Confessions of the Magpie Wizard Book 3: Dissolution (Chapters 28, 29 & 30) (Patreon)

Art by the wonderful and talented Rianne! https://twitter.com/RianneDraws?s=20 

Chapter 28

“I assure you, it isn’t what it looks like.” My back was ramrod straight as Kiyo and I stood side by side, shivering before the portly headmaster.

Tachibana’s eyes narrowed. I was impressed by how well his bowler hat stayed on cutting gusts of wind buffeted us. Kiyo had thrown on her clothes again, and she trembled as much from fear as from cold. She was a disheveled mess, inside and out, and I wanted to wipe the tears of humiliation and embarrassment from her eyes. However, I wasn’t in a position to do anything but wait for the headmaster’s wrath to descend on us.

He didn’t lay into us like I’d expected. He only stared on, seeming to enjoy our misery. The energy tent and the fireball were long gone.

After what seemed like an eternity, I spoke up to fill the oppressive silence. “I must say, that new prosthetic leg is fantastic. You climbed an awful lot of stairs without your cane. Congratulations, sir.”

“You won’t distract me, Mr. Marlowe,” he barked. “Ms. Jones!”

She straightened up with a startled gasp. “Y-yes, sir?”

“Go back to your room and think about your duty to the school and the Wizard Corps. I need to have a word with Mr. Marlowe.”

She shook her head. “Th-this isn’t Magpie’s fault. It was my-”

“Don’t bother lying to me,” he replied. “I know exactly what kind of a man Mr. Marlowe is by now. Get out of my sight and be thankful you’re going to your room and not my office.”

I put a hand on her shoulder. “If he’s letting you off easy, don’t make it worse for yourself.”

She nodded meekly. “S-see you in the morning, sir.”

He cocked his head at us. “See you for what?”

She gave him a confused look right back. “Y’know, for helping you with the Peace Bond Mk. II? We’re still doing that, right?”

He nodded. “Yes, that. I’d nearly forgotten, after this newest outrage.”

“It’s my fault, Headmaster Tachibana,” I said, throwing all the formality I could into the declaration. “Do what you will with me.”

He looked at me with an almost predatory grin. “Oh, I absolutely will.” Apparently, he was one to bear a grudge. So much for the fatherly demeanor he usually wore!

He turned his attention back to Kiyo. “I know you’re the victim here, Ms. Jones, so if you don’t mention it, I won’t either. It’s Mr. Marlowe who needs my attention.”

“That isn’t fair!” blurted Kiyo. He fixed her with a harsh glare. “W-with all due respect, sir.”

His eyes narrowed. “Duly noted. My instructions still stand. We’ll meet again tomorrow and act like this never happened, provided that you don’t repeat the behavior. Is that clear?”

She deflated, hugging her shivering arms. “Y-yes, sir. Call me later, Magpie.”

“Of c-” I started.

He sneered at me. “Oh, Mr. Marlowe is going to be far too busy for that! At this rate, he’ll be lucky if he has the energy to volunteer in the morning. Now get moving.”

Kiyo gave a respectful bow. She stopped at the top of the stairwell and glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes were full of love and concern. I did my best to put on a stiff upper lip.

Tachibana let out a frustrated grunt and pointed towards the stairwell. “I said get moving!” Before Kiyo could respond, he stomped over and slammed the door behind her. He slunk back over, and I realized there was something familiar about his stride.

“And after all that time we spent practicing your manly walk, Maggie.” That brought the apparent headmaster up short. He scrunched his eyes shut, and his form shifted to that of my redheaded co-conspirator. “That’s much better, my dear.”

Her mouth gaped for a moment while she collected her thoughts. “Was it just the walk?”

“That and the hat,” I said, tapping my head. “Unless Tachibana in the habit of bolting it to his head, it would have flown off in an instant in this wind. Besides, I’ve seen him angry. He is more the type to seethe and be disappointed, not actually hostile.”

“I’ll have to work on my impression,” she murmured.

“It’s still a darn good fabricata. However, you had better have not interrupted my Kiyo time just for that.”

She shivered and crossed her arms over her stomach, circling around me.

“Are you using me as a windbreaker?”

“The privilege of command,” she replied, coming to a stop. “And no. You’re allowed to have bad taste in women, but I need your help tonight.”

“How did you even find me? Kiyo didn’t find any cameras up here.”

“The librarian said she saw you and Ms. Jones take the stairs,” she replied. “Nobody takes the stairs from the library to go down. You’re lucky I’m the only one who came looking. I’m a little disappointed, though. Making out on the cold, hard roof in a magical tent?”

“What’s the matter, Maggie? Jealous?”

