“I don’t know. They looked magical to me.” Genie stared at the spot where they’d been.
“Ireland is meant to be teeming with Chaos, right? Maybe it has something to do with that? Residual energy?”
Genie pursed her lips. “Could be. Or they’re a part of the Institute we haven’t learned about yet. Security hexes that patrol the whole place on a loop, that kind of thing.”
I nodded uncertainly. “I think I’ve heard of that before.” Her theory definitely worked better than mine, but those orbs had given me a peculiar feeling of… I didn’t know, it was hard to describe. A magnetic pull, similar to Leviathan’s hypnotic angler-fish appendage. Anyway, they’d disappeared, and it didn’t look like we’d be getting any answers.
We seized our moment and hurried the rest of the way to the group. They had their backs to us, listening to Charlotte as she swept a hand across the gaping archway. It gave us a chance to slot into the back of the cluster without anyone noticing we’d been gone, though it seemed Nathan had noticed Genie’s absence, judging by the relief that washed over his features when we returned. He really seemed taken with her, but I wasn’t sure how that worked in a place like this—was it okay for assistants to have the hots for a student? I guessed so, or he wouldn’t be so open about it.
“This is the future site of the new Monster Repository. Please be mindful that it’s still under construction and try not to touch anything.” Charlotte didn’t even turn around before pressing on through the archway.
Entering behind the rest of the class, I realized why it had looked so dark from outside. Several hunters stood at intervals around the space, working their magic to build this addition to the Institute’s interdimensional bubble. Sacks of raw building materials sat on the ground beside them, and above it all stretched a gargantuan black tarp that blanketed the space below in semi-darkness. In fact, the only light these workers had to see by were a few wall-mounted lamps and the glow of their own Chaos. With their palms up, they drew out the materials and crafted girders from metal and stone bricks, replicating the architecture of the rest of the Institute. They pulled up shards of glass, which formed more of those stained-glass masterpieces. The end products floated up and slotted into place in the grand puzzle of this new wing.
“I’ve never seen an interdimensional bubble being built before,” one of our classmates whispered, though it was too gloomy to see who’d spoken.
Charlotte glanced back. “It’s impressive. Our Magnetons, Masons, and Igneons work in shifts during the day to ensure it’ll be completed by the deadline.” She pointed into the darkness ahead. “Once the main parts are finished, they’ll start on additional rooms for research and testing, and quarters for visiting hunters.”
“Igneons?” I looked at Genie.
“It’s an ability that blends Earth and Fire, to turn things molten,” she explained. “I guess it’s good for glassmaking.”
Nathan and Charlotte led the group through the tarp-covered entry hall, only to stop again where the construction gave way to an enormous open section. Nathan formed a fireball and tossed it into the yawning beyond. It hovered like a flare in the center of the cavernous addition, though the dense darkness seemed to suck away the majority of the light, leaving behind only an anemic glow. Even so, I could see enough. It didn’t look like much had been done here yet. It only bore the metal and glass skeleton of a massive sphere, the bottom half falling away below the precipice where our guides stood. The bones of metal walkways were partially erected, but it was hard to see how far they stretched, considering this sphere provided almost no light to see by.
“Is this where the monsters are going to be put?” a classmate asked.
Charlotte stared out into the sphere. “Eventually, yes. The bubble poles you saw in the old Repository will go floor to ceiling, with circular platforms that run up and down each pole, accessed by these walkways.”
Suddenly, the glowing lights reappeared on my right and fluttered across the tarp overhead. I pulled on Genie’s arm and jabbed a finger upward. Her gaze flitted toward them, her face scrunching in confusion. Charlotte and Nathan appeared to notice them at the same moment, the latter’s eyes widening in surprise as the lights whooshed about the black sphere.
“What are they?” I piped up. “We saw them a few minutes ago, in the hallway.”
Nathan squinted at the pastel trails, watching the orbs twist around each other before they plummeted down into the lower hemisphere and their glow sputtered out into gaping nothingness.
“I have no idea,” he said, after a moment or two. “I’ve never seen them before.”
“So, they’re not security hexes?” Genie called out.
“Not that I know of.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “They could be remnants of a hunter’s magic, maybe. Sometimes, when a magical is powerful enough, they leave shards of their Chaos behind when they die.”
Charlotte cut in, clearly unimpressed by the light show. “If that were the case, I’d have seen them before. I’ve been here all my life. They’re probably just aids for the workers, to help them see.”
“Then why did they just take a nosedive into this… sphere thing?” I pointed out. Hexes could sometimes have a mind of their own, but these orbs didn’t feel like manufactured puffs of light to help with construction.
Charlotte shrugged. “They could be additions to the décor—magical fairy lights. It wouldn’t be the first time some continental hunter decided to spruce the Institute up a bit. We once had a visiting hunter from Paris who decided to try something out for size and wound up turning the whole East Wing pink. And when I say pink, I mean pink. So bright, I don’t
