Styxx

Helena comes to convince Ryan to come home...

When I'd first agreed to take Ryan in, I wasn't sure that he and Caden would get along that well. Caden could be pretty hard to get along to get along with sometimes. Strangely enough, though, they got along quite well. They spent hours in Ryan's room talking about all sorts of things. By the end of the first two days, Caden had joined Sophia in being Ryan's Mentor. My little brother was also interested in War Magick and had spent over a century studying it. He'd studied other forms of Magick as well but he'd always said that he preferred War Magick because it was less complex. Not only that but it was more destructive in combat than most other forms of Magick. Caden and Sophia had sent in their Apprenticeship forms to the Magickal Ministry. They'd both been approved, though the Director of Apprenticeships had said it was a little strange to have two Mentors to one apprentice. Still, they'd accepted the forms and sent back their approval so it obviously wasn't a very big problem.  

 

Merlin traveled to England where he'd been living in a small apartment to officially move out of there. He came back two days later with his belongings and officially moved to the small house I'd given him on the island. He sent in his own application of apprenticeship to the Magickal Ministry less than a day after he returned and was rewarded with an approval. As if anyone in their right mind was going to deny Merlin anything. He and I began splitting up our days with Ryder because each of us were going to teach him separate things. We were teaching him separate parts of the Ancient Arts. I was teaching Ryder the incantations for the spells while Merlin was teaching him the theory behind the actual spells. Teaching him this way meant that we had to know everything the other was teaching. This way, when I taught him the incantation for something Merlin could teach him the theory behind it. We weren't really sure how - or if - it would work but we were willing to try it.  

 

We soon found that Ryder and Ryan really were quite close. If they weren't studying with their prospective Mentors, they were usually found together. Ryan, who was quiet when Ryder wasn't around, was quite boisterous when Ryder was in the room. We learned quite quickly that they were complete opposites, though. Ryder was - as he'd admitted before - quite rebellious and open. Ryan was quiet and pretty closed off most of the time. Still, together they were pretty much unstoppable. Ryder would come up with an idea - usually a prank to be pulled - and Ryan would put it into action. The worst part? None of us could see it coming. Not even Merlin. You knew you were good when even Merlin couldn't catch you at it. Over the course of two days, Ryan and Ryder pulled over six pranks on Merlin and three on me. It seemed Merlin was a better target. He normally had the better reaction.  

 

So far, we hadn't heard from Helena. Ryan said he'd left a note for her on his bed but that she would most likely come for him anyways. Still, she hadn't shown up yet and that probably meant she was planning something. At least, that's what I thought. Ryan thought she was just biding her time. She knew how well we were protected and she most likely was trying to find a way to bypass Merlin. Merlin was our greatest protector and Helena knew it. Which was more than likely why Helena hadn't shown up to try and retrieve Ryan yet. She was trying to wait and see if and when Merlin left. What she didn't know was that Merlin wasn't leaving,. She'd missed her chance for that. Merlin had already left and come back. Why she hadn't come while Merlin was gone, I had no idea. Possibly she hadn't realized that Merlin was gone. 

 

On the fourth day that he was in the castle, Ryan received an email from Helena. Most of the letter was begging him to come home and the other half was insulting Ryder. After reading it, Ryan deleted it without replying. She'd also sent Ryder an email berating him for "blackmailing his poor brother into betraying her." Which had been exactly what she'd said. Ryan and Ryder had laughed so hard they'd cried at it. When he'd finished laughing, Ryder had simply deleted her email without replying. He said that he had better things to do with his time than email stupid people. She emailed them both two more times but they both ignored her. We figured when she got the hint that she was being ignored she would show up at the palace. We started preparing for her visit early by placing some of the easier wards around the property. 

 

Wards could be pretty complicated to place. Also, placing them took a long time and was an exact process. If you did even one thing wrong, the ward wouldn't work right. So we couldn't place too many wards. There were a few wards that weren't too complicated and didn't take too long to place. We placed three wards. The first ward kept her from using Magick to lure Ryan or Ryder over to her. The second allowed us to know exactly when she showed up. And the Third Ward would protect the servants. We'd only added the third ward because the servants had been warned to stay out of any battle that should arise. If they didn't attack her, they would be protected by the Third Ward. It took a little over three and a half days to erect all of the wards andby the time we were done, we were Magickally drained. We slept for a full day afterwards. Well, most of us did. Merlin only slept for a few hours before he was fine again.  

