The Hourglass Event
Mana Candle, a normal guy just trying to sloth through is life one day at a time. As with any stories I write, he is suddenly pulled deep into a world he doesn't understand. A world of magic and more simplicity than the world of our own. However, it quickly becomes apparent that things are not all that they seem. This new world is in a war, and the other side is winning. A faction simply known to the public as "Hourglass" is plotting a horrid and vile fate for all that Mana knows.
Chapter One: The Hourglass Event
Hello. My name is Mana Candle. Yeah, stupid name, right? My Mom and Dad were a little strange in the head, and I didn't get to meet them really. Let me guess, you heard "Mana" and thought "Magic" right? Well, Mana is just an internal supernatural force. Which, by definition IS magic. Just a little interesting fun fact before I dive into what's the darkest bit of my life. A month ago, I was a normal guy, a loser just like you. At least, I thought. I lived with my foster father who was always at work, until that one weird day. Now, a month after...
.... (Current Day, Soon to be known as "The Hourglass Event)
I ran down a hallway made of stones, not unlike a castle. The corridor was a long one, with no windows; an Underground Passage. Every seven feet there were flames near the ceiling, floating; the only source of light. Doors passed like blurs, my chest felt like it was about to explode from huffing and puffing. Abruptly, I turned and grabbed a barrel on the side of the path. Throwing it to the side, I slid down a small passage, coming out to a cave-like system. I stared at my feet, in about two inches of water.. I switched my view to my bare arms, and gloved hands. Along my left are there was a long, spiraling scar, and along the right, there was a large black mark about six inches long on the outside edge. Pulling off the gloves that I had I took one last look at the careful stitching. A hexagram on the palm of both, with a color at each corner: Red, Blue, Green, Brown, White, and Black. I softly remembered each of my friends, just before a wave of pain rolled over my heart...
I shook my attention. Various other scars were along my arms. A burn on my left palm, and a strange pattern up my four fingers. The right hand held what looked like a stab mark straight through, and my fingertips were distorted just a bit, like I had dipped them in candle-wax just a few moments to long. Each held a painful memory, but the memories of the people I was with burned ever hotter. I had to clear my head in case..
Suddenly, I heard a sound behind me, the movement of water. I turned suddenly, and slid my left glove back on. A voice called out to me, and I saw a familiar face.
"Mana?" his voice called out. He was a mentor to me. Curser Sief, a confident man. He was a senior in the college part of the school. Long silver hair, red eyes, and always had this cape draping lightly over his shoulders. I always respected him, he didn't need a glove like I did, his had no markings upon them, making him adept. Gloves were a navy blue, for adepts, and a soft gray, for novices, and all of the fingers were cut off. Anyways, this man was confident and wise, just as you'd expect some kind of village elder to be. He tilted his head slightly, and rose his arm to push some hanging plant out of his way, stepping into the dim light of the cavern. He repeated, "Mana, what is it you're doing in such a place?"
I panted, still out of breath from running. Felling calmed, I let down my guard. "Hourglass agents are chasing me." I let out another pant. "I have the book they're looking for. I was just lucky enough to escape a close call back there. I was coming down here to sabotage their-" It took a second, then it hit me. A question that made my chest hurt again. "Curser.. What are YOU doing down here?"
"Me? Oh.. Well, about that, I'm terribly sorry Mana." I saw him raise up his arm, his fingers extended. "Just a tussle."
"Curser, stop fooling around! This isn't the time! You know that without me, their whole plot can't be stopped, right?"
I saw his fingertips begin to glow, and an altered hexagram burn into his glove, in the shape of an hourglass. A menacing reply from my old friend..
"That's the plan." A saw a flash.. then sudden darkness.
.... (One Month Earlier, at Mana's home.)
"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP" Went the alarm clock in my room. I slapped around trying to find the button, then heard a thud on my floor. With a long sigh, I got up, squinting, and picked the alarm of the floor. I firmly pressed the "Stop" button, and placed it back on my night stand. "Ugh, school..." I clumsily got to my feet and pulled on my socks, one foot at a time. I looked around my room. Posters everywhere, dirty clothes hanging off of things, pictures of friends purposely hung in places I never look, etc. I walked over to my dresser and pulled out a shirt and fingerless, plain, navy gloves. Pulling each on, I slipped my feet into my shoes, pulled on a long dark coat, and walked out into the kitchen. "DAD!" I yelled, seeing no sign of him. I let out a sigh, the looked towards the table. A note.
"Dear Mana, I'm sorry about this, but you'll have to walk to school today. I hope you can find your way all right, but something came up at work.
- Love, Dad."
"Asshole." I tore the paper in half and looked at the clock. Half an hour until school began. I decided to skip breakfast and grabbed my backpack. Stepping out of the door to our apartment, I locked the door and put the key in my pocket. A few minutes later, I was out in the large, urban town, and I was totally lost.
"Excuse me Sir?" I tried to get attention. "Ma'am, could you-" Another person just walked right by. I jumped in front of someone. "Hey, could you tell me where the high school is?"
The man looked me up and down for a second, and thought to himself. He then asked me, "So what, you lost?"
"Yeah, completely."
"Sweet!" He pushed me down and grabbed my backpack, then ran off down an alley.
Quickly as I could, I jumped to my feet and ran after him. For more than ten minutes I ran around, before realizing I had lost him, and had even less of an idea where I was now. None of the nearby buildings looked even slightly familiar.
"Pfft, what a dick." I sneered and turned around. There was a man standing there, a dark cloak draped over his shoulders and a hood shadowing his face. He held a small book with a strange magic symbol. It looked like a distorted Hexagram, pulled to look like an hourglass. He had gloves, a bit darker than my own, with the same symbol on the palm.
"Ahh, The wanderer!" He said, a curious and deep voice. "Interesting how I find you again. You did happen to evade me oh so long ago!"
Of course, I had no idea what he was talking about. I turned around to walk away, but to my surprise, he was standing in my path. I let out a gasp and took a step back. I glanced over my shoulder to where he was before. Nothing. Had he just teleported in front of me or something? I decided I wouldn't be able to escape him, so I tried talking. "Who the hell are you and how the hell'd you do that?!" ... I never said I was poetic.
"I am a guardian of regulation, An overseer of over-doings, a sentry of change and an-"
"Okay, you lost me at 'guardian', dude." I took another step back, inching ever closer to the exit of the small alley and towards the street.
"Fine, then I guess I could say, most simply.." He disappeared from view. At first it was like he was blurry, like wearing the wrong glasses. Then, he was just gone. I heard a footstep behind me, then his voice. ".. I'm magic."
I ran a few steps forward, and then turned towards him. I was completely horrified, but at the same time, skeptical. "Magic? Seriously? Magicians make money through card tricks and illusions, not scaring the shit out of a kid in an alley!"
"Oh? I believe those people to more like 'illusionists'." He moved his hands in front of him and the book began to float between them. The book opened, and the pages flipped frantically. The symbols on his gloves began to glow. I heard him mutter, "Perge ad alium locum... Goodbye Mana." Then I felt like I was falling. My stomach felt sick, my skin felt hot.. My mind was racing, trying desperately to cling to consciousness, then suddenly I was overcome by slumber..
.... (Current Day, Soon to be known as "The Hourglass Event)
I ran down a hallway made of stones, not unlike a castle. The corridor was a long one, with no windows; an Underground Passage. Every seven feet there were flames near the ceiling, floating; the only source of light. Doors passed like blurs, my chest felt like it was about to explode from huffing and puffing. Abruptly, I turned and grabbed a barrel on the side of the path. Throwing it to the side, I slid down a small passage, coming out to a cave-like system. I stared at my feet, in about two inches of water.. I switched my view to my bare arms, and gloved hands. Along my left are there was a long, spiraling scar, and along the right, there was a large black mark about six inches long on the outside edge. Pulling off the gloves that I had I took one last look at the careful stitching. A hexagram on the palm of both, with a color at each corner: Red, Blue, Green, Brown, White, and Black. I softly remembered each of my friends, just before a wave of pain rolled over my heart...
I shook my attention. Various other scars were along my arms. A burn on my left palm, and a strange pattern up my four fingers. The right hand held what looked like a stab mark straight through, and my fingertips were distorted just a bit, like I had dipped them in candle-wax just a few moments to long. Each held a painful memory, but the memories of the people I was with burned ever hotter. I had to clear my head in case..
Suddenly, I heard a sound behind me, the movement of water. I turned suddenly, and slid my left glove back on. A voice called out to me, and I saw a familiar face.
"Mana?" his voice called out. He was a mentor to me. Curser Sief, a confident man. He was a senior in the college part of the school. Long silver hair, red eyes, and always had this cape draping lightly over his shoulders. I always respected him, he didn't need a glove like I did, his had no markings upon them, making him adept. Gloves were a navy blue, for adepts, and a soft gray, for novices, and all of the fingers were cut off. Anyways, this man was confident and wise, just as you'd expect some kind of village elder to be. He tilted his head slightly, and rose his arm to push some hanging plant out of his way, stepping into the dim light of the cavern. He repeated, "Mana, what is it you're doing in such a place?"
I panted, still out of breath from running. Felling calmed, I let down my guard. "Hourglass agents are chasing me." I let out another pant. "I have the book they're looking for. I was just lucky enough to escape a close call back there. I was coming down here to sabotage their-" It took a second, then it hit me. A question that made my chest hurt again. "Curser.. What are YOU doing down here?"
"Me? Oh.. Well, about that, I'm terribly sorry Mana." I saw him raise up his arm, his fingers extended. "Just a tussle."
"Curser, stop fooling around! This isn't the time! You know that without me, their whole plot can't be stopped, right?"
I saw his fingertips begin to glow, and an altered hexagram burn into his glove, in the shape of an hourglass. A menacing reply from my old friend..
"That's the plan." A saw a flash.. then sudden darkness.
.... (One Month Earlier, at Mana's home.)
"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP" Went the alarm clock in my room. I slapped around trying to find the button, then heard a thud on my floor. With a long sigh, I got up, squinting, and picked the alarm of the floor. I firmly pressed the "Stop" button, and placed it back on my night stand. "Ugh, school..." I clumsily got to my feet and pulled on my socks, one foot at a time. I looked around my room. Posters everywhere, dirty clothes hanging off of things, pictures of friends purposely hung in places I never look, etc. I walked over to my dresser and pulled out a shirt and fingerless, plain, navy gloves. Pulling each on, I slipped my feet into my shoes, pulled on a long dark coat, and walked out into the kitchen. "DAD!" I yelled, seeing no sign of him. I let out a sigh, the looked towards the table. A note.
"Dear Mana, I'm sorry about this, but you'll have to walk to school today. I hope you can find your way all right, but something came up at work.
- Love, Dad."
"Asshole." I tore the paper in half and looked at the clock. Half an hour until school began. I decided to skip breakfast and grabbed my backpack. Stepping out of the door to our apartment, I locked the door and put the key in my pocket. A few minutes later, I was out in the large, urban town, and I was totally lost.
"Excuse me Sir?" I tried to get attention. "Ma'am, could you-" Another person just walked right by. I jumped in front of someone. "Hey, could you tell me where the high school is?"
The man looked me up and down for a second, and thought to himself. He then asked me, "So what, you lost?"
"Yeah, completely."
"Sweet!" He pushed me down and grabbed my backpack, then ran off down an alley.
Quickly as I could, I jumped to my feet and ran after him. For more than ten minutes I ran around, before realizing I had lost him, and had even less of an idea where I was now. None of the nearby buildings looked even slightly familiar.
"Pfft, what a dick." I sneered and turned around. There was a man standing there, a dark cloak draped over his shoulders and a hood shadowing his face. He held a small book with a strange magic symbol. It looked like a distorted Hexagram, pulled to look like an hourglass. He had gloves, a bit darker than my own, with the same symbol on the palm.
"Ahh, The wanderer!" He said, a curious and deep voice. "Interesting how I find you again. You did happen to evade me oh so long ago!"
Of course, I had no idea what he was talking about. I turned around to walk away, but to my surprise, he was standing in my path. I let out a gasp and took a step back. I glanced over my shoulder to where he was before. Nothing. Had he just teleported in front of me or something? I decided I wouldn't be able to escape him, so I tried talking. "Who the hell are you and how the hell'd you do that?!" ... I never said I was poetic.
"I am a guardian of regulation, An overseer of over-doings, a sentry of change and an-"
"Okay, you lost me at 'guardian', dude." I took another step back, inching ever closer to the exit of the small alley and towards the street.
"Fine, then I guess I could say, most simply.." He disappeared from view. At first it was like he was blurry, like wearing the wrong glasses. Then, he was just gone. I heard a footstep behind me, then his voice. ".. I'm magic."
I ran a few steps forward, and then turned towards him. I was completely horrified, but at the same time, skeptical. "Magic? Seriously? Magicians make money through card tricks and illusions, not scaring the shit out of a kid in an alley!"
"Oh? I believe those people to more like 'illusionists'." He moved his hands in front of him and the book began to float between them. The book opened, and the pages flipped frantically. The symbols on his gloves began to glow. I heard him mutter, "Perge ad alium locum... Goodbye Mana." Then I felt like I was falling. My stomach felt sick, my skin felt hot.. My mind was racing, trying desperately to cling to consciousness, then suddenly I was overcome by slumber..
Chapter Two: Empathy
I slowly regained consciousness, more of a struggle than ever in my life. I didn't know at that time, but It would get worse, much, much worse. Before I even opened my eyes, I knew I was in a bed. Who's bed, you may ask? Well, not mine, I knew. I heard voices in the same room as me, but they came into my head blurry and distorted. As I became more aware of myself, I noticed my whole body seemed to be in a writhing heat. Pain surged through me, but only for a minute or two. I felt something else in the midst of my attack. Something was on my chest. Something warm. A hand, maybe? Yes, it was a hand. There was someone laying next to me. I noticed from the body heat. As I tried to open my eyes, the brightness of the sun-lit room burned. I groaned and sat up, and whomever was laying next to me let out an "oh."
"Neva! He's up!" Said the girl who was laying beside me. I turned and looked at her. Fiery eyes, short red hair thrown in several directions, and bright lips, all which went well with her slightly tanned skin. She was wearing a long brown jacket, some kind of robe that looked like it was older than my father. Bright red gloves with symbols on the back. Under the robe, She was wearing a black tube top, and jeans with holes cut in the knees, and bottoms. Her toes slipped through the bottom cuts.
After staring at her strangely for a few moments, she blushed and turned away. The burning under my skin pulsed again for a moment, and I cringed. Suddenly, I felt a cold hand on the back of my neck, then another on my cheek, turning me towards the person. Opening my eyes again, I saw a girl with long, bright blue hair. She wore an equally old looking robe, and had deep blue eyes, and various trinkets and rings on her arm and wrist. She wore a light blue with small vertical stripes, and was just a few inches taller than the other girl. She also had a dark blue skirt on, going to her knees.
"Hold still, Sky-man." She said to me, as she picked at something on my forehead. I flinched, which I immediately regretted as I noticed blood trickling down my face and down my cheek. "Oh Damn, now you ripped the stitches."
I interrupted, "Uh, excuse me, but Who the hell are you people, Where the hell am I, and Where the hell is my shirt?"
