Chapter 8
Pudding arrived outside the magitorium’s council chambers long before her friends had gotten into their brawl. The council chambers were fashioned after the oldest pixie architecture, giving them a grand yet somewhat ominous feel. An enormous white marble exterior and intricate stone work set this building apart from every other building in Lumina.
A pair of giant oak doors open to a narrow entry way which leads to a cavernous, rectangular room. In stark contrast to the exterior, the interior is very gloomy. The council sits at a dark wood table at the very center of the room, surrounded by rows of equally dark benches that rise up all around them, giving the place the look of a stadium, but the feel of a tomb.
From outside the chambers, a large spire with a single window can be seen rising high above the council room itself, but no one outside of the magitorium has access to it. Even then, only those with the highest of ranks know how to reach it. Some of the best pixie teleporters have tried to get into the spire, but all have failed in their attempts.
Pudding wondered about this secretive area as she listened to her footsteps echo loudly off the drab floors of the council room. Even by the faint light of a few flaming torches, she could see that the council table, and indeed the whole room, was completely empty. She continued her approach anyway, figuring that someone might eventually appear, but when she reached the table, nothing happened.
“Hello! Is anyone there? I had an appoint….”
Before she could finish the phrase, Pudding was encompassed in a brilliant light and then instantly teleported to the spire that she had just been thinking about. The mystery of this place was well deserved. It appeared to be nothing more than a long series of winding steps that kept climbing higher and higher. Since there was no way to go but up, Pudding began ascending the stairs. She was nearly out of breath when she reached the top, but there was nothing there but a stone wall. At least that’s what she thought, at first.
“Enter,” yelled a voice that seemed to come from behind the stone. A moment later, an ornately designed metal door appeared in the wall. It opened of its own accord.
The door led to a small, finely decorated room that had circular stone walls with one large, oval glass window that looked to the south, commanding a stunning view of Lumina’s town center. A single oak desk and two chairs were in the middle of the room. An old pixie that Pudding recognized as Juniper, head of Lumina’s magitorium, sat at the chair that faced the window. Instead of admiring the view, he was glancing over a large folder that contained several official looking documents. Beside theses documents burned two candles, one with a blue flame and the other red.
“Ah, Miss Pudding, welcome,” said Juniper in a tired voice, finally taking notice of the young pixie in front of him. “Please, have a seat.” He instantly returned to the documents, flipping through them slowly, taking his time to scan over each one thoroughly.
Pudding did as she was asked, taking the seat that placed her back to the window. She took advantage of the old pixie’s silence to study him. She could tell from the fact that his neon green hair had grayed significantly that he was at least nine, maybe even ten thousand years old. His skin was somewhat droopy and even his pink eyes seemed to have lost most of their luster. He had a very authoritative presence, nonetheless. The fancy black robe he wore didn’t hurt that image any.
This wasn’t just an old pixie, this was an old fashioned pixie; the kind that would have no time for the nonsense of a teenager. Pudding, though ever confident in herself and her ideas, couldn’t help but worry that this meeting wasn’t going to go well.
At last, Juniper addressed Pudding, looking directly into those big purple eyes. “You should consider yourself privileged, not many people get to see this room.”
Pudding smiled; maybe it would go better than she expected. “Thank you. That’s an interesting use of concealment and illusion spells,” she said, motioning toward the door. “I assume the winding staircase is part of the illusion as well?”
Juniper appeared slightly shocked, but quickly recomposed himself. “You are very perceptive. No the staircase isn’t real; it is merely designed to detain those who aren’t allowed in here. If someone manages to teleport to this area, they will simply wander endlessly in that staircase … or at least until we arrest them. This room is too important to leave unprotected, don’t you think?”
“It is a very nice room, but I don’t understand why I’m in it? I thought this was supposed to be a meeting with the entire magitorium?”
Juniper shifted his vision to the window, avoiding Pudding’s gaze. “Due to the … nature … of your … interests … I decided upon a private meeting. Some pixies are just so … impressionable; I don’t want your ideas to find a larger audience and thereby cause even more harm than they already have.”
“No one has been harmed … very seriously anyway.”
Pudding chuckled, but Juniper did not. Instead, he narrowed his eyes sharply. “You need not try to convince me of anything; all of the issues have already been decided.”
Pudding tilted her head inquisitively. “How have the issues already been decided?”
Juniper looked down at his hands, once again avoiding the intense stare that Pudding directed at him. He swallowed hard, and then clearing his throat, said, “The magitorium met late last evening and discussed the issue of the lighthouse and the failed attempt at launching a device that you call a submarine. Then we looked into your permanent files … after that, it was … easy to reach a conclusion.”
“I can explain some of those incidents, if you’d like,” said Pudding, never losing her cheerful demeanor.
“Explanations? You can offer explanations for all of this?” asked Juniper as he pulled a second file folder out that was filled with dozens of papers. He opened the folder and flipped to the very first document. “Unauthorized use of time travel magic.”
Pudding smiled as she remembered her first time traveling adventure. “Well, I was only eight years old,” she said, “you can’t really blame me.…”
Juniper let out a snort, as though he believed an eight year old should be held accountable for their actions. He licked his fingers and began flipping through document after document. “Revelation of Pixiedom to the human beings known as Egyptians. Revelation of Pixiedom to the humans known as Babylonians … Persians … Assyrians … need I go on?”
“I didn’t know that we were supposed to hide from humans. Most of them are really quite nice, once you get to know them.”
“Human beings are a primitive, warlike race. They would murder or enslave us if they knew we existed.”
“None of them have ever tried to harm me.…” said Pudding, in all honesty.
