“I figured it out!” I scream basically at the top of my lungs. Okay, it was said with some gusto but I didn’t scream it. Nonetheless people are looking at me. Go about your day people. Nothing to see here.

  “What exactly have you figured out?” Madison asks without looking up from her coffee. I love the excitement here.

  “Gravity. Gravity magic. Is that a thing?” I ask, sitting down on the bench, pushing Avis to the side so I can fit at the table. He rolls his eyes but slides over to let me in.

  “I mean, I think I have heard something about it, but why?” Dardania asks, closing her book and gently placing her hands on top of it.

  “So, I spent basically the entire night dreaming about magic. Wracking my brain to figure out what kind of magic. There was a lot of existential questions like ‘Who Am I?’ ‘What do I want?’ ‘Am I useless?’ You know, all the normal stuff people ask while suffering a crisis of identity. And my conclusion, gravity.”

  Dardania looks at me confused. Madison continues giving all of her attention to her coffee, and Avis is pretending to ignore me. I know he isn’t though.

  “Well, as far as we all know Celestial Magic isn’t a thing. If it is, we don’t know anything about it, but what else involves celestial bodies? Gravity!”

  “I still feel like I’m missing vital information here. What does any of this have to do with gravity?” Dardania stares at me, her face basically containing a giant question mark.

  “So, one of my only interests is the stars, space, the Zodiac, etcetera. Well, I spent a lot of time looking at stars, learning about stars, and all of that boring stuff. Well, what is involved with all of that? Gravity? To better understand it, you have to a somewhat rudimentary understanding of gravity. E=MC2 and all that jazz. Gravity controls time and space and all that. I’m not sure how channeling energy is done, but by increasing somethings energy, you basically increase its mass, which increases gravity essentially. I think. I only understand it on a base level, but I understand gravity and what it controls!”

  Avis at this point turns towards me and Madison finally looks up from her coffee. I’m not really sure why everyone is staring at me like that, but I suppose the rambling is the cause.

  “Huh?” Avis spins around to face me, his face contorted in confusion. “I don’t have any idea what you just said.”

  “It was… confusing to say the least.” Dardania stares at me.

  “Gravity is largely just a theory since we haven’t exactly developed science far enough to determine anything else. But it effects so much stuff, and I don’t know guys it just felt like the right fit for me, okay. I can’t think of how to explain it or whatever.”

  “I mean, we don’t really care what you choose. You don’t have to defend it, just do what you wanna.” Avis says nonchalantly. I suppose he is right though, all that matters is that I made a decision, so yay me.

  “What next then?” I ask.

  “We start with the basics.” Dardania says, standing up and motioning for me to follow.

  ****

  “Energy is omnipresent. It exists in everything in existence and as a magic user, you have the ability to manipulate that energy. It is the basis for all forms of magic.” Dardania begins. “You follow so far?”

  I nod.

  If it continues like this, then I shouldn’t have any issues.

  We are currently standing in a library lined with several study tables, and two stories worth of stacks and shelves. The books in the room range from looking brand new to ancient. Prior to beginning we dug around to find every book we could on gravity, space, time, and everything that seemed similar. Unfortunately in this world, that wasn’t that much.

  There were some individuals, like Herc the original Magician who spent a great deal of time searching for the truth of the universe, much like our scientists. But, many in this world took it for granted because of the use of magic. They focused their understanding on a specific type of magic and never sought additional information. So much of what we have learned about the universe is still one big mystery to everyone here.

  “So, basically what you do is channel that energy through your body and into the magic, whatever that may be. Like so: Gentle Gust.”

  A gentle breeze blows through the room, flipping a few books open, but nothing like her normal gusts.

  “Just as sure as there is air and oxygen, there is energy. So, close your eyes.”

  I do as she says.

  “Take a deep breath, and reach out with your other senses. Feel the air enter your lungs, the smell of salt that hangs heavy in the air, feel the touch of the air across your skin. In each of those sensations, there is a slight vibration, a vibration that radiates through all things. You know the normal sensations from your senses, but pay attention to those that extend beyond them. Beyond them, and into your sixth sense.”

  As I take a deep breath, I couldn’t help but let my mind begin to wander. While I very much heard every word she said, it felt like she was slowly drifting away from me. I could feel the air in my lungs, smell the salt in the air, and the breeze against my skin, but there was something else. It hung heavy all over my body, it felt as though it was vibrating just slightly as it weighed my body down.

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  I try to move my body, but am unable to do so. The vibrations feel like I’m standing in a thick swamp and I’m trying to trek through it but it just slows me down.

  “I feel heavy.” I whisper.

  “That’s it. That’s the energy. Focus on what it feels like. Your sixth sense is the one that perceives it, but focus on how it affects your other senses for now. How does it taste?”

  “Taste? Why would it taste like something?” I open my mouth half expecting to taste something, but I don’t. It’s energy, not a snickers.

  “Can you taste salt air?”

  “Yeah why?

  “Same thing.” Dardania’s voice was dry, had a very duh aspect to it. I try to focus on this whole taste thing, and after a few moments, I realize the air does have a smell and taste to it. It’s sweet, reminds of these vanilla candles my mother used to light when I was younger. When she passed, my father started buying these candles and lit one every night after dinner as a way to remember her. Whenever we would stargaze or get out the telescope, he would always bring a bunch of the candles out as well. To him, it felt like she was with us looking up at the stars.

  “Tastes like vanilla.” I smile gently, even a sense of warmth washed over me. Rather than a thick viscous liquid, it starts to feel like the warmth of a candle gently flickering.

  “It’s different for everyone. We all have a tendency to associate it with something that is extremely important to us, so much so that it becomes the foundation of existence in our minds.”