She brushed her hair out of her eyes. “I didn’t show up to block you. I don’t care what you and Ms. Jones get up to. This simply isn’t my idea of a good time. I should be relieved you keep rejecting me.”

“Then this had better be good,” I growled.

“It’s important, but it certainly isn’t good. You ignored my calls for an hour!” Her playful demeanor had begun to crack. She rubbed her arms. It seems I wasn’t a good enough wall for her. “It’s dang cold up here.”

“Then let’s go somewhere more comfortable,” I said in an exasperated tone. “You yourself just said it was a poor venue.”

“Poor for romance, but it’s a wonderful idea for a meeting. We can have some privacy up here. We’ll need it because I don’t…” Her frown deepened, and the beginnings of tears glistened in her eyes.

I wondered if this was some sort of pose? An attempt to put me off my guard? She did love her mind games, and I was her favorite toy.

“Spit it out, Maggie.”

“It’s Haru,” she croaked. “I got the word from Dr. Martin at the hospital. He can’t protect Haru anymore. He’s too healthy for them to stonewall League Intelligence. Brother Ratte says he knows too many secrets to…” She gulped, wiping the dew from her eyes. “To be allowed to live. They are transferring him to a proper prison tomorrow. It is not a matter of if he breaks, but when. He’ll expose me as a Holy Sister, and you as a demonkin.”

“To say nothing of Mrs. Perera.” My stomach fell. Not out of any great love of Obe, but I saw a few steps ahead. “You aren’t here for comfort, I imagine.”

She shook her head. “The duty to carry out the judgement falls on my shoulders, Brother Mockingbird.”

“Which means that it falls on mine as well?”

“Naturally,” she said. “He is part of our cell. There are only four of us left now, counting him, but it’s still my duty. I owe it to him, after…” She trailed off, her face twisting into a grimace. “After my failure with the judgement on Asahi Maki. It seemed like such an easy way to remind the world that the Holy Brotherhood still had teeth, and it cost me my Haru.”

I didn’t point out Holy Brother Red Tail, Garuda, and the rest we’d slain in the effort. She only seemed to care about Haru. “It was a team effort,” I said, artfully sharing the blame around. “Surely we don’t need to eliminate him. Perhaps we could sneak him to a safehouse?”

“Do you have one available?”

“Sadly, no.” If I did, I would have already holed up there as soon as Maggie had confronted me after my War Game.

“We don’t either. Besides, he’s an archer who can’t shoot and a wizard who can’t cast spells. One of the laws we live by is that the world can’t afford those who cannot contribute to the cause. The dead weight must be removed to keep the organism healthy. Any one of us is expendable.”

“That’s harsher than the devils,” I said.

“How do you know anything about that?” Her eyes had a furious glint to them as she studied me.

I’d been too free with my words, but I had an easy out. “When I was enslaved and tortured by the Horde, I saw plenty of maimed devils and lesser races doing menial work.” It wasn’t a great life, but we certainly weren’t liquidating them once they couldn’t fight or cast magic anymore. Somebody had to clean the mackie stables, after all.

She looked at me contemplatively. Her face cracked into a small grin. “More devilish than the devils? Is it strange that I take some comfort in that?”

I raised an eyebrow at her. “How is that possibly comforting?”

Maggie straightened her back and took a shaky breath. “Because it means that at the end of the day, they’re softer than the Holy Brotherhood. If we can be strong and stick to our principles, we can walk in England again. I failed my Haru, but never again. It will not be in vain. Humanity first!”

“Yes, humanity first.” Never fall in with fanatics. Their logic tends to give you a headache.

Chapter 29

Nagoya, Japan

Friday, August 5th, 2050

Our trip from the top of the tower was without incident. I cast the Sparkling Glitter spell that the Headmaster had used to reveal Kiyo in the shower to make sure she wasn’t hiding in the stairwell. I had taken some time of my own to learn the raw spell, since having a clingy girlfriend who could vanish at will made my shady dealings much more difficult. I needed some way to keep tabs on her.

Maggie still left the rooftop in the Headmaster’s guise, in case Kiyo was waiting for us somewhere. She did have a history of “recon,” after all. We were slowed as students and staff took a moment to give the fake Tachibana a respectful bow as we made our way down the hallway. There were an awful lot of them around the library, since many clubs would gather in their rooms for activities on Fridays. She was extremely gracious, greeting each student and staff member by name. She finally deactivated her wooden fabricata wand to dispel the illusion when we reached the elevator.

“You seem to have a penchant for impersonating older men,” I said. It might have seemed gauche to banter when we were off to assassinate Haru, but gallows humor was good for the nerves. For me, if nobody else.

