Galena

Maggie normally found herself in the living room with her mother’s journal and a cup of tea. The journal was leather bound and had the letter ‘V’ engraved in the cover for the name Vivian. Maggie could recall her mother writing in it when she was younger, but never knew what she wrote until she found it in her mother’s abandoned base.

Vivian was one of the leaders of the Thaumaturgy - a rebel group who formed together to bring magic back to their city Galena. The Thaumaturgy went against the Garzil Knights who arrested anyone with magic and brought them back to Galena’s new ruler, Garos, to either be killed or drained for their magic. The Thaumaturgy met in many areas within Galena but made Vivian’s bakery the main base before she was arrested and taken from them. As a child, Maggie would often go with her mother to the bakery and was given the opportunity many times to join her in the base that was just beyond the coat closet in the office. Maggie met many people who came to those meetings, and it saddened her to think that most of them were now dead.

She looked up at the large painting of Galena that hung over the fireplace in her living room. Whenever the Thaumaturgist would gather around it and talk in tongue, Vivian would ask Maggie to help in the kitchen. Maggie always wondered what was so secret that she couldn’t stay. She knew about magic and she knew to never talk about it. But when the painting became their topic of conversation, Vivian wanted Maggie to leave.

She put her book down and walked up to the fireplace. She reached out and gently touched the artwork. The palace that sat behind the city was named after the first king of Galena – Valo. In the center of the palace was a beam of light that reached to the skies. It was said to connect the people of Galena to their Gods - Yhden. Maggie always admired how bright this light was in this painting. Outside this work of art, that light was no longer strong and bright. The more magic that was drained from Galena by Garos, the dimmer the light became.

Her eyes dropped to the words written into the frame. It was a language Maggie had been trying to decipher for many years; and it was one of the languages her mother often used when writing in her journal. Maggie traced her fingers over the words, letting out a sigh.

“Why don’t you just ask this shaman what it says?” Jace asked, sitting where Maggie sat. He picked up her book and looked at the pages.

“I have, and she doesn’t know,” Maggie answered, rolling her eyes. She went over and took the book from him. She closed it and wrapped the leather strap around it. “Diana will be here soon. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I’m sure.”

“Not because I want you to, right?”

“Mags,” he said, giving her a look, “I want to know where I’ve been.”

It had been two years since Jace came back home with no inkling on what happened to him during the last fourteen years. He woke up on the streets in his boxers, soaking wet from the rain that poured down. He had only one thought on his mind and that was home. He was on auto-pilot as his feet took him to his family home in the small borough just outside the gates of Galena. When he knocked on the door, he expected to see his mother standing on the other side, but instead stood face to face with his twin sister. He forced out her name, surprised to see her grown up, and asked where their mom was.

Maggie had pulled him inside, knowing exactly who he was. She sat him in front of the fire and grabbed a towel and blanket. When she came back, she threw the blanket over his shoulders and asked him where he had been. Maggie realized then that Jace had a spell put on him. He couldn’t answer where he was and couldn’t remember where their mother was.

Maggie gave him a year like she promised and since his memories didn’t come back during that time, she was getting magic involved. Jace didn’t find anything wrong with it. He was around magic his entire childhood. He just worried about what he might remember afterwards.

“Good,” Maggie said, breaking into Jace’s thoughts, “Because she’ll be here any minute.”

Just then there was a knock on the door and both their eyes went to each other. Maggie went to answer it and greeted Diana. The two hugged and Maggie introduced Diana to her brother. Diana shook his hand and introduced herself.

Jace looked at his sister when Diana said she knew their mother from working with the Thaumaturgy. “Vivian was the soul of the Thaumaturgy and I will do anything for her children,” Diana told him, taking her herbs and powders out of her bag. “Maggie, will you close the curtains and put on a fire?” she asked, pouring the items into a bag.

Maggie did as the shaman asked and Jace stared at Diana as she finished getting everything ready. She was a plump woman with a scarf around her head. Jace thought she looked more like a gypsy, but gypsies didn’t have magic like what was coming to Diana’s hands when she struck her drum.

Jace could see magic on a caster - as soon as the energy built up, he could see it. Even after the caster was finished, he could see the magic’s residue. This was something Jace remembered always being able to do. When he was younger, it was a good way to know what his sister was about to do or when his mother had just finished using magic.

Every person’s magic was different. Some magic was bright, some dim. Other’s magic filled their hand or only wrapped around their fingertips. And every type of magic was a different color. Jace mainly saw shades of blue; his mother and sisters were purple, and only once had he ever seen a caster’s magic be white.

Diana’s magic was green, which told him she was very connected to the earth. He watched her magic bounce off the goatskin of her drum as she tapped it and disappear before it hit the ground.

