Two thousand kilometers away, Esma Peker conducted her interviews with one of the many dead that dot the European continent.
She sat with her legs crossed over each other while leaning on her arms. Beside her was her phone leaning on an empty water bottle, recording the ramblings of Cristina Lăcustă, the only child of her family. That was the only aspect they had in common, however. Her discursive answers provided mostly nothing of value and wasted her time, but she did not want to interrupt the ghost.
Time was of the essence; time was always of the essence.
Esma felt disgusting. Dirt invaded every niche of her body and she could feel it grinding against her skin every time she shifted. It was her fault she didn't bother to enchant her clothing with a sanitation spell. After this ceremony was over, she knew she wouldn't have enough energy to cast it. God damn her. Why did she have to be stupid during one of the most important things of the year?
"Miss Lăcustă," she nearly growled, not caring anymore if Cristina would think she was rude. Then again, she hadn't noticed any of the other rude gestures she had made during this ceremony. "I think I have enough information for the question."
"Is that so?" Cristina curtsied and smiled brightly. "You ought to visit Czechoslovakia one day and the Charles Bridge! I'm sure you'll have a fantastical experience there just like me."
"I'm sure." She sat up straight asked the next question with complete apathy. She had to restrain herself to tell Cristina that Czechoslovakia no longer existed. "What about your worst moment?"
Cristina pensively rubbed her chin. "My worst? I'm not entirely sure. Does dying count...? Wait! I suppose it had to be the time when I witnessed an old friend of mine return from those trenches." She still maintained a smile, albeit now it was noticeably strained. "We worked together in translating enemy responses... But she had some nursing experience so they sent her off. Bůh... I've never seen such hounded eyes..."
Her eyes flickered towards Cristina, who became uncharacteristically silent. "And who was your friend?"
"Elena Vasilescu." She said the name "Elena" as if seeing it from an observatory. "She was a good friend. Shame that she had to die ungracefully."
Esma decided that it was best to dismiss Cristina, before anything else happened. "Thank you for your time, Miss Lăcustă. Eliberare."
The ghost disappeared and Esma promptly collapsed onto the ground. Her wavy black hair fanned out, now slightly damp because of the dew. She plastered her stray bangs on her scalp and watched the pale, full moon shine above. How she wanted to be there, up there, among the stars! Free from any mortal worry and tribulations.
Though, she knew that it would take a winding road there, it was going to be worth it; her name and portrait would be hung in the grandest halls of the magical world. Men, women, children would sing praises about her achievements and name their daughters after her. Esma wanted her future to be as bright as the stars, and she knew that she was willing to burn for it.
Slowly, she picked herself up, and dusted stray grass strands off her clothing. Her legs wobbled and she had to support herself with one of the graves to fully stand up, making for a somewhat humiliating picture on Esma's perspective. One by one, she extinguished the burning incense. She garnered all of her supplies in one pile, said "mai mic," and dropped the miniaturized items in a plastic bag.
Esma cracked her back and took another water bottle from her bag, gulping its contents in one gulp and wiping her wet mouth with her sleeve. Not exactly elegant sight, but no one was around to see her anyway. She placed the now-empty bottle in her bag and gave herself room between her, and the Lăcustă graves.
It annoyed Esma that after a doing a simple rendition of the ceremony, her body screamed at her to stop doing magic. How was she supposed to be successful if she feels exhausted after summoning one family? She should've felt grateful at the mere thought of a small family; more energy could be conserved and her grade wouldn't be negatively affected. But when it came down to it, the family size all came down to luck. They were only given one member of the family to find and seek. They would know how many members to summon once they arrived at the location.
The girl swooped her wand across the graves, picturing them in their undisturbed form and restoring them. The piles of dirt threw themselves into the holes. Weeds sprouted from the plots. Dust covered the tombstones. The chalk marks disappeared. Everything went back to normal.
Wearily, Esma slumped on her backpack and trudged to the front entrance. Though, she composed herself once she saw the cars of other students arriving. At the sight, Esma couldn't help but look at them with distaste. It was past midnight and her classmates just arrived at Ghencea Cemetery.
She decided it to be best to avoid contact with them. There was no need for talking, especially since it wasted energy.
Esma turned on her phone and checked her messages - none from Sebastian. She dialed his number but she reached his overly enthusiastic voice mail.
"Hello! You reached Sebastian Ardelean. Please call again as I'm either sleeping, or doing work. Have a nice day, or night!"
He probably isn't done yet, thought Esma. He had four members and he gets tired easily...
She recalled a memory in physical education class when they had trek across the Carpathians. The memory brought a slight smile to her fatigued body. Esma remembered the invigorating spring breezes rushing through her tangled hair and the cold touch of rock beneath her fingers. However, Sebastian, wheezing at the end of the line, fell behind and instead relegated himself to drawing the different types of mountain flora.