The blue-haired girl sighed. "I'm Neva. The Red-head behind you is Fina. Short for Tiffany." She moved over a bit, and I noticed the rest of a fairly large room, with two other beds, all bunk beds. A large carpet, and the room looked like it was made out of logs. A nice, cozy log house? I noticed stairs, windows, and lanterns. I also noticed another girl in the room, staring at me with a worried face. Green hair, pulled back and tossed about. Same robe, green gloves, a normal looking t-shirt that went just a bit below her neck, and a dark green skirt. She had a book in her lap. "That's Haiz, short for Hazelle."
"We got a few more people in our dorm," Fina added, "but they're out right now. Aili and Tera."
"So, why am I 'sky-man'?" I asked.
"You fell out of the sky," Neva said, "and Haiz caught you." Haiz blushed and hid her face in her book, her knees pulled to her chest. "She's just a bit shy."
"If I fell from the sky, how'd she catch me?"
"Aero Magic, duh."
"...." I thought for a decent response, anything that wouldn't make me sound rude, or crazy on whatever strange planet I had obviously just crash landed on. "Yeah, right, okay. Magic. I got it. Yup."
"So, sky-man, no magic where you come from, eh?" Fina asked.
"Yeah, that's about it. So, I'm gonna take a WILD guess... Haiz is wind, Neva is water, Fina's fire, Tera uses stone?"
"We're predictable? Nah, it's just that the mana changes your physical appearance if it's focused to one element."
"Mana?"
"Yeah, the energy to use these spells." Fina sighed. "I'm hoping they get back soon. Grandmaster Veyva is gonna kill us if he finds a boy here without legitimate reason."
"Probably," Neva said, "but anyways, what's your name, sky-man."
"Mana Candle."
A silence.
"That's creepy ironic." Fina. She moved behind me and wrapped her arms around my torso, resting her head on my back. I heard her sigh, then the burning came back. I fell out of her arms and to the floor, my arms crossed over my chest in agony. In less than a second, Haiz was at my side, sitting me up and holding her hand to my head. The heat subsided, but now it was hard to breathe..
"I think his body is acting this way because of a new environment." Haiz whispered, looking over towards Neva.
"A wise presumption," an older, wiser man's voice echoed from the doorway. Haiz immediately backed up to her chair, and suddenly I could breathe again. Were these people affecting me? "Now, stand boy."
I stood and looked at him. He had a robe as well, but a nicer looking one. It was made out of kind of majestic, dark purple material. "Yes?"
"Speak your name."
"Candle. Mana Candle, sir."
"Calm down, no need to be so formal. My name is Veyva. I enjoy the politeness, however you needn't worry so much. Regardless of how the young girls may have tried to make me seem, I am not a heartless principal."
"Principal?"
"Yes, Mana. You're in a school. Dorm 238, to be exact. This is a school dedicated to the proper teaching of magic to the various students of different levels and ages. You're in a novice dorm, currently, which just happened to lose one of it's members recently." As he said this, my new friends all looked down in a flinch of pain. "It seems a darker force is trying to effect the school and any parallel power. Perhaps your bring here is no coincidence." He looked at my gloves. "Where'd you get those?"
I looked down at my fingerless gloves, then returned my glance to him. "Wal-mart."
"Hm, a store in your world?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well.. if I was to guess on your predicament.." He looked at me. I had a scratch on my head, and a bandage on my lower torso. "You were caught by the young wind mage. Hazelle, you are this young man's savior?"
She blushed and tried to turn from me. "Y-yes, but Neva helped with the healing. She's the smart one when it comes to this stuff. And Fina heated his body, he was shivering when we found him. I didn't do to much."
"He fell from the sky, you say?" He turned to a young girl at his side, whom I hadn't seen before. A stern, smart looking girl, with straight, short brown hair, glasses, and jeans. Her robe was pulled shut, so I couldn't see her shirt. She nodded to Veyva, and he continued, "Then Hazelle, you saved this boy from certain death. He would have been flattened from his fall."
She turned a dark red and walked out of the room. Veyva motioned me to follow him, and Neva gave me my shirt. I walked with Veyva through the school. Major buildings were made of stone, and dorms were wooden. Each dorm held six, he told me, and one of the girls in dorm 238 was recently murdered by, he suspected, a group of sinister mages under a faction known as "hourglass." He walked with me all the way to his place at the end of the way. His house was wooden, and held him and his daughter. I didn't see her, but he said she was a very clever girl. I decided to take his word. I followed him up to an attic type room with a hexagram on the ground.
"This is the room I spend my time in. It allows for great meditation, mana absorption, and is a fine place to read a book. Mana, do me a favor and stand in the center."
I followed his instructions, since I didn't have much else of an idea. The places where the circle met the hex glowed in a strange pattern, and Veyva noted the pattern.
"Interesting." He said, placing his hand on his chin. I noticed Veyva wasn't very old, maybe in his thirties. He wasn't the traditional old grand mage of awesomeness you read about in books and see in movies. He actually seemed very laid back. "Well," he said, interrupting my thought, "I believe you have a very special ability. It explains the symptoms you explained to me, Mana."
"Okay, I'm special. Not only am I foreign, but I'm a freak too." I let out a long sigh.
"No, special doesn't mean bad, Mana. It means good, if you use it right. You have the ability to absorb mana through the emotions of the people around you."
"Wait, what does that mean?"
"You have an Empathetic Energy-link. When people, such as the ones who saved you, direct an emotion towards you, positive or negative, you become stronger. In other, simpler words, You become more powerful with the feelings around you."
"Neva! He's up!" Said the girl who was laying beside me. I turned and looked at her. Fiery eyes, short red hair thrown in several directions, and bright lips, all which went well with her slightly tanned skin. She was wearing a long brown jacket, some kind of robe that looked like it was older than my father. Bright red gloves with symbols on the back. Under the robe, She was wearing a black tube top, and jeans with holes cut in the knees, and bottoms. Her toes slipped through the bottom cuts.
After staring at her strangely for a few moments, she blushed and turned away. The burning under my skin pulsed again for a moment, and I cringed. Suddenly, I felt a cold hand on the back of my neck, then another on my cheek, turning me towards the person. Opening my eyes again, I saw a girl with long, bright blue hair. She wore an equally old looking robe, and had deep blue eyes, and various trinkets and rings on her arm and wrist. She wore a light blue with small vertical stripes, and was just a few inches taller than the other girl. She also had a dark blue skirt on, going to her knees.
"Hold still, Sky-man." She said to me, as she picked at something on my forehead. I flinched, which I immediately regretted as I noticed blood trickling down my face and down my cheek. "Oh Damn, now you ripped the stitches."
I interrupted, "Uh, excuse me, but Who the hell are you people, Where the hell am I, and Where the hell is my shirt?"
The blue-haired girl sighed. "I'm Neva. The Red-head behind you is Fina. Short for Tiffany." She moved over a bit, and I noticed the rest of a fairly large room, with two other beds, all bunk beds. A large carpet, and the room looked like it was made out of logs. A nice, cozy log house? I noticed stairs, windows, and lanterns. I also noticed another girl in the room, staring at me with a worried face. Green hair, pulled back and tossed about. Same robe, green gloves, a normal looking t-shirt that went just a bit below her neck, and a dark green skirt. She had a book in her lap. "That's Haiz, short for Hazelle."
"We got a few more people in our dorm," Fina added, "but they're out right now. Aili and Tera."
"So, why am I 'sky-man'?" I asked.
"You fell out of the sky," Neva said, "and Haiz caught you." Haiz blushed and hid her face in her book, her knees pulled to her chest. "She's just a bit shy."
"If I fell from the sky, how'd she catch me?"
"Aero Magic, duh."
"...." I thought for a decent response, anything that wouldn't make me sound rude, or crazy on whatever strange planet I had obviously just crash landed on. "Yeah, right, okay. Magic. I got it. Yup."
"So, sky-man, no magic where you come from, eh?" Fina asked.
"Yeah, that's about it. So, I'm gonna take a WILD guess... Haiz is wind, Neva is water, Fina's fire, Tera uses stone?"
"We're predictable? Nah, it's just that the mana changes your physical appearance if it's focused to one element."
"Mana?"
"Yeah, the energy to use these spells." Fina sighed. "I'm hoping they get back soon. Grandmaster Veyva is gonna kill us if he finds a boy here without legitimate reason."
"Probably," Neva said, "but anyways, what's your name, sky-man."
"Mana Candle."
A silence.
"That's creepy ironic." Fina. She moved behind me and wrapped her arms around my torso, resting her head on my back. I heard her sigh, then the burning came back. I fell out of her arms and to the floor, my arms crossed over my chest in agony. In less than a second, Haiz was at my side, sitting me up and holding her hand to my head. The heat subsided, but now it was hard to breathe..
"I think his body is acting this way because of a new environment." Haiz whispered, looking over towards Neva.
"A wise presumption," an older, wiser man's voice echoed from the doorway. Haiz immediately backed up to her chair, and suddenly I could breathe again. Were these people affecting me? "Now, stand boy."
I stood and looked at him. He had a robe as well, but a nicer looking one. It was made out of kind of majestic, dark purple material. "Yes?"
"Speak your name."
"Candle. Mana Candle, sir."
"Calm down, no need to be so formal. My name is Veyva. I enjoy the politeness, however you needn't worry so much. Regardless of how the young girls may have tried to make me seem, I am not a heartless principal."
"Principal?"
"Yes, Mana. You're in a school. Dorm 238, to be exact. This is a school dedicated to the proper teaching of magic to the various students of different levels and ages. You're in a novice dorm, currently, which just happened to lose one of it's members recently." As he said this, my new friends all looked down in a flinch of pain. "It seems a darker force is trying to effect the school and any parallel power. Perhaps your bring here is no coincidence." He looked at my gloves. "Where'd you get those?"
I looked down at my fingerless gloves, then returned my glance to him. "Wal-mart."
"Hm, a store in your world?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well.. if I was to guess on your predicament.." He looked at me. I had a scratch on my head, and a bandage on my lower torso. "You were caught by the young wind mage. Hazelle, you are this young man's savior?"
She blushed and tried to turn from me. "Y-yes, but Neva helped with the healing. She's the smart one when it comes to this stuff. And Fina heated his body, he was shivering when we found him. I didn't do to much."
"He fell from the sky, you say?" He turned to a young girl at his side, whom I hadn't seen before. A stern, smart looking girl, with straight, short brown hair, glasses, and jeans. Her robe was pulled shut, so I couldn't see her shirt. She nodded to Veyva, and he continued, "Then Hazelle, you saved this boy from certain death. He would have been flattened from his fall."
She turned a dark red and walked out of the room. Veyva motioned me to follow him, and Neva gave me my shirt. I walked with Veyva through the school. Major buildings were made of stone, and dorms were wooden. Each dorm held six, he told me, and one of the girls in dorm 238 was recently murdered by, he suspected, a group of sinister mages under a faction known as "hourglass." He walked with me all the way to his place at the end of the way. His house was wooden, and held him and his daughter. I didn't see her, but he said she was a very clever girl. I decided to take his word. I followed him up to an attic type room with a hexagram on the ground.
"This is the room I spend my time in. It allows for great meditation, mana absorption, and is a fine place to read a book. Mana, do me a favor and stand in the center."
I followed his instructions, since I didn't have much else of an idea. The places where the circle met the hex glowed in a strange pattern, and Veyva noted the pattern.
"Interesting." He said, placing his hand on his chin. I noticed Veyva wasn't very old, maybe in his thirties. He wasn't the traditional old grand mage of awesomeness you read about in books and see in movies. He actually seemed very laid back. "Well," he said, interrupting my thought, "I believe you have a very special ability. It explains the symptoms you explained to me, Mana."
"Okay, I'm special. Not only am I foreign, but I'm a freak too." I let out a long sigh.
"No, special doesn't mean bad, Mana. It means good, if you use it right. You have the ability to absorb mana through the emotions of the people around you."
"Wait, what does that mean?"
"You have an Empathetic Energy-link. When people, such as the ones who saved you, direct an emotion towards you, positive or negative, you become stronger. In other, simpler words, You become more powerful with the feelings around you."
Chapter Three: Fulmine
"Okay, I can handle that. I'm some kind of energy sponge." I sighed. I felt a bit overloaded by all of this sudden information, but I could deal. "So, Veyva, when can I go home?"
"Well, Mana, I don't know how to send you home." He turned and looked through books. I felt nauseous, like any hope of seeing my life again had just vanished. I felt scared, sad, but most of all, I just felt angry. I was angry at my father for not just driving me to school. If he had been home, I would never been put through this. I don't thank that bastard actually ever cared for me anyways. Why would he? He wasn't even really my father. I wish I knew who my real parents where, but I was just thrown right into the whole adoptions system.
"All right Mana, try this," Veyva said, cutting me off mid-thought. He handed my a small brown book with another hexagram on it.
"I thought Hexagrams were satanic and shit?" I blurted out.
"Well, I'm not quite sure how things work in your world, but here, it's a circle connecting the four major elements, light, and darkness all together. Anyways, hold out your hand and try some simple spells. Using some of the stored energy inside your body may help your strange symptoms."
I held my left hand ahead of me and looked at the first word. I read it, "Ignis," and my fingers began to feel warm. A flame appeared in my hand, but quickly became erratic and lost focus, shooting off past my ear and through the window behind me. I cowered behind the book, but Veyva was unsurprised and told me to continue. I put my hand out again, and read the second spell inside. "Aqua." Of course, a small orb of water appeared, floating over my palm. I was fascinated. However, this spell too quickly went awry, it spiking up and freezing, then dropping to the ground, an icicle which impaled the floorboard. I decided to move on. "Ventus." A small orb of wind spun in my hand. Again, this went wrong and threw papers all over the room. I looked at Veyva. "Dude, as cool as this is, they're all backfiring on me. That first one nearly killed me."
He sighed. "All right, I have on more idea, based on what I've seen so far." He took the spell-book from my hands and gave me a different one. One with a strange, silky purple cover. A twisted silhouette was on the cover.
I shook my attention away from the cover and opened the book, looking at the first spell in the book. I held out my hand, took a deep breath, and said the word. "Fulmine."
A bolt of pain surged through me for a moment, then I heard the crackle of electricity. I looked at my hand and between my fingers, blue bolts sparked for a few moments. They all connected over my palm, and formed a concentrated orb. It then became calm, equalizing itself. Veyva smiled. He laughed. He shook his head.
"That's interesting, Mana. You seem to be utterly unable to use any novice spells whatsoever." He shook his head again. "Yet, here you are with perfect control of an advanced spell."
"I am?"
"Yes. I am stunned. You should train this ability. Stay here with us, since you've nowhere to go. Since there's only one dorm with a space in it, you'll be in Dorm 238. However, be careful. Each of those girls are going through trauma from finding their friend splattered on the walls. Umbra was never good at defending herself. Anyhow, you should train hard, and quickly. News travels fast in this school. I had heard of your arrival before Tabitha and Aili had even arrived at my doorstep."
"Tabitha? Aili?"
"Two of your dorm mates. Tabitha goes by Tera, she was the stubborn young lady whom I arrived in your dorm with. Aili, I warn you, is a bit... eccentric. She's in the lobby now, she'll escort you back."
