The Votives

Smoke. Thick, heavily perfumed smoke rolled through the streets, with the smell of the richest vanilla. It moved like a lazy cloud, swirling and tumbling, but self contained, not daring to venture into the crowd. It slowly progressed. The sounds of drums, timpanys and flutes could be heard, as well as the clinking and clanking of the merchant’s wares along the streets. The smoke that everyone was staring at was a rich violet color, and shapes could be seen weaving through it.

A man with swept back hair about the age of twenty three, held his grandmother’s hand, clothed in an earthy brown cloak, his light blonde hair partially covered. He was well built, bordering on stocky. Normally, his eyes glowed with the light of the sun, having no whites to them, but completely golden. Now, they were normal, as he had been taking a tonic from the witch that lived nearby, ever since he was a child. The tonic was used to hide him, as people like him were taken away. He was peering at the smoke with wonder. He had seen many strange things, but none such as this. “What kind of magic is this?” he thought. Suddenly, one of the shapes leapt higher than the rest. He glimpsed a man, his face partially obscured by a porcelain mask. The startling contrast of his deep red hair and his white mask surprised him.

Trumpets rang out, mixing with the mysterious melody. A man, the same man that Alex saw, sprinted through the smoke, erupting with a flourish, tendrils of smoke trailing from his arms, legs, and hair, making it look like he was the source of the smoke.

“Now, ladies and gentlemen, I am proud to present to you, one of the finest performances that you have ever witnessed. None are there with such raw talent and finesse as I!”, he proclaimed. His clear, silky voice rang out in the large market.

The man, Alex, realized with a jolt that the figure was the source of the smoke. The man looked towards him, the mask covering the left side of his face. His eyes. The eye that wasn’t covered by the mask was a deep emerald green, but the other was not. The other was the color of nothing. It was completely void of color, or luster. There were no whites to that eye, none. It was like looking into a pit, like your body was being pulled, pressed, and stretched. He looked at the child and smiled. The smile was a warm one, one that entitled kindness, friendship. This, too, scared Alex, but somehow comforted him. All the same, he tried to shrink out of the man’s gaze. The man shrugged, laughing, the smoke rolling on his shoulders. He turned to the rest of the crowd, who were expecting a show. They were not disappointed.

“And now, for the most renowned and captivating performance that mankind has ever laid eyes on!”

He clapped his hands together, causing the smoke to turn blue, the same color chariot that carried the other performers that revealed themselves as he announced himself. The smoke swirled around him, rising into a vortex, then suddenly collapsed. It spiraled in the man’s hands, a miniature version of the cyclone he had created. With a burst, it erupted into flame, circling the man’s body. Anyone else would have burnt. Not this man.

The flame took the shape of a dragon, lunging at the crowd, making them stagger back in fear. Not once did it touch someone. When it got to Alex and his old, wizened grandmother, it stopped. Suddenly, it shrank. Shrank, and shrank, and shrank. It was the size of a lizard, then it was a lizard. The flames dimmed, and it scuttled towards Alex. Unafraid, reached out his hand. “Alex!” his grandmother screamed, for she knew that her precious grandson was about to be burnt.

Alex, startled, for a split second, began to withdraw his hand. Then, he reached down, and picked up the lizard, still burning a brilliant blue. His grandmother gasped. Everyone went stone silent. He looked up. Crowd’s gaze was now fixated on him, an uneasy silence hanging in the air. People began murmuring, pointing at him. A girl stepped into the center of the crowd, and made two, brisk claps. Alex looked at the crowd in confusion as their features disappeared, their bodies stiffened, and turned to stone.

“You made quick work of them. Such a large improvement, considering last time you left them with half of their bodies still as it was.” The voice belonged to a very large man. He carried a large sack on his back. It jangled with the sound of pots and other metal things. He wore a mask that was made of cloth, worn around the mouth and nose, only allowing his eyes and cheekbones to be seen. His long black hair covered his forehead.

“Well, at least last time, I didn’t turn the king’s statue into dust.” This was proclaimed by the girl. Her silver hair was pulled back into a tight bun. She, like everyone in their trio, wore a mask that obscured her features. Hers was a watery metallic substance that flowed around her face, allowing her face to be glimpsed here and there. “Whatever you say Medusa.”

“Quick, we must get rid of their memories while they are like this.”

The girl walked into the center of the street, arms out, palms up. Out of them spread a bright green light, branching out to all of the statues. The lights connected to the foreheads of the figures, pulsing. It looked like a thin thread, like a spider’s silk.

“Come with us, you will be safer,” said the man with the cloth mask. “My name is Luke, and you are?” He looked at the grandmother in question.

