Sanctum of the World

Angel and her fairy friend arrive soon before the council. No one seems to notice they had gone missing, so Amethyst takes this opportunity to summon more Fae in preparation. She reminds Angel one last time to call her father before she takes off.

Angel still isn’t so sure about this, but she promised. Amethyst doesn’t seem like the type of creature you want to let down. She uses her family stone as a focus to contact her father. He shouldn’t be in the office right now.

There is a longer pause than she expected. Could it be the distance between the realms? Her father’s face in the stone shows that he is not happy. “Angel, you fortunately caught me at the end of a meeting… what are you doing there?”

“Oh, you know where I am, Daddy?” Angel blushes guiltily.

“The stone always tells, you can’t hide it,” her father’s smile lightening the tone. “We have time to discuss later why you are in Sanctum. I take it you reaching out to me magically isn’t just a friendly, casual call?”

Angel draws a deep breath, trying to process everything that she has witnessed today. She tells her father the story.

“Uncle Adam called a meeting of Sages, and something big is about to happen.”

She sees his brow quirk. “Go on…” her father pushes, now curious.

“It turns out that my best friend Penny has married a Vampire who wants to start a war,” she blinks, recalling Melody’s words.

“A war with whom exactly?” a frown creases her father’s face.

“With the Elder Vampire Council,” Angel states, as if he should already know. “Penny has been building up her magical power. You know how I sensed she had potential?” Her father nods. “Well, Uncle Adam has been teaching her, and the Vampires are growing nervous… so…”

Angel hears a groan. “Melody Rivers is not about to let idle threats go unchallenged. Being the dramatic troublemaker she is, she’s about to anger a hive of Vampires…” her father finishes for her.

“Oh, you know Melody, Daddy?” Angel seems surprised that everyone seems to know more about her friend’s wife than she does. Outside of being Angel’s band manager and her source of influence, the blonde has to admit she barely knows the woman. She’s powerful, and has entertainment connections — which has spring boarded the young Bard’s music career faster than she ever thought possible.

“A bit too well, unfortunately. She dated your Uncle Simeon for enough years. I got to know her better than I would have liked,” he sighs. “Let me tie the pieces together.” Angel’s father is so clever in these things. “Melody has invited Adam to join in the attack. The arcane residue will lead any surviving Vampires come after us in retaliation.”

“That’s what my fairy friend is worried about, yes. She’s gathering any Fae she can find as we speak,” Angel returns worried.

“Wait, what fairy friend are you talking about?” Luke asks, now confused. “Sunflower, what have you got yourself into this time?”

“Oh, I made a new friend today!” Angel beams excitedly. “She’s apparently this powerful fairy from another realm. Lyric says we can trust her. Elphaba apparently summoned her a long time ago, but it’s taken this long for her to respond…”

“Over twenty years…” her father grumbles.

“What’s that, Daddy?” Angel blinks.

“I was actually born in Sanctum. The Realm shattered shortly after your Uncles, Aunts, and I came to Earth. It’s been almost thirty years since then. All portals to The Sanctum shattered that day, and it took several years for us to reopen the one in Fallcrest. This Fey has been trying to reach us for decades. She must be quite dedicated to her people. ”

“Lyric says she’s the Elder of the Grotto Fae, if that means something.”

“Elder?” her father blinks and she nods. Luke looks pensive. “Grotto Fae? If I remember my planar studies, that means the Earthen Realm. Which means this fairy will have control over earth, crystals and likely have amazing arcane powers.”

“Her aura is so bright, it’s almost painful,” Angel comments.

Her father looks at her for a moment, then his eyes narrow. “That Fey asked you to recruit me, didn’t she?” Angel blushes and nods. “One thing you’ll learn quickly, Sunflower, never cross the Fey. They are more powerful than you can imagine.” He frowns and sighs, “Well, nothing else to do but agree to her request. She’s likely to drag me into this one way or another if she has her mind set on it. How she knew you needed to contact me…” There’s a pause, “I need to finish up some things here and bring the adepts with me. We’ll need their support.”

When what passes for dawn rises in the Realm, Angel is by the portal as her father and ten of their company’s best adepts arrive.

Angel greets him with a loving hug, “I’m so glad you’re here, Daddy! Amethyst arrived a couple of hours ago with a dozen multicoloured Pixies. They’ve been busy making and planting yellowish crystals in the ground in a circle around the school.”

“I’ll need to talk with your uncles. They’re likely expecting the Vampires to come here,” Luke comments.

Angel nods and follows as her father and his apprentices walk up the hill to the school’s doors. They find Adam in the kitchen, with the rest of the Sages. Adam turns in surprise to see his good friend arrive. Then he spots Angel and the ten alchemists by the door.