"I know my way back, you didn't have to."
"She's not escorting you to show you where to go, she's escorting you so you don't get your ass kicked, Mana. Many students see you as a threat. A boy falls from the sky and the school instantly believes you're some sort of demi-god of unimaginable power. Aili is good with protection, you should be fine."
Veyva then shooed me out of the room. I walked down the stairs to the lobby, where there was indeed someone waiting for me. A petite girl, not in height but in every other way, was standing there, rocking on her heels. I was astonished. She had white hair, down and curves out. Her eyes were a very pale gray. Under the customary robe I've come to mention, she had a black and white blouse, shorts, and a black and white checkered belt. She waved dramatically towards me, with a large smile, then skipped over to me.
"Hi, I'm Aili!" she yelled. "You should be my new best friend! You're the boy who fell from the sky, right? I'm Aili! Oh, oops, I said that already. Well, people usually don't like sky people, I think, and people don't like me. I'm Aili. Let's go home!" She grabbed my arm in hers and walked out the door with me.
"So, correct me if I'm wrong, but," I paused, "Is your name Aili?"
"YEAH! How'd you know?!" She looked at my surprised for a moment, then laughed. "I like you, you're funny. We should be best friends. Oh, you get the bottom bunk. I have the top one. Watch out in the morning, I jump down. Do you like eggs? I eat eggs and toast for breakfast. It's nice. I don't like butter though, I put Jam on my toast, cuz I like Jam. Jam is tasty."
"You're really talkative."
"Yeah, people hate me because I'm different. Someone through a snowball at me yesterday, and I think it was a water mage, because it hasn't snowed in three weeks."
We finally got back to the dorm. Aili hugged my arm then flipped up onto her bed, immediately followed by her telling Neva all about her day. Neva patiently listened, smiling. Fina had fallen asleep, and Tera was in the kitchen. I decided to say hi.
"Hey, Tera, right? I'm Mana, the new guy." I let out a small wave.
She looked up from her book and glared at me over the rim of her glasses. "I'm going to be frank with you, Mana. I don't like you, much at all. You're most of my friends' way of replacing a lost one who can never truly be replaced. If I was a mean dorm mate, I'd lock you in the black-room downstairs."
"Black-room?"
"Yeah, each of us have a meditation room. Four in the basement: Me, Fina, Neva, and ... Well, used to be Umbra's. Upstairs are Haiz and Aili. I believe Haiz is upstairs now, go bother her instead." Then Tera turned back to her book and seemed to fully ignore my existence. I started walking up the stairs, feeling like I entered a harem harry-potter novel. As I got to the second floor, I noticed a door on the left and right. One with a sun on it, and another with a tornado. Since I was looking for Haiz, I looked through the small window on the wind door, and she was laying there. There was no walls to the room she was in, and I could see her hair swaying in the wind. I silently opened the door, snuck in, and sat next to her. It was the first I'd seen her not blushing. She had her eyes closed, seemingly at a far away place in her mind.
A small creature flew up and landed on the railing. I moved away a bit, since it looked strange to me. Some kind of reptile with wings, dare I say, possibly some small dragon. Scaly wings and bird like feet, it only examined me for a moment before deeming me as harmless and landing next to Haiz. It was only about the size of a hawk. Haiz turned her head towards it, opposite as myself, and smiled.
"Hello Parva. How are you today?" She brought her hand up behind it head and pet it slowly. "I have so much to tell you, you know. You should have been here yesterday. I was laying here, and I opened my eyes to see someone falling out of the sky! I caught him, and we made him all better." She sat up and held the creature, Parva, in her arms. "He's cute, and he's from another world! Isn't it amazing, Parva? I think Veyva is going to let him stay here. Maybe he'll even stay in our dorm! Oh, how amazing it will be to learn all about a new person! You know how bad I am with people though.." Parva nodded at her. "Yeah.. I'm too shy. I wish I were more assertive. Then maybe I'd have more than just a few friends. I'd like to get to know someone new, you know? This is my perfect opportunity! Parva, you're such a good listener." He nodded at her, then looked over at me. Haiz turned to see, then turned a dark red after noticing I was there. Parva let out some sort of snicker, then hopped out of her arms and flew away again. Haiz looked shocked. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't know anyone was there, I-I come up here and and I um.... Hi Mana!"
It was adorable, watching her fumble for words. I liked her, I wouldn't mind getting to know her better. I decided to get up, then help her up as well. I found it a bit hard to breathe again, but at least I knew why now. I decided to show her what I learned.
"So Haiz, sorry I came in without knocking. Tera told me to come up here and say hi. I met Aili too. She seems... nice.. nice and eccentric."
She still was blushing when she replied. "Yeah, Aili's funny like that.. Soo, what did Veyva say?"
"Well, he told me I'm to live here, with you guys. I'm pretty sure Aili's told everyone down stairs already. He also taught me some magic. Wanna see?"
She nodded, still all blushed up. She took a step back, and I held out my hand, focusing. I looked in the book, memorized the spell,then closed it and put it in my coat pocket. "Fulmine." Again, the lightning danced between my fingers, then met into an orb over my palm. Haiz's eyes widened, as she stared at it. "Wow!" she nearly yelled, "That's an advanced spell, how'd you do that so fast?" She looked up at me, then looks back down again, her blush quickly returning.
"I dunno." I calmed down, and the spell dispersed. "I tried some basic element spells, but I almost burned my face, whipped all the papers out the window, and impaled my hand with an icicle." I shrugged. "So I tried this and it worked."
"Wow, Mana, that's-"
Suddenly, Aili let out a high-pitched scream that carried all the way upstairs. Haiz and I met a gaze, then ran down stairs to see what had happened.
Neva was leaning over a collapsed Aili. She looked up at us, helplessness in her eyes. "She.. she just screamed, then collapsed!"
"Well, Mana, I don't know how to send you home." He turned and looked through books. I felt nauseous, like any hope of seeing my life again had just vanished. I felt scared, sad, but most of all, I just felt angry. I was angry at my father for not just driving me to school. If he had been home, I would never been put through this. I don't thank that bastard actually ever cared for me anyways. Why would he? He wasn't even really my father. I wish I knew who my real parents where, but I was just thrown right into the whole adoptions system.
"All right Mana, try this," Veyva said, cutting me off mid-thought. He handed my a small brown book with another hexagram on it.
"I thought Hexagrams were satanic and shit?" I blurted out.
"Well, I'm not quite sure how things work in your world, but here, it's a circle connecting the four major elements, light, and darkness all together. Anyways, hold out your hand and try some simple spells. Using some of the stored energy inside your body may help your strange symptoms."
I held my left hand ahead of me and looked at the first word. I read it, "Ignis," and my fingers began to feel warm. A flame appeared in my hand, but quickly became erratic and lost focus, shooting off past my ear and through the window behind me. I cowered behind the book, but Veyva was unsurprised and told me to continue. I put my hand out again, and read the second spell inside. "Aqua." Of course, a small orb of water appeared, floating over my palm. I was fascinated. However, this spell too quickly went awry, it spiking up and freezing, then dropping to the ground, an icicle which impaled the floorboard. I decided to move on. "Ventus." A small orb of wind spun in my hand. Again, this went wrong and threw papers all over the room. I looked at Veyva. "Dude, as cool as this is, they're all backfiring on me. That first one nearly killed me."
He sighed. "All right, I have on more idea, based on what I've seen so far." He took the spell-book from my hands and gave me a different one. One with a strange, silky purple cover. A twisted silhouette was on the cover.
I shook my attention away from the cover and opened the book, looking at the first spell in the book. I held out my hand, took a deep breath, and said the word. "Fulmine."
A bolt of pain surged through me for a moment, then I heard the crackle of electricity. I looked at my hand and between my fingers, blue bolts sparked for a few moments. They all connected over my palm, and formed a concentrated orb. It then became calm, equalizing itself. Veyva smiled. He laughed. He shook his head.
"That's interesting, Mana. You seem to be utterly unable to use any novice spells whatsoever." He shook his head again. "Yet, here you are with perfect control of an advanced spell."
"I am?"
"Yes. I am stunned. You should train this ability. Stay here with us, since you've nowhere to go. Since there's only one dorm with a space in it, you'll be in Dorm 238. However, be careful. Each of those girls are going through trauma from finding their friend splattered on the walls. Umbra was never good at defending herself. Anyhow, you should train hard, and quickly. News travels fast in this school. I had heard of your arrival before Tabitha and Aili had even arrived at my doorstep."
"Tabitha? Aili?"
"Two of your dorm mates. Tabitha goes by Tera, she was the stubborn young lady whom I arrived in your dorm with. Aili, I warn you, is a bit... eccentric. She's in the lobby now, she'll escort you back."
"I know my way back, you didn't have to."
"She's not escorting you to show you where to go, she's escorting you so you don't get your ass kicked, Mana. Many students see you as a threat. A boy falls from the sky and the school instantly believes you're some sort of demi-god of unimaginable power. Aili is good with protection, you should be fine."
Veyva then shooed me out of the room. I walked down the stairs to the lobby, where there was indeed someone waiting for me. A petite girl, not in height but in every other way, was standing there, rocking on her heels. I was astonished. She had white hair, down and curves out. Her eyes were a very pale gray. Under the customary robe I've come to mention, she had a black and white blouse, shorts, and a black and white checkered belt. She waved dramatically towards me, with a large smile, then skipped over to me.
"Hi, I'm Aili!" she yelled. "You should be my new best friend! You're the boy who fell from the sky, right? I'm Aili! Oh, oops, I said that already. Well, people usually don't like sky people, I think, and people don't like me. I'm Aili. Let's go home!" She grabbed my arm in hers and walked out the door with me.
"So, correct me if I'm wrong, but," I paused, "Is your name Aili?"
"YEAH! How'd you know?!" She looked at my surprised for a moment, then laughed. "I like you, you're funny. We should be best friends. Oh, you get the bottom bunk. I have the top one. Watch out in the morning, I jump down. Do you like eggs? I eat eggs and toast for breakfast. It's nice. I don't like butter though, I put Jam on my toast, cuz I like Jam. Jam is tasty."
"You're really talkative."
"Yeah, people hate me because I'm different. Someone through a snowball at me yesterday, and I think it was a water mage, because it hasn't snowed in three weeks."
We finally got back to the dorm. Aili hugged my arm then flipped up onto her bed, immediately followed by her telling Neva all about her day. Neva patiently listened, smiling. Fina had fallen asleep, and Tera was in the kitchen. I decided to say hi.
"Hey, Tera, right? I'm Mana, the new guy." I let out a small wave.
She looked up from her book and glared at me over the rim of her glasses. "I'm going to be frank with you, Mana. I don't like you, much at all. You're most of my friends' way of replacing a lost one who can never truly be replaced. If I was a mean dorm mate, I'd lock you in the black-room downstairs."
"Black-room?"
"Yeah, each of us have a meditation room. Four in the basement: Me, Fina, Neva, and ... Well, used to be Umbra's. Upstairs are Haiz and Aili. I believe Haiz is upstairs now, go bother her instead." Then Tera turned back to her book and seemed to fully ignore my existence. I started walking up the stairs, feeling like I entered a harem harry-potter novel. As I got to the second floor, I noticed a door on the left and right. One with a sun on it, and another with a tornado. Since I was looking for Haiz, I looked through the small window on the wind door, and she was laying there. There was no walls to the room she was in, and I could see her hair swaying in the wind. I silently opened the door, snuck in, and sat next to her. It was the first I'd seen her not blushing. She had her eyes closed, seemingly at a far away place in her mind.
A small creature flew up and landed on the railing. I moved away a bit, since it looked strange to me. Some kind of reptile with wings, dare I say, possibly some small dragon. Scaly wings and bird like feet, it only examined me for a moment before deeming me as harmless and landing next to Haiz. It was only about the size of a hawk. Haiz turned her head towards it, opposite as myself, and smiled.
"Hello Parva. How are you today?" She brought her hand up behind it head and pet it slowly. "I have so much to tell you, you know. You should have been here yesterday. I was laying here, and I opened my eyes to see someone falling out of the sky! I caught him, and we made him all better." She sat up and held the creature, Parva, in her arms. "He's cute, and he's from another world! Isn't it amazing, Parva? I think Veyva is going to let him stay here. Maybe he'll even stay in our dorm! Oh, how amazing it will be to learn all about a new person! You know how bad I am with people though.." Parva nodded at her. "Yeah.. I'm too shy. I wish I were more assertive. Then maybe I'd have more than just a few friends. I'd like to get to know someone new, you know? This is my perfect opportunity! Parva, you're such a good listener." He nodded at her, then looked over at me. Haiz turned to see, then turned a dark red after noticing I was there. Parva let out some sort of snicker, then hopped out of her arms and flew away again. Haiz looked shocked. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't know anyone was there, I-I come up here and and I um.... Hi Mana!"
It was adorable, watching her fumble for words. I liked her, I wouldn't mind getting to know her better. I decided to get up, then help her up as well. I found it a bit hard to breathe again, but at least I knew why now. I decided to show her what I learned.
"So Haiz, sorry I came in without knocking. Tera told me to come up here and say hi. I met Aili too. She seems... nice.. nice and eccentric."
She still was blushing when she replied. "Yeah, Aili's funny like that.. Soo, what did Veyva say?"
"Well, he told me I'm to live here, with you guys. I'm pretty sure Aili's told everyone down stairs already. He also taught me some magic. Wanna see?"
She nodded, still all blushed up. She took a step back, and I held out my hand, focusing. I looked in the book, memorized the spell,then closed it and put it in my coat pocket. "Fulmine." Again, the lightning danced between my fingers, then met into an orb over my palm. Haiz's eyes widened, as she stared at it. "Wow!" she nearly yelled, "That's an advanced spell, how'd you do that so fast?" She looked up at me, then looks back down again, her blush quickly returning.
"I dunno." I calmed down, and the spell dispersed. "I tried some basic element spells, but I almost burned my face, whipped all the papers out the window, and impaled my hand with an icicle." I shrugged. "So I tried this and it worked."
"Wow, Mana, that's-"
Suddenly, Aili let out a high-pitched scream that carried all the way upstairs. Haiz and I met a gaze, then ran down stairs to see what had happened.
Neva was leaning over a collapsed Aili. She looked up at us, helplessness in her eyes. "She.. she just screamed, then collapsed!"
Chapter Four: Conflict
Aili was laid down on my bed, since it was lower. It took about an hour for her to come back around. Neva had stayed by her side the whole time, checking on her temperature and other various elements of her health. For a world I hadn't seen a single electric outlet in yet, they had fairly good ways of checking health. However, Aili had a lot to say when she woke up.
"I saw a man, a man in a black robe, and it had wings on the shoulders, like printed on it, and it was like, bones. Bone wings! So, he was wearing this robe, and on the front of it there was an eye, but it was orange! An orange eye. So, then, he had the glove we use, but instead of the Hexies, he had more of an hourglass thingie on his, and they were black gloves, with the glowing hourglass thingies! And he was holding his hands out to the sides like that, but there was a big shadow thing behind him, and it was all like rawwrr! So I screamed and then everything when black as the shadow thing covered the sky, then I was cold, then I woke up."