Maggie didn’t take offense, thankfully. “It’s for the cause.”

“You were enjoying yourself,” I said. “Maybe not the older man part, but I know you. Being in a position of authority agrees with you.”

“It certainly beats pretending to be an empty-headed cheerleader all day,” she said. “It’s galling that somebody who has held back the Wizard Corps so much is so respected. Beloved, even.”

“The world is darned unfair,” I replied. “But then, one does attract more flies with honey than with vinegar. A soft approach is bound to be more appetizing.”

“I know, but if you have a tough stain to clean, pouring honey on it only attracts ants. The world needs more vinegar, no matter how harsh it tastes.” She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the back of the elevator. “Are you going to hit a button?”

“The elevator is a decent meeting spot,” I replied. “Nobody can stumble in on us without our knowledge.”

She looked at me thoughtfully. “I hadn’t thought of that. I suppose you know a little something about keeping secrets.”

“More than you imagine,” I replied, finally hitting the button to send us to the ground floor.”

“No, no, not there,” she said. “The garage is underground.” She brushed past me and hit a different button. “I suppose you wouldn’t have ever been down there.”

I thought back to our last drive up into the mountains. “You picked me up and dropped me off right in front of the Tower.”

“Probably a mistake, in retrospect,” she said. “Asahi has noticed us spending time together for our tutoring sessions.” She straightened up and deepened her voice. “You shouldn’t spend so much time alone with the boys! We have to present a certain moral authority to our students, and we can’t have even the appearance of impropriety!”

“That does sound like Mr. Maki.”

She blew a raspberry. “What a self-righteous blowhard. You’re friends with Ms. Yamada. Did they ever have anything going on? I thought they might have been fighting to try and cover things up.” She sounded almost hopeful.

“No. I suggested it once and he nearly bit my head off, and Mariko was too shy to even confess to Takehara when she had a clear shot at it. I think you and Mrs. Perera are the only teachers with a proclivity for students.” I wondered if that was an unwritten tenant of Holy Brotherhood.

She nodded once. “That is more in character for him. Darn it! I was hoping I could call him a hypocrite.”

“You can just call him a killjoy instead,” I replied.

“I’m way ahead of you,” she said.

The elevator let out a chime, and Maggie’s face lit up with her typical, vapid teacher persona. That told me it was time to stop talking shop as we strode through the parking garage.

We were outside the city soon enough. Farmland zipped past us, forming alternating blurs of green and amber as we passed vegetable or grain crops. I noticed Maggie wasn’t entirely steady as she guided the electric sedan. “Are you alright?’

“No,” she said. “Why would I be, with what we have to do?”

“I suppose this isn’t a pleasure cruise,” I said.

“You seem awfully relaxed,” she said.

I shrugged. “I can’t say that Obe and I were ever close. You did poison him against me from the start.”

“You stole my Soren’s name,” she said.

“Your Soren. Were you romantic with him the same way you were with Haru?”

“So, what if I was?” she said in a dangerous tone.

“I always suspected. No judgement intended, of course,” I said. “I’m just curious why you seem to keep going for students. You might have had an easier time if you’d taken up with Holy Brother Maus.”

She gripped the steering wheel. “Let me ask you a question, Soren. Do you keep expired milk?”

“Ah, you’re worried that you’re a spinster, only able to draw in the young and inexp- ouch!”

She withdrew her hand. “You know darn well what I mean, you smartass. And I’m only twenty-seven, for the record!”

I rubbed my smarting cheek. “Either way, you like them young.”

“It’s men who age like milk,” she said, looking dead ahead. “And their taste never advances. Everyone my age worth having is chasing girls your age or trying to get one on the side. So, why not play the same game?”

“You know this from personal experience?”

She gave me the side eye. “I’ve never said this out loud to anybody.”

“Maggie, I think we’re the only people on this whole damn planet who can be honest with each other,” I said, smirking inside that she still didn’t know my biggest secret. “We could ruin each other at a moment. Go on, tell me your story. We have nothing but time.”

She sighed. “Whatever you do, don’t ever date a Wizard Corpsman. Men serve for ten years, but women only serve for five years. They want us to go out and crank out the next generation of magical soldiers. That’s five years where you and your partner could be half a world away.”

“I think I see where this is going. Who was he?”

“It was during my first year of teaching at the Merlin Academy. Holy Brother Maus… screw it, Alan still doesn’t know why I broke off the engagement. To hear him tell it, I dumped him out of nowhere while he was stationed in Okinawa.”

I raised my eyebrow. “You were engaged? I didn’t sense any hard feelings during that ritual.”

