The Deceiver | The Magicians

Chapter 8

Eight | Sorting

It had come to the end of the first Quarter and Lilly passed with all A's except for one B in Alchemy. No other incidents had occurred since The Beast and it had been almost completely forgotten by everyone, except the five students responsible for the attack. Lilly's sleep had been haunted by the moth man almost every night since he showed up in her class, something that hadn't happened since she was a small child. Professor Sunderland had been unable to figure out the cause of these nightmares and promised that as soon as Dean Fogg had recovered, they would find a way to keep the monster out of her head. In the meantime, Sunderland had instructed her to keep a dream journal so that they could be analyzed. 

Dark circles had formed under her eyes and Ava was just about ready to strangle her if she was woken up again by screaming. Lilly's friends had become increasingly worried and even Penny had taken to watching her closely, as if she would break from the slightest disturbance. To say she was relieved when she walked into class that morning to find Dean Fogg sanding at the front of the room, would be an understatement. He was newly blinded, which explained pair of darkly tinted sunglasses he wore, but he still surveyed the students like he could see every movement they made. Lilly took an empty seat next to Alice, giving her a confused look to which Alice mirrored. Fogg waited until everyone had settled in their seats before cutting through the murmur of voices to begin his speech. 

"Being a Magician has always been in part, about accruing power. Power over yourself, the elements, power over the future, the very world that exists around you." A noise sounded from the back of the room and all heads turned to find Quentin, late as usual. Lilly made a mental note to buy him a watch for his birthday. Everyone disregarded him quickly and he shuffled his way over to where Lilly and Alice sat.

"He's back?" Quentin said giving them an odd look as he sat beside them. 

"But Power, as you all know, does not come cheaply. There are reasons we teach this curriculum precisely the way that we do. Skipping around, focusing on all the wrong things, lack of guidance... these are all extremely dangerous. There are certain energies, certain spells, which are far too powerful for one magician to do alone. If you lose control they will turn against you, they will kill you, they will consume you, change you into something else." 

A chill ran down her spine as he said this. She supposed it was just the ominous sound of it that made the hairs on her arms stand up and maybe even the possibility that it might happen to her or her friends. A wave of whispers went through the room and she could tell that she wasn't the only one his words affected. "Now that I have your attention. We test to discern your discipline, your area of concentration. It is what you are, and with the right guidance, you may safely rise to unknowable heights. You will find your scheduled times and invitations inside your bags." Everyone simultaneously reached into their bags to find a card almost identical to the ones they received during the entrance exam. On the back it read,

LILLY COLE

Please report to the DEAN'S OFFICE at

17:00

"Classes are cancelled for the rest of the day. You're evaluating Professor will explain the circumstances of your continuation in this program. You are dismissed." Lilly grabbed her bag and slung it across her shoulder along with everyone else in the room. She was thankful that she didn't have to sit through History of Magic, she had no doubt she would have fallen asleep. A week with barely any rest was becoming increasingly hard to handle and Lilly prayed that the Dean would be able to help. 

➻➻➻➻

"Come in." The Dean called and Lilly pushed open the glass doors to find him sitting across the desk from her. Professor Sunderland stood to the right, arms crossed and looking very stressed. Another woman stood by the window, her back to Lilly. Her red hair was pulled into an up do reminiscent of the 1940's. "Please take a seat" Dean Fogg motioned to the empty chair across from him with a gloved hand. The Beast must have done something to them in order to hinder his casting. The gloves had wires connected to each finger, making him look like a cyborg. "I have been informed that you have been having dreams of the beast that attacked you." Lilly nodded as she took a seat only to realize he was blind and couldn't see her.

"Yes, that is correct." She told him, eying the woman at the window who had yet to turn around and reveal her identity. 

"As you can see, I am in a bit of a tricky situation at the moment and am unable to help you." Lilly lowered her head in disappointment. There was no way she could handle this much longer without having a complete mental breakdown. "But, I have called in help for you." he motioned to the unknown woman who finally turned around when addressed. Lilly immediately recognized her from their last encounter.

"Paramedic lady?" She asked confused as to why she was the one he called. The woman smiled sadly and sighed. 

"It is very nice to see you again Lilly, you may call me Eliza. Paramedic lady is much too formal." Eliza said, her British accent filling the room. Lilly wondered if she always had this air of amusement, like everything was a part of some cosmic joke that only she knew about. 

"Eliza will be helping you stop these dreams." Dean Fogg explained, "I trust her completely and if anyone can figure it out it would be her." 

"Have you ever heard of Occlumency?" Eliza asked, moving to sit lightly on the corner of the desk. 

"That thing from Harry Potter?"

"Precisely. I will be teaching you how to close your mind and protect it from eternal attacks." Lilly shifted in her seat, intrigued by this bit of information.

"Do you think it will work?"

"We can only hope." Eliza didn't sound very optimistic but Lilly was grasping at straws at this point and would take anything she could get. "Everyone has a certain level of protection around their minds that is preexisting. Everyone can learn to build those walls up, but I will warn you, it is not easy. Not in the slightest." Lilly nodded, signifying her willingness to do what it takes. 

