I'm back! Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed! In this chapter, Nathaniel learns about the Resistance's new plans with a mysterious island that only demons can enter…
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the other members of the Resistance, besides Kitty. And the Amulet of Phasma Mortuus. And Phasma Mortuus (when you all find out what that is). And actually a couple other random people. But Jonathan Stroud (cough, cough GENIUS cough, cough) owns everything.
A REALLY Bad Day
"I always wait for the Times each morning. I look at the obituary column and if I'm not in it, I go to work." – A.E. Matthews
Nathaniel got out of his limousine, feeling depressed. He was about to go to work, where he could flaunt his power over all the idiot minions in his department, and yet he couldn't banish his feelings from the night before. What was the matter with him? He really needed to see his therapist again…
An attractive red-headed secretary walked up to him, a grim expression on her face.
"Hello, John," she said, her voice devoid of all emotion.
"Hello, Clarice."
He had been going out with her for about a month, and she was one of the few who had phoned him on his birthday; perhaps she could make him feel better…
"Listen – " he began, but she cut him off.
"Yes, I know, John, this has been going on pointlessly for long enough. I really don't think we should see each other anymore, either."
"Oh," he said.
"Yes…surely that was what you were about to say?"
"Yes. Quite. Well, I guess I'll be seeing you…" He tried not to appear hopelessly forlorn.
"Well, not really. Bye then!" She said brightly, flouncing off.
Nathaniel ground his teeth. Enough of this; he had not been that attached to her. He walked into his office unsmilingly, trying to look as though all he was focused on was the work day ahead.
"Mr. Mandrake! Important news on the Resistance!" Mr. Ffoukes, one of his higher-level assistants, elbowed his way through Nathaniel's many clerks, scattering them like ninepins. He perked up immediately; the Resistance was another thing preying on his mind.
He was not entirely sure how there even was a Resistance, or who led them now, but they seemed more organized and less haphazard than last time. They always struck where they would cause the most damage, and left no traces; each attack was drastically different from the last. He thought he could see the philosophy behind this, but it still gave him no clues.
"Well?" he snapped, as Mr. Ffoukes recovered himself from the furious clerks.
"Well, what?" The magician asked, annoyed.
"The news!"
"Oh, I don't have it. Mr. Makepeace told Ms. Whitwell to tell Mr. Dorkins to tell Miss Yellowbranch to tell me to tell you that he has another tip."
"So why didn't Mr. Makepeace just tell you this? Or better, why didn't he come here to tell me?"
He still wasn't sure how he felt about Mr. Makepeace's many mysterious "tips"; part of him trusted the playwright absolutely (he was Nathaniel's closest ally at Richmond), but part of him had nagging suspicions about how the Prime Minister's closest friend knew so much about the city's underworld. Still, there was a chance that this time they would catch them…
"Come with me, Ffoukes," he said. "We're going to Richmond."
"So…what's the plan?" Kitty said glumly.
Jenson, a blond boy of eighteen with glasses as thick as hubcaps, piped up immediately.
"An amulet, that's what. We'll get it before the magicians do!"
Kitty's mind flashed back to her conversation with Bartimaeus…he had mentioned an Amulet of Samarkand. Surely not, she thought, we can't go stealing from the government vaults…
"What's an amulet?" asked Rory, the youngest of the group, her brown curls bouncing. Is it a necklace?
"You could say that," said Kevin, "only much more powerful. I think it has demons inside it or something…"
"It contains a powerful spirit from the heart of the demon's world," Kitty said, "and it can be a powerful protective charm against magic. This Amulet…what is it called, Jenson?"
Jenson looked slightly disappointed at being outshone (he was typically the brains of the group, as one of the least resilient), but answered without a pause.
"The Amulet of Phasma Mortuus."
Nathaniel entered the main assembly hall at Richmond. Mr. Makepeace was waiting for him there, scanning a sheet of paper.
"Ah, John, there you are." He exclaimed energetically, bouncing forward to meet them. "Yes, about the Resistance…they're about to go on a search for a powerful new artefact. An amulet, to be exact."
Nathaniel paled. He thought he knew where this was going, and he didn't like it.
"But surely, sir…the Lovelace collection is secure within the vaults!"
"Lovelace?" said Makepeace, frowning. "Oh, no, no, no. Not that amulet, thank Gladstone. Another one, possibly more powerful."
"Another?" Nathaniel gulped.
"Yes," said Makepeace brightly. "It contains the power of twenty great entities from the heart of the Other Place, captured there at will, which makes it very potent indeed. In addition to this, a powerful spell has been placed upon it so that the wearer may get his heart's desire…as you can see, it is a very good thing Lovelace has never heard of that one." He chuckled.
"I agree, sir," said Ffoukes, looking rather ill.
Nathaniel coughed to regain their attention.
"So, Mr. Makepeace…where exactly is this amulet to be found?"
Quentin Makepeace laughed again.
"Always concerned about business, aren't you, Mandrake? And clever, very clever indeed…reminds me of young Aramayus from my play Deidre and Aramayus…but you'd be too young to remember that…"
"Indeed, sir. Thank-you, sir." Said Nathaniel, pleased at the compliment.
"As to the whereabouts of this artefact…" Mr. Makepeace glanced pointedly at Mr. Ffoukes.
"Ah," said Nathaniel, recognizing the situation. "Mr. Ffoukes, would you be so kind to return to Whitehall immediately? In case something arises…I may be gone for some time…"
"Of course, sir," said Ffoukes, clearly annoyed at being left out. "May I take your limo?"