 

Merlin and I sat in the library across from Ryder. Merlin had a stack of three books in front of him while I had one book in front of me. Ryder had already finished the book we'd both wanted him to read but now he had to read four books. The three Merlin wanted him to read were about the theory of the Ancient Arts. They each explored different parts of the theory and were important to his learning about it. The book I wanted him to look over was a book about the incantations for the Ancient Arts. It explained what they meant and how to pronounce some of the harder ones. It also gave a bit of history about the incantations and I figured it would be a good read for Ryder before we moved on to the practical stuff. Once he'd finished reading the books, we'd start teaching him actual incantations and stuff.  

 

At the table next to us, Ryan was sitting in front of Caden and Sophia. They too had handed him four books and were explaining why he needed to read each of them. Even though he was only learning one form of Magick, there were still other things he needed to know before they started teaching him the practical parts of War Magick. I had to admit, War Magick was pretty interesting. It was a pretty broad form of Magick and had quite a few different types of spells. War Magick had shield spells, defensive spells, and quite a few offensive spells. But it wasn't the only type of Magick that could be used in combat. You could use any form of Magick in combat. Even Dream Magick could be used in combat in some forms. You could, for instance, cast a Coma Curse, which put the cursed person into a coma instantly. The only way to wake them from a Coma Curse was to cast the counter curse. The only problem with the counter curse was that it was Magickally draining and wasn't very easy to cast. The Coma Curse should technically have been categorized in War Magick but it had been categorized in Dream Magick because it was how its creator had categorized it.  

 

Dream Magick was one of my favorite kinds of Magicks. You had all kinds of spells in there. Besides the curses that had been categorized as Dream Magick, you had a number of other spells that were offensive in nature. It didn't sound like the type of Magick that would have that many offensive spells but its name deceived you. Each form of Magick had its fair share of curses and counter curses. Dream Magick, while it didn't have as many as others, still had a decent amount. I'd used the Coma Curse in quite a few battles in my time and knew exactly how lethal it could be. Because the counter curse for it was so hard to complete, it was rare that anyone came out of a Coma Curse. It was nearly the perfect way to incapacitate someone without going to prison for murder. Though in some Secret Cities you could get a pretty decent sized fine for casting it. The only reason there was no jail time for the Coma Curse was because the victim could be pulled out of it using the counter curse.  

 

 "So, after I read this, we get to start on the real stuff right?" Ryder asked Merlin and I after a moment of silence.  

 

Merlin nodded. "Of course. I just want you to have a grasp on things before I start teaching you how to do it."  

 

"Exactly. It's important that you know where the incantations came from and how to put your energy behind casting them before we teach you to actually do it." 

 

"What language are the incantations in?" 

 

"French. It's why so few people bother to learn the Ancient Arts. Most people in our world don't bother to know another language besides their birth. Most people that know the Ancient Arts these days are French because they already know the language. Still, even most of the French don't always want to put in the effort it takes to learn the Ancient Arts. There's more to it than just knowing the word for the spell. You have to know how to focus your Magick, you have to know how to put purpose behind the words. If you don't know how to do that, you'll never be able to do the Ancient Arts."  

 

Merlin nodded. "I had a bit of trouble learning it myself. Though, I didn't have a mentor. I was self-taught. You have two mentors who know nearly everything about Magick and who are more than willing to make sure you know as much as or more than they do." he said, grinning a little at Ryder.  

 

Ryder grinned back. "I can't wait to start. This sounds so fun." 

 

I smiled. "It is. I loved learning about the Ancient Arts. It was even better than learning about the Modern Magicks."  

 

Merlin gave me a smirk. "You got bored with Modern Magicks as I remember it. Every time I'd give you another book to read on the subject you'd moan and groan for hours before you'd actually read it. I had to bribe you to even start reading some of them."  

 

"Some of those books were boring as hell. Which is exactly why I've come up with a different way of teaching him what those books taught me. Thank God because I was such a whiny little brat when it came to reading those books. I don't think I could handle him being like me."  

 

Merlin grinned. "And how are you planning on teaching him what those books taught you?"  

