Chapter 26 – Talismanic Craft
Disclaimer: I own nothing
In their first class the next day, which was Magical Creatures Lore, Master Malu brought in a new batch of kodamas. They were taught the way to recognize which side of the kodama is the front, considering that the faces were almost hidden among lines on the bark, and how to feed them. Adult Kodama would grow indistinguishable from a tree (until someone tried to cut it down, upon which the kodama would do something about it). Master Malu was back to his usual cheerful self and showed no sign of remembering the white rhinos incident on their first day, though he did give Suki a wide berth.
In Transfiguration class, Madame Kwan gave them the first half hour to practice their spell; only Asami joined the rank of successful students by this time. Next, the Madame gave them some charts to copy down and study. On the double blackboards, she had magicked a picture of a pebble, with some points and arrows connecting some labels to those points, and a figure of an upper torso holding a wand, also with similar points and labels (all moving, of course). Apparently, part of what makes Transfiguration difficult have something to do with focusing and directing magic through one's body and wand through certain pathways.
Zuko understood very little from those diagrams, though half the class did succeed in performing their spell after that, so it must have meant something.
If Sokka realized that he had offended Suki last night with the way he carried himself around Yue, he did not show it. Yeah… he did not realize he had offended Suki, everybody just knew it. Also, Suki did not show any signs of being offended. Sokka was back to his old self and was joking around a usual. Suki looked perfectly normal laughing along.
After a double periods History, they embarked for their first Talismanic Craft class. Madame Hama's classroom on the fourth floor was enchanted. Though it was indoor, the class behind the door was an open meadow. Trimmed grass bore wide straw mats that housed students' low tables and cushions, facing a tall thin rock where Madame Hama was waiting, and the ceiling was enchanted to show the open sky like the Assembly Hall. When they entered, the Madame was staring at the rock as if it was a very interesting billboard.
She began her lecture by repeating what Mako told them last night, that first year Talismanic curriculum served as an introductory course. "There will be a lot of reading, a lot of theories, and a little practice here and there to keep things interesting", she said, smiling quaintly.
When she turned round to write something (the classroom had no blackboard), Madame Hama weaved magic and write in the air. The students did not know what the wand waving was about at first, until the Madame told them to use their Sight and they noticed gold Aura hanging in the air.
"Talismanic Craft requires sensitive Sight and this will be a good practice for you", she explained as the diagram of something was floating behind her. "Now, here we see a diagram of a simple paper talisman. By studying the Sigil written here, can anyone tell me how this spell works?"
The whole class went on like that. Madame Hama would draw some hypothetical paper talismans with detailed Sigils and she would explain in details. The whole class felt like what college level education would be. Zuko could easily picture the old woman in a lecture hall explaining the diagram of a frog's nervous system. Or the working of an internal combustion engine.
Then, she asked them to open their textbook and read a chapter while completing a short quiz she distributed.
1. Explain the theory of natural energy flow in a basic talisman.
2. List Yang Guay's Law of Looped Energy Transference.
3. Describe the principle of Harmonious Elemental Synchronization.
4. Describe how Harmonious Elemental Synchronization can be applied with the Law of Looped Energy Transference to provide long-lasting energy in a talisman.
5. List the advantages and the drawbacks of above method when paper talisman is involved.
Yup… Zuko just knew he was so going to rock this class, considering he could not even understand what the questions were asking him. All around him, the majority of his friends were already scribbling on their quiz paper, further adding fuel to Zuko's panic mode. So inconsiderate of them.
The rest of the class was spent by Madame Hama elaborately explaining the answers to the class, aided by pictures and diagram on her 'magic blackboard', and Zuko taking as much note as much as he could.
The most interesting thing happened at the end of the class, where Madame Hama took out a piece of yellow talisman paper, asked the students to come closer for a look, and floated the paper in front of them with a flick of her wand. She then recapped the energy transference lecture and… others while working some spells into the talisman. Her Sigils were all very small; if the Sigils they had been working in other classes were the size of a bumper sticker, the ones Madame Hama weaved were the size of big handwriting. And while she worked, infusing Sigils after Sigils, she reminded the students again of the importance of precision and timing, which required concentration. Zuko thought she displayed concentration poorly by talking while working but the way her wand weaved Sigil after Sigil had a professional ease to it. It was mesmerizing to look at.
