Merlin the Magician: 1963: Cloak and Dagger

[DocQuantum]

This is a prequel of sorts to the Destroying Demon story. I've adapted this story from a few chapters of Christine Nightstar's Saga of a Young Dragon story, but added a lot of original material. I hope you enjoy. I'll post a little bit at a time.

[DocQuantum]

by Doc Quantum of the Time Trust and Christine Nightstar

Scotland, November, 1955:

One of the most powerful, yet least-known heroes of the war had been Merlin the Magician, latest descendent of the lineage of the ancient wizard Merlin, who according to legend had been the court wizard of the great King Arthur. When that mighty mage still protected the realm of Britain from threats without and within, he invested much of his power in certain artifacts that would be lost to history and legend alike.

One of those was the Cloak of Merlin, a powerful relic that granted a male descendant of Merlin from every generation the power of the ancient wizard himself. Jock Kellogg was a wealthy London playboy who had spent his fortune in the late 1930s on lavish parties and easy living, only to be left flat broke by 1939. When his wealthy uncle died, Jock inherited nothing more than an old green cloak. It wasn't long before he discovered that it was everything and more that his uncle claimed it to be, for this was the Cloak of Merlin after all, and granted him immense magical powers.

Upon donning it, Jock was changed forever. Gone was his carefree life of endless parties and the pursuit of pleasure, and in its place was his life's work: freeing mankind from the natural and supernatural forces that profited from endless war. By September of 1939, Nazi Germany had invaded Poland, plunging Europe into war. Jock Kellogg, wearing a grey tuxedo and the mystical green cloak, became a mystery-man known only as Merlin the Magician, wandering through the battlefields of Western Europe and providing succor to anyone in need. Finally, with the power of the Cloak he rose up into the heavens and confronted Mars, the god of war and destruction, then pledged his life to the task of freeing Peace, personified as a beautiful woman in a white gown bound by shackles that could only be broken when he had defeated Mars utterly.

But although he achieved a momentary victory as France and Germany signed an armistice, the war was hardly over. The god of war, and the appetite of men for bloody conflict, proved to be more resilient than he could have imagined. For the next couple of years, Merlin the Magician traveled the world, battling the Axis and supernatural menaces that plagued mankind. Although his actions often made the headlines, his name was rarely ever connected with his results. He thought he'd spend the rest of his life as a wanderer, but destiny took his life in an unexpected direction.

Upon the death of his last living relative, Jock inherited the family estate in the highlands of Scotland where he was born. Although he'd rarely visited his homeland since his childhood, Jock decided to stop wandering and take up residence in old Kellogg Manse. There was another reason to do so as well. He had fallen in love with Lady Daphne MacLean, daughter of a local member of the Scottish aristocracy, whom he and his cousin Jepson had known since they were young. Jock had also once saved Lady Daphne from kidnapping and ransom plot during the same case in which he saved his uncle's old estate from being stolen from Jepson, its rightful owner, while Jep was living in the South Seas. But when cousin Jepson Kellogg drowned while saving the life of a child who'd been pulled out to sea during a storm, Jock was obligated to honor his family lineage by taking up residence in the old manor house, and although he continued to travel to distant lands, he always returned home.

As if destiny was pushing them to do so, Jock and Lady Daphne were married in the fall of 1942 and soon began having children. For Jock Kellogg, who had long resigned himself to the life of a lonely wanderer, it was a true joy in 1943 when he first laid eyes on his twin baby boys, whom they named James and Jepson. Two years later in 1945, they had another boy named Justin, and in 1947 they had their last child, a daughter named Jane.

Jimmy and Jep, the two oldest, showed great promise as future magicians, and Jock often wondered if he'd have to choose between the two boys as to who would inherit the Cloak of Merlin. Both of them were certainly worthy, if a bit foolhardy. They reminded Jock of himself as a boy.

Janie was eager to learn the ways of magic, and had a natural gift for seeing mystical creatures such as pixies, fairies, and the like, which were invisible to everyone else except for her and the family dog, Seamus. She had a tender heart like her mother.

And then there was Justin. Sickly as a young child, his big brothers called him the runt of the family. Unlike everyone else in his household, Justin grew up with absolutely no interest in magic. Instead, he had dreams of striking out on his own in a big city in America, and living a life like he'd seen in the Hollywood movies. Jock knew all about that life, and tried to set him straight about how shallow his own life had been before he heeded the call of destiny, but Justin was a stubborn child. The boy wasn't likely to be interested in the same kind of hedonistic pursuits that he'd had as a young man, since Justin's interests were more on the scholarly side. But as the son of the world's mystical guardian, a normal life just wasn't in the cards for him or any of his siblings.

Justin was also blind, after having lost his eyesight at eight years old, and his mother often fretted over him, to his great consternation. Justin didn't want anyone's pity, and was stubborn enough to resist anything his family wanted him to do for what they considered his own good.

Well, almost anything.

On this day, the Kellogg household in the old manse was bustling with noise, which was typical, but today something unusual had happened. Justin had received an invitation to the Grimoire Academy of Applied Learning, located on a mystical isle in the South Pacific, far away from his family and far away from the war. The academy's fourth commencement was due to begin on January 1st of the following year, and young Justin would be the only member of the family to attend the new school for especially gifted students. The problem was that he didn't want to go.

"But I don't want to be a magician!" he shouted at his father. "Besides, Jimmy and Jep are already going to be magicians, so why do I have to train to be one, too?"

In an attempt to stop her husband from giving their ten-year-old son a harsh reply, Lady Daphne spoke up in her soft Scottish brogue. "Tis an honor, and a family tradition to be a magician, Justin -- one that I'll surely never know -- but I've known from the beginning that all of you would become not only magicians, but heroes one day," his mother said. "Even wee Janie."

"Fine," he replied. "Then why don't you send them to the 'Magic Academy' -- I dinna want to go!"

"But the invitation is neither theirs to take, nor yours to give," she said gently. "The Academy has chosen you as a student for a reason. And besides, it's not just about magic that you'll learn, my dear boy -- they'll teach you all kinds of things you'll need to survive in this life when you've no longer got your family to protect you."

Jock Kellogg, who had stood himself up sternly as he looked at his son, sighed deeply, took a breath, and tried to reason with the boy. "Justin, it's my duty to ensure that you're prepared to use the powers your family legacy will give you," he said. "As the descendants of Merlin, we share a powerful affinity for magic that must be harnessed for good, or it could be used for evil against our will."

