I had been at SAIA for about two years when I was suddenly called to the headmistresses' office. Naturally I was rather nervous, since as far as I was aware there was nothing I had done wrong, but Fa'Lina could be unpredictable so there was no telling.
"Come in, Jakob. Sit down," she said, offering a tray of what she affectionately referred to as 'plan B', but which you or I would call 'muffins'. "How are you settling in at the Academy?" she asked.
"Quite well, I think," I replied, "although I obviously have a long way to go yet." I paused, wondering how best to ask the question.
"Fa'Lina," I said, nervously at first but slowly gaining confidence, "when you came to take me to SAIA, you did so by force. Why was that? At first, I assumed that everyone was taken in that manner, but I now know that isn't the case. That is, if you don't mind my asking..."
"That's not a problem, Jakob," she said. "Questions are the only way to learn, after all. You are quite right.. most of my students apply of their own free will, having already been told what they are and what the academy can offer them by their parents.
"With orphans, or other cases where a 'cubi's parents can't or won't tell them it is a lot harder. Some of my pupils still believe they are Beings at the point where I or my deputies intercept them. It's not the first time when a student of mine has simply vanished and been presumed murdered by bandits or demons, but as these are dangerous times for our race, I believe it is worthwhile if I can ensure that no young 'cubi is left behind.
"Before you say it, I am well aware that it was my fault your father couldn't fill you in on your destiny, but I had assumed your mother would be able to do so in his stead. I had not seriously considered the possibility that she might withdraw into herself like that. As you may know, my powers of prescience are considerably stronger within the Academy than they are outside of it."
"And the apartment you trapped me in for half a year?" I asked, somewhat pointedly.
"It was an experiment," Fa'Lina said. "I was looking at new ways to deal with students who do not know their heritage. And to be brutally honest, I found it amusing to watch you try and escape. One of the things I was going to do was gradually reduce your food supply to wean you onto the emotions of Beings and 'cubi placed in the other floors, but you demolished half the building before I could do that." She chuckled slightly.
"Needless to say, I won't be trying that experiment again any time soon. But anyway, I digress. That is not the reason why I sent for you.
As you may be aware, your brother is finally ready to join you and your father."
"Izak!?! He's here??", I blurted, near-incoherent in my eagerness.
"Yes. Your father, though only 54, has gained sufficient skill in concealment to extract your brother. So I sent him to the University at Ka'Ryep where your brother has just graduated. Since Petter is due to be tested himself on this course, I decided to send his examiner along with him and make it into a practical exam. I am pleased to tell you that he has passed."
"Typical," I said with a wry grin. "Izak always was the lucky one. I bet he doesn't have to be imprisoned for five-and-a-half months!"
"No," said Fa'Lina, looking more serious, "but don't think your brother had an easy ride. Unlike you, living as you did in the middle of a forest and only occasionally going to market or church, Izak lived in a city, remember. The Beings there had started to realise that he was an Incubus. His clan mark had just appeared you see, and they were about to kill him. I think we pulled him out just in time."
'Cubi have a distinctive marking which appears when their spellcasting ability matures. They are unable to conceal it by shape-shifting or other magic, and it is one of the few ways of identifying someone as a mature Incubus or Succubus.
"May I see him?" I asked.
"Indeed. Fe?" she said, and her small, black Warp-Aci appeared. Warp-Aci are creatures composed almost entirely of dark magic, and although they can be somewhat fickle, they are very useful for their ability to teleport people or objects from one location to another, which is what Fe proceeded to do.
Show-off, I thought, since we had only actually been teleported about thirty metres down the corridor. To my embarrassment I heard Fa'Lina sniggering softly to herself, as I was still too inexperienced to shield my thoughts from her at that stage.
"Don't worry, it will come soon enough." she said. "Are you ready to go in?"
We opened the door, and I saw Izak, half-standing, evidently startled out of his chair by our opening the door. It was something of a shock to see the normally calm and self-assured Izak like this. His eyes had a haunted look that told of disbelief and betrayal by those he thought were his friends, and a copious amount of blood had matted the fur all down his left arm. My father was still busy healing him.
The intricate design of our clan marking almost shone on his right wrist, and he would occasionally glance at it with a mixture of awe and horror. Mine was on my left thigh, where it was not usually noticeable by others, concealed as it was by my trousers.
Suddenly his eyes locked on mine, and I realised with a start that at least some of Izak's terror was caused by me. "Jakob...?" he croaked, "Your head! What have they done to you..?"
I didn't understand what he meant at first, having grown accustomed by now to my headwings, until I suddenly noticed that my father had used his shape-shifting ability to conceal his, and Izak didn't seem to have any.
"Don't worry, Izak," I told him. "I'm fine, I promise. Fa'Lina, why doesn't Izak have any headwings? I had mine by that age."