"......"
"Interesting, Aili. Well, why don't you go upstairs and focus in your sun-room, and we'll come get you when Fina finishes making dinner." Neva said, weirded out by another one of Aili's frequent monologues.
Aili nodded and hopped - literally- up the stairs. A door closed, then Neva sighed. Fina walked out of the kitchen with an apron on. "Well, I've got some good news, and some bad news. Good news is, I finished the large part of dinner. The problem is the smaller portion."
"What's the problem?" Haiz asked.
Fina moved to the side a bit, and turned her head towards the table. Parva, the little dragon-like monster from earlier, was laying in the remains of the bowl of bread rolls. "Him."
"Oh my!" Haiz yelled, running over and pulling him out of the bowl. "No, no, no! Bad Parva!" She opened the door and continues scolding him outside, but I could no longer understand her though the wall.
"Well," Tera said from behind us, her nose still in her book. "I guess I'm skipping bread tonight."
"No one asked you." Fina said, then turned back to the kitchen.
The door to the dorm opened, and someone I'd never seen before walked in. Another girl- kill me- with long silver-ish hair. Not many more mentionable features, other than her robe was gray, and stitch-less, meaning it was probably newer, and she was probably a different rank then everyone in this dorm. Her very presence was condescending, and she seemed to glimmer with pride. Haiz leaned over to me, and whispered in my ear. "That's Veyva's daughter, Veno. She's snobby and self-centered, and anyone who's not directly useful or likable to her is instantly voided as pathetic in her eyes.. I don't like her."
Veno looked at me for a second, a scowl slowly appearing on her face. "Is this the sky kid? He looks pathetic."
Tera nodded to Veno. "Yeah, that's him. I don't like him either, he's going to drag the whole dorm down. Your father decided that we should house him because Haiz caught him, and Umbra's dead now."
"As long as I don't have to see him after this, I don't care. C'mon, let's go Tera, I got tickets tot he performance in the main hall."
Fina's voice echoed from the kitchen. "Of course little miss important got tickets. You're the snobbiest bitch in the school." She appeared at the door way. "You would have people failed if they didn't give you tickets. I don't see how something as pathetic and disgusting as you came from such a sweet and understanding father. I can't see him impregnating a swine."
"You shut your mouth, hot-head. Or I'll-"
"Or you'll what? Get daddy to suspend me? Oh nooo, the horror. I hardly go to class anyways." Fina shrugged. "So I guess your threats are useless against me, metal-head."
"What did you just call me?"
"Metal-head. Sorry, do you got too much narcissism in your ears to hear me?"
Veno let out a sigh. she composed herself. It was an absolutely sudden transformation. She opened her eyes and all emotion was gone. Even I could tell, this was about to get messy. "You know, Fina," she started, "This isn't going to end differently than the last time, or the time before that."
"Try me." Fina replied, removing the apron and balling it up. I saw her whisper something, then she threw the apron, it exploding into a ball of fire. Veno simple raised her hand. In a single second, a metal shield came from seemingly nowhere, blocking the shot.
"You asked for this. I'll make sure to tell Daddy that."
"oh, Daddy huh? Princess is so confident. I want to wipe that sickening feeling from you."
I decided to pipe in, "Hey, shouldn't you guys do this.. outside?"
I was shot two, wait no, three glares. Tera seemed to be in favor of the battle. I sighed, and sat on the side of my bed. Haiz and Neva sat beside me, Haiz closer.
"The Noobie has a point," said Veno, who walked outside, followed abruptly by everyone else, save Aili who was upstairs.
Once outside, Veno took off her robe. He had metal bracers on her wrists. After cracker her neck, she continued the fight abruptly. A quick dash towards Fina, she tried to just punch her. Wait, no.. The bracer had changed form, into a gauntlet in her hand. Fina retaliated by shooting several small fire-bolts at Veno. Veno put her arms parallel, and the metal reached at each other, making a barrier which blocked all of the shots. Diving forward right after the block, the bracers turned into blades, extending off of the back of her wrists. She took a slash at Fina, and hit. Fina fell to the ground and stopped moving. My eyes widened, I couldn't believe it..
"You win," I heard a voice echo from Fina.
"Good, now leave me alone, scum." Veno scowled at her, then smiled towards Tera. "Let's go hun', show's in a few minutes."
Tera and Veno walked away, and Neva, Haiz and I went over to Haiz, who was still laying on the ground. Her robe was torn in the front, both sides of her stomach. A light cut was across her lower torso, and a very small trickle of blood rolled down her side.
"Fina... Why'd you do that?" Neva said, turning Fina's head towards us.
Fina tried to fake a smile, badly. "It wasn't to hard, it doesn't hurt, really. Just a scratch. I'll be fine."
"Haiz, go get the med-kit."
Haiz got up and ran inside.
I made a face. "Why not just use your magic?"
"I can't use it too much. I'm already tired, I need to recharge after this. Anyways, Fina would probably rather bandages. She's stubborn."
Fina nodded, her smile faded. "And Haiz doesn't like seeing blood, which is why Neva sent her inside. Haiz is a big softie."
"Mana, you need to promise me you'll never run into a battle like that. Do what you will, but harm none, understand?"
But I had stopped listening. I had my hand placed lightly on Fina's tummy. I never wanted to see them hurt again, I was going to train hard. Make sure that this was the last time I would sit idly and watch someone I care about get beaten.
"Here Neva." I looked up, my trance broken. It was Haiz, back with the medical kit. She was staring at the cut. "I ...I'm going to go inside."
"I'll go with you. I can set up the plates; I want to be useful." I got up and followed Haiz in, and set up the plates. A few minutes after all the food was set up, Fina and Neva walked back in. Fina had the bandage from her shirt to her belt. you couldn't see her belly anymore. She smiled at me.
"Thanks for helping out, Mana. You're a good room mate." She nodded at me, then turned to grab a plate, then went into the main room. Haiz and Neva were in there as well, so I wen upstairs and was about to knock on the door to the sun room, until I saw inside.. Aili was sobbing. Should I go in? Could I even help? I decided to try anyways. Slipping into the room, Aili stopped crying and frantically tried to wipe her face dry. She smiled and tried to act like she had been fine the whole time.
"Hi Mana, how are you?"
"Aili... you still have streaks on your face from crying." I said, closing the door. I went over next to her and sat down. "Tell me what's on your mind, kiddo."
"It's my nightmares. I'm the only one who has them, but... I wonder if it means something, or if I'm just going through trauma from It..."
"It?" I hesitated for a minute, then pried Aili's hand from her knee. Her nails were painted, white and black. I patted her hand gently and then sighed. She had gripped her knee so hard, she had broken the skin. "Aili, tell me what 'it' is."
"My sister. Umbra... She was the one who was murdered... I found her, the image was burned into my eyes, I see it when I sleep, and that man, he was there, he did it, I know." Her eyes were staring ahead, like her nightmare was ahead of us.
"So she was your sister?" I pulled her attention to me again. "I never even knew my family, you know." I brushed he hair out of the way, and tried to clean her little face.
Her eyes teared up again, and she suddenly held me tight. "You're nice to me, you know. Nobody else would try to help the freak of nature. Everyone hates me, I'm so different from everyone else.. You're like a big brother I never had.."
"Aili, calm down, okay? It's not that big of a deal."
"No, it is to me.. The only person who is this nice to me ... was this nice to me was my sister."
"Why is that?"
"I'm different. I'm foreign. I'm from a different country. Nobody likes the foreign kid."
"Hey, I'm the foreign kid now. I fell from the sky."
We laughed.
"Aili, I'll be your adoptive brother from now on, okay? We'll be the family each other doesn't have anymore."
"All right, Mana." She smiled. I felt light hearted. Happy.
I cleaned her up and then went downstairs. Neva was looking at a piece of paper.
"I can't believe this!" She said, throwing the paper at the ground in a rage I'd never seen in her. "That bitch really did it! You're suspended now! Veno's such a.. such a.. UGH!" She sighed. Her eyes drifted to me. "Mana, I'm.. I dunno, your babysitter or something. I'll be downstairs if anyone needs me, okay?"
She moved into the main room and opened a door below the staircase, revealing another set of stairs. Fina had her head in her hands. Haiz was trying to find something to talk about. Aili was wrapping up her knee in gauze at the table in the kitchen. I sighed. I guess I should go help Neva, too.
"I saw a man, a man in a black robe, and it had wings on the shoulders, like printed on it, and it was like, bones. Bone wings! So, he was wearing this robe, and on the front of it there was an eye, but it was orange! An orange eye. So, then, he had the glove we use, but instead of the Hexies, he had more of an hourglass thingie on his, and they were black gloves, with the glowing hourglass thingies! And he was holding his hands out to the sides like that, but there was a big shadow thing behind him, and it was all like rawwrr! So I screamed and then everything when black as the shadow thing covered the sky, then I was cold, then I woke up."
"......"
"Interesting, Aili. Well, why don't you go upstairs and focus in your sun-room, and we'll come get you when Fina finishes making dinner." Neva said, weirded out by another one of Aili's frequent monologues.
Aili nodded and hopped - literally- up the stairs. A door closed, then Neva sighed. Fina walked out of the kitchen with an apron on. "Well, I've got some good news, and some bad news. Good news is, I finished the large part of dinner. The problem is the smaller portion."
"What's the problem?" Haiz asked.
Fina moved to the side a bit, and turned her head towards the table. Parva, the little dragon-like monster from earlier, was laying in the remains of the bowl of bread rolls. "Him."
"Oh my!" Haiz yelled, running over and pulling him out of the bowl. "No, no, no! Bad Parva!" She opened the door and continues scolding him outside, but I could no longer understand her though the wall.
"Well," Tera said from behind us, her nose still in her book. "I guess I'm skipping bread tonight."
"No one asked you." Fina said, then turned back to the kitchen.
The door to the dorm opened, and someone I'd never seen before walked in. Another girl- kill me- with long silver-ish hair. Not many more mentionable features, other than her robe was gray, and stitch-less, meaning it was probably newer, and she was probably a different rank then everyone in this dorm. Her very presence was condescending, and she seemed to glimmer with pride. Haiz leaned over to me, and whispered in my ear. "That's Veyva's daughter, Veno. She's snobby and self-centered, and anyone who's not directly useful or likable to her is instantly voided as pathetic in her eyes.. I don't like her."
Veno looked at me for a second, a scowl slowly appearing on her face. "Is this the sky kid? He looks pathetic."
Tera nodded to Veno. "Yeah, that's him. I don't like him either, he's going to drag the whole dorm down. Your father decided that we should house him because Haiz caught him, and Umbra's dead now."
"As long as I don't have to see him after this, I don't care. C'mon, let's go Tera, I got tickets tot he performance in the main hall."
Fina's voice echoed from the kitchen. "Of course little miss important got tickets. You're the snobbiest bitch in the school." She appeared at the door way. "You would have people failed if they didn't give you tickets. I don't see how something as pathetic and disgusting as you came from such a sweet and understanding father. I can't see him impregnating a swine."
"You shut your mouth, hot-head. Or I'll-"
"Or you'll what? Get daddy to suspend me? Oh nooo, the horror. I hardly go to class anyways." Fina shrugged. "So I guess your threats are useless against me, metal-head."
"What did you just call me?"
"Metal-head. Sorry, do you got too much narcissism in your ears to hear me?"
Veno let out a sigh. she composed herself. It was an absolutely sudden transformation. She opened her eyes and all emotion was gone. Even I could tell, this was about to get messy. "You know, Fina," she started, "This isn't going to end differently than the last time, or the time before that."
"Try me." Fina replied, removing the apron and balling it up. I saw her whisper something, then she threw the apron, it exploding into a ball of fire. Veno simple raised her hand. In a single second, a metal shield came from seemingly nowhere, blocking the shot.
"You asked for this. I'll make sure to tell Daddy that."
"oh, Daddy huh? Princess is so confident. I want to wipe that sickening feeling from you."
I decided to pipe in, "Hey, shouldn't you guys do this.. outside?"
I was shot two, wait no, three glares. Tera seemed to be in favor of the battle. I sighed, and sat on the side of my bed. Haiz and Neva sat beside me, Haiz closer.
"The Noobie has a point," said Veno, who walked outside, followed abruptly by everyone else, save Aili who was upstairs.
Once outside, Veno took off her robe. He had metal bracers on her wrists. After cracker her neck, she continued the fight abruptly. A quick dash towards Fina, she tried to just punch her. Wait, no.. The bracer had changed form, into a gauntlet in her hand. Fina retaliated by shooting several small fire-bolts at Veno. Veno put her arms parallel, and the metal reached at each other, making a barrier which blocked all of the shots. Diving forward right after the block, the bracers turned into blades, extending off of the back of her wrists. She took a slash at Fina, and hit. Fina fell to the ground and stopped moving. My eyes widened, I couldn't believe it..
"You win," I heard a voice echo from Fina.
"Good, now leave me alone, scum." Veno scowled at her, then smiled towards Tera. "Let's go hun', show's in a few minutes."
Tera and Veno walked away, and Neva, Haiz and I went over to Haiz, who was still laying on the ground. Her robe was torn in the front, both sides of her stomach. A light cut was across her lower torso, and a very small trickle of blood rolled down her side.
"Fina... Why'd you do that?" Neva said, turning Fina's head towards us.
Fina tried to fake a smile, badly. "It wasn't to hard, it doesn't hurt, really. Just a scratch. I'll be fine."
"Haiz, go get the med-kit."
Haiz got up and ran inside.
I made a face. "Why not just use your magic?"
"I can't use it too much. I'm already tired, I need to recharge after this. Anyways, Fina would probably rather bandages. She's stubborn."
Fina nodded, her smile faded. "And Haiz doesn't like seeing blood, which is why Neva sent her inside. Haiz is a big softie."
"Mana, you need to promise me you'll never run into a battle like that. Do what you will, but harm none, understand?"
But I had stopped listening. I had my hand placed lightly on Fina's tummy. I never wanted to see them hurt again, I was going to train hard. Make sure that this was the last time I would sit idly and watch someone I care about get beaten.
"Here Neva." I looked up, my trance broken. It was Haiz, back with the medical kit. She was staring at the cut. "I ...I'm going to go inside."
"I'll go with you. I can set up the plates; I want to be useful." I got up and followed Haiz in, and set up the plates. A few minutes after all the food was set up, Fina and Neva walked back in. Fina had the bandage from her shirt to her belt. you couldn't see her belly anymore. She smiled at me.
"Thanks for helping out, Mana. You're a good room mate." She nodded at me, then turned to grab a plate, then went into the main room. Haiz and Neva were in there as well, so I wen upstairs and was about to knock on the door to the sun room, until I saw inside.. Aili was sobbing. Should I go in? Could I even help? I decided to try anyways. Slipping into the room, Aili stopped crying and frantically tried to wipe her face dry. She smiled and tried to act like she had been fine the whole time.
"Hi Mana, how are you?"
"Aili... you still have streaks on your face from crying." I said, closing the door. I went over next to her and sat down. "Tell me what's on your mind, kiddo."
"It's my nightmares. I'm the only one who has them, but... I wonder if it means something, or if I'm just going through trauma from It..."
