Multiverse of Magic & Mistakes (Completed)

1.3.27 Chapter 27

The Mages College of Verdyn, Verdyn, October 2019.

Master Reynold, was sat in his favourite fireside chair, enjoying a glass of his favourite blood-red wine, deep auburn hair glowing in the firelight, when the girl who was destined to destroy the world, finally fulfilled her destiny.

He was thinking over the day's events, in particular, that incident in the courtyard, and then the not-so-subtle stalling tactics where Mallory, a known close friend of Violet and Rhonan, tried to cause a scene and prevent him from entering his office. When Mallory seemed to have a sudden change of heart, leaving Reynold to sweep into his office to admonish Novice Riley for her supposed-to-be-accidental-but-clearly-deliberate flooding of the courtyard, he knew something was up. He knew a planned distraction by the Novices when he encountered it; this group were not the first to stage one.

As soon as he dismissed Riley, Reynold had unlocked his tall cabinet with a flourish of his wrist and checked upon the red crystals. Several were missing.

Excellent, things were progressing as he had hoped, and at an even faster pace. The girl must have put his hints together and be even more desperate than he thought to rescue her boyfriend.

A lucky turn of events that. Reynold wasn't sure how her return portal ended up being unstable, but however it happened, the outcome was in his favour and gave Violet a sudden acute incentive to do what he was planning on her doing.

Master Reynold was sharply interrupted out of his revive, by his Conveyor buzzing. Signing, he placed the half-empty glass of blood-red liquid on the table and picked up the large grey stone. The third gemstone along was giving off a bright glow. Calistan! Reynold jumped to his feet with a swiftness that should not be possible at his age.

"Yes Calistan?" he answered abruptly.

"I have just detected multiple energy spikes. Locations distributed across the College grounds"

"Excellent. It appears that Violet has proceeded as anticipated. Where is the nearest? Meet me there immediately. Inform the Echelon."

≠

Bath, UK, Earth, October 2019.

Lily was heading home from swim practice, slightly-faded red hair drying in the cool evening breeze, wireless headphones blazing her favourite K-pop song, when the world ended. It ended not in a sudden unexpected bang but with a whimper. Thousands if not millions of bizarre events unfolding simultaneously globally that could have the potential to end society as they knew it.

First came a strange uneasy pickling sensation, like that of being watched by an unknown watcher, but instead felt all at once by everyone, from Canberra to Mumbai to Tierra del Fuego. Not that Lily had any way of knowing at the time.

Worldwide, people stopped whatever they were doing, runners coming to a sudden halt, classes paused, office worker all looking up from their screens, sleepers awoken, car drivers with the sudden desire to pull over, forks paused on route to mouths, conversations haltered, as each and every person who was able to turn and looked in a full 360 around themselves as the hair on the back of their necks and on their forearms rose. Many accidents were narrowly avoided. Many were not.

Lily's earbuds suddenly cut out and she removed them with a sharp jerk, the background sounds of the world audible again, and spun around. Nothing was there. Her arms filled with goosebumps. She shivered and checked again. Still nothing.

But something was up. The air felt strange, thicker, buzzing with potential, like the increase in humidity before a severe storm. She could not escape the sensation of being watched. Shivering yet again, Lily hiked up her bag, tightening the straps as far as they would go and set off home at a sprint. She was a swimmer, not a runner, but could not bear to be out here, exposed, on the street for any longer. And it seemed like she was not the only one. As she headed home, Lily saw many others rushing back into their homes in a great hurry.