“Then you were lucky. Pudding tried to interject, but Juniper raised his hand to call for silence as he continued to read. “Interference in human affairs – The file indicates that you not only showed the Egyptians how to build pyramids, but you built several for them … using magic; they even call one of them The Great Pyramid.”
Pudding motioned for the file, and after Juniper reluctantly handed it over, she read through it. “Oh, this file isn’t entirely correct. The Egyptians were already building pyramids when I arrived. I just helped them with a couple, like that really big one you mentioned.”
Juniper yanked the file back, setting it with the others. “Your variations are so mathematically precise that human beings will have no explanation for how they were built. They certainly couldn’t achieve such perfection on their own; they’re too primitive. Their entire culture will forever be altered because of your actions.”
“I’m sure that’s an overstatement,” said Pudding doubtfully. “Besides, if the international magitorium hadn’t erased the memories of the humans that I encountered, the construction of the Pyramids wouldn’t be a mystery to them.”
Juniper snorted again. “If it only stopped there! Let’s keep reading, shall we? Designed hanging gardens for Ba
bylon. Developed phonetic alphabet for the Phoenicians. Introduced several cultures to the art of metallurgy, astronomy, and basic mathematics.”
“I was eight. I didn’t know any better.”
“Willful destruction of state property,” said Juniper. This charge seemed to hold particular weight with him.
“I have never willfully destroyed anything that wasn’t mine!” shouted Pudding, finally losing her calm.
“Fine, we’ll remove the ‘willful’ and simply list it as destruction of state property, satisfied?”
“No, not really.”
“Even more counts of human interference and unauthorized time traveling. Unsanctioned scientific and magical experimentation. You’ve been all over the world in several different time periods, both past and future, interfering with humans and risking the safety of countless pixies. Your newest endeavors are no exception; your submarine could have been the death of you and three of your friends. Your torpedo destroyed the lighthouse and again, nearly killed two people.”
Pudding frowned; the old pixie did have a point. “I’ll admit, not all of my tests have gone according to plan, but I’ve done a lot of good too. I stopped the dragon of Bermuda with one of my net throwers. I helped develop the pixie barrier system that keeps us hidden from those “evil” humans you worry so much about. And you know what? I built the lighthouse here in Lumina to conduct gravitational experiments before the magitorium seized it for commercial purposes. It was MY lighthouse to knock down.”
Juniper looked down at his files for a moment. “Ah, the lighthouse was indeed yours; I wasn’t aware.”
“There are all sorts of good things about me that you don’t have in your files.”
“Granted, you’ve made significant contributions. That is why you have been given so much latitude. We aren’t trying to be the bad pixies here, Pudding, we just don’t understand your insistence on pursuing this path. You’re obviously an extremely gifted magician … not many my age can use temporal magic, let alone when they were eight years old. You constantly impress your instructors. You have offers for internships to any field at every major pixie city in the world. You could even be the head of the international magitorium yourself one day. Most pixies would give everything they had for half your talent. Why must you waste it?”
Pudding looked taken aback. “I’m not wasting it! I’m doing things with science that magic will never be able to do. Every pixie has their way of contributing to the world; this is mine.”
“Unfortunately Pudding, this is no longer your way. I conferred not only with the magitorium of Lumina, but all of the major magitoriums throughout Pixiedom. We agreed that it would be irresponsible of us to simply sit here and hope that your next undertakings don’t have horrific results. Your friends will be cleared of all charges, as they are simply impressionable, unwitting accomplices. You however, will only have two choices. Number one: you will immediately surrender your workshop and all of its contents and enter into a magical internship this very day. Option two: we will confiscate your workshop and your research. Then, you will be banished to the city of apples, where scientific research is strictly forbidden and harshly punished.”
“You can’t just banish me! I’m still a minor! My mom would never allow you to banish me!”
“Where is your mother, Pudding? We’ve attempted to contact her on several occasions over the past month, but she can’t be found. It seems that no one has heard from her in quite some time.”
“Oh, she’s … on vacation … I’m not really sure where … and I don’t know when she’ll be back.”
Juniper eyed Pudding suspiciously. “In light of that, the magitorium has decided to take on the role of your guardian. It is our decision to make, and we’ve made it.”
Pudding stood up and walked toward the window. If she squinted hard enough, she could just barely see the chimney sticking out of her workshop. “You couldn’t have properly conferred with the magitoriums in one night. You’ve been planning this for quite some time.”
Juniper cleared his throat nervously. “You have to understand, we’ve had complaints about your experiments. We’ve been investigating you for several months now.”
“Who complained?”
“It was a confidential complaint.”
“Science is the way of the future, not magic. You have no right to stand in the way of progress.”
“It has already been done.”
“I really don’t have a choice then, do I?”
“None. Oh, and if you’re thinking about escape … there’s only one way to teleport up or down from here, and even you don’t know how to do that yet.” Juniper reached into his desk and pulled out another document, sliding it over to where Pudding had been sitting. “Just sign this paper granting me the right to confiscate your workshop. You will be my guest here until I have received confirmation of the workshop’s seizure. I can help you pick out a magical internship while we wait.”
Pudding still gazed out the window as she considered the options in her mind. A bird passed lazily over the city; she watched it closely. “Magic won’t let you fly,” she said to Juniper without turning around, “and I have always dreamed of flying.”
“Dreams like that pass, my dear, in time,” said Juniper with a sigh.
“Only if you give up on them,” said Pudding, finally turning toward the old pixie. She stayed by the window, but tilted her eyes toward the paper. With one of her cheerful smiles, she said, “I choose option three.”
“Option three?”
“Remind everyone, once again, that there is always another choice.” With a wave of her hand, Pudding obliterated the large oval window, and before Juniper could wipe the shocked look off his wrinkly old face, she dove right out of it.