I remain quiet in the car with Sadie for most of the trip back to my house, replaying the night’s events in my head. When she stops the car in our driveway, I don’t get out.
“Genevieve? What are you thinking about?”
“Did you know?” I twist my mother’s necklace between my fingers.
“Did I know—”
“Did you know that my mother’s body wasn’t in her casket?” I choke on the words, holding back tears once again.
Sadie sits in silence.
“Yes,” she finally replies. “I did. And if I would have known that you were planning to go to the cemetery, I would have told you that. But I was not keeping anything from you about your mother still being alive. From what I know, she perished in her final battle with the Void King. Just because they couldn’t find her body…” She shakes her head. “But finding her necklace? She wore that until the very end. She never took it off. I don’t know where it could have come from. And now, if you were to ask me if she’s alive or dead?” She sighs. “I have no answer for you.”
I ponder her words before opening the door and stepping out into the morning’s crisp air. I walk into the house without looking back, and arrive before my family is even awake. I sit at the kitchen counter with a bowl of cereal, pushing around its contents with a spoon, lost in my thoughts.
“Good morning, Jeannie.” Dad yawns as he stumbles into the kitchen in his fuzzy blue slippers.
I had been hoping to be off to school before he ran into me.
“You’re up nice and early today.” He pulls out his mug with WORLD’S #1 DAD stamped on the front, which Danny bought for him the Christmas before last.
I pick up a spoonful of cereal and let it drop back into the bowl.
“What’s wrong? Rough night?”
“Yeah. I’ve had better.”
“Up late with homework?”
Genevieve, don’t say it. Now is not the time. Don’t say it.
“Actually, I went out to the cemetery. And you’ll probably get a call from them later, because I’m pretty sure the mausoleum was destroyed. But it doesn’t really matter, does it? It’s not like my mother is even in there.”
“What?” He flinches. “Jeannie, what do you—”
“I know, Dad.” I look him in the eyes. “I know about the Formulists.”
The color drains from his face as he falters, catching himself on the counter.
“You…you what?”
“I know the truth.” I raise my voice. “I know about Banewind. I know about the Void King. I know that Mom was a paladin. I know.”
“Jeannie, but…I…how—”
“Sadie Hawthorne and Jensen Saint Clair. Do those names sound familiar to you? I’m sure they do.” My face is hot. “They’re back in Parma. Trying to protect me. Because, turns out, they think I might be a paladin as well.”
He walks over to the kitchen table and pulls out a chair, avoiding my gaze.
“The Voidweavers are back.” I pull off my necklace and hand it to him. “Recognize this?”
He slowly reaches out and takes the necklace in his hand, examining its pendant.
“Yeah, that’s right.” My voice cracks. “That’s Mom’s, isn’t it?”
He sits in silence for a moment longer, before taking off his glasses and setting them on the kitchen table.
“Your uncle gave this to her,” he whispers, caressing the sapphires. “Never met the guy. I only knew how much it meant to her. She never took it off. Even until…” His voice breaks. “She never took it off.” He looks up at me, his eyes misty. “Oh, Jeannie. I am so, so sorry.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell me? I understand when I was younger. But even now? I’m an adult, Dad, and yet you still didn’t think I should know the truth about my mother’s life?”
“Jeannie, please.” He rubs his moustache. “You have to understand that I was trying to protect you. There was no need for you to know. Banewind died with her.”
“No, it didn’t. No, Dad, it didn’t. An entire world doesn’t just die. Not unless you make yourself think it did.”
“I didn’t know much about it, Jeannie.” He takes a deep breath. “I only knew that it existed, and that your mother was part of something I couldn’t possibly comprehend. You have to understand, there was no mal-intent. She didn’t want you to know, either!”
“I don’t believe that.” I shake my head. “No. She knew that one day I could be pulled into this. I’m sure she did. And now she might not even be…”
I see the pain in my father’s eyes, and the realization hits me that there is no blame to put on him. That he was just as blind to everything going on as I was.
