Awakening - The Last Science #1

Interlude III - Family - I

  Rachel left the store with Hector in tow. As they disappeared into the darkening streets of Rallsburg, Cinza finally released the energy she'd been holding. The air in front of them seemed to shift slightly, and suddenly they were visible to the world—not that anyone remained on the street to spot them hiding in the alley next to Hector's grocery. She stretched out, trying to loosen her muscles from having crouched in place for so long. Cinza hadn't been sure how long it would take for Rachel to get Hector out of his store, and didn't want to miss her chance. As Rachel left, Cinza felt the telltale shiver like a faint whisper in her ear. The signal, the only magic she'd ever known to actually affect another person directly. Rachel had kept the specifics a tight secret, swearing Cinza to absolute secrecy that such a technique even existed.

  It was time.

  She tapped Ruby's shoulder. The younger girl darted across the street. After she cleared the area, she signaled Cinza with a quick tiny flame.

  With the lights of the town already extinguishing themselves, it was easy to spot. Cinza bounded across, her cloak fluttering behind her. Wordlessly, Ruby pointed at the simple latched gate and flicked it open. Hector had never installed any sort of alarm or intense lock system, as he had never actually been stolen from. The town was close-knit enough (and Rachel was attentive enough to any outliers) that Hector was left alone by the iniquitous residents. Cinza regretted the actions they had to take that night.

  Hector was a good sort, but Cinza had been asked personally by Rachel DuValle herself to undertake this secret mission. No one would deter her. Rachel was a young woman Cinza deeply admired, both for her feats of magic and her accomplishments. To change oneself into such a powerful and capable person, overcoming the well-meaning but hapless fool she'd once been, was a meritorious feat. Rachel was a remarkable leader and visionary. Cinza refused to fail their towering arbiter.

  Ruby, on the other hand, did not feel the same affection for Rachel that Cinza did. She was a true believer, an utter devotee to Grey-eyes and everything that their goddess did. For the longest time, Ruby had thought of Rachel as an usurper in many ways—a pretender to the throne of magic and someone to be ignored.

  Nathanel Price's awakening changed everything. They'd watched, dumbstruck, as their goddess took Rachel into her confidence. None had ever spoken to the goddess at length before. In Ruby's eyes, Rachel changed herself that day from an object of pity and scorn to a priestess to be worshipped.

  In all honesty, Cinza might have been a touch jealous, had she not herself been so intrigued by the titaness of the council. Rachel was unique, and Cinza was attracted to unique things. Even amongst the awakened world, Rachel seemed a beacon of curiosity. By far, the most popular and actively developed branch of magic focused on the external and the physical, from the most amateur among them like Nate to the Three Gods themselves. There was the rare exception, such as the two keepers of Knowledge magic in William Carbonell and Mabel Walsh, and the mysteries of Natalie Hendricks' wondrous abilities with animals, but the primary focus had always been on physical, combative, or utilitarian magic.

  Cinza wanted to break free of such a limited scope of ambition. She believed Rachel felt the same way, with her own expertise on the internal and mental forms. Cinza believed that magic could take them so much further into the mysteries of the universe than the council was willing to admit or pursue. Her own predilections were for the arcane, and she tried to express herself through her spells in a similar vein.

  The manipulation of photons was scientific only in name, as she dredged up principles taught to her by a foster father so many years prior. As soon as she took them under her mental grasp, it became something else entirely in her mind. Cinza was not forcing them to shift. She asked the universe to change for her. Patterns within her mind were supplanted upon the bursts of light always moving and reflecting off every surface, allowing her to shift and bend them as she desired to create nearly any shape she desired.