MTLNOVEL Chapter 1: Chapter 1 - Nizé
Ever since I was three apples high, life has seemed interminable. I've always lived under the close protection of a guard named Ratvert, an old vampire who seems to have traveled the wilds of DevilLand. He liked to tell me all about the basics of magic, his battles and the business he was doing with a friend, but he used to say of me when I was eavesdropping in my father's study that I'd never master magic.
" I tried everything to introduce him to the basics, Sir Charles, changing my words, sneaking him 80% enriched mana crystals and condensed knowledge opals in his meals, even giving him a taste of my blood, but nothing worked". That morning, as I listened discreetly, Ratvert seemed downcast.
" This kid's good for nothing, he's an incompetent". My father raged. I hired you, Ratvert, a former explorer who discovered his own magic, and you tell me there's nothing I can do?
" I'm afraid there is, but he's intelligent and knows his way around magic theory, so perhaps he could become a spell-creator or a great merchant?"
" I'll do what's necessary to solve the problem, you're fired Ratvert, if you can't help me make him a magician, then I know what I have to do".
" Well, sir, I'll be leaving within the hour".
Something in me broke at that moment, a part of my heart seemed to float away, and I backed up and went down to the basement, where my room was.
The house was rather modest compared to my father's wealth; he was a great manager of a transport company across France, all the way to Australia. He'd often show me the newspaper at lunchtime when his name came up after an interview, and I respected him a lot.
Then came my 10th birthday, and the birth of my brother.
My father only had eyes for him, and my mother, Louniane, didn't pay much attention to me from that year on. She kept telling me:
" If you can't become a magician, study and train your body, every morning go and do some sport".
In turn, I'd tell her I was no good at sports, but her tenacity got the better of me, and at the age of 12, I took third place in my chess boxing competition. Chess boxing is a fairly new sport that consists of boxing in a ring and then playing chess with the same opponent in the same ring. The first to win by checkmate or k.o. wins.
My father became increasingly distant from me, barely speaking to me at family dinners, so my mother protected me as best she could.
When my brother Charles Junior (my father had given him his first name) turned 3, a flower appeared on my father's plate, and Charles leapt for joy. I'd never seen him so proud.
Soon, Ratvert returned home to teach him elementary and theoretical magic.
-"Anoir? Come here, my boy"
Ratvert called me from the living room.
" I've got a request to make of you. I see your father doesn't talk to you much any more, so I've got an idea. Teach your little brother magic theory when I'm away, and I'm sure you'll be back in his good graces in no time".
My childish naivety dictated that this was a good idea, so that's what I did. Until he was 6, my little brother accompanied me wherever I went and always listened to my advice. As I was incapable of handling magic, I made up for it by memorizing all the magic books I could get my hands on. Chess boxing taught me to use my head even when I was very tired.
Then my father called me into his office for the first time in my life.
It was a large room, with an open globe holding bottles of alcohol (I'd never drunk any before), and paintings of him with my mother, very beautiful and old, no doubt done in their youth.
I was surprised to find that I'd never been there before, so I hoped for the best.
" Sit down, Anoir". he said in his authoritative tenor voice.
" Did you get good grades in high school?"
" Yes, Dad, I'm a hard worker with an 18.7 average".
" Your mother tells me you've taken magic theory in a special stream".
It was the most word exchange we've had in 3 years, so my heart was jumping in my chest.
" I learn everything by heart and I'm rigorous. I managed to teach a fellow student a glyph spell, which earned me an extra mark in my assessment. He managed to conjure it on the first try".
"Good, good". He moved from his English leather desk chair to pour himself a glass of whisky, and conjured up two ice cubes with a spell.
" When you come of age, at 18, me and your mother have decided to offer you a small house in the west of France, in Brittany. You'll be free to do as you please, but you won't be able to return home, for Charles Junior's sake".
My eyes went from excitement to fear to sadness. What had I done wrong?
" But...but, I'm helping Charles Junior with his lessons,Ratvert told me that thanks to me he was very attentive to his lessons, he even managed a blooming spell last time.
" And he's only 6, so I don't want his older brother, who's incapable of handling even the most basic magic, influencing him in a bad way". His tone of voice was unmistakable, I couldn't change his mind." I'll send you money every month, so you can live, but if I have any advice to give you, find a job quickly. I've got a few agencies in this territory, so if you want, you can work in logistics management".