  I open my eyes to see Dardania smiling gently as she looks at me. I can still feel the warmth against my skin, but it’s not as prominent.

  “Now that you’re aware of it, you’ll always be able to feel it. To channel greater amounts will require concentration until it becomes second nature, but the hard part is being able to sense it. Well, I think that’s enough for tonight. We should head back to the inn for the night.”

  “I think I’m gonna stay and do some reading. Just for a little bit.”

  Dardania closes up a few books and puts them in her bag and heads towards the door.

  “Well, don’t stay too late, my brother will start to worry. I’ll see you back at the inn.” Dardania pushes through the door and out into the street.

  I sit down and begin to thumb through a book about gravity and it’s affect on the world. This specific book seems to focus solely on keeping you attached to the planet, how much force is being pushed down on you, and what would happen if you didn’t have as much force. The author just keeps repeating the same information over and over again in different ways without anything new or helpful.

  The next book I stumbled upon focused around spacetime. It theorized that time and space were interconnected and that an object with more energy or mass would generate a gravitational field and could even affect how time moved in its field vs outside. So, basically everything we understood about spacetime. It was very Einstein if you ask me. I skipped over all the boring science stuff but the further I went into the book, the weirder it got.

  The author started to surmise that there were multiple universes, and gravity was proof of that. It quickly leads to planes of existence, gods, and gets super philosophical in the end. I’ve only skimmed it, but holy Jesus this guy seems to have contemplated everything. Either he was on to something and a total genius or was a complete quack, either way, I’m taking this book with me.

  Somewhere along the lines, I lost track of time and it’s much later into the evening than I realized. Dardania was right, Avis has a tendency to be a little overprotective and will get worried if I’m too late, so I better head back.

  I pack up the books and head out into a very empty street. It must be a lot later than I realized.

  I slowly start walking down the street towards the inn, and I quickly realize it is eerily quiet. The only sound is the ocean slapping against the shore, and the smell of salt in the air. The city is bustling during the day, but in this moment, it was dead asleep.

  As I round the corner and onto another dark street, I notice that the warmth on my back feels heavier than the rest of my body. I take a few steps forward until I was standing in front of a street lamp. The flame flickers, creating a dancing shadow on the cobblestone.

  I slowly turn my head and notice a second shadow dancing several feet behind me. I whip around, but no one was there. The warmth on my back now gone.

  As my heart starts to race, and my face grows flush, I spin around and start rushing down the street.

  As I run, I can hear my steps echoing through the street as the sound bounces off the buildings. After a few seconds, the steps I hear doubles. My heart beats faster, feeling like it’s about to bust out of my chest. Where was everyone else when I needed them?

  I round the corner towards the inn and it feels like I ram right into a brick wall. I am thrown backwards, slam against the stone street, and roll into a street lamp.

  Every nerve in my back is screaming as the pain radiates through my entire body. I gasp for air as my lungs burn, whatever I ran into knocked the air right out of me. I crane my neck to look up and see a shadow slowly walking towards me.

  This is the killer, I can’t move, and they’re about to kill me. I try to crawl backwards, but I just run into the lamp post. My back continues to scream out in a pain and there is nothing I can do. Every second they get closer to me is one second closer to my death.

  My entire body starts to grow warmer, the smell of vanilla hangs heavy in the air. I guess something about standing face to face with death allows me to feel more connected to life.

  With every fiber of my being, I try to pour all the energy I feel surrounding me towards the killer. They take another step and freeze in place. Their legs slowly start to buckle, they fight to stand up right, but it appears that something extremely heavy is sitting on top of them. It worked. The gravity surrounding the killer increases exponentially, the ground cracking beneath their feet.

  I fight through the pain and climb to my feet and start to run the other way. With every step I take, my legs and back burn. Every single inch of my skin feeling as though it was on fire.

  An arm reaches out, grabs me, and with extreme force pulls me into an alleyway.

  Trevor stands before me, pushes me against the wall, and holds his finger over his mouth to signal to keep quiet.

  I hold my breath, no longer feeling the same level of energy around as before. I wait for the killer to come, but it never happens.

  The seconds tick by, each one feeling like an hour, but no one ever came. I guess Trevor showing up scared them away. I let out the breath that I had been holding and my knees finally buckle and I start to collapse. Trevor grabs a hold of me and pulls me back to my feet.

  “Dude, easy there.” Trevor holds me steady, my back and legs still in agony.

  “Thank you.” I say through my shallow breaths. Trevor smiles gently and nods.

  “Of course, let’s get back to the inn.”

  As we stumble back to the inn, my mind is racing. I keep ending up in situations where I am almost killed, but this one felt worse. When I stood face to face with the Clerics in Maia and the Touched in Enkidu, at least I knew who was trying to kill me. But this shadow, it was something else. It felt like a force of nature that’s only goal was destroy me. There was no honor, no belief, just violence. The others scared me, but this one was downright terrifying.

  As I make my way back to the inn I come face to face with Avis who is standing at the door, already outside.

  “What happened?” He asked, his voice filled with concern.

  “The Arcana Killer.” I say, my lungs still burning. “Trevor saved me.” Avis turns towards Trevor and just nods.

  “Thank you. I can help him from here.” Avis grabs my arm and puts it over his shoulder, reaches behind my back and helps me walk into the inn. I look back towards Trevor.

  “Again, thank you.”

  “It’s nothing, we gotta stick together.”

  I stumble inside, praying that Prisha can somehow make this pain go away. I wasn’t even sure if she could use healing magic, but all I did know was I hope that I never come face to face with that killer every again.

  Now entering the Arcana Killer arc in earnest.

  What is the killer after? Why the Arcana?