Then, she declared that she had finished. Plucking the talisman off the air, she handed it to Sokka and asked him to tear it, to which Sokka gave his best. The talisman was intact, even after it was passed to many students.
"This simple talisman was used in the past in conjunction with Permanent Glue Charm to seal doors and chest containers", the Madame said.
"Ohhh, like in the movies", someone exclaimed.
"Yes, like in the movies", Madame Hama chuckled. "Which is based on a historical tradition, especially among escort guards who made a living escorting transported goods. Of course, Norms believed that the paper talismans put over the lid of a chest served as markers or integrity seals. When the escort guards were wizards, those talismans tended to have extra magical protection; a powerful seal, waterproof charms, anti-burglar enchantment, and the likes."
"Can I keep this?" Sokka could not keep his childish hopefulness.
"Of course", Madame Hama made his day. "The beauty of Talismanic Magic is that you can always make more."
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"That was a great class!" Sokka stayed behind just to say that to Madame Hama. "Great class!"
"I'm glad you enjoyed it", Madame Hama smiled kindly, waving her wand as the students left, straightening up cushions and tables. Haru had to duck to avoid being brained by a flying cushion. "And how about you two?" she asked Zuko and Haru kindly. "Did you enjoy the class?"
The boys exchanged a look. "Uh… it was okay", said Haru while Zuko said. "A bit confusing."
Sokka looked like they had just said something rude about his mom. "Okay? Confusing? What are you talking about? It was awesome", then to Madame Hama, he muttered. "Excuse them. He lives among Norms and he was raised by Norms."
"Oh, you poor child", Madame Hama said to Zuko specifically, which Zuko thought was unnecessary. "The simplest concept of magic must be very difficult for you to comprehend. I spent a large portion of my youth living among Norms too. Hmm, let's see if this will help. Imagine pieces of jigsaw puzzle. Forming a Talismanic enchantment is a lot like putting jigsaw puzzles together. You have to fit one piece to another", she netted her fingers to illustrate it. As she moved her arms, something fell off her sleeve. She bent to pick it up before anyone could do it for her. "Does it clear it up for you?"
"Um… a-a little, thanks", said Zuko, his eyes trying not to stare at the straw man Madame Hama was clutching, which was hard because she was not exactly trying to hide it.
"Good, good", Madame Hama nodded, smiling that kind old grandma smile, which Zuko was quite familiar with; his grandparents always came over for Christmas. "Run along now. You don't want to be late for dinner."
They left, but Sokka was not done praising the class. Zuko was quite grateful when they ran into Mako and a couple third grader friends of his, all of whom had small antlers poking out of their heads.
"Don't ask", Mako said tiredly.
"Why not? I want to ask", Haru grinned.
Together, they walked out of the school. As they walked through the front door into the front yard, the seniors' antlers suddenly hissed and smoked. Zuko noticed that it happened because they were exposed to sunlight. They had vampire antlers.
Maybe it was the antlers, which was part of an animals and animals live in forest, maybe it was the magical property of sunlight that banished vampires and magically-conjured antlers, sunlight that they did not have a lot in there, but Zuko's mind wandered to the Forbidden Forest.
"Hey, Mako?"
Mako, who was checking his disappearing antlers and making sure his short hair stayed spiky, turned. "Yeah?"
"When you went by…uh, you know, that place Headmaster Iroh mentioned..." he waited for light of understanding to appear in Mako's face. "Did you see anything strange?"
"Like what?"
"Straw man nailed to a tree? I mean. Last time you went there, was it still there?"
"Was… what?" Mako frowned. "There was never any straw man nailed on any tree, as far I know."
Zuko skidded to stop right there on the bridge. He held up traffic and quickly paced all the way through the bridge to let the students behind him past. Mako was thoughtful enough to tell his two friends to go ahead to Dining Hall.
"Wait, you mean to say you didn't see any…" he paused to look around, make sure no one was eavesdropping. "…you didn't see any straw man nailed to a tree on the Forbidden Forest?"
"No", Mako frowned. "Why?"
He turned instead to Haru and Sokka. "You guys saw it, right? You guys saw Madame Hama nailing that straw man."
"Yeah", Haru shrugged.
"Was it there when you were attacked?" he asked Sokka.
