[Emmett]

I stepped outside the southern gate, no longer a citizen of Charade Gin, but a prospective student of Can Vahs.

We retreated to the carriage in two groups. Patrick, Vsup and Vise took point while Feylance, Linn and myself followed at a close distance. This was mostly to prevent Patrick and I from getting into a fight on the way there.

I was going to miss Barbara. The utter glare of contempt she bored into Jacqueline's soul etched itself into my heart. I wanted to be like her, all confident like that, even in the face of superior Magick.

We had walked several kilometers up the road, not saying too much. Okay, the two professors were definitely making some sort of small talk, but I was in my own little world.

I was going to learn Magick, real Magick. Which of the four elements would I be destined to wield someday? Fire definitely had the most combat application, but certain.... undesirables in my life made me gag at the thought now. I could zip across the skies and kick all kinds of ass with Air, Earth has a lot of utility to it in both combat and support, and Water, well...

I shivered. I also had a bit of a hatred for Water too, what with my parent's death by drowning and all. So yeah, Air or Earth for me, thanks. Or if I could get some late-bloomer package deal where I can control all the elements that'd work too.

"We're here." Ser Feylance's voice cut through my mental fog and revealed a pristine polished-wooden carriage, with a cabin and everything. Just one problem though.

"No horses?" I asked.

"A reasonable observation," The Air Magick Professor said. Then it hit me.

Air Magick. Professor. Wind. Can use wind, made of air, to make the carriage fly. No need for horses.

Emmett, you're an idiot, I heard Jacqueline's voice in my head. Or was it mine?

"Wind magic, right."

"Astute observation." I wasn't sure whether the elder magus was complimenting or patronizing, and it really hurt that I didn't know that, and I didn't know why. "I must take the reins, and pilot our vehicle safely back to our destination. I see Mr. Peterson and Ser Vsup are already seated at my flanks. I suspect Ser Vise is hibernating; he does not like flying much. He claims to be far too attuned to his Element."

"Mr. Sinclair and I will ride in the interior, then," Ser Linn said, waving for me to follow suit. I climbed up the back of the carriage and crawled into a surprisingly-well-furnished room, with cloth-padded benches, and surprisingly sturdy pipe loops at chest-level for a seated person, serving both to divide the bench into seats, and as rather sturdy handholds. If I had to guess, the idea was you'd hold onto the handholds while an Air Magus took this thing to the sky. There were other features, presumably bolted down, such as tables, decorative drapes, and a rather out-of-place large rock in the corner.

"You will want to take a seat and hold on, lest you plummet to your death."

I scrambled immediately into one of the chairs and seized fast the handlebars to protect me from an anticlimactic ending.

"And yes, our earthly friend is hiding in the rock." My instructor-buddy took his position across from me and raised his staff like some sort of javelin before throwing it lightly onto the center of the carriage. I hadn't noticed it, but his staff's design was a lot thinner, smoother, and unlike the others with their ornate crests and shapes up top, his had a small shell for a single blue orb.

Speaking of blue, The carriage lit up, as azure-blue illuminated another runed circle, carved into the cabin floor. This one was much simpler than the one Ser Feylance had conjured. There was a diamond square, within, right where the staff was standing was drawn two lines in a square angle, opening toward Ser Linn.  The diamond was attached to an inner circle, flanked by two straight arrows pointing leftward toward the front of the carriage,  one near me and one near Linn. The whole structure was enclosed by one outer circle, and, if I took a breath, and  pulled some of the ambient energy into my eye, I can see a firm river of azure flowing from the circle toward the front, where our other traveling partners were no doubt having their own fun.

"Ætheric Delivery Array," Ser Linn says. "Carved in by some dreamer contractors. It illuminates the incoming Æther via a Kenaz rune before directing it with twin Tiwaz runes forward, where Ser Faelance will draw it into his own spell circle to-"

The carriage lurched forward, and I seized the handhold for dear life. Ser Linn calmly grabbed his two, and speed started to gather.

"I assume do this!" I snarked off.

"Correct." He smiled at me, and the front half of the carriage tilted up, and I felt a firm upward force somewhat pushing me against the handhold I was clinging to. He seemed to smile serenely as he watched me wrapped around the handle like some sort of desperate pole dancer.

"You're not used to flying carriages are you Mr. Sinclair?"

"NO! NO I AM NOT!"

"I applaud your honesty."

"I just don't wanna die!"

This was my life for the next.... several minutes more likely than not, but time has a weird way of distorting when you're on the brink of death. Which, technically I wasn't, but you try being yanked into the sky in a cabin with a permanent exit hole Facing The Ground!

So one seeming-eternity later, the cabin leveled out, and seemed to gain some measure of stability. Curiosity pointed my eyes toward the curtain, and in that thin gap between the two, I could see blue and...

A heavenly fluffy-textured white.

"We're..."

"Welcome to the Sleepless Express," Ser Linn said. "We will be arriving at the seminary of the former name in.... honestly probably several hours. Which gives us time to chat."

"Oohkay," I said, "What do you want to chat about?"

He asked me how it was like living in Charade Gin, both before and after the Emissaries hit. He asked about my parents, about Jacqueline, about my relationship with Patrick. He asked what it was like farming for crops, and he asked about what it was like building houses from scratch. It was a mostly-pleasant conversation, and his voice soothed my anxieties about being in the middle of a carriage without wings, with an ex-friend who tried to murder me in the front. I asked him in turn about his robe and his staff, apparently the orb is a blue-polished akoya pearl, which he wrought together himself to suit his supposedly unique casting style, something he refused to go into detail about.

