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The Cassandra Paradox

© 2026 by Feros Litae is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International.

Chapter III: Entanglement

Ashokai stirred awake still wrapped in Vadim’s arms and lay there for a few moments with his face buried in the wolf’s musky chest. He delicately freed himself from Vadim’s embrace and headed to the bathroom, nakedly tip-toeing across the wooden floor. The tile floor in the bathroom was unmercifully frigid. He jumped into the shower quickly and turned on the hot water and went rigid as a blast of cold water hit him, immediately waking him up. As the water became warmer he relaxed and started washing himself.

Streams of red and black from the henna and make-up washing off him circled down the drain. He would be activated today, and possibly claimed as an apprentice. Either way he would become his own source of magical energy, which could vary to certain degrees. His signature could be anything, he would just have to see what shape it took. He heard of some signatures being rather inconvenient or downright dangerous, and require certain objects or instruments to suppress. He stared at the whorl of black and red circling the drain as he lathered and scrubbed himself and lathered his short hair with a tiny dab of shampoo. He was still relatively new to the city and minotaur society in general. It had been almost two years since he left his commune to pursue a career in performance art, ballet specifically. He didn’t really have any plans besides that, and it was starting to catch up to him. He didn’t think about the possibility of being selected for activation although it was always present. As an activated human, the rules would change for him. He would be under surveillance of some kind, ideally a training program or apprenticeship. He would have to answer to other mages. It would be new in a way he didn’t expect. He could still run back to the commune and just be a farmer for the rest of his life with the humans if he wanted to but once he was activated, there was no running back. He would be irreversibly inducted into the empire’s grander designs, whatever they may be.

He flossed and brushed his teeth after drying off. Vadim was gone when he went back to their room. He must have gone to get breakfast somewhere. Ashokai looked at the roses on his dresser again and smelled them. He would at least liked to have known his admirer’s name.

He dressed himself in a long black shirt & pants and headed out of the dormitory to the cafeteria. The campus was large, so there were several cafeterias, and food courts. Ashokai opted for the closest one. It was early in the morning so there were few people there. He snagged an orange juice from one of the fridges & headed back out to the evocation tower further into the campus.

Usually dancers on the ballet teams would hang out and eat breakfast together and he got along well with them but he didn’t socialize that much outside of the company’s official capacity, & their chorosus training. Stefano was actually one of the first people who got to know him when he came to the academy, which was maybe why Ashokai had significantly more patience for him than the other dancers did, among other reasons. Even though he had been living in the city for almost two years, he still felt overwhelmed much of the time, and preferred solitude, though. He still had no idea what he was going to do with the rest of his life and he was about to become a walking source of magic. He knew it was rare for students at his level to be activated unless there were some kind of special circumstance. What was his special circumstance? Performance art? He was competent at it, or so he thought but he still had a lot to learn. He knew how to create basic glamours and illusions but hadn’t learned how to conjure chimera yet, which was a crucial skill for any mesmer. His chorosus wasn’t bad but he definitely wasn’t the best, even on his team. So why him? He was just as puzzled about it the day he received his letter informing him he had been selected.

He never had a reason to visit the evocation tower before now. The first floor was a series of concentric rooms, with a stairwell winding upward in the outer hall way. There was a designated area he was supposed to wait with other latent students. There were twenty so, some of them were chattering, some were by themselves, one of them was poring over a huge old looking book in his lap. Around half of them looked up as he approached and he nodded at them and then sat down in a chair near one of the windows. They were all older than him and he recognized no one. He could feel several curious pairs of eyes boring into the side of his head. He reclined against the arm of the chair and closed his eyes, feigning grogginess so he didn’t accidentally make eye contact with anyone. He should have brought his book bag so he could at least pretend to read something.

He jerked awake to the feeling of a huge hand gently squeezing his shoulder. A brown minotaur wearing pale blue robes was kneeling in front of him, looking down at him with a gentle smile. “It’s time to head up now.” Ashokai jumped out of the large chair, quickly apologized and caught up with the other students walking up the winding staircase. He forgot how tired he was. He did do a show last night, he was surprised he even got up on time. The brown minotaur followed after him and the other humans. They walked the entire staircase to the high evocation room at the top of the tower. Some of the other humans were winded, not Ashokai though. He had done ballet exercises much more intense. After a moment, the huge wooden doors to the evocation chamber opened.

