Aether’s Apprentices: Chapter 1

Gregory blinked slowly as he woke. His arms were being used as pillows again, and he smiled at the two heads nestled on them. One had white-blond hair that was still growing back to what it had been, while the other had black hair that would frame the woman’s face if she wasn’t asleep. Bending his neck, he kissed Yukiko’s pale hair, then Jenn’s dark.

“Is it time?” Jenn murmured sleepily.

“I think so,” Yukiko replied as she tilted her head to look up at Gregory. “Dear one, good morning.”

“Good morning, my heart,” Gregory whispered, kissing her. When the kiss broke, Gregory turned to Jenn. “Good morning to you, too, dear one,” he said before giving her a kiss as well.

“A good way to wake up,” Jenn smiled. “Is it really—?”

The chime of the third bell cut Jenn off. When it finished, all three of them were getting out of bed. Gregory got the covers settled, then followed his wives to get dressed.

“I find it odd that we have the same type of room as our instructors,” Jenn said as she pulled one of her kimonos out of the armoire.

“With three of us, it had to be one of these rooms,” Yukiko said, “but it is a little funny.”

“It’ll be different, with our friends here,” Gregory said, “and it’s going to be a lot busier. Our friends and the instructors might already be up for breakfast.”

“Three of them will be,” Jenn said. “Ling and Clover might need help for the first few days.”

“No,” Yukiko disagreed. “They will be hyper-vigilant to be on time for training. Clover will make sure Ling is there— she’s as eager as Daciana.”

“She is that,” Gregory chuckled.

“We aren’t going to class today,” Jenn reminded them. “After training, we come back here to go into the city with Dia.”

“To visit Shieldbreaker’s Armory and Aether’s Shield,” Gregory nodded. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“I’ve heard about those shops,” Yukiko said. “They’re very expensive. We’ll be well-geared for our adept and magus years.”

“That’ll be good,” Jenn said. “One less thing for you to try spoiling us with.”

Yukiko laughed before she snagged Jenn for a kiss.

Gregory chuckled as he finished getting his obi settled. “I’m ready.”

“Let’s go see who’s up,” Yukiko said when the kiss ended.

Going down the stairs, they all grinned when they heard the novices in the hallway. A moment later, the younger magi came into view, already heading downstairs.

“Good morning,” Yukiko greeted them first.

The novices turned around to greet them back.

“Ready for your classes today?” Gregory asked.

“Yes,” Daciana smiled widely, her wolf tail wagging happily.

“Good morning to you all,” Clover said as she and Ling reached the stairs a floor above the group. Clover’s squirrel tail twitched a little as she smiled at them.

Another round of greetings went on before Yukiko led them down again.

“I’m glad they didn’t start us in the novice’s rooms,” Victoria said, her purple eyes bright in the dim light. “Those are very small.”

“I think they’re small so they can have more novices,” Nessa said, her horse ears flicking slightly. “With it being just the three of us and only our seniors ahead of us, they must’ve been okay with giving us a little more.”

“We don’t have a suite like they do,” Ling said, her cat ears twitching when she nodded at Gregory and his wives. “Our rooms are just a little bigger than yours.”

“They got put into the same rooms as our instructors,” Victoria said, “because they’re married.”

“It was nice to have the front room when you all came to study before bed,” Yukiko smiled. “We’ll be holding the study sessions there if we’re here for them.”

“Good morning to you all,” Dia greeted them when they entered the dining room.

All eight returned the greeting to Dia and Bishop.

“Gregory, Jenn, and Yukiko, remember to be back here at sixth bell,” Bishop said. “The rest of you have classes to attend.”

“We’ll be here,” Gregory said, his wives nodding along with his words.

“If you return before afternoon training, you will join that instead of going to tactics class today,” Bishop went on.

“Understood, Bishop,” Yukiko replied.

“I wonder what Magus Erichson will do with you three absent?” Ling mused as she took her seat.

“Novices, Apprentices,” Quilet called from the kitchen, “are you fine with the standard breakfast for your aether levels?” When they all agreed they would be, Quilet smiled. “Thank you. That will make it easier for us.”

“Committing to the same meal makes it easy for the cooks, and will train you for your time with your troops,” Bishop told them. “This is by far better than what you will have then, but repetition is what causes trouble for most people. Few can stand having the same meal day after day.”

“It hasn’t bothered me,” Gregory said. “Maybe it’s the quality of the food, but I feel like I could have the same breakfast for years to come.”

“It is a little monotonous, but Greg is right. The quality of the meal makes it something I don’t wish to change,” Yukiko agreed.

