The Unveiling - Modern Magic: Book 1

Prologue

~ Note: I started with this idea somewhere around 4 years ago, but I actually have a flow started, so I'm re-posting - sorry to anyone who already read this first bit, but please feel free to re-read because I have altered and added somethings since its first post. The plan is to write this like a journal - thoughts, feelings, and reiterations of events from the main character's point of view. I already have an over-arching theme and story line planned out, but we'll see how things go as the story unfolds!

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Prologue

I should probably start with the basics. My name is Zane Thomas. I'm 22 and a senior at Harvard University. Don't expect a crazy amount of intelligence out of me; I mostly got accepted because of my family. I can't complain though. I'm finishing up my senior year, and on track to graduate with a degree in Political Science. I have no idea what kind of job I'll try and get with it, but that's not exactly heavy on my mind right now. Don't worry. This isn't an account of a normal student's last year in school. I'm here to tell you a secret: something that has been kept from the vast majority of the world for a very long time. I'm telling you this because I think it's bound to come out eventually, or those like me will die off completely. I'm not sure which will happen first, but in either case, having a record like this might be helpful if normal humans ever try to understand us.

I guess it's time to stop beating around the bush. Magic is real. No, it's not voodoo dolls or pulling a rabbit out of a hat. Yes, it lies outside the purvey of the Laws of Physics – or at least as far as we understand the Laws of Physics. Magic is the ability of specific people to affect multiple levels of reality through extensive practice, mental acuity, and considerable effort and understanding. We call ourselves Magi. I say 'we' because I am one. I found out shortly after my fourteenth birthday. When you start throwing things around your room without touching them, you can usually assume it's not just a hormonal thing.

Over the years we've gone from learning about ourselves, to hiding, to sometimes affecting the flow of world events. Early on in our existence, those who didn't die in the days following their first manifestation took dozens of years to learn the most basic aspects of magic and its control. Eventually a few Magi discovered a way to hard code their knowledge and experience into their DNA. The same segments of genetic code that made us different from humans would now allow us to literally learn from our forefathers. Magi learned simple control in seconds after the genetic memory was unlocked instead of spending half of their lives to accomplish the same task. They were then able to expand knowledge of magic, its forms, and the complexity and power of spells exponentially as the generations passed. Imagine being able to learn everything your parents learned in a second. Now imagine if you could also learn everything your grandparents learned, great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, and so on back tens of generations. What would you then be able to devote your life to?

Whoops, sorry. I got a little too philosophical there. Let's take a step back. Magic is real. No, it can't be learned by just anyone. Only those with a specific pair of genetic markers will manifest magic ability. These markers come very similarly to the "X" and "Y" chromosomes. As in they come in as a pair, and always one from each parent. As far as I know there are very few pure Magi families left around – families where both parents are Magi. Most are a Magi who marries a human or even the many humans who carry one of the two genetic markers. That was the case for me. My mother is Magi and my father is human. It was actually pretty easy for my mother to explain all the "freak accidents" that happened the day I first manifested; her genetic memory gave her access to ideas of how to avoid close-calls from thousands of examples. Unlike TV shows and movies, we don't have to worry about covering up incident after incident. Our genetic memory teaches not only skill, but the wisdom from every life before our own up until the first member of our line who unlocked the spell – we refer to them as the Progenitors of each line. Not everyone is willing to use that knowledge and wisdom wisely, but we'll get to that later.

Now I suppose you might wonder how we can live normal lives without everyone around us finding out. Physically we're pretty much the same as humans. Take me for example. I'm six foot, two inches tall, about average build with semi-short black hair. It's not exactly long, but if I pull it down it usually reaches slightly below my eyes. Mostly I just let it do whatever, but I clean up every now and then. I don't glow, I don't wear a robe or carry a wand, and I definitely don't go around blowing things up or making a spectacle of myself. I had a few ancestors who tried that. It really didn't end well for them. Now what "pretty much" doesn't cover is our eyes. Every Magi has vibrantly colored eyes. The kind of eyes that someone will invariably comment on if they get half a glance at them. The most important aspect of us that is clearly different from humans is that when we use magic, and for a short time afterward, our eyes change color. For example, my eyes are normally a royal blue color. When I use magic, they shift to an almost glowing violet. I like both colors, but it would be rather difficult to explain if someone spotted the change. Each Magi's eyes are different and have different colors when they are just walking around normally and when they are using magic. I can say rather confidently that I've never heard of a Magi's eyes changing from their normal two colors at any point during their lives.

Let's see, what's the next most likely question you could ask? No, we're not superhuman or the next evolution, or any of that. If anything, we're a genetic off-shoot that is slowly dwindling into extinction. Everything I've ever heard has come to the same conclusion that fewer and fewer Magi are born every year. Occasionally a Magi will be born to two humans who carry a part of the genetic code required to become a Magi. Those almost never go well. With no ability to unlock their genetic memory, the child often turns to crime, or is killed during some accident triggered by their manifesting magic power. Because of this, Magi are always careful with their children and to keep watch for possible manifestation so they can be helped to unlock their genetic memory and avoid hurting themselves or others. In no way do I mean to insinuate that Magi are evil. No creature on this planet is inherent evil or good at the core of their race. The first manifestation of magic is often chaotic, and if combined with an emotional event, can quickly become difficult or impossible to control.

Magi are not omnipotent. One aspect of reality that we have absolutely no control over is the future. Well, no more control than a normal human. Our choices can affect outcomes, but we cannot see into the future or know how our actions will affect others or ourselves. We've made our share of mistakes, and our genetic memory gives us the ability to learn from many generations of mistakes before us, but it doesn't make us infallible. At our most basic level, we're still human. Well... mostly.

I think that's enough of the history lesson. I hope I didn't lose anyone with the technical mumbo-jumbo. I'm sure other insights will come around as the rest of my story unfolds. As I said before, we can't predict the future, but sometimes patterns can be seen in events that have likely outcomes. I'm worried that recent patterns are leading to an event that will change our world, and the Magi forever. That's why I'm writing this now. Because maybe later I won't have the chance.

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For those who are curious or as nerdy as me: the pronunciation of "Magi" is: mA'jI (if you prefer how dictionaries are setup) or phonetically: mayjai.

So... hopefully at least one person will read this and let me know what they think.  Chapter 1 is already about half done, and I'll be posting it in the next couple of days if my schedule flows the way I expect it to!