"So, you think these dreams are actually The Beast trying to get into my head?" A shiver ran down her spine at the thought of that thing getting inside her. The pause was all she needed to confirm her suspicions. Lilly sat back, sagging into the chair. "Why me?" 

"That is what we would all like to know." Dean Fogg interrupted. Eliza was quick to continue, ignoring Dean Fogg's comment. 

"There is no apparent reason why it is targeting you, but you are not the only one. You're friend Quentin." Lilly looked up at the mention of Q. "And Penny, seem to be of interest to the Beast as well."

"What have we done to gain its attention? We are not special." Eliza didn't bother to answer and Lilly assumed it was because she didn't know. How could she know? There was nothing about them that would cause The Beast to come after them.

"I have been told that your mental protections are naturally rather strong. However, they are not strong enough to protect you from The Beast. Your friend Penny has also been experiencing mental attacks and will be joining us for our lessons."

"We're not friends." Lilly was quick to tell her and an expression of amusement flitted across Eliza's face. 

"Very well then, our first lesson starts Tuesday at six o'clock. Please don't be late. I despise tardiness." Eliza told her. Lilly immediately began dreading these lessons where she would be stuck in a room with Penny. They would probably kill each other on the first day.

"Let's continue, Professor Sunderland will be testing you to determine your discipline." He nodded in the general direction of the blonde professor who stepped forward from where she stood during the previous conversation. She bent down to grab a large bag that looked as if it could hold the whole school. Sunderland placed it down beside the desk, leaning down to pull out a small golden spyglass. She retracted it and began examining Lilly through it. Lilly felt as if she were a specimen under a microscope. 

"The dreams you've been having initially made me think you were a psychic but, as we have determined they were a mental attack, my suspicions are no longer valid. Have you been hearing voices at all? Having Deja vu?" Lilly shook her head and Sunderland retracted the spyglass, reaching into her bag once again. She placed an ornate hourglass on the table in front of her, flipping it over so the sand spilled down into the lower chamber. "Clear your mind, focus on every grain of sand as it falls." Lilly did as told, no matter how bizarre the task was. Nothing happened. 

Sunderland sighed and circled through another round of tests. It was quickly determined that she was neither a Healer or an Herbalist and there were no indications of psychic ability. That left Illusions, Knowledge and Physical magic. They must have been there for hours and Lilly wondered how long it had taken the others to be sorted. She couldn't help the pang of anxiety in her chest at why it was taking this long. Sunderland had taken to pacing back and forth while Eliza studied her pensively from across the room. "Hold these," Sunderland handed her a pair of Egyptian scarabs. "Now think the alphabet in Greek" Lilly looked around to see if anyone else found this weird before doing as told. "Nope" The scarabs were plucked from her grasp. "Not Knowledge." Sunderland looked around the room and plucked an apple from the edge of Fogg's desk before promptly chucking it straight at Lilly. She ducked before it could hit her, causing a loud bang when it hit the wall behind her.

"What the hell?" Lilly looked at the professor as if she were insane but the other adults seemed to find nothing awry. 

"I did think you might be a Physical magician but you're lack of response is telling me otherwise." She rifled through her bag which must have been almost empty by now and produced a purple crystal about the size of her palm. Sunderland handed it to Lilly before taking a dropper full of iridescent liquid and depositing it on top of the gem. The professor starred in anticipation, sighing deeply when, yet again, nothing happened. "I suppose we can try again next year." Lilly sat up straight, looking at the professor in shock.

"What? You mean you don't know what my discipline is?"

"Hold on." Eliza moved over to them, eyes calculating as they looked Lilly over. Eliza turned to look at Sunderland, "May I?" She asked the professor who stepped back in silent approval. Eliza circled Lilly who still sat in the same chair as earlier, watching the woman apprehensively. Eliza stopped in front of her, bending down to examine Lilly's face. She pulled a small magnifying glass out of her skirt pocket, using it to look for possible hints as to what Lilly was. 

She let out a soft "hmm" before standing and whispering something into Sunderland's ear. The professor nodded before turning and leaving the room. "She will be back in a moment. I just asked her to fetch something for me. Would you say you are particularly good at lying Lilly?" She was taken aback by this question. Had they figured out that she was a part of the summoning? Had Penny betrayed her too? 

"Is this a trick question?" A flicker of amusement crossed Eliza's face as she sat on the desk once again.

"No. No trick, just a question." 

"I guess so? I used to want to be an actress when I was little. I might have been too, but writing was my calling." Eliza nodded thoughtfully and silence ensued for a moment.

"Am I in trouble?" Lilly asked.

"Trouble? No, quite the opposite. The tests Professor Sunderland performed indicate that you might be an Illusionist. Now what we are trying to do is figure out your specific talent."

"Illusionist?" Lilly muttered, mulling over the possibility. She felt a surge of excitement as she remembered watching those students on her first day, conjuring up that bird. She had been hoping to be placed in the physical group with Elliot and Margo, but Illusions sounded so intriguing to her. 

"Vanishing is quite common, but you did not respond to test that would have revealed it. I am not surprised that Professor Sunderland almost gave up. I almost didn't see it myself."

