Anansi's Web

The next morning, Ember left to give the queen that crystal that we got from the strange woman. I wondered what it was, and I was really hoping that Ember would ask the queen, and tell us when she came back.

The room was empty except for Cara, and I. The curtains were pulled closed, so that only little sips of light reached us.

“So how did you know that there was a camera on its head?” Cara asked blurted out.

“Uh, because I saw that it was there. I went outside to think, and I heard a noise in the wall, so I followed it. Then, it came out of the wall, and into a broom closet, where I saw it.”

“Why did you go and follow weird wall noises?”

“You would rather I didn’t know that someone was recording the castle?”

“Well…ugh, it’s just maybe…maybe it’s nothing. Maybe it’s the king who’s recording the castle to make sure everything is okay.”

“I’m not so sure. They could just set up cameras, and they don’t seem like the type of people to let a gremlin loose in their own castle. I don’t think they can be tamed.”

Cara frowned. “How could someone else have tamed it then?”

I shrugged.

With a sigh Cara said, “So what do you think we should do? We should have told Ember to tell the king.”

“Yeah, but now she won’t be back for a while. It’s going to take time for her to find her way back here. We have to do something ourselves, quickly.” I said. I couldn’t just sit back, something needed to happen.

Cara looked skeptical of my plan, but she didn’t object.

“We could call a servant, and ask him.” I said.

Cara nodded after a moment.

I flipped through the little booklet of numbers until I found the number for a servant. I called the number, and a low voice answered with boredom clear in his tone.

“This is Angelo, a guest in the castle, um, could you please tell the king, and queen something for me?”

“I can try, it depends on what the message is sir.”

I held the phone tighter when he called me ‘sir’ I hated when people called me that. “Um, last night, there was a noise in the walls, and I followed it, and it was a gremlin, with a-”

“We’ll get someone down there to inspect the walls promptly. Thank you, have a nice day.”

“No, no I-” I said hastily, trying to keep the man on the phone, but he already hung up.

I slammed the corded phone onto the platform, and looked at Cara.

“So, what did he say?”

“He said he was sending someone. I guess I can tell the inspector about the camera.”

Cara started tapping her hands on the bed. “Nervous?” I asked.

“Yeah, it’s just, what if something bad happens?”

“We’ll just have to wait I guess. But it doesn’t matter right? I mean, we’ve faced some pretty bad things in the past.”

Cara ruffled her hair up, and I turned the TV on to give her a distraction, but it only mildly helped. I didn’t want her to be nervous, because if she was nervous, then I might get nervous, and where would we be then? Two scared teenagers alone in a huge castle waiting for…

After several minutes, I was really wishing that Ember would stop taking her sweet time, and hurry over to us so we could tell her. We also wondered where on Zirea the inspector was. Cara and I got bored, and we started talking about how our childhood shows were better than current shows, and when you get to that point in a conversation there is no turning back.

Finally, after an hour, Ember opened the door, and a balding man in a jumpsuit was right behind her, holding an old rusty box of tools.

“Hey guys, what did you call this guy for?” She asked.

“I saw a gremlin last night, and it had a camera on its head. We thought we ought to call someone.”

“A camera? That’s strange. Someone might be spying on the castle, or it could be the king’s way of observing, but they hate Gremlins here. We should be careful not to get into too much trouble guys; I don’t want us to become targets.” She said quietly.

“It might be late for that; Angelo looked right at the camera.” Cara said.

“Hey, it’s not my fault, I found out about it.”

“Just be careful in the future, both of you. Now do you want to do something today, or just relax?”

I thought back to my parents in Sraff, sitting in that hotel room watching TV, and I looked around at our own room. I didn’t want to be in here for long, it made me think about them, and that was really tiring on my mind. “I think we should go out for a while today. Not all day like before, just for a while.”

“I think so too. What about you Cara?”

Cara shrugged, and it was decided that we would go out, but we would definitely steer clear of the grand bridge. We didn’t want a repeat of what happened yesterday.

Outside of the castle, all of the passing tourists watched us as we left, taking pictures like we were some kind of celebrities. It made me feel a little uncomfortable. What if they really thought we were famous?

“Ugh, I can’t believe that Drason hasn’t texted me back yet. Maybe his phone is down or something. If he was as worried as he says in his messages he would reply wouldn’t he? He might be on one of his long days in Othal’s castle, and forgot his phone. I would call him on his office phone, but I forgot.” Cara said as we passed through the gates.

A nearby person murmured to someone next to her, “She has Drason’s personal phone number, I wonder who she is. I’ve never seen her before.”

Cara rolled her eyes next to me. She must have heard the lady too. I gave her a sympathetic smile, but she just pushed me until I bumped into Ember.

“So, you stay with Drason?” I asked.

“Yeah, he knows I don’t have my parents with me, so he lets me stay with him.” She said, looking away.

