Comedy films taught me that there were rules to follow when you’re discovered wearing the clothes of the master of the house. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember any of them, so I decided to use common sense instead.

“Hi, I’m Andross, Amanda’s friend.” I gave her a little bow for good measure. “She’s helping me try on some of her dad’s suits for an event.”

The elderly lady looked me up and down. Her lips were pulled tight, and her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

Then she broke out into a wide grin.

“That look suits you.” She nodded her head feebly. “But I think it’s missing something.”

“Funny, Amanda said the same thing.”

“Of course she did, she inherited my good taste. Give me a moment, and I’ll be right back.” The lady closed the door.

I felt like I had seen that lady before, but I’d never met her. I closed my eyes and tried to follow that sense of familiarity to its source.

A painting of a woman entered my mind.

My eyes opened as I realised where we had met before.

When I had stumbled into Alexis’ study and discovered his paintings, there had only been a single one that was untouched.

It was a painting of a lady, slightly older than average, but not nearly as elderly as the one that I had just encountered.

She looked like she had aged several years.

A moment later the door creaked open again and I stared into the woman’s eyes as she gazed at me. I hadn’t heard her moving at all.

“Here.” She smiled.

She held out her hand and within I saw a small, jewelled flower. It was bright green and had a little yellow bulb in the middle. There was a pin attached to it so that it could be placed quickly on the suit.

It looked a little too expensive for my tastes.

It carried a mild scent that drifted up to my nose. It wasn’t unpleasant. It smelt like mint. I couldn’t sense any magic coming from it.

Had she sprayed it with perfume?

“It’s called a lapel pin, dear.” She chuckled at my expression. “They’re considered quite acceptable at high society events I assure you. Go on, take it.”

I plucked the flower pin gently out of her hand and held it up to my eyes. I had seen these things once or twice back on Earth. They were mostly used at weddings.

The ground trembled and the sound of footsteps entered my ears.

“That’ll be my daughter.” The woman’s eyes sparkled. “Don’t let me bother the two of you.”

“No, you’re not bothering-” The door shut before I could finish.

I was left standing there with a flower in my hand.

Something felt off. I hadn’t found the reason for the mana disappearance. That was the main reason I had gone near the door in the first place.

“Andross?” Amanda’s voice called out into the corridor

I took a few seconds to make sure that I had memorised everything that had just happened. I turned my head and walked back to the room.

“Hey.” A hand waved in front of me. “Anyone in there?”

I broke out of my thoughts and found myself facing Amanda.

"Hey- Yeah, sorry. I just met your mum, she gave me this. Said it would look good with the suit." I showed her the accessory.

Agni looked at me and chirped.

She flew off Amanda’s head and straight onto my hand. She clawed at the flower in my palm and her antics brought Amanda’s attention to it.

“My mum gave you a pin?” Amanda held it up curiously. “Wait. Let me fix it up.”

A moment later she had fixed the pin to my suit and took a step back away from me.

“Kind of old-fashioned, don’t you think?” Amanda created a window with her fingers and checked me over. “I guess it kind of works. Yeah. The more I see it the more I like it. It’s a lot better than my cufflink idea.”

Amanda nodded her head in approval. This suit was the one I would wear to Unice’s celebration. I changed out of it and placed it on the side, the lapel pin ending up in my hand.

“Is that an Oubliez flower?” Amanda’s fingers plucked it out of my palm, and she examined it closely. "Heh. Of course it is. My mum loves these."

“Which flower?” I hadn’t heard of it before.

“We used to have some.” Amanda frowned. “But then Agni burnt them when she was young.”

I looked at Agni and the phoenix ruffled her feathers sheepishly.

“It even smells like it too.” Amanda smiled. “Not bad.”

She passed the pin back to me and then rushed back into the closet room. I stared at her as she brought out more suits.

“Just because we found one good one, doesn’t mean there aren’t others out there.” She stated.

Thankfully, the clothing phase of the day only lasted another ten minutes. After that I spent the next couple of hours talking to Amanda among the multitude of clothes.

I was starting to gain a better grasp on Unice’s situation and the importance of the gathering she was having. I had overlooked how difficult it was to become attuned to metal, and more importantly how that influenced her position in society.

Metal magicians weren’t just valuable for their skill sets, they were also able to teach earth magicians how to attune to metal. At the very least they could do what Ouros and I had done for Unice, and allow her to sense our connection by using our magic around her.

For Unice’s household this was a momentous occasion. They specialised in earth magic, and unlike other households, they would benefit most from having a metal magician.

This was because all of their members focused on earth magic, and in the future Unice could guide them towards metal attunement. Then those members would teach their children, and so on. It was a self-sustaining cycle of power growth.