"It depends on the individual, Jakob." she replied in a subdued voice, and I could see that Izak's plight had pierced her normally frivolous demeanour. This truly was why she had founded the Academy, to protect young 'cubi from those who tried to destroy what they didn't understand.
"Sometimes the wings appear before the clan marking," she continued, "sometimes afterwards. They are a physical manifestation of a 'cubi's reserves of magical power, and the more active a spellcaster the 'cubi is, the more power they will use and the longer it will take for their reserves to reach the point where the wings can manifest themselves.
"In such times as we have to take a 'cubi into the academy before their headwings have unfurled, it doesn't usually take long for this to happen. And I sense that he is quite close to that point already."
"'Cubi?" said Izak, despair evident in his voice, "you mean what they said was true? I really am a demon? A monster?" My father paused from his task and spoke up.
"Calm down, 'Zak," he said. "Yes, it's true that we are demons. But you always were a demon, even if you didn't know it before. It doesn't mean that you've changed.
"Besides, being born a demon won't make you a monster by itself - that can only happen if you consciously choose to be a monster. And believe me, enough Beings have gone down that road themselves."
"Petter is right," said Fa'Lina. "There is more to being a 'cubi than evil deeds. We feed on a wide range of emotions. There are clans who specialise in joy, amazement, and so forth. Many become actors, feeding off the emotions their performances induce in the audience. Jakob drew his power from Church services. There are other types of course, and you will learn about these in due time."
I noted that she had carefully omitted the fact that many 'cubi were sick bastards who fed by killing Beings for their pain and terror and maybe stealing their souls into the bargain as well, but I wasn't about to bring this up either, at least, not until Izak had recovered from his ordeal. Even then it would have to be broken to him gently.
"And now, we must decide what to do with Izak." Izak stiffened at Fa'Lina's words.
"Your father is somewhat busy with his courses, I'm afraid, so I think it would be best if it fell to you, Jakob, to act as mentor to your brother and show him around, at least until he gets his feet. That is, assuming neither of you object." Izak seemed very relieved.
"Good! I shall arrange a room for Izak close to yours, Jakob. And now, if you will come to my office, I'd like a quick word while Petter finishes off your brother's wounds." I gave a brief wave to Izak and Petter, and Fi took us back to her office.
"There is something else I need to tell you, Jakob." she said, and something in her voice told me that it wasn't going to be easy.
"Is it about my mother?" I asked with an air of dread. I hadn't seen her since my arrival at SAIA, and I had been feeling guilty that I hadn't tried to contact her.
"Yes. I'm afraid she has died recently. The shock of losing both her husband and eldest son was more than she could bear."
"What?!?" I said, not wanting to believe I was hearing.
"This will sound harsh, Jakob, but try to forget her. She was only a Being. She would have been dead anyway long before your course ended."
I could feel my lips curling and the hackles on my back rose. "She was my MOTHER!" I screamed. "She may have been mortal, but she brought me up! She had to be both mother and father to two children, and all because of your doings!"
A part of my brain dimly wondered if I had pushed Fa'Lina over the edge, but by that point I didn't really care. The headmistress, however, looked at me with a faintly dreamy expression colouring her typically supernatural patience.
"Delicious," she said. "I haven't felt such rage in this office for many a year. But anyway. Although I am indeed to blame for your father's disappearance, have you ever stopped to wonder why he never returned to reassure your family that he was alright?" I looked at her, rage replaced by a mixture of sorrow and betrayal.
"I'm sorry, Jakob, I really am, but the world outside is just too dangerous for us right now. That's why I founded the Academy, to help protect our young from adventurers. If I had let Petter or you go galavanting off on some wild expedition to see your mother, the chances are very good that you would be killed, and I would have lost a promising student. Look what happened to Izak, and he didn't even have headwings.
"In these unsafe times I don't usually allow my students to leave the Academy until they are sufficiently skilled in illusion and concealment. That can take up to thirty years, depending on the pupil. Your father has only just attained that degree of skill, and as is all too often the case, your mother did not live long enough to see her husband return. Perhaps in future centuries Beings will become more tolerant of our kind and I will be able to lift these restrictions, but if it happens it will be long after you have left.
"Such is the world in which we live. I really am truly sorry." I found I was sobbing gently.
"I can't do anything for her, " she added, "but I can ease your pain." so saying, she touched the side of my head, and my sorrow receded to a dull ache.
"But why didn't he write?" I asked.
"Petter doesn't have a Warp-Aci," she replied. "It takes some skill to trap them. I also get the impression he considers them to be something for girls. I have had this conversation with him as well this morning, and similar conversations with most of my pupils at some point. It's a sad fact of life for those who had mortal parents. Be assured that your father is in mourning as well. But when you think about it, your mother is probably quite angry with herself right now, realizing that her sons and husband are actually still alive, even if she isn't."
I found myself smiling at her words, and although the ache wasn't gone completely, I was near enough at peace.
"Good," said Fa'Lina with an approving smile. "And now, I think it is time for you to return to Izak."