“You like it there?”

“Why do you ask? Ugh, I hate telling people this stuff; they always ask a bunch of questions. Drason is nice; he’s like another dad to me.”

“Sorry I asked.” I said.

“It’s whatever,” Cara said. I dropped the subject.

We took a taxi to the square. We passed those dumb tourist spots on the way. Those were surprisingly crowded. I looked out of the window as all of the cars, and people passed by. I picked at the leather seat, opening a patch of yellow sponge like material.

When we paid the taxi man in an astrexium coin, his eyes lit up with greed, and he waved bye at us as we left. In a way we were kind of like celebrities. We had a lot of money, and we were currently living in a castle. I had to smile.

We spent the day looking around, but we never bought anything. We were trying to save money I guess, and there wasn’t much to get anyway. There were still plenty of tourist attractions littered around the square.

We walked into one store, and I noticed someone in the back, walking into a cellar. I couldn’t see the cellar completely, but it was lit by those candles with strange markings on them. There were drawings on the walls with white chalk, and when the cellar opened I could feel an intense cold surround me, filling the shop up. I shivered, knowing that was shadow magic.

I separated from Ember, and Cara to walk up to the man behind the counter, who seemed to have a permanent smile on his lips, glued on for the several people that flocked his store every minute. His eyes seemed tired despite this grin.

“Excuse me; I was wondering about that cellar in the back, where does it lead?”

The man’s smile dropped a bit, and he spoke, sounding rehearsed, “That cellar is off limits to people without a permit. You can get one by getting an invitation from someone who already has a membership.”

“Okay, thank you.” I said, walking to Ember. It must be some kind of strange secret club. I tried to open the cellar, but the doors wouldn’t open even though I remember the man opening it with ease earlier.

“What are you doing?” Ember asked.

“Oh, I was trying to open this cellar.”

“Why?”

“Um, I saw someone go in, and it looked like it was full of shadow magic.”

Ember crossed her arms. “You shouldn’t be interested in that, it’s not good for the environment, and it’s a bit dodgy. Besides, you already have magic. I’ll teach you more when we get back to the castle.”

I nodded, and left the room alone, trying my hardest to forget about it.

As we left the square, and walked back to the castle, Cara muttered, “This place is great, but I don’t think I should enjoy it this much.”

I had to agree with her there, but I didn’t know what made her say it.

“How do you mean?” Ember asked.

“It’s so big, and full, and loud. It is fun, but, it’s not the kind of thing I would have been allowed to do, or think about visiting a few years ago.”

Ember nodded, and we were quiet on the way back to the castle. We had a different taxi driver this time.

When I checked the time on the clock in the car, I saw that it was an hour past noon. I rubbed my eyes, because I was getting kind of sleepy. I felt tired since leaving that store, like the energy was drained from me. When we got to the castle I took a nap in my bed, while Cara was on her phone, and Ember watched TV.

When I woke up, it was practically dark outside, and they were both still awake. I yawned.

“Good night sleepy head. How was your nap?”

“Good night?” I asked.

“Yeah, it’s night, you’re waking up, and so it’s a good night.” Ember said.

“I guess…so what have you guys been doing?”

“Nothing much really, just talking”

“So, we thought about waking you up when we got a pizza, but when we tried, you just fell back asleep, so we let you rest.” Cara said shrugging.

“What kind of pizza?”

“Doesn’t really matter we ate all of it.”

“I had three slices.” Ember said. Cara blushed from her bed, and I half smiled.

“In my defense it was a small pizza, so I didn’t have that much.”

“I’ll order something again for you Angelo. The castle pays for it, so we don’t spend any money.”

“Thanks Ember.” I said, yawning one last time.

“You want to learn some magic, like I promised?”

I nodded. “In a little bit though, I’m kind of tired.” I moved around until I found a comfortable position in the bed, and I watched a little TV. I thought back to my conversation with Cara this morning, and these shows really are not as good as they used to be.

Ember called the servants in the meantime, asking them about ordering some more food. When she asked me what I wanted I told her I wanted a mint and berry salad from le ray. The salad was my mom’s favorite back in Othal, but the one near my neighborhood closed down, and she complains about it almost every day. I would have to tell her that there was one here. I wondered how I was going to tell her about my whole journey.

“Alright,” Ember began after she got off of the phone. “What I want to teach you now, is a mental communication spell. Spells are different from normal energy magic; they require words, and effort. Normally charms require spells, but hexes like this one do too. The words for this spell are, Oneta Theno. You have to think about the person you want to contact, and then it works until you repeat the spell to cut the connection. You can hear what they think, and they can hear you. When you’re skilled enough you don’t need to say the words out loud.”

I nodded. I was still really tired, but I guess I did want to learn more magic. “Okay, is that all I have to try?”

