Mark of the Fool
Chapter 568: Rite of Passage

Selina Roth knocked on the door of her brother’s laboratory on the evening she turned twelve years old.

The day had been amazing, even by the high standards set by every birthday she’d ever had in her young life. For most of her birthday celebrations, Alex and the Lus had all but harnessed the stars for her when that special day arrived.

From the time he’d started working at McHarris’ bakery back in Alric, her brother would bake heaps of wonderful treats for her and her friends, and Mr. Lu would always build her a toy that she would cherish. The Lu family inn would look like a minor festival with music and activities that drew half the children in Alric to it.

As fantastic as those days were, birthdays in Generasi were on a whole other level of amazing; like she was living in a fairy tale.

Last year, she and everyone closest to her spent the day at the magical attraction called Noarc’s tower. She’d seen so many things that she loved; like fantastical architecture, and magic the likes of which she’d never seen before, even though she’d lived in Generasi for almost a year back then. She and her friends spent a lot of the day with wide eyes and slack jaws, amazed at what Noarc had created, and the messenger construct that Alex had given her was still one of her most favourite things in the whole world.

A lot had happened from the time she’d left Alric and throughout the past year after she’d turned eleven. In many ways, the year had been one of the most eventful of her young life.

She’d seen and lived through a demon attack where people died in the stadium at the Games of Roal. Mr. and Mrs. Lu were there for her birthday and had given her the very first knife she ever had, and Theresa had taught her how to use it. She was tired of demons and monsters threatening their lives, so she’d started carrying it to protect herself, and her family from the filthy creatures.

But, there’d also been plenty of happy times, like when she began learning magical theory in school, starting her on her path to becoming a wizard. The story Alex told of the battle he’d fought in Thameland in that burning windmill had sparked her imagination, and sent her asking questions about fire and heat and how they worked in the world, which had made her think about getting cold from flame. Something she’d been dreaming of doing.

Selina knew that certain things that had already touched her life would affect it forever. In important ways, her life hadn’t been like Abuella’s or her other friends’ lives. She’d seen and lived things that hopefully, they never would. For a time, some of those things had confused her, and she hadn’t known how to feel about them.

But, she’d started asking questions, she’d gotten to know Shiani who’d taught her that sometimes good can come from bad. Her eleventh year of life had been a big one, and to cap it off, Alex had given her the party of parties today, on her twelfth birthday.

There wasn’t any visit to Noarc’s Tower this year: but, there was a big surprise grand tour of Generasi and the coast on a flying ship just for her and her best friends on the morning of her birthday. The world seemed so small from that high up, and even a city as huge as Generasi, looked as small as one of her building sets from back home.

Someday, she’d like to design and create buildings as beautiful as Generasi’s, maybe build an entire enclave where everyone she cared about could live near each other.

When the tour ended, the party continued at her family’s bakery, which was closed for the day to celebrate her twelfth in style. Alex, Troy and the rest of the bakery's staff had made Selina’s favourite savoury treats—followed by an endless line of deserts, and a birthday cake that was the exact replica of Noarc’s tower.

A bard performed while everyone ate and enjoyed each other’s company, and an ancient storyteller and illusionist captivated the guests with strange and mystifying scenes from Generasi legends and around the world. There was even a parchment pinata filled with treats made in the image of McHarris…which Alex had insisted on even though Theresa had reminded him that it wasn’t his birthday.

There was laughter, dancing, magic and joy enough to fill a dozen birthday parties…as the hours passed, though, Selina noticed that something was different this year. There was wonderful food, joyful music, tales, and lots to do, but the party hadn’t been as rambunctious as any she’d had in the past.

She and her guests were still happy, but she realised they weren’t running around, or chasing each other, or giggling hysterically like during her other birthday parties.

Selina had told Theresa about what she’d noticed as they sat together watching the illusionist create shooting stars throughout the ceiling: and the huntress had patted her shoulder and given her a small, ironic smile. “That’s all part of growing up, Selina,” she’d said. “Things change.”

Right there and then, Selina had reached a conclusion: there definitely were some downsides to growing up. The thought abruptly vanished when the birthday cake and a table piled high with a mound of presents were brought in.

Each cake layer was a different colour of the rainbow and Selina kept saying it was way too pretty to eat…each time she took a big, delicious bite.

She attacked the mountain of gifts next.

Theresa gave her a small hunting bow. “Just for you to learn with,” the huntress had said. “You never know if you’ll have to shoot your dinner before you become a powerful wizard.”

Khalik had given her…a bag of gold. “You said you wanted to be rich,” the prince had grinned, as her brother made choking noises. “This will get you started.”

Alex had made her promise to let him help her keep track of her spending.

She’d grumbled, but made the promise, knowing he was only looking out for her.

Isolde had given her a pair of soft, but strongmuupkaraskin gloves and a tin of buffing polish for her knife, and Thundar had bought her a model flying ship. “Hey, since I know you like building things,” he’d said, a bit awkwardly. “I got you this kit from an alchemy shop: you’ve gotta build it from scratch, but once it's all put together, it can fly up to twenty feet high and you can control it with your voice. Not sure if that’s your thing, but if it isn’t, I could get you something el—Oof!”

Her hug had stopped his words.

There were more gifts from her friends, including a small compact of rouge for her cheeks from Abuella, that she didn’t quite know how she felt about as Alex had looked at with a frown and a raised eyebrow.

Surprisingly, he hadn’t given her a present at the party, like he normally would, but as gift-opening was about to end, he’d leaned down. “I didn’t forget your present,” he whispered. “Come down to the lab this evening, and I’ll have it ready for you. But you can’t talk about it with anyone for a while, maybe only Claygon and Theresa for now. It’s a surprise.”

