01 - Path To True Magic

It was a foggy night in the City of London.

Although all of the signs had hinted at clear weather for the entire day, such a thing proved to be a pipe dream as a moody storm had brewed at the earliest peak of sunlight.

By now, the storm had already long passed, but what it left behind was a damp mist that overtook the streets.

A flock of crows flew overhead as a young man of distinct scholastic presence rushed out of a quaint apartment building.

He had on a rather fancy suit, not the type you'd see a modern businessman wear, but more of the type that a gentleman from the baroque period would have in his wardrobe.

Coupled with a black top hat, a small cane held in his hand, as well as the silver monocle that clung to the right side of his face, he truly looked like a British gentleman.

A half-eaten ice cream was splattered as the man's shoe stomped on it. With a curse, he tried to shake it off but gave up pretty quickly and began to run again.

The wind brushed against his black hair as the man rushed into the nearest taxi.

"Hey, mate. Would you—" The driver couldn't finish his sentence as the man simply pulled out some hundred dollar bills and shoved it to the driver's hands.

"Take me to the other side of the London Bridge!" He said, trepidation laced into his voice.

"Sure, just hop right in." The driver didn't bother to ask any further as he simply nodded with a smile and got into the front seat.

Yanking the back door open, the man in the suit plopped down onto his seat.

Heartbeat racing wildly with adrenaline, he took a deep breath as he proceeded to take out a pocket watch and stared at it intensely.

"You're in a rush, eh?" The driver asked passingly as he glanced at the man through the rearview mirror.

"Yeah, it's an urgent matter." The man in the suit responded, his tone quick and rapid as if that would somehow make the taxi go faster.

The driver simply gave a nod in understanding. After all, in the modern world, everyone had their own businesses to attend to.

Appreciating the silence, the man placed a hand on his forehead before he gave a deep, contemplative sigh.

It wouldn't be long before midnight fell, and he needed to get onto that bridge before then.

As a Magus, this was the chance of a lifetime, and he would make sure that it would be his chance and not anyone else's.

He checked his pocket watch again before taking out a small notebook from his other pocket.

Quickly flipping through the pages, there was a short passage written in ink at one of the last pages.

It read...

In the night brought forth by storm.

When that ancient star is visible to the eye.

The silver moon hangs down from the dark.

Under the great bridge of massacre city.

There lay, that I am.

It was a translated excerpt from an ancient manuscript. Originally, the words ended in rhymes, but it didn't translate over when converted to English.

If he had the time, perhaps he could have still made it into a proper poem, but sadly, he couldn't risk missing any details.

A popular hip-hop song started to play on the taxi's radio as the man gazed outside through the glass, the London Bridge was getting closer.

Well, linguistically speaking, it was him who was getting the closer, not the Bridge, but...

The man frowned as he glanced back at his pocket watch to look at the time.

"Would you go any faster if I payed you more?" He politely asked the driver.

"Well, I would if there was no traffic." The driver responded honestly, showing the heavy traffic up-ahead.

"So are you from around here, or...?" The driver asked as he glanced at the rearview mirror.

"Huh...?" But the man had already vanished. "Where did he..."

Then he heard a vague clang above the taxi.

"Sorry, but I really need to go!" The window had been half-opened, suggesting that the man had jumped from there and climbed on top of the cab.

And then there was another clang as the man's feet slammed onto the windshield before he leapt onto the other car in front.

Although it was nearing midnight, a city such as London was never without an abundant supply of cars moving through the street.

He felt the wind brush against his skin as his feet landed on the metal surface. There was pain, but it wasn't something that would distract him.

Doing something like this so out-in-the open was risky, perhaps it was quite foolish.

But Johan Lawrence knew better.

Getting a fake face was essential for any Magus associated with Clocktower. Mystery was the most important thing in the Moonlit World, but staying completely out of sight was near-impossible for your average Magus.

Up until the 20th century, it really wasn't much of a problem, but in the modern era where cameras and such existed? Someone had to capitalize on that, and the lucky bastard just so happened to be Johan's predecessor, the previous Lawrence family head.

So in essence, it didn't matter if someone saw or not. Just jumping from car-to-car could be reasoned as an impressive athletic feat from an insane person, not necessarily the work of a Magus.

And this fake face would be discarded soon, so Johan's reputation wasn't in any danger.

"There it is...!" Johan almost wanted to shout as he saw a small blinking light in the distant sky.

Of course, it was a star, an ancient star.

The Methuselah Star was normally only visible with a telescope, even then, you couldn't really see it from London due to the severe light pollution.

But tonight was different.

Due to several meteorological factors, the Methuselah Star became visible for an extremely short amount of time every 4 years or so.

Particularly, it was the 5 minute period before and during midnight.

The Methuselah Star was special for one reason. Its age was said to predate the calculated age of the Universe itself.

Perhaps, the astronomers had simply been wrong in this estimate, and that the Universe was much older than originally anticipated, but that didn't matter.

For it was the only lead that Johan had found for the second line in the ancient script.

When that ancient star is visible to the eye.

Furthermore, the following lines also supported this.

The silver moon hangs down from the dark.

There was a full moon in the sky.

Under the great bridge of massacre city.

The only 'massacre city' with such a 'great bridge' should be London.

There lay, that I am.

That means, in this brief period of time after a moody storm, when the Methuselah Star is visible to the naked eye, and the full moon is present, a treasure could be found under the London Bridge.

As for what that treasure was? It was the one thing that he had betted his life on, what his predecessors had entrusted their lives on.

It was the Lawrence's path to the True Magic.

...And Johan would be the one to accomplish the dream of his ancestors.

"...Where is it!?" Johan muttered as his feet landed on the edge of the London Bridge, his breath ragged from the parkour.

The window of a nearby black Impala opened up as the driver inside poked her head out.

"Hey, what are you doing screaming out there, young man!?" It was an old grandma.

Johan ignored her and pulled out a small telescope as he then pointed it towards the water and peered his eyes inside.

The nearby cars also seemed to notice him as multiple people shouted at him, but it all fell on deaf ears.

Johan smiled, he showed a smile that someone would have after winning the lottery.

He had found it.

Pocketing the telescope back into his suit, Johan turned back for a moment.

The honking of cars were loud, but the shouts of the drivers and passengers inside were louder.

Ah, he seemed to have made a scene.

Glancing back at the water, Johan took a deep breath before he exhaled.

And then the Magus jumped off.