"But I dinna want the powers -- or the magic!" he shouted in frustration. "I just want to be a normal boy!"

His father turned to shoo Jimmy, Jep, and Janie out of the room; they'd been listening to the argument from just outside the door and tried to be quiet, but at twelve and eight years of age none of them were very good at it.

Lady Daphne walked up to her husband and whispered to him, "Jock, darling, if our wee bairn really doesn't want to go, can't we just send him to an ordinary school?"

"Dearest, the boy cannot ignore the fact that it may someday be his duty to guard the world from mystical threats," replied Jock Kellogg. "He may think he knows what he wants to do with his life, but I know better than most that fate makes fools of us all."

Turning back to speak his final words on the decision, Jock discovered that Justin was already gone. As usual, he had run off to his hiding spot out in a little old shack hidden in the fields of heather, a route that he knew by heart. The old dog Seamus had followed him. At least here young Justin could at least pretend that he had some control over his destiny.

[DocQuantum]

Note: There's one section I haven't written yet, but I plan to insert here later. It takes place a couple of years later, in 1957, when the United Kingdom was invaded and occupied by Nazi Germany. There are a few plot points I want to nail down first before I post it here. But I'm going to post the part that comes after it first.

Edit: Here it is:

***

Justin Kellogg's first year at Grimoire passed by quickly enough, and he was able to spend his breaks at home with his family over the next year.

But in 1957, everything changed. That was the year that the Germans suddenly invaded the British Isles, using the pretense of a supposed English attack on a civilian German ocean liner as justification, though the free world guessed the truth. The United Kingdom, including Scotland, soon became occupied territory.

Now twelve years old, Justin was told that he wouldn't be able to return home again. Grimoire Academy's headmistress, Margo Webster, took pity on the boy and offered to take him under her wing along with a handful of other children who were similarly affected by the war and unable to return to their homes. Instead of going home during the school break like most students, Justin and a few other children were brought to live in Everytown, USA.

There, a young man named Buddy Smith and his wife Betsy, who hadn't been able to have any children of their own yet, opened up their spacious ranch for the students. Buddy introduced himself as Uncle Sam's nephew, though Justin wasn't sure if he meant that literally or not. In any case, Buddy and Betsy became their honorary foster parents while they were each separated from their real folks, and Margo the Magician (as Headmistress Webster was known) checked in on them regularly during their stay there. Even Uncle Sam came for a visit at least once each time.

Justin soon received a telepathic message from his father, who assured him that he and his mother, brothers, and sister were safe and working with the underground to rescue many civilians targeted by the Nazis, and that they wouldn't be able to see him again for a while. The boy was heartbroken, but took the news in stride. It was wartime, after all.

[DocQuantum]

Grimoire Island, November 1, 1962:

It was the day after graduation, and many of the students were either leaving or preparing to leave Grimoire Island. The last three weeks in October had kept every student busy with final exams, including written tests of learned knowledge, skill demonstrations in both magical and practical classes, and tests of physical endurance, often in the wild natural areas. Still, finals week was hardly a challenge compared with what all the students had endured months earlier during Hell Week.

At the end of April, all but the youngest students underwent yet another Hell Week, and despite the high alert over that week, they survived the ordeal once more without any casualties. Hell Week usually began around April 24th and often lasted for a full week. However, students could rest assured that by the end of April 30th, the week was over as well. The forces of Hell, kept at bay all year long, needed to be loosed in limited ways for that one week, much like a valve is occasionally used to release building pressure before it can damage an enclosed space. Because of this recurring yearly event, Grimoire's entire curriculum revolved around this yearly attack from Hell in one way or another. This was the one week of school that they spent much of the year preparing for, since it was much more consequential than midterms or finals. But it was also unpredictable, for when Hell Week finally came, the attack from the marshaled forces of Hell was always a little bit different each time. One year it was a horde of winged demons, another year it was dragons both big and small, and yet another year it came in the form of living fire creatures. Students thus needed to learn to be resourceful in order to take on any type of attack.

The Hell Week of 1956 had been particularly memorable, as the attack from Hell had come in the form of all kinds of werewolves and were-creatures, but at least in the daytime everyone was safe from any attacks, since the were-creatures only came out at night under the full moon. Thankfully it only lasted for the three days of that week before the full moon became a waxing gibbous moon. During that year's Hell Week, the students spent all day making and preparing weapons, armor, and equipment made of or coated with silver. The werewolves hardly stood a chance against a unified student body, with their teachers ready to step in at any moment to help. Justin Kellogg, who was a first-year student only eleven years old at the time, ended up being bitten by a were-cheetah during the height of the full moon on the 25th of April that year, but after the were-cheetah was killed off, he was sent to old Mrs. Goodsoul for healing and was fine the next day.

Last year's Hell Week had consisted of a plague of giant spiders, an intelligent cluster of them that quickly formed giant webs all over the island and poisoned anyone they caught. Once the form of attack was known, the students had busied themselves sealing off all living quarters from insects, donned chainmail armor for protection, and prepared balms and cures for anyone who'd had the misfortune to be bitten. Fortunately, none of the students who'd been bitten were captured long enough to be eaten, though some of the rare mythological creatures that inhabited the island did end up getting killed by the giant spiders. The groundskeeper, Adam Frankenstein, had been left broken-hearted for months when he found the remains of a friendly satyr in the forest who'd obviously been paralyzed by the spiders and partially consumed.

This year, the attack from the denizens of Hell came in the form of supernatural terror through the use of ghosts, wandering spirits, and poltergeists that haunted almost every corner of the island, except certain holy grounds that had been set up as safe zones to protect the youngest and most vulnerable students from harm. Really, any student could use these safe zones for limited amounts of time if they needed them, but the point was that the entire student body was there to learn how to fight off supernatural attacks using all the skills they'd been taught during the school year. And the graduating class was not allowed to use any of the safe zones, because those safe zones were hard to come by in the real world, where they'd face these types of menaces all the time.

All week the ghost hauntings were relentless both day and night, forcing the students to constantly be on guard. Some students tried to stay awake every night and sleep in the daytime using earmuffs during a time when the ghosts were less visible, but the plan was abandoned when it just left a bunch of sleepy, cranky kids who weren't much good to anyone. Since there was no sure way to fight off all ghosts, the students had a number of methods to use against them, from burning rosemary to sprinkling salt. Those students who had been allowed to study advanced magic had many more tools at their disposal, but were limited to certain parts of the island so they wouldn't end up making it too easy for the other students. Most importantly, every student needed to be psychologically prepared and constantly on guard for the sheer terror brought on by the ghostly attacks.