My eyes gazed, slightly vacant, at the instrument levitating on his desk, in the shape of a spinning marble.
And so, ever since that day, an immense sadness had crept into me and seized me by its cold hand.
Time went by faster and faster, and by the time I was 17 and a half, I'd already passed the baccalauréat (French final exam) with top honors. But my teachers knew something was wrong.
And it was today that I wandered away from home to meditate on what I should do.
It was 5.30 pm, the weather was mild, it was spring, the park I was heading for was usually little frequented because of the hooligans who hung around in the mornings drinking beer and taking money from passing women. I knew this park by heart, so I knew how to avoid them if they showed up.
What amazed me that late afternoon was that time seemed to stand still. There was hardly anyone in the park. Yet it was large and offered an unobstructed view when you went into its heights.
I had taken a sandwich, as I didn't have the strength to eat with my parents. So I sat down on the bench next to the little black lake, where some old Japanese fish were swimming around. A weeping willow dissolved me. I munched on my sandwich and took out my laptop, a digital antique dating from 2012 but working like a charm. Then I looked at the Chinese and Belgian comics I loved so much.
Time flew by, but the sun was still shining high in the sky. It was nearly 8 p.m., and I had just finished my sandwich, which I had left to rest.
Pigeons were flocking to my feet to eat the crumbs falling from my ill-fitting felt pants. My shoulder straps were beginning to pull at my back, so I rested on the back of the green metal bench.
I heard the sound of wings, loud and clear. I looked up and night had fallen. I had dozed off! What time is it? My phone was gone, I searched, but no, it wasn't there. It had been stolen during my nap. I had my watch and it showed 3am.
I heard that same wingbeat again, so I raised my head and saw a huge raven staring at me with its red eyes. Not exactly common for a crow.
Sandwich still in hand, I cut off a piece.
" Are you hungry, old man?" I placed the piece on the other end of the bench.
Sadness overcame the loss of my phone, and the soft air appeased my morals. I was in one of those moments of calm before the storm, which I'd learned to enjoy sparingly.
The raven watched for a few seconds and then, with a flap of its wings, was on the bench. He devoured the sandwich greedily.
" You know, buddy, I don't know what I'm going to do in Brittany all by myself. I'd have liked to become a magician like most humans today, but fate had other plans. So I'm reading books from an era when magic was almost non-existent, and it's doing me good".
I loved talking to that raven, it was as if he was listening while he ate.
" You know, if I had magic, I could make a piece of meat appear out of thin air, where time stands still, I know a lot about magic theory, you know?"
" And then I could even communicate with you, there are many bestial mages who can do that".
" I've even seen that some manage to communicate with beings from elsewhere for intelligence and research purposes, Ah.... if only I could do magic".
The raven had finished his meal, and emitted a caw of disappointment, at least I think so. He was about to fly away from here, in search of a second meal. Given his weight, he must have eaten a lot.
One of his red eyes stared at me intensely, and I could have sworn it turned purple. I had the strange feeling that he was staring deep into my being, that he was judging me. Suddenly, I heard him speak. His voice was mocking and slow.
" Magic? Magic? Nizé is hungry, can you feed me?"
It was the first time I'd ever heard an animal speak, so I gave myself a few taps to see if I was awake. My heart in my chest was no longer beating.
" I've got nothing left, Mr. Raven, I've given you everything".
My voice was hesitant, I wondered if I was going mad.
" Nizé hungry, heart, heart, Anoir give his heart".
My heart? He wants to eat my heart? I've got a bad feeling about this. However, he continued to speak with a final phrase.
" If Anoir gives heart, Nizé gives magic".
" I accept!" I didn't even think about it, it was like an evidence halfway between tiredness and desire.
The red-eyed raven rose into the air without even flapping its wings, levitating, then getting smaller and smaller, an impressive sight. And then it punctured my chest, feeling only a tiny sting.
Then my eyes opened wide. My human heart was being devoured.
First I panicked, feeling an almost unstoppable pain that grew worse, then I was terrified, my heart pounding like a chess boxing match. I spat blood out of my mouth, my eyes spinning in their sockets at the indescribable pain that consumed me. And then I collapsed, eyes open, onto the bench where I'd been sitting before. I could no longer feel my body, so I told myself I was dead.