“She’s not even here to tell me herself.”
I can’t bring myself to say she might still be alive, especially when I don’t even know if that’s true. I don’t need to hurt my father any more than I already have.
“What’s going on?” Danny enters the kitchen, wearing a tank top and boxers. “I thought I heard yelling.”
“Nothing, Daniel. Go back to bed,” Dad says.
“Sorry, squirt.” I look over at my father. “We were just talking about how Monday is Labor Day, and we forgot to plan for a party.”
“Oh, well. You’ve woken me up, so thanks for that. I’m gonna go get ready for school.” He turns around and heads back upstairs.
I walk over to my father, and he stands from his chair. I wrap my arms around him and hug him tight.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I shouldn’t have told you like that.”
“It’s okay, Jeannie. You don’t need to apologize.” He pulls away from me, but continues to hold my shoulders. “Now, are you going to tell me what you know?”
I glance at the clock. “I have to go to school. But we can talk about this later, all right?”
He frowns. “Are you in danger?”
“Not at the moment.” I try to smile, realizing the possible repercussions I’ve created by telling him about this. “And I know that’s a lot to drop on you first thing in the morning, but I promise I’m okay. Can you trust me on that?”
“I trust you.” He hands me my mother’s necklace. “But we will sit down and talk about this eventually, all right?”
I kiss him on the cheek before heading out of the house.
This is already turning into a long day.
a
I’m surprised to see Katie standing next to my locker as I turn down the hallway. Wasn’t expecting anyone else to be here yet this early.
As I make eye contact with her, I see that her face is as white as a sheet. Her body is trembling, and her eyes are on the brim of tears behind her glasses. She’s clutching the Formulist book to her chest.
“Katie? What’s wrong?”
“This.” She gestures her chin at the book.
“I…you mean, the book?” I glance at the faded binding. “Why? What’s wrong with it?”
“What’s going on over here?”
I hear Jensen’s voice and turn around and see him just inches from me. His eyebrows are furrowed as he stares at Katie.
“I don’t know yet,” I reply.
Jensen is staring at the Formulist book.
He frowns at me. “Oh, no, Genevieve. Did you…”
“I had to tell her. She’s my best friend. Katie, what’s going on?” I say, in a gentle voice. “Did you find something out?”
“Y-yes.” She nods.
I can tell Jensen is as confused as I am.
“Katie, what are you talking about?” he says. “What did you find?”
She opens the book and pulls out a slim flash drive from in between the pages.
“I found it hidden in a rip of the back cover, last night.” She gasps, her words broken. “I thought it was just more information on the book. I called you a dozen times, but you didn’t answer, Genevieve.”
“Katie, I am so, so sorry. I didn’t even know you called. Last night I…” Oh, crap! My phone. “Damnit!”
I plunge my hands into my pockets before taking off my backpack and scouring through it.
“What’s wrong?”
“My phone, Jensen. I think I lost it.” I continue to throw papers around the floor. “I haven’t seen it since Banewind.”
“You were in Banewind?” Katie squeaks, her voice plagued with fear.
“Yeah. I have a lot to catch you up on. But Katie, you have to tell us what you found.”
She holds the flash drive out for us. “It’s a message from Genevieve’s uncle. Right before he was murdered.”
a
We are now in Sadie’s classroom. After Katie decided to drop that bombshell on us, Jensen suggested we continue the conversation in Sadie’s presence. Luckily, we still had some time before school started.
“I told you I knew your uncle, yes,” Sadie is at her computer, inserting the flash drive as the projection screen lowers in front of the chalkboard. “But your mother’s family was complicated. After she defeated the Void King, we never heard from him again.”
“I didn’t know the flash drive was in there.” Jensen picks up the book from the desk. “And I still don’t understand how it got there.”
“Is the book yours?” I watch as he flips through the pages.
Jensen frowns. “It’s not mine, no. It’s my father’s. But he didn’t give it to me. I just took it from his library. So I doubt he had anything to do with it.”