Justin Kellogg, now a tall, gangly young man of seventeen with a shock of unkempt brown hair, had an advantage over most of his fellow students that had kept him from experiencing any of the terror that other students had felt during this year's Hell Week. He was blind, so only spooky auditory sounds had any effect on him, and they were more confusing than frightening. Plus, as one of the few advanced students studying magic at Grimoire Island, ghosts proved to be little challenge for his skills.

The blind seer had been born differently than his older twin brothers James and Jepson or his little sister Jane; he'd been born with a genetic defect that had slowly stolen his eyesight by the time he was eight. In the years since then, he had become the most perceptive member of the Kellogg clan, even more so than his father Jock Kellogg, alias Merlin the Magician. Unlike his brothers, Justin had enhanced senses made sharper than normal because of his missing sight, and could often sense an attack many crucial splits of a second before anyone else could. Thanks to his training at the Grimoire Academy of Applied Learning, Justin had learned how to increase his strength, resilience, and agility, and had also learned the ability to focus his chi, which gave him a whole arsenal of abilities just by concentrating.

At Grimoire, Justin had practiced manipulating air, allowing him to fly and leap incredible distances, and perform many other feats. He had also been able to enlarge shadows and create illusions, though his lack of eyesight limited their use. Besides his magical abilities, Justin had many skills that his fellow students didn't; he had been trained in both hand-to-hand combat and in weaponry, and despite being blind had even been named Grimoire Island's sword-fighting champion last year, being able to sense and even anticipate his opponent's moves better than one could from sight alone.

But his mastery of fighting styles wasn't his main interest, as Justin was a perceptive student adept a solving mysteries that left others baffled. He studied things and people intensely with his other senses, and liked to think of himself as a blind Sherlock Holmes.

With finals now over, Justin had completed his graduation from his seventh and final term at the Grimoire Academy, and planned to attend Columbia University next fall. Justin hoped to be able to stretch his wings for the first time while at Columbia. All his life he'd been forced to do what his family or teachers expected of him, but the decision to attend a normal college with normal students and make normal friends was his alone. With his father, big brothers, and little sister protecting the world from dark mystical forces, and from behind enemy lines in Occupied Scotland no less, Justin was sure that he'd be able to finally live the normal life he'd always craved. And even if that meant he'd never end up using all the abilities he had and the skills he'd trained in, at least it would be his decision.

New York City was an exciting place in a different way than Grimoire Island or Scotland, or any of the strange places he'd visited in his lifetime. It was the home of Plastic Man, the Ray, Firebrand, and Doll Man, to name a few of its famous mystery-men. He was going to learn New York City inside and out. He was going to be somebody there.

But those were thoughts for another time. Right now, his girlfriend Lucy Longwei was waiting outside the girls' dorm for their last date; she was heading back to San Francisco in her home universe of Earth-Samekh tomorrow. (*) Picking up her wrapped gift, he headed downstairs and thought about everything he had planned for their last date on Grimoire Island.

[(*) Editor's note: Earth-Samekh is what the Homo Magi call Earth-S.]

As a modern campus, Grimoire Island had its own movie theatre and dance hall, while the Clock Tower had portals that could take students and teachers to a vast multitude of destinations in the multiverse both in the present and in different eras. As well, during various times of the year, a small seasonal village would appear for weeks at a time at its usual location at Port Sentinel, offering shops that provided services for the staff and students, a few restaurants and cafes, and even an amusement park for students to enjoy when they weren't in classes or busy studying. Since the Clock Room's peak times were arranged weeks in advance, only a limited number of people could use it for travel, and the official class field trips always took priority. That was why many students preferred to visit the wandering village when it was on the island, especially since it always promised new exotic items from the other-dimensional locations it traveled to during the rest of the year. And there were far fewer lineups than at the Clock Tower.

Justin didn't enjoy the same kinds of entertainment his fellow students usually went for, instead preferring to spend his time strolling in the woods, listening to music in his dorm room, meditating in a garden, or just finding a quiet place in the library to read a book either in braille or in ordinary printed text with just a bit more difficulty, since the printed letters were much more difficult to discern even with his heightened sense of touch.

His introverted nature often frustrated his girlfriend Lucy, who could rarely pry him away from his solitude to go out and have fun. He felt sorry for her; Lucy loved to dance and was often complimented on her skill, but she could never dance the way she wanted to with Justin as she might have done with a normal boyfriend. He was leaving tomorrow, so she'd be able to pursue her passion without him.

Despite their differences, he was going to miss the lovely Lucy Longwei when he went back home to Earth-Qoph. (*) She had been the only girlfriend he'd ever had, and now he had to say goodbye, possibly forever since she would be returning to her own home on Earth-Samekh. He decided to give her something to remember him by, something that meant quite a great deal to him: his signed copy of Dracula by Bram Stoker, which he valued more than any other book he owned. He hoped that she'd realize by his gift how much he valued her.

[(*) Editor's note: Earth-Qoph is what the Homo Magi call Earth-X.]

"You're running late for your date, Justin!" a student taunted as he passed by in the hallway, making kissing noises.

"Well, blame the dirty laundry in your room, Lothar -- the stink nearly made me pass out," retorted Justin, much of his old Scottish brogue now gone after years of living on Grimoire Island.

"Hey, we already cleaned it!" exclaimed Jesse, Lothar's roommate.

"Then how come it still smells like sweat socks and jock straps?" joked his own roommate Dylan Flynn, who grabbed Justin by the shoulders and whirled him around to face him. "Here, pal. Let me straighten your tie." Pulling it tight, he added, "Now get outta here, kid. Your girl's waiting for you."

"Thanks, pal," said Justin. "I owe you one!" he shouted, and rushed out the door. Some things never changed, and for that he was sort of glad.

His roommate Dylan Flynn was a fellow Earth-Qoph native who was a year older than him. Instead of going off to college, Dylan planned to travel across the entire free world not yet under Axis Occupation. Privately, Dylan had also confided in him that he hoped to seek out the ways of necromancy and other dark magic forbidden from being taught or used on Grimoire Island. Justin told him he was foolish for even thinking about doing such a thing, but Dylan had always been the rebellious type, and had a thirst for knowledge that rivaled Justin's own. He was sure he'd end up running into Dylan in America eventually, but he wasn't so sure if they'd remain friends if he continued on this course. They were close now, of course, but things certainly hadn't begun that way.