Diana asked him to sit in the chair in the middle of the room and began to chant into her bag of herbs and powder. She asked Jace to close his eyes and reminded him that painful memories could arise from this dispel. She asked if he was still willing to continue and he nodded.

With that approval, she began to hit the mojo bag over his head, chanting more words Jace couldn’t understand; then began to circle around him, chanting and drumming.

Maggie watched as Diana’s spirit animal appeared to watch over this ritual. Diana called him Benzi and he was the gentlest creature Maggie had ever come across. He was a large, pure white wolf with deep blue eyes. He stared back at Maggie and slightly nodded to her before stepping forward - walking into Diana as she stopped drumming and took Jace’s head in her hands.

Diana continued to chant and Jace felt as if his mind was spinning out of control. He felt nauseous as memories seeped in then pulled back out. The memories that stayed were the ones he blocked on his own as a child and tears began to soak his eyes as he saw his mother’s face the last night him and Maggie saw her. He fell into Diana’s arms sobbing.

“What do you remember?” she asked, holding him close.

“They took our mother…” he replied between sobs, “and I couldn’t stop them.”

“What else?” Diana whispered.

Jace could feel himself starting to pass out. “I left…” he let out. Diana asked where he went and the only thing he could reply with, before letting the darkness take over, was, “I just left…” He then collapsed completely in Diana’s arms.

Maggie helped Diana bring Jace to the couch then joined her in the kitchen.

Diana put her things away, explaining that the spell on Jace was too strong for her magic. “I picked up a name earlier,” she let out, putting her drum in its bag. “Does Vanessa sound familiar?” she asked, looking up at Maggie.

“Not at all,” Maggie answered, crossing her arms. “Maybe it’s somebody he met being away?”

“It could be,” Diana closed her bag and walked up to Maggie, taking her arms, “I’m sorry, dear. I wish I could do more.”

“You did what you could,” Maggie said, giving Diana a hug. “Thank you.”

“It might just be up to him to retrieve the last of his memories,” Diana added.

Maggie thanked her again and walked Diana to the back door, wishing her a safe travel home. After closing the door, she went back into the living to wait for her brother to wake up. She knew he was going to be upset when he did. She at least had sixteen years to let what happened to their mother settle in.

She stared into the fire while she waited and thought about the night their mother was taken from them. She could remember how awkward their last dinner was. Their mother kept to herself while their step-father angrily stabbed at his food. Maggie and her brother remained silent throughout the entire meal and when they finished, Vivian asked them to get ready for bed.

It was only six-thirty which was two hours before their bedtime, but Maggie and Jace always followed the orders their mother gave them. They loved her dearly and didn’t want to disappoint her. They brushed their teeth in silence and changed into their pajamas. In their room, Vivian kneeled to them and took their hands, giving them a sad smile. She asked that neither of them leave their room if anything was to happen and that they must stay in their beds. The twins gave each other a look then nodded to their mother, not questioning why she was saying this.

Before tucking them in, Vivian placed her hands on their heads and chanted a few words. Maggie felt a tingling sensation go through her body as her mother did this, and when Vivian finished, she told them it was for their protection.

“From this day on, you know nothing about magic and you will deny you ever had it,” Vivian added. “Do you understand me?” Her eyes became stern as she looked at Maggie saying this.

“Are you going to be okay, Momma?” Jace asked, becoming worried.

“Of course, she is,” Maggie told him. She took his hand, trying to make him see that he had to be brave. “She is the most powerful Thurgy out there!”

Vivian let out a laugh at the name Maggie called the Thaumaturgy and asked them to make their prayers and to get into bed. She waited patiently, watching her children praying. They knelt next to their beds with their hands clasped together under their chins. They didn’t say their prayers out loud, only mumbled, and like always, Jace was the first to finish and hop into bed. Vivian sat next to him and tucked him in, giving him a kiss on his forehead. She brushed the hair off his forehead, staring at him adoringly. She told him she loved him and gave him another hug before going to Maggie, who was finally climbing into her bed.

Vivian pulled the covers up to Maggie’s shoulders and leaned over, quietly saying, “Keep him safe. He will rely on you greatly.”

Maggie stared into her mother’s eyes, knowing that Vivian was going to be leaving. She nodded and hugged her mother. Neither children went to sleep after Vivian left the room. They laid in their beds on opposite sides of the room in silence just staring at the ceiling.

When they heard a heavy knock on the front door, they leapt out of their beds and ran to the window. They held back cries at what was waiting outside. A black carriage sat in front of the house and three Garzil Knights stood at the side. This prison on wheels was made from anti-magic shell material and was built to transport the people who the Garzils arrested.

After another hard knock, they heard their mother’s name be called out.

Maggie wrapped her arms around her brother, feeling the panic building up inside him. They leaned towards the window, trying to listen to what this Knight was saying. They watched him come into view as he stepped away from the front steps.

