The Item and A Call to Action
Hazel settled back and, even as the Razor Snake remained trapped in her illusion, fell into a sleep that took her deep into the dreamscape – deeper than she had ever been before. She narrowed her eyes as she realized that she was not in her dreamscape and in a part she had never seen before.
She knew it was the dreamscape because she felt her connection to it but she still became nervous and pulled on her tether but she could move to a different space. It was like the dreamscape had tightly folded over on itself and now spaces overlapped and read as the same spot within the scape.
It was nothing she saw but what she felt. The way the magic flowed through the dreamscape was folded and did not slip by her smoothly but in jagged bursts like it was blocked, changed, and rerouted. Visually the dreamscape was as it always was – unpredictable, and oddly static.
Water whispered into her ear and she felt like she was swimming instead or standing still. The water whispered to her again and she looked around trying to understand what was happening.
Was someone speaking to her?
"Hazel." It was a distant whisper uttered beneath fathoms of water. And she instantly understood that she was not listening correctly. Her eyes glowed as she spoke an ancient incantation 'audite veritatem' . Her body shimmered and when the water whispered again she understood completely. "Hazel Potter. You have finally come for what I hold for you. Can you receive it all or only a part?"
"I am only here for what I can use against the Emotion Doll."
There was silence for a long moment then a soft gurgling at her feet. She looked down and a black pool had begun bubbling up around her. She stood still when the bubbling seemed to choke as if it was plugged, then something pushed free as if someone was below pushing it through. The object floated across the small pool and stopped just before her feet.
"This will help you with the cursed thing. Once it is done it is your choice – free the evil within or add it to the reflection. The being can no longer be cleansed nor can it be completely destroyed. It was to powerful in life and power like that does not end, only the vessel changes."
The water paused again. "Can you take on such evil and survive?"
The dreamscape rumbled and there was a loud bang. Hazel did not panic. The dreamscape was her domain. Her eyes began to glow deep purple and she pulled out her wands as she spoke a second ancient incantation 'Cum meus sis, tua sum'. Both her wands glowed a golden color then circles of light burst from them.
There were four of them and they were like rainbow bubbles rising before her as they spread out in four different directions. The dreamscape quieted but she knew she had more to do if she wanted to leave this space.
She looked down to the item at her feet. Water flowed over it but it remained black as night, seemingly covered in oily black muck, still she knew what it was – a mirror.
She refused to look at it directly. Instead she used the dreamscape and felt its characteristics and allowed them to form a picture within her. It was black and etched with intricate runes. The reflective surface – or what should have been reflective – seemed dull and just as black as dull shadow. As Hazel examined it she frowned. The runes seemed to rotate around it and change shape. She pulled back – her divination instincts screaming warnings at her.
Another bubble flowed from her wands and fell down onto the black mirror and swallowed it. The mirror shrunk as soon as it entered the bubble then the bubble shrank. Hazel took out a gilded box and opened it. The bubble sat within the satin lined box.
Hazel closed the box with a snap and began looking at her surroundings. She was lying in the shore of the Spawning Lake but she could not sense any fate lines leading to it. She paused, that wasn't true, all the fate lines were bent and curving in and around themselves.
She sighed. She would need to untie a knot to get back.
As Hazel was working on escape the professors of Star Academy were discussing student delinquency.
Professor Shorepart was a beastkin – half mind-shaper and half human. His magic was from both sides, but being a mind-shaper made him the optimal Magical Beasts professor. He was usually very calm and soft spoken – he was a bit out of character today. He stood with his fists on the table, his usual pale skin was a garish red, and his soft grey eyes were completely black.
He spoke to Headmistress Pilar through clinched teeth. "This is unacceptable. This child should have been expelled long ago."
"I agree with Alec Headmistress. We have been far too accommodating to the Divination Houses. We have a school of children to protect. This potion is…"
"We know Anabel, we know. But we all need to stay calm. Alec please sit down."
Alec Shorepart slowly lowered himself into his seat as he looked to the Magical Plants Professor. "Children have died Trisha. Children. We can not take this calmly."
Trisha Greenbottom – Star Academy's Magical Plants Professor sighed and looked to Headmistress Patricia Pilar. "They are right." She looked to Professor Sing. "Sara we need to do something about Rosa Ambrose before she hurts any more children."
Headmistress Pilar nodded. "We will. Anabel do we have any counter measures for this Vital Mirage potion?"
Anabel Adder – Star Academy's Potions Professor shook her head and pursed her lips. "No. It is one of the Disgraced Potions." She looked to Trisha Greenbottom. "Do you know any plants that can counteract this thing."
"I don't know." The Magical plants Professor looked at the ingredient list before her. These things or horrid, how did Milton Disgrace ever come up with this concoction."
Professor Adder sighed. "He purposely mixed deadly things or things that had adverse reactions when combined. His theory was we could find greatness in mistakes. The man was insane."
The room went quiet then Professor Adder spoke again. "Marcel, Hazel and I can begin working on something. Those two are the best potion makers in the seven known dimensions. They will find something. I can't guarantee that any of the students exposed to this will survive."
Headmistress Pilar looked across the table, a smothering sense of power flowing out from her and pressing down on everyone at the table. "This is about more than Rosa Ambrose. It is also about the black market we have allowed to exist in Old Starcrest. It would seem that Sable Fenwick sold all of this to Rosa and the Greenstream twins. It is time we shut them down."
Professors Adder and Greenbottom gasped at the same time. The Magical Plants Professor spoke first. "Ever since her sister was chosen head of the family she has been out of control. She is an exceptional apothecary and gardener but she has never been quite right."
Professor Shorepart stood, ready for action. "I will get the night star dogs. They can surround the area as we enter from the front. We will raise Old Starcrest to the ground if need be." He was on one of the room's portals and gone before anyone could respond.
Headmistress Pilar looked to Professor Sing. "When will Hazel and the others return?
Professor Sing looked towards the Spawning Lake. "I have no idea. We will have to start. When they return they will do what needs to be done.