On the Edge of Destiny

Penny tottered close behind Lady Viella as they both marched across the courtyard towards the mansion’s magnificent study, only stopping for a moment to wave to Lord Zyran who was trimming the roses before continuing their progress across the cobblestones. This had been their routine for months now, heading into the study after breakfast before the clock stroke nine. It had become so much of a routine that Penny knew every cobblestone beneath her feet and the name of every flower hanging from the stone walls surrounding them.

She gazed up at the blue sky as her feet skipped from cobblestone to cobblestone, her eyes following a cloud lazing above her when a flicker of deep azure blue caught the corner of her eye. She stopped, her eyes darting around the courtyard before spotting a beautiful blue door in the far corner of the courtyard where she swore had nothing but a sheet of thick green ivy. She took a step closer, her head tilting as she inspected the door, her hand reaching out as she drew closer. Etched into the cobalt-coloured wood were golden carvings that swirled in odd patterns, their iridescent colour glittering in the morning sunlight. Surrounding the odd door were deep green ivy which haloed the frame with sky blue flowers that swayed with the breeze.

“Penny?” A voice softly called, pulling Penny from her trance. “Are you coming dear?”

She blinked, stopping in her tracks as she looked around, noticing that she was only a few meters from the door when she swore she hadn’t moved an inch. She looked behind her, catching the eye of both Viella and Zyran, a look of understanding and mild amusement on each of their faces.

“I was just-.” Penny stammered returning to Lady Viella’s side.

“Come dear,” Viella said with a smile. “We have much work to do.”

“Yes ma’am.” Penny answered returning her patron’s smile as they continued into the study.

“Right!” Viella said as she flung the study doors open. “It seems we have a special project to work on today.”

“A special project?” Penny asked as she closed the study doors behind them, Lady Viella disappearing into the shelves stacked high with books on any and every topic imaginable.

“Yes, my dear.” Came her voice from deep within the study. “I expected we would have more time, but alas, the doorway has presented itself.”

The older woman emerged from the shelves with a large stack of books in her arms as three more stacks floated along behind her. She dropped the stack in her arms on the enormous reading desk at the centre of the study as the other three piles placed themselves gently on the table too. She pulled a deep purple book from one of the stacks, masterfully not knocking the stack over in the process, before handing the book to Penny.

“The Mysterious and Intriguing Habits of the Indigo Barrier by Hulio Jung’Sni.” Penny read aloud before flipping the book open to the introduction, her eyes widening at the sight of the hand drawn picture of the blue door she had just seen outside sitting right beside the introduction paragraph. “The Indigo Barrier is a unique magical artifact classed as a reality portal that, when presented to a chosen individual, teleports that individual to and from unidentifiable locations; the individual will return from this location with changes to their psyche or magical abilities. This artifact is difficult to study as it is nomadic in nature and travels across space to appear before chosen individuals seemingly at random; however, it can be identified that the Indigo Barrier will appear before an individual with immense untapped magical power.”

Penny looked up at Velia, who had settled beside Penny at the reading table and was reading the passage over her apprentice’s shoulder. She nodded, indicating for Penny to continue reading.

“The Indigo Barrier is typically characterised with a blue aura that manifests as a wooden door covered in unique golden carvings (note: these carvings differ with each materialization), and a hazy blue mirror-like surface when it is ready for being passed through by the chosen individual; however, if an individual who hasn’t been chosen by the door attempts to enter, the surface will harden at their touch. Another indicator of the Indigo Barrier’s presence can be identified by the irregular flourishing of flora and fauna within the area, growing in number and sporting a blueish colouring, until the doorway disappears once more.”

Silence fell over them as Penny traced her fingers over the picture, the deep blue popping from the page despite the flickering of the candlelight and weak morning rays streaming through the large skylight.

“Why is it here?” Penny finally asking, turning to her mentor.