“Vivian Creed,” the Captain began to say, reading a screen that appeared on his wrist plate. “You are hereby instructed by the High Ruler Garos to come with us. We have reason to believe that you have been affiliated with the resistance team and have worked as a co-leader with the Thaumaturgy for the last fifteen years. Affiliation with this group and use of unauthorized magic is punishable by death.” The Knight dropped his arm and looked at their mother, adding, “Garos has declared that you will only be taken in custody and your fate will be decided by him directly.” He then called for two Knights by the carriage to approach and asked Vivian to put her hands out in front of her.

Maggie and Jace watched him put the anti-magic cuffs on her. The sphere covered her hands to prevent any magical attack. Once Jace saw that they were going to take her, he ran out of the room. Maggie yelled and chased after him only to be grabbed by her step-father at the front door. Her heart pounded against her chest as she watched her brother run to their mother.

The Captain allowed Jace to hug Vivian one last time, but only for a moment. He pulled her out of Jace’s arms and back to her feet, telling her it was time to go.

Jace yelled to the Captain to let his mother go, then moved his hands back and pushed them forward - expecting a stream of magic to shoot from his hands, but nothing happened. The guards began to laugh at him and, by this time, Maggie had ripped free from her step-father’s hold and collided with Jace. She hugged him tightly, as tears filled his eyes from the embarrassment and hatred towards these Knights.

“Please forgive my children!” Vivian begged the Captain, “They were born with no magic.” Vivian looked back at Maggie and gave her one last look with a small nod before the Captain took her arm and pulled her away.

As Maggie thought about what her mother told her at her bedside, she watched Jace begin to stir. He slowly moved his legs to the side of the couch and sat up to rub his face. She knew he remembered every detail of their mother being taken now. She didn’t have to ask him, but she had to ask him about the name Diana mentioned. She stared at him for a second longer before asking, “Who’s Vanessa?”

Jace couldn’t tell his sister who Vanessa was, he didn’t know, and Maggie didn’t push for him to remember. She could see how tired he was and that he was still upset. He wanted to be left alone just as much as she did in this moment. She left the room and went upstairs to take a bath.

The hot water, candles, and silence always helped her relax.

As she laid in the bathtub, she brought her hand out of the water and watched her magic form around her fingertips. Anyone was able to see her magic - they didn’t need Jace’s ability. Maggie thought her mother took her magic from her when she was eleven years old, but when she turned fifteen, the seal Vivian had put on Maggie broke.

Maggie learned from Diana that Vivian had transferred Jace’s magic to her for unknown reasons and her body could no longer hold the energy like it used to. She dropped her hand into the water thinking about when she was almost consumed by her magic. She knew it was happening by the stars that appeared in her eyes. That was the first step in becoming a Void. Voids only came out of the shadows when they sensed a caster turning. If it wasn’t for Diana, Maggie would’ve been the newest Void to join the Nothingness where the other Voids dwelled.

Diana became a second part of her family after her step-father ran out that night. Kenneth Jax wanted nothing to do with magic after that Void appeared in their house and Maggie finally knew why Vivian never married the man. He was a coward and she was glad he was gone.

Maggie pulled the tub’s plug and stood from the water as it drained. She dried off her body and wrapped the towel around her. She patted her face dry and scrunched another towel in her long, auburn hair. She slowly braided her hair then picked up a pair of gray gloves.

As she slipped them on, the magic on her fingers disappeared and the gloves changed color to match Maggie’s skin tone. They were made of dragonscale and were a gift from Diana. They allowed her to feel everything as if they were just a second layer of skin, but Maggie hated wearing them. Before Jace came home, she never wore them in the house, but Jace didn’t know she had magic again. It was something she kept from him when she brought him up to speed on what was happening in Galena after he left.

After telling him everything he needed to know, Maggie took a step back from her brother. She was still upset with him on how he just disappeared one day. She spent weeks looking for him before finally giving up and continuing with the duties that was left for her to take over.

One of those duties was running her mother’s bakery - alone.

For ten years, Maggie worked with Kim preparing cakes and pastries for their customers while running the front desk. It was tiring, and Maggie never had a weekend to herself until Jace came home. The first thing he asked when he came home was how he could help, and Maggie put him right to work. He even took over the paperwork on Saturdays to give Maggie a break. She took that time to shop in the market and check the bookstore for new books.

In the morning, she got ready to do just that. She pulled her braid into a bun, slipped on a dress, and headed out the door. She left the house and walked up the road that lead right into Central Galena, passing the bakery as she went.

At the gates of Galena, two Garzil Knights stood at both sides. They weren’t hard to spot throughout Galena. They wore black armor with their symbol on the chest piece. It was an X with a dot on both sides to symbolize Garos and his control over the people and magic. They wore cowls that went around the bottom half of their faces and often wore their hoods up - only revealing their eyes to the people. They watched everyone and everything; and caused trouble with the people they accused of smuggling magic. Over the years Maggie learned to deal with the Knights, as her and others had no other choice but to. Luckily for them, if they weren’t breaking any laws, the Knights left them alone for the most part.