“Luke!” Adam smiles and greets him. “You’re early, and you brought support. I don’t recall sending you a summons.”

Angel approaches her father and stands beside him for a moment, before offering Adam a hug, “Uncle Adam!”

“A little songbird whispered in my ear about something big. Care to elaborate?” Luke thumbs toward his daughter.

Adam blinks, then looks from Luke to Angel. A frown creases his forehead for a moment, “I see. Did she tell you that Melody Rivers is about to declare war on the Vampire Enclave?” Adam gives a moment for that to sink in. Soon he has the attention of everyone in the room. “Apparently the Vampires are growing nervous about her wife Penny’s growing arcane powers. My teaching Penny magic has them fearing the Rivers family is no longer neutral. The Vampires have already threatened their family. Melody believes we will be next if she doesn’t do something about it.”

He pauses a moment before continuing.

“In the time that we’ve slowly been rebuilding the Realm and the magical community, the Vampires have grown in numbers, exceeding ours. If you all recall your history lessons, the Vampire Enclave and the Council of Magi have been at war for millennia! The remains of the last war surround us. The Elder Vampire Council has grown in power and influence. They are in control and at a point where they could wipe us out forever!” he lets the impact of that statement sink in. “I may have been hesitant about accepting the mantle of Arch Mage, but I won’t let them destroy what work we’ve done to rebuild the magical community.” He turns to address more of the room, “Melody wants to weaken them, and maybe even the odds. If what she has in mind works, this will slow them down. With luck it will force them back into hiding to lick their wounds,” Adam finishes.

“What about the angry hive of surviving Vampires? They will come after us if you get involved,” Luke argues.

“What I’d like to know is how Angel knew all about this?” Adam turns, and Luke smiles knowingly. “Never mind the how. We can discuss that another time. I need to meet with the Rivers family soon. And yes, the Vampires are likely to come after us. We’re actually hoping they will. That is the next step of her plan.”

“Well, the fairies outside are busy setting up some sort of defensive screen,” Luke points out.

Adam raises an eyebrow, “A defensive screen? Someone said they saw an unusual amount of pixies flying around…”

Luke nods, “They’re building some sort of crystal lattice outside. If I’m following the pattern, it should almost cover the building in some sort of barrier once activated.”

Adam looks pensive for a moment, “Well, that solves our dilemma of how we’ll defend the building once this all starts.” He blinks, then frowns, “How did the fairies know?”

“The songbird has a new fluttery friend,” Angel chimes. Cocky, just like her father, saying things in riddles.

Adam frowns slightly, “Angel, we will have a discussion about how you overheard a secret meeting of the Sages.” Angel looks down and blushes in embarrassment. “For the time being, I am glad that you are here. This unexpected support is most appreciated.”

Adam glances at his watch, “As much as I’d love to know more about how you became involved, I need to run. I can’t be late.” He draws a breath, “Wish me luck. If all goes well, I’ll see you in a few hours.”

“What happens if it doesn’t?” Luke places a hand on his friend’s arm.

“Pray that Melody’s plan succeeds. This is a gamble we can’t afford to lose.” Adam returns flatly. With a flourish of his hand, the Arch Mage disappears.

Angel looks at her father, “Do you think Uncle’s angry? Should I have waited until his official announcement? Amethyst was so adamant to get started, like she knows what’s about to happen.”

“He’s more surprised than angry, Buttercup,” Luke returns with a disarming smile. “The Adam I know is not about to deny the gift of foresight, and the aid that comes with it.”

Angel’s shoulders relax, and she smiles.

“On that note, let’s set up a war table so that we can plan the rest of this defensive properly.” Luke turns to his team; they nod and set into motion.

They are setting up a large table in the foyer when Amethyst enters the building. The Fae immediately bee-lines for Angel and her father, ignoring the other mages that are busy setting things up. She offers Angel a warm hug, as if the woman was an old friend, and not just someone she’d met yesterday. Amethyst then turns to Luke.

“You must be my little Angel’s father,” she chimes, holding out a hand in greeting. “The family resemblance is uncanny.”

Luke returns the greeting and smiles, “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“So what are you setting up?” the Fae asks in curiosity.

“Illusionary war table,” Luke states. “Once the focus crystals are in the right place, we will have a live miniature of what goes on around the island.”

Amethyst smiles. “Lyric and Elphaba told me you are a brilliant mage. I am glad to see that they were not merely exaggerating your potential.”

Luke chuckles. This fairy is cunning. While the size of a teenager, Amethyst’s eyes glow purple, and her gossamer wings flutter occasionally before hugging themselves around her body. Most fairies are little more than the size of one’s hand, a foot tall at most — like Ciël, who he met once. Speaking of Ciël… a girl, about the age of eight or ten, runs into the building. She looks around briefly before dashing towards Amethyst. Though her hair is a bluish-purple, she looks like the younger sister of the one standing beside him.

