The Academy Of Space And Time

"Wait," I struggled to understand Risa's words, but since she'd already gone out the door, I had to follow after her, too.

"What do you mean you are an Enchanter?" I panted.

Risa looked at me sheepishly, uncaring of the fact that people could have heard me. I hadn't thought about it, because I was feeling a mix of things.

I was disappointed. The only person whom I considered a friend had been lying to me for years, perhaps since the day we met each other. She'd seen me struggle with being a hybrid and never told me she related to my words, not once.

I was also confused, because, if Risa was an Enchanter, why didn't she have powers? Or worse, did she have powers, but failed to mention when I went through puberty and developed my power over the air? Besides, why wasn't she going to the Academy?

And the more I thought about all of this, the more I realised I was also pretty angry.

Risa was the first to snap out of our stupor. At least she looked guilty. "Lower your voice," she said, as she scrutinised the street for a taxi cab. 

"When were you going to tell me?" I insisted, trying to keep my angry words in a whisper.

Risa shrugged, which could have meant 'never'. But then, she said something else. "I didn't see what use it would have been if you were to live amongst humans like your mother wanted. My parents... Well, they raised me as a human. I don't go to the Academy either, as you might have noticed. I've barely been to the Aether Realm before."

I wasn't going to settle for an easy explanation, but then again, I supposed it made sense. Despite the pain it always brought me, my mother had been clear she wanted me to have a life that was as normal as possible. Adrian Locksley hated everything that had to do with Enchanters with such a passion that I wondered if it'd been him to tell Risa's parents to let the matter go. After all, it might have been the reason Locksley disliked Jordan Bates so much. I had no doubt Uncle Jordan was going to tell me sooner or later. He was the worst at keeping secrets.

And, now that I knew Risa was an Enchanter, the only human I knew genuinely fascinated by everything magical.

"Okay," I finally replied.

"Are you just letting it go like that?" Risa deflated. It was as if she expected me to put up a fight, too.

"Well, what other choice do I have? At least now we're both going to the Academy of Space and Time. We're back at school together."

"Ah. About that..." Risa started to protest, when a taxi cab stopped to pick us up.

As soon as we closed the doors, I said, "Aether Realm, please."

The ride was really awkward, because the driver wasn't saying anything, but it was obvious what the question written in his eyes was. Why would someone want to go to the Aether Realm? And I didn't tell him anything, because I didn't want to blurt out that I was a hybrid, or my cousin a pure-blooded Enchanter.

The driver drove a few miles from the centre of the city. Right on the outskirts --- it was where the magical community lived. Some of the shops owned by Enchanters were above ground. 

There were a few shops that were so colourful and eccentric that it made the Aether Realm look a bit like my favourite Brighton neighbourhoods, the ones like North Laine where every house was painted in a different color. 

But there was a shop, in particular, that caught my eye. There was a huge tarot card painted on the sign-post. It represented a sleight of hand artist, playing with cups and balls. I recognized it. It was the old iconography of the tarot card for the Magician, the one that came from the very first set that was commissioned in Italy during the 16th century.