The inside look sort of like an inverted amphitheater with a circular platforms on top of each other. In front of several rows of chairs. “Please take a seat.” The brown minotaur said and all the humans obeyed. The chairs were spaced several away from each other so no one was in each other’s personal space. Ashokai began to wonder why this room was used specifically. Perhaps it had certain qualities pertaining to activation? There were stairs on either side of the room leading up to a semi-circular platform, with minotaurs observing the students below. He figured they were the prospective mages. Maybe not all of them. One of them was wearing a martial uniform he didn’t recognize. A soldier or police officer of some kind.

Ashokai started to feel a bit anxious. He was about to become a living source of magic. He never really considered how it would change his life. He would have to be supervised by a minotaur mage. He might have a dangerous signature. He didn’t really know any other magic besides creating glamours and some other air spells. He knew how to do small things, like freeze small puddles of water, or make them boil at a cool temperature, or slowly draw vapor out of the air. Being his own source would allow him to do more spell work though. Then there was the question of his master. What kind of minotaur would his master be and how was it decided? Ashokai had been selected for a specific apprenticeship program but the college never told him why or what skills he had pertinent to the use of advanced magic in particular. His ballet dancing? His guitar playing? He almost declined, but he figured there must have been some reason he was selected. Becoming a mage wasn’t the worst reason to detour from his performance art studies. It happened to humans all the time, mostly by accident. Humans had more leeway as mages, access to research, & certain institutions, and their outlooks weighed heavier overall. Not as heavy as a minotaur mage’s of course, barring exceptional circumstances.

The human names were called one by one, in no particular recognizable order that Ashokai could tell. They walked up to the central elevated circular platform where a copper minotaur stood. He would place his hand on their head for a moment and then they would walk back to their seat. Rather anticlimactic. One of the minotaur mages walked down from the platform and took aside the first student, who followed him out of the room. “Ashokai of Cider Hill Prefecture” He rose from his seat as his name was called and approached the set up steps leading up the circular platforms to the minotaur. It reminded him of a large multi-layered cake sort of. “Hold still, close your eyes, and relax.” The copper bull told him. He obeyed and felt a large furred hand gently touch the top of his head. He kept his eyes closed expecting to feel something until he heard a deep voice. “Please return to your seat.” He obeyed as the next name was called.

He didn’t feel anything. At least not immediately. He had been extending his auspex as much as he could, he still had a long way to go to master it. He could sense no change so far though. Maybe the room was suppressing it or maybe it just took a while. Ashokai was still trying to perceive any kind of magic at this point. Usually he could sense low amounts of current anywhere he went. Magic was everywhere in small amounts, well usually everywhere. The high evocation room seemed to be completely devoid of it, as if it was blocked out. He figured this was a safety feature, for possible inconvenient magical signatures, or what else went on in here.

After the ceremony, if it could even be called that, the students were dismissed for the rest of the day to wait for further instruction. Ashokai returned to his dorm room and lay down on his bed for a bit, then ended up dozing off for a while only to be awakened an hour or so later by Vadim. “You have a visitor in the common room. It’s a minotaur. Seems like it’s pretty important.”

The wolf chuckled as Ashokai scrambled out of bed, realizing that he had unintentionally fallen asleep then starting to check himself in the mirror, cursing himself. “You’re fine. You look cuter this way even.” said the wolven As Ashokai hurriedly tried to brush the tufts out of his hair and sleepiness from his eyes. Vadim was one of the first people he had met at the University. They had a strange, but casual relationship. As casual as it could get, given how physical Vadim was. He was always trying to prod Ashokai out of his shell, and it worked to a degree. After a few more seconds of gussying himself up the human walked quickly towards the common room.

