having a long talk with someone, since that way he was not in the awkward situation in which he wouldn't know where to place his eyes. Standing facing each other during a conversation caused him to meet the other's direct eyes much longer than he would normally prefer.
"So you obviously know that we are the imperial sorcerers under the Crown's direct protection and funding, dedicated to extensive academic research and the providing of utmost loyalty to the Crown, especially so at the time of peril when sorcerers are most direly needed. The order of the imperial sorcerers is called the Black Order. And there is another elite association under the Crown which is called the Royal Academy, which is an association of elite scholars and mages from all fields who have received the highest recognition in each of their areas of expertise. It consists of historians, alchemists, scientists and mages of various fields who devote themselves to the well-being of the Empire. It is an extreme honor as a sorcerer (or anyone of academic fields, I guess) to be accepted into the Royal Academy to work for the Crown. It is the proof of highest achievements and abilities, the title every honorable sorcerer strives to attain. As it is the case, the Royal Academy consists of the best of the Empire and likely of the continent as well, and all apprentices here undergo the most prestigious education one can ever hope to receive in the field of sorcery. Naturally, those apprentices have earned their education here by a demonstration of impressive potential and skill, as have you."
"Thank you." Allen said with a hint of shyness.
"Don't thank me yet. It is one thing to be born with potential, but another to be apt at it and to show the ability to progress. Also, to be able to withstand the vigorous training you will receive here. Education of sorcery is very expensive business, and any apprentice without remarkable improvements in skill will be eliminated from the program immediately. Yes, we expect remarkable progress from our apprentices. Less than three percent of apprentices who undergo this program ever earn the entrance into the Royal Academy. We don't give a damn shit about the rest who don't make it."
Reever paused and tapped his pursed lips with a frown. "Damn it, language! I always try to be classy in front of newcomers, but God knows I don't have it."
Allen let out a silent, tiny blow of air that could have been a start of a laugh, and then coughed hastily.
"Anyways," continued Reever, "you get the point. This shit is hard and brutal; failures are kicked out without a goodbye. As if it's not bad enough already, you are at a huge disadvantage here, Allen. Sorcerous blood runs strongly among aristocrats, and so their kids are generally tested for potential at very young ages and are considered for apprenticeship here at the palace. They start this when they're barely six. Even among the commoners, sorcerous power is rather easy to notice and those are recruited at very young ages, too. For some reason your potential had never been discovered before, unfortunately. And according to Komui, you're potent enough for him to drag you straight here, which just adds to my question of why you have never been exposed to real sorcery before. It didn't need to be a member of the Black Order necessarily. There are plenty of sorcerers out there, so why had no one noticed you before?"
"I—I don't know." Allen said uncertainly. "Sir Komui Lee said something similar as well. I told him that I could sometimes do tricks with hand motions, and he said it was strange that none of that energy was detected by anyone else so far."
"And another thing here, too—you knew you had something going on with yourself. Why didn't you ever ask anybody about what you could do?"
Allen's eyes faltered downwards. "I did, actually—once before. To master Cross a few years ago. But he told me it was cheap witchcraft and shouldn't do it—"
"Wait a second." Reever abruptly stopped walking and stared at Allen. "Cross? Marian Cross?"
"Yes…?"
"You tell stuff like that to Cross? Isn't he just your pimp?"
Allen blushed a little at the mention of his previous occupation. "He is my guardian…or at least was…since my father died when I was about ten."
Reever was aghast. "He's your fucking guardian? And he made you work at his brothel? Since when?"
Allen wasn't looking at the other man anymore when as mumbled: "Since I was twelve."
Reever slowly shook his head. "Damn. That bastard. And he told you it was witchcraft? He probably said it to keep you in your job, since you must have sold pretty well at his brothel."
Allen simply lowered his head, clearly wanting to escape this particular topic of the conversation. Reever took the hint and decided to give the kid a break.
"But anyways, that aside; let's continue back to your course of education here. You are expected to demonstrate beyond the average in every aspect of your education; I've repeated that enough. Besides me, you will be instructed by other sorcerers within the Academy along with other apprentices here who are also striving to enter the Academy. During your apprenticeship, you are placed under the protection and the funding of the Crown, and you are expected to behave yourself in the way appropriate for a branch member sponsored by the Empire. And not only that, you must understand that by pledging yourself under the Crown, you are declaring yourself the subject of loyalty to the Empire and the government, and that you may be used as deemed fit by the Empire whenever necessary."
"Excuse me," Allen interrupted cautiously, "but I don't quite understand when you say I 'may be used'; what do you mean?"
"It means that you belong to the Empire." Reever said in a more stern voice, as if to emphasize the gravity of his statement. "As to-be-sorcerers skilled enough to be taught by the Royal Academy, you and other apprentices are valuable assets to the Empire, whether that is regarding your academic value or even militaristic value. Whenever your skills and powers are needed by the Empire, you reserve no right to deny your loyalty to the Crown."
"Oh." Allen could only say, as the thought of being a property of the Empire was rather frightening.
"Do you still choose to pledge your allegiance and loyalty to the Crown?"
Allen seemed to have a moment of various flashing thoughts; Reever's sharp eyes could detect the nearly inscrutable changes in the young boy's face as it revealed momentary hesitation and fear. However, they were quickly replaced by an expression of determination that Reever decided he liked.
"Yes." Allen took a deep breath. "Yes, I do. I want to be something important, something that makes an impact in this world. I still can't believe my incredible fortune that Sir Komui discovered me and gave me this opportunity, and I won't let it go. If all the Empire wants is my life and loyalty in exchange for all—this—" here he vaguely gestured to the sorcerers' quarters around himself, "—undeserved chance to make something out of my life, then I will gladly give it anything it wants."
Reever looked at him for a moment, and said nothing. Then he gruffly messed up Allen's silvery hair with a grin. "I have a feeling I'm gonna like you, kid. That said and done, this is it for the introduction. Now, let me fill you in on the course you'll be on for the next few months."
Ahh, this is kinda nervous! I actually had an old story that I began and scrapped some months later, simply because I thought it sucked. It felt like it was only a 0.4 or something, and now I'm going to combine what I had in that old story with new ideas and make it into a nice whole 1 :D
Also, there is a new currency in this universe: a crown. It's worth about 50 US dollars.
There isn't much of M-rated materials in this story yet, but once Kanda starts coming in...his language alone will be enough.
Please review and I hope you enjoyed!