Sebastian was a bright student, but his stamina left much to be desired of.
Esma leaned on the white plaster of the entrance. She decided to wait until Sebastian was finished, giving him fifteen more minutes before calling again; that way she can go home without any guilty consciousness. If it was anyone else, she would've left already. Of course, it was also to recuperate the energy she lost. If Esma walked home in this state, she figured that her exhausted body couldn't handle it.
For now, she had to occupy herself with waiting and thinking.
Esma sat cross-legged on the ground wither her back slightly hunched over. She checked her phone, slightly wincing upon seeing the bright light. The clock creeped towards the thirty minute mark. Like any normal person, she would be snugly sleeping in her bed while the thick scent of lavender drifted through her room. Oh, speaking of which...
She opened her bag and brought a glass vial holding a light-purple liquid. Closing her eyes, Esma liberally sprayed her entire body with the perfume and inhaled the herbal, balsamic scent. Not only did it smell good, it kept the monsters at bay too. All magicians wore some kind of herbal perfume on their person, but some applied it more than others. Sebastian was one of the few people who could possibly tolerate her constant reapplications, as well as she could tolerate his tendency to rub all sorts of herbs on his bare skin.
Feeling refreshed and slightly invigorated, Esma wobbled to her feet, but found it difficult to keep her posture when the wall wasn't supporting her. From the corner of her eye, she saw one of the students approach her - Magdalena Lewandowski, the Polish transfer student from Warsaw. Esma forgot that her assignment was in Ghencea. As Magda bounded towards her, her red skirt rippled with movement, and although Esma found her attire entirely impractical, she was wearing a similar outfit but in purple - and with pitiably more stains.
"Esma? Is that you?" she asked, in a near-perfect accent. Her muscular figure seemed quite imposing now that they were closer, though her friendly betrayal counteracted the intimidation factor. "You look horrible."
"That's what every girl likes to hear at 12:30 in the morning, Magda."
Magda shrugged. "Just stating the truth, that's all. I don't think anyone could look great after several hours spent conjuring ghosts in a lonely cemetery, not even me. Speaking of which, I expected you to be done ages ago. Why are you still here?"
"I'm waiting for Sebastian to finish."
"Sebastian?" Magda counted five fingers on her hand; Esma suspected she was narrowing down the list. Three of the Sebastians in their grade took Advanced Necromancy. "Oh, you must mean Sebastian Ardelean, the one that always follows you around. Quite nice, I have to say. He's here too?"
Esma had to turn her face around so her blushing face couldn't be visible. "No. He's in Père Lachaise, Paris."
"I'm surprised that you waited for him. You usually don't wait for anybody."
"We've been friends for a long time."
"Is that so?" Magda flashed a warm smile. "Don't wait too long though. Some people aren't worth waiting for, and some can't return."
"What is it that you want, Magda?" said Esma impatiently. She tapped her foot on the ground, the only way to subtly vent out her irritation. "Shouldn't you be doing your own project?"
"I should, but call Sebastian first. Sometimes I worry for you, because you don't show worry; this is actually the first time I've seen in an uneasy state."
Esma's mouth turned up for a slight smile. A pleasantly warm feeling ascended in her body at the mere thought of someone else caring for her, someone other than Sebastian in fact. Most people don't even bother to make direct eye contact because of the purposeful, cold ambition she radiated. Esma found herself grudgingly appreciating Magda's presence with every second spent.
She checked her phone for missed messages, but there were none to be found. She dialed Sebastian's number and sent him numerous, successive texts, but none of them were answered. With each voice mail heard, her mental state became increasingly agitated. She felt Magda's warm hand on her shoulder, emanating a comforting warmth.
"He's in Paris, correct?" said Magda. She paced around in a circle while scratching the back of her blonde head. "I suppose I can make some time to find him. He has a circle set up, right?"
"Well, how else is he supposed to get there? Two-thousand kilometers stand in between Bucharest and Paris."
"You make a strong point." Magda looked behind her. "Can you hold on for a second? I have to tell Cornelia something."
"Of course."
Esma rummaged through her backpack and brought out several plain-looking stones with some writing etched on the front. She placed them in a circle. She looked back to see if Magda was returning; she wasn't. At the sight, Esma allowed herself a sigh of relief and she wiped the sweat off her forehead. She knew that there was no use in hiding her exhaustion in front of Magda; the girl was well-aware of it. Still, Esma liked to think that no one knew how weak she was at the moment.
She admitted that Magda was intriguing to see, considering that she was the transfer student from Warsaw - a school renowned for incorporating physical combat with holy magic. It traced its origins to the time of the hussars; though Esma had no idea why Magda was here in Bucharest, a school specializing in necromancy. She would have to ask her about it later, after this exhausting fiasco was over.