"It?" I hesitated for a minute, then pried Aili's hand from her knee. Her nails were painted, white and black. I patted her hand gently and then sighed. She had gripped her knee so hard, she had broken the skin. "Aili, tell me what 'it' is."
"My sister. Umbra... She was the one who was murdered... I found her, the image was burned into my eyes, I see it when I sleep, and that man, he was there, he did it, I know." Her eyes were staring ahead, like her nightmare was ahead of us.
"So she was your sister?" I pulled her attention to me again. "I never even knew my family, you know." I brushed he hair out of the way, and tried to clean her little face.
Her eyes teared up again, and she suddenly held me tight. "You're nice to me, you know. Nobody else would try to help the freak of nature. Everyone hates me, I'm so different from everyone else.. You're like a big brother I never had.."
"Aili, calm down, okay? It's not that big of a deal."
"No, it is to me.. The only person who is this nice to me ... was this nice to me was my sister."
"Why is that?"
"I'm different. I'm foreign. I'm from a different country. Nobody likes the foreign kid."
"Hey, I'm the foreign kid now. I fell from the sky."
We laughed.
"Aili, I'll be your adoptive brother from now on, okay? We'll be the family each other doesn't have anymore."
"All right, Mana." She smiled. I felt light hearted. Happy.
I cleaned her up and then went downstairs. Neva was looking at a piece of paper.
"I can't believe this!" She said, throwing the paper at the ground in a rage I'd never seen in her. "That bitch really did it! You're suspended now! Veno's such a.. such a.. UGH!" She sighed. Her eyes drifted to me. "Mana, I'm.. I dunno, your babysitter or something. I'll be downstairs if anyone needs me, okay?"
She moved into the main room and opened a door below the staircase, revealing another set of stairs. Fina had her head in her hands. Haiz was trying to find something to talk about. Aili was wrapping up her knee in gauze at the table in the kitchen. I sighed. I guess I should go help Neva, too.
Chapter Five: Quell the Waters
Past the basement door, there was a stone staircase descending. I stepped down it and turned to my right. I saw a door with a little flame symbol upon it. six feet down the hallway, an all black door. At the end of the hallway I saw what I was looking for. A light wooden door with a drop of water symbol on it. I noticed, however, that Tera's room didn't seem to be down here. I slowly stepped up to the door. Downstairs the doors didn't have windows, so I couldn't see in. I very lightly pushed the door open, just a bit. I saw a small pile of clothes near a rock. I heard falling water. Was this some sort of underground pool, in a cave?
"Hey, Neva?" I asked, softly.
"Yeah?" She responded, calmly. Her voice echoed a bit.
"You okay?"
"Not really."
"Are you.. covered?"
"Not really."
I sighed. "Want me to leave you alone?"
I heard the water shift. "No, come in."
I slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside. The whole cave seemed to softly reflect some unknown source of light. The water seemed to shimmer. I looked and there were six rocks placed around the pool, which was roughly the size of a bed and looked about four feet deep. A waterfall on the far edge filled a small moat around the sides of the room and supplied a constant water source. In the middle of the pool of water, Neva was floating there, covered in her light brown robe. My heart was beating a little fast, but I stepped away from the doorway and it softly swung shut. Neva had her eyes closed, peacefully floating in the pool of water. Compared to the other two rooms I'd seen so far, this was quite a radical change.
"So," I started, "wanna talk about what's bothering you?"
"Dip your feet in. The water's really nice."
"Oh.. okay." I removed my shoes and socks, rolled my pants up, then let my legs hang into the water. She was right, it was immediately relaxing.
"The recharging rooms are all enchanted. Mine originally just had the pool and the rocks, you know? I opened the waterfall with help from Tera, and it pulls water from the lake nearby."
"That's nice." I thought randomly for a few minutes in the silence. "So I haven't seen any baths here. What's up with that?"
"These rooms cleanse the body. You're cleaned every time you go in one."
"What about toilets?"
She laughed. Finally, I got her to smile again. "We have one upstairs, don't worry."
"All right, good to know."
"The black door in the hallway is yours now, by the way. We'll clean it out soon, you and I, okay?"
"All right, Neva." I watched her float there, wrapped up in her robe from her knees up. "You're pretty."
Her eyes snapped open and her looked at me, surprised. "What?"
I chucked a bit. "You're pretty. All of you are, really. You seem pale in a way, but it's a nice skin tone with your hair and eyes."
"Oh.."
"So, can I ask you a question?"
She nodded, then closed her eyes again, turning her head upwards again. "Sure, go ahead."
"Why exactly are you naked in here?"
Her face became blushed. "The body is mostly water, so it goes well with the element to let the body flow freely in this pool. ... and it feels nice."
I laughed, and her face turned darker. This is the first I had seen her blush. "So, what's bothering you, Neva?"
She let out a sigh, and her blush faded. "It's just this whole ordeal with my dorm mates. Fina is on and off suspended, Haiz is bullied in school by nearly everyone, Aili has been having nightmares, whether they're schizophrenic or prophetic I haven't a clue, since her sister died, and Tera's been a bitch since her and Veno started"- She emphasized this, -"'Hanging out'"
"So, In short, Fina's a trouble maker, Haiz is shy, Aili's troubled, Tera's a bitchy girl dating a bitchy girl, and you're stuck in the middle trying to hold it all together?"
She sighed once again. "Yeah, pretty much." She opened her eyes and held her robe. Putting her feet to the bottom of her small pool seemed a bit difficult for her, since the robe seemed to want to stay afloat. She walked over to me, and I finally noticed the bottom of the pool was at an angle. Where I was sitting was only about a foot and a half deep. She came and sat next to me, then leaned against my shoulder, sighing. "Thanks for checking on me... No, on everyone. You've been very nice since you got here.. He sat up and looked at me. She smiled, but it was, in a way, a pained smile. She said to me, "I like you, Mana, really. You're a very nice guy, and I wouldn't mind getting more comfortable with you.." She looked down. "but It would upset Haiz, she seems to only be able to connect with yourself. I have a bunch of friends, but she's the one who needs your company."
I nodded. "Yeah, I heard her talking to her little pet earlier, and she talked a bunch. If I were to summarize it, I would put it as, 'There's this new guy, I like him.' She's a good girl." I smiled, "You're all good in some way. Except Tera. I don't like her."
We laughed. There was no talking for a few minutes. After about four minutes of staring and silence, Neva looked at the waterfall. "I want to get dressed. Stare at something pretty for a bit so I can. No peeking." She got up and whispered a spell. All of the water in her robe moved off of her and she was then dry. The water floated over the pool and dropped suddenly, making a ripple effect I watched. I heard her getting dressed behind me, then her arms around my shoulders and chest. "Thank you for being such a gentleman. I'm glad you fell out of the sky." A short pause.. "I'm going to bed, as I'm sure everyone else has done. Don't be too long, wouldn't want to get all pruney."
She left the door and the light door swung shut. I heard the small soft "clunk" of the wood hitting the loose door frame and then laid back, sighing myself. "I have my work very clearly cut out for me.. God, I've never believed in you, but due to recent events, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt... Help these girls, will you?"
A few minutes later, I was laying in my bed. I closed my eyes and let my mind wander. Before I expected, I was fast asleep. My dreams that night shook me to the core. I saw the town of fire. the school was destroyed. Four towers, one to a corner, were toppled. I saw bodies in the streets. Red on the ground, red in the water. Smoke billowed into the sky to a blood-red moon. An orange eye was staring at me from the sky, as if all hell had risen, and the devil himself had come to watch. It mocked me, and shook my soul. I heard a voice behind me, and began to turn..
Suddenly, I was awoken from my nightmare. I opened my eyes and it was still dark. It mustn't have even been an hour since I'd laid down. Aili was sitting at my bed side, a scared and worried look on her face.
"I had nightmares.. When my sister was still here, she'd let me lie with her if I was scared.." She continued to look at me. She considered me something of a big brother, I guess. I opened the blanket for her, and she laid down inside. "Thank you..." Suddenly, she was asleep. I rolled over and closed my own eyes, drifting back into unconsciousness. The next day would call for me to use all of the energy I'd get from this night of rest.
"Hey, Neva?" I asked, softly.
"Yeah?" She responded, calmly. Her voice echoed a bit.
"You okay?"
"Not really."
"Are you.. covered?"
"Not really."
I sighed. "Want me to leave you alone?"
I heard the water shift. "No, come in."
I slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside. The whole cave seemed to softly reflect some unknown source of light. The water seemed to shimmer. I looked and there were six rocks placed around the pool, which was roughly the size of a bed and looked about four feet deep. A waterfall on the far edge filled a small moat around the sides of the room and supplied a constant water source. In the middle of the pool of water, Neva was floating there, covered in her light brown robe. My heart was beating a little fast, but I stepped away from the doorway and it softly swung shut. Neva had her eyes closed, peacefully floating in the pool of water. Compared to the other two rooms I'd seen so far, this was quite a radical change.
"So," I started, "wanna talk about what's bothering you?"
"Dip your feet in. The water's really nice."
"Oh.. okay." I removed my shoes and socks, rolled my pants up, then let my legs hang into the water. She was right, it was immediately relaxing.
"The recharging rooms are all enchanted. Mine originally just had the pool and the rocks, you know? I opened the waterfall with help from Tera, and it pulls water from the lake nearby."
"That's nice." I thought randomly for a few minutes in the silence. "So I haven't seen any baths here. What's up with that?"
"These rooms cleanse the body. You're cleaned every time you go in one."
"What about toilets?"
She laughed. Finally, I got her to smile again. "We have one upstairs, don't worry."
"All right, good to know."
"The black door in the hallway is yours now, by the way. We'll clean it out soon, you and I, okay?"
"All right, Neva." I watched her float there, wrapped up in her robe from her knees up. "You're pretty."
Her eyes snapped open and her looked at me, surprised. "What?"
I chucked a bit. "You're pretty. All of you are, really. You seem pale in a way, but it's a nice skin tone with your hair and eyes."
"Oh.."
"So, can I ask you a question?"
She nodded, then closed her eyes again, turning her head upwards again. "Sure, go ahead."
"Why exactly are you naked in here?"
Her face became blushed. "The body is mostly water, so it goes well with the element to let the body flow freely in this pool. ... and it feels nice."
I laughed, and her face turned darker. This is the first I had seen her blush. "So, what's bothering you, Neva?"
She let out a sigh, and her blush faded. "It's just this whole ordeal with my dorm mates. Fina is on and off suspended, Haiz is bullied in school by nearly everyone, Aili has been having nightmares, whether they're schizophrenic or prophetic I haven't a clue, since her sister died, and Tera's been a bitch since her and Veno started"- She emphasized this, -"'Hanging out'"
"So, In short, Fina's a trouble maker, Haiz is shy, Aili's troubled, Tera's a bitchy girl dating a bitchy girl, and you're stuck in the middle trying to hold it all together?"
She sighed once again. "Yeah, pretty much." She opened her eyes and held her robe. Putting her feet to the bottom of her small pool seemed a bit difficult for her, since the robe seemed to want to stay afloat. She walked over to me, and I finally noticed the bottom of the pool was at an angle. Where I was sitting was only about a foot and a half deep. She came and sat next to me, then leaned against my shoulder, sighing. "Thanks for checking on me... No, on everyone. You've been very nice since you got here.. He sat up and looked at me. She smiled, but it was, in a way, a pained smile. She said to me, "I like you, Mana, really. You're a very nice guy, and I wouldn't mind getting more comfortable with you.." She looked down. "but It would upset Haiz, she seems to only be able to connect with yourself. I have a bunch of friends, but she's the one who needs your company."
I nodded. "Yeah, I heard her talking to her little pet earlier, and she talked a bunch. If I were to summarize it, I would put it as, 'There's this new guy, I like him.' She's a good girl." I smiled, "You're all good in some way. Except Tera. I don't like her."
We laughed. There was no talking for a few minutes. After about four minutes of staring and silence, Neva looked at the waterfall. "I want to get dressed. Stare at something pretty for a bit so I can. No peeking." She got up and whispered a spell. All of the water in her robe moved off of her and she was then dry. The water floated over the pool and dropped suddenly, making a ripple effect I watched. I heard her getting dressed behind me, then her arms around my shoulders and chest. "Thank you for being such a gentleman. I'm glad you fell out of the sky." A short pause.. "I'm going to bed, as I'm sure everyone else has done. Don't be too long, wouldn't want to get all pruney."
She left the door and the light door swung shut. I heard the small soft "clunk" of the wood hitting the loose door frame and then laid back, sighing myself. "I have my work very clearly cut out for me.. God, I've never believed in you, but due to recent events, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt... Help these girls, will you?"
A few minutes later, I was laying in my bed. I closed my eyes and let my mind wander. Before I expected, I was fast asleep. My dreams that night shook me to the core. I saw the town of fire. the school was destroyed. Four towers, one to a corner, were toppled. I saw bodies in the streets. Red on the ground, red in the water. Smoke billowed into the sky to a blood-red moon. An orange eye was staring at me from the sky, as if all hell had risen, and the devil himself had come to watch. It mocked me, and shook my soul. I heard a voice behind me, and began to turn..
Suddenly, I was awoken from my nightmare. I opened my eyes and it was still dark. It mustn't have even been an hour since I'd laid down. Aili was sitting at my bed side, a scared and worried look on her face.
"I had nightmares.. When my sister was still here, she'd let me lie with her if I was scared.." She continued to look at me. She considered me something of a big brother, I guess. I opened the blanket for her, and she laid down inside. "Thank you..." Suddenly, she was asleep. I rolled over and closed my own eyes, drifting back into unconsciousness. The next day would call for me to use all of the energy I'd get from this night of rest.
A/N: Now would be a good time to read the first chapter of Fiend here! This is a parallel story. It is optional, but canon. Your choice.
Chapter Six: Dusk
"Hey, wake up! ... I'm not gonna say it again!" I heard through the misty haze of my half-consciousness. I tried to open my eyes, but sleep pulled back hard, winning the tug of war. I was nearly back asleep, then cold water splashed instantly across my face, and I rolled off my bed onto the floor. I looked up and Neva was snickering at me. "I TOLD you to get up!" She smiled and put her hands on her hips.
I blinked and wiped the water off of my face. "Are you serious?" I looked up at her, as she continued to attempt to muffle her snickers, and not very well. I sighed. "Well... I'm up now!" I stood up and steadied myself. I grabbed my socks and put them on. Looking around, the only other person who was in the room was Fina, who was reading a book, to my surprise. "Where is everyone else?"
"Class," Fina said, annoyed. I still can't believe the bitch princess got me suspended. I mean, it's not like fights are that rare in our university. There's groups of people who just go around fighting each other. It was only because of who she was, I bet. Ugh, princess, has connections, of course." She got up and threw the book into her bed, grabbed some candles off of the side table, and went down stairs.
"I think... she's a bit pissed." I nodded to myself, then looked towards Neva. "You agree?"
Neva solemnly nodded, still staring at the doorway. "Anyways.." She looked back at me, then motioned her hand towards the door. "Since I'm your temporary babysitter tutor thing.. I'm taking you to the Library Magnam
"What the hell does Magnam mean?"
