8 Funeral

   Funerals the farewell party for people unable to enjoy them. Although with the return of magic, maybe the dead did creep up on the graveyards to get one last look at their loved ones before they moved on to the next adventure. Warren believes the previous statement to be true. He and Nerea were the only two present at the somber affair. 

    The return of magic wrought great changes in society. Warren did not like any of them. The latest change came on the way home after the service. “In other news, the government of Canada has passed a law requiring any peoples with magical gifts to be registered and tested. When asked if the law infringed on human rights, Prime Minister Helios responded with, “We have laws to govern firearms, people with magic are walking firearms waiting to go off by accident. We in Ottawa must consider what is good for the whole.” 

    Nerea turned the radio off and let silence bury the inside of the car. Her eyes rotated from the road to warren. The pain in her eyes made Warren feel guilty. He never asked for magic, but he felt terrible for having it. Five minutes of silence and Warren dared to break it. 

   “I’m sorry. I had no idea…”

  “Guapito I worry about what will happen after the test you,” Nerea flicked the blinker on and turned down her street. “If we are lucky they may dedicate a school to magic.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think people will be crazy about Canadian Hogwarts.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “We were studying the abolitionist movement in school, sure they gave the displaced African people freedom, but was it? Who can forget the residential schools?”

  Nerea went silent and did not speak for the next hour. The silence worsened how Warren felt. What if he got it wrong. Maybe society progressed beyond the mob mentality? If you are going to dream, dream big, as his mother used to say.

***

  Three days after the funeral the first magical registration center opened. Warren expected trolls or goblins to greet them at the door and act funny. In reality, the center felt like a visit to the DMV. Not even a herd of elephants could bring up the bored and stale atmosphere in the building.

    Nerea stared at the velvet ropes and lines of concerned parents who waited for further instructions. A winged fairy hovered above the crowd. He dressed in a three-piece suit, piano key tie, and tweed slacks. The light made his skin look bluish.

   “Thank you everyone for being here. I am sure you all have a lot of questions. Unfortunately, I am unable to tell you more. You are here for answers, answers that can only be provided by a test. I will impress upon you one thing, never confuse magic with science. Magic is a force, science is a discipline.”

    An older roughneck from the oil patch asked, “What if we don’t want to take your test? Who are you to tell us how to raise our children.”

    The fairy rolled his eyes in annoyance and cleared his throat. A crumpled paper appeared in his hand, “I hear and understand your concern, sir. I ask you this: do you value the safety of your whole family?”

     The roughneck put his hands on his hips, “Yes, of course.”

    “Uncontrolled magic can have disastrous results. By not knowing what your child can and cannot do will put your other loved ones at risk.” The fairy started in an uppity tone but ended somewhere around sympathy. He paused, “Now, we have arranged for the more severe cases to go first, as they pose the greatest danger to those around them. I must ask anyone with yellow eyes to step forward.”

   Dread filled Warren to the tips of his ears. He had yellow eyes, and after the dreams with the creature in the darkness, a reluctance to get better acquainted accompanied the dread, “Can you come with me?” He asked Nerea.

   Nerea embraced him with a mother's care, and the pleasant aroma of vanilla and cocoa bean calmed his jangled nerves, “Of course, Capito. I will be with you every step they allow me to, and I will be waiting when you are finished.”

   Warren stepped forward, “I have yellow eyes.” Much to his dismay Warren turned out to be the only one with yellow eyes.

    The fairy nodded, “Name please.”

    “Warren Vandal.”

   “Age?”

 “Fifteen,” Warren replied. The experience started to resemble a trip to the doctor's office. 

 “Please stand on the scale,” The fairy waved his hand and a scale appeared. He moved the slides until the scale balanced, “One hundred and fifty pounds, good.”

   Nerea looked up at the fairy, “Why is that good?”

  “Due to the privacy laws in this country, I cannot divulge that information at this time. Your government wishes to keep panic to a minimum. I’m Plume Dawnglow by the way.” The fairy guided him to an impossibly huge room in the back. He put up a hand, “It’s too dangerous.”

  Nerea gave Plume a stare filled with poison and contempt, “I refuse to leave my adopted son alone in a room with a person I hardly know.”

  Plume narrowed his eyes at her, “What did you say?”

  “I didn’t like the idea of Warren being in the room with a person I didn’t trust,” Nerea replied. 

 Plume grinned ear to ear and nodded, “You are the first human to acknowledge me as a person with thoughts and feelings. Most of the time people call me that fairy.” he looked around, “You understand Warren went first for a reason?”

   “He’s dangerous?” Nerea asked. 

   “That will depend on a variety of factors. Given his eye color, I have to respond with yes.”

   Warren stepped between them and growled, “Remember me, the person who is the subject of this test?”

    The pair stared at Warren with sheepish expressions, “I suppose we should get on with it,” plume said. 

   “Please stand in the center of the circle,” Plume directed Warren. “Your body is unopened to magic. The first time is going to hurt. Don’t worry, we have safety measures to keep you from dying.”

   Warren nodded and then went, “I can die?”

   Plume stood at the end of a long line. It shimmered with opalescent energy, His voice chanted most beautifully. While not in English, the fairy language was beautiful. At the end of the chant, he stomped a foot on the line.

    The entire circle shimmered and all the lettering within it lit up bit, by bit. Once the energy reached Warren, it crawled up his leg and surrounded his arms. His body felt like a million pins pricked him at once. Bluish energy slowly seeped out of his pores. He fell to his knees, face contorted in pain. “Stop, it hurts.”

    Nerea tried to reach him but bounced off a wall of light, “I’ll make him stop, Guapito,” She pounded on the wall, “Stop you are hurting him,” She screamed. 

   Plume waved his hand and Nerea froze in place, “I’m sorry, but I can’t. It hurts because he is powerful. All we can do is watch.”

    The bluish energy surrounded Warren, a disembodied screech echoed across the room. Long wings of light extended from his back, and the energy around his arms turned into deadly talons. a powerful body formed over the torso, and feline hind legs covered his. 

     Plume stood behind the shield mouth agape and then a wide smile appeared on his face, “Your adopted son's magic is an eidolon. He is a descendant of Troy.”