"My car? I think not. I shall need it, later, I think," said Nathaniel, frowning. "You may walk, Mr. Ffoukes. It would do you some good."
Ffoukes left the room, highly disgruntled. Mr. Makepeace nodded once and turned back to the younger magician.
"Yes, back to the Amulet…I expected you to have asked questions already, my dear boy. You recall me saying that most of its power comes from the fact that the entities in question within the object came at their own will?"
Nathaniel's eyebrows shot up.
"How is that possible, sir? Surely no magician, or even a large group of magicians could cause twenty great spirits to enclose themselves in an amulet! Surely they couldn't all have fallen for the old 'I bet you can't make yourself small enough to fit into there' trick…not even Gladstone…"
"Precisely, my boy, precisely! I knew you were sharp!"
"So then…how - ?"
"I'm getting there! The secret is, Mandrake, that a magician didn't put them there!"
He smiled widely, allowing time for his words to sink in. Nathaniel furrowed his brow, thinking hard. He looked up.
"This is all about where it is, isn't it?"
"Yes, my boy, brilliant! In fact, this amulet, is not even in this world!"
"The Other Place, then?" Nathaniel said apprehensively. He was not sure he liked the sound of this at all, and Makepeace would most likely implore him to go to the place (dangerous as it was) himself, rather than send his minions to do it.
"Not quite. It is a place little known to anyone but spirits: the Island of Phasma Mortuus. Do you know your Latin, Mandrake?"
"'The Island of Dead Spirits'. That's right, isn't it, sir?"
"Exactly, Mandrake. When a demon is killed in battle, his or her soul – yes, Mandrake, demons do have souls – is transported to the island, where they make a choice."
"A choice, sir? Meaning – "
"I don't know the secrets of life and death, do I? I don't know that part; however, it is unimportant, as we are magicians and not spirits."
"Indeed, sir."
"What's on your mind, my boy?"
"Just this, Mr. Makepeace: when you said the amulet would fulfill one's heart's desire…what does that mean, exactly?"
"That, Mandrake, is another mystery of the Amulet of Phasma Mortuus…if one cares to find it. Which we do."
"So, basically, Jenson, this island doesn't actually exist on Earth?" asked Lei, twirling a long strand of black hair around her finger. No one was fooled by her pretty air of casualness, however; she could sense magical auras and throw knives in the blink of an eye.
"That's not what I said," he said irritably. "It's just…we can't really get there - "
"So this is entirely pointless?" said Kevin, losing his temper.
"As I was saying, we can't really get there ourselves. We need a demon."
"A demon?" said Kitty.
Her mind went into overdrive. If Bartimaeus was still here…he was the only demon she had ever contacted. But if he was to help her…they would need John Mandrake.
She clenched her teeth; Mandrake was one of the people she loathed most in this world, close to Julius Tallow (although she thought that he was probably dead). True, he had stopped his pursuit of her after she had saved him from the golem, but he had betrayed her and Jakob to get the Staff. There could be no forgiveness from such a betrayal.
"Um…Kitty?" Kevin was staring at her. So was everyone else.
"Yes…right," she said, coming back to her own time, "we need a plan."
"I'll go!" said Antony, as she knew he would. The tall black boy was one of the most powerful of the group.
"I was talking about tonight," she said, annoyed, "the plan I made a few days ago on which we all agreed.
"Rose, Kevin…you're coming to the theatre with me. Everyone else is going to the silversmith's. It's by Cleopatra's needle, you can't miss it, and their security system's really weak…I heard a demon broke in there in broad daylight a few years ago. Lei, Antony…you're in charge."
"Why do we need to go to the silversmith's?" demanded Rory, complaining as usual. "The theatre job is far more interesting."
"Shut up," said Rose, glaring.
"As I have told you all before, we need silver," said Kitty, rolling her eyes. "It's the only thing that works against all demons. It's just as important as making a statement by pulling all the magicians' nameplates off the theatre seats."
Antony chuckled maliciously.
"We'll get back to this spirit island thing tomorrow," she said, weighing her words carefully. "That means you, too, Jenson. You're going with Lei and Antony."
Jenson rolled his eyes at her, shuffling his papers meaningfully.
"Is there anything else I should know about this island, sir?" asked Nathaniel, his brain awhirl with everything he had just been told.
"Only this: the place is not home to only demon's souls. It is guarded by creatures of the imagination."
"Sorry?"
"I apologize, Mandrake, I should have been more clear…you've heard of dragons, I expect? Griffins? Unicorns?"
"They only appear in commoner's fantasy books, sir."
"Exactly. But those people that dreamt them up…people as far back as the Greeks and Egyptians, with all their mythology…had no idea that as they imagined them, those very creatures we do not believe in were created to guard the haven of dead spirits."
"Dragons, sir?" Nathaniel gulped.
"Yes," said Makepeace brightly, "all ready to seize and incinerate all intruders. Now, you shall make this trip, won't you, my boy?"
"I suppose I must, sir," the young magician said nervously.
"Then choose your demon carefully. I recommend something high-level, to protect you as well as transport you. I'm sure the Prime Minister will be very pleased when you have collected this valuable artefact."
Thinking to himself that Mr. Makepeace may have missed the dangerous scope of this adventure, Nathaniel left the room very worried. He didn't have time to summon another afrit; all of his were fighting in America. It meant there was only one thing he could rely upon. He cringed.
Nathaniel would have to summon Bartimaeus again.
Hope everyone liked the chapter! More coming soon, please review!