Dylan Flynn, the rough-around-the-edges son of Mister Mystic and godson of Tor the Magic Master, had made Justin's first couple of years at the Grimoire Academy a real living hell. Dylan had tormented the younger student relentlessly for almost two years, until Justin learned to start fighting back. For another couple of years the two were rivals at everything from academics to sports, and Dylan had even made a few attempts to steal Lucy away from him. Things had only begun to change when Headmistress Webster, known as Margo the Magician back home, made them roommates and began privately tutoring them together in advanced magic, something only offered to a few gifted students each year. Somehow, despite the bad blood between them, the two boys grew to become the closest of friends. Still, that was how it was on Grimoire Island; he wasn't sure how it would be in the real world.

Meeting Lucy by the girls' dorm, he tentatively grabbed her hand as they strolled away, using his walking stick in his other hand to steady himself.

"I'm glad we're finally getting out of this place, Justin," Lucy confessed. Although he had never seen her face, Justin knew that Lucy Longwei was a very beautiful girl with shoulder-length raven-black hair and a youthful face that made her look much younger than her age. She was descended from a long line of Chinese magicians, the last three generations of which had protected the community from supernatural threats in San Francisco's Chinatown on Earth-S.

"Me too," he agreed. "But still, I'm going to miss it. I don't know about you, but I found it harder than usual to pack everything up today, knowing I'd never come back here again, at least as a student. To tell you the truth, I'm going to miss everyone here."

"Even Mr. Gallowglass?" she laughed, referring to the formidable Gareth Gallowglass, who held the official title of caretaker, though it was mostly a ceremonial title. Grimoire Island was his island, one that he had fought for and nearly died to defend. All decisions affecting the island had to be approved by him. Essentially he was the Lord of Grimoire Island. At twenty-six years old, he was less than a decade older than any of the grads, but seemed ancient despite his young age. It was because of him that the Grimoire School existed in the first place, though he preferred to keep to himself much of the time, and most of the students shied away from him. Everyone knew the story of how as a child, several years ago, he'd lost his old team of adventurers, the Sentinels of Magic, whose legends had been preserved in the form of seven prominent statues displayed on the campus. (*)

[(*) Editor's note: see Showcase: The Sentinels of Magic: Times Past, 1948: Sacrifices Must Be Made and Secret Origins: The Books of Magic: Times Past, 1951: Founding Fathers.]

"Well, maybe not Gallowglass, but everyone else," Justin laughed. "Well, most everyone. I just wish you and I didn't have to say goodbye so soon."

"Let's not talk about that yet," said Lucy. "Tonight, let's just enjoy ourselves."

"Of course, Lucy, and remind me before the end of the night to give you your present."

"A present for me? Can I get it now?"

"Later, after we get something to eat, and do some dancing," replied Justin.

Lucy's mouth dropped and she started grinning with joy. "You're serious, aren't you?"

Justin just smiled in response; he was going to make this last night on Grimoire Island something special for both of them.

[johnreiter902]

This is a great story. I'm enjoying reading it.

[DocQuantum]

Aug 23, 2021 1:29:13 GMT johnreiter902 said:

This is a great story. I'm enjoying reading it.

Thanks! Glad you're enjoying it. I just added a small section after the first part. I originally planned it to be longer, but I realized it wasn't necessary to get too deep into it.

[DocQuantum]

Justin Kellogg's last night on Grimoire Island was indeed memorable. After dinner at a cafe in the wandering village, he took Lucy Longwei everywhere she'd wanted to go, from the dance hall to the amusement park, and even found the time to take a stroll along the beach, where he gave her his gift. She wasn't sure what to make of it, and by her silence Justin was sure he'd made a mistake, cursing himself for giving her a copy of Dracula instead of something he was sure she'd like, such as flowers or chocolate or a piece of jewelry or...

"It's wonderful, Justin," said Lucy, giving him a hug. "I know how much you love your collection of rare books."

Justin felt dumbfounded when they stopped hugging, having noticed that one of her tears had wet his cheek. But before he could ask her if she was all right, she ran off toward the beach and, screaming, threw off her blouse and dress, and ran into the ocean waves in her underwear. He followed, and soon forgot all his worries as they frolicked in the Pacific waves.

They spent much of the rest of the night in each other's arms at the beach, huddling together for warmth and looking up at the stars that shone brightly in the night sky under a thin crescent moon.

In the morning, he and Lucy made sure to meet up for a last goodbye at the docks, where the stone boat would take the students and some of the faculty back home to their point of origin. But things seemed different now that they were really saying goodbye for good. Last night was all about living in the moment, but today had been about putting things in the past and moving on to a new future.

Justin listened as heard Lucy step on board the boat that would take her to Earth-Samekh and out of his life, possibly forever. To his surprise, he didn't feel much sadness at all. They had been good together, but he always knew that their relationship had a time limit.

It took a couple more hours for the boat to be ready for departure to Earth-Qoph, during which time the headmistress, Miss Webster, came to see Justin at the stone docks. There she presented him with a beautiful Golden Retriever named Rosie as a graduation present, along with a pair of sunglasses.

"I know your extrasensory perception will help you sense things around you that many of us can't," Margo Webster had told him, "but it's also important to keep up appearances as a blind man. Rosie will help you fit in better. She's a seeing-eye dog."

Thanking her, Justin promised to give her best wishes to his father and mother when he next spoke with them, and was soon finally able to board the stone boat. As the odd ship made of stone took off for its inter-dimensional voyage to the mainland, magically floating upon the waters despite its weight and lack of buoyancy, Justin and Dylan Flynn played a few hands of cards before they got bored of it. Justin was tired from staying up most of the night, anyway, and he knew Dylan had been up pretty late as well. They ended up falling asleep in their seats as they sailed home.

Justin had tried to spot when the stone boat passed out of the unique dimensional realm of Grimoire Island and into his own world many times before, but each time he hadn't noticed anything change. The shift between worlds was so seamless that it didn't even cause a ripple in the waters. He imagined it was the same for when the ship headed to each of the other Earths.

The portals in the Clock Room could only be used for a short duration of time, which meant that anyone traveling to or from the island had to return after a few days at most, depending on the destination, so it could never be used for long-term travel, since it could mean death for the traveler. Of course, there was a quicker way of coming and going from the island, by using teleportation, but Gareth Gallowglass had forbidden the practice when the Grimoire Academy was first set up, fearing that it would damage the powerful wards protecting Grimoire Island from attacks either from the outside realms or Hell itself. According to the charter he and the founders had set up, it was only during certain weeks of the year that students or staff alike were allowed to enter or leave the island, since Gallowglass needed to be kept abreast of all visitors.

