Underground

Jacques and Amie made their way down the staircase. She was surprised to see the way was lit up by glowing mushrooms. She whispered to Jacques, "How are they able to glow like that?"

Jacques whispered back, "I don't know, but don't say anything until I tell you it's safe."

Amie followed Jacques without saying another word. They found their way to the bottom of the stairwell. They could either go right or left. Jacques took Amie to the left, and they continued on within the walls of the palace. They passed by the banquet hall, the ballroom, the main kitchen. There were other secret stairs along the way. It felt as though they were traversing a maze.

What was more amazing was that nobody could see them, but every now and then they would come to a wall that appeared to be made of mesh. They could see into the palace through these transparent walls, but they couldn't be seen.

Amie was starting to wonder that since magic was real, then perhaps the palace was built with magic. Maybe that's why there were glowing plants that looked strategically placed and walls that appeared normal on one side and invisible on another.

Amie was enamored by these secrets she was discovering for the first time. She lived most of her life in this palace, but could have never imagined how close she was to something so wondrous. It gave her a sense of hope for the future she hadn't felt in a long time.

After winding through several passageways and traveling down several sets of stairs, Amie noticed there hadn't been any transparent walls in a while. They were deep under the palace at this point. She tapped Jacques on the shoulder to get his attention.

Jacques whispered, "We're still too close to the storage rooms."

They continued down more stairs and through even more passageways. It felt as though they had been walking for almost an hour and Amie was starting to get uneasy. She was certain they were deep underground now and nobody could hear them if something were to happen. She was about to stop and see if she could head back when Jacques stopped abruptly.

He stepped out of the way and ushered her in front of him, "We're here."

The light was very dim and Amie was hesitant at first. She squinted her eyes to try to see and then gasped when she realized what was in front of her, "A palace. It's a whole palace."

Jacques had moved to the right and was picking a glowing mushroom up, "But wait, there's more."

He placed the glowing mushroom in a large bowl. Suddenly a flash of light burst out from underneath. The light followed a channel down towards the palace, around it and inside. The entire area lit up as bright as day, illuminating everything within the large cavern they were standing in.

It wasn't just a palace in front of her. There were unusual gardens, statues, and water fountains everywhere. The gardens were of plants Amie had never seen before. The statues appeared to be of mages, and the water fountains were what stunned Amie the most.

Wisps of colorful light danced through the waters like playful otters. The water flowing through the entire place was the river water from her dream. Amie realized the entire place was being lit by magic.

Stellar mist was starting to surrounding the palace as well. It wasn't as dense as the fog in her room or her dreams, though. The mist was more like colorful fireflies floating in the air.

Jacques startled Amie when he spoke, "So, you're a mage then?"

Amie panicked as she remembered Dr. Sybil's warning, "What? What are you talking about?"

Jacques grinned, "Only mages can see stellar mist."

Amie froze. Admitting it could be a death sentence. Perhaps he's lying to get her to admit it. But then again, how does he know the term 'stellar mist'? "Jacques, how would you know?"

Jacques responded, "I'm a mage, of course! How else do you explain this?" He opened the palm of his hand. Closing his eyes, he focused on his objective. Jacques was able to call the green mist to his hand. He formed it into a glowing flower. The flower began to solidify, but didn't lose it's glow. When Jacques was done forming it, he looked at Amie, "For you."

Amie hesitantly touched the flower in his hand. It felt as though it was a real flower, " What kind of flower is it?"

Jacques replied, "This one specifically is a camellia. I haven't been able to learn how to manifest mist into true objects yet, though. So I guess it's more accurate to say that this is a replica of a camellia."

Amie was curious, "Jacques, how do you know magic? And what is all of this?"

Jacques tucked the stem of the flower behind Amie's ear and started walking towards the palace, "Follow me and I'll tell you along the way. First off, I found out by accident when I was 16. Do you remember when I told you I was always sick growing up? Well, when I turned 16, I suddenly stopped feeling ill. I was in the gardens and saw those green little specs everywhere. Thinking I had an illness, I went to Dr. Sybil to tell her what I saw and she's the one who helped me understand."

Amie was happy to hear that, "She seems quite strict, but she really is a caring person isn't she?"