The computer beeps, and the flash drive’s folder pops up. Its contents consist of a video file and a single document titled F.
“The document is…weird,” Katie says. “I checked that out first.”
Sadie opens the file, and I see its contents displayed on the projection screen.
Map (I)
A = 1 x 4 + F = 1 x 3
4
5
9
14
17
6
23
5 2 6 - 7 3 4 1
Text (II)
X = 0. 1, 2, 3, 4(x), 5(x), ...
B + Y = FIRST
1 + 2 = 3
“Uh…” I stare at the screen, mouth open. “Does anyone know what this is?”
“Some kind of code.” Katie sighs. “But I haven’t had time to work on deciphering it.”
“All right. Well, why don’t we put that on hold for now.” Sadie closes the document. “Are you ready?” She clicks on the video.
“I’m sorry. I can’t watch it again.” Katie stands and heads for the door, but stops as she grabs the handle. “I’ll be back for class.” She slips out into the hallway.
I glance at the clock. “Do we have time to watch it?”
“We should.” Sadie clicks on the computer.
The projection screen goes dark. And then there is a man staring back at me. I hold my breath, waiting for him to speak.
“Hello, Genevieve,” he whispers. “I apologize for this hasty recording. But given my current circumstances, I would say it’s pretty damn impressive that I’m pulling it off.”
A siren blares in the background, nearly drowning out his quiet voice. He is sitting in some sort of a lab, surrounded by computer monitors and other high-tech machines.
“Now Genevieve, it is unfortunate that this is the way I must introduce myself to you. But we don’t have a lot of time.”
He takes off his glasses and places them on top of his blond hair. His forehead is caked with blood, and his cheeks bruised and beaten. But his blue eyes are identical to my mother’s, and before he even says the words, I know he is related to me.
“In a few minutes, I will be dead, and I will never know if this recording made it safely to you.” He frowns. “There are very few people left to trust in this world. But even amidst all the hatred, the anger, the fighting, I believe there are some who have not yet lost their way. Sadly, it is too late for me.
“Genevieve, my name is Felyx Crimsley, and I am your uncle. I’m sure this news comes as a…surprise to you. But you must understand, there are very good reasons that your mother never told you about me. I don’t have time to pursue this matter further, but I am confident that one day all will be revealed. What you need to understand, Genevieve, is that everything you think you’ve learned, everything you think you know right now, is a lie. I am well-aware that by the time this reaches you, you will have already become acquainted with several Formulists. They, too, have been misinformed.”
“What is he talking about?” Jensen’s body is rigid behind the desk. “Sadie, what is he talking about?”
“They believe they are protecting you,” Felyx says. “They believe you are what the Dark Lady wants. And they are wrong. Everyone is wrong. What they don’t know is—”
Static screeches out of the speakers as the recording cuts out, splitting the image in several pieces. I jump in my seat as a bang! bursts from the speakers.
The recording comes back into focus, and I see Felyx snap his head around toward the steel doors at the back of the lab.
He returns to the camera. “That was quicker than I thought.”
The pounding on the lab door grows louder.
“Genevieve, you must find Isaac Banewind, or my death is for nothing.”
In the background, I see the hinges fall off the steel doors, the indentations growing with every furious pound.
“Don’t be afraid, Genevieve.”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Goodbye.”
The lab’s back wall splits in two with a mighty explosion, launching pieces of the metal door in all directions. Sparks hiss, and smoke swirls around the room as the debris collides with various machines. Felyx remains in the center, his white lab coat fluttering in the stirred air.
The smoke clears, bringing with it the emergence of a towering man clad in black armor, and casting a looming shadow across the room. His hands are folded at his chest, and the helmet he wears is designed in the shape of a bull’s head.