A large ebon minotaur wearing a black blindfold and a rather revealing uniform consisting of a black leather harness across his chest & a kilt of some sort made from leather straps was sitting on the sofa. It was a well put together outfit, though, even if it didn’t leave much to the imagination. Before he caught himself staring too long, Ashokai quickly bowed, suddenly remembering he was looking at the police officer he saw in the evocation chamber before.

The minotaur twisted his muzzle into a smile. “Ashokai, is it?”

Ashokai, still waking up, nodded his head fastidiously. “Yes, sir.”

The minotaur regarded him for a moment. “Are you alright?”

The human nodded his head again, trying his best to snap out of it. “Yes. Sir. Sorry, I’m just catching up with the morning.”

“That’s one way to say you’re tired.”

“Haha.” Ashokai blushed and looked down. “I suppose it is. Sorry I think I overexerted myself last night. I’m not usually like this.”

“I saw. You are quite the dancer.”

The human’s face began to turn pink. “Oh.” He said, trying to control his shaky voice. “You saw that clumsy mess did you?”

The bull’s booming laughter filled the room. “It was quite an eye-catching ‘clumsy mess’, as you put it.”

Ashokai looked at the bouquet on his dresser, “Did you send me roses?” he asked without thinking about it.

“I did.” The minotaur immediately answered back.

Ashokai looked at the floor again, eyes darting to the bouquet on his dresser & then back to the carpet, this time turning much redder. “Ah. Oh....” He caught his breath. “Uhh, thank you. They were beautiful.”

“As was your dancing.”

The human was beet red at this point. At least that’s how his face felt. He could dance on stage in front of hundreds of people but he couldn’t take a compliment. He did his best to collect himself.

“Thank you.” He said softly.

A small moment passed.

“Wait.” The human said. “I never got your name. The tag was blank.”

“Yes, I apologize. I suppose that’s a bit unbecoming of me. My name carries a certain inertia with it. I didn’t want to draw unwanted attention to you.”

The human nodded.

“I am Nikandros Vsevolod. Pleased to meet you Ashokai.”

“You’re in the imperial family?” The human blurted out, without thinking, again. “Sorry. It’s an honor to meet you.”

The pitch black minotaur snorted. “Yes, I'm one of the emperor's many spoiled grandsons. No need to apologize. I would be the first to admit that these circumstances are rather irregular, but not undesired.”

He looked at the human for a small moment. Ashokai successfully fought the urge to look down again and simply nodded, blushing be damned.

“I have selected you as my potential apprentice, but I want you to understand what will be expected of you, under my guidance. This is ultimately your choice to make and it’s important that you make that choice properly informed of my work. Come sit.”

Nikandros indicated the space next to him with his hand. Ashokai sat down, The bull towered over him and had a very intimidating appearance, but his demeanor towards the human was considerably warm.

“I am an officer of the imperial security force, primarily operating out of Maze, Rusval, which is where you will be relocating. I conduct investigations and gather intelligence, at times my job necessitates enforcement, which you will be not be handling but the nature of this work means the possibility of danger for you. You will be put in situations that are sensitive and you will need to escape or conceal yourself in case they turn critical. You are already trained in chorosus basics, correct?”

Ashokai nodded.

“You will be put through more training before we can work together, I will instruct you in your role while you train. Do you have any questions so far?”

“Yes.” Ashokai said, immediately having one in mind. “How will my abilities pertain to this kind of work? I’m afraid I don’t have much to offer.”

The bull smiled again. “Your background in magical performance art gives you a distinct advantage in our field. Mind magic is important in law enforcement, it makes things much easier, and solves many problems that could only be solved with violence. While you may be put in danger at times, I will protect you with my life, you will be trained to effectively evade and escape danger if need be.”

The human nodded.

“Any other questions?”

“I’m sorry. I’ve just never heard of a human doing this kind of work before. I’m having trouble understanding how I would be be useful. I don’t want to waste anyone’s time.”

“You won’t be. What were are doing is experimental. It has not been tried yet. Humans have distinct abilities that in theory, allow us to do our work more effectively. Chorosus being one of them, in the way that it assists our tempus. Their natural affinity for illusion magic is another. You will have plenty to offer, but your training will be rigorous.”

