Wundrous Hope

3: The Grand Finale

Flames swirled and fire blazed as fire creatures soared and swooped through the smoky air. The night was pitch black, creating even more of a contrast between the glowing orange blazes and the dark night.

The only sounds were flames crackling in the silent night. The flames flashed and tore the night in two, shredding the inky blackness. Words formed in the air, accompanying the shapes and creatures.

Horses galloped and wolves howled, foxes hunted, and falcons dived. A swarm of bees came down on a prowling lion and a river of fire swept the sharks away. ribbons of fire curled around the animals and silhouetted against the flames was a figure dressed in all black. Her hands and fingers twitched like she was a master puppeteer.

Suddenly, the fire vanished, all bar a single spark, which rapidly grew into a flame, which then only took a few moments to reach a swirling tornado of fire, which completely encased the girl and lifted her off her feet, then, in a grand finale, the fire shot a column of fire up to the sky and set the whole sky alight, then it shrank to nothing in the blink of an eye.

Morrigan Crow laughed with glee at her success and the blackness faded away to reveal daylight as Morrigan removed her shadowmade illusion of night as thunderous applause broke out from everyone watching. Every Deucalion staff member was there, and Jupiter, Dame Chanda, Jack, Unit 919 and Miss Cheery. Even a crowd of Wunsoc members were in the crowd Sofia, Conall, Rook and a few other of Morrigan's teachers, friends and acquaintances. Ezra Squall looked on from his veil of shadows, seeing for the first time just how advanced his apprentice was in Inferno. He doubted even he would be able to create such a performance in that particular part of being a Wundersmith, although he promised he'd try to not get frustrated with himself over that. Inferno had never been his forte.

Morrigan had already shown her performance in seven of the other Wundrous Arts, and she only had one left to show. Ezra knew it was the one she struggled with most, and after not seeing her for a year, he was keen to see if she'd managed to conquer the most difficult and complex Wundrous art of all time.

Everyone (Ezra included) waited with bated breath to see what her last act would be. She was still for a moment, and Ezra could tell she was calling Wunder. He could almost feel it swarming to her like moths to fire.

Then she started. A building, vast as a cathedral, grand as a palace, build itself up from Wunder, the rooms decorating themself before the walls were added to let the audience see every individual room. Gardens bursting with flowers bloomed into existence and a fountain started to tinkle somewhere on the other side of a building. The last thing, and in Ezra's opinion, the most surprising thing, was a statue, or rather, a memorial.

Nine faces, preserved in stone. Nine faces that Ezra had tried not to think about for the past century. Nine faces, one of which was his own.

Ezra moved closer to the statue, still covered in his veil of shadows and stared up into the faces of his friends. Rastaban, Grizelda, Brilliance, Decima, Odbouy and Mathilde were standing, smiling in a line at the back. In the front, Owain, Elodie and himself were standing with their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders, laughing.

Then Morrigan started on the Wundersmith statue of the generation before Ezra's. Then the generation before that. Slowly, she worked her way back through the generations until she'd finished the last statue.

"This," Morrigan announced to her audience, "Is the Temple of Wunder."

Temple of Wunder. Temple of Wunder. Temple of Wunder. The phrase marched through Ezra's mind again and again. Had Morrigan just created a temple for Wundersmiths?

"These statues are each generation of nine Wundersmiths. There are many rooms in the building, but on each of the nine floors not counting the ground floor and the rooftop, there is a football pitch sized chamber completely dedicated to one of the Wundrous arts. The rest of the rooms on those nine floors are mainly study rooms. On the ground floor, there is accommodation for any people studying there or working there, kitchens and dining rooms, relaxing rooms and bathrooms and a large library. The rooftop will be a place of serenity and calm for any Wundersmith, visitor, student, person or wunimal to simply relax with a book or a snack."

Squall drew in a breath and slowly let it out again.

"There is also a train line that goes from floor Sub Nine to Sub Nine in the Wundrous Society, however only Wunsoc members have access to this. On the other underground levels, there is a room entirely dedicated to each Wundersmith. Yes, even one on Ezra Squall."

If Ezra hadn't been hiding, he would have scolded Morrigan. Ever since she'd proved he was innocent and written his biography (which was immediately a bestseller), she'd made a point of mentioning his innocence whenever she was in the public, and he despised it when she brought up the fact that everyone was still adjusting to the tyrant of Nevermoor no longer being a cause for fear.

"There will be another room added for every Wundersmith when they are recognised to be a Wundersmith, and over the course of their life (and even after their death) items, books and anything else relating to the wundersmith in question will be gathered in that room, so that there is information on every living Wundersmith. However, there is a catch. Things that a Wundersmith would want kept private will be kept in antechambers off their room and will only be accessable to them. When they die, these possessions or items will be locked off forever."

Morrigan took a bow and the audience once more erupted into thunderous applause. People began to head into her creation to explore and research about Wundersmiths. Jupiter hesitated before going in, but Morrigan waved him forward. "I'll find you soon, I'd like to have a moment to myself." Jupiter nodded and eagerly strode away.

Morrigan looked up into the faces of the Wundersmiths in the statues and Ezra watched her, wondering if he was invading her privacy.

"I can tell you're there." Morrigan said, turning to him. "My wundrous supply is starting to use yours, so I'd take that shadow veil off before I suck up too much of your gathered supply."

Ezra blinked in surprise but did as she said. He wondered where the days of her being scared of him had gone. Did he have no authority anymore? "That was quite a show." He stated.

"Thank you. I thought you'd appreciate the statues."

"I do."

"I figured out a way to find where the others are, if you want to see them."

"You mean the young ones? The new ones?" Ezra frowned.

"No. You never did read the biography I wrote, did you?" Morrigan grinned.

"No. It is rather embarrassing to read about oneself."

"Honestly," Morrigan sighed, "You've done a lot of bad in the world, but I didn't actually put any of that in. I did include a little bit about your friends and what happened to them when you fled Nevermoor."

"They were killed, weren't they? I was told they were all dead."

Morrigan snapped her fingers, "Exactly! I found the Radio Show's presenter that reported them dead- well, I found his diary. He brags a lot about how he tricked you into believing your friends were dead."

"He sent me proof! He sent me a picture of Mathilde right before she was executed! There was no way that axe could have missed! It was just a mockery of the Museum of Stolen Moments." Ezra protested.

"Well, that's true, Mathilde did die, but you thought proof of one dying meant proof of all dying. I know for a fact that Rastaban survived. Grizelda died about eight decades ago, but that was of old age. She was 408. Odbouy and Decima were killed. I don't know anything about Brilliance or Owain, and..." Morrigan hesitated on the last one and Ezra sensed bad news. "I don't think Elodie survived."

"Don't think?" Ezra questioned the doubt in her voice.

"There is a small chance, but I don't know for certain if she survived."

"Find out." Ezra ordered. "Or if you're too tired tell me how to find out."

Morrigan smiled slightly, "That's easy. I can tell where she is by asking Wunder to pinpont her location on a map, but it could also just be where she was buried."

Morrigan pulled out a map and hummed a few notes. A golden circle appeared over Gresham. Ezra felt a jolt of excitement run through him. "We go to Gresham. Now."