“Better than what I had for breakfasts growing up,” Jenn said.

“The food was still good after Quilet and the others left, but it was lesser,” Ling said, and there was happiness in her feline eyes. “I’ll be happy to have their cooking again.”

“Agreed,” Clover smiled.

“Thank you for the kind words.” Quilet bowed his head. “I’ll have your breakfasts ready shortly. We weren’t sure you’d all be up this early. Will you continue to do so?”

“Yes,” Clover nodded.

“We are following in our seniors’ footsteps,” Daciana grinned.

“Very well. We’ll be able to make your meals faster in the future,” Quilet replied.

~*~*~

Rafiq, the crocodilian eurtik archivist, gave them all a bow from behind the podium he occupied. “Good morning to you all. I was thinking this might happen. Do any of you need new reading materials?”

None of them said they did.

“Very well. There is a larger table in the other far corner of the archive,” Rafiq said, pointing to direct them. “You might find that more conducive to the size of your group. Please remember to keep yourselves respectful to the quiet of the archive.”

“We will,” Yukiko replied. “Thank you, Rafiq. We’ll take that table every day going forward, even if half of us are missing for the morning study period.”

“Very well. The books you read from this level will be waiting for you. Your books on level two will be brought to you when you go upstairs.”

“Our thanks,” Gregory smiled, “and our thanks to the chief, as well.”

Rafiq grinned. “I will make sure she is informed.”

As they started toward the new table, Gregory sighed, remembering that he had to make notes for Master Damon.

“Dear one?” Yukiko asked.

“I won’t be studying today,” Gregory grumbled. “I have to make notes.”

“For Master Damon,” Jenn nodded. “Yeah, it might be good to get that done today.”

“I’m also going to write a letter to Dad,” Gregory said, “and Gunnar. I want to let them know how the tournament went and that our clan has grown in size.”

The other five smiled.

“That would be good,” Yukiko told him. “Are you going to stay down here, then?”

“For today,” Gregory nodded.

The three novices wore small smiles and shared glances.

“Make sure you study well today,” Yukiko said, catching the eyes of the novices.

“Yes, Yuki,” they said.

“Ling, Clover, will you be joining us upstairs?” Jenn asked.

“Yes,” Ling said. “I am in the middle of a very interesting book.”

Clover nodded. “Yes. I was hoping to ask some questions.”

“But first,” Gregory said when they reached the round table, “Magi Squares to start the day.”

“Those have helped us,” Ling said as she took a seat. “Thank you for showing them to us.”

“You’re very welcome,” Yukiko replied.

“The staff at the clan hall makes these for us,” Jenn said as she drew out the blanks. “It helps speed things up in the mornings.”

“Wait… why are three of them so much larger?” Clover asked, seeing the bigger ones.

“The three of us are doing them currently,” Gregory said. “Once you feel the smaller puzzles are no longer a challenge, we can see how you do with these.”

“That will be a month or more,” Ling said. “They’re getting easier, but I’m not sure I want to try one of those right now.”

Clover nodded slowly. “A little longer.”

“Very well,” Yukiko smiled. “Since the five of you are on normal Magi Squares, make one, then pass it to the left.”

~*~*~

When they were finished with their Magi Squares, Yuki, Jenn, Clover, and Ling said their goodbyes and went upstairs. The novices began to read, while Gregory pulled out paper, ink, and a pen.

Gregory started with his notes for Master Damon, documenting the times he used foresight and how that helped him. He made sure that the notes were as complete as he wanted them to be— he had no intention of detailing the full scope of what he could do, but he wanted to make it look like he’d grown since the previous tournament. At the end of his notes, he added his observations and thoughts on foresight, playing up how taxing it was to do for any length of time and how chaotic it could be.

Lips pursed, he read over them one more time before looking up. His eyebrow went up when he found all three novices watching him covertly. “Something wrong?”

“No,” Victoria said. “We were just wondering about foresight. Sorry.”

“Oh, we can talk about it more at the clan hall,” Gregory told them.

“Thank you,” Nessa said. “We didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“I’m fine,” Gregory replied. “Now for the hard part.”

“What?” Daciana asked.

“The letter home,” Gregory said softly. “I find that it’s hard to write them. I doubt I’ll ever go back, but I still want to know how they’re all doing…”

“I should write my parents,” Victoria said suddenly.

Gregory slid a blank page to her. “It’s good to at least let them know. They might be worried sick.”

Victoria nodded. “I was so focused on joining the clan, I didn’t even think about it. I’m a terrible daughter.”

“No, just a focused one,” Daciana said. “You’ll write it now.”