Dangerous? Experimental?

“I want you to understand that this is entirely your choice. There are many programs & other mages willing to accept you now that you are activated. You have other options.”

Nikandros honestly had to be the one of the most striking minotaurs Ashokai had ever seen. He was pure muscle, had to be at least eight feet tall, not including his horns, which curved slightly outward to the sides then back in, pointing up like spires. They were the regal horn shape, most often found on minotaur nobility. They indicated a thoroughbred blood line. Not always, but like the color of a minotaurs pelt, the horn shape was also a mark of status. Ashokai would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t immediately taken. Swooning over a mage in the imperial family? Really, who could blame him. He knew what the answer was.

“My answer is yes. I want to do this.”

He thought he would be happy dancing ballet for the rest of his life but now he wanted more. He had no idea where this was coming from but he knew he would regret passing it up.

The bull took a small breath and exhaled. “Good.” He said. “Normally a few days passes before relocation but in our case it is will be immediate.”

Ashokai wasn’t entirely sure what he meant. “Should I pack up my stuff?”

“No, that will be taken care of. Don’t worry about anything missing. I assure you the tiniest keepsake is accounted for.”

“Are we relocating right now?”

“In an hour. Sixty-two minutes to be exact. I will wait here for you.”

Ashokai nodded and headed back to his room to prepare.

Vadim found the whole situation quite amusing. Wolven were very present in law enforcement, due to their powerful telepathic abilities.

“I can almost see it. Humans can be quite the liars, and sometimes that’s what you need for that kind of work.”

Ashokai was taken aback. “I don’t make a habit out of lying.”

“That’s not what I mean. The human mind is strange. It’s always making things up, things that don’t exist, then it convinces itself they are real, sometimes so real, that others believe them too.”

Ashokai didn’t know what how to respond. Vadim said the weirdest stuff sometimes. Wolven were often mercurial like that, he felt.

“What I’m saying is, I think you’ll do quite alright.” Vadim said. “I have to go to classes. Goodbye for now Ashokai. Call me when you have time.” He hugged the human, nuzzling him, and then headed out.

Ashokai had then made the mistake of calling Stefano on comms and telling him everything. Stefano would not shut up. So many questions. So much laughter. Stefano was happy for him but also astonished that a “country bumpkin” like Ashokai would wind up being the human of such a high status bull. Apparently, like most minotaurs in the imperial family, Nikandros also was somewhat of a celebrity.

“The paparazzi in Rusval are not supposed to be as bad as down here. So you have that going for you.”

Stefano’s voice said to Ashokai through the earphone.

“I still don’t believe you.” Ashokai said.

“You’ll find out soon enough. You’re hot stuff. Get used to it.”

Ashokai groaned.

“Also, you’ll probably be expected to attend certain public events with him.”

“He didn’t say that.”

“Well it may not be a requirement, but it also will please him if you do, unless for some reason he forbids it, then you’re off the hook.”

“I mean, I wouldn’t mind it.”

“Dressing up all pretty and standing next to your handsome master in front of massive crowds of people? No I don’t think anyone in their right mind would mind it. That’s what we live for, after all.”

Ashokai rolled his eyes. Stefano was just.. so much. He was 64, still relatively young, of course not nearly as young as 25 year old Ashokai, who was practically still a baby. The average human lifespan was around 400 years give or take, with minotaurs lifespans being about ten times longer on average. They both were young.

“Are you attracted to him?” Stefano asked causing Ashokai to let out an exasperated scoff.

“Yeah, I’m looking at his picture right now. Quite the stud.” Stefano continued.

He was being merciless. The hour was almost up.

“I have to go. I’ll talk to you later.” Ashokai said.

“Call me after he fucks you. I want all the details.”

Ashokai snatched the comms device from his ear and stuffed it into his pocket, abruptly hanging up, taking a moment to recover from the conversation.

He came back into the common room where Nikandros was patiently waiting and reading a small book with a wordless black cover. Some kind of notebook? The minotaur rose from his seat.

“Shall we go?” He asked.

The human nodded and followed the minotaur.