A woman follows. As she moves through the fallen rubble, toward the two men, her steps are smooth and graceful, as if she is gliding across the ground. Her black dress snugs her body, revealing a slender yet powerful-looking physique. And the matching gloves she wears rise to her elbows, a stark contrast against her snow-white skin. On each shoulder rests an armored plate, embedded with amethyst crystals that reflect in the lab’s flickering lights. And a dark purple cape ripples down her back, hitting the floor like a glass of spilt wine.
But her face is hidden beneath some sort of skull adornment. It is elongated, with large, round eye sockets and two ridges at the nostrils which come together at the tip of a thick, piercing beak projecting out in front of her. The only visible feature is her thin, red lips curled into a hideous scowl.
“Felyx.” Her voice is hollow, sounding like a distant echo.
She raises her hand and places it on the side of his face.
“What a disappointment you are to me. So much potential. So much possibility. And yet here we are.”
“I am sorry to disappoint you, Dark Lady,” Felyx hisses.
She turns to her soldier and nods.
He grabs Felyx by the neck with one hand, lifting him into the air. His other hand glows a searing orange, the flames crackling like mocking laughter, taunting Genevieve’s uncle. The soldier thrusts his arm forward, and the fireball catches on Felyx’s lab coat. His screams fill the room as the soldier releases him, where he remains floating in the air.
Flames spread across Felyx’s body, engulfing him in a bright immolation. The screen flashes, and Felyx’s agonizing howls cease. A charred, unrecognizable figure hangs in the air, the body black like a mummified corpse. The Dark Lady reaches out her gloved hand and touches Felyx, who disintegrates into a pile of ash.
“Burn it all, Vin’jork.” The Dark Lady glides back towards the entrance. “There’s nothing here but waste.”
Vin’jork follows behind her, but turns back to the lab once she is out of the room. He looks around, his gaze briefly making contact with the camera. His hands glow bright red, and he thrusts them forward, casting a fireball that comes barreling towards us. There is a whoosh!, a crash!, and then nothing but static on the screen.
I feel my stomach gurgling, starting to push into my throat.
“I think I’m going to—”
I’m over at the trash next to Sadie’s desk, spewing the contents from today’s breakfast into the basket. I heave several more times, coughing with such force that I can’t catch my breath. The tears sting my eyes, blurring my vision.
I feel a hand placed onto my back.
“It’s all right,” Jensen whispers, rubbing between my shoulder blades. “Shh. It’s okay. Take a deep breath. In and out. That’s it.”
I kneel onto the floor, my hands trembling at my sides. I gain control of my breathing before opening my eyes. The screen still hums with static.
“What the hell just happened?” I whisper.
Sadie offers me the tissue box from her desk.
“I…I don’t know.” Her words tremble.
“Who is Isaac Banewind?” I say.
Sadie continues to shake her head. “It just doesn’t make sense.”
“Jensen?” I look to him. “Who is Isaac?”
He frowns. “Isaac Banewind was the son of the Royal Formulists. He was the prince of Banewind.”
“Was?”
Jensen sighs. “He’s dead now, Genevieve. Like I told you before, he and the entire Banewind family were murdered by the Void King.”
“Then why would Felyx say we have to find him?” I start thinking of my mother’s empty casket. “Could he still be alive?”
“It…” Jensen says. “It seems very, very unlikely.”
“But not impossible?”
Jensen shrugs. “I don’t know.” He looks at Sadie. “Should you bring this up to the Council tonight?”
She bites her nails.
“Sadie?”
“What?”
“The Council. Are you going to bring this up when you meet with them?”
“No. I don’t think we know who to even trust right now.”
“Then what do we do?” I say.
“What about your father?” Sadie looks at Jensen.
His face turns ghostly white. “Absolutely not. We can handle this without getting the rest of the Saint Clairs involved.”
“I’m not so sure we can anymore. It may be best if—”
“No, Sadie. We aren’t jeopardizing his career. It’s out of the question.”
“Jensen, I vividly remember your father saying that—”
“Yes, I remember that, too. But you know, right now he’s on thin ice with the Council. We don’t need to make things worse.”
The five-minute warning bell echoes over the PA.
