Reunion

Ding-a-ling! The bells hanging from the top of the door rang with a swing as she pushed through with her six-foot frame, ducking below to enter the bookshop. She was used to dodging the top of doors by now, all too familiar with the feel and sound of steel, wood, and even plastic frames when they collided with her forehead. She pulled down her hood as she walked in, revealing her blue hair that was in a tight bun, as uniform as her chiseled jaw and curious blue eyes. 

Some books seemed to be neatly displayed on shelves while others were haphazardly stacked high, almost reaching the bottom of her chin. Chaotic, but organized. Her outstretched arms could almost touch wall-to-wall, but the shelves themselves seemed to infinitely extend towards the counter and beyond. 

The old figure behind the counter looked up from his book as his rectangular glasses slid down the bridge of his nose. “Welcome! Are you looking for anything in particular today?”

She looked at him. His frail white hair and slouched posture, covered by a large blue robe, leaned forward over the counter, eager to hear what she had to say, as if she was his only customer in weeks, perhaps years. “I’m looking for a book, that you may not have.”

“Ha ha, well if you’d rather not be specific, we do have a rare collection behind me if you’d like to take a look.” His uneasiness spilled out as he leaned subtly to the left and right, creaking the wooden floor. 

He directed her to the shelves behind the counter with a gentle gesture and kept a careful eye on her as she reached for a surprisingly clean book on the top shelf. Break-ins and theft in broad daylight were a common occurrence in this part of town, he was no stranger to those that were just buying time for whatever reason and those that were genuinely enthralled by the worlds unfolding on the pages. He suspected it was the former after several minutes.

He cleared his throat. “Perhaps it’s easier if you just tell me what you are looking for.”

She fumbled with the corner of one of the pages and then shut the book. “I’m looking for something that could help my mom. She’s sick.” 

He relaxed a little in his seat. “Any rare medical books are already around the area that you’re looking at. However, I’m not much of a medical expert so I can’t advise you any more than that.”

She shook her head. “We have the technology to travel to planets lightyears away and yet we still can’t eradicate human stupidity.”

This caught him off guard. “Humans aren’t exactly well-known for their rational decision-making.”

She grit her teeth. “You don’t have to remind me.” 

He began fumbling with a pencil on the counter, betraying the feeling that he could sense her rising frustration. 

He said, “I do have to apologize, but if there is something that I said, and I do share my condolences with your mother, but if the book isn’t here, it’s not here. I can look into asking other shops around the area if you’d like.”

The pencil he was playing with suddenly began to rise up but nothing was pulling on it, he let go as it landed in a cup on the counter. His eyes widened and made eye contact with her as she was pointing a wand. She said, “You don’t have any books that could help me?” She had her other hand behind her back, grasping a metal grip that was secure around her belt, prepping herself. 

He swiftly took out a wand of his own and closed the curtains to the shop and locked the door. He turned to her. “You are quite bold to do that here, especially with the pesky ‘Authority for Discovery and Innovation’ clamping down on us.” He slowly got out of his seat, it seemed to be a struggle to move around. “How did you know that I wield?” Her other hand was still gripped behind her back.

She looked over at the books and the shelves that reached the ceiling, “Any older gentleman such as yourself would have trouble organizing all of these books. Seeing as it’s also very clean, I can’t imagine how you would be able to reach those very high places. And there’s no ladder.” 

Jan thought he was the best at masking his abilities. “It seems I’ve gotten lazy. At any rate, wielder, before I show you what you probably desire, what is your name? My name is Jan.” He stuck out his non-wielding hand. She let go of what she was holding onto and returned the gesture.

“Katharine.” 

“Ah beautiful, I think that was my sister’s name. Let me take you to a part of my bookshop that you may find more valuable.”

He levitated the counter and moved it forward, revealing a trapdoor with a hex. He opened it and they walked downstairs. 

Compared to the somewhat claustrophobic mess that greeted non-wielding patrons upstairs, the basement could easily fit one-hundred fellow wielders. There were aisles of books: some books were glowing green, others radiated heat or were frozen to the touch, and wands covered the wall that belonged to the greats of the past. In the very center of the floor, was a giant rug in the shape of the sun, and in the middle of the rug, was a heavy book with a circular, rotating blue symbol that hovered over it, on a gaudy, golden podium.

