Caput Primum

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A story based in the Redital World by Draken Wan

[Unedited and Raw]

Mr. Apothecary, a shop for all kinds of potions which a wizard dreamt of, was situated in the island of Oledayne town. Oledayne town was an island based township which was autonomous in its administration but the territory was protected by the military of Prognosia International Council (PIC). PIC had several branches across Planet Reditus. PIC is like the United Nations of the 85th parallel world. PIC has currently discovered more than 400 landmasses and most of them were uninhabited. One of the landmasses was known as Oledayne town. Oledayne town was too huge to be coined as a town. Oledayne town was divided into sectors. There were forty-five sectors. Each sector was about 90 square figgs in area on average. Each sector had a head of administration. Mr. Apothecary was situated in Sector 18. Although Sector 17 was a marketplace sector. Mr. Apothecary was just beyond the boundary. Due to less restrictive marketing policies of the governing bodies Mr. Apothecary used to also sell hard drugs and stones such as Poisons, Dark Elixirs, Darkstones or simple addictive drugs.

Nirvana was an intermediate at Bunapasti school of Witchcraft. She had gained mastery in Alchemical sciences in just her intermediate level which was considered quite hard. She had also gained mastery in subjects such as Numerology, Baton Science (Wand Sciences) and History.

Baton Science was Wand Sciences but the people of Oledayne refer to a wand with the word 'Baton' in Reddish. In Reddish, a Wand was called as 'Vood' but the people of Oledayne called it 'Jobat' which is a baton. People of Oledayne used to call a Wand a baton because a wand was passed down through the family. The family elder who was about to die would choose a younger one as a candidate for their wand. The others could simply get it from some other elder or just buy themselves one. This was an age-old norm in Oledayne. Nirvana had received her baton from the elder who did not belong to her family. It was Markus Maywarta, a 300-year-old wizard who had appeared out of nowhere in Oledayne 50 years ago. He had taught Nirvana baton science and after teaching her the old subject he handed her his wand and the next day he was gone. Nobody knew about his whereabouts. People noticed his wand in Nirvana's hand and rumours spread. Some said that she killed him in a duel and sent him into nothingness. Some said she slayed her the 'normal-way' and then stole his wand. Some said she poisoned him with one of her home-brewed potion given her mastery in Alchemy and Potions. But the Court of Law granted her clean of all charges and accusations. Nirvana had ever since been granted a job as chemical engineer in Mr. Apothecary. She had invented many drugs and had them patented. She would also enter duelling competitions occasionally as a source of entertainment and had won the championship of the fourth and sixth seasons.

It was the night of winter solstice when Nirvana was walking through woods. She was in the 13th sector. It was a valley. It was capered with high mountains. She sat in front of the Pamposh Lake. Tears started to trickle down her cheeks. She looked at the full moon; which was a rare sight during a solstice. She looked carefully and wiped her tears. It was not a full moon but a halo and within that halo was a figure. It looked at her. It was Markus Maywarta's spirit. She was astonished.

She looked at it and shouted, "Why?" She shouted the same words again and again but the halo kept smiling. She blinked and the next second she was looking at the full moon. She was hallucinating. She had taken drugs. It was the toffee she had invented. Each toffee used two trickles of Dark Elixir. She had named it Markus's Boon. The teens used to call it 'Boonies'. It took about 12 hours to wear off. Nirvana had taken leave from the Apothecary and she had no idea where she was. She recognised that it was the 13th sector. She had never been to the 13th sector. But how was she able to travel here by just walking. Her head was hurting and with that she felt a floating sensation. She groaned. It was the side effects of the drug. High metabolic activity had deprived her of the energy she had. She fell with a thud on the highland grass and fell into a slumber.

***

Nirvana woke up to the wafting smell of hot muffins. They were her favourites but where the hell was she? She struggled to open her eyes. With every blink, the view of a wooden ceiling became clear to her. She jolt-up and looked around frantically. She could feel the plush cotton mattress with her clasp. She recognised the mattress brand - Sahra. It was quite old but brought from Sector 17. She noticed a potted Trinity plant right across. The flowers of this plant only blossomed in shade. As soon as she turned sideways and let her feet touch the cold floor she heard a woman tsk. The woman entered and rebuked at her, "Get back on the cot young lady. What are you thinking you are doing?" Nirvana noticed hot muffins on the tray in her hands which were accompanied by hot lispian tea. Lispian tea was a famous tea native to Sector 13. It was also sold under the Sahra brand-name. Nirvana had always dreamed of tasting one from a local. Her pupils dilated and she noticed how hungry she was. The woman placed the tray on Nirvana's lap and sat right beside Nirvana. Nirvana's eyes followed the woman's eyes. She looked at her aged skin and noticed freckles. She also had some birth marks. Her hair was neatly tied into a tight bun. Her forehead hair had a faint streak of purple.

"You are a witch!" Nirvana blurted as she grabbed a muffin and took a large ravenous bite.

"That's one good way to express gratitude." The old woman said.

"Fhoree!" Nirvana apologised while chewing on the muffin and slurping the tea. She moaned with pleasure as she savoured the Lispian. She felt like she was in heaven. Lispian tea also helped regain magie potens in a trice. She could feel her veins and her energy blocks vanishing.

"Thanks for this." Nirvana said as she came back from her ride in heaven.

"You should be!" The old lady snapped. "You would've freezed to death if I didn't find you. Not to mention the wild beers." Nirvana gulped. She was reckless! The valleys of sector 13 were inhabited by wild brown beasts called 'Beer'. They had appeared out of nowhere in Oledayne's Sector 13 fifty years ago. It was rumoured that they came with the heavenly body that landed in Sector 13's Revathi Lake. The people of Sector 13 called their region as 'Amravati' which meant 'place of the immortals' in the local dialect of Napunsak valley.

The old lady was still blabbering something and Nirvana cut her right in - "Where are we?"

"You are in my house of course. Where do you think we should be?" She said. "I can also see that you have recovered. Now you can leave or locomute... do whatever you want. Do not bother me in my work." With that the old lady stood up and started towards the exit.

"Wait!" Nirvana called. The lady turned around. "What is your name?"

"Lily." The lady said without any expression.

"Thank you, Lily." Nirvana said with conviction in her eyes. "Thank you for saving me and this..." She beckoned the meal that she was provided and shook Lily's hands. "I am sorry but I will have to leave. I am not sure how to repay but..."

"Oh, leave already young lady." The old lady turned back and went off the exit. Nirvana lay their stunned, picked up her rucksack and vanished into the thin air.

***

Releasing the Caput Secundum sometime later.

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