Her thoughts returned to Sebastian. What could possibly be delaying his return to Bucharest? Esma knew that he memorized the incantation by heart, and that he had all of his supplies ready before he went to Paris. It couldn't be a technical problem, so it had to be a personal problem.
It occurred to Esma that Sebastian was Sebastian. Most likely, he overlooked a small detail and simply did not notice until the consequences revealed themselves. The fact that he wasn't answering any of her messages could be attributed that he could have fainted due to overexertion. God, why was her life like this?
Esma saw Magda flounce towards her, and so she straighted her back. Her fatigue was somewhat mitigated since the ceremony, but she knew if she tried to travel there by herself, her remaining energy delegated to the Conveyance Stones could not transport her past Romania's borders. She needed Magda to supply the bulk of the energy needed to travel to the other side of Europe, regrettably, but she supposed that's what Magda planned to do in the first place.
"You said Pere Lachaise, right?" said Magda. She brought out her phone and opened the search browser.
"Yes."
She typed the name of the cemetery into the search bar and browsed through the pictures, memorizing the key features that distinguished Pere Lachaise from all the other cemeteries. After all, they didn't want to accidentally transport themselves to a random cemetery in Colombia, while also possibly frightening another magician who constructed his own circle.
"I think I know where we're headed. Can I borrow your wand? I'm afraid mine is much too... inconvenient to bring out."
Esma raised an eyebrow at the request, but then realize that she was correct. Any object can be a wand, as long as it is enchanted correctly. Magda's happened to be a gleaming silver sword (physical weapons were another hallmark of the Polish institution), most likely miniaturized so it would be more convenient to carry. Though, wielding the actual sword was a different matter.
She delicately gave her wand to Magda, with some reluctance. It carried a piece of her soul within the oak wood - a present from Sebastian to her when she first entered the magical world. In another situation, Esma would've forced Magda to use her own wand, but this was not that situation.
"Handle it carefully, please."
"I will."
Magda plucked the wand out of Esma's outstretched hand, saying a quick "thank you" for her compliance. She swished Esma's wand in a circle and said "ruszaj się." Both of the girls envisioned the entrance of Pere Lachaise in their minds:
Instantly, the world swirled around them in a blur of blue, brown, and green. Nothing definite could be distinguished in this blur, besides the streaks of light running through the darkness as they raced through Europe. Esma's stomach flipped upside down and over, adding to her current nauseous state; she avoided using Conveyance Stones at all costs unless the situation called for it.
They landed just outside of the entrance building. Before them sprawled a prestigious cemetery housing the world's most famous figures, along with a few citizens. Pere Lachaise, from what Sebastian told Esma, limited itself to Parisians and even had a waiting list for those who wanted to be buried on the limited space.
"Where is Sebastian?" said Magda. She handed Esma back her wand, to which she pocketed. "This is a large place, as far as I can see."
"Er, I know he was assigned the Royers, but I don't know where exactly he is." Esma felt embarrassment rush to her cheeks at the thought of not knowing something. "Cemeteries usually have directories, do they not? We can try and look through its archives. I know one of the members was named 'Theodore,' and that they lived during the early 20th century."
Magda raised an eyebrow upon hearing this wealth of information. "He told you all of this, and you still remembered?"
"I remember many things, Magda. I have a rather good memory."
"I've noticed."
Esma brought out her phone and started to search through the grave directory of Pere Lachaise. She typed in Theodore Royer's name and found the plot in the left center of the map.
The two girls, with Esma leading in the front, navigated through Pere Lachaise. They ran through the tree-lined cobblestone streets and climbed the stone stairs. The statues watched the two girls through flat eyes; they passed graves of Paris finest: Victor Hugo, Eugene Delacroix, Frédéric Chopin. Every grave here seemed to be decorated with elaborate art of anguished humans or crying angels. Every color here was either a grey or dark-green. Esma looked for a splash of red.
They found Sebastian sprawled out on the ground, his eyes closed and his skin terribly pale. Magda automatically began to organize his things; Esma sat down besides him, moved the collar of his shirt aside, and placed two fingers upon his neck. She felt a faint pulse, but it was still a pulse. With newfound strength, she lifted him up. After all that was said and done, Esma and Magda retraced their steps back to the entrance, however not before Esma started to fall behind.
Magda looked at her with sympathy. "Here, let me carry him. You shouldn't be burdening yourself with weigh after conducting the ceremony." She gently eased Sebastian into her arms. "When you get home, take it easy on yourself, yeah?"
Esma simply nodded, too tired to even retort.
By the time they reached the Conveyance Circle, the sky had orange streaks staining the sky. The two magicians stepped into the circle and Magda initiated the ceremony, modifying her intention so that the stones would also travel along with them. Within seconds, they found themselves back in Bucharest where the sky was still dark.