Katharine’s attention was caught by the book, “What is that?”

“That, is the Sepulcher, the last of its kind. Even if every single artifact and tomb in this bookshop were to be burnt to a crisp, we would be able to rebuild with just this book. Perhaps you may find your answers there.”

She could feel the hairs on her arm stand as she quickly walked over with excitement, leaving Jan behind. When she reached for it, the rotating circle over the book repelled her hands back. “Ugh, how do I remove this thing?”

“It’s a simple hex, you should be able to unlock it as I did when we walked down here if you are who you say you are.”

She looked back at him, he was still making his way over. She replied, “What do you mean?”

“You seem to have little care for the other legendary artifacts here. The late Sir Lancaster’s wand. The Book of the Lost from when the ADI began their retribution for science against magic. Students of serious magic know this like the back of their hand, and yet, you set your eye on this. Only the magic-denying ADI would want this.” 

She could feel his eyes slowly peel back her layers. “I just want to help my mother. Please, help me.” 

“And I would like to see my father, but alas he is locked up.” She kept quiet. “As I said, it’s a simple hex, only focus on yourself and what you want. The hex shall unlock for those with pure intention.”

Katharine faced the book and closed her eyes tightly and visualized the lock. But she felt anxiety, eagerness, and darkness. Jan merely saw a child closing their eyes as if to follow their orders, not a studied wielder. 

He spoke abruptly, startling her. “When we cast spells, you must not give into your emotions of fear or even delight, it is not enough to just want to make something appear or move, you must believe in something as if it is a fact. It is the difference between reacting to something and relating to it, one is a step behind and the other is in the moment. Wielders must live in the now. Focus!” 

Katharine closed her eyes again and attempted to refocus. This time, instead of envisioning the lock, she paid attention to her surroundings, focusing on the subtle sounds of the basement, the minute wind that played with the book covers and their pages, she felt the heaviness of the bookshelves, grounded in their position. The hex began to rotate and Jan’s eyes widened. Katharine could feel it working and in her excitement she began to lose concentration and then she was suddenly violently launched back. She tumbled but eventually stood straight back up. Jan was pointing his wand at her.

Her temper almost made her reach for the object behind her back, “What was that old man?! I almost unlocked it and you interrupted me!”

Katharine could tell that little spell took a toll on him. He coughed but spoke out, “I will ask this again, what do you want with the Sepulcher.” 

She yelled, “I just want to cure my mother!”

“What does she have.”

The book seemed further and further away. “I don’t know, she hasn’t been herself ever since a wielder tried to help but it didn’t work. She only has days left.”

“Why don’t you take me to her?”

“The last time I trusted a wielder was when he tried to help her. He just made it worse. She was in so much pain and all he could tell her was to ‘believe.’ Well good job that he did.”

Jan started to lower his wand. “I know you’re in pain, my father was a medical wielder. He lost many patients in his days but he was able to save many more. Please, allow me to-”

“You don’t understand! My mother just wasn’t any patient for some doctor, she used to lay with him!” Jan took a step back. “We had the science to save her! It was possible! And he just filled her head with lies and she believed in him.”

His old eyes opened the largest she ever saw them. He uttered, “Doctor Edel?”

“I- I think so.”

“That was my father.” 

She burst uproariously. “Long lost siblings are we?’

“Why, this incident you speak of must have occurred years ago when we were children, not just mere weeks as you propose. Who are you really? Who do you work for?”

“I work for myself, but if you really must ask, I am also with the ADI.” She took out her badge and flashed it to him. “Like father, like son, walking the corrupt path away from science. Maybe we can work out an exchange, in exchange for the Sepulcher, I’ll reunite you with your father.”

“I don’t understand. He died years ago.”

“I guess you were too young to understand, look at how magic has accelerated the age of your once-youthful body. It seems I was the one who imprisoned your father.”

“It was you?!” He summoned a throng of vines that enwrapped her legs. “I can’t believe, against your own-”

“He was never my father, he would never want to be associated with the child of just one of his many women. He let her die. I put him in prison. That’s what we call justice.”