“Why do you think it’s here?” Viella replied, her eyes glittering with excitement as Penny recognised her mentor’s favourite trick of making her figure out the problem on her own because she knew she could do it.

“Because…,” She started, her mind beginning to churn as it always did when she was presented with a problem. “It’s here for me.”

The words dripped from her mouth like honey, her tongue numb as she spoke. Her brow furrowed as her brain whirred into gear and she voiced her thought process to Viella, her mentor nodding as she watched her apprentice hard at work.

“You said I’m incredibly powerful,” Penny continued, her eyes glued to the hand drawn picture spread out before her. “And the Barrier is known to appear before those with incredible amounts of power, especially if it’s untapped. I’m most likely going to have to enter the portal and return changed. But what should I expect?”

“Exactly.” Her mentor congratulated as she pulled the book towards herself.

She quickly flipped through the pages, her eyes scanning the titles on each page until she found what she was looking for. Viella dropped it before Penny, allowing it to flop open to the page she had found. With a wicked straight and perfectly manicured finger, Viella pointed to the title.

“Eyewitness Account Number One, Hanna O’Wennel.” Penny read aloud.

The rest of the morning both Penny and Viella worked through stacks upon stacks of books as they combed through the pages to find any sliver of information that might be useful to Penny on her inevitable journey through the Indigo Barrier. When lunchtime had rolled around and Lord Zyran fetched them both, Penny’s hands were covered in ink and filled with rolls and rolls of paper. As she leapt from her chair, she shoved the papers into a bag followed her mentors through the courtyard, past the Indigo Barrier, and into the dining hall.

The trio chatted happily as they ate, telling one another about the triumphs and failures of the morning, each of them telling the other two about their respective experiments and research. Before long they had eaten their fill and Viella took her leave, disappearing into the depths of the house as she continued work on other projects around the property. Zyran led Penny out into the courtyard, leading her to the centre of the cobbled ground.

“Have you ever fought before, my dear?” Zyran asked as he positioned himself beside her.

“No…?” Penny answered quizzically, her eyes widening slightly.

“Right.” He said with a smile. “Today I’ll be teaching you some basic defence. This will help you if you’re ever unable to use your magic for defence purposes.”

“What about our project?” Penny asked shyly making him smile.

“We’ll get to it,” He replied, his eyes soft. “Today is a bit different.”

Penny nodded in understanding, her eyes darting to the blue door across the yard before turning her attention back to her mentor.

“Give me a punch, please, Penny.” Zyran said. “Just in front of you.”

She made a fist, pushing out in front of herself and recoiling it back before looking at Lord Zyran. He circled her, poking her feet and arms this way and that before nodding to himself.

“How does that feel?” He asked crossing his arms as he leant on his right leg.

“Steadier.” Penny said as she moved her weight around gaining an approving nod from Zyran.

“Good.” He replied positioning himself beside her in the same stance.

He explained to her how important it was to be balanced but nimble and for the rest of the afternoon they worked together to develop Penny’s stance, working on the power of her punch and ability to dodge. Before long the sky above them was a deep amber that bathed them in orange light. Penny slumped against the cobblestone, her chest heaving as she gazed up at the sky once more.

“Good work today.” Zyran said, grabbing a glass of water that had magically appeared beside Penny, messing her hair as he passed. He downed the water, handed a glass to Penny, and slumped down beside her as they both gazed at the sky. “You know, I would do anything to be in your shoes right now.”

“Why’s that?” Penny asked quietly, turning to look at him as he spoke.

“Ever since I was a kid, I was obsessed with that door.” He answered, his eyes still fixed on the sky as he watched a wispy cloud slink by. “I did all I could to try and find it, years of research, only to be turned away.”

“What happened?” Penny prompted when he fell silent.

“I found the door; it appeared before me.” He whispered. “But it wouldn’t let me through.”

