Chapter 9
The Upper Hand
"Okay, smile or pose or something. We're putting these photos on our website for your promotional content, so make them look good!"
I followed what my director, Steven, told me behind the set while the photographer went to work. My parents and I had come to a studio in Berlin after an overnight flight that my management had organized for my first photo shoot. The back and forth travel had already begun and I wasn't even on screen yet. My new show would premiere in a month. Already, I had taken three film rolls of shots and after, I'd be filming my first set of advertisements.
The camera crew tossed silver glitter in the air that danced with the studio lights. Honestly, I hated it. It was getting into my eyes, but I had to pose through it all.
"Good job, Sigmund!" The director called out to me. As the glitter was brushed off my coat, I let out a groan. The director laughed. "We're finished with the confetti, I promise. For the next round of photos, lets see that fire trick."
I nodded and tightened my gloves before doing as he instructed. For the crew, this was the first time they'd actually seen my magic in person. It was hardly anything, just a bit of fire in my hand, but it was enough to get everyone cheering. Steven clapped with the crew around him.
"Isn't he amazing everyone?" He asked them, earning louder cheers as a response. I blushed.
"I guess you've been dazzled then!" I laughed. My father laughed when he heard me use his old reel. My director's smile grew brighter.
"What did you just say, Sigmund?" He asked. I blinked for a moment.
"Um...you've been dazzled?"
"THAT'S IT! That's your trademark phrase!" He announced. My eyes grew and met my father's, who was already beaming with pride. I couldn't just take without asking though.
"Father, is that alright with you?" Steven raised a brow at me. "It was my father's trademark for many years. He always used it in town when he performed. I felt the need to ask."
"Sigmund, I would love that." My father nodded. I nodded back.
"So would I."
Once all the glitter was finally brushed off the set and off my coat, the hair and makeup department rush onto the scene. I dreaded hair and makeup more than anything.
My hair, to me, didn't look right at all. They had done something to fluff it up and oddly, they parted it down the middle and kept my fringe away with enough hairspray to have me gasping for air. I had always kept my hair pretty normal, free of hair products for sure. I looked like my great grandfather now, for sure. And don't even get me started on the makeup! I told my mother I didn't want make up anywhere NEAR my face! She told me simply; "It's an image enhancer, Sigmund. If you wish to do well, then a little powder won't hurt!" I really didn't have a choice, it was the blush I hated though. I found it made me look entirely too soft.
After the shoot, they gave me a minute to take a break. I sat in the chair the studio had given me. My director handed me a bottle of water. I conjured myself an apple. The hair and makeup department were at it again, since the fire magic had frizzed my hair. My mother smiled at me.
"Sigmund, you're a real star!" She beamed. I giggled.
"I'm trying, Mother."
"And I'm so proud."
"Thank you."
When they had finished touch ups, I was called back to set by my director. I tossed the remainder of my apple into the trash and followed the crew onto another set to shoot my promo. My father gave me a wave from behind the crew when I was back on set. He was having a good time watching the whole process.
"Alright Sigmund, start the magic when I shout, ACTION. Got it?" Steven instructed. I nodded and took a spot at an "X" on the floor that another crew member pointed out to me. The cameramen focused their lenses onto me as I readjusted my coat and gloves. Steven raised a hand up before finally giving the call. "Quiet on set!...ACTION!"
I performed my best with fierce eyes that would draw in a crowd, just as my father used to. It was all about the expression, the look of complete control. The truth was, after the long day of shooting, my sense of control was most definitely depleted. I was just tired, even though I didn't want to admit it. The crew watched me intensely. I could feel the makeup on me face heating up against my skin. The hairspray was absolutely sizzling, but I kept it going. That was, until, I pushed myself a little too far.
"AH!"
The crew gasped at my sudden outburst of pain. I saw my father run off set in another direction. I knelt down and quickly gripped my wrist. Inspecting it, I realized I had burned myself. Steve shouted at the staff to give me some pain relief as my father came back over with a bucket that he must've taken from a custodian.