"I dunno", Sokka's eyes widened. "I was attacked. I wasn't really concerned about anything else when my limbs were fighting against me."
"It wasn't there", said Haru. "I mean, we passed through Forbidden Forest a couple of times before that. Aside from the time Madame Hama put the straw man there, I never saw it— hey, where're you going?"
Zuko was already running ahead. Dodging Opal and Korra who had just arrived from the east side, he leaped over the ledge of the main island onto the cloud. Riding the cloud had always been a fun experience for him, but this one time the cloud was simply not fast enough.
Like jigsaw puzzles…
It was ironic that her advice was the thing that had Zuko on to her.
Headmaster Iroh had said that Madame Hama had been in sabbatical for the past five years. The Bone witch first made her debut five years ago.
The newspaper said Madame Hama had been employed by Varricks' Global Industry to place protective talismans around their compound; her skills were apparently good enough to make this bit of information news-worthy. The Bone Witch, however, had broken through this news-worthy enchantment.
And the most damning evidence of all, she waved it around the entire class. Her wand. It was bone.
Zuko nearly slipped when he broke into run right after the cloud deposited him on the Forbidden Forest Island; the ground here was not stone, but earth. He ran ahead, heart beating fast. When he arrived at the cabin in front of the Forest though, he was greeted by the sight of two individuals he had not expected.
Headmaster Iroh was in the middle of a serious talk with a strange creature. The creature had some lemur-like qualities that Momo had on the facial feature, but that was all the similarities between the two. This creature, well, it spoke. Also, it stood on two bowed legs, its fur was many shades of brown, ranging from very dark along its mid-upper arms down to the tip of his claws, giving him the appearance of wearing high gloves, to light brown around its head dipping down to its chest. Its face was white, with a dash of very light brown down its short snout. Its yellow eyes were very round - uncomfortably reminding Zuko of nue's eyes when the monster was using its hypnotic power on Zuko and Sokka – and there were thin dark circles around them, with small hook-like pattern under.
The creature noticed Zuko's arrival and scowled. It crossed its long arms across its chest. "This must be one of the boys who snuck into the forest", he said. Headmaster Iroh turned and looked a little surprised to see Zuko.
Suddenly, Zuko realized that he was still quite a distance away from those two. And yet he head that creature's voice very clearly, as if he was there, only a few feet away. At the Headmaster's inviting gesture, Zuko jogged to them and bowed to the old man. He hesitated, but then decided to bow to the creature as well.
The creature who stood a head taller than regular man, and that was not counting the tip of its, no, his slightly tilted up large ears, leaned towards Zuko and sniffed. "Yes, this is one of them."
"Zuko", Headmaster Iroh made the introduction. "This is Aye-Aye", he said. "He is the caretaker of the Forbidden Forest. As you can see, he is a spirit."
"Oh, you live on that rundo—whoa!" Zuko gaped at the cabin that was no longer rundown. The cracked and missing logs that made up the walls and roof had been fixed. The door that was cracked and used to hung ajar had been replaced. The steps to the front porch had its missing planks replaced. And the chimney exuded homey-looking smoke.
"Please, call me Al", Aye-Aye said. "My true name, as you would understand, often invoke lame pirate jokes", his tiny dark pupils followed Zuko's gape. "Yes, nice, isn't it? When you trespassed here, no doubt you encountered my cabin in its… less presentable state. The cabin is linked to my spiritual presence, you see. If I'm not around, it will lose its charm."
"For the past couple of weeks, Al has been indisposed", explained Headmaster Iroh.
"Oh, right", Zuko quickly turned to the Forest. "It's gone!" he exclaimed triumphantly.
"What is?" Al asked.
"There was a straw man doll there!" Zuko pointed. "Headmaster, I know it sounds crazy, but… I-I think Madame Hama is the Witch."
"This one's smart", Al said to Headmaster Iroh dryly. "Calling a female magician a witch. Oh, look. More students. Joy", he was a sarcasm dispenser. Mako, Haru, and Sokka, bless their souls, had chased Zuko all the way here.
"No, I meant the Witch", Zuko said impatiently as his friends joined them. "I think… I think she's the Bone Witch", he quickly shared his theory before he lost his nerve, with his friends helping him by contradicting him in almost every turns. Nice friends.
