Chapter 9: Locket, Library, and Legilimency

It was now early Fall, the year being 1982. Cian had his birthday during the move but Angus, Kira, and Gwyndolyn surprised him with a gift he found to be irreplaceable; after his family found out about his natural abilities in legilimency and occlumency they sent Kira through port-key to New York where spatial magic was regarded as being the most explored. The reason for that was because of the locket currently around his neck. The locket was more of Russian design but the overall appearance of the square turned with gorgeous amber-like waves engraved into it and diamonds rooted to the bottoms of the metal leaves was a sight to behold.

That wasn't the fascinating thing about it, though. After taking off his locket Cian placed it on the floor about a foot in front of himself and spoke out a single word in Latin.

"Augeo."

The locket gave a soft tremble before the chain grew in size along with the actual locket to a five foot by five foot square with the engravings much more noticeable from its size; crouching down his little fist grabbed the clasp, that was now more like a handle, and yanked up to flip the top cover open. Instead his bedroom was Cian and the now black pit that was the inside of the locket. Cian took a deep breath before slowly climbing into the hole, discovering that it held a staircase leading into the depths which now started to light up small lighting stones on either side of the staircase.

Heading further inside he soon discovered that it held the same layout of the mansion he was born in though without as many rooms and the rooms he could not enter were just doors, for now, but there was still more than enough space for him to operate. After running about and memorizing everything he could about it, Cian moved into the large library that looked to go about three stories with all its shelves already filled with books. His face was filled with confusion at who would have parted with this sort of collection but his thoughts were answered when he found a note on the table closest to the door.

-Dear Little Cian,

Our family has decided to give you these books out of goodwill and hopes that you meet the expectations that your mother and father have set. This is but a small gift from a family as old as our own so make use out of it as much as you can. We also had our own trusted people add a weightless, anti-theft, and various other charms to make sure your locket stays safe. We hope to see you sometime soon so I can see my grandson's face my sweet daughter has spoken so much about.

Love, Grandma-

The note made Cian's stomach churn as he read it over a few times. It did not seem like a threat or anything but from looking at the large stretching book shelves and then the words 'a small gift' and 'grandma' only made him worry about who it was. It seemed obvious but the only living grandparents he should have should be on his mother's side, the side that he discovered seemed to be holding the blood of Merlin and Morgana. Although he was the only one with true and full access to it Cian had to guess that maybe over time the sealed bloodline started to dwindle and allowed magicals to appear after his long ago ancestor. If that was the case then he knew now where he was descended from but there were more implications to it that we did not have time to dwell on.

"Guess I need to ask mom about my grandparents after this…"

He set aside the note and started to look over the books on the first floor; it seemed like there was a tier system after he ascended to the second floor and then the third. The first floor held basic books on various magical and non-magical subjects that almost anyone could get at a bookstore. The second was more advanced with those topics being delved further into but thinning out a bit in variety for some topics since that was just how people were, someone may have incredible ideas but most of the time said person may not have the ability to put it into a book. Upon reaching the third floor it seemed to thin out more but the topics it did contain were so advanced that he knew it would take a bit for him to commit all of that information to actual practical use. Overall he was satisfied with his personal hideaway to do various things in, but he did have to be mindful when delving into his locket outside of home since people could easily close the locket, trap, and possibly kill him.

After around an hour more of exploring the room he could in the locket he made his way out, peeking his head through the locket's opening to find his father sitting in a chair waiting patiently. It was rare for his father to come see him unless it was something important so with some haste he fully left the locket. The closing of the locket was as simple as chanting the closing phrase. It was longer than the opening one since it had the added effect of shrinking down the locket after closing and sealing it.

"Clausa et recusare."

The exquisite locket slammed shut and slowly shrunk until it was as it was before opening. Cian knelt down and lifted the chain that had changed back to its thin yet sturdy appearance as he slipped it on over his head. The chain has his mother's special charm on it that shrinks the chain to fit properly on him without falling off or being slipped off him by normal means. When that was settled Cian turned to Angus who gave him a warm smile.

"We have found you a teacher, but I must give you a choice beforehand."

Hearing the serious tone in his father's voice Cian gave a nod of understanding, gazing into his father's eyes but not trying to pry into his mind since there was no real need to and he respected him far too much to encroach on his personal thoughts, even at surface level. Angus gave a nod back before he continued on

"The man teaching you is a good one, but he has many enemies. One of the reasons why he is teaching you in the first place is due to your grandparents acting on behalf of your mother when we searched for a teacher. What I am trying to get across is that you have the choice to have him as your teacher or not but if you do then be prepared to have much more focus on you.."

Angus had to stop to think for a moment before stifling a laugh. It was a bit ridiculous to tell his son this since Cian held two of the most prestigious bloodlines long before Barclay and Van Damme were properly settled into the world. When he was going to continue Cian cut him off with a stern look in his gaze, resolution.

"Father, I understand the danger but I will already have to live with having the blood I was given so adding more onto will be a drop in the ocean of trouble I need to power through. Simple roadblocks like that will not impede me from growing and changing the world."

Angus calmed after seeing the resolve in his young son, he had to remind himself time to time that his child was not even a preteen yet and still he shouldered the pressure of future responsibility for many things, known to Angus or not.

"Good, then let's go meet him."