And then there was Hell Week, in which the barriers between Grimoire Island and the realm of Hell were at their weakest. But even then, both sides had to play by the rules. The attacks from Hell had to be limited in scope, even though they changed from year to year. While Gallowglass was kept busy stopping the worst of these attacks, he was unable to evacuate the island for Hell Week, since that would cause the truce to be broken, and the forces of Hell would have every right to attempt yet another invasion of all five Earths, and many would die. Still, Gallowglass occasionally allowed teleportation during designated times, but usually only through his own psionic power as the Master of the Impossible. Understandably, such instances were very rare.

At their port of entry in San Francisco, California, Justin and Dylan parted ways. Dylan had already arranged to have a motorcycle ready and waiting for him when he arrived for his road trip, while Justin donned his sunglasses and took a taxicab to a train station.

Now on the train to New York City, Justin realized in retrospect that he could have simply gone to the airport and taken a plane there. He certainly would have arrived much more quickly that way. And if he had the ancestral Cloak of Merlin that his father had worn for over twenty years, such a trip could have been nearly instantaneous. But bringing all his luggage with him, not to mention his new seeing-eye dog Rosie, would have been a lot harder to move on a plane. Part of him wished that Dylan Flynn had gone with him, but the trip by train would give Justin time to think about things. Justin had simply taken his seat, and Rosie lay down in front of him. They remained that way for hours as the train made occasional stops across the country.

Finally, after a stop in St. Louis, he heard a voice.

"Hi, I'm Annie." It was a teenage girl around sixteen years old with shoulder-length red hair and freckles who had turned around in her seat in front of him to face Justin.

"Hello, Annie. I'm Justin, and my friend is Rosie."

"That's a lovely accent you have," she said with a smile. "Are you English?"

"Scottish," he replied with a laugh, "though I haven't been back for a while now."

She frowned as she noticed his eyes were unfocused, looking in another direction, behind his smoked glasses. "I hope you don't mind my asking, but are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. I'm just blind," he said, pointing at his sunglasses.

"Oh, I'm sorry about that!" she said with a gasp.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Justin chuckled reassuringly.

"Do you mind if I pet her?"

"Rosie would love it." He heard the girl get out of her seat and come around to pet his dog.

"She's nice. How old is she?"

"Let's see... I only just got her today, but Rosie's about three years old, give or take."

"Annie, stop bothering him and sit down, won't you?" a female voice said from in front of him.

"Oh, she's not bothering me one bit. I never liked flying, so a distraction helps me."

"She knows I don't want her talking to strangers, but I guess seeing your dog was too big of a temptation."

"Well, I introduced myself after she did. I'm Justin Kellogg, going to New York City."

"I'm Gwen, and you've already met my sister Annie," said the young woman, who wore a baby blue headband in her bouncy, shoulder-length auburn hair. "We're going to New York, too."

Justin spent the next few hours talking with Gwen and Annie as they traveled, and he learned that Gwen Bell was eighteen years old, just a few months older than he was, while Annie was more than a year younger at sixteen. Rosie enjoyed the time, too, since Annie had found out where she liked to be scratched and rubbed.

[DocQuantum]

Upon reaching New York City, Justin Kellogg promised to keep in touch with Gwen and Annie Bell, his first and only new friends in the city. To make sure that this wasn't just an empty promise, Gwen arranged to meet Justin the next day so that they could together see the sights of the big city. Before Justin could point out the obvious, that he couldn't exactly see any of the sights, Gwen grew flush with embarrassment and apologized over and over, but promised that she and Annie would describe everything they saw to him. Knowing no offense had been intended, Justin told her not to worry about it and laughed it off.

Exhausted by the trip, Justin took a cab ride to a privately rented apartment in an old brownstone in the West Village in Manhattan that was provided to him by his family, where he would spend the next few months until he could arrange for student housing at Columbia University. As usual, his father had taken care of everything that he might need to live in the big city, and Grimoire had even supplied him with impressive academic records accounting for all the years he'd been there. Justin didn't like the idea of falsifying records, as it seemed like lying to him, but since it was a service provided to all Grimoire families to help ease students back into life in the outside world without arousing too much suspicion, he wasn't about to turn it down.

The next day, Justin met Gwen and Annie at the top of the Empire State Building, where Gwen enthusiastically described the impressive sight of the entire island of Manhattan, as well as the boroughs beyond it. Justin could picture it in his mind's eye as she spoke, and could also fill in much of the details himself with his own senses, though it was hardly the same as seeing it for himself. The beauty of the sight was completely supplied by Gwen, while Annie spent most of her time gushing over Rosie.

Gwen Bell was a mystery to him from the moment they met. Having obtained a job in New York City in a secretarial pool for a large advertising firm right out of high school, Gwen had left her rural home in Missouri with Annie, but wouldn't speak much about it. Justin could only guess that her home life must have been so unbearable that she'd not only left home but also taken her little sister with her. Gwen loved to hear Justin speak about his loving family, even if he often emphasized how stern his father could be, but seemed equally sad as she was happy after listening to his stories, as if she wished she'd come from such a happy home herself.

In a short amount of time, Justin and Gwen began dating steady, which briefly caused a wedge between Gwen and her little sister Annie, who'd had a crush on Justin herself. But once they made sure to include Annie on many of their dates, the spat between the sisters ended as quickly as it had begun. It had also helped that Justin always brought Rosie along. Although he was ostensibly supposed to act as a seeing-eye dog instead of a regular pet, Annie would often volunteer to walk Rosie while Gwen would take Justin's arm.

Things took a turn for the worse in March of 1963. By that time Justin had finally settled into his rented apartment in the East Village, busying himself by going out with Gwen and Annie on walks and to the movies whenever they had a chance, though Gwen was often glared at and shushed by those around them when she described what was happening on the screen to him whenever there was no dialogue. Otherwise, he spent time taking Rosie for walks and pretending to be nothing but an ordinary blind man, even as he studied anything he'd be expected to know in order to attend a secular university. And then, one day, he received a package in the mail from Scotland.

The package, a small, brown cardboard box, looked pretty beaten up. By the dates on the package, which Justin was able to read by sensing the raised ink of the letters on the postage, had been in the postal system for several weeks before it arrived here from Scotland. The young man was used to receiving care packages from his family back at Grimoire, but something about this seemed strange, different. He began to feel a sense of dread as he cut the tape and opened up the box.

