Page 27 of Overwhelmed By Magic

From his fierce blue eyes to the multiple piercings and the dark aura that surrounds him, I feel my essence call out to his.

Rumi jabs me again as Harlow steps into his room and lays Skye on the mattress he was sitting on earlier. “Stop fucking staring. What are we doing about Kellen?”

I run my tongue along my upper teeth, not listening to Rumi in the slightest. I will stare all I want. “Kellen deserved his fate but I’ll smooth it over with the professors. His presence won’t be missed.” And I mean that. There are very few Magila here that are treasured. I’m sure that many of the professors would be all too happy to do away with us and the chaos that comes with our ever-out-of-control powers. This isn’t the first time a student has done something stupid and has paid for it with his life.

The fact that no one outside of this building really cares about us factors into how much they give a shit when we disappear. Harlow might suffer a consequence or two but in the end, one of the counselors will speak with him, tell him not to use his essence like that, and then leave it be. We’re basically young adults who have never grown up, never truly experienced life, and will never get the chance to.

We have barely any supervision for 90% of the things we do, not that I truly care.

I move inside the room, watching the way Harlow strokes Skye’s face so tenderly. They’re in love, I can see that. It’s the same look Rumi and Jade share many times and I’m beginning to get jealous at being left out on the sidelines. Skye curls into Harlow’s touch before he sighs and his entire body relaxes.

“He’s going to sleep for a bit. Rumi’s healing will make sure there are no adverse effects but a bite to the neck is not child’s play. It’s worse because Skye didn’t give it willingly.”

Harlow grunts and whips his head around to glare at me. “Why the fuck would they send Skye here if shit like this happens? Where was the rest of the staff?”

I’ve always enjoyed this part, explaining to the happy-go-lucky Magila that their existence here will just be pain and suffering. I enjoy asking them for wishes and then breaking my promises as I see them spiral out of control. Destruction is my endgame as I’m stuck here with no other options. The occasional drop into society has its perks but I’m happiest here in the little prison we’ve been gifted.

However, in this moment, I don’t want to see the hurt in Harlow’s eyes as I explain his new reality. Skye isn’t safe here. Goddess, most of us aren’t. “Harlow, they’re all trying not to get killed while helping us figure out who we are. Those first couple of offices are counselors and not one of them would have been equipped to deal with that. Unfortunately, other failed Magila are more equipped than the Magila they send here on payroll.”

Rumi blows out a heavy sigh. “You’ll learn very quickly where your priorities lie and I’m sure they won’t be in class.”

The spirit nods as he continues to run his fingers through Skye’s hair. “That's why the Incubus is always around you?” Rumi doesn’t answer but Harlow seems to understand. We all have our people that we protect in here at times. “Well, this is already a disaster. I’m guessing no one outside of Grimrose really cares about our plight, do they?”

“I’m sure someone reads the end-of-the-year reports and the files that the counselors send over but it’s more of a skim than anything.” I shrug because it has stopped bothering me over the last century. “Without any material to figure out what we are or some of the real discoveries regarding essence, there isn’t much to report other than how many students are still residing here.”

“Don’t fucking lie to him. There is material. It’s just in the library.” Rumi’s eyes flash with a pinch of anger but I’m not sure why he’s angry at me. There’s no fucking reason to tell Harlow about things that used to exist before he got here.

Before the spirit can tell us to just ‘go get the information’, I add on the truth about our library and any other useful resources we’ve had since Grimrose Academy was built. “The entrance to the library disappeared around 100 years ago. No, don’t look at me like that. A few spells from some powerful spirits decided that our access to unlimited knowledge was unnecessary.” That’s not the entire truth but it’s the one I’m giving Harlow at the moment.

His brows furrow as he mulls over our words. “The library was restricted at Astral, too. We had to give so much fucking information to borrow a book and even then, we couldn’t leave the library with it. No notes. No pictures. It wasn’t even the fucking archives. They’re trying to control the narrative,” he whispers those last words. He’s finally beginning to understand just how powerful the Magila council is and how doomed we are if we don’t figure out what we are.

Even if the world won’t accept us, knowing what we are will give us the ability to start learning about and utilizing our essence correctly.

Rumi throws his arms out dramatically as he turns in a circle. “Welcome to Grimrose. It’s basically a prison and we are the rejects.” He sports a lopsided smile that does nothing to lighten the mood. However, when Skye starts snoring, we all share a chuckle. I relax a little, knowing that he’ll be okay, especially with his spirit to watch over him.

I make my way out of his room and head a few doors down into my own. My roommate stupidly tried returning to his home a few years ago and was punished severely by the council when he accidentally hurt a kid in passing. The water elemental was apologetic but Dmitri and his lackeys weren’t forgiving. He’s probably rotting in a jail cell at the moment but I stopped keeping tabs on him.

No one has wanted to room with me since, citing that my mysterious aura and inability to adhere to any of the rules that most mages have to make me a danger. They’re not wrong. I’ve always been fascinated that there are no consequences for my excessive use of essence. Mages are required to enter into a give-and-take relationship with their essence. They can create but must give up energy. They can destroy but must create something in return. Etc. Etc. Etc.

Me? I can just do.

I grab a hair tie from my nightstand and pull my hair into a messy ponytail. As much as the personality requires the unruly long hair splayed around my shoulders, it’s always in the fucking way. Needing something other than Harlow and Skye to focus on, I pull some of my essence into my hand and begin swirling it into a little ball.

Just another thing I’ve learned since I’ve been here—that essence can just exist. It’s a mesmerizing sight, watching it do its own thing, like a pixie enjoying freedom outside of a cage. My little ball of essence bounces in my hand before I release it, the green aura swaying and dancing in the air. It’s one of my favorite things to watch, especially when it decides that it has had enough and explodes into an array of green sparkles before returning back to me.

It's one reason I know that essence can’t possibly be forced into seven elements and a limited number of designations.

My thoughts jump back to our conversation with Harlow and the fact that the library disappeared a hundred years ago. I’m still pissed about that since I was so fucking close to finding out what I was. Goddess, I was close to figuring out what all this shit was. Books upon books kept referencing this one piece of literature and I had finally found it in the basement of the library at Astral Academy, in a room that belied anything I had ever seen.

The problem?

I couldn’t step through.

It was like Mother Nature was laughing at me, telling me that I was so close and yet so far. It took a few years more to figure out that only a pure soul could enter that room—someone without any ill gain and without any harmful essence. The number of students at Astral that fit that bill was exactly one. A fairy type that was amenable to suggestion. I gave her three wishes in exchange for retrieving that book. It shouldn’t have worked.

But she was pure and Mother Nature accepted her into that room.

For a full minute, I thought I might have retrieved the key to our existence.

---