She smirked. “He still thinks he can win me back. He never figured out that the bimbo posted a picture of them on SatoChat.”

“The bimbo?”

Maggie blew a tuft of hair out of her eyes. “She’s one of those useless ‘influencers’ who’s famous for wearing low cut tops and having good photo editing software. I still remember the post a friend shared with me.” Her body language shifted, and if I thought her normal demeanor was treacly, her insipid voice nearly gave me contact diabetes. “Like, OMG, I’m totally dating a wizard! Hashtag magical!”

“What the devil is a hashtag?”

“The number symbol?” I shrugged, and Maggie looked at me like I’d grown another head. “What century are you from?”

“I wonder sometimes,” I muttered. “Regardless, that’s what turned you to younger game, eh?”

“To Alan, I’m convenient when I’m around, but he gets bored easily. I was Soren’s queen. The same with Haru.” She went quiet for a moment as we went around a particularly tight curve and made our way deeper into the mountains. “You don’t understand what it’s like to have somebody who worships you and means it. Peers will betray you. Fanatics would sooner die than hurt you.”

I held off on pointing out that that was exactly what Haru was about to do. It seemed in poor taste. “I think I can relate. It’s why it was rather poor timing that you interrupted me when I did.”

“Enjoy it while you can. You’ll be in my shoes someday,” she said.

“Pardon?”

“I mean you’ll have to fight her eventually,” said Maggie. “I’m careful with who I recruit. She’s the only one of Takehara’s crew I seriously considered, but at the end of the day, she’s a military brat. She isn’t ambitious enough to question the system.”

“She’s still off limits,” I countered. “That’s our agreement.”

“It is,” she conceded. “But does she know that? If Takehara opposes us, she’ll ride in right behind him. Then you’ll have a harsh choice to make.”

I didn’t have a response to her, so I decided to enjoy the scenery instead, even as dread formed into an iron ball in my stomach.

Chapter 30

Mt. Gozaisho, Japan

Friday, August 5th, 2050

The hospital hadn’t changed since our last visit. The only difference was that this time, the real Dr. Martin was waiting for us on the bottom level of the parking garage. He held a lit cigarette in his hand near his hip, but I didn’t see him take any drags off of it as we approached. He dropped and stomped it out with his foot.

“Glad you made it,” he said sourly. “Pretending to smoke is an expensive hobby these days.”

“It’s for the cause,” replied Maggie. “It gives you an excuse to leave the hospital periodically.”

He shuddered. “I even have to inhale these cancer sticks occasionally for appearances.”

“Pretend to kick it, then,” she said. “You won’t need to keep up the ruse after today. You only need to get us in one more time.”

“I don’t see why it’s necessary,” I said. “We didn’t need his help last time.”

“After your little stunt with that brand, they beefed up security,” he said. “Nobody gets in or out without a hand scan.”

“Ah, I see,” I said. “I suppose that’s a little outside the ability of a fabricata to fake. How have you been getting in?”

Maggie patted Dr. Martin on the shoulder. “Dr. Martin here is my personal physician, as of last month. Our taxes pay for us Wizard Corps veterans to be seen up here. I just happen to get migraines at inconvenient times.”

“Or extremely convenient times,” I said. “I think I see how this works. You come in for an appointment with Dr. Martin, then go visit Haru in disguise once you’re past security?”

“Very good,” said Maggie. “I’m almost proud of you.”

“That’s a fine trick. I imagine you have an appointment now?”

She put her wrist to her head and pretended to swoon. “Oh, it’s awful, Soren. My poor head is killing me.”

“How does that help me?” I asked. “Unless I’m here to keep the engine running?”

“You can’t drive,” she replied. “And that isn’t necessary on an electric car. It only wastes the battery. No, the good doctor has come up with a solution.”

“And that is?”

Maggie handed me a familiar disguise wand. “Be ready, Nurse Kazushi. We only get one chance at this.”

I rolled my eyes as my form distorted again. It was a shame I hadn’t met the real nurse. The fake woman reflected in the car’s window was a looker. “You couldn’t have found another disguise?”

“If you knew how hard these are to carve, you wouldn’t complain,” replied Maggie as she drew a switchblade from her purse. “Besides, I have the difficult job. Doctor, where did you say was safe?”

Dr. Martin leaned in and tapped a spot on her abdomen. Before I could ask what she was going on about, the blade had already pierced her to the handle.

“What in blazes is wrong with you?”

“H-humanity first.” She inhaled sharply as she withdrew the blade, and a red stain spread across her white blouse.

“You’d bleed less if you left it in,” observed Dr. Martin.