Within, he found his father's ancestral cloak -- the Cloak of Merlin -- and broke down and wept. Without needing to read it, he knew what had happened to his father Jock, to his mother Lady Daphne, to his big brothers James and Jepson, and to his baby sister Jane. They were all dead, killed by the Nazis.

Later, he would use his sensitive fingertips to read the note, which was sparse and tersely written, and smuggled out of the country by members of the Resistance. It explained that his father had died in battle against the Nazis, and his brothers and little sister were executed. His mother, the only member of the family with no mystical abilities whatsoever, was killed trying to stop their execution. Putting the note back into the box, he left the cloak inside and closed it, then placed it on a shelf in the closet and left it there, where it would remain until he went to Columbia University.

[DocQuantum]

New York City, September, 1963:

A voice was shouting at a gang of criminals -- murderers and violent felons all -- gathered in the mausoleum headquarters of a certain infamous crime boss. "Do you know how much it cost me to get released from prison? How many dead years have been wasted?"

"No, boss. Sorry, boss," the assembled thugs answered as one.

Their leader came down the stairs, a purely ornamental cane in his right hand. The thin figure wore an old-fashioned black tuxedo, and his long, grim face and balding head was hidden in the shadows beneath his black top hat. "I want to hear some good news, gentlemen. Tell me we have some good news."

There was a long pause before one of the thugs finally spoke up. "Uh, I heard da Yankees are in da World Series dis year, boss." Seeing what was coming next, the others around him began to slowly move away.

The boss narrowed his eyes at the crook for a few silent moments before he pulled out a pistol and shot him in the chest. The thug bit his tongue to muffle his own scream as he fell to his death clutching the wound.

"I meant some good news that was relevant, you dead fool." The crime boss sighed deeply. "Anyone else have any worthwhile leads?"

The crooks looked around at each other for a while. Their death-obsessed boss wasn't too happy after being in the clink for so long, but his patience with them was growing thin as well. Finally, another gained the courage to answer. "Well, there's a collection o' rare artifacts on display at the museum right now. Mebbe they got something valuable enough ta steal."

"Rare artifacts at a museum? How unusual!" he said sarcastically. "Stop being so cryptic. Why is this worth my valuable time?"

"Well, I heard something else that might sweeten the deal," continued the thug. "There's this dagger in the collection, see? Called the Dagger of Mephasat -- used in sacrifices and a whole bunch o' black magic rituals meant to summon demons a long time ago. Well, I heard some stage magician, Harry Black-something or other, was really interested in that dagger. Was even tryin' ta hire a gang of his own to steal it for him."

"That doesn't happen to be Harry Blackburn, did it?" asked the crime boss, intrigued.

"Dat's the name!" replied the thug. "It was just on the tip o' my tongue. Anyway, should be an easy job. Security's light."

"So the world-famous fraudster Harry Blackburn is trying to steal the Dagger of Mephasat, is he?" mused the crime boss. "How delightful. If any of the stories I've heard about that overrated oaf are even half-true, then we certainly mustn't miss this opportunity. Perhaps we can even sell the dagger to him at an inflated price, and sell the rest of those artifacts on the black market!"

The Undertaker chuckled mirthlessly as his men readied themselves to go to the museum. Tonight would be a memorable night for many.

[johnreiter902]

This is such a great story. I love the romance.

I have a question. Is Mary Merlin any relation to the Kellogg family?

[DocQuantum]

Justin Kellogg's dorm room in the student housing at Columbia University wasn't exactly built for privacy, but he and Rosie had settled into it fairly well. It was much smaller than what he'd been used to at Grimoire Academy, and it smelled horrible, had thin walls, and was on the third floor of a nine-story building called Wallach Hall. He could hear everything that was going in the rooms around him, and he had to share a bathroom with several other students on the same floor. On the plus side, because he had a seeing-eye dog with him, he wouldn't be forced to have any roommates, which would afford him some much-needed privacy in his unexpected new career as a mystery-man following in the steps of his father.

A lot had changed in the months since he'd first arrived in New York City. Without the companionship of Gwen Bell, her sister Annie, and especially his dog Rosie, it would have been even lonelier as he waited for the fall semester at Columbia University to begin. He was eternally grateful that Headmistress Webster, alias Margo the Magician, had thought to give him Rosie as a gift. At first he wasn't sure why he'd ever need a seeing-eye dog except for appearances, but as usual she had helped him in ways that he hadn't foreseen. Rosie was his constant companion here in this strange city and this strange land, and was a friend during all those lonely nights when he really needed one.

Justin had found it difficult enough to make friends back home in Scotland, since most young boys didn't have the patience to play with a blind kid, but here in New York City it seemed nearly impossible. He had hoped things would change once he was finally at the university, but now that he was, he realized things would never be as they'd been on Grimoire Island. There, he'd grown up with his fellow students throughout his adolescence, to the point that they had become like family. Here, everyone seemed happy to remain strangers.

The burden of his family's deaths had changed things as well, resulting in his ending up in the family business after all. What was it his mother had once said to him? "Tis an honor, and a family tradition to be a magician, Justin -- one that I'll surely never know -- but I've known from the beginning that all of you would become not only magicians, but heroes one day." That day had come, but in the worst possible way, with the loss of his family in war. There was no escaping the call of destiny, after all.

"Great -- just great," he muttered to himself as he stuck his head out the window. "Well, I can't just hop out the window and fly off into the sky like Black Condor." Using his ability to manipulate air, he was able to feel its every surface, crevice, and texture with a mystical kind of radar, building a clear picture of it in his mind that was more detailed in his memory than it would have been if he'd simply seen it with his eyes like anyone else, except for the lack of pigment. He could feel how the air moved around and through objects, and how everything moved through it. It had taken him several years to refine this ability until he could feel how smaller items such as bullets moved. More importantly, it now took mere moments to sense everything in a room instead of the long time it used to take when he first started using this ability.

Facing his wardrobe, he began thinking out loud. "Well, in storybooks like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, wardrobes are sometimes doorways into other worlds -- why not a doorway to another place in the real world?" As he spoke, Rosie wagged her stubby little tail happily. "Yep, I think this little wardrobe just might prove to be the most useful part of this room. Hmm... yes, but putting a portal right here could also pose a problem. Headmistress Webster mentioned something about it once, that these kinds of portals can invite unwanted guests with mystical senses of their own."