 

"Easy. I've found other books. Books that explain the information he needs to know but in a way that's actually interesting and doesn't make you want to punch a wall."  

 

"My book choices made you want to punch a wall?" Merlin raised an eyebrow at me. 

 

"Of course they did. Did you even read them before giving them to me to read?"  

 

Merlin shook his head. "Of course I didn't. I already knew the information and had no reason to read it over again."  

 

"And that is why I read the books before giving them to him. Because I need to know that he's not going to be bored like I was."  

 

"Well, you do that. I'll make sure I at least give you the books I plan on giving him as well to make sure that they aren't boring as well."  

 

I grinned. "Good. That's an excellent idea."  

 

As we continued to talk, the ward that was supposed to tell us when Helena was on castle property activated. We stood and headed down to the entryway. I looked over at Ryan and Ryder and saw them walking close together, Ryder's arm around Ryan's shoulders. Though Ryder's stance was protective, Ryan's stance was confident. There was no chance that Ryan was going to cave to his mother's wishes. Not with all the support he had. Ryan and Ryder walked directly behind Merlin and I with Caden and Sophia right behind them. Merlin and I wrapped our Magick around the twins protectively, surrounding them in a protective barrier that Helena could not cross. Downstairs, Helena Sullivan stood in the entryway. Her long black hair was down, hanging around her shoulders to mid-back and her bright green eyes were puffy and red. She looked like a mother who had lost everything. Which, of course, was the truth. When she'd decided to try and kill Ryder, she'd lost the only son she truly cared for. Ryan would never submit to someone who wanted his twin brother dead.  

 

"Mother." Ryan's voice was cold and he stared at her with hatred in his electric blue eyes.  

 

"Ryan. Please. Just get behind me and we can go home." Helena begged, voice breaking in strange places. 

 

Ryan shook his head and stepped closer to Ryder. "I am home. And I'm not leaving Ryder's side."  

 

"Please son. Your brother is a bad person. He's conning you into believing his lies. Please come home where you're safe." 

 

"I'm not going anywhere with someone who wants my twin dead. He's my twin brother and you're out to kill him."  

 

"He deserves death for what he's done to me!" Helena shouted, going slightly red in the face. 

 

Ryan's back went rigid and he glared at her. "Deserves death? He's done NOTHING to you! All he's done is do everything he can to better himself. He's done nothing to deserve the way you're treating him. All Ryder has ever done is everything you wanted. He's been the perfect f*****g son since we were f*****g born and yet you cared more for me! And why?! All because I'm the f*****g first born. Well guess what? You lost me! I'm done. I stand with my brother. I stand with the one person that has always loved me for me and has never once tried to use me. He and Styxx and the others welcomed me with open arms here. They welcomed me when you tried to get me to betray my brother! So no. No I will not come with you. You can leave alone."  

 

Helena's face went red and she answered in a clear yet cold voice. "Ryder has betrayed his Clan. He has betrayed his teachings. As a second born son, he was supposed to be a Soldier. He was supposed to stay by my side and do what I asked of him without question. I love you both. More than I can say but Ryder deserves whatever happens to him during this war. And if you choose to stand with him then you deserve it as well. How could you do this to me? After everything I've done for you, how could you betray me like this?!"  

 

Ryan wrapped an arm around Ryder's shoulders before answering. "That's just my point. You've only ever done for me. You've never once done for Ryder. You've never once done anything for anyone but Haley and I and I'm sick of it. Ryder is your son too! You should care about us equally but you never have! Now leave Helena. There is nothing left to say."  

 

Helena gave him a hard look before speaking. "I suppose you've made your decision. You've joined the wrong side, Ryan. From now on, you can consider yourself on the losing side of this war." 

 

"We'll see about that, won't we?" 

 

With that said, Helena turned and swept from the room with a dark look on her face. Ryan and Ryder hugged each other tightly before pulling apart and staring at the spot she'd just stood in. They were talking in low voices but I didn't bother to pay attention to what they were saying. It was, after all, a private conversation. Merlin and I walked back to the library, talking quietly amongst ourselves. With this recent threat from Helena, we knew we had to find a way to ward the island. And quickly. We absolutely couldn't risk anything happening to Ryder and Ryan on our watch.