Blood Magic

1: Ring-a-ding-ding

.^^ Alexia Adrian Peterson ^^

— Athenos Axiom Parthenos —

My breath fogged up slowly, trying futilely to warm up my clenched hands.

My father laughed, off to the rear of the party. "Don't bother, Boy. No magic you posses could cure the Cold of Helheim. Just focus on your footing, eh? Wouldn't want to lose another of my apprentices..." he trailed off suggestively, looking at the abyss, and I froze.

"Don't tease the boy, Xeda! Don't worry, my son, you'll be fine." Mother glared at him over my shoulder as he laughed, and led us further into the caverns, before stopping next to a small cluster of crystals in the shape of flowers. She reached to pluck one, and I lunged forward, trying to stop her.

Father cursed, and suddenly a barrier of magic snapped into place around me, and the entire landscape was bathed in pure ice.

—

I snapped awake, sending my textbook to the floor, and blushed as several students snickered at me. I picked up my book, sticking my head back in it.

"Glad to see you back in the realm of the living, Mr. Parthenos! Have a nice nap?" The professor asked dryly.

I deigned not to answer, and sought to make myself invisible for the rest of the day.

After class, I was scolded again for sleeping, and then for disrupting the lecture, and sent on my way, just like every week or so.

I sighed, reaching for a book, and then blinked when a slim, feminine hand took it first. The owner of said hand, as well as a shock of violently red hair, looked at me, and grinned. "Finders keepers!" She danced away, giggling like a mischievous angel.

I sighed. "Yeah. No worries." I started walking away, thinking about ordering it online, and she tapped my shoulder softly.

"Uhm, I only need, like, three pages? Maybe I could copy them, and you could read what you need?" She asked, tapping the cover nervously. She bit her lip in a very distracting way, delaying my answer long enough to make her rethink her question, but I nodded.

"Uhm... sure. I was just going to read it and put it back, anyway." I mumbled.

She grinned and pulled me to sit down in a nearby alcove, the stiff chairs suddenly not bothering me as much as normal. "Alright, well, I'm doing my thesis on Sacred Geometry, and it's importance to the ancient cultures of the world! What about you?"

I blinked slowly. "Thesis? You're starting your Thesis in September?"

She blushed delicately. "It'll take a while. I have it all planned out already! It'll probably end up the length of a novel, honestly."

"Maybe you'll publish it." I smiled a little, then flinched, realizing I'd made a joke that she probably wouldn't laugh at, which was always mortifying.

She bulldozed right over my expectations. "Maybe I will! I think it'll be groundbreaking!" She glowed with happiness and confidence, making my eyes, sensitive to her increased aura, sting a bit.

I nodded slowly. "Well... Uhm... this book isn't really the one, if you want good information about Sacred Geometry... a few good ones are 'Fibonacci's Spiral: The Alpha And Omega', Uhm... 'God's Amongst Us: The Life and Death of the Icons; an Anthology of the lives of prominent mathematicians', another good one is 'The Lines of Fate: DaVinci's Last Words', or 'The Silence of The Numbers: A Mathematical Thriller on the Subject of Sacred Geometry'." I recommended a few off the top of my head.