He talked about how CVAC was formerly named the Sleepless Seminary, but the name changed after the Eldest Crusade wrought their havoc. Some teachers still called it that, but it was seen as very old fashioned at best, and horrifically insensitive at worst. He talked about the five schools, one for each element, and a fifth, Universal School, which all magi had to take part in, and where all Unattuned, or "empties" as the slur went, must specialize.

He described the nature of the Unattuned, and that every magus has at most one element, but sometimes, no matter how skilled one is, one may not have an element at all. Unfortunately, it was just a roll of the proverbial dice, and one had no recourse against it. He was one of these Unattuned, which was why I never saw him wield an element: he never had one. He did, however, withhold some information, like how one could tell what element they were. Saying something about the journey being worth more than the destination.

"Speaking of you being a new pupil," Linn said, "I was curious about your spell that you demonstrated back when we met."

"What, the weird I-make-my-hand-glow thing that doesn't do anything?"

"Yes, that," Ser Linn confirmed, and I noticed his eyes glowing azure.

"Hm?" I tilted my head.

"Yeah, something to know, literally everyone in the Seminary can use Æthervision, not just you."

I blinked and my head swiveled toward the staff.

"And maintain that?" I had heard that a magus can only use one spell at a time. Something Jacqueline said. Trying to fork your thoughts perfectly was an exercise in frustration, and your intentions will bleed over, and cause both spells to fizzle at best.

At worst, a catastrophe would strike.

"Clever." Linn smiled and make a flourishing bow with his hands, while seated, somehow. "Not everyone can maintain a spell and this sight at once. You forget that I am not just some no-name magus, though. Now enough about me. Let's see that trick of yours."

I sighed with a smile, and held out my hand. "The hand glowy spell, right?"

"Yes, if you would. And don't worry, you won't disrupt my spell."

I took a slow breath in, and out, and back in, and back out. After a third breath, I whispered a hiss into nowhere, tensed my hand, and azure light, the same color as the illuminated spell circle.

"Hm, I see. And may I see what happens when you try to make this light stronger?"

I nodded, and focused my will to the air before me. I visualized the Æther around the air, gripped with my mind and clawed with my hand, and the light flickered out. Ser Linn nodded, his azure eyes returning to their usual brown.

"I see."

"See what?" I asked, and my wrinkled eyebrows gazed straight to him.

"I will tell you this much: I know why you are fizzling."

"Why?" I asked.

"That, I cannot say."

"Yes you can!"

"You're right, but I won't." Ser Linn shook his head. "It would stunt your learning if I were to just give you the answer."

I growled, my teeth gnashing a little bit. "Won't I fail the entrance exam because of this?"

"You probably will. But I will vouch for you, and you will be placed in remedial courses."

Remedial courses. Great, I thought, Fucking brilliant. "Just put the failure student in the course designed to drop-kick undesirables straight into the prison why don't you."

"This is actually more your mentor's fault than yours, to be honest." The stream of ideas in my brain dammed up right then. My skull leaned to the side, confusion wracking in. She was really skilled though!

Did... Did she miss something critical?

"It may take you a moment to process that, but I personally believe you to be quite capable of learning, Mr. Sinclair," Ser Linn said, "That being said, your current magickal prowess is abysmal, and a ten-year-old will likely do better on the entrance examination than you."

"So... failing's not the end?" Air siphoned into my chest.

"Normally it is, but if a staff member vouches for you, you can be placed in remedial courses for one month to one quarter, in accordance with the deliberations of the staff. I will be vouching for you, so do not worry. Now, you always have the option of refusing to take any classes and returning home, without any debts owed to the Seminary."

My hand grasped and squeezed onto the handhold. "And so what happens after remedial courses?"

"You will take the entrance exam again, and if you fail, you will be expelled, and you will then have accrued debt."

"And you think I can make five years of progress in a season?!"

"I think you can make five years of progress in a month."

Wow, this no-element guy was.... something else. My chest frosted over, and I no longer laid my eyes upon the kind Ser Linn who had complimented me and asked about me.

This guy... was dangerous... and what was with his voice?! Like, He could have dressed up as a girl and I'd have believed him with the timbre of his speech!

"And you're not gonna give any hints?" I pleaded. I felt my life leave me at that moment. My bones were clattering, or they ought to be. There was no way. He was really going to condense the rate I had to learn by a factor of sixty.

"No hints." his smile morphed into a wolf's grin. "I want to see what you're made of. You have potential; you were taught wrong. The indirect lessons you will face during your month of hardship will do you more good than two years of lecturers droning endlessly and you falling asleep at the table."

My lungs became bellows, pumping at allegretto.

"I suggest deep breaths before you fall unconscious. We are at elevation." My heart stood still for a beat, then I forced as much air into myself as I can, practically swallowing the stuff. I pushed it all out after a little, then drew in another breath.

So, right. I was going to take an entrance exam, fail, and then I'd have a month to somehow catch up to where Patrick is at now, otherwise I'm rotting in prison for the best of my life. Or I could go home and get killed by Jacqueline. Damn this was some fucking multi-pincer trap of bullshit proportions.

This is my life now, I thought.

"Enough scaring you to death before you even begin, Mr. Sinclair; anything you'd like to converse about before we make our descent?"

I had just realized why my bones were clattering. I was cold.