Maggie’s first stop in the market was the clothing booths. She pushed through the styles, looking at the shorter skirts and dresses the clothiers were making. Last season, the longer look was in which Maggie liked, but these skirts and blouses she was liking more.

When she reached the cloak rack, she began to look for one she liked the best. She picked out a black cloak then a dark red one and held them both out, comparing to see which one she liked more. She liked the red one the best, but when she looked at the price tag, she put it back on the rack. It was sixty jewls out of her price range. She settled on picking out a few skirts instead and turned to head up to the cashier but stopped at hearing a familiar voice.

It was a voice she was never sure on how she felt when she heard it:

“You should get the black cloak. Black goes with everything.”

Maggie rolled her eyes and turned to the man speaking to her. He was tall with dark hair that was always styled perfectly. His chiseled face always had a five o’clock shadow and his skin was sun-kissed. He was everything Maggie liked in a guy, only problem was- this was a guy who she fought to not fall for.

“I already have a black one,” she said, giving him a short answer to sound dismissive.

“Then take the red. You seemed to stare at it longer,” he said, taking the red cloak off the rack. His eyebrow raised when he looked at the price. He looked back at Maggie, offering to buy it for her.

Maggie ignored his offer and asked, “Where’s your costume?”

“You know, if anyone else said that to me, I’d probably arrest them.”

“Then what’s stopping you?” she asked, looking up at Heath and giving him a look.

Heath returned her remark with a playful smirk. His eyes danced in amusement as he looked at her. “Outside that uniform I’m just like you, Maggie Creed,” he said, following her to the register.

Maggie rolled her eyes again. “Right,” she let out, “Just like us.”

Heath took the things from her arms and put them on the counter along with the red cloak. Maggie gave him another look, telling him she would pay for her own things, but Heath looked at the cashier and told him to ignore her. He leaned into her to keep her from pulling her things off the counter and handed the cashier the proper amount of jewls.

“If only this man knew Heath was a Knight,” Maggie thought to herself, looking at the cashier.

“How’s your brother?” Heath asked, interrupting Maggie’s thoughts and handing her the bag.

Maggie looked up at Heath. She had met him a few months before Jace came home. She was in the market crossing the square to look at the farmer’s stands when he approached her. He was in uniform and the cowl was pulled up over his mouth, only revealing his eyes, which Maggie noticed were different from the other Knights.

As he looked at her, his gaze softened, and he apologized, stating he had the wrong person. She thought it was odd for a Knight to do something like that, but when she bumped into him the following Saturday, she realized he wasn’t like the other Knights at all.

Once Jace came home, Heath began to ask how he was doing and continued to do so as the weeks went on. “He’s the same,” she vaguely answered, taking the bag from Heath. She marched to the bookstore with Heath following behind. She didn’t like talking about Jace, especially now after she just had a shaman help with his memories.

Maggie avoided the section of the bookstore she wanted to go into and went to another aisle instead, losing Heath at the magazine rack. She picked through the selection of books, but after a few minutes of finding nothing that stood out to her, she figured she’d end the day at the farmer’s tables.

She turned away from the shelves and went to find Heath, not sure why she was looking for him. Heath wasn’t just a Garzil Knight, he was a Captain - which was one of the highest ranks in the Garzil. Seeing that uniform on Heath bothered her the most. Seeing that sigil on his chest always made her feel like she was betraying what her mother stood for. But every time she thought about this betrayal, she thought about the softness in the Captain’s voice that read Vivian her rites.

Maggie stared at Heath across the way, thinking about how Heath interacted with her and the softness in his voice when he spoke to her. He looked up from his magazine and quickly put it back to go over to her.

“Maggie?” he said, breaking into her thoughts, as he touched her arm. “Are you okay?”

Maggie met his gaze, realizing she was staring at him and answered that she was making one more stop then going home.

“Can you do lunch?” he asked, walking with her across the square.

“You ask me that every weekend,” she answered, walking up to a table and picking out a few plums that felt ripe, “and I give you the same answer every time.”

“I’m just hoping you’ll change your mind one of these days,” he smirked.

Maggie gave him a look and continued her search around the tables. Heath kept close to her, watching the market scene. He did this often when they were together in the city. She always wondered if he was watching for magic smugglers off duty or was he being protective over her?

It didn’t take long before Maggie had a basket full of food and was ready to pay.

Heath walked with her to the gates and Maggie thanked him for the company. His reply was a smile, adding that one day she would change her mind. Maggie couldn’t help but smile at his persistence and told him to keep dreaming. She said goodbye and continued down the path into Kent, knowing that Heath was watching her - but she never looked back.