Memoirs of a Witch (In Bloom Book 1.5)

Glorious Masquerade Part 4

As we followed Mr. Trein, we were brought to an path underneath one of the bridges connecting Noble Bell College to the city. Along the walls, there were dozens of entrances in which water from the River Soleil would flow through. The darkness prevented us from fully seeing where the water lead to, but we did catch a glimpse of more sidewalks along each waterway.

Our history teacher took advantage of this opportunity to turn it into a lecture, "Question time: other than ferrying river water, what use could these waterways have?"

Riddle raised his hand, "Yes! Well-"

Jamil immediately quieted him, "If the one who did all the research answers, it won't be any fun."

"Very true," Malleus nodded before he looked towards a certain individual, "Sebek, what do you think?"

"M-Me?!" he jumped in surprise. "In front of my liege...I definetly want to be right!"

I noticed the panic in his eyes of being in the hot seat. I tried to comfort him, "Just take a breath and relax yourself. You won't be able to think clearly if you don't."

Malleus suggested, "The waterways are right in front of you. Why don't you go and take a look?"

Sebek took Malleus' idea and began to walk along the path to peek inside each one of the entrances. His indistinct muttering was an indication his mind had all kinds of ideas, but he was still uncertain of which direction to take.

Jamil hinted, "Think of it this way, what would you do if your master was walking down here alone?"

"I would accompany him by any means necessary, of course!" Sebek immediately replied, "In such a dim place, who knows how many insolent people could be waiting to attack my liege and....THAT'S IT! Weren't these used to hide people in the past?"

Mr. Trein nodded in approval.

"I wonder how others must've lived here," Jamil looked around. "It's awfully dark and rather cold."

Malleus then said, "But it's quiet and out of sight. I would come out here often if I knew of it."

I closely inspected the walls. Although a minimum amount of sunlight reached us, I could make out the numerous protective sigils drawn on the wall. Despite the chalk fading, the effects still remained. Whoever drew these possessed a great amount of power in their intentions to defend.

"Ms. Salvatori, that look on your face tells me you have something on your mind," Mr. Trein observed. "Would you be kind enough to share?"

"Witches were here," my finger continued to trace each one of the symbols, adding my own power onto them. "These symbols...they were meant to ward off evil and keep themselves hidden."

There were also symbols to welcome those with good intentions and to attract abundance.

"For what reason would they hide?" Sebek asked. "I thought witches and wizards were equals."

I shook my head, "At the time, the world wasn't too fond of witches. We aren't hunted any more, but...there's still this scar that history has left."

Although witchcraft had its ancient roots, it was perceived as evil by the vast majority simply because it was different than what wizards would practice. For that reason, those who possessed magical abilities turned to wizardry rather than witchcraft. As a result, less and less individuals born with the triple moon mark were around.

"There's much about witchcraft and witches that we don't know," Trein told the group. "It's only through locations, such as this, and accounts, like Ms. Salvatori's, that we're able to gain a glimpse into other cultures."