Bartimaeus fanfic sequel

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Swirls of colour roamed about, twisting and turning around. Flashes appeared once in a while. Images of the past, fragments of memories.

                "Ms Jones. Ms Jones are you feeling alright?"

                Kitty woke from her dream state, realizing her surroundings once more. She was in the council room with the members, now a mix of magicians and commoners. "Yes I'm fine. I was just... thinking about something."

                "Good." Mr Button said. He gestured at the man relaying information. "Carry on."

                After he had learned her real name and she had told him about her journey to the Other Place, Mr Button was now addressing her with an unexpected form of respect. It wasn't just him; everyone was treating her differently now. Word had gotten around fast and she could barely handle the change. There was another change as well; Kitty was regularly finding herself drifting off. The chaos of the Other Place was clinging to her mind like a bad habit. She wanted to travel to change things up a bit, in fact she was just about to leave for Egypt when this emergency council meeting was called. She usually stayed away from those meetings, but since she had some involvement in the incident that happened she reserved the next flight over and stayed to attend.

                The man currently speaking was a commoner of little repute, in his 50s or 60s, Kitty couldn't be sure. He was bald and wore an old fashioned suit with no tie, holding his half-moon spectacles in his hands. He spoke in a lower monotone which kind of dulled the importance of the meeting. "... Busy schedules to take the time and attend this meeting. Most present know what happened but for the few who don't..." Here he put the spectacles on his nose and read from a sheet of paper. "At approximately 6:30 this morning, there was a small-scale earthquake that occurred. It lasted for around 10 seconds and was accentuated by an unrelated grumbling noise. The phenomenon happened in the centre of London, near the Old Parliament. However, the epicentre was soon found to be located in a place we know very well: the Iron Tomb in St. James Park."

                There was a pause between the people seated. Then someone eventually broke the silence: "That monster's still alive!"

                "Now, let's calm down for a moment. It could've been just a regular earthquake."

                The first comment was made by a magician, who all sat on the right side of the table. The reply came from a commoner on the left. Kitty was sitting at the end of the table between both sides, because she was considered a neutral party with both common and magical experience.

                Another magician spoke: "How would you explain the noise, then?"

                "It could've been a building's foundations groaning."

                A second commoner joined in. "When was the last time we had an earthquake in London? It can't be coincidence if you ask me."

                "He's right." Everyone fell silent and turned their attention towards Kitty. As always, the phenomenon was a bit unnerving. "I was there. Standing near the place where N... Mandrake died. There's no doubt in my mind that Nouda's alive." She paused, slightly to let them take it in, slightly to catch her breath. "The question is: what do we do about it?"

                Mr Button backed her question. "Indeed. If he's alive; he's a threat to the empire. All the other nations too for that matter."

                The magicians started arguing amongst themselves. "There's nothing we can do. If that blast from the staff didn't kill him, I don't think anything can."