Wizards

CHAPTER 3: Rei Wakes Up

Nothing much happened a day after the director had a one on one talk with Eliot — unless you count Jovial receiving threats and getting beaten by Morrigan more often than the usual as "something" then that was about the extent of interesting events that happened so far.

     By the Med Bay; Rei, sitting on a clean white bed, heard someone spoke from the doorway.

     "Yow, Beaut, what's up?" said a voice from a man she wasn't familiar with.

     Rei looked at the man who entered the room, and he was wearing a bright orange jacket and camo shorts. He leaned close to the nurse tending her.

     "Jovial, I was instructed by Morrigan to stab you with a syringe had you decided to do that," said the nurse.

     So his name is Jovial. . . . Rei thought.

     "What? Really, how cruel can she get?" Jovial leaned in closer to the nurse whose face turned red as though all her blood went there from her foot.

     "W-we have a patient, Jovial," said the nurse, stepping away from Jovial, excusing herself out of the room.

     "Oh! Right! You're up," Jovial was now addressing Rei, putting his hands on the side of the bed.

     Rei, not sure if she's supposed to be furious or worried that she hasn't got any idea where she was, what was going on, or who were people that comes and go to her room, stared at Jovial and asked, "Who are you?" she said.

     "Welcome to the Guild. My name is Jovial," he replied, "Forgive my awesomeness — I know I'm a lot to take. I know you're in a bit of shock to see a handsome man like me. It's okay, just relax, and take a deep breath," he said and took a deep breath.

     Rei didn't know how to follow that level of confidence. She stayed silent.

     "Oooookay, I think you're still in a bit of a shock, and my shockingly handsome face isn't helping at all. Why don't I wait for you outside? I'm going to take you on a tour to ease your worries, I know you think we're bad people, I can see it on your face. But first . . . change into your clothes, they're over there," he pointed at the corner of the room where Rei's clothes were neatly folded on a chair.

     Rei wasn't able to say anything. Before she could've constructed a word, Jovial was already outside and the door was already closed.

     Can she trust him?

     That remains to be an option. But from where she was; a nice warm bed, a somewhat luxurious room, which was highly unlikely for a standard room for a hospital — black carpeted floor, white walls, black bedside table with flowers on top of it in a nice crystal-clear vase and black couch at the far end of the room — true enough that this wasn't a standard room for hospitals, plus, she was taken care of, enough for a slight chance of trust.

     She picked up the clothes she was wearing since at Norris Mansion. It smelled like a flower.

     Did they wash it? How long was I out? She thought.

     It was a plain white t-shirt and blue jogging pants — her favorite colors.

     "So where are you taking me. . . ." she stopped at the floating of lights in the walls of the corridor.

     "Light orbs," Jovial said, "Cute, isn't it? It's safe to use and energy efficient; Courtesy of the largest company in Terravir . . . Binder Corporation."

     They continued walking, and Jovial was still not explaining anything to Rei.

     "You must be feeling really nasty after that very long slumber, especially after waking up in this place. Well. I find this place really depressing myself. It feels too — what's the word — tight, there it is."

     "I guess," Rei replied while staring at the empty walls. Empty yet it was perfectly made.

     They went up of the stairway where a single door was waiting at the top.

     "This would give you some fresh air," Jovial said with a smile.

     The door opened and the warm light of the sunset touched Rei's face. It was a garden, and perhaps the most beautiful thing Rei has ever seen. They were on the rooftop where winds were gentle and the sound of peaceful silence was dominating.

     A huge white tree with purple leaves stood in the middle of the garden surrounded by green plants which Rei couldn't guess what. Everywhere were flowers and plants bigger than her head. They passed by the tree and went by the glass railings where Rei could see the world. Buildings were everywhere, but they were in the highest. She leaned on the railings and saw everything below, from people to moving cars, from building to roads; it was easy to touch the clouds from where she was standing. They were so high that she feared that one blow of wind could lift her up and throw her someplace else. Luckily the wind was gentle.

     Jovial walked and stood beside her. He spread his arms and said, "Welcome to Terravir! The country of humans in Magicana. This is our share of the land"

     "Magicana?"

     "It's a continent consisting of three major countries — Terravir, Lionheart, and Elk Nation," he said, "Some things may shock you. But that's normal since you lived your entire years as a Magicless."

     Rei breathes slowly as she followed a group of birds danced around the air.

     "I just thought you needed some fresh air," Jovial said as he put his arms on the railings. "As to why you are here — you will be informed later. For now, just enjoy the view."

     Rei tried not to but she can't help but ask what happened.

     "It's only natural that you would ask," he said before he continued to tell her the details of what happened, from following a Caster to getting knocked off by a curse.