“Cleophas.” She responded immediately, robotically. She clapped her hand over her mouth, because she had not spoken these words at her own will. She trembled, hugging her son, close to her. Being careful not to hurt her feelings, pulled away from her. He walked towards the man with the red hair.

“How did you know?” he asked in a small voice.

“Know what?” was the reply.

“How did you know that I’m different?”

The man regarded this silently, his face tilted upwards. “Let’s just say, that’s one of my, well, skills. Also, I’ve been watching you.”

Alex looked into the man’s eyes. He stared at the man’s eye that was devoid of color. It felt unsettling to him, but he didn’t want to look away. He couldn’t. It was too captivating. He didn’t feel the pulling, the pressing, nor the stretching that was caused when gazing into that eye.. Instead, he felt an unsettling peace. A shiver passed through his entire body.

“Alex, honey, come here” called his grandmother. He looked away. “I know. I think we should go with them,” Alex said. He didn’t know why.

“Me too” his grandmother reluctantly agreed

Alex walked over to his grandmother, and the trio of the masked performers circled around them. They held their hands out, palms down, hands almost touching. “What are they doing?” thought Alex, panicking. “This is madness! We only just met them!” The trio started to chant, and, as they did so, the statues started to crumble, revealing the people under them. A mist formed around the group, in a sphere. Suddenly, the sphere shrank, forcing them closer and closer to each other, until they were all touching. With a deafening crack, they vanished.

They reappeared in a new country, the country of Koth. Alex almost threw up, the pull being so unusual. He looked up, and gasped. They were standing in front of a large wrought iron gate. The gate had a gothic style. Beyond the gate lay a large mansion.

While he was marveling at the mansion, he noticed two peacocks strutting around in the garden.“Welcome to the Votive Manor. You will find that the bedrooms are on the second floor, the dining hall on the first floor, and the third door on the left. The baths are also on the second floor, in every room. Don’t worry about cleaning up after yourselves, it will be done for you.” The man with the red hair said this.

“This is a lot to take in. It’s been a very long day for me and my dear Alex. I think that we deserve an explanation.” She was nearly shouting at this point, hysteria setting in, her eyes frantically searching for escape.

The man said, “Ah, as you rightly should demand, Cleophas. This is no ordinary mansion. I have founded it as an… academy, if you will, and-”

“What does this academy teach? Why should we trust you? We only came because of the crowd, we had no choice!” Cleophas interjected.

“Would you like to go back? If you do, they will give you to the King, who will publicly execute you. Do you want that? I don’t think so. As for your other question, all sorts of things. In particular, the use and control of skills.” The man looked bored.

“And what if I don’t want my son to partake in this school?”

“Well, that decision isn’t up to you. It is up to your son to stay. But be warned, if he is not taught, he could be taken by the King, or worse, the Hollowed, and become one of the Hollowed, one of those… inhumane creatures.”

Cleophas’ face drained of color, and nodded. “I want to stay, gramma,” pleaded Alex. He wanted to stay, that much was true, and he obviously didn’t want to be taken. Though he did not know how staying here would prevent that from happening, he still didn’t want to return to the streets.

“Of course, you will stay. I won’t let you become that of such wickedness and evil we strive to destroy, why, that’s the king’s motto in the first place. The Gods know how he was chosen to lead us away from the darkness and evil of- ″ She was cut off by a sharp glare from the man with black hair. She looked down, embarrassed.

After that it was settled. They entered the gates, into a large garden, with bushes and flowering trees everywhere. “The pathway,” thought Alex, “must be glass, with streaks of gold and green through it.” Alex was staring at it when the man with the cloth mask said, “The path is made of diamond, not glass, and the gold really is gold, while the green is emerald. There is a woman here with the most beautiful and useful gift. But, don’t be fooled, her creations are as deadly as her.”

“How did you know I thought it was glass?” Alex asked, wide eyed.

“It’s just one of my skills” came the reply. Alex suddenly felt as if he had no privacy.

After that, Alex had a mix of wonder and fear of the man, which he was certain that the man knew. Alex decided to keep his head down while he was around that man.

They walked up to a grand staircase. Instead of diamond the staircase was made of marble, and had gold flakes in it as well. At the top of the steps, the doors to the mansion were oak, with gold handles, with the engraving of a phoenix in the center. His grandmother starred, flabbergasted at all the gold, not believing there was so much of it. Alex was in awe as well. The man with the red hair pulled open the door, revealing a grand decorated landing. Gold and silver glinted everywhere, with an enormous chandelier hanging in the center. Alex guessed that the chandelier was made of diamonds. To either side of the landing, twin stairwells with spruce handrails wove in a circle, meeting together on the second floor.