“Yep, go ahead, and try.”

I closed my eyes, and said the words, “Oneta Theno.” I felt a little silly saying them, but I would get used to it when it worked. I thought about Ember at first, but then I shifted my thoughts to my parents. I waited, but it didn’t work.

“Did you think of me?” Ember asked.

“No, I thought about my parents.”

“Oh. They’re shielded by my hex; you aren’t skilled enough to get to them. But you could try it on me.”

I closed my eyes again, and I said the words, “Oneta Theno.” I thought about Embers face and her personality as I see it. Eventually my brain felt a bit funny, and I heard Ember’s voice in her head. She was thinking about how clear her instructions were, and the first time she tried doing this.

“Okay, I’m here.” I said out loud.

Before Ember could respond, I felt really funny, and that turned into severe discomfort. I started to feel my body tingle, like it was breaking into little pixels. I opened my eyes, and looked at my arm, which was disintegrating quickly. In half of a second I could see through my arm, and in one whole second my arm was completely gone.

I looked up at Ember as she watched horrified as I disintegrated. I got out the words, “What’s happening?”

My vision blurred, and the small room turned into a cramped white office, with bright white lights beating down onto me.

I looked around, and saw a uniformed S-MOD man walking around. To my right there was a desk with a man sitting there, making calls, and shifting through papers. Where was I? Why did that just happen? My heart was beating so fast I felt light headed. The world felt like ti was moving.

I was sitting in a cheap plastic chair. I looked back at my arms, and I saw that I had handcuffs on. I tried to slow my breathing down, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t. After I collected my thoughts, I called out, “Could someone tell me what’s going on?”

The S-MOD man stopped in front of me. He had a strong jaw, and a stern look that reminded me of my dad. The man had cold brown eyes, and held a notepad, and pen in his hands. “Do you know why you are here?”

“No, where is here?” My voice was frantic as I spoke. I was breathing so rapidly it was hard to talk.

“You were using magic in a no magic area. We have to look you up in the database, and give you a ticket. How old are you?”

“Uh, I don’t think I’m in the database. I’m fourteen. I was a guest at Neptias castle.”

The man examined me briefly with eyes that felt like a red laser that landed on my face, ready to shoot.

His eyes soon began to become more intense, they almost glowed. Soon I knew what he was doing. He was hexing me, looking through my memories. I tried to feel him, but apparently he was doing a better job than that kid in Neptia. After a few flashes I watched my few days in the castle.

“So you were. Alright, hold on for a second. I’m going to register you, and give you some blue bands that let you use magic without being transported here again.”

He got me a blue plastic bracelet that reminded me of the red bands that pirates have to wear. In the background I watched dark haired man with a beard being pushed into the back of the building. I wondered what he did.

The man registered me, and then he apologized before snapping his fingers. I felt pins and needles dance across my body, and I watched as I slowly disappeared into thin air. I looked at the man with tired annoyance, and a little bit of excitement. I mean, it was scary, and all, but it was also kind of fun now that the shock was dulled down.

I found myself materializing back in the room, right at the spot I disappeared at. Ember was standing in the back of the room, tugging at her hair, and Cara was at the phone, pushing numbers, but she dropped the phone so that it hung from its cord when she saw me.

When I stood up, Cara rushed, and tackled me into a hug. I hugged her back, and she pulled away, clamping onto my shoulders, with an iron grip. “Where were you?”

“I was at some kind of S-MOD station. Apparently this is some kind of no magic zone.”

Ember sighed, “Oh, I don’t know where my mind has been; of course that’s what happened. At first I had no idea where you teleported to, I thought it was the general.”

“Yeah, it was kind of crazy, but the man there gave me some blue bands that let us use magic without that happening again.”

I put on the band, and Ember took the second one, and slipped it on. “The queen should have told me about that in the first place, I never would have done this.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, “But-”

There was a knock on the door. Ember went up to answer it, and the delivery guy for the salad stood there, looking at us oddly because Cara and I were holding each other in a way that made us look like we were slow dancing, and Ember’s hair was disheveled, with dried tears stuck on her cheeks.

We took the bag, and when we closed the door we had a short laugh about it, and then we all sat down. Ember asked me some questions about exactly what happened, and I told her that I got registered, and he went through my memories, and that was pretty much it.

Cara sat on my bed, listening to the conversation.

“I wonder if that guy ever found the gremlin.” I asked when the topic shifted.

“I don’t know. Speaking about the gremlin, I thought I heard something in the walls earlier today, but I didn’t say anything. I wonder if that could have been it.” Ember said, gazing at the bed, lost in deep thought.

I ate my salad, and wondered why I ordered it in the first place. It reminded me of my mom, but I didn’t like it all that much. After I finished, we turned the lights out, and went to bed. I wished that nothing bad would happen while we slept.