The two girls stared at each other. Esma did not want to ask for any more help
"...Magda? Would you mind dri-"
"Of course. My car is over there." She pointed to a rough, tan-colored vehicle. An emerald rosary hanged on the rearview mirror. She opened the back door and gently laid Sebastian on the leather seats, then she opened the front door for Esma. "Where are your addresses?"
"We live on the same street, actually. Strada Dianei."
"How utterly convenient." Magda sat in the driver's seat, started the car, and inputted the address into her phone. "I recently got my license a week ago, so I'm sorry if at times you feel like you're going to die."
"That's fine," is all what Esma managed to mutter. Her eyes wandered towards the analog clock on the dashboard - 1:43 AM. She leaned against the window and watched Bucharest pass by in a grey blur, occasionally twisting her head to check on Sebastian. A content smile was on his face; she wondered what he could be possibly dreaming.
"Hey, Esma?" said Magda. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?"
She lifted her head from the cold window and turned it towards Magda. "What is it?"
"When I'm done with my ceremony and you have rested, do you mind training with me in the gardens? For the Competition?"
Oh, that. Esma internally groaned when she remembered that was coming in one week's time. After a grueling week of facing off against the other members of her grade, she defeated Claudiu for the honor of representing Bucharest at the games. During that time, Magda returned to Warsaw and also won the preliminaries there. Next week, they would be facing against each other to win the title of Best Magical School, respectively.
Did she want to train with Magda? She was thinking of asking Sebastian to help her, but that was under ideal circumstances. Sebastian needed the rest after today, and she didn't think she could handle seeing him again.
"I'll think about it."
"Okay, take your time." She paused. "Are you going to stay here in Bucharest after graduation?"
"Yes. It was either here, or St. Petersburg, but I don't want to burden myself with reintegrating myself into a new environment. Sebastian is going to Belem, Brazil." Esma's voice dropped at thought of her only friend going to school across the sea. She couldn't bear the thought of being separated from him; they've known each other for as long as she could remember. But also, it might be good for her heart. Oh, the woes of being young and in love.
Magda sighed and pulled over to the curb, staring at Esma with hard eyes. "Look, Esma. I do not know you very well, but I do know some things about you based on the past year. Time is all you need and I think this separation would be good for you, for the both of you. Boys are stubborn, dense, and incredibly stupid. I should know myself." She bit her bottom lip. "What I'm saying is, don't waste your attention on someone who refuses to acknowledge it - or someone who gives minimal attention back."
"You know, then?"
At this, Magda rolled her eyes. "Please. Everyone knows. When it comes to emotions, you and Sebastian aren't exactly subtle."
Esma tilted her head. "Really? I haven't noticed."
"Which is why you need to see more people. It broadens your horizons."
Magda started the car again and continued on the road. The rest of the car ride was spent in silence, and Esma occupied herself with her thoughts. She didn't know how many times she sat on the window sill of her room, peering through the her purple curtains and into Sebastian's room, wondering if she could rekindle their smouldering romance - if she could call it that anymore. He was never one for socializing, even with her.
Esma knew that she should surrender this fruitless chase - again. If she knew the consequences of her actions, then perhaps she never would've fallen in the first place, but these accursed emotions would not be the only things to disappear. It was best, Esma decided, that she stumbled into Sebastian's life in the first place, and that she wouldn't have had it any other way. The future of the both of them gave Esma, admittedly, much anxiety.
But she did know what she wanted at this moment. She wanted to go home, and home did she go.
After twenty five minutes from leaving Ghencea, they arrived on Strada Dianei, a cramped street with dull brown apartment buildings lining the streets, decorated with colorful graffiti. Magda parked in one of the few spots available and she picked up Sebastian from the back seat, following Esma who shambled to the entrance of the apartment building and had to climb several flights of stairs until they reached the third floor, the second room on the right.
"You can drop him off right there." Esma pointed to a comfortable looking plaid couch. She stared fondly at Sebastian, who had a thin line of drool dripping from the corner of his mouth. Amazing. Even after all that had passed, he still didn't wake up. "You may leave."
"I'll see you later, hopefully." Magda put her hand on Esma's shoulder, squeezing it just a little. "Get some rest." She turned around and made a motion to leave before Esma whispered:
"Thank you."
Surprised, Magda turned around, her golden curls bouncing around the frame of her face. She simply nodded and smiled. "Anytime." And with that, she closed the door behind her, leaving Esma alone in her apartment.
Once she was gone, Esma allowed herself a sigh and from a closet, she brought the sleeping Sebastian a blanket and wrapped it around his body. Then, she trudged up the stairs into her room and quickly set up an alarm for 8:00 AM, an hour before her parents waking up.
She collapsed onto her bed and soon she fell fast asleep.