And now Selina was standing at the laboratory door, curious about what this special surprise might be.

“I hope it’s another construct,” she whispered, knocking on the door again.

This time Alex’s voice called out. “Come in!”

There came a click of the lock and the door was pulled open by a pair of glowing crimson Wizard’s Hands. Music drifted up the staircase, and step by step, she slowly descended into the depths of her brother’s lab.

She hadn’t been down there much since he’d gotten it set up the way he wanted, so she was stunned at what she found. The basement laboratory was now a place of wonder. On one side, a complex network of glass tubes, bulbs, beakers and flasks towered, many were sitting on burners and other heat sources.

Half a dozen potions were being distilled at the same time, fumes drifting into the fume hood above. Scores of Wizard’s Hands swarmed through the chamber, tasked with turning bottles, swirling different coloured liquids in flasks, mixing ingredients, and assembling golem parts. The crimson glow of the Hands blended with the lab’s light sources, giving the room a mystical luminescence.

In the back of the chamber, a partly completed stone golem stood, with Wizard’s Hands attaching and fusing its components together. Some of the Hands hovered near a massive bookshelf, taking down tomes and flipping through them before bringing them to Alex.

Her brother was bent over a work table near the centre of the room, pouring liquid into a pot of soil. In the pot, was the aeld staff, its glowing blooms adding to the room’s multi-hued light.

His beak-like mask bobbed as he poured and—close behind him—Claygon stood, watching over him and filling the room with orchestral sound from his voice box.

The air bore the scent of fresh earth and herbs, completing the scene for her: it was like she’d stepped into a wizard’s tower straight from a storybook. Even after being in Generasi for two years now, she could hardly believe it was her brother who was under all that strange gear. She almost expected a storybook wizard with a long white beard to pop out from under the mask.

“There you go, there’s nothing dangerous in the air right now, but better safe than sorry, so I want you to put on that mask over there,” Alex’s voice sounded nasally through the beak-like protrusion, as he pointed to a set of smaller gear hanging on hooks near the stairs.

“Okay,” she said quietly, going for the mask, gloves and apron.

The aeld staff gave off warmth and welcoming feelings as she came near. One day––she vowed—when she got older, she would have her own beautiful, customised aeld staff to do magic with.

Maybe that’s what he was going to give her? A staff of her own?

“No wait, wait,” Alex held up a hand.

The staff’s blooms glowed brightly, lighting up his eyes inside the mask’s lenses. “Nevermind, the process completed faster than I expected. No need for the mask, we can just grab a seat at the desk.”

He nodded toward a sturdy looking mahogany desk carved with dozens of mystical glyphs that Selina was only just beginning to understand. There were two chairs in front of it.

As Alex headed toward it with Claygon behind him, he took the mask and gloves off. Looking at him, she expected the image she’d had in her mind of that powerful white bearded wizard in his sanctum to shatter the instant her brother’s goofy face appeared.

But, she was actually a little surprised, there was something different about him when the mask came off. If she really thought about it, though—he’d been kinda different since he came back from the Hells that last time.

He’d seemed more grounded. Maybe a little older and more serious.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

“Alright, let’s talk about your present, Selina,” Alex sat at the desk with her. “I didn’t want to talk about it in front of the others.”

His green eyes bore into her in a way she didn’t like; it felt less like her goofy, familiar brother looking at her, and more like some wise old prophet from an old tale doing so.

In some ways, his gaze reminded her of Baelin’s.

“You’re acting weird, Alex,” she said, “Why’re you being so serious?”

“Because what I want to talk to you about is serious. Very serious,” he reached over to the desk, picked up a brown folder and flipped it open, showing her what was inside. “Does this look familiar?”

Her belly flip-flopped in surprise. “Yeah, that’s my last magical theory assignment.”

“You’re right, and I’ve seen the two you wrote before this one,” he said, his tone somber as he flipped through the sheets. “You got really high marks on all three assignments.”

“Yeah, I did,” she said cautiously, wondering where this was going. She’d gotten the highest mark in the whole class for her magic theory assignments, and for each one, he’d been so proud of her, that it honestly became a little embarrassing.

So, why was he acting so strange now?

Did she do something wrong?

She didn’t remember doing anything wrong.

Sure, she’d asked her teachers lots of questions about magic and how heat worked, but they’d never seemed to mind.

So what was this all about, and why was he bringing up school assignments on her birthday? School work was the last thing she wanted to think about today.

“What’s this about, Alex?” she asked, getting nervous.

“Well, your magic theory teacherwanted to talk to me after she marked your last assignment,” Alex said. “She actually asked if I helped you with it. Or if I did it for you.”

“What?” an irate Selina demanded.

Claygon made a sound like grinding rocks from his speaker box.

“Does she think I cheated?” She was clearly offended. “Why would she think that! I did it all by myself!”

“I…was with her…father…” Claygon agreed. “Selina did the assignment on her own…she has been working hard.”

“Yeah!” Selina cried. “Why would—”

“Hold on, hold on.” Alex held up a hand to stop her. “That’s exactly what I told her. I know how hard you work. You’re not in trouble.”

“Hmph,” Selina huffed. “So why does she think I’m cheating? I’m not stupid! I can do the work.”

“Well it’s not about you being stupid. I know you’re not stupid. You know you’re not stupid. Your teachers know you’re not stupid. But there’s not being stupid…and then there’s this…”

He took a sheet from the folder, turning it toward her.

“You recognize this?”

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