“She came to him because she refused the technology that could cleanse herself of disease, she wanted a more natural medicine. That’s the power of magic, it gives opportunities to those less fortunate. To hate magic because of one instanc-”

“That was my mother! And is that what he told you? Look at what good it did her! She’s lost her mind, forever trapped between the mirrors of reality and delusion.” She ripped her feet from the grip of the vines. “You wielders are always in your bookshops, holed up with your stories and history of dusty men, when are you going to help the world?”

“Is it not fair for individuals to choose for themselves? I’m sorry about your mother but this isn’t the right way to process your pain!”

“You’re right, but even though you are correct, it doesn’t mean it’s the best solution. I’m here to destroy your pretty book to erase your kind permanently. There is no more hiding.” She whipped out her pistol from behind her back and charged an electrical shot that rang out. Jan quickly reached for another wand to dual-wield a spell that dispersed the villianous energy into thin air. 

Katharine, as Jan surmised, was only an amateur with spells that could hardly remember anything beyond telekinesis. She frantically rummaged through books on the shelves, attempting to find anything that would help her. She reached a book titled Spells for Pa-, read the first spell she could find, and launched it towards Jan. A puff of confetti appeared as well as a birthday hat, perfectly fitted on Jan.

“Celebrating a party are we?”

“I thought it was for ‘pain.’” 

She threw the book at him but Jan dodged it. Only banal books such as Late Show Casting Magic and Spelling It Out: Grammar for Wielders were within arm’s reach. Microphones and giant letters appeared from the tip of Katharine’s wand and fired forward at breakneck speeds toward Jan. He only had time to summon giant metal pots thanks to the recipe book Chili Sorcery but even that had little resistance as it was shredded into pieces.

Katharine yelled out, “I don’t have time for this!”

Jan was coughing, “Nor do I, leave my bookshop now and I won’t give chase.”

“Your kind has been given enough chances.” She found a history book, The Damned: History’s Forgotten Wielders. As she attempted to summon them, she could feel her strength drain exponentially, this was not meant for the untrained. Four ghosts appeared in front of her and she directed them towards Jan.

Jan saw the four armed ghosts as they launched spells of their own from books that they found around the bookstore. Knitting needles and flower petals pierced through the air, aiming for Jan while an ice cube appeared around his foot locking him in place, but Jan fought back with his own cacophony of objects. 

He could feel his body tearing up on the inside. “I can’t bear this anymore.” He melted the ice cube with a spell from It’s Lit: Lighting for your Magic Room and reached for the late Sir Lancaster’s wand and emitted a holy light, disintegrating the specters. He dropped to his knees, exhausted from his efforts. Jan looked up and saw the Sepulcher was missing from its bookstand and that Katharine was trudging over with the prize in-hand. He grabbed a book that was closest to him.

Katharine wasn’t in any better of a condition, but with a triumphant kicked she knocked Jan down on his back, stepped to the side of him, and squatted down with handcuffs in her other hand. Her face was close to his.

With all the strength she could muster, she said with a grin, “I hope you enjoy prison.” She saw he was holding onto a book. “I doubt that the book I used, what is it, Spells for Parties, is going to do much for you.”

Jan grunted through his pain. “First of all, it’s not the spell, it’s the wielder.” She began to look worried. “Second of all, the only time I’ll be visiting prison, will be to break my father out of it!” He took hold of the Sepulcher and pulled her close. In a span of mere seconds, an intense heat radiated out from Jan, leading to an explosion of confetti that erupted throughout. The front wall of the shop was completely eviscerated and much of the floor was blown into smithereens. 

Jan awoke with blurry vision and gazed at the staircase. Although it saw better days, it seemed to be able to support some weight as Katharine’s body lay across it. There wasn’t much time as she was eventually going to wake soon, so he moved quickly to Katharine and placed his hand on her heart. There was still a quiet heartbeat, but she was bleeding. 

“Ugh, I guess I’m the older sibling now.”

It took every ounce of strength in his body to go up the stairs and levitate her with his wand. Once up the stairs and on the remnants of the first floor, he collapsed, still clinging to the Sepulcher. Some passerby called out to others to pick up Jan and Katharine. They sat them outside across the street, facing the decrepit building. 

A local nurse off the clock kneeled down to face Jan. “Do you need help?”

Jan looked at the kind civilian and smiled as much as he could, “She does.”

He stood and slowly made his way into the city with his prized book.