"Grand. It's a grand library, Mana. Let's go." She hurried me to put my shoes on, threw my jacket at me, then we were out the door. on the way to the library, I noticed a large - and I mean LARGE- building in the distance. She noticed me staring at it, and commented. "That's the Spiritus Turres. It's like a command center of magic. Each tower that you see there holds an element Arch-mage. One in each tower, six towers. It's actually a giant hexagram, with a spirit well in the center. I'll get to go there when I graduate. I can't wait."
I looked at her, and she was staring off at the temple, day dreaming. Her trance was broken when some guy walking by whistled. He was with his three friends, probably in his dorm. I had a feeling that these guy would be a constant nuisance. Neva's face twisted in disgust. I asked her, "So, who's the Romeo over there?"
She looked at me funny. "What? .. Uh, the guy who whistled is Jason."
"Oh.. So, that Spiritie Tertis thing is a castle of some sort?"
"Spiritus Turres, and yes, it is. It's a large building that holds a bunch of high ranking people in the community. The tower tops are befitting of Julius Caesar himself, I'm told."
I was suddenly stopped. "Wait, wait, you know who Julius Caesar is, but not Shakespeare?"
She looked at me funny. "Yeah, everyone knows who Caesar is.. but I never heard of Shakespeare." She shrugged and kept walking. What kind of world was this I was in?
So we entered the Library Magnam and I instantly felt overwhelmed. There were books three stories high, students by the dozens at tables, and shelves for at least a city block. My jaw dropped at the sheer amount of knowledge in this one building. A man could be born here, read his whole life, and die here, all without having read every book.
"So, Mana, whatcha think?" She smiles and leaned over to me.
"I'm awestruck." I continued to stare, amazed, at the books lining my sight.
She used a catalog - magic of course - to find a few good books for me. Mostly on control of my electric spells. She wandered off to find some spell books more personal and left me to study. I looked a great deal into the books. I read on manipulation of my energy to other forms, electric arrows, swords, shields even. Reading this book got me really pumped up. I wanted to go outside and try some of it!
"Hey, you." A dark voice from behind me. Trying his best to sound menacing. I turned and rose from my seat, simultaneously. I looked him up and down. He wore the same robe as the others, but his had been somehow stained black. He had dark hair, partially covering his face. He was my height, and roughly my weight, by the look of it. Must have been my age. "You're in 238, right?"
"Yeah. Good people in there." I kept my composure, staying cool. He clenched his fist in response to my calmness.
"So, you're that Sky kid who was walking around with Aili? Stay away from her, loser. You don't know her. You're just some kid from out of nowhere. I bet you're working with THEM. The bad guys. You're just some sick FREAK who wants to CONVERT HER!" He was yelling by this point. I could feel dread pulling on my heart strings. I assumed that any old emotion directed towards me could be taken in as energy, and this was his. I glanced around, and noticed his yelling had attracted quite a crowd.
"Look, buddy,"
"Dusk!" He cut me off, "And I am NOT, in any way, your 'buddy'!"
"Fine, Dusk, calm down. I'm not even sure what you're talking about. I'm not doing anything with any of my dorm mates, all right? I'm just here to study. I'm not here to 'convert' anyone to anything. So go back to reading whatever it was you were reading."
He glared at me. I saw him take a slow step back, then another, lowering himself into a fighting stance. "So, Mana, was it? ... I'm gonna beat the f-"
"STOP!" Neva's voice cut through the tension like a guillotine. Dusk looked over to her, then loosened up. I followed his gaze and noticed why. She was full-auto, in every way. Water was floating behind her in various sharp forms, each frozen at the tip. Her hands and shoes had frost, and the frost grew from there. Here eyes were glowing a light blue, so bright that it engulfed any hope of seeing her actual eyes. Neva was definitely pissed. "Back AWAY from my friend!"
Dusk groaned and looked at me. "'Just friends' huh?" He turned and walked away. I saw Neva relax her imminent attack. She stormed over, threw the books into a bag, and dragged me out of the library by my wrist.
I blinked and wiped the water off of my face. "Are you serious?" I looked up at her, as she continued to attempt to muffle her snickers, and not very well. I sighed. "Well... I'm up now!" I stood up and steadied myself. I grabbed my socks and put them on. Looking around, the only other person who was in the room was Fina, who was reading a book, to my surprise. "Where is everyone else?"
"Class," Fina said, annoyed. I still can't believe the bitch princess got me suspended. I mean, it's not like fights are that rare in our university. There's groups of people who just go around fighting each other. It was only because of who she was, I bet. Ugh, princess, has connections, of course." She got up and threw the book into her bed, grabbed some candles off of the side table, and went down stairs.
"I think... she's a bit pissed." I nodded to myself, then looked towards Neva. "You agree?"
Neva solemnly nodded, still staring at the doorway. "Anyways.." She looked back at me, then motioned her hand towards the door. "Since I'm your temporary babysitter tutor thing.. I'm taking you to the Library Magnam
"What the hell does Magnam mean?"
"Grand. It's a grand library, Mana. Let's go." She hurried me to put my shoes on, threw my jacket at me, then we were out the door. on the way to the library, I noticed a large - and I mean LARGE- building in the distance. She noticed me staring at it, and commented. "That's the Spiritus Turres. It's like a command center of magic. Each tower that you see there holds an element Arch-mage. One in each tower, six towers. It's actually a giant hexagram, with a spirit well in the center. I'll get to go there when I graduate. I can't wait."
I looked at her, and she was staring off at the temple, day dreaming. Her trance was broken when some guy walking by whistled. He was with his three friends, probably in his dorm. I had a feeling that these guy would be a constant nuisance. Neva's face twisted in disgust. I asked her, "So, who's the Romeo over there?"
She looked at me funny. "What? .. Uh, the guy who whistled is Jason."
"Oh.. So, that Spiritie Tertis thing is a castle of some sort?"
"Spiritus Turres, and yes, it is. It's a large building that holds a bunch of high ranking people in the community. The tower tops are befitting of Julius Caesar himself, I'm told."
I was suddenly stopped. "Wait, wait, you know who Julius Caesar is, but not Shakespeare?"
She looked at me funny. "Yeah, everyone knows who Caesar is.. but I never heard of Shakespeare." She shrugged and kept walking. What kind of world was this I was in?
So we entered the Library Magnam and I instantly felt overwhelmed. There were books three stories high, students by the dozens at tables, and shelves for at least a city block. My jaw dropped at the sheer amount of knowledge in this one building. A man could be born here, read his whole life, and die here, all without having read every book.
"So, Mana, whatcha think?" She smiles and leaned over to me.
"I'm awestruck." I continued to stare, amazed, at the books lining my sight.
She used a catalog - magic of course - to find a few good books for me. Mostly on control of my electric spells. She wandered off to find some spell books more personal and left me to study. I looked a great deal into the books. I read on manipulation of my energy to other forms, electric arrows, swords, shields even. Reading this book got me really pumped up. I wanted to go outside and try some of it!
"Hey, you." A dark voice from behind me. Trying his best to sound menacing. I turned and rose from my seat, simultaneously. I looked him up and down. He wore the same robe as the others, but his had been somehow stained black. He had dark hair, partially covering his face. He was my height, and roughly my weight, by the look of it. Must have been my age. "You're in 238, right?"
"Yeah. Good people in there." I kept my composure, staying cool. He clenched his fist in response to my calmness.
"So, you're that Sky kid who was walking around with Aili? Stay away from her, loser. You don't know her. You're just some kid from out of nowhere. I bet you're working with THEM. The bad guys. You're just some sick FREAK who wants to CONVERT HER!" He was yelling by this point. I could feel dread pulling on my heart strings. I assumed that any old emotion directed towards me could be taken in as energy, and this was his. I glanced around, and noticed his yelling had attracted quite a crowd.
"Look, buddy,"
"Dusk!" He cut me off, "And I am NOT, in any way, your 'buddy'!"
"Fine, Dusk, calm down. I'm not even sure what you're talking about. I'm not doing anything with any of my dorm mates, all right? I'm just here to study. I'm not here to 'convert' anyone to anything. So go back to reading whatever it was you were reading."
He glared at me. I saw him take a slow step back, then another, lowering himself into a fighting stance. "So, Mana, was it? ... I'm gonna beat the f-"
"STOP!" Neva's voice cut through the tension like a guillotine. Dusk looked over to her, then loosened up. I followed his gaze and noticed why. She was full-auto, in every way. Water was floating behind her in various sharp forms, each frozen at the tip. Her hands and shoes had frost, and the frost grew from there. Here eyes were glowing a light blue, so bright that it engulfed any hope of seeing her actual eyes. Neva was definitely pissed. "Back AWAY from my friend!"
Dusk groaned and looked at me. "'Just friends' huh?" He turned and walked away. I saw Neva relax her imminent attack. She stormed over, threw the books into a bag, and dragged me out of the library by my wrist.
Chapter Seven: Said the Spider to the Fly
"I can't even believe you," Neva began her rant, dragging me down the street by the wrist, "First time in the damned library and already, you're in a fight. You could have been killed!" She let go of me wrist, stopped her near run, and turned to me. "What would I have done if.." Her sentence cut short. She seemed exasperated, and I looked for a way to comfort her.
"Neva, I'm not gonna die because some punk has an issue with me being friends with Aili. I can defend myself," I said proudly.
"You know two spells, Mana. You've been here two days! He's been here since day one, he's bound to know more than you, anyone our age is!"
"Let a guy be," said a dark, scruffy, and slightly insane voice from behind her. We turned and looked at the man who served as the host to the crazy voice. He had a skull painted like a mask over his face. His hood was up, another brown robe. His was one covered in pins and symbols. He had spikes - or bones - on the knuckles of his gloves. His crazy smile lingered in my mind, and would continue for longer than I would ever think. "He picked a fight. It's nature for a man to defend himself." His head cocked a bit to the side, and his red eyes burned into my own, brown eyes. "Isn't it?" These words also burned into my mind, as he turned and walked away.
"There's so many strange people here," I said, then Neva and I continued home. The rest of the walk was completely uneventful. However, reaching the dorm, there was a box on the doorstep. "Sweet, a package. I'll get it." I jogged up the path. I examined the small box, an insane, laughing skull stamp on the top, red eyes in the sockets. I shook off the chills and picked it up, hearing a small jingle inside the box. Suddenly I was alert. I dropped the box and tried to jump back from it, but was too late, The box seemed to swell, and exploded. Forced to the ground by a horrible power, I tasted death on my tongue, then the bitter, metallic taste of blood. Pain surged through my body, and heard a crack, and then pain knocked me out.
......
I awoke to see a familiar face. No, two. I was inside the dorm, Neva and Haiz around me. My leg ached a little bit, but I looked down and noticed the slight scars of healing magics. Neva had tried to fix my leg as best she could.
"Mana!" Haiz yelped, then nearly jumped on me with a hug. I returned her embrace, then got up and stretched. My leg hurt still, but I chose to ignore it. "I heard about the explosion, and rushed to see you!"
"She skipped class," Neva said, a slight glare as she looked at Haiz. Returning her eyes to me, she asked, "So, how's your leg?"
"It hurts," I cracked my neck, followed by my knuckles. "but I'll live."
"Do you know anything about the box that might help us then?"
I thought. There was something about the box... Yes, I remembered now. "There was a stamp on the box, a laughing skull with red eyes." My gaze met hers, and we had the same thought. "Also, there was another symbol on the box. I've seen it once before, when that guy attacked me and brought me here. It looked like a hexagram someone messed with.. an Hourglass, but the circle crossed it eight times. When I picked up the box, it jingled."
Neva thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers. "I got it! It's a Revenant Bomb. The soul of a deceased trapped in a bell, and sealed. When someone breaks the seal, it escapes with an explosive force. You must have broken the seal when you dropped it."
"So it's my fault?"
"No, I blame the crazy kid we saw earlier. He probably put it there. That bomb was designed to kill, the only reason you lived is because you're paranoid and jumped back."
"Wewt, Paranoia saves the day!" I raised my fist up.
Neva nodded. "Well, since four of us are home, you might as well go get Fina. She's downstairs in her Re-room."
I sighed. Yet another trip to a recharge room. I fixed my slightly charred clothes and went to the door under the staircase. I opened the door descended into the basement, and went into the first door. Knock? I never knock. I closed the door behind me and was immediately hit with the overwhelming scent of one hundred or more candles. I looked on the ground in the room and Fina was laying there, in the middle of a hexagram of candles. She was wearing her bandage, which covered most of her torso, and black underwear. Other than that, she was laying on her robe. One leg was propped up, so her knee was up, and the other was curved under the first. Her arms were to her side, palm up with the gloves off. She had the Hexagrams branded into her hands. She didn't seem to even notice my presence here, until she spoke up.
"Who is it, and what do you want?"
"Mana. Neva wants food. I got nearly killed with a letter bomb, and Haiz skipped class to see if I was dead. So, for some reason that made Neva think of lunch." My eyes wandered to her bandage, where blood was still stained on the center.
"Stop staring." I looked up to her eyes and they were still closed.
"How'd you know?"
"I'm nearly naked, and there's nothing else to look at, what else would you be looking at?"
"Well, I was only looking at the bandage."
"My boobs are under the bandage."
"So is the cut."
"So? The cut isn't as sexy." She smiled and sat up. "What does she want me to cook?"
"She didn't say. Why are you the cook?"
"I'm the only one who can light a fire." She snapped her fingers and whispered something. A flame lit, looking like it should have fully engulfed her hand, burning. After it didn't, I remembered that people were magic here. It wasn't something that I was used to. "We match."
My attention was suddenly pulled back to reality. I had drifted off. "Huh?" I was confused by her statement.
She smiled again. "The bandages, stupid. We're both hurt now." She got up and hopped over the candles, some going out as she moved out of the circle. They followed in a wave, down from her exit point to the other side, until they were all out and the room was blackened. After a few moments of smoke and a ruffled noise, Fina spoke up. "All right, let's go cutie. I gotta cook, out of my room."
I opened the door and she followed me out. She was fully clothed again, and waved as she closed the door, then leaped up the stone steps by twos. I reached my hands into my pockets and noticed something. I pulled it out. It was the skull stamp. I flipped it over and looked at it. A message was there.
"... Said the spider to the fly"
"Neva, I'm not gonna die because some punk has an issue with me being friends with Aili. I can defend myself," I said proudly.
"You know two spells, Mana. You've been here two days! He's been here since day one, he's bound to know more than you, anyone our age is!"
"Let a guy be," said a dark, scruffy, and slightly insane voice from behind her. We turned and looked at the man who served as the host to the crazy voice. He had a skull painted like a mask over his face. His hood was up, another brown robe. His was one covered in pins and symbols. He had spikes - or bones - on the knuckles of his gloves. His crazy smile lingered in my mind, and would continue for longer than I would ever think. "He picked a fight. It's nature for a man to defend himself." His head cocked a bit to the side, and his red eyes burned into my own, brown eyes. "Isn't it?" These words also burned into my mind, as he turned and walked away.
