The Last Wizard Chapter 2

“Hello, Arie,” A clean shaven, dark skinned man took the seat opposite him. He wore the same robes as an Elemental, only his were a deeper red. “I’m Elemental Jodi. I’ve been called down to deal with your… problem.”
“What problem?” Arie asked. After Naeve had talked to the Elemental outside the Screening room, he had been whisked away to another part of the Repository, where he had sat and waited for about an hour, despite reassurances from the Magician escorting him that it would only take a few minutes.
Elemental Jodi smiled, his teeth gleaming. “Your magic. I’ve been told it’s very unusual.”
“So I have magic?” Arie’s spirits rose. “Really? I’ll be a Magician?”
“Perhaps,” Elemental Jodi nodded. “But there was a complication. You see, when a child is Screened, their magic manifests itself as one of five categories: Nature, Water, Electric, Fire, or, in rare cases, Elemental. This determines which types of Talismans you can safely wield. In order to make one’s magic physically manifest, the Screener looks inside the child for a connection to the Ether. If they find one, they can coax magic through. Not enough to use like the Wizards once did, but enough to cause subtle effects in the body.”
“Like when I started glowing,” Arie said.
“Exactly,” Elemental Jodi replied. “That is totally normal. What’s not normal, though, is that your glow matched the Screener’s glove. Normally, the ‘auras,’ as many Screeners call them, take on their own hues, like orange for Fire, dark blue for Water, and so on. Even an Electric aura is bright yellow, nothing like a Screener’s glove…” he grew thoughtful.
“Wait,” Arie jumped in. “I’ve heard about Talismans that can’t be used by the normal classes of Magicians. There are tales of Ice Magicians up north, using Talismans they’ve found all over the world. What if I’m one of them?”
Elemental Jodi nodded. “That’s what I was thinking, although you’re not an Ice Magician. Their aura is a brilliant white, and supposedly they cause the room temperature to drop. We would know if you were an Ice Magician. I was thinking, though, there are other types of Magicians, rare as they are.”
“Druids?” asked Arie. “I’ve heard a bit about them.”
The Elemental shook his head. “No, Druids use strange magic foreign to us. Their power does not come from the Ether. But the other Magicians… Air, Earth, or maybe Blood… you could be one of them.” He stood up suddenly. “Yes… that could be the answer…”
Arie stood up, too. “You think I could be a different class of Magician? How do we know for certain?”
Elemental Jodi grinned down at him. “For starters, we visit the Archives.”

“Octavius!” The Elemental called, opening the heavy oaken door and descending the steps down into the Archives. “Octavius, are you here?”
Arie followed cautiously down the steps. He’d heard of the Archives, but had never been in them. Only Magicians, Warriors, and powerful Merchants had access to them. They rounded a corner and descend the final few stairs before stepping out into rows of old leather bound books, ancient scrolls and stacks of yellowed papers.
Elemental Jodi coughed, waving away clouds of dust. “Where is that old fool?”
“I may be old,” A wry, wizened man, so bent over with age that his long white beard almost touched the floor, emerged from the endless rows of records, “but my hearing has not left me yet.”
Elemental Jodi smiled broadly. “Octavius! How are you? It’s been a while, old timer.”
“Not long enough,” The Archivist grumbled, but eyes twinkled good naturedly behind his spectacles. “What brings you to my humble abode?” He peered up at the Elemental. “Wait, where are my manners? Who is this fine young man you’ve brought down to meet me?”
“Octavius, this is Arie,” Elemental Jodi introduced them, and they shook hands. “He is why I’m here.”
“Oh…” Octavius adjusted his glasses, staring intently at Arie. “This must be the boy who caused all the fuss at the Screening.”
“What… how’d you know that?” Arie asked, astounded.
Elemental Jodi chuckled. “Octavius here knows everything there is to know about everyone. Nothing gets past him. I supposed you know why we’re down here, then?”
“It’s my job to know everything,” Octavius smiled. “I’m an Archivist. And yes, I deduced why you came. You want to know if this one,” he waved a hand at Arie, “is of an unusual class of Magician.”
“Right on, Octavius. Got any charts of auras for me?”
“Yes, I took the liberty of compiling a few before you arrived.” He walked back to his desk, a small wooden table with so many papers covering it Arie couldn’t see the wood underneath. He shuffled them around for a while, muttering to himself. Finally he straightened up, empty handed. “I know I set them right here… Samuel! Where are you?”