“I’m going to run to the restroom to freshen up before class.” I break the awkward silence that hangs between Sadie and Jensen. “Is that okay?”
“Yes, of course it is.” Sadie pulls the flash drive out of the computer. “Go ahead and leave the door propped open when you leave. We’re going to have to start getting through this day, sooner or later.”
a
I don’t even know what happened during my morning classes. I can’t tell you one thing I learned. I feel like an empty shell, walking from room to room, replaying the recording in my mind. I try to push the graphic images out of my head, but that only seems to make things worse.
When fifth period rolls around, I find Katie standing outside the cafeteria. She leans against the wall, much too rigid for her usual happy-go-lucky self. Her eyes seem dark and distant, and the corners of her mouth are pulled into a frown.
She holds the Formulist book against her chest.
“I told Jensen we’d meet him in the library,” I say. “You want to get lunch first?”
“Not hungry. Come on.”
Truth be told, I guess I’m not too hungry, either.
We find Jensen and go to a table tucked away in the back corner of the library. I catch Katie up on what happened while I was in Banewind.
“So who’s this Kingston?” she says to Jensen. “It sounds like he’s friends with your family?”
“My brother’s friend, more so. But Kingston is a Void Knight, and he’s with the Voidweavers. So you can understand my trepidation in trusting him.”
“He’s a Voidweaver?” I say. “But he helped me escape?”
Jensen shrugs. “He claims he’s on our side. But I don’t trust him.”
“Well, regardless, he saved my life. So that says something,” I add.
“And this Naxxorius? You said he’s a Visidium?” Katie flips open the Formulist book to a page she had marked.
I see a sketch on the page that looks exactly like the creature I met.
“I read about them,” Katie says. “Yeah. Like you said, they’re elementals created from centuries of Formulist magic. They have their own society, too.”
“That’s correct,” Jensen says. “Their city is called Axraxus. It’s also in the Wastelands, near the Jintüroo.” He looks at me. “As Genevieve saw firsthand, they are a selfish group of creatures who function on a quid pro quo philosophy. They’ve remained neutral in most of their transgressions throughout Banewind’s history, only doing things if it’s in their own best interest.”
“Felyx said in the video that he thinks Isaac Banewind is still alive,” Katie says. “You think that’s true, Jensen?”
“I don’t know how that would be possible. But if it is, then that means the Banewind lineage would still exist. Which could potentially pose a huge threat to the Voidweavers.”
“But why?” I say.
He shrugs. “They were a well-liked family. I’m sure they would have all the power, support, and aid of the people. They were the only known Formulists who could dual-wield fire and ice magic. So if they’re still around, maybe the Voidweavers fear they could lose again.”
“I feel like we just keep getting more questions, with no answers,” I say. “What do we even do at this point?”
“Keep making sure you’re safe,” Jensen says. “Hopefully, Sadie can recruit more help from the Council with all the information we know now. We just have to avoid the Magician, Valkryn, and Scythe.”
“I still don’t know about Scythe.” I sigh. “I’m not convinced he’s bad.”
“Well, either way, we have to keep our guard up.” He looks at Katie. “And I know you told Katie about this, and I understand why you did. But I think the less people who know, the better.”
“Oh, um, yeah.” I bite my lip. “I kinda confronted my dad about it this morning.”
“Genevieve!” Katie and Jensen say, in unison.
“He’s not going to tell anyone. He doesn’t know any more than what Sadie had already told us. My mother kept him in the dark, too.”
Jensen nods. “Okay. Well, at least you ripped that bandage off. How did he handle it?”
“I probably shouldn’t have told him before heading off to school. But now he knows and can let it sink in before we discuss it again.”
The warning bell rings for the next period.
“Shoot, we’re going to be late for class.” Katie looks up at the clock. “Okay, guys, I’m glad we got to chat. I feel much better. Thank you.”
“Yeah, same,” I say. “Maybe this is all going to work out okay.”
Not sure I believe that.