The Magic Factory

Esther’s musical voice was still sounding. He focused all his attention on her.

“You slept the whole way,” she told him. “Professor Amethyst said you’d burned yourself out using so much of your powers to break the bomb. He can’t believe you were even able to, after the small amount of training you’ve had. But I can. I always knew you were special, Oliver.”

Oliver blushed deeply. “What happened? With the gap in the wall? With the timetables?”

“I held it for as long as I could,” Esther explained. “But when the timetables came on I knew that I had to do something. Edmund of course immediately went to Professor Amethyst about what we’d done to him. I think he was expecting him to condemn you forever or something, but instead he immediately rallied the school.”

“Edmund accidentally saved the day?” Oliver mused. “How ironic.”

Esther chuckled. “I suppose so. Professor Amethyst already knew you were in Germany, at Hitler’s IQ. At least he said that that’s where you ended up in most timelines. So we flew there, parachuted in, and, well, you remember the rest.”

“How did you convince him to let you come?” Oliver asked.

“Actually, we didn’t,” Esther confessed. “He chose us to come. He knew our powers would work the best of everyone’s because of our bond with you, because of the emotion.”

At the mention of his friends, Oliver’s gaze immediately roved around the empty cabin. “Where are they? Ralph, Hazel, Simon, Walter?” He noticed the cabin door was open, letting in bright light.

“They went on ahead to spread the good news,” Esther explained. “Are you ready for your hero’s welcome?”

“My… what?” Oliver asked timidly.

Esther’s smile widened, showing off all her pearly white teeth. “You’re a hero, Oliver! Come on.”

It was all happening too quickly for Oliver to get his head around. But as Esther reached forward and grabbed his hand all his thoughts faded to nothing. All he could focus on now was the feeling of their interlinked fingers, of her warm, soft skin.

She tugged him toward the open doors of the aircraft. Oliver staggered, disoriented by the noise of applause that seemed to get louder the closer he got to the door.

He stepped out to a cacophony of cheers. Bright synthesized sunlight made him blink.

As his focus adjusted, he was able to see he was inside one of the School for Seers’ atriums—a large one filled with every vehicle you could imagine from ferries to helicopters, to futuristic ones like the headmaster’s plane. The plane must have hovered in through an opening at the top of the atrium.

Crowded onto every single walkway around its perimeter were students and teachers, watching him eagerly, clapping, cheering for him, jumping up and down, whooping and hollering at his success.

Oliver felt a swell of emotion in his chest. It was more than just pride. More than just gratitude. It was the feeling of home.

There was a platform ahead, upon which stood Professor Amethyst with Ralph, Hazel, Walter, and Simon in a line behind him. They were beckoning for Oliver to approach. Esther tugged on his hand gently, guiding him toward them.

As Oliver drew up beside his friends, the whole atrium fell silent. Professor Amethyst began to speak, projecting his booming voice all around the auditorium.

“Oliver and his friends completed a remarkable feat today. They saved the world from destruction. Never in the history of our school has a Seer achieved such a feat.”

Everyone cheered again, whooping and hollering. It was only then that Oliver noticed a single blank face in the audience. Edmund. His arms were folded, his eyes narrowed and fixed on Oliver. Oliver shuddered.

“The danger posed to our school by the rogue Seers who attacked has passed,” Professor Amethyst continued. “We cannot be attacked again. Though there will be more challenges ahead for us, for now, we must bask in our triumph. A celebratory feast will be held in the F hall!”

The crowds began to disperse, eager for the meal. Oliver’s friends crowded around him.

“Awfully good to see you back to health, chum,” Simon said, slapping his shoulder affectionately.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Hazel added.

“That was awesome,” Walter grinned. “Talk about brave.”

“Or stupid,” Ralph added in his teacherly tone. “I almost had a heart attack when I woke up and heard you’d gone.”

“It was a mad thing to do,” Hazel agreed. “You’re lucky Professor Amethyst decided to help.”

“He didn’t have much of a choice,” Esther argued. “The whole school was in danger. He had to accept the truth.”

“That he was even able to get back into the school is a miracle,” Ralph agreed.

Their voices carried on, but Oliver got lost in their words. He felt unable to follow any of the threads of their conversation. He felt very disoriented. Something didn’t feel quite right.

He turned from his friends and tugged on the headmaster’s sleeve.

“May we speak privately?” he asked.

Professor Amethyst nodded. He glanced over Oliver’s head and Oliver turned to see all his friends staring at them, confusion on their brows.

“Aren’t you coming to the feast?” Hazel asked.

“I just have to…” Oliver stammered. “There’s some stuff I need to discuss.”

“Oliver, you work too hard!” Walter exclaimed. “Why don’t you eat first?”

“Rest up,” Ralph added.

“Relax a little,” Simon agreed.

But Oliver shook his head. “I’m sorry. I have to speak to Professor Amethyst.”

His gaze lingered on Esther. He could see sorrow in her eyes. It was like she knew something that Oliver did not fully know yet himself, about what he was going to say to the headmaster and what the outcome of their conversation would be.

Professor Amethyst led Oliver by the shoulders through the doors. They exited out into the main atrium, right at the top level of the school, and crossed the short distance to the sixth dimension. Then they entered into the room and started to float upward. Glowing jellyfish in a myriad of bright colors floated all around them. It was beautiful. Relaxing.

Or at least, it would be, if Oliver’s sense of anguish had not been growing greater and greater with every passing second.

“What is troubling you?” Professor Amethyst asked.

“Lucas,” Oliver confessed. “I… I think it’s my fault that he hated the school so much.”

“How so?”

“Lucas was a Seer all along,” Oliver explained. “A cobalt one. But Armando didn’t think he was, and so he wasn’t guided, or sent here to school. The cobalt in him turned him rogue. What if by going back in time and revealing my powers to Armando, I was the one who made him think that Lucas wasn’t the Seer he should guide? It’s all my fault. I made the whole thing happen.”

The headmaster shook his head. “Perhaps you ought to know that Lucas was turned away from the school.”

“What?” Oliver gasped.