A twenty something young man emerged from a side room, a sheepish grin on his face. He, too, wore glasses and had short, curly brown hair. “Sorry, Archivist Octavius. I saw them on your desk and was curious.” He held up a thin stack of papers.
“Well, next time, if its on my desk, leave it there,” Octavius snatched the sheets from his grasp. “I don’t need undue reasons to doubt my sanity. And for the last time, it’s just Octavius!”
“Yes, Archi— Octavius,” Samuel retreated back into the side room.
Octavius watched him go, then turned to face the two of them again. “That boy… he’s brilliant, but you wouldn’t know by looking at him.” He checked through the papers to make sure they were all there, then handed them to Elemental Jodi. “There you are. References to as many different auras I could find in the limited time I had. I’m sure I could find you more, if I combed through a couple old manuscripts from before the Tyrant, but they’ll be more obscure references than anything.”
“No, no…” Elemental Jodi leafed through the pages. “This is more than enough. Thank you, Octavius. You always exceed my expectations.”
“Yes, well,” the Archivist turned to Arie. “Don’t let him get you caught up in any of his little projects, now. You’re young. I’m sure you have a bright future ahead of you. I would hate to have anything happen to you.” He looked harshly at Elemental Jodi.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Elemental Jodi said, his hands up. “I’ve haven’t chased after forgotten Talismans or arcane magic in ages.”
“You’d better behave yourself,” Octavius warned, shaking his finger at him. “This boy is too young to be getting mixed up in your Quests.”
“Very well, Octavius,” Elemental Jodi bowed. “Until we meet again.”
“Until we meet again,” Octavius echoed, nodding his head to him. “You know the way out.”
The two turned to leave, and as they climbed the steps to the oaken door, Arie asked, “What was that all about?”
Elemental Jodi laughed. “That? Oh, when I was younger, I was fascinated by the old magic. I wanted to own a Talisman that wasn’t one of the ‘typical twenty,’ as I called them. I wanted something with more prestige, more power. I went on every Questing Party I could, I travelled the continent, I saw many different forms of exotic magic. I wanted to be like them, not confined to the basic Talismans we have here.”
“Well?” Arie asked as they stepped through the door into the lower level of the Repository. “Did you?”
Elemental Jodi smiled and nodded. “Yes, I finally found what I was looking for…” he reached into his robe and pulled out a Talisman Arie had never seen before. It was a coil of rope, but like no rope he had ever seen. Its fibers were too small to see, and the rope looked like a band of pure marble, shimmering in the light from the windows.
“What is it?” Arie gazed at the Talisman in awe. “What does it do?”
“What this,” Elemental Jodi stepped out of the Repository into a clearing behind the magnificent school of learning. “See that pinecone, over there on the tree?” He pointed to one of the pinecones on the lower branches. Arie nodded. “Watch this.”
The Elemental cracked the rope, sending it whipping through the air towards the pinecone, red lightning crackling off it. The pinecone was vaporized in a red flash instantly.
Arie gasped, his eyes wide. “That’s awesome!”
“This can do a lot more than just vaporize pinecones, Arie,” Elemental Jodi wound the rope back up and hid it in his robes. “I spent almost five years looking for a Talismans this powerful.”
“What’s it called?” Arie asked him. “I mean, most Talismans have names. The Wave Staff, Vitalite, the Smoke Sash… what’s yours named?”
Elemental Jodi smiled. “The Lighting Whip. I know, not the most creative name, but that’s what the Wizard who created it named it, so I have to stick with it.”
“Huh,” Arie fell silent for a few seconds. “Now what? You have your papers. What type of Magician am I?”
“Well, that’s where the second part of my plan comes in,” Elemental Jodi told him. “Follow me.” He led Arie back inside, up a flight of stairs to the second story, and through a passage of winding hallways. “Now that I have all the charts of auras, I’ll be able to determine which one you are when I have you Screened again.” He stopped at a door and opened it with a key. Inside was the all too familiar table with a single candle, the glove Screener waiting.
“What?” Arie blinked. “No. No way. I am not being Screened again. I’m not going through that again. Once was bad enough.”
