Chapter Text
Jamil sighed as he got a text from his poor dormmate. “The threat has been neutralized.” Good, Jamil hated bugs. So naturally when he saw one, he booked it from his dorm faster than his roommate could react. Jamil was headed back to his room when he noticed that a student was leaving out the west entrance. But it was the middle of the night, what business did they have? Was it someone trying to get to Kalim? Jamil couldn’t take that risk and decided to follow, stealthily.
He pulled his hood up as he had accidentally grabbed it on the way out of the dorm, and continued as the mysterious figure made their way out into the sandy dunes. They were headed towards the oasis Kalim usually filled when they had parades. Were they planning a trap? Ambush? Jamil kept his eyes focused as the student before him removed his cloak. The boy was a fellow sophomore like him. Medium length curly black hair and scared blue eyes that looked around the area. Jamil quickly ducked behind a sand dune as the boy nearly spotted him.
Jamil waited a moment, holding his breath like that would do anything to hide him from the other man’s gaze. They didn’t interact much but Jamil went through the list of names and faces he’d been forced to remember for Kalim. Miguel Madrigal Gómez, that was his name. He peaked over the dune. Miguel had his back to Jamil. Was he…digging? Jamil leaned forward to see. Miguel was in fact digging in the sand as Jamil could feel magic gathering around Miguel.
“Gift of foresight, visions of fate. Help me look beyond, open futures gate. Sands of Time!”
Miguel cast his unique magic, all around him, the sand underneath him began to glow blue Jamil saw things rising from the sand. As Miguel pulled them out they appeared to be panes of blue glass. Jamil moved closer, it looked like there were people. Like it was a scene being displayed. Miguel began to gather them up. As Jamil got closer, his foot slipped on a very surprising scorpion which sent him sliding down right in front of Miguel. Both boys froze as they awkwardly stared at each other for a moment.
Now that he was closer, Jamil saw Kalim in one of the glass panes. It was a scene of someone slipping something into his food. Jamil grabbed it and stared at the glass, trying to identify the person.
“What is this?”
“The future… My unique magic allows me to see the future in panes of glass. I make one for each hour of the upcoming day…”
“So this will happen tomorrow?” He held up the glass pane that held the image of Kalim up to Miguel.
He nodded.
How did he not know about this? A unique magic that could see the future. The potential was enormous with a spell like this. He looked at the other panes of glass. A few more had Kalim. He had a real life oracle under Scarabia's roof. How could he not take advantage of this? All the things he could prevent to make his life just a little bit easier!
Jamil gripped his shoulders, fingers digging in so tightly they’d probably leave bruises on Miguel’s shoulders. He flinched as Jamil spoke quietly.
“Who else knows about this? How long have you been able to do this?”
Miguel looked scared and uncomfortable as Jamil realized he was probably freaking out the poor boy. He stepped back and cleared his throat. If he wanted to use Miguel, he would need to do what he always did. Lie in wait, charm, and get Miguel to trust him.
“Forgive me. I got excited. Your unique magic is incredible. Does anyone else know about it?”
“No, I manifested it on my own. So no one knows. I manifested it like 2 months ago.”
Two months. Two months worth of knowledge he’d unknowingly been sleeping on.
“What happens to these glass panes? I assume they disappear over time. How long til they disappear?”
“About an hour. I can’t control what they show me. I just know there’s one for each hour and they focus on one individual at school. Never me.”
“You should’ve said something. As housewardens need to update school records when a student finds their unique magic.”
A lie. There were a lot of students in each dorm. And no one was guaranteed a unique magic. So there was no real need to mention if you had one except for possible bragging rights.
Jamil began to gather up the glass panes into his arms. “I’ll be taking these. Wouldn’t want them to break.”
Miguel tried to protest. “But you can’t. No one human is meant to know how the future is going to play out. I don’t even look at all of them.”
Jamil smiled softly, patting him on the shoulder. “Miguel, I’ll only be viewing the ones involving Kalim. I… care about him greatly. And the last thing I want is to see harm come to him. So please allow me to view these for the time they last.”
Miguel began to protest again but Jamil met his gaze as he spoke the incantation.
“The one reflected in your eyes is your master. Answer when asked, bow your head when commanded. Snakes Temptation.”
Miguel’s eyes began to glow as Jamil smirked. “You’ll carry these to the patio of Scarabia with me. Afterwards you will go straight to your room and sleep. You will remember nothing of this encounter.”
“Yes, master.”