Jacques nodded, "Very caring. Without her I would be dead. When I told her what I saw, the first thing she did was panic and ask me if I told anyone else. She told me I was a mage. She can't use plant magic, so she was only able to guide me in how to direct it. From there I learned how to solidify it, but I don't know any spells, so I've hit a dead end for now."

Amie wanted to know more about using the different types of magic, "So you can only learn one type of magic?"

Jacques nodded, "That's what Dr. Sybil said. She said there used to be mages that could master two or more types, but that was centuries ago and their secrets are long gone. Every mage is born with the type of magic they are able to use predetermined. Dr. Sybil doesn't have any plant magic books and doesn't know anybody with that ability, so I'm alone on that."

Amie felt guilty because she had an advantage over him and already learned her first spell because of it, "I'm sorry, I hope you find what you're looking for one day."

Jacques felt confident, "Don't worry about me, I like to think of myself as forging a new path, like and adventurer. I'm rediscovering lost ways!"

Amie smiled. Jacques could be annoying, but his confidence could be charming at times too. Amie then thought of something, "Hey Jacques, you said you saw green mist? Was that the only thing you saw?"

Jacques nodded, "It took me time to see the other types of mist. While I can see them now, I can't control them. Dr. Sybil told me that when we first awaken, the mist we first see is the type of magic we'll be able to master in this life. We'll be able to see other mists later, but we'll never be able to control it. Or if we do, it would be with extreme effort."

Amie gave it some thought before asking further, "Hey Jacques, did you see the river when you awakened?"

Jacques was confused, "What river?"

Amie probed further, "Jacques, can you see the colorful wisps in the water?"

He suddenly stopped, Amie bumped into him. Jacques looked at her with warning in his eyes, "Amie, I don't know what you're seeing, but it might be best for you to not mention that to anyone else ever again. Not even to Dr. Sybil. I don't know what that means, but I do know how power works. Keep quiet when you don't know who to trust, and learn in secret, lest someone decides to take advantage of your ignorance and weakened state."

Amie went quiet after that.

Jacques started walking again, "Well, enough of that, let's move on. I've done quite a bit of exploring down here and I've discovered a few things about this palace and our history.

"First, the history from commoners is different from mages. From what I gathered, mages used to rule the world, but commoners took over several centuries ago. This palace was built around the time that mages were at war, but hadn't started to lose yet.

The king of Lutetia at the time wanted a secret palace to protect mages in case the tides turned in the war. He found out that commoners learned that mages don't awaken until they are between 16 and 18. They also discovered that mages are extremely weak when they first awaken.

"That, combined with the knowledge that magic was hereditary, gave them an edge the old king was greatly concerned for. They can hunt and kill any mage before they became powerful enough to defend themselves.

"He decided to hide his magic heredity. He faked his own death and ruled from the palace above with a new name. He ordered all of his subjects with magical knowledge down into the underground palace where they ruled in secret for centuries before knowledge of the secret kingdom died out.

"In the palace above, he pretended the mages were executed and replaced the entire staff with commoners. He was right about the war going south and instructed his new subjects to destroy any evidence mages ever existed. He told the the commoners it was to destroy any trace of their existence, to help wipe them off the planet. In actuality, it was done to protect them, so they could live in secret among the commoners without fear of persecution someday."

Amie was soaking in all of this new information while looking at the surroundings as they past, "So there must be a lot more mages than we're aware of."

Jacques shook his head, "The genocide was extensive. It took several generations for commoners to relegate mages to the status of myths, but even then it's been written into our laws that those suspected of using magic are to be burned at the stake. There are very few mages left and they're usually born at random now."

Amie responded to this, "but didn't you say it was hereditary? What if my parents were mages? And what about your family?"

Jacques explained, "Well, I can't say anything about your family, but my family has a history of eradicating their own flesh and blood. To my knowledge I'm the first mage in generations, and if my father were to find out, I would surely be executed."

Amie was silent at that. They reached the entrance of the palace where two massive doors towered over them. Jacques went over to the side of the doors and pulled a lever. The doors swung open to reveal the inside of the palace.

Jacques mimicked a servant and bowed to Amie, "Welcome to the Mage Palace of Lutetia."