Elemental Jodi stopped and gave Arie a hard look. “What are you talking about? The Screening is painless.”
“Oh, no it’s not,” Arie said, slowly backing away from Elemental Jodi and the open door. “Clearly you must have repressed the memory. The Screening makes you feel like you’re being torn apart from the inside out.”
The Elemental narrowed his eyes. “What? That’s not at all what happens. The Screening is a completely painless process!”
“The moment that Screener places her hand on my chest, I felt like I was dying,” Arie glared at him. “I am not being Screened again.”
Elemental Jodi glared back. “Listen, kid. You want to be a Magician? You step through that door and be Screened again. I don’t care what you feel, you’ll take it like a man. You hear me? ‘Cause technically, you are.”
Arie shrank under his gaze. “Fine…” he muttered, taking a deep breath and stepping across the threshold into darkness. He took his place at the table, eyeing the statue like Screener with unease. Elemental Jodi slipped into the room after him and nonchalantly leaned against the wall.
“Arie Olsen.” The Screener, a man this time, spoke, his booming voice echoing in the small room. “I sense your apprehension.”
Arie said nothing.
The Screener put on his glove, and Arie involuntarily flinched. The Screener cocked his head. “I assure you, the process is painless. You have nothing to fear.”
Arie snorted in response. “Yeah, right.”
“The Screening is not to be mocked, young one,” The man said, staring at Arie, and his glove blazed to life. “You must respect the ritual.” He thrust it against Arie’s chest, and he felt the energy surge in again, seeking, writhing, tearing at his insides.
Arie gasped, his face twitching with pain, but he held the Screener’s stare. His teeth ground together as the energy inside him roared and seethed, sending spasms of fiery pain running through his body. Slowly, spreading outward from the glove, Arie’s skin began to light up with the same characteristic yellow-white glow. Elemental Jodi, still leaning against the wall, began shuffling through his papers.
“Stop,” Arie forced the word out, his mouth clenched from pain. “That’s enough.”
“Your magic is very unusual,” the Screener said, ignoring Arie’s plea. “I have never felt anything like it. Let me take a closer look…” Arie felt the energy inside him grow stronger, the stabbing pain intensifying. His entire body was glowing with magic.
“Stop…” Arie grabbed the man’s wrist.
“You cannot stop the rituals,” the Screener retorted. “It is a sacred tradition.”
“I… said… stop!” Arie gathered up his remaining willpower and tore the Screener’s arm away from him, the glow winking out suddenly. Arie gasped for breathe and clutched his chest, his heart beating wildly.
“How dare you!” The Screener shot up from his chair, knocking it backwards. “You have violated a fundamental tradition!”
“That’s enough,” Elemental Jodi spoke softly, but his words stopped the Screener short. The man turned to face Elemental Jodi, eyes flashing behind the veil. “Leave us,” the Elemental motioned to the door, and after a slight hesitation, the Screener complied. When the door had fully shut, Elemental Jodi slid into the chair the Screener had used and spread the papers on the table. “Well,” he began. “that was certainly interesting.”
Arie just sat in his chair, still trying to recover his breath and let his chest stop throbbing.
“Alright, to begin with, your aura didn’t match any that Octavius gave me. See, you clearly aren’t a Blood Magician, who have dark red aura. Earth Magicians have a brownish grayish aura. Yours is more yellow-white. I though you might be an Air Magician, but they have a lighter blue aura…” Elemental Jodi trailed, his eyes flicking from Arie back down to the papers he spread out across the desk. “Yes, you’re certainly unique…”
“Never… never again,” Arie finally managed, still breathing heavily. “Never being Screened again…”
Elemental Jodi chuckled. “I’ve got to say, that was certainly something. I’ve never seen anyone react to a Screening glove like that before…” he shuffled the papers around a bit before gathering them up. “Alright, I know what we’re going to do. We’re going to go back to Octavius.” He stood up and opened the door, but paused and turned back to Arie, who was still sitting in his chair. “Can you stand?”
“Yeah…” Arie wheezed. “I’ll… I’ll be fine. Just give me… a couple seconds.” Legs shaking, he got to his feet and stumbled over to where Elemental Jodi was waiting. “Whooo…” he breathed out heavily, straightening himself up. “Okay. I’m okay now.” He took a step forward and promptly tripped over the threshold, only to be caught by Elemental Jodi.