"There's so many strange people here," I said, then Neva and I continued home. The rest of the walk was completely uneventful. However, reaching the dorm, there was a box on the doorstep. "Sweet, a package. I'll get it." I jogged up the path. I examined the small box, an insane, laughing skull stamp on the top, red eyes in the sockets. I shook off the chills and picked it up, hearing a small jingle inside the box. Suddenly I was alert. I dropped the box and tried to jump back from it, but was too late, The box seemed to swell, and exploded. Forced to the ground by a horrible power, I tasted death on my tongue, then the bitter, metallic taste of blood. Pain surged through my body, and heard a crack, and then pain knocked me out.
......
I awoke to see a familiar face. No, two. I was inside the dorm, Neva and Haiz around me. My leg ached a little bit, but I looked down and noticed the slight scars of healing magics. Neva had tried to fix my leg as best she could.
"Mana!" Haiz yelped, then nearly jumped on me with a hug. I returned her embrace, then got up and stretched. My leg hurt still, but I chose to ignore it. "I heard about the explosion, and rushed to see you!"
"She skipped class," Neva said, a slight glare as she looked at Haiz. Returning her eyes to me, she asked, "So, how's your leg?"
"It hurts," I cracked my neck, followed by my knuckles. "but I'll live."
"Do you know anything about the box that might help us then?"
I thought. There was something about the box... Yes, I remembered now. "There was a stamp on the box, a laughing skull with red eyes." My gaze met hers, and we had the same thought. "Also, there was another symbol on the box. I've seen it once before, when that guy attacked me and brought me here. It looked like a hexagram someone messed with.. an Hourglass, but the circle crossed it eight times. When I picked up the box, it jingled."
Neva thought for a moment, then snapped her fingers. "I got it! It's a Revenant Bomb. The soul of a deceased trapped in a bell, and sealed. When someone breaks the seal, it escapes with an explosive force. You must have broken the seal when you dropped it."
"So it's my fault?"
"No, I blame the crazy kid we saw earlier. He probably put it there. That bomb was designed to kill, the only reason you lived is because you're paranoid and jumped back."
"Wewt, Paranoia saves the day!" I raised my fist up.
Neva nodded. "Well, since four of us are home, you might as well go get Fina. She's downstairs in her Re-room."
I sighed. Yet another trip to a recharge room. I fixed my slightly charred clothes and went to the door under the staircase. I opened the door descended into the basement, and went into the first door. Knock? I never knock. I closed the door behind me and was immediately hit with the overwhelming scent of one hundred or more candles. I looked on the ground in the room and Fina was laying there, in the middle of a hexagram of candles. She was wearing her bandage, which covered most of her torso, and black underwear. Other than that, she was laying on her robe. One leg was propped up, so her knee was up, and the other was curved under the first. Her arms were to her side, palm up with the gloves off. She had the Hexagrams branded into her hands. She didn't seem to even notice my presence here, until she spoke up.
"Who is it, and what do you want?"
"Mana. Neva wants food. I got nearly killed with a letter bomb, and Haiz skipped class to see if I was dead. So, for some reason that made Neva think of lunch." My eyes wandered to her bandage, where blood was still stained on the center.
"Stop staring." I looked up to her eyes and they were still closed.
"How'd you know?"
"I'm nearly naked, and there's nothing else to look at, what else would you be looking at?"
"Well, I was only looking at the bandage."
"My boobs are under the bandage."
"So is the cut."
"So? The cut isn't as sexy." She smiled and sat up. "What does she want me to cook?"
"She didn't say. Why are you the cook?"
"I'm the only one who can light a fire." She snapped her fingers and whispered something. A flame lit, looking like it should have fully engulfed her hand, burning. After it didn't, I remembered that people were magic here. It wasn't something that I was used to. "We match."
My attention was suddenly pulled back to reality. I had drifted off. "Huh?" I was confused by her statement.
She smiled again. "The bandages, stupid. We're both hurt now." She got up and hopped over the candles, some going out as she moved out of the circle. They followed in a wave, down from her exit point to the other side, until they were all out and the room was blackened. After a few moments of smoke and a ruffled noise, Fina spoke up. "All right, let's go cutie. I gotta cook, out of my room."
I opened the door and she followed me out. She was fully clothed again, and waved as she closed the door, then leaped up the stone steps by twos. I reached my hands into my pockets and noticed something. I pulled it out. It was the skull stamp. I flipped it over and looked at it. A message was there.
"... Said the spider to the fly"
Chapter Eight: Bully
"Hey, do me a favor!" Yelled Fina from her station in the kitchen. "I need someone to go buy some things for me. Money and list on the table. Bring Hazelle with you, she knows where the store is." I was laying on my bed at the moment. It had been a short time since I was in the basement, and Aili had since come home. She was hanging upside down off of the side of her bunk with her legs, telling everyone how silly the boys were in her Lux class were. I believe Lux stands for light, or some other thing similar, but I wouldn't know, I'm the new kid. I got up and motioned to Haiz to follow me, and she did abruptly. I grabbed the things off of the table, and out into the world we went.
It was cold outside, an obvious fact one could imagine just by seeing the trees barren of their clothes. There were students of all types walking about the road, laughing happily about themselves, or chatting about what they had learned in the day, among other things. It was definitely an interesting turn from the normal day I'd seen since my out-of-the-sky arrival a few days prior. The cobblestone walkways were filled with young mages in their brown stitched robes, or an occasional adept with their own personal robe. In comparison, I only slightly blended in, a dark trench-coat seeming like a heavier version of their light wear. Haiz was walking right beside me, quietly but excitedly waving to people from the Ventus house of magistry, her wind class. One boy had walked over and asked her "Hey, is this they Sky-Man who you ran out of class to see? Hey Sky-man! I heard a lot about you. Haiz says you're a pretty awesome dude." He shook my hand and went on his way, blending back into the faceless crowd of people.
After we had cut through the think mob of people surrounding the dorms, Haiz began pointing out numerous things along the way. We passed the Ignis house, Fina's class, the one that she was suspended from at the moment. It was a brilliant building, with what seemed to be ruby pillars lining each of the corners of the structure. The building itself was, of course, stone. When I had peered to the top of the building, I though I had seen something, a flame of some humanoid shape, but after it disappeared I simply brushed this away as an effect of the house's element. We reached the store, a good fifteen minutes from the dorm, and it was only then I noticed how different the world I was in was from my own. I was expecting a big building, with aisles and shelves, maybe a check out center at the exit. What I saw was more of a marketplace, stalls of a large number built, each with a different salesman behind the counter conducting his business. Some were selling food, cloth, runes, or books. I saw someone selling animals, and another auctioning an egg of unknown origin. A man passed me riding a reptilian creature with two legs, that looked like a fusion of a dragon and an ostrich. I shook off the initial shock, and continued into the market. Haiz and I bought several small items that one could buy at a local supermarket, the went to go home, simple as that. After leaving the market, the crowd again died down, and Hiaz and I had a conversation.
"That was the most surreal moment in my life! did you see that guy on the lizard thing?"
"You mean the Trenchret?" She looked at me strangely, but I was too wrapped up in my amazement to care.
"Wow! I've never seen a lizard so big! That guy was riding it like a horse or something! That was the most amazing place I've ever been, I so wanna go again."
Haiz laughed at my obvious enthusiasm regarding the Marketplace. "Well, if you're lucky, Fina will always pick on you to go and buy all of the food for us, since you're a biiig stroong man." the last bit held some sort of sarcasm in it. A shot her a mild look, which didn't send it's proper message due to the goofy smile still along my face.
We had just re-entered the school grounds when I heard a somewhat familiar voice behind me. "Hey, girlie!" I turned to see who it was. Jason, the boy from earlier. He continued his ego fueled conversation, staring right at Haiz. "What say you drop the dead beat and come around with me for a bit?" He smiled a jackasses grin, and behind him three others formed up around him. Jason Orre was the leader of his small group of bullies. A buzz-haired, brown eyed kid with a short temper and a solid body. To his right - always his right - was a tall, pale, scrawny man with light blue lips, eyes, and a mohawk to match. His name was Clutch Creed, easily read from one of his dozens of tattoos covering his shirtless chest. To the left of Jason was Wyrm, a short, quiet young man with a dark blue hair, nearly black in shade. He had spikes of red in his hair, rising straight up from his laid back, in his face hair-do, making it seem like he had horns. To the side of Wyrm was Nexus, a newly arrived recruit to the university, and Jason's group. He was a wind element with whitish-gray hair and eyes, a faded cloak hood covering his head, as he timidly stood in the background of the group.
Haiz's face turned in disgust at Jason's remark, and she took a small step behind me. Suddenly, I felt an explosive rush of emotions within me, none of them me own. Not only did I have the attention of Haiz and Jason's gang, but he had attracted a small gathering. They began a circle around where we were, and I could tell that this had potential to go very wrong if I said the wrong thing. I heard from behind me, a small, defenseless voice. "I'm not interested. Stop following me."
Jason jerked his head to the side, and his neck cracked. To the other side, another crack, but not as loud. His knuckles as well. "Hiding behind the alien won't help you, honey."
"She's not your honey." I spat out in automatic response. I wasn't sure who's feeling it was, but I was filled with disgust, dread, and disrespect.
"Well look who is her knight in shining armor. The guy who just dropped out of the sky! What ever will I do if some loser who hardly knows a spell wants to get in my way? I'm so scared!" Jason shook sarcastically, then laughed. Clutch behind him boomed in a deep laugh, Wyrm showed no interest, and Nexus let out a nervous laugh. Jason's smile faded, and he held his hand out to the side. A pillar of dirt and stone rose up, and he grabbed it, it forming a club in the process. All joking drained from him, and anger filled his eyes. "Move out of my way, or I'll MAKE you move."
I felt a strange feeling inside my head. It was a sub-insane feeling, something burning demented thoughts into my mind. "Do it, fight him. Win, he's nothing. Rats, rats everywhere, make them BOW to your might, child, let no one rise above you." I looked around to try and see if I could find someone who looked like they could host such thoughts. I saw but one, a man with a striped tank-top, well built, and spiked hair. His eyes were black, glowing green irises. He was watching the conflict intensely from the second floor of a nearby dorm, on the balcony. I decided to ignore the man, and looked back to Jason. I shook my head, then moved my hand behind me, motioning Haiz to back up. She did so, worried. Jason's gang backed up as well. I felt a shock dance along my fingertips, the crackling sound louder than usual.
"And now we have the alien try to be a hero." Jason lifted his bat-shaped rock club and pointed it at me. "I'll show you not to mess with your superiors."
I lifted one hand to launch an attack, and he smashed the club against my arm, a tearing and cracking pain filling the impacted area. It didn't take him a second thought to follow it up immediately with another blow, right to my leg. I began to crumple under his power, then a knee smashed into my chest. I couldn't breathe. I felt empowered by all of the emotions around me at once, but pathetically folded by the pain surging thorough my system.
"Do you want me to end him?" The voice echoed in my mind, a sinister laugh following it. The way it said "end" was very definite. I got back to my feet, stumbling and coughing.
"No.."
Jason laughed at me. "No? No what? You crazy, punk?"
"No..." I felt my arms pulse, my fingers crackle, and power surge through me. "Stay away from my friends!" I forced me arm forward, and an explosion of electricity danced through the air, whipping around Jason, and tossing him up, backwards through the crowd of people, and into a wall of a building. Where he was standing before was still a whirlwind of air and electricity, seemingly both spells at once. I looked backwards at Haiz, who looked questioningly at me. Where had the wind come from? I looked up to the balcony where the man had been standing. Gone.
I heard a voice echo through my mind. "Not I, Child.. you told me to stay out of it.."
The crowd around us dispersed, and Jason's gang went to go and lift him up. Nexus stood and stared at me for a few moments, before turning and running off on his own.
The rest of the day was uneventful in comparison. Haiz came to the conclusion I had used a hybrid spell, and told Neva, who immediately went in search of a teacher for the skill. Fina was impressed by how we managed to go through a fight without hurting the products, and sent me down to Neva's room to get cleaned up and relax. I sat in the pool of water and let it work it's wonders, and not too much later we ate, then everyone slept. I had a dream, a nightmare it seems.. It was the man from the balcony, but with burning eyes. He burned a man whom he called his own brother to ashes, then just left without a care....
It was cold outside, an obvious fact one could imagine just by seeing the trees barren of their clothes. There were students of all types walking about the road, laughing happily about themselves, or chatting about what they had learned in the day, among other things. It was definitely an interesting turn from the normal day I'd seen since my out-of-the-sky arrival a few days prior. The cobblestone walkways were filled with young mages in their brown stitched robes, or an occasional adept with their own personal robe. In comparison, I only slightly blended in, a dark trench-coat seeming like a heavier version of their light wear. Haiz was walking right beside me, quietly but excitedly waving to people from the Ventus house of magistry, her wind class. One boy had walked over and asked her "Hey, is this they Sky-Man who you ran out of class to see? Hey Sky-man! I heard a lot about you. Haiz says you're a pretty awesome dude." He shook my hand and went on his way, blending back into the faceless crowd of people.
After we had cut through the think mob of people surrounding the dorms, Haiz began pointing out numerous things along the way. We passed the Ignis house, Fina's class, the one that she was suspended from at the moment. It was a brilliant building, with what seemed to be ruby pillars lining each of the corners of the structure. The building itself was, of course, stone. When I had peered to the top of the building, I though I had seen something, a flame of some humanoid shape, but after it disappeared I simply brushed this away as an effect of the house's element. We reached the store, a good fifteen minutes from the dorm, and it was only then I noticed how different the world I was in was from my own. I was expecting a big building, with aisles and shelves, maybe a check out center at the exit. What I saw was more of a marketplace, stalls of a large number built, each with a different salesman behind the counter conducting his business. Some were selling food, cloth, runes, or books. I saw someone selling animals, and another auctioning an egg of unknown origin. A man passed me riding a reptilian creature with two legs, that looked like a fusion of a dragon and an ostrich. I shook off the initial shock, and continued into the market. Haiz and I bought several small items that one could buy at a local supermarket, the went to go home, simple as that. After leaving the market, the crowd again died down, and Hiaz and I had a conversation.
"That was the most surreal moment in my life! did you see that guy on the lizard thing?"
"You mean the Trenchret?" She looked at me strangely, but I was too wrapped up in my amazement to care.
"Wow! I've never seen a lizard so big! That guy was riding it like a horse or something! That was the most amazing place I've ever been, I so wanna go again."
Haiz laughed at my obvious enthusiasm regarding the Marketplace. "Well, if you're lucky, Fina will always pick on you to go and buy all of the food for us, since you're a biiig stroong man." the last bit held some sort of sarcasm in it. A shot her a mild look, which didn't send it's proper message due to the goofy smile still along my face.
We had just re-entered the school grounds when I heard a somewhat familiar voice behind me. "Hey, girlie!" I turned to see who it was. Jason, the boy from earlier. He continued his ego fueled conversation, staring right at Haiz. "What say you drop the dead beat and come around with me for a bit?" He smiled a jackasses grin, and behind him three others formed up around him. Jason Orre was the leader of his small group of bullies. A buzz-haired, brown eyed kid with a short temper and a solid body. To his right - always his right - was a tall, pale, scrawny man with light blue lips, eyes, and a mohawk to match. His name was Clutch Creed, easily read from one of his dozens of tattoos covering his shirtless chest. To the left of Jason was Wyrm, a short, quiet young man with a dark blue hair, nearly black in shade. He had spikes of red in his hair, rising straight up from his laid back, in his face hair-do, making it seem like he had horns. To the side of Wyrm was Nexus, a newly arrived recruit to the university, and Jason's group. He was a wind element with whitish-gray hair and eyes, a faded cloak hood covering his head, as he timidly stood in the background of the group.
