Warriors

Chapter 11

Out of everything in his childhood, Peekablue had always loved going to Mystacor. The gleaming, marble buildings were still the same ones that shined in the sun while he hid behind them when playing with Micah. The vivid green grass was still just as fresh and crunchy as he remembered. The sun always shone brightly and warmly in Mystacor, maybe because it floated in the sky but he liked to think that it was because the universe smiled upon it.

"Peekablue!" He was pulled into a firm hug. "It's been so long!" Cataspella stepped back and clapped her hands together. "Last time I saw you, you only reached up to my waist... You're such a handsome young man and my my have you grown!" She beamed at him with her radiant grin that had warmed his heart so many times with every warm welcome she gave him.

"Hello again Cataspella." He tried to grin back just as brightly. 

"Oh please, call me aunty like you used to!"

The air was a little...tense. It had been so long after all. Things had changed. Things always changed. Can you really try to settle back into an old routine if everything that made up that routine had changed too?

"'Spella!" Micah exclaimed as he enveloped his sister into his burly arms. After they both stepped back Cataspella patted him playfully.

"You have to visit Mystacor more often! Come with Glimmer and her friends next time, it would be lovely to have your company up here." Micah chuckled deeply and nodded softly. His chuckle faded into a more serious expression.

"Unfortunately we're not here for a holiday. We have a serious matter at hand." He glanced at Peekablue. Peekablue glanced back in understanding. Cataspella's smile fell and she studied the two for a few moments before giving a comprehensive nod.

Cataspella had taken them into the centre of Mystacor to discuss. Peekablue had a bit of a hate and love relationship with the room. On one hand, he could appreciate the glinting crystals hanging all around the room with a smooth bowl filled with glittering water in the middle. It definitely had a peaceful atmosphere to it. On the other hand, he'd often endured lectures around how a Prince should 'behave' with smug snickers from his sister in the hallway and a look of deep disapproval from passing sorcerers.

"...and how old was this girl? Teleportation spells are big magic." Oops. He forgot Micah was explaining everything. It was too easy to zone out when you knew everything.

"She was younger than me. Around 18...? I didn't get a good look at her face." Peekablue starkly cut in. His aunty's eyes widened a little but she quickly swallowed her panic. She placed a hand on her chin and stared down at the water bowl in the middle of them.

"Yes, this is bad." She simply stated. After a few more seconds of contemplations she finally spoke. "If you wanted to use your Farsight then I suggest the hall of sorcerers. If she's sorceress and so powerful then she must a child of one of them."

The hall of sorcerers always made him feel uncomfortable. Particularly because most of the statues were for dead people. Dead people who were now frozen in stone for all of time. It was strange to think that they all had separate complex lives. All such powerful people. He wasn't actually sure how to use his Farsight to see into their lives. He'd never had another seer to teach him and he'd missed out on good chunk of his lessons. He was really hoping the Eye would tell him what to do. The Prince wandered slowly down the hall, examining each tall, cold statue as he passed by. They were towering over him, intimidating him. He internally laughed at himself. Still so easily scared by tall things, just like when he was young.

He sighed heavily. No 'mystical pull' towards any of the statues. No 'feeling of knowledge'. Literally nothing. He swiftly marched back to the middle of the hall. "Fuck you." He whispered harshly at the statue of a bearded man dressed in clothes, notably finer than the rest of the statues. It was just a statue. Just a statue. Made of stone. Not real. But his stern gaze seemed to pierce through any barriers. "Ah, I see the old tyrant caught your eye." Micah noted as he calmly stood next to Peekablue, who was still ogling the statue in terror.

Peekablue was still silently cowering. He could feel his hands trembling slightly. Micah glimpsed down but said nothing. "That's what 'Spella and I used to call him. We'd name the statues of people we didn't know." He grinned remembering their shenanigans. "Good times...great times... I never found out what his name was. Probably another disgraced sorcerer." He let out a loud exhale. "It's such a waste. Anyone is this hall in talented and powerful then they go and get themselves disgraced." He finally turned round to look at Peekablue. "How have you been getting on?"

"Badly."

"Ah." The awkwardness that followed was too painful to describe in words. Neither knew what to say but at the same time had a million things they wanted to say. "Well." He clapped his hands together. "I'll leave you to it. Just a tip, try meditating or however it is that you reach the Eye."

"I don't know how to reach the Eye."

"Try." Then he left. How bloody useful. He had been trying for years. The only Lapis seer left alive and he was a disappointment. He sat down and rolled his eyes at the stupidity of it all then breathed in, breathed out. Breathe in. The air was fresh, it was still morning. Breathe out. It smelled of grass, dewy morning grass. Breathe in. But also a faint musty smell of...was that feet? Breathe out. His eyes snapped open.

That didn't work. The terrifying statue of 'old tyrant' was still glaring at him. Instinctively Peekablue gave him the middle finger. It felt like it was glaring at him out of disappointment, disapproval. "I don't need to meet your fucking high expectations of being a 'proper Prince'." He spat at it. "I certainly don't need your approval for anything." Fury bubbled up inside of him. For literally no reason other than the way that statue was staring at him. It made him uneasy. It made him feel a familiar feeling from long ago. "Fuck. You." He finally told it, not loudly but in a tone he hoped sounded as disrespectful as possible before giving it a swift, hard kick.

He didn't notice the loose brick on the wall above the statue. He didn't notice it wobble when he kicked it. And he definitely didn't realise it would fall when he kicked it again. As the painfully hard brick fell on his head, he cursed the universe. For everything and anything in his life.