Chapter XII (12)

  “Why were you asking about a spell called Mend?” Holly whispered to her. The others were still arguing and neither of them wanted to draw their attention.

  Mitsuko hesitated. But she trusted Holly.

  “I had a vision the moment before the barrier dropped. I saw several days play out. Things happened the same as before, except I boarded a different lifeboat and went to Mauve. Eventually, I got over to Ashen Island to rescue you, but you….” She petered off, not knowing how to say it.

  “Died?” The gnome smiled slightly. “Probably something really horrid.”

  Mitsuko gulped and nodded. “Your heart was torn out.”

  Now that surprised the gnome. She waggled her violet eyebrows.

  “Interesting. I bet it’s because the heart is what produces a mage’s magic. When blood passes through it, it makes it a resource we can burn for spells. I wonder if the vision was a metaphor. Was that how it ended?”

  Mitsuko lifted her arm up and examined it yet again. It shouldn’t be there. She remembered having the limb chopped off her body. It had only happened an hour ago. If anything, this new world was the one that seemed unreal.

  “No. It ended when I died. I stabbed the person who killed you, but still died. And then…then I heard a voice say I unlocked level one Mend.”

  “Level? Interesting. I’ve heard of some mages classifying the strength of their spells by levels. A bit of an archaic system. And more common with elementalists. A gauge in which to measure the strength of something like a fireball. It’s harder in my branch of spellcraft with divination. There is strength as you practice spells, things like range, efficiency, and clarity, but that’s all tricky to place a single numerical number on most of the time.”

  “But it is something you’ve heard of?”

  “In passing, yes. I’m only vaguely familiar with the process. It’s pretty old fashioned.”

  “What about unlocking spells?”

  “That, I don’t understand. Spells are something you learn, not suddenly acquire like a pair of shoes. Maybe it’s just weird phrasing for learned?” Then her face lit up. “Wait! If this existential experience really did teach you a new spell, that’s amazing! I’m so happy for you Mitsuko! Magic!”

  She exclaimed the last bit too loudly. Several others on the boat looked over at them, a mixture of confused and annoyed. Holly waved at them. Thankfully Hideo was still arguing with the other man near the bow, oblivious to everything else as he shouted and sobbed.

  “You’ve always wanted to cast spells,” Holly continued, her voice lower. “It would be great if you learned a new one. Cast it!”

  “How?”

  Holly chewed on her lip and considered. “Mend? Well…it’s pretty obvious what it might do. But I don’t know what sort of branch of magic it would be.”

  Then she bit into her sleeve and ripped her head back, tearing the cloth. At this point, the other passengers were edging away from the two of them.

  “Mend it!” she demanded.

  “How?” Mitsuko repeated, exasperated.

  “Just, cast the spell. You know that compass one I taught you. You can cast magic, if not very efficiently. Just try to put my sleeve back together.”

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Mitsuko decided to humor the gnome. She set her hand on her friend’s torn sleeve and reached for magic to cast a spell.

  It hit her hard, the impact taking her breath away for a couple seconds. Unlike the trickle of power when she cast her compass spell, this magic was like the roar of a river. It was so simple.

  “You did it!” Holly happily clapped her hands. “You cast a new spell!”

  Mitsuko blinked and looked down at her friend’s shirt. Her heart raced. It truly was back together. No stitches or signs of the tear marred the cloth. In fact, the shirt as a whole looked nicer now. Not a thread out of place. As if it was just recently purchased from a tailor.

  “What branch of magic was that?” Mitsuko asked.

  “I don’t know,” Holly said, smiling. “You’ve had your aptitude tested, right? What did it say?”

  “That I’m garbage at elemental, enchanting, enhancing, spatial, hexes, illusions, divination, summoning, and pretty much everything else.”

  “Hm. What about mental spells?”

  “Nobody tests for that,” Mitsuko said. “And how would fixing your shirt be anything related to mental spells?”

  “Maybe I just think it’s fixed.”

  “And I cast the spell on myself as well?” Mitsuko said dryly.

  “Well…if that’s not it.” Holly muttered something to herself then her eyes lit up. “Temporal!”

  “What?”

  “You’re a natural time mage! I don’t even know if tests for that exists. Nobody knows any purely temporal spells in the modern age. You hear stories though. As a girl, I saw my uncle perform in a play that was about a famous gnome time mage.”

  This time their discussion did not go ignored. Holly’s declaration happened right as there was a lull in the argument up at the front of the boat. Eyes turned to them.

  “You can save my son?” Hideo said. “Go back in time and save Hirachi! I demand it!”

  Mitsuko’s temper reached its breaking point. “If you cared so much about your son, you should have gotten off your ass and tried to find him before hopping in the nearest lifeboat. You didn’t even try. And yet it’s all someone else’s fault? You expect time to turn back because you demand it? Get over yourself.”

  Her words struck like a sword. The man spluttered. Mitsuko turned back to her friend, who looked amused by the confrontation. Her excitement hadn’t waned.

  “You think this is time magic? You said no one knows any spells. How did I learn one? I can’t even create a candle flame.”

  “You’re a prodigy.” Holly shrugged. “It’s just where your natural affinity lies. I can barely do more than light some sparks as well, but I’m easily the best diviner for a hundred kilometers.

  Mitsuko glanced around her at the empty ocean. Others who heard the boast did the same. Hazy islands rose from the sea in the distance. Mauve held the highest population of any of the islands in the archipelago. But even then it wasn’t a massive metropolis like what existed in Hon or Tross. Mitsuko was confident Holly was being honest with her statement on her divination skill.

  “I don’t know how you learned the spell,” Holly continued, “but you know it. That’s what matters. I’m not an expert on spell theory. You’ll have to speak to Wan if you want more details.”

  “Wan…you don’t mean the Emperor’s Royal Aid?” one of the passengers asked.

  “Yeah, that one. He’s a pal.”

  Between knowing Wan and their knowledge of the spells, some of the passengers deferred a bit more respect to Mitsuko and Holly. At least the few from the Hon Empire and being a ‘pal’ with Wan wasn’t a claim many could make.

  Hideo snorted. He pointed at Holly and opened his mouth, probably in an effort to discredit or belittle her claim. The man’s bitter face twisted into a sneer of contempt.

  Then the water erupted. It blasted the father off his bench and he tipped over the edge and into the sea. And he wasn’t the only one. The boat teetered to one side.

  “Pay the toll!” a booming voice bubbled up from the water as the boat rocked and the passengers clung to the gunwales.

  Mitsuko spat sea water, her mouth foul.

  The word ‘toll’ brought back memories of her past life.

  “This had better not be sea trolls,” she grumbled as she blinked water from her eyes.

  Then she flicked her wrist, summoning a blade.