His Soul

Elise

Next to the man you assumed was 'Aydan' stood a suited figure with their hands clasped behind their back. Their hourglass figure made you believe it was a woman, but no hair cascaded down the red shoulders of the suit. What caught your attention was the glaring fact that this person did not have a face. Or any head at all. It was simply a blank space above the collar of the suit, and from where you were sitting, you did not see any neck leading to the body. You would have believed it was a mannequin, had the figure not slightly shifted under your attention.

You didn't realize you were gawking.

It reminded you of Curioso - lacking any human skin, almost appearing invisible. Your partner wore a mask, so it was easy to tell where his eyes would be, but what you were looking at now...it was hard to pinpoint where it was facing exactly. Your attention was directed away when the man across from you loudly cleared his throat.

"I trust Clinton led you here with no trouble?" He asked politely. His voice was deep and inviting.

You readjusted yourself in the seat, sitting up more professionally. You wore the most genuine smile you could manage. "Oh, yes, he was very helpful."

"Good, good." He sniffed, reaching into his desk and surfacing a piece of paper. "I was told you're here for the initiation?"

Still not knowing what you were getting yourself into, you nodded helpfully. He bobbed his head a little in return and wrote something down. In this brief second, your eyes darted over to the suited being beside him, who had not moved an inch.

"So, let's get the obvious out of the way. What do you practice?"

You blinked at him. "What?"

He shook his head. "Sorry, I forgot you're a novice. What field of magic are you practicing?"

You had absolutely no idea how to answer this question. Prior to Curioso coming into your life, you knew very little of magic. When you first started your detective job, your belief in the supernatural was limited. But after the cases you've been on and the things you've seen, you've only recently begun to truly believe in things that challenged the laws of nature. Obtaining this jester and his box flipped your whole world view upside down - as they were visible proof that magic existed.

But even the book you read about his magic and his curse supplied little to you in the vast field of sorcery, so you didn't know how to respond. You sat there with your mouth open, the word 'divination' on the tip of your tongue, as that was what the translator had told you she practiced, but you were interrupted before that term slipped out.

Curioso's voice whispered in your ear. "Tell him 'pyromancy'."

"Pyromancy." You blurted out.

His eyes glistened before he scribbled this information down. You began to sweat in your seat. What was pyromancy again..? A pyromaniac was obsessed with setting things on fire...so if you combined the two in this context...

"It's the first question we ask because anyone who comes to our commencement must be practicing magic, otherwise how else could they have come here?" He gestured around with his hands and chuckled.

You laughed as well - just now realizing that you were the only person here who was not an enchanter, and had only arrived by chance that you were with someone who was. Only people who could magically see past the concealing spell could have found this place. Dear God. There was no backing out of this now, was there?

"As for the next obvious question - your name?"

You supplied him with a fake one on the spot, knowing that your true identity would lead to your police status. You'd have to stick with this alias during your time here...you clasped your hands in your lap to stop yourself from fidgeting. You couldn't appear nervous. You're a novice pyromancer here for an initiation...but initiated into what, exactly?