“Write it, and I’ll send it out along with mine,” Gregory told her. “Late is still better than never.”

“Thank you,” Victoria said as she dug into her bag for pen and ink.

“You three don’t carry bags anymore,” Nessa said, “yet you always have what you need.”

Gregory tapped his ring. “Storage item. They’re expensive, but very useful.”

“Oh, I’ve heard about those,” Nessa said, staring at the ring. “How much can it hold? They vary, don’t they?”

“They do, and this one is sizable,” Gregory smiled softly. “Yuki bought it for me.”

Daciana smiled, letting out a soft “aww.”

“She likes to spoil her friends,” Gregory chuckled, “as you’ve seen. Goodness knows what she’ll do in the future.”

“We didn’t mean to stop you,” Nessa said. “We’ll go back to our studying so you can write.”

“Thanks,” Gregory said as he looked down at the blank piece of paper.

He stared at it for a few minutes before he exhaled slowly and put pen to page.

Father, It’s been a half year since you were here. A lot has changed in that time. You met Jenn and her parents— interestingly enough, I married her. Yeah, married her. I’m married to Yuki and Jenn now. I was a little surprised when they brought up the idea to me.

I didn’t jump at it right away. I was worried for Yuki and Jenn, but it’s been a few months, and well… things are working out. All three of us have found what works for us. I wonder how Mom would feel about it? I ask myself that a lot. Not just that, but also if she would have liked them both. Would she have loved them for loving me?

The tournament where we fight as a team just passed. We won and took the top spot. We’ll be heading to Buldoun for the next one— the academy made a deal with the royalty there to do a tournament together and, by winning the last one, we’re going to that one. I’ll write afterward to let you know how it went.

Speaking of the clan, it’s grown by nearly triple. Our novice friends, Nessa and Daciana, had another join them, Victoria. Vicky is from Linom, the daughter of the innkeeper there. Thinking about it, you met Nessa and Daciana at the wedding. Nessa is the daughter of Ramon from Stabled Hunger, and won the novice tournament. Daciana is a wolf eurtik whose father frequented the tavern. Daciana is forward and a little brash, but she’s a loyal friend. Daciana also came in second, losing to Nessa. There were no hard feelings between them, which is good. I should mention that Vicky made it to the final four, as well, but she lost to Daciana.

On top of them, a couple of other apprentices joined the clan. Ling and Clover are both in our tactics class and became fast friends with us. Ling is a lion eurtik, who is very studious, possibly as much as Yuki. Clover is unique… she’s a squirrel eurtik. I’ve never met a person as energetic and friendly as her. Even Mom would have been hard-pressed to be as friendly as Clover. They’re both good friends, and we’re happy to have them with us.

It was good seeing you. I can’t thank Yuki enough for helping us repair our relationship. Mom would have wanted us to make up. Enough about me. How are you? Did the trip back go okay? Are you still staying with Gunther?

I probably won’t be back there. I realized I never told you that, but I told Gunnar via letter before. I know why magi never come back if they survive… because our loved ones will all die long before us. It would be hard to see your friends die hundreds of years before you, much less your siblings or parents. I want to keep the memories that I have of everyone as they were when I left or, in your case, when you went home.

Maybe that’s selfish of me. If you visit again, I would love to see you, but I don’t think I can go back. I still want to know about the village, though. So please, write to me? Send them to the clan hall and they will get them to me.

I was happy that you came and saw me marry Yuki. I’ll treasure that memory all my life. You being there, happy and smiling, when I married my heart.

Your loving son, Greg

Setting the pen down, he read his letter. He swallowed a few times, then closed his eyes as he tried to center his mind.

“Greg?” Nessa asked softly.

Blinking, he looked at the three of them. “Sorry. Knowing you’ll likely never see your family again…” He trailed off, shaking his head.

“Why?” Daciana asked.

“I want to remember them as they were,” Gregory said softly. “It’s a little selfish of me, but I don’t want to see them age and die.”

“Because magi live far longer,” Victoria whispered. “Yes. I say the same in my letter.”

“Oh…” Nessa said softly. “I hadn’t thought about that.”

Daciana nodded slowly. “Yes. Magi live longer. It’ll be sad.”

“I need to write to my oldest friend,” Gregory sighed. “Excuse me.”

“Greg,” Victoria said quietly, waiting for him to look up. “Thank you for reminding me to write, and for taking it to send off.”

“Friends help each other,” Gregory said.

“If we can help you, please tell us?” Nessa asked, her hand twitching toward his, but not touching him.

“I will,” Gregory said as he looked back down at the paper on the table.