Hexus

>22< Virtue

[5:54PM, October 31, UTC +08:00]

There were too many thoughts on Augustus’s mind as he sat at his study desk. Class assignments were due tomorrow and he had no idea where he had dropped the calculator. And Esther expected help with hers. Nathan wanted him to create his tether points tonight and he wasn’t in the mood for travel. Not to mention his father’s constant reminders that he had to form a life outside magic and make sure his school work didn’t suffer. Not like I’m any good at the damn magic, he thought. Plus he needed to change the prescription for his glasses and had a new flush of acne. And on the social scene, he had a new bully to deal with, and his father had forbidden the use of magic in the ‘mundane world’. He tried to imagine how things could get any more complicated.

“At least, I don’t have a drug habit,” he muttered dryly. “Yet.”

Something exploded downstairs. He hissed; Linus and Esther’s powers were growing, and the amount of effort they once used to turn on a television now usually ended up destroying all the circuits. He looked at the clock. If he finished quickly, he figured he could reward himself with some TV. Stray thoughts seemed to fight for attention despite his attempts at concentrating, and after he spent fifteen minutes on one problem, he decided to call it quits and do something else.

He walked down the stairs to the living room. Esther was sprawled on the sofa and Linus was behind the TV, trying to fix it. From the beads of sweat on his face and grunts of frustration, he wasn’t making any headway. Great, now the TV’s gone. Augustus muttered curses under his breath and walked down to the basement.

The faint red glow on the Spell Room door betrayed the presence of a seal. He pulled a lancet out of his pocket and stabbed it into his thumb. The red globule that formed was smeared on the door in the pattern of the unlocking rune, and it opened with a loud creak, leaking out a dull orange light. He peered in. Dad seemed to be working on something serious. Augustus walked in and stopped at a point he felt was a safe distance. Dad was making careful markings with a paintbrush in the centre of the room, black pigment drawn in intricate crossing lines and sigils. Augustus imagined that the drawing could pass for modern art in a gallery somewhere.

“What’s wrong Aug?”

He startled back to reality at his father’s question and sighed. He must’ve been really desperate to come here rather than try to figure things out by himself. But, quite frankly, he felt the need to worry someone else’s brain. His own needed a break.

“I don’t know whether school is still necessary for me,” he began, trying not to show his exasperation. He watched for Dad’s reaction, and seeing nothing, he continued. “I’m constantly torn between training with the Hexus, protecting the family secrets, perfecting my own magic and trying to keep up my grades. Other children in the class struggle with their grades, and they don’t even have this much to do. I know that I can’t drop the Hexus, and I’m stuck with this family. So I think the school has got to go. I can learn everything I need to know right here.”

Dad continued to work, silent, and Augustus felt worry overtaking his thoughts. He expected a negotiation, or some encouragement, or even some shouting, but he wasn’t even acknowledged with a look. Dad made the last few marks on the floor before he spoke.