"See what?" Lilly asked and Eliza smiled secretively. The door rattled as Sunderland returned, holding numerous vials of different colored liquids. 

"Thank you, Professor." Eliza spoke, watching as Sunderland laid out the vials on Fogg's desk. During all of this, the Dean stayed silent. Eliza reached out to grab a purple liquid, popping the cap and sniffing it lightly, her nose scrunching up in disgust. "Hold out your hand." Lilly followed orders and Eliza dropped a bit of the purple liquid into her palm. As soon as the liquid hit her skin, it morphed from purple to pure silver. Lilly stared at it in confusion before looking up at Eliza.

"What does that mean?" 

"Something very interesting." Eliza told her before reaching for another vial, this time red. If Lilly didn't know any better she would have said it was blood. She gestured for Lilly to hold out her hand again, dropping the liquid slowly into her palm. Lilly gasped as the substance was dissolved into her skin completely, without a trace of it ever being there. Something very peculiar was happening, Lilly felt it first in the spot where the liquid disappeared. A tingling sensation, filling up her whole body and then heat, like something was boiling underneath the surface of her skin.

"What's happening?" The fear in her voice was evident and Lilly watched as Professor Sunderland stepped back in surprise. She looked to Eliza who sat there, eerily calm, as she watched Lilly. Lilly turned pleadingly to Dean Fogg who of course couldn't see her. Why weren't they helping her? What was going on? Suddenly the feeling stopped as if a faucet had been turned off and a smile tugged at the edge of Eliza's lips. 

"Just as I suspected!" Eliza cheered in a singsong voice, hopping up from her seat to more closely examine her. Sunderland stood back a ways, looking shocked. Lilly had no idea what had just happened but apparently it was pretty mind blowing. "You my dear are a shifter!" Lilly looked at her confused and Sunderland spoke up.

"I thought shifters were a myth." 

"Just like people think magic is a myth" Eliza sassed, not taking her eyes off of Lilly.

"What's a shifter?" Lilly inquired.

"Well, being a shifter is extremely rare." Eliza explained, "So rare, that many believe them to be a myth. Their abilities, well... it may be better if I show you rather than try to explain." Eliza reached across the desk to grab a small hand mirror, turning it to face Lilly. Only it wasn't Lilly who stared back at her through the mirror, but an unknown girl. Lilly screamed, jumping up from her seat and stumbling away from the reflection. 

"What the hell happened?" She yelled at Eliza who had yet to lose her calm composure.

"Shifters have the ability to take the form of others. Experienced shifters can do it through simple eye contact, but the main way is through blood." Eliza gestured to the red vial and Lilly felt the sudden urge to gag.

"You're telling me that you poured blood onto my hand to make me turn into someone else!"

"Shifters are a race of magical creature. Their abilities pass down to their lineage which means..."

"One of my ancestors was this shifter thing?" Eliza nodded and gestured for Lilly to return to her seat. Sunderland finally worked up the courage to inspect her closely and began circling Lilly.

"I've seen illusionists warp the perception of themselves to look like another, but this. She actually is this girl." Lilly did not share her excitement and only wanted to return to herself.

"How do I stop it?" She looked to Eliza pleadingly.

"Focus on yourself. Picture every detail of your being until you feel it." Lilly followed the instructions, not wanting to be stuck in another girl's body a moment longer. Sure enough, a moment later the tingling returned and when she looked in the mirror she was Lilly again. 

"How do you know so much about Shifters if they are supposed to be a myth?" Eliza hesitated a moment before speaking.

"I have spent time in other worlds. Worlds where shifters are much more common than here. I picked up a few things along the way." Lilly wished she had been less vague but one look at the woman told her that was all she would get. 

"I am not equipped to teach her. I have no knowledge of shifters. I suggest we call in a specialist to help her." Sunderland looked to Dean Fogg for his approval.

"Why call in a specialist when one is standing in the room with us?" Dean Fogg gestured to the general area where Eliza was standing. "Eliza? Would you?" Eliza's eyes bored into the Dean and Lilly could tell there was some tension between the two. She stared at him for a moment before she shook her head in frustration. 

"Of course," Eliza smiled at Lilly. "I will be your mentor during your time at Brakebills. We will meet once a week along with our Occlumency lessons."

"You are an Illusionist." The Dean explained. "Your exact discipline... Independent" Lilly nodded though the thoughts running through her head made it hard for her to focus on his words. 

"Illusionists live in a castle on the west side of campus by the ocean." Sunderland told her.

"A castle? I've never seen one on campus."

"There is a reason they are called Illusionists Lilly. Your things will be moved to the castle so there is no reason to return to the dorms."  

"You may go. Any further questions will have to wait until your meeting with Eliza." Dean Fogg released her and Lilly slowly got up. She was in a bit of a daze as she looked around at the faces of the adults. Professor Sunderland still had a bit of disbelief behind her eyes as Lilly turned to leave. She wandered around campus until she ran into Dani at the coffee shop, sitting alone with her laptop. 

"Hey! What happened?" Dani's excitement turned to concern when she saw the look on her friend's face.

"I have no idea."