Penny turned and looked at the Indigo Barrier, it’s wooden doors hard to see in the setting sunlight but still glinting golden ever so slightly. She gazed at it curiously, the gears in her mind turning slowly as she thought about why her mentor, one of the most powerful people in history, couldn’t enter the doorway. She turned back to him, her hand slipping in his as a show of comfort.

“What did you do?” She asked softly.

“I was a wreck; I couldn’t even find the will to eat.” He answered with a chuckle. “That was until Viella got me back on my feet. She gave me a purpose again, showed me there is more to life than adventure and success. And now, we get to teach you everything we know about the Indigo Barrier, which I might add is quite a lot.”

Her turned to look at Penny, the orange sky above reflected in his glassy eyes. He smiled at her, ruffling her hair once more before standing and offering his hand to help her to her feet. She took it, following him inside as they joined Viella at the dinner table, chatter filling the room once again. They spoke deep into the night, laughter filling their lungs as they teased each other, their raucous conversation quickly being replaced with wide yawns and sleepy eyes. They bid goodnight to one another before disappearing to their respective bedrooms, the house falling silent as they each climbed into their beds and fell fast asleep.

Darkness engulfed the house as Penny fell into a slumber, her mind drifting in and out of dreams as she slept. Outside, the moon rose high as moonlight filtered into her bedroom, her eyelids beginning to flutter open as the light breached her windowsill. She blinked up at her bed’s canopy, the intricate designs lost in the darkness as she stared at them. Her eyes slithered across the canopy and over to her window where the moonlight was streaming in, only there was a soft blue glow emanating from the courtyard below. Penny shot up, her eyes fixed on the window as she leapt from her bed, pulling her dressing gown over her pyjamas and stumbling over to her window. Her head banged painfully against the glass, making her recoil in agony, before quickly returning to stare out the window once more.

In the courtyard below, where the blue wooden doors had been earlier that day, was a glassy vertical surface that shimmered blue. Beneath the surface, whirling, rippling, and curling in long silvery tendrils edged with blue, were what Penny could only describe as mist. She gazed at it in awe, her mind racing as she watched the swirling mist below. Hurriedly she skittered from her room, galloping down the hall to Lady Viella’s room. She banged loudly on the doors calling her mentor’s name before sprinting further down the hall and banging on Lord Zyran’s door too. Both of her Mentor’s emerged form their bedrooms, their eyes filled with sleep but alert as ever. She grabbed Zyran’s hand and led him towards his sister, grabbing her hand too before pulling them both through the house and out into the courtyard.

As she flung the doors open and each of the siblings spotted the portal illuminating the courtyard, a gasp echoed out of both. They marched towards it, their eyes glued to the blue surface as they inspected it. A few moments passed before Viella looked to her brother, shock and panic on her face as she looked at him. He nodded to her and knelt before Penny, grasping her hands in his.

“We had hoped we would have more time to prepare you, Penny.” He said sadly. “But it appears the Barrier is summoning you already.”

Viella stepped closer, her hand waving across Penny’s chest as her pyjamas morphed into a set of beautiful but sturdy leathers, a pair of boots manifesting around her bare feet.

“Please take care.” Viella said, pulling Penny into a quick hug. “We’ll be right here when you get back, I’m sorry we couldn’t teach you more for this journey.”

“You’ve done enough.” She said to her mentors, squeezing each of their hands.

She stepped past them, her heart hammering in her ears as she approached the doorway, her fingers starting to tingle the closer she stepped. She gazed back at Viella and Zyran one last time and gave them a soft smile before steeling herself and facing the doorway. With a deep steadying breath she reached the portal, the magic buzzing all around her as she stared in awe at it. She reached up, placing her hand against the surface of the portal. It felt like a shower of water sprinkling across her fingers as it sunk beneath the cloudy surface. She pulled her hand back and inspected it. There was no change, but she knew there would be if she stepped all the way through. With one final peptalk she took a large and quick step, slipping through the portal as if she had just dived into a rainstorm, her body shuddering with excitement as she came out the other side.