     It was hard to believe if she hadn't seen magic with her own eyes. But she did.

     "These are all real? Spells, magic, wizards...."

     "Many people have seen us outside Magicana. But we have this thing we call Code 6 which means we cannot be seen by the Magiclesses, so everyone who saw us was dedisciated—uhh . . . we erased their memories of the event."

     So that's what Eliot did to her; he tried to erase her memory. But how could she still remember everything?

     "The Caster from the Norris —"

     "He's one of our human law enforcers. His name is. . . ."

     "Eliot Reeve," a voice spoke behind them. Then somebody with silver hair appeared from the stairs where Rei and Jovial came in, "Jovial, aren't you too excited to drag her to the most dangerous part of the Guild Tower?"

     "We're safe, Niflheim, we just want to get some fresh air."

     "Pardon my colleague," said Niflheim, extending his hand to Rei and introducing himself. "Please come with me. I'm going to explain to you the whole situation. Don't worry, everything is okay."

"Everything is not okay!" said Morrigan while all the Death Squad was staring at Rei's stats on the monitor in the briefing room. "She's about to have a leakage?"

     "Prepare the mop, then," said Crimson, and then they burst into laughter, him and Grave.

     "Guys!" Morrigan called, "She is dangerous, stop playing around!"

     "Now, now, Mori, don't bite our ear—"

     "Crimson, I swear, if you finish that sentence and I'm gonna shove my fist down your throat."

     The door opened, the director came in followed by Jovial, Rei, and Niflheim. "As much as I would love to see that, I'm afraid we have a guest — so behave," he said, and then instructed everyone to sit down.

     The screen illuminated the room with its bright light, and facing it were chairs that were used for the briefings; there sat all the Death Squad together with Rei. On the front column were Morrigan, Rei, and Jovial. Behind them sat the rest.

     "Ms. Griffin, meet the Death Squad," the director introduced everyone, one by one. "While their group name sounds dark for you, I assure you, they will put their own lives on the line protecting everyone in Terravir, including you."

     The director continued to his agenda for the meeting. "It is an interesting occurrence —and quite a rare one actually — that we've found traces of mana in a Magicless — that's you, Ms. Griffin," the director pointed, "You will learn soon enough what mana is and its connection to magic."

     "So she is not returning to her world then?" said Crimson.

     "No. Having uncontrolled mana is dangerous not only to one's self but to others as well."

     "Well, we exist to protect every human, don't we? Magic-borns or Magicless," said Jovial.

     The director eyed Rei. "You need to learn how to control your mana," he said. "So you will be transferred to the care of Nesting Peak. It's a school for honing magical skills. As of 0700 hours tomorrow you will be escorted by these people. All your clothes and things are now being transferred to Nesting Peak."

     "Woah! Woah! Woah!" Rei said, raising her both arms. "I have this mana . . . thing? H-how can you be so sure?"

     "Well. For one, your own body countered a curse that was supposed to kill a normal living wizard. Having mana is actually an understatement because you have an enormous amount of it that it acted on its own to protect you without your control."

     "And what if I don't want to learn to control it? What if I just want to go home?"

     "Then you will die because of mana leak."

     Die? That's impossible — that's lunatic. These were clearly dangerous people who will try to use these fear tactics to convince her or force her to ... probably s*****y.

     "I'm sorry, sir. But I won't be able to pay for all these. I have no money. I'm only an orphan who's about to be kicked out of the orphanage for being too old."

     "Ms. Griffin, I understand your confusion for it is all new to you. But I assure you, you are well taken care of. There is a law here that protects the untrained. The council will take care of your every need until you can finish school and stand on your own feet," said the director, "That's all you need to learn from now."

     He whipped his wand and a ball of light appeared. And then he spoke, "Karen, take Ms. Griffin to her room."

     It did not take long for Karen to fetch Rei and walked her out of the briefing room where the Death Squad and Director Lim stayed to discuss the plan of escort.

     "Make sure, Rei arrives at Nesting Peak safely," the director said, "We need to make sure that no one follows you and no one learns about this."

     The director turned off the monitor and faced the squad again.

     "Her mana is about to leak," he said. "If it is left unchecked —"

     "So, Director, you mean —"

     "Yes," said the director. "There's a high chance that she's the Brotherhood's target. She's a dangerous weapon. And I'm afraid that she can play a huge advantage for the leovirs to move their case against wands and magic."

     Just before everyone got up, packing up the whole meeting and leaving the room, a ball of light appeared in front of the director.

     "Director?" a tiny voice came from the orb.

     "I told you not to disturb me, Karen! I'll call you when I need your assistance!"

     "Um, Director. . . . Ms. Griffin is missing."