Justin took Rosie's harness off and rubbed her back. "Think we should set up a lock as well, Rosie, girl?" She wagged her tail even harder. "I think so, too. We don't want any baddies dropping in unannounced, do we?"

As the day wore on into evening, Justin changed out of his casual clothes and into his fighting outfit: a long-sleeved black shirt, black pants with a slotted belt, and boots. He also donned a cowl that covered his dark hair and blind eyes, and tied it at the back. It was a simple setup, but looked more contemporary than his father's outfit, which had simply been a stage magician's tuxedo with a green cloak. Justin preferred function over form. Besides, the only part of his outfit that actually mattered was the Cloak of Merlin.

After receiving the package in the mail containing the Cloak and the note that briefly explained how his family had been killed, Justin had spent the last few months in mourning for his family, consoling himself with the companionship of his dog Rosie, as well as Gwen's loving arms, all while simply trying to place one foot in front of the other to keep from giving up altogether. He knew his father had always intended for Justin to follow in his footsteps, and guard the world from mystical threats, but he didn't think he'd ever be the very last member of his family line, the last descendant of the ancient wizard Merlin.

With the start of the fall semester at Columbia, Justin was finally ready to begin a new chapter in his life, but he wasn't exactly sure where to begin. The only thing he knew was that, by donning the Cloak of Merlin for the first time, his life would change forever. It wasn't simply that he would become the new Merlin the Magician, but he would now enter into a realm that his father had become familiar with, confronting gods of war, combatting supernatural entities, and visiting other dimensions. He didn't feel ready for this, but he had no other choice.

Pulling out the tattered cardboard box, he opened it up for the first time since March, six months ago. This time, he placed the explanatory note tenderly aside and carefully pulled the Cloak of Merlin out from the box. Taking a moment to dust it off, he couldn't help but notice the aftershave scent of his father. These weren't simply big shoes to fill, they were massive.

With a deep sigh, Justin Kellogg unrolled the green hooded cloak and placed it around his shoulders, then fastened the clasp at the neck and pulled the hood over his head. To his surprise, it didn't feel at all strange to wear the cloak -- it felt right.

"Dad, I hope you're watching over me right now," he whispered, and with a gesture he opened up the portal in his small closet, taking care to place a locking spell on it before leaping through it.

After what had felt like a blind leap into the dark, Justin Kellogg passed out of the portal and into the shadows of a nearby building.

Taking a moment to allow his senses to map the area, he couldn't help but revel in the thrill of teleporting from one place to another. He knew it wasn't accomplished the same way that his father had once done it, but he was a new Merlin the Magician with skills taught to him on Grimoire Island, and he'd have to forge his own way one step -- or leap -- at a time.

After earlier false starts, he was finally starting over. This was a new town with a new chance to make a name for himself, even if he'd resisted it all his life until now. He was sure he would make his father proud.

As he ran forward, mentally mapping the buildings on the six-square block campus, something suddenly caught his attention, a feeling that he would soon become used to. His mystical senses were warning him of a powerful supernatural threat on the horizon. As the Merlin the Magician of his generation, he was obliged to find out what it was. He just hoped he could find his way back to Wallach Hall afterward.

[DocQuantum]

Aug 23, 2021 12:51:17 GMT johnreiter902 said:

This is such a great story. I love the romance.

I have a question. Is Mary Merlin any relation to the Kellogg family?

This story will answer that question before it's over.

[DocQuantum]

In his study at his New York City home, Darrel Dane frowned as he spotted a certain name in a list he was reading while at his desk. Always too busy either in the lab or fighting crime as Doll Man, Darrel had finally begun to settle down after marrying Martha Roberts ten years earlier. While he had focused exclusively on lab work at first, Darrel finally decided to take a teaching job a few years back after his father-in-law, Professor Roberts, recommended him for the position.

Darrel and Martha had officially retired as Doll Man and Doll Girl in 1953, just before they were married, but since criminals remained criminals, there would always be crimes to stop. Thus Darrel had kept himself in good shape and still fought crime as Doll Man, only not nearly as frequently as before, while Martha only donned her Doll Girl outfit on rare occasions, preferring to devote most of her time to her work as a newspaper reporter for the Daily Bulletin, having done occasional freelance reporting for a few years by then. Doll Man was also an active member of the Freedom Fighters, but he only worked alongside the team whenever Uncle Sam called them together, and that had become all too rare these days.

The war between the Allies and the Axis had become a Cold War fought not directly between the two biggest world powers -- the United States and Nazi Germany -- but mostly in third world countries over resources. The biggest blow to the morale of the Allies had been the loss of the United Kingdom to the Nazis six years earlier, but ever since then things seemed to have settled down quite a bit. Everyone hoped that this would be the end of the global Axis conquests, but Darrel knew better. It was only a matter of time before Adolf Hitler tried  once more to conquer America and the rest of the world. And when that time finally came, Doll Man would rejoin the fight.

For now, though, he was scanning a list of names of all students who had registered for his Chemistry class at Columbia University.

"Now that's strange," he muttered to himself as he focused on one name in particular. Suddenly, his eyes were covered by two small hands.

"Guess who?"

"Hmm... Delicate hands, intoxicating scent, long, lush hair -- it has to be either Phantom Lady or Doll Girl."

"Darrel!" she scolded, and punched him in the shoulder. "You said you wouldn't tease me like that anymore!"

"I never said any such thing, Martha, you did," Darrel replied in an innocent tone. "Besides, I like driving you a little crazy at times."

She glared at him a moment before giving in with a smile. "So what's got your attention tonight? A murderer? A bank robber? Maybe a dirty old man flashing everyone in Central Park?" With the last question, she bit Darrel's ear and started working her way down his neck.

"Knock it off, honey, I'm trying to concentrate," he laughed, but then pulled her onto his lap. "For your information, I just happened to spot the name of a college student enrolled in my class that I recognized. Martha, do you remember that magician from London who moved to Scotland back during the war -- Merlin? What was his name again?"

"Jock Kellogg?"

"Right. Do you think there's any relation to a Justin Kellogg?"

"Isn't that the name of Jock's youngest son, the one who's blind?" she said.

"So," he replied with a nod of his head, "it's a distinct possibility that he'll be in my class this semester."

"Really?" she asked, moving over to look at the list herself.

"Possibly. With one of the Merlin clan in New York City at a time of unrest, we should expect trouble. It could be a coincidence, but I doubt it."

"Why do you look so worried?" asked Martha. "How much trouble can one blind kid get into?"