“Maybe we should wait a couple minutes,” he said, looking down at him, concerned.
“No,” Arie grabbed the doorframe for support. “I’ve got this. I can walk.”
“Okay, then,” Elemental Jodi strode down the hall, Arie struggling to keep up, using the wall for support. “Personally, I never expected to have to do this. I was so sure that you’d be one of the other Magicians…”
“So why are we going back to Octavius?” Arie asked, almost tripping going down the flight of stairs to the first floor.
“Well, for starters,” Elemental Jodi navigated another series of complex intersecting hallways, “I have to return his papers. He gets very upset if you keep Archive property too long. In fact, he hates to let any of it leave the building, so we’re lucky he let us borrow these. And secondly, if anyone knows why your magic is acting weirdly, it’ll be him. Octavius is one of the smartest men in Keme.”
“I see,” Arie said, his head spinning from the day’s events and being Screened twice. And the day’s only half over! He reminded himself.
“Alright, we’re here,” Elemental Jodi opened the familiar wooden door, and Arie followed him down into the Archives. “Octavius! We’re back!”
“Really? Is that you again?” The old man came tottering out from the shelves of books. “Twice in one day! And returning the papers. What a pleasant surprise!” He took the papers back from Elemental Jodi and turned to Arie. “So what unusual sort of Magician are you, then? Sun? I’ve always wanted to meet a Sun Magician.”
Elemental Jodi cleared his throat. “Uh, no. Actually…”
Octavius looked hard at Elemental Jodi. “You want something, don’t you?”
“Yes,” The Elemental admitted. “It didn’t work. I have no clue what Arie’s magic is doing, let alone what type of Magician he is. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“What do you mean, ‘what Arie’s magic is doing?’” Octavius frowned.
“Well, his magic… it’s complicated. The Screening… seems to physically hurt him. Says it feels like he’s ‘being torn from the inside out.’” Elemental Jodi explained. “And his aura is the exact same color as the Screening glove’s glow.”
“Really?” Octavius adjusted his glasses. “Very interesting. I’ll see what I can find.” He turned and disappeared into the sea of books.
The two stood in silence for a few minutes, listening to Octavius rustle through papers. “Ah…” he murmured. “I see…” The Archivist darted across an aisle to another section of manuscripts and thumbed through the books there. Moments later, he emerged with a book and two loose papers.
“Here we go,” he said, handing them each one of the papers and opening the book. He leafed through the pages until he found the passage he desired. “When you mentioned the Screening physically hurting the boy, I had an inkling of what might be happening. See, in this section it says here that ‘when a Screening glove is used to test for magic in children whose magic is not fully developed, great physical pain may occur.’ Those papers I gave you reinforce the concept. This is what you were experiencing, Arie. When the Screeners pushed magic into you, what you were feeling was your own magic, violently reacting against it. It hurt so much because you cannot fully access the Ether yet.” He paused and chuckled. “Then again, no one can fully access the Ether anymore. Not since the Age of Wizards… anyways, the point is that Screening someone with an underdeveloped connection to the Ether is very, very painful.”
Elemental Jodi frowned. “That doesn’t make sense. Why would Arie’s magic be undeveloped at thirteen? That’s the whole point of waiting until they turn thirteen to Screen them, to make sure their magic is developed. No one has undeveloped magic at thirteen.”
“I beg to differ,” Octavius responded. “I seem to recall reading about this one case where a boy had the same thing happen to him… I don’t remember exact details, but I do know it was hundreds of years ago.”
“How long did it take for his magic to develop?” Arie asked.
“I don’t remember off the top of my head,” Octavius told him, “but I’ll track down that book for you. Until then, I’d classify your magic as ‘Undetermined.’”
Elemental Jodi nodded, handing him back the sheets of paper. “Thank you, Octavius. You have been a great help.” He turned to leave.
“Now what?” Arie followed him up the steps of the Archive. “I mean, we don’t know what type of magic I have. Do we wait a year, and Screen me again, or what?”
“No,” Elemental Jodi said as they stepped back into the corridors of the Repository. “No waiting. Your fate rests with one person, now, and we’re headed to meet him.”
“What?” Arie struggled to keep up with the Elemental’s brisk pace. “Who?”
Elemental Jodi grinned down at him. “The Grand Elemental, of course.”