"Kid, you've gotta be more careful!" Steven said to me, helping my hands into the bucket when my father set it down in front of me. I lowered my head in embarrassment as steam rose up.
"I acted foolishly. Please, forgive me. I-I promise I can do better-"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Don't beat yourself up!" He laughed. "Listen, I just want you to be safe and have fun! You're gonna be a star, Sigmund! You've already got it!"
I smiled at him as he walked away with a phone to his ear when a call came through. My mother sat on the studio floor with my father and I as I soaked my hands. We smiled at each other. Slowly, the smiles turned into laughs. A star.
—
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SIGMUND!"
I opened my eyes that Autumn morning and smiled. My mother was standing over my bed with a basket.
"Danke, mother!"
"Well, what are you waiting for? Get out of bed! You have a long day ahead of you." I rubbed my eyes and sat up. Setting my feet down on the floor below me, I stretched before following my mother into the living room. My father had a great laugh when he saw.
"Sigmund! Look at that hair!" I sighed. My hair had been tortured the day before at the shoot. It wouldn't quit standing up, it was full of static and it frizzed in all the wrong places.
"I'm aware." I groaned. My parents both embraced me. I melted into the warm hug. It was something I needed after the long year. "I feel old today."
"What?" My father laughed. "You're just a kid!" I rubbed my back.
"I don't feel as one should." I muttered. My mother sat me down.
"You worked very hard yesterday. Today is your day to relax and be happy." She finally handed me the basket she'd been holding earlier.
"What is this?" I asked her. She smiled sweetly.
"It came in the mail for you this morning. It's from one of your peers at Milkweed."
"Oh?"
I looked down at the basket. Red, decorative tissue paper covered whatever was inside. It had the slight, off smell of pixie dust, a scent I hated. A little card hung on the handle of the basket, tied off with a gold ribbon. I untied the ribbon carefully and opened the card.
Hello. Um, happy birthday. This gift was NOT sent by me, but by a fan of yours. Don't ask whom, just take it and be happy. Bye.
- Kyle B.T.
Hearing from Kyle, I just couldn't hold it in. My laughter filled the room. When I read the card over again, I laughed even harder. It was the "bye" that got me. I could just hear him speaking through the words. My mother smiled brightly at my amusement.
"It's from my roommate." I finally told her, through giggles. "Such a fool, he is..." I removed the tissue and revealed what was inside.
"Oh, cookies! How sweet of him!" My mother beamed, reaching into the basket for one. I pulled the basket away quickly, eyes narrowing down at the basket.
"Ja...a bit too sweet.." I bought the basket close to my face again and sniffed. Now that the cookies were uncovered, the disgusting scent of pixie dust really came through.
The cookies were tainted and with crummy magic at that. Kyle's work was as sloppy as whatever prank he was trying to pull here. I bought the energy in my hands together and the basket went up in smoke. My parent's gasped and my father stood up from the sofa.
"Sigmund!"
"Wait, Father, look!"
From the basket, green smoke plumed into the air. Quickly, I took the basket over to the kitchen sink, opened the faucet and let the water extinguish the smoke.
"Nice try, Kahl. Father, it was a prank!" I explained. My father's laugh boomed from the living room.
"I see nothings changed at Milkweed..." He sighed to himself. "Good fun is still alive and well." I laughed to myself as my mother turned me away from the sink and sat me at the table once more. My mother wasn't keen about the joke, mainly because she was almost a victim of it.
"I made you breakfast. You must eat now!"
"Why the sudden rush?"
"Your headmaster called you back to the academy today." My father answered. "You're needed for a meeting with the school board."
"On my birthday?" I groaned. "I thought you said this was a day for me to relax?"
"Oh, we're sorry honey." My mother pouted. "It slipped my mind. It shouldn't be too much work. I'm sure it'll go by quickly. And it was to be expected, the school term is starting again soon, isn't it?"
