Diluculum to Hora Prima – Claudia Solace

Claudia Solace sometimes sat alone at the Arcanis Cafe on the Magician's College campus for an early breakfast, and the large space, a mixture of modern and rustic, all recycled wood walls and polished stone surfaces, was empty and quiet until she left close to hora prima.

This morning she still sat alone, but most of the wooden benches were full and the chattering broke the usual morning peace she took advantage of for extra study. Potentially the worst part of it was that — completely out of character for her though it was — this morning she wouldn't mind actually hearing what her fellow students had to say.

But then it wasn't every day that the sun rose early.

A large table in front of her was gradually filling up with curious youth gathering into a crowd as some stood behind the others to listen in. They were loud. After one last failed attempt to look at her notes and books, she got up from her table, left her things where they were, and took the last remaining seat at the popular students' table that no one else had wanted to presume to take. Her heart raced.

No one spared her a glance. The conversation took all of the students' attention. It wasn't angry, exactly, or heated, but the usual debate tone taken by most students — the ability for genial responses to even the most potentially radical or harmful assertions — was tempered by anxiety.

It made the least accomplished students nervous that the most advanced ones had no explanations, nor could they say even so much as whether this was harmless or catastrophic.

It seemed they had gotten possible causes out of the way, as well as possible consequences, and had now moved on to the easiest topic of discussion: politics.

Everyone quieted down a bit to listen when the girl at the top of the class spoke.

Lea said, "They should admit more students to Magicians' Colleges. The university needs to grow if we're expected to come up with any answers when something like this happens. I've been taken on at Nausicaa for graduate research and they only take twenty-four applicants. Most other schools accept about the same, some even fewer. And there are so few undergrads. At every level there are restrictions on how many students can learn how much — and the result is that something as staggering as the sun rising early can happen without our being able to see it coming, without us knowing what caused it, and without us having any idea what is going to happen as a result. The research capacity we currently have is abysmal."

When she finished talking, her speech was almost applauded. She looked satisfied, but the atmosphere still crackled.

Lea's friend Martin disagreed, though. "Restrictions are necessary; they're as good a way as any to limit the dangers of magic. Should everyone just be taught magic, and whoever wants to research it should be admitted to the most advanced programs?"

"Everyone who passes the entrance exams, surely," countered Lea. "Right now there's an arbitrary cap on the number of acceptances, and only the top few hundred are accepted to the University of Soliara, even if there are thousands of other applicants whose scores are only an insignificant percentage of a point lower than the bottom accepted score, and even if other applicants scored perfectly competent results. That's not how education works in any other field, by the way. Most schools are perfectly happy to accept tuition fees from anyone who can even close to compete — anyone who can pay. Money. Magic school should be no different."

Again, the group at large was impressed by her argumentation; they nodded, whispered agreement, and made sounds of assent until the next elocutor spoke.

Arda said, "Well, how do you propose they limit the danger then?"

"If someone had a breakthrough tracing the identities of all practitioners to the router, just like we can already trace location of use, it would be a lot easier to persecute those using magic illegally and dangerously. And to do that, we need to be educating more potential researchers."

It seemed no one else had anything to argue, or everyone feared to be shut down by Lea, and the room quieted.

Claudia was bored and disappointed no one had said anything she couldn't have thought of herself, which was how she felt about most of her university experience, but she still had hope the boy sitting across from her might change things.

Her heart fluttered when Angelus Gloriam looked at each of the students in turn, herself included, and had she imagined it, or did he hold her eyes a little longer than anyone else's?

Impossible. He would never notice her.

There was no clear reason why, but everyone was waiting for Angelus to speak. He even stood up, his hands supporting him on the table, and leaned forward to address everyone, but he also happened to come closer to Claudia than he ever had before.

"My fellow students, the point that should never be forgotten, that must come first and foremost in every decision we make going forward as graduates of this school and licensed magic practitioners — even experts in the industry — is that magic has dangerously limitless potential. It can have catastrophic implications, like the strange phenomenon we're seeing today. Every day that passes, our choices lead down one of two paths: those that restrict, and those that liberate. The path of unregulated and unrestricted magic practice may lead one day lead to devastation and destruction that can never be reversed. If you're of the delusion that magic can't possibly destroy the planet, then you had better go back to your schoolbooks, because you haven't been paying close enough attention to your studies.

"Magic needs to be watched closely — who can access it and what they can do with it. As long as we can't connect the actions committed by magic to the person committing them using the router, there isn't enough accountability, and it's too hard to prosecute law-breakers. The solution to that problem, by the way, is not to throw more researchers at it — but to only allow the best of the best in the room, and give them the resources to succeed."

Claudia perked up at that moment. That wasn't right. She was usually inclined to agree with Angelus, and her admiration for him was bordering on unconditional, but she couldn't let him get away with saying that.

Almost staggering at her own daring, she opened her mouth.

But Lea beat her to it, of course. "How can you say that magic is so dangerous that no one should learn how to use it safely?" Claudia's brain shot out a reply she didn't dare speak aloud: he hadn't said no one, just not everyone. If she weren't too shy to speak, she could have made a better argument, with more precision.

Lea went on uninterrupted, "The more we study magic, the more we might learn ways to make it safer. We're always discovering and inventing new ways to improve our quality of life using magic, and that includes protecting ourselves from magic itself. By all means, steer the next round of development toward improving security systems and bubble shields, preventative magic that keeps people safe, but certainly do not slow down the wheel of discovery."

Angelus answered, "Throwing more researchers at the problem won't solve it. Only the best should be allowed to research and develop, only the best can do it without dangerous side effects and consequences. Don't you know what caused the sun to rise early? Probably something new the president of Constellation is playing with. Probably some energy source, or some new improvement to our quality of life, as you would call it.

"I call it the possible end of our life on this planet — what if it keeps getting worse? What if the planet is spinning faster, and it continues to accelerate, or what if the planet is being pulled closer to the sun? This could well be the end — I'm sorry to sound alarmist, but I don't seem to be getting through to you. More magic practitioners means a higher likelihood that something will go wrong and shatter life as we know it. You would think the president would have learned her lesson, but no, of course, she's surely been playing with time travel or the ability to fly, or invincibility, and now she's possibly brought about the end of our days."

That sounded a bit fanatical, and the students around him murmured incredulously, but to Claudia suddenly everything seemed right and she felt that this was what he wanted to say all along, but he knew that no one would listen. No one except Claudia.

She grinned up at him and was pleased to see he didn't care how his argument was received. It was almost as if he was studying her face for something. And once he had found it, he turned away from the table, still quite sanguine, and left the room. Claudia was left with the inexplicable feeling that he had said it all just for her ears.

But that was impossible. Angelus Gloriam would never notice her.

Thank you for reading Stars Rise. Please let me know your thoughts and leave me your extra stars!⭐️⭐️⭐️