"That straw man must have done something", Zuko argued. "It must have… I don't know, do something to Al?"
"What banished me temporarily from this realm was something magical", Al nodded, scratching his chin with his long pointy fingers.
"And Sokka got bewitched as he was passing the forest, as he was passing here!" Zuko said. "That must be straw man too!"
"Wait a minute", Haru frowned. "We passed this part a couple times with Sokka. How come the straw man didn't magic him then?"
"I don't know", Zuko said. "Maybe because there were three of us? Maybe the magic was designed to activate when Sokka is at a more vulnerable state. I mean, two of us would have been able to overpower him, right?"
"Zuko, that's crazy", Sokka decided.
Zuko growled. "Look, I know you like Talismanic class, but I'm talking about your life here! What if—"
"Zuko", the Headmaster's voice was calm and patient but it had a slight edge to it. "You have to understand that this is a serious accusation—"
"I know that!"
"Please, let me finish", the Headmaster smoothed the edge with a fatherly smile. "You must consider some facts in your story. First, you are the only one who saw this straw man other than the time Madame Hama put it here, have you ever wondered why?"
"Maybe she put a spell to make it invisible?" Zuko said impatiently.
"And yet, you could see it."
"Maybe the spell is flawed."
"Zuko, Madame Hama is the best Talismanic Mistress in… well, the world. It is highly unlikely that she would make such mistake with camouflaging spells."
"Well, what about Al? He said he was banished from this realm by a mysterious magical force."
"Yes, he did and he was."
"Well, maybe the straw man did it!"
The Headmaster shook his head. "No."
"How do you know that?" Zuko knew he was on the verge of being bratty, but he could not help it.
"Because I know of the straw man. Al disappeared a couple of days before I asked Madame Hama to put her best talisman here."
"What?"
"Not to do you any harm, of course", the Headmaster said to Al quickly. "The talisman she put was for the purpose of surveillance. It detects trespassers who entered the Forest. And before any of you ask, Madame Hama reported that she detected nothing out of ordinary", his amber eyes flitted to Mako a little. "That is until her talisman detected a couple of students entering the Forest in the hours near evening. The Forest is extremely dangerous at night, so she came here personally to check."
"She said she was gathering wood", Zuko insisted.
"Mere coincidence", the Headmaster said.
"W-well.. then how come I could see the straw man?"
"The same reason you can see Sigils without barely trying", Headmaster Iroh said. "You have an unusually gifted Sight; Madame Hama must not have taken it into consideration when she obscured the straw man with her magic."
"But you said she wouldn't make that kind of mistake."
"I said she would not have made a mistake in casting her concealment spells. She did, as it turned out, make a mistake in her calculation of which spells to use. It seems that she had not counted anyone with naturally sensitive Sight to check the trees on the outskirt for magical traps or wards; an easy enough miscalculation to make. The danger of entering the Forbidden Forest is too often found inside the Forest. Also…" he turned to the ancient trees and sighed admiringly. "The Forest contains its own exceedingly powerful magic, the same that allows Al here to anchor himself on the mortal realm. Putting wards around a forest as big as this is a challenge in itself; the Forest fights foreign powers that try to reign it in. Putting enchantments around the Forbidden Forest with its rich and powerful primordial magic, that is simply a task none of us puny mortals could even comprehend. Which is why I asked Madame Hama's assistance", the Headmaster cut Zuko before he could argue. "Talismanic ward is different since you do not anchor your spells on the object or place you want to protect, rather you anchor them on the talisman itself. It doesn't mean the method is flawless though. Madame Hama has informed me that the magic in her straw man has failed; it was supposed to last a year but she guaranteed a few months tops after studying the Forest. As it turns out, she miscalculated this one too. Her straw man only lasted a few days", then he frowned. "I should get her a calculator this Christmas as a gag gift."
Zuko swallowed hard. "Then what about this five years thing? She went on sabbatical for five years and the newspaper says Bone Witch started attacking people five years ago."
"Ah, yes, that", Headmaster Iroh's eyes actually twinkled. "Actually, the reason Madame Hama went on sabbatical was precisely because the Bone Witch began assaulting bone harvesters. You see, Zuko, Madame Hama came from a family of bone harvesters. She has an uncle who still lives in the South Pole; actually, the poor man was one of the Bone Witch's first victims of theft. Also, while she was there, Madame Hama helped convince the Bone Harvesters Society to accept partnership with Varrick, if only to secure their livelihood. Afterwards, she spent her time mounting her own investigation. In fact, though the news does not know this, and thank heavens for that, Madame Hama has run into the Bone Witch three times during this period, each time culminating in a duel."