My mother served pancakes for breakfast. Raspberry pancakes. Those lifted my mood a bit, it had been a long while since I'd had these. After breakfast, I got washed up and dressed and I headed out into town for the station. I went without my parents, knowing I'd see them again soon. My mother still sent me off with a snack in my vest pocket and I'd seen her push a fruit into my school satchel.
As I walked through the marketplace, I heard gasps all around me. Children that I hadn't seen in a long while were staring at me with widened eyes. I recognized most of them and I knew for a fact they recognized me too.
"Where has he been all this time?"
"I heard he was thrown into prison for black magic!"
"Look at his hair!"
I ignored the he said, she said, though my eyes couldn't help but scan the market. One person who I instantly spotted was Lila. She looked older than me and she must've known what age she appeared to be, because in the moment, she'd been entertaining a teenage merchant at a fruit cart. He was obviously flirting with her, and she gladly welcomed it.
I caught of glimpse of the scene and rolled my eyes. I was well prepared to walk away, but I couldn't push my ego aside hard enough. I pushed my hand into my coat pocket to find change. When I found I had enough, I smiled and walked in the direction of the cart.
"Excuse me." I spoke towards the boy. Both Lila and said boy looked up at me, eyes growing when they came to the realization of who I was. "I would like to purchase a citrus fruit from you before my travels, if you don't mind?"
"J-ja! Sure! I'll pick one for you!" He stammered back at me. I looked off with an expression I hoped would read as unimpressed.
At the corner of my eye, I noticed Lila fiddling with her blonde hair. She kept pushing strand after thin strand behind her reddened ears. She cleared her throat to get my attention, which I gave her with my eyes narrowed in her direction.
"H-how have you been?" She asked shyly. I looked at her and turned back to the boy when he returned with a fruit.
"Here, a nice ripe orange!" I took the piece of fruit and dropped the coins I had into his opened hand. He counted his coins and smiled, taking a swig of water from a bottle he had.
"I've been fantastic." I finally replied. "Beyond fantastic, even! And you can let the townspeople know, since you probably will anyhow. It's what you do best afterall, you're clearly a woman of the town!"
The fruit boy spat his water out in laughter while Lila covered her mouth in embarrassment. With that statement, I headed off in the direction of the station with a little pep in my step. A warm feeling washed over me and I buttoned my coat closed against the wind of Autumn to keep it in. That felt amazing.
—
Walking back into Milkweed Academy, I was stopped by a few of my peers who gave me birthday cards, treats and other small gifts. Others humored me and congratulated me after hearing about the talent scout. Speaking with one of my classmates, Ivan, they suggested I had a party for my birthday.
"I'd help you plan it, if you want me to! I'm sure you've been really busy and it might not be full on for your birthday, but everyone would love to celebrate with you anyways, Sigmund!"
"That sounds like fun! Let's do it!"
We'd come up with a date for the party another time, since I had my school board meeting. Walking into Merlin's office, I gave him a wave from his desk, which he stood from with a massive book. He placed a hand warmly on my shoulder and together, we walked to the room where the meeting was going to take place. It would be my first of activities with the school board and although it happened to fall on my birthday, I was looking forward to it.
Finally in the board room, my eyes fell on a long table inside. There were bronze name holders at the table and a member sat behind each. The table was filled with elders and school officials. I was the only child, by a long shot, but it didn't make me uncomfortable. Despite the questionable looks I received from a couple wizards and witches, I felt more than capable.
I found my name, Sigmund Nightbreed, The Sorcerer, and took my seat quickly, pulling a notebook from my school satchel to take notes. Headmaster Merlin stood at the head of the table and raised his hands.
"Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you, again, for arriving promptly. We have a few subjects to discuss, starting with our new term beginning again and the proposition of a school assembly for both newcomers and existing grades."