Unice’s parents also wanted to make the event a show of power. For the first time in the household's history there were two potential metal magicians, Ouros and Unice.

However, Ouros belonged to the branch family, and so Unice’s parents wanted to show the rest of the world that they were still in charge.

“I’ll make sure not to mention anything about that when I’m there.” I spoke.

Amanda had made it clear that it wasn’t proper for people to talk about the family situation at the celebration.

That was okay. I was never much of a gossip anyway.

Gold and I made our way out of the house and back to the academy once the sun started to go down. Amanda had been a huge help, and I had let her know it.

‘I’m heading home from Amanda’s. Help with the portal?’

I’d sent a text off the Gerial before I’d left.

Thankfully, it was still early enough to schedule a portal back home. My texting regent had quickly lit up with his response.

‘Okay. I got it set up.’ He replied.

Gold flew ahead of me as I walked down the noble district. It was starting to grow dark, and I could see the glowing lights of magic more clearly now. The wall was lined with glowing lights and people shuffled back to their homes after the working day was done.

A blue glow behind a bush caught my eyes and I stared at it. The bush rustled and a glowing blue cat emerged from within.

“Hey, Harpo, right?” I waved at the cat.

I didn’t see any sign of my classmate. The cat purred and drew closer to me. I lowered my knees so that I could hold my hand out towards him.

Harpo swiped his paw at my blazer and hissed at me.

I raised my arms defensively. “I don’t get you, I thought we were fine.”

He jumped back, still hissing. One moment he had been walking towards me as though we were friends, the next he was trying to get as far away from me as possible.

I really didn’t understand cats.

Gold flapped down onto my shoulders and squawked at the cat.

It ignored him and with a final hiss at me it strode down the street and leapt into a nearby garden, disappearing.

My eyes followed its path as I walked towards the entrance gate at the wall. I didn’t want the cat to appear and take a swipe at me or Gold while he was angry.

The incident was quickly put in the back of my mind. Cats were cats, in any world.

Instead, I found myself reaching for my texting regent again. Gerial had sent me another message.

‘How was your week?’

I raised an eyebrow at the message and a smile crossed my face.

‘Haven’t unlocked fire attunement but otherwise pretty good.’ I texted back.

Most of my time walking back to the academy was spent texting him back and forth. I hadn’t seen my fellow Marked one since my measurement and he wanted to catch up on everything.

‘You don’t unlock an attunement. You attune to it.’

‘Have you considered wind? It’s the cooler element. I would know.’

‘Have you finished reading I Am Marked? Let me know so I don’t have to worry about revealing spoilers.’

His messages came back to me lightning fast. He wasn’t the kind of person I had thought would be an over-texter, but I responded as quickly as I could.

‘I’ll probably pop by Unice’s.’ A new message popped into my book.

That surprised me.

Unice and Gerial were in two different year levels, but I wasn’t sure how widespread her friend network was. She had invited almost everyone important in school.

Was she going to rent out the guildhall for this?

I looked up after the last reply and found myself in front of the academy grounds. I held up my ID card and the entrance gate opened for me. I walked through it and paused as I saw a distortion in the air in front of me.

The academy building was invisible during the day, but I could see something there at night. It was still transparent, but it was eye-catching enough for me to know that a spell was activated.

I took a step onto the grassy hills and there was an immediate chime in the air. I looked to my side as the mana shifted around me. Waves of purple licked the grassy hills, and a door greeted me.

The portal had activated the moment I entered the school grounds.

“You know the drill.” I raised my arm and Gold flew onto it.

The portal scanned him with magic, and we made our way inside. I still wasn’t sure what security measures it had, only that they apparently considered Gold to be my verified companion.

I stepped into the nexus and the door slammed shut behind me. As always, the first room I found myself in was a hallway. It had stairs leading down into the corridor that would get me home.

Spatially speaking, I don’t think the hallway was strictly part of the nexus. It wasn’t alive, and it didn’t breathe around me. Even the waves of purple only grazed its materials, they didn’t envelop it.

We made our way down the stairs and the rolling waves of purple slowly began to drape over my shoes. There was a clear separation between the marble corridor flooded with water, and the wooden stairs of the hallway.

The moment my foot touched the ground underneath the lapping water I paused. There was something different.

There was a familiar stench in the air.

Gold squawked and his wings beat against the space around him to repel it. I stepped back onto the wooden staircase, but the odor stayed. I took a deep breath, and I searched my memories, trying to pinpoint the familiar smell. Then I narrowed my eyes as I remembered.

It was the scent of rot.