"Wherever Merlin the Magician went in his travels, there was always trouble," explained Darrel. "I'd imagine the same goes for his son and last living heir. I've got a bad feeling that something's brewing, something that's brought him to live here in New York."

"Darrel, aren't you being a bit of a worry wart? Could it be he's just here to... oh, you know, go to college? Besides, you're always complaining about how much you wish there were more mystery-men fighting crime, so you could finally retire for good this time. If this kid is able to help, despite being blind, isn't it wise to watch and see first?"

"I know you're probably right, but everything else I know is screaming that there's trouble on the horizon with this kid at its center," replied Darrel. "It's not as if I don't have enough on my hands with the news about the Undertaker's escape from prison."

"Oh, dear," said Martha, nodding. "You're right about that. Everyone at the paper is hearing all kinds of chatter about his old gang being brought back together again."

Darrel nodded grimly. "It's only a matter of time before my old foe embarks on a new crime spree. And when he does, Doll Man will be ready for him."

[DocQuantum]

A few hours had passed as Justin Kellogg slowly and carefully traced the origin of the supernatural energy back to its source, something he'd never done before and hoped he could do again, but more quickly next time.

Beneath the Cloak of Merlin, he could sense several things that were wrong, namely the presence of powerful supernatural energy as well as a particular artifact powerful enough to be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands. He perched himself above the building on a ledge overlooking it. Something felt wrong, as if it was a trap. That was when a voice spoke from beside him.

"Merlin the Magician, I presume?" the voice said in a deep and confident tone.

Justin was so startled he nearly jumped out of his skin, something he hadn't thought possible since he'd learned how to use his enhanced senses. Immediately, the young man was ready to fight, and searched around in vain for the source of that voice but could sense absolutely no one. "Who said that?" he demanded. "Tell me who you are, or I'll blanket this rooftop with mystical flame!"

"Relax, son. I'm Doll Man. If you are who I think you are, based on that cloak you're wearing, I knew your father."

It took a few moments for Justin to sense where the voice was coming from. It was from a small, six-inch-tall figure standing on the brick ledge of the rooftop. "I'm sorry, sir," Justin mumbled, chagrined. "You just took me by surprise. This is the first time I've done this sort of thing. I guess you could call me the new Merlin the Magician."

"It's no problem, son," replied Doll Man, then corrected himself. "I mean, Merlin."

"Pleased to meet you, Doll Man -- you're a legend in this town," Merlin the Magician said, reaching one arm out. The diminutive hero took one finger and shook it firmly, smiling as he did so. "So did you sense it too, sir? My supernatural senses were sort of... well, tingling for lack of a better word, and led me here. But... it feels like a trap."

"'Sense it'?" queried Doll Man. "No, I'm afraid I don't have the kind of mystical senses you and your father would have. I came here after doing some old-fashioned detective work and speaking to a few of my underworld contacts. They told me my old foe the Undertaker was planning a heist, but it turns out that there's more to the story than I knew. And the fact that you're here because you sensed something supernatural confirms that suspicion. I'll tell you what I know.

"This evening," Doll Man continued, "I had been tracking down the Undertaker and his whole gang and found them just as they broke into the museum, but I arrived too late to stop him from murdering a guard. I was about to stop them in their tracks, when someone did the job for me -- a once-famous stage magician called Harry Blackburn. I decided to stand back and watch instead of interfering, since I had no idea why Blackburn would be there in the museum after closing hours at all. In the darkness, I also couldn't figure out how he subdued the Undertaker and his gang so quickly, and all at once, but it looked to me like Blackburn had some kind of powerful help, and it didn't look human."

"I sense a demon," said Merlin.

"A demon?" asked Doll Man, surprised. "Well, if you say so, but I didn't see any evidence of any ghosts or goblins in there."

"Trust me," said Merlin more confidently. "I've met my share of them before."

Doll Man nodded and said, "I'll have to take your word for it, Merlin. In any case, you might be right about a trap. But I'm not sure it has anything to do with you or me. Besides the ones I've mentioned, I also saw a woman dressed in a magician's assistant outfit guiding another man who seemed to be walking under some kind of trance. He might be the true victim here."

Merlin the Magician considered the facts. "So what we have is Harry Blackburn, possibly with a demon under his control, who might have enough power to subdue a crime boss and his entire gang, all of them after an artifact powerful or valuable enough to draw out the likes of each of them this evening. And a possible hostage, to boot."

"I believe so, yes," said Doll Man. "I only know Harry Blackburn by reputation, but I understood him to be a formerly decent man who had even assisted the police against criminal plots a few times some fifteen or so years ago. But more recently I've heard dark rumors about him that suggested he'd been seeking true magic -- dark magic -- and might have been corrupted by it."

"That's... very possible," mused Justin, who suddenly began worrying about his friend Dylan Flynn. Could he end up following a similar dark path? He didn't want to believe it, but what he'd just learned about Harry Blackburn was very troubling. He recalled the name as one of his father's old contacts, one who had studied the principles of true magic under Jock Kellogg many years ago, as well as the other magic-based heroes of the day such as Dylan's late father Mister Mystic and godfather Tor the Magic Master. If Blackburn had gone bad, the same thing could happen to Dylan someday, if he wasn't turned away from that path. Turning back toward Doll Man, Merlin began, "What do you think we should--?"

But Doll Man was already gone as quickly as he had appeared.

"Well, I can say this much," began Merlin the Magician, "New York City certainly isn't boring."

With a determined leap from the rooftop ledge, Justin unfurled the Cloak of Merlin and gracefully glided through the air toward the museum rooftop several yards away.

[DocQuantum]

So I'm going to have to do some rewriting of earlier chapters eventually. Hell Week doesn't take place in October at all, but in the spring. I found old notes from discussions with CSyphrett, the original writer of the Grimoire Island stories. I think it was intended to be before May Day (May 1st).

It makes sense, too. Why would Hell Week be at the same time the school year ends, given that Grimoire's school year ends on Oct. 31st?

Hell Week taking place at the end of April is also the reason I stopped publishing Chrissie's Books of Magic stories, as there was no concept of Hell Week in them at all, and would have to be added in at the right time in the 1st semester, even if somehow just in passing.

* School begins on January 1st
* "Hell Week" is at the end of April (Doom's Doorway weakens, allowing in demons from Hell/Darkworld)
* Mid-year break begins on May 1st, lasting for two weeks
* Finals are at the end of September/early October
* Graduation ceremonies for Year 7 classes take place in October
* School ends and students are dismissed on October 31st

EDIT: I have now made these edits! Yay!