He sat at the table and suggestions flew from person to person. Different opinions clashed during more heated topics, like banned forms of magic and lessons that would be removed from the curriculum. And during a conversation about ethics and magic law, however, things turned into more of a shouting match. Not every conversation was one that I could take part in, not because of my age, but because of the experience I had, which was virtually none compared to the elders. It was entertaining though, especially at one point where a witch had disagreed with what looked like a life-sized, voodoo doll, who's mouth opened and closed with a zipper. When the witch didn't get a response she liked from the doll, she used her wand to conjure a massive lock that not only latched the doll's mouth closed, but forced it's head down from the weight of it. I had a great laugh while the two sides of the table erupted into finger pointing and other cheap shots.
When the hour had finally passed, we were all dismissed from the meeting. Headmaster Merlin stopped me at the door.
"How was that?" He asked me. I tried to stay professional with my response, but I couldn't help but laugh. The meeting had been a disaster. He laughed with me. "It was Lady Voodoo that got you, huh? This is only the beginning, Sigmund. An introduction to the madness, at best."
We parted ways after a brief conversation and I turned into the student's corridor, slinging my satchel over my shoulder. More of my peers rushed over to me when they spotted me in the hall and my classmate from earlier joined me again, eager to confirm a date for the party. I assured them that I'd give them one later and quickly slipped away, into my dorm room.
Kyle's head shot up from his desk, where from the looks of the drool on his face and his dented hair, he'd been sleeping over his Necronomicon. The room had also been darkened till I turned the lights on, which meant he must've been sleeping for a while.
"Sleeping?"
"N-no! Studying..."
"Is that a new power then? Does the information crawl into your brain if you sleep over it?"
Kyle rolled his eyes and turned on his desk lamp. He lifted his book from the table and within the wrinkled leather of the cover, a face formed and opened it's hollowed eyes. It's tattered mouth groaned loudly, which made me jump.
"Oh, thank HEAVENS for you, Sigmund!" It praised, much to my shock. "I thought he'd NEVER wake up."
"Now hush, Necronomicon!" Kyle protested, opening another book when his talking one levitated from his hands. The book only continued to rant.
"My spine is crushed from the weight of his head! And look at my clasp, covered in drool!"
"I said HUSH!"
I laughed to myself and opened my satchel, turning it over onto my desk across from Kyle's. Out poured tons of birthday cards, which made his brows raise. "What's all that?"
"Birthday gifts." I responded. "Like the one you had sent to my home."
When Kyle laughed, I actually did too, to his surprise. A brief moment of solidarity. From my bag, I pulled the snack my mother had packed away for me before I left the village. It was what I had been looking for. Kyle frowned at the pretzels, but asked me something instead.
"...so, um, what ever became of that talent scout?"
"Hm?" I smiled, leaning back in my seat at my desk. "Why? Curious?"
"Well...yes..." He admitted. He propped his head up in his hands and gazed dreamily at the ceiling. "See, I've always had dreams like that. Someone knocking at my door, requesting me for an opportunity. I mean, not for a dinky little children's show, but for a greater calling."
"As if!" I spat at his insult. He chuckled to himself.
"Honestly though, wizard to sorcerer, what did you end up doing when you left? You've been gone most of summer term." I was surprised he was actually wanting to know. I chewed on a pretzel before I spoke.
"Only because you asked nicely. I did a lot of work for my show. It should be coming out in the next couple of weeks."
"Oh, of course! Right on time to distract everyone during our new term! Genius!"
"I need the viewers, after all~!" I shrugged. Kyle actually smiled. I smiled back at him till I noticed the sinister look behind it. My eyes narrowed. "What?"
"Well, my birthday is coming up soon too, you know. It's nearly October..." Kyle started, closing his book gently. "And I've been working on a few pitch propositions for MagicTV1 that maybe, just maybe, someone could manage to pass along. You know, as a kind gesture before my birthday!"
I covered my mouth to hold back a laugh, but it came out anyways, along with a few pieces of the pretzel I was eating. Unfortunately, those landed on Kyle's face.
"NO!" I laughed. "No, never, EVER!"
"And why ever not?" Kyle gasped, wiping his face off angrily.
"I refuse! I'm the star, not you!"
