The Interplanar University, # 12— "An Unlikely Case Study"

[Short stories. Images generated by hotpot.ai]

“Run that by me again?” said Ginny, in increasing astonishment.

“Greejuss is a Crusader,” said Hawk, “Technically, I’m a war-priest. Only Anten is an official Witch Hunter.”

She wanted to ask a million questions, the most obvious being ‘why do you hate witches so much?’

But if your entire profession is witch-hunting, where did you begin?

“In my world, you’d all be helpless muggles,” said Ginny, quiet, but forlorn.

“You’re a child,” said Greejuss, “and we’re on University grounds. You won’t die here.”

Notably, violence and other dangerous abilities were constrained in Havenforth University, the interplanar college, but not on the surrounding planes of existence.

“But you all hate me,” she said, nearly whispering, “Your entire life’s work is to wipe us out.”

“That’s a common misconception,” said Anten, “it’s because of benign witches that make witch-hunting difficult to begin with.”

Hawk answered, “The Textus Receptus would not have us tolerate it at all.”

Anten lit joint of rolled tobacco. “The Textus Receptus hinges on language that was corrupted at least a century ago.”

“That’s moslem talk,” said Greejuss, “and how can you possibly defend yourself after lighting one up?”

Ginny, though feeling small at the onset, was now being entertained, peering through an illuminating eyeglass into a world she didn’t understand.

“Explain what you mean by the corruption of language,” said Hawk.

Anten exhaled smoke. “There is no distinguishing between magic and anything else involving ether in her homeworld of Terra. Due to the failure of the masses to adhere to accuracy, ‘magic’ took a life of its own, being blasphemously merged with divine abilities. No wonder they all went screaming towards hell.”

“No… no!” said Ginny, “You have no idea! Where did you learn this!?”

“I’d tell an unbeliever it was logic, but they pretend to singularly own logic,” said Anten.

“Worship it as a god, even when failing to use it,” said Hawk.

Ginny wanted to scream.

“It’s not fair for you to all gang up,” she said, controlling her outrage.

Anten exhaled, “Why are you even here?”

“... the whole purpose of this College is to settle everything.”

“Some things are settled by conquest,” said Greejuss.

“The Bloc believes the same thing!”

“And the Magos?” said Hawk.

“The Magos doesn’t claim to know!”

Normally, this would not be answerable, but they had a career Witch-Hunter with them.

“Is the correct answer to a question merely a claim?” said Anten.

Ginny said nothing.

“Not to patronize,” said Hawk, “but the truth exists separately from Anten’s opinion.”

Ginny said nothing.

“She’s right, you know,” said Greejuss, “three against one.”

“I don’t care about that,” said Anten, “you’re forgetting why we met in the first place.”

“Am I interrupting something?” Asked Ginny.

“Your presence won’t affect the outcome,” said Anten.

“You referred to that dark wizard in one of the planes outside Havenforth,” said Hawk, “Why is it so urgent?”

“He’s… clever. He peaceably attends the University to quietly gather knowledge, and outside the Sphere, he practices necromancy on the plane of Ares, where there are plenty of dead bodies.”

“The Cosmos is huge. Why are we the only ones left to take initiative?” said Hawk.

"Everyone knows Fate is woven into the Sphere of Havenforth," said Anten, "This job was made for us."

“Looks like we won the lottery,” said Greejuss.

“My brother Rori will join us,” said Anten, “We can’t wait for Leblanc, this time.”

Ginny was curious. “So the four of you will stop a necromancer?”

“I could do it alone, if I had enough ammunition,” said Hawk.

After a pause, Ginny said, “Can I join? I know how to fly a broom.”

The three Ethos looked at each other.

“You can,” said Anten, “But let me make this clear: this necromancer is nothing to us, and the same goes for dealing with you. But you’d make an interesting case study.”

“I only need one shot,” said Hawk, “broom or no.”

“She’s a young lady,” said Greejuss, “with healthy life habits. Besides sorcery. But in any case, let’s cool it with the threats.”

Ginny, despite herself, felt gratitude.

She noticed that though they spoke her language, the Ethos had a different active vocabulary than other aspects of Creation, and spurned words found frequently among Magos and other factions. They formed sentences differently, with different cadences, and different assumptions as to what everyone else was talking about. God was self-evident, humankind had a heavenly mandate, Satan was real, and the Moslem Bloc was the single greatest threat to the Cosmos. Though much of the Ethos had a crude understanding of their own Faith, these three turned everything upside down, and though zealots like them were few in number, their overwhelming conviction terrified outsiders.

Ginny, however, was a Gryffindor. Whatever their faith gave them for courage, she could match it. And for the nonce, they would be her case study, even if they thought she was theirs.