“Then we would have to explain where the knife came from,” she said, her already fair skin turning paler. She put a hand over the wound and pressed it down to staunch the bleeding. “Do your job, nurse.” She took a step forward and her legs threatened to buckle. “I might need some help getting there.”

I nodded with comprehension as the doctor and I each took an arm. The portly Dr. Martin could move impressively fast when he wanted to, and we were soon at the security checkpoint.

I remembered the guard from my previous visit, and I saw recognition spark in his eyes when he noticed me. He didn’t have flirtation on the mind this time for long, though. “What the heck happened?”

“This woman slipped and fell on a broken bottle! Let us in!”

The guard nodded. “Right, of course. I’ll g-get the hand scan-”

Dr. Martin’s eyes blazed with surprisingly convincing fury. “She’s bleeding, man! Are you going to stand there asking questions or let us through?”

The Japanese guard looked nervously to his fellow. “There’s the security measures…”

“Please,” mewled Maggie. “It hurts so badly.” She slumped her head down, and I’m not sure she had to pretend much. “So cold…”

“We don’t have time!” Dr. Martin ought to have been an actor. “We can do the paperwork later, but if a teacher from the Nagoya Academy dies because you dithered around, it’ll be on your head!”

That got his attention. Nothing fills a grunt with fear quite like the specter of responsibility. “Yes, right this way, doctor.”

I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t need to add to such an amazing performance. We hauled her over to an empty chair, and there was an immediate whirl of activity as previously bored staff jumped into action. Dr. Martin turned away a pair of orderlies, telling them to go grab a first aid kit.

“You don’t have long, Ms. Edwards, so make it fast.”

Maggie gritted her teeth and took hold of my hand. “I h-have my next project,” she said. “A fabricata to fool hand readers.”

“Seems prudent,” I said. “I can’t heal you in public like this. What’s your plan to slip away so we can do the deed?”

Her smile was thin as she met my gaze. “We? I’m going to the emergency room. Doctor, give the nurse the package.”

Dr. Martin nodded, fishing a small box out of his pocket. “There is a small syringe in here. Mr. Obe is accustomed to getting an injection every night.”

“I imagine he isn’t accustomed to what’s in here,” I said, taking it gingerly.

Maggie grimaced. “You can be clever sometimes. Go, quickly.”

“What about the guard for his room?” I asked.

“I made sure it’s one of ours in place,” replied the doctor. “Now go.”

I nodded and made my way up the stairs as orderlies descended upon Ms. Edwards.

Once I was away from the commotion, I finally had a few moments to think. A few thoughts occurred to me in rapid succession.

Firstly, whatever else I might think of Maggie Edwards, she was a true believer. I wasn’t sure if I’d have been able to stab myself in the gut for any cause, and she had done it without hesitation. My respect for her went up a few points.

Secondly, I forced myself to walk calmly and add the feminine sway that Maggie and I had practiced before. I had no reason to be nervous, I told myself. Stay in character. I belonged there. I was a nurse attending to a patient.

Which led to my last thought. It hadn’t occurred to me that I might be called on to perform the deed myself. I questioned the whole operation. After all, Doctor Martin was perfectly able to inject a syringe, and more ably than I. Why did Maggie and I have to be there? Because another Holy Brother had told her to? She hadn’t been shy about sending her squad after Mr. Maki while she was safe back at the school.

This was clearly a test. For whom, though? Maggie came to mind. Holy Brother Ratte seemed to be her superior, or perhaps he simply had more pull with the secretive leaders of the Holy Brotherhood. After all, he hadn’t squandered a whole squad of wizards on a failed mission. She might have been ordered to carry out the deed herself as a punishment, and as way to demonstrate her loyalty.

It was also a test for me as well. Could I go through with killing Haru? It seemed so easy, yet I hesitated.

I ducked into a nearby closet and smacked myself across the face. “Get it together, man!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle at the discrepancy between my disguised voice and the statement. What in Our Father Below’s name was I thinking? Of course, I could! I was no stranger to death and battle. How many humans had I disposed of in England? How many rebellious goblins and orcs in Spain? It was part of our creed that the only life that matters is your own, and it is to be prolonged as long as possible, regardless of the cost.

I wouldn’t miss Haru at all. He was a pipsqueak who tried to kill Kiyo and I in battle, and a constant thorn in my side. A completely rational trade. Devils don’t have any conscience to speak of, so naturally I was unperturbed as I went back to my appointed task. I gave the guard a knowing nod, and he let me enter.

However, it had been a busy week and a stressful night. Nerves made my hand tremble as I reached out for the doorknob. Nerves, and nothing else.

*************

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