"Oh, so you're the only person in the world who gets to be a star now?"
"Kahl, please-"
"You come walking back in here, strutting up and down the halls of Milkweed like it's your own personal runway. T-then back in here with your hair all pomp and your school bag full of gifts and you think you're some type of big shot now?" His face had reddened quickly and he stood from his desk. "As if I care about the channel or your little toddler magic show anyways!"
"Toddler magic?"
"What will you do anyways? Pull a rabbit from your arse?" I gasped, feeling my face heating up myself. He smiled at my sudden anger.
"No, but you'll have to pull a boot from yours after I kick it!"
"Do it then! Kick me! You don't have it in you!"
I charged at him and he charged back at me. He was incredibly weak the last time we'd gotten into something and although he still was, he had managed to push me out into the hallway. Our peers peeked out of their own rooms to see what the noise was about and when they found us fighting in the corridor, cheering erupted.
Kyle broke away from me and pulled his wand from his cape. He pulled the carpet out from under me with his magic, which made me fall over backwards. When I was down, I heard another zing of magic in my ears. Looking up, I saw a rather animated metal safe coming down for my head and I rolled out of it's way right as it crashed through the floor. My peers screamed, which drowned out the sound of my own screams in that moment.
"YOU'RE TRYING TO KILL ME!" I gasped, standing to my feet.
"Wound, maybe..." Kyle chuckled. I smiled.
"Oh, yeah? You think this is a game?"
"Maybe I do."
"Then let's play~!"
Adjusting my gloves, I conjured a baseball bat and swung. Kyle ducked quickly and backed up to give himself enough space to conjure something up. In return, he conjured an army of American football players that nearly ran me over.
"That's not even the same sport!"
"You said you wanted to play!" He laughed. My peers actually laughed with him. I shot a ball of fire that caught the end of his cape and shut the laughter up.
"AHHH!"
He pulled the cape off and tossed it, conjuring the water fountains in the corridor to put out the blaze. Though the cape was ruined, he poofed up another in it's place. I was actually impressed with how quick he was with his conjuring and what surprised me even more was when Kyle had met my fire with his own. Though it burned an emerald green, it was most definitely fire and it nearly burned my leather coat.
"You little—!" I gasped, ducking quickly as he shot again.
"Just fighting fire with fire! What? You didn't know I could conjure fire?"
This time, Kyle shot a ball of fire directly at me. Taking a stance, I caught it, the same way I used to with my father in the field. Kyle's face went blank when I threw it back and he hit the deck before it could hit him. The blaze had singed the top strands of his hair when it whizzed past his head and finally, the fireball landed on a banner hung on the school wall.
As the banner went up in flames, the fire alarm sounded and the ceiling sprinklers went off, quickly soaking not only us, but the peers who watched us fighting. There was a wave of screams when the cold water hit our skin. Professor Flan rushed into the corridor with his night robe on, nearly falling through the massive hole in the floor from the spot where the metal safe fell through. He gasped when he was sprinkled with water from above.
"What in the depths of HELL is going on here?" He yelled out over the screams of my peers. Kyle and I pointed to each other.
"IT WAS HIM!" We both accused.
Professor Flan was scorched with anger. We were both in massive trouble and we knew it. We were forced to stay awake that night, to mop the corridor dry. The following morning, we'd been called to the office and each given a punishment. Kyle had to help the carpenter fix the hole in the floor, without magic and I had to make a new banner for the wall, sewing each letter on by scratch. Not only that, but the ash from the previous banner had to be scrubbed off the wall and the hall runner had to be repaired as well. If we didn't do it, our parent's would be sent a fine and neither of us wanted to explain that to them. When my peers came around and asked me when the party was gonna be, I frowned.
"I have detention scheduled for the next couple of weeks..." I sighed. The pout was quickly replaced with a smile when an idea came to mind. Kyle said his birthday was in the next couple of weeks, didn't he? "Let's have my party then instead! Sound good?" Revenge was the sweetest feeling.