Amethyst looks down at the new arrival and smiles lovingly.

“The lattice is near ready, Mother. Should we activate it now?” the small crystalline voice of the girl is sweet and innocent sounding.

“No, we’ll wait on that, My Dear. No point in straining the crystals until needed,” Amethyst chimes in response.

“Very well,” the girl curtsies and dashes out of the building, slowly getting smaller as she goes.

“Was that Ciël?” Luke asks, trying to place the girl’s voice.

“It was,” Amethyst replies, watching the Fae disappear out of the building.

“She called you, Mother…” Luke remarks.

“Yes, my daughter and I have been apart for some centuries now, but she is ever the capable organizer. It is good that she survived the cataclysm. I don’t know what I would do without her.”

Luke is trying to piece it together; then he looks at Elphaba, “You’re all related?” They nod. “So, the term Mother…”

“Isn’t just symbolic,” Amethyst finishes for him. “I sent them here from the Earthen Realm, some of them centuries ago, to aid The Sanctum. We’re albino. There is no sun on our home plane, our blood is not the same colour as yours.”

Luke is piecing everything together. Angel loves watching her father’s mind work. “So, that means that Melody…” he continues.

“Is a distant relative of Elphaba, a cousin of sorts, considering she is mostly Human.”

“Oh, so she is mostly Human… but not from Earth?” he asks.

“Not from your world, no,” the Fae smiles.

Luke then looks at his daughter. She can tell what his next question will be, so she answers it for him. “Yes, my best friend married a vampiric alien from another realm… and probably doesn’t know it, at least not yet.”

“Well, she wasn’t a Vampire when she left my Realm,” corrects Amethyst. “How that happened, I would like to know. We consider Melody Feytouched where we are from. She has Human parents with Fae ancestry. She’s not as powerful as a full fairy, or even her cousin Elphaba here. Feyborne have one Fae parent. Regardless of her Human parentage, Melody is my Rune Weaver, a prodigy with a fair amount of magical potential.”

“So there are Humans in the Earthen Realm?” Luke probes with a skeptical tone.

“Would it surprise you, Master Goodson?” she uses his arcane title. “That humanity is not unique to your world?”

“I suppose it shouldn’t,” Luke returns thoughtfully, “just something I never considered.”

Amethyst continues. “There are some planes of existence that are hazardous to your kind. Where you either don’t exist, or the Realm created a hybrid that could scarcely be called Human. In many of those planes, they are called Djin or Jani.”

“Are you implying Djin and Humans are related somehow?” Luke blinks in surprise.

“Well, the genus is close, but each Realm is unique and creates its own creatures,” she notes.

“I see,” Luke rubs his chin thoughtfully. “I really need to touch up on my planar history. Perhaps there is more out there than most of our small cadre of mages have ever imagined.”

“Yes, well, mages have been travelling throughout the Outer Planes for millennia. Some creatures throughout the universe are likely related to Humans of your origin. After a few generations, it is not always apparent where their ancestors come from.”

“Thanks for the reminder that Humans are short-lived,” Luke returns sarcastically.

Amethyst looks at Luke, “Do not think of your mortality as a curse. The progress your race has made is amazing.”

Luke raises an eyebrow.

“Long-lived races can grow stagnant, and intolerant of change. While some of your kind fear it, I find Humans overall revel in change, and the challenges that it can present.”

Luke chuckles, “Well, humanity has thrived on conflict and innovation. We’re sadly as destructive as we are creative. Many have wondered if there is life on other planets. Mind you, they are just looking at our night sky. Very few of us know of other planes of existence. That knowledge would overwhelm those with small minds who still believe a Divine being created us.”

Amethyst smiles, and he cuts her off. “No, I don’t want to know the history of my universe and what you know of creation. You are likely ancient and it would take me a lifetime to learn half of what you know. We have a battle to plan. We can have these debates later when I’m not worried about being some Vampire’s lunch.”

Amethyst shrugs, “Fair enough. I’ll leave you to your planning. I’ll check to see how well my children are fairing with the defensive dome. Will that show on your display?” she queries, looking over at the war table.

“It will, should be quite the light show if your screen does what I think it should,” he smiles.

“Oh, it will be a wonderful surprise for unsuspecting Vampires, though I don’t think they’ll appreciate the irony as much as you do,” she grins. Amethyst bows before taking her leave, turns and makes her way out of the building.

Luke watches the Fae for a moment, chuckles, and shakes his head. He looks towards his daughter. “My dearest Angel, I’ve always said that you meet the most interesting friends I’ve ever seen. I’d say that fairy tops the list.”

Angel giggles, “She is quite the character, isn’t she?”

The two return to planning on the war table.