He nodded at Sokka. "I believe Sokka has mentioned of how some officers of the Wolf Warriors received threats from the Bone Witch. The threats were delivered written on fragments of bone with magic. After years of chasing after the Bone Witch, Madame Hama has gained some understanding of her powers and was able to discern the authenticity of the magic in those bone fragments when many officers dismissed them as a hoax. It is also why she decided to return, Zuko. She believes, and I concur, that her presence at UNA would be a deterrent against the Witch."
"But, the Witch still got in!" Zuko insisted.
"Yes, she did", said a voice.
Madame Hama, standing a few yards away, smiled her usual kind smile. Hunched, she walked towards them. "For the past five years, the Bone Witch has proven herself terrifyingly capable of breaking through protective wards and enchantments, even some of my best, which is… quite an accomplishment", she muttered the last part begrudgingly. "That's why I'm here, with an updated talisman", she fished out a straw man from her sleeve. "This new one has improved surveillance capabilities, able to detect sacred bones. Unless the Bone Witch switches to wood wand, then this new enchantment should be useful. Anyway, it also has a special ward of my own design. I have high hopes for it; the Bone Witch has not yet encountered this ward."
"Listen to her, people", Headmaster Iroh nodded. "Even I can't break her talismans. One time, she sealed my bathroom door with it. I had to use the public restroom for a week. Like some animal."
"Well, you deserved that", Madame Hama said with a good-natured snappishness.
"I…" Zuko was lost for words. It seemed stupid now if he were to bring up the wand. "I guess I was mistaken", he swallowed and bowed at the Talismanic Mistress. "I'm sorry."
Madame Hama though looked at him with kindness and patience. "Apologies accepted", she said, which to Zuko was an admittance that an offence had been taken and that Zuko had made a mistake. "You're just looking out for your friend. I admire such loyalty", she put a gentle hand on Zuko's shoulder. "Now, are you sure there is nothing else on your mind?"
"No, Madame", like Zuko could say anything else.
"That's good to hear", Headmaster Iroh said cheerfully. "Now, let us go back to the school. Upon my words, we shall not miss dinner! They serve bratwurst tonight."
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To his credit, Sokka held it in until they were about to go to sleep. He had been sitting there in his bed and blue pajamas for awhile now, simply looking at Zuko preparing his books for tomorrow. Then, out of the blue, he snapped.
"What were you thinking?! Accusing Madame Hama like that!"
Zuko froze in the middle of stuffing books in his cabinet. Haru, lying on his bed with a book, looked up over the divider but returned to his book. Aang, who was already in his blanket, sat up and asked. "What's going on, guys?"
"Nothing, go back to sleep", Haru muttered.
"Why would you do that?!" Sokka demanded. "I finally found something I'm gonna be good at and you just have to mess it up?!"
Zuko breathed in and tried to reign in his anger. "No, you're right. I guess I was wrong", he was not quite ready to say sorry, though.
"You're dang right you are!" Sokka huffed.
Zuko closed his cabinet and got on his bed. "I'm done", he said, which was not true. "Night", he pulled his cover over himself and closed his eyes, wondering if this friends thing had been the right decision.
No one said it was going to be easy but Zuko was not going to waste his time arguing.
Oh, yes. He was not convinced that Madame Hama was completely innocent. His gut told him so and his uncle had taught him to trust his gut. He just knew that Madame Hama was involved with this Bone Witch incident somehow; perhaps not the one in South Pole, but definitely the one that happened in the Forbidden Forest.
And Zuko had been a loner for far too long to appreciate a good banter and to try to convince people to believe in something they did not want to believe. And Zuko was not very sure why he bothered. Maybe because it was the right thing to do. Maybe because his mother had been a friend to Sokka's family and it would seem like something Ursa would want him to do, something honorable to do. So, if Sokka would let his guard down around Madame Hama, then fine. Zuko would look out for him on his own.
As he drifted to sleep, he was beginning to think that he should have stayed friendless.