Haiz's face turned in disgust at Jason's remark, and she took a small step behind me. Suddenly, I felt an explosive rush of emotions within me, none of them me own. Not only did I have the attention of Haiz and Jason's gang, but he had attracted a small gathering. They began a circle around where we were, and I could tell that this had potential to go very wrong if I said the wrong thing. I heard from behind me, a small, defenseless voice. "I'm not interested. Stop following me."
Jason jerked his head to the side, and his neck cracked. To the other side, another crack, but not as loud. His knuckles as well. "Hiding behind the alien won't help you, honey."
"She's not your honey." I spat out in automatic response. I wasn't sure who's feeling it was, but I was filled with disgust, dread, and disrespect.
"Well look who is her knight in shining armor. The guy who just dropped out of the sky! What ever will I do if some loser who hardly knows a spell wants to get in my way? I'm so scared!" Jason shook sarcastically, then laughed. Clutch behind him boomed in a deep laugh, Wyrm showed no interest, and Nexus let out a nervous laugh. Jason's smile faded, and he held his hand out to the side. A pillar of dirt and stone rose up, and he grabbed it, it forming a club in the process. All joking drained from him, and anger filled his eyes. "Move out of my way, or I'll MAKE you move."
I felt a strange feeling inside my head. It was a sub-insane feeling, something burning demented thoughts into my mind. "Do it, fight him. Win, he's nothing. Rats, rats everywhere, make them BOW to your might, child, let no one rise above you." I looked around to try and see if I could find someone who looked like they could host such thoughts. I saw but one, a man with a striped tank-top, well built, and spiked hair. His eyes were black, glowing green irises. He was watching the conflict intensely from the second floor of a nearby dorm, on the balcony. I decided to ignore the man, and looked back to Jason. I shook my head, then moved my hand behind me, motioning Haiz to back up. She did so, worried. Jason's gang backed up as well. I felt a shock dance along my fingertips, the crackling sound louder than usual.
"And now we have the alien try to be a hero." Jason lifted his bat-shaped rock club and pointed it at me. "I'll show you not to mess with your superiors."
I lifted one hand to launch an attack, and he smashed the club against my arm, a tearing and cracking pain filling the impacted area. It didn't take him a second thought to follow it up immediately with another blow, right to my leg. I began to crumple under his power, then a knee smashed into my chest. I couldn't breathe. I felt empowered by all of the emotions around me at once, but pathetically folded by the pain surging thorough my system.
"Do you want me to end him?" The voice echoed in my mind, a sinister laugh following it. The way it said "end" was very definite. I got back to my feet, stumbling and coughing.
"No.."
Jason laughed at me. "No? No what? You crazy, punk?"
"No..." I felt my arms pulse, my fingers crackle, and power surge through me. "Stay away from my friends!" I forced me arm forward, and an explosion of electricity danced through the air, whipping around Jason, and tossing him up, backwards through the crowd of people, and into a wall of a building. Where he was standing before was still a whirlwind of air and electricity, seemingly both spells at once. I looked backwards at Haiz, who looked questioningly at me. Where had the wind come from? I looked up to the balcony where the man had been standing. Gone.
I heard a voice echo through my mind. "Not I, Child.. you told me to stay out of it.."
The crowd around us dispersed, and Jason's gang went to go and lift him up. Nexus stood and stared at me for a few moments, before turning and running off on his own.
The rest of the day was uneventful in comparison. Haiz came to the conclusion I had used a hybrid spell, and told Neva, who immediately went in search of a teacher for the skill. Fina was impressed by how we managed to go through a fight without hurting the products, and sent me down to Neva's room to get cleaned up and relax. I sat in the pool of water and let it work it's wonders, and not too much later we ate, then everyone slept. I had a dream, a nightmare it seems.. It was the man from the balcony, but with burning eyes. He burned a man whom he called his own brother to ashes, then just left without a care....
A/N: This is a fine time to catch the second and third chapters of Fiend, if you've been reading it so far.
Chapter 9: Curser
"Mana?" A light, cute voice called out, trembling my nightmares. "Maaanaaa?" A pause. "Wake up Mana, I wanna talk to you." Finally, the words cut through, and I opened my eyes. I was staring through darkness at the oak boards that held up the second bunk. I shut my eyes tight, then opened them wide, trying to wake up. I stretched, sat up, and looked over. Aili was sitting at the edge of my bed, her hair disheveled. "I had a nightmare again..."
"Me too." I pat beside me, and she scooted over. I stared out the window into darkness as she told me the story. I wasn't fully paying attention, I'm afraid. I was too focused on a paranoid girl outside, drawing something in the dust. She noticed me then ran, pulling my attention back to Aili. She said something about a man with bloody hair breaking out of prison. A great omen he saw. She couldn't come to a decision if it was friend of foe.
"What do you think?" She tilted her head and had a worried look about her face.
"I think.." I think. I didn't think, I knew. The man whom she described was not only the same man from my dream, from the balcony, but there was something to him. Something more.. "I think it's nothing, sweetie." I lied with a smile. "You should get back to bed, sis."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"The sunrise! I have to watch it, it's soon!"
"How can you tell that?"
She rolled off my bed, landing on her fingers and toes in an animal like way. Standing up, she motioned to me and childishly galloped up the stairs silently. I moved to the side of my bed, stretched again, then pulled on my socks. When I stood up all the blood rushed to my head and I got dizzy. Nearly passed back out too. Regaining my composure, I walked up the stairs and into the sun room on the left. Aili was staring out the window and dead at the horizon. I walked up and plopped down next to her, watching the edge of the sky.
"Any second now.." Her eyes were locked ahead.
I was waiting for it. Any second, just as Aili said. At first, the dark blue turned to a violet. That changed again into a pink, then an orange, then the sky turned closer to a blue. It took a few minutes, but half of the sun was staring right into the room, smiling happily with all of it's colors. Aili squeeked happily, then laid on the carpet and smiled. She became immobile in the morning sun.
I decided to leave her then, letting her to her lonesome. I went downstairs and Fina was changing her bandages, facing away from myself. Neva was helping her. When I reached the bottom creaky step, Fina looked over at the sound. Her face blushed, and I felt my own body warm up.
"Oh, Mana," Neva began,"I got a tutor for.. that thing you did yesterday."
"The two spells in one? It could have been anyone, Neva. I doubt I could pull it off if you are so amazed by it. The crowd there was full of people, many who hated that bully. Then the man on the balcony too."
"What man?"
"He had spiky blond hair and a vest.. Tank top, uhh... OH! He didn't have shoes on."
They had finished the bandages by now, and Fina walked by, not even making eye contact with me. Haiz pulled her book up more, hiding her face behind it, but obviously listening. Neva's face had gone solid.
"What? Why did everyone just stop? Is it so bad some weird guy might have helped me out?"
Neva said - no, she nearly shouted, "That wasn't just some guy, Mana. It was an escaped serial killer! He is suspected to have murdered the Gran Mage Unis and multiple others! Do you know where you saw him? Maybe we could tell the authorities!"
I decided to keep the voices in my head from the fight to myself. I tried to re-collect the exact setting in my head, but I could come up with nothing. All of the houses in the area looked the same to me. Neva sighed, and gave up. "Anyways, I don't think a serial killer would assist a passing fight. I still think you used a hybrid spell. Haiz saw it with her own eyes, she's seen them before and we got the best to help you out with it. He's at the library today. Let's go."
Again, I was dragged to the library. Neva seemed very easily upset with me recently, compared to before I had gotten in my first fight. I personally came to the conclusion she was stressed out about everything, and tried to think of a way to help her out. She dropped me off at the Library Magnam and went about her own business.
I walked inside and sat the the table she told me to before hand. I was there for about ten minutes before someone showed up. He was a man with long silver hair past his broad shoulders. He had piercing red eyes that would make the most compulsive liar tell the truth. He had gloves with no markings on them, Navy blue in color. He wore casual clothes beneath his equally blue cape. A cape was something new to me, as all I had seen so far were cloaks. He was a confident, well composed, brave, and wise man. Just his very image brought awe. He spoke with a confident voice. "You are Mana Candle, I assume?"
I was almost sure I was staring. "Yeah.." I managed to spit out.
"Your dorm mate, a beautiful young girl by the name of Nevalene Prane, came to my dorm last night and told me yesterday you pulled off a hybrid spell. That's a very powerful caliber weapon at your disposal, if you can learn to master it."
"Seriously?"
"Indeed, and not anyone can use it." He crossed his arms. "It's a genetic abnormality. You must have some magic in your blood."
"No, I was brought to this world by a stranger. I fell from the sky." I pointed up, stupidly. I had forgotten we were inside.
"Ah, good. You're that boy. This makes it even more interesting. Well, my name is Curser Seif, Adept Hybrid Mage. Dorm 53. I'll be your teacher for this ability." He sat in the chair across from me. "Watch this." He spoke the word "Infra" and the table dropped like a magical elevator. The opening it left was replaced with a glyph, which turned into a trip floor, magically holding the place of the table until we returned. The chamber the descended into was cylindrical, lit by floating flames. It held a large Hexagram, with a mural in the middle of the floor. The table rested on the side and I suddenly understood why I had to sit at THAT table. "Come, Mana, I've much to teach you."
I followed him into the middle of the room, standing on the opposite side of the circular mural on the floor. "This is so epic," I said.
He laughed. "Epic? Not quite epic, but indeed an amazing work, and under a library of all places! This is my personal training room. I'm allowed to practice here whenever I chose. My dorm mates shared it with me, until most moved, upgraded, or passed away."
"Passed away? You look like you're only in your early twenties."
"I never said that their death was a natural one. Anyways, I've moved on, looking passed the misfortunes. We're here about you. Hybrid magic is a very delicate thing. The spell in which you use, Fulmine, is a plasma spell. This pulls from the Fire element, but without counting as fire itself. This is the perfect spell for you to use, coincidentally. This is because no two opposite spells can be used in hybrid."
"Why not?, and how do I know opposites?"
"For opposites, either use common sense or look at your feet. The hexagram we're on shows opposite elements in the corners. The pairs are Fire-Water, Wind-Ground, and Light-Dark. Fusing them will create a unpredictable spell, and could kill you. Painfully.. Yet, nearly instantly."
"Oh..."
"Yes. Now, to use a spell like this, you must focus your primary element for the attack, Fulmine in your case, with another element. I'll suggest a wind spell, Ventus, since you've used it already. You must focus both in equilibrium, then release at the same moment. Give it a try." He held up his arm and mumbled "Petra." A stone pillar rose near me.
I focused. Closed my eyes. I felt my own energy shocking throughout my body, trigger happy at my fingertips. I took a breath, letting air fill me as well, I focused them. Around me I felt a swirling motion, and my fingers were crackling now, small shocks jumping about. I pulled my arms back, then shot them forward, opening my eyes and locking onto my target. A swirling fusion shot towards the pillar and enveloped it, crushing and tearing it to dust. I watched in amazement at the devastation my own hands could cause.
"Amazing Mana! You've done it! I'm proud. I want you to try one of each spell before we wrap up today, however. Try Ignis next, the fire spell." The target repaired itself.
I focused again, feeling my body warm, a similar crackling, then launched this as well. The pillar was destroyed by the flaming, crackling bullet and exploded. Curser laughed, as amused by the destruction as I was. He repaired it again and we tried more. Aqua, the water spell, Ripped the pillar inside out. Lux, the light spell, sliced it clean in half, followed by a slow degrading from the cut. Petra, the same spell used to summon the stone pillar, created spikes that shot up from the ground and trapped the pillar, electrocuting it as long as I held my arms to the ground. Finally, Umbra, a shadow spell, reached up the same as Petra and zapped whole chunks from the pillar.
"You're good at this, boy!" Curser yelled, mid-laugh.
It was an hour later, and he had taken me to a nearby restaurant, Gordan's Burgers. Made me nostalgic for Burger King. I chewed away at the food and we laughed.
"You mean she didn't even let you EAT before dragging you out of the house?! Wow, you must really irk that girl!" He laughed again.
"Dude, you don't even know. That's not the first time I've been dragged down the street either."
"How long have you been here?"
"Three days, I think?" I laughed, which he joined after a moment of surprise.
"You're really something, kid. Two fights, a bunch of ladies, and you haven't even been here for a week? Damn, you're really something."
"Thanks, I get that a lot here."
He turned a bit more serious, and said to me, "Mana, there's not many who can do what you do. You have a hybrid gene, and you have the empathy ability. Both of which are genetic. Only a very few people have ever had these both at once, and almost all of them have gone crazy with power, or just plain crazy. The most recent one is Fiend te Baphom, a man who was supposed to be executed very recently. He's a serial killer. Some people have claimed to see him since he broke out. This man is almost sure to go after you. He has pitch black eyes, spiked up hair, and a psychotic grin. Beware of this man at all costs, he is a master of the elements."
I stared again. I didn't know what to really say. Everyone who had ever been like me had gone insane, what was to say I wouldn't as well?
"Mana."
"Yes, sir?"
He scoffed. "Don't call me sir, I'm not in deserving of such a title. I'm still a student, just like you. I want you to make sure you get close to those girls in your dorm. Take some time and talk to them, get closer, and not only with you have friends, but you'll grow stronger from them."
"One girl, a Dark Elemental, she died. Before I got here."
"Oh.. So you're in Umbra Vedraoh's dorm..."
"Yeah, her, and Tera's never around."
"Wow, that sucks. Then talk to the four you can. Go home now, Mana. I'll pay for the food." He waved, and I stepped out of the restaurant.
"Me too." I pat beside me, and she scooted over. I stared out the window into darkness as she told me the story. I wasn't fully paying attention, I'm afraid. I was too focused on a paranoid girl outside, drawing something in the dust. She noticed me then ran, pulling my attention back to Aili. She said something about a man with bloody hair breaking out of prison. A great omen he saw. She couldn't come to a decision if it was friend of foe.
"What do you think?" She tilted her head and had a worried look about her face.
"I think.." I think. I didn't think, I knew. The man whom she described was not only the same man from my dream, from the balcony, but there was something to him. Something more.. "I think it's nothing, sweetie." I lied with a smile. "You should get back to bed, sis."
"I can't."
"Why not?"
"The sunrise! I have to watch it, it's soon!"
"How can you tell that?"
She rolled off my bed, landing on her fingers and toes in an animal like way. Standing up, she motioned to me and childishly galloped up the stairs silently. I moved to the side of my bed, stretched again, then pulled on my socks. When I stood up all the blood rushed to my head and I got dizzy. Nearly passed back out too. Regaining my composure, I walked up the stairs and into the sun room on the left. Aili was staring out the window and dead at the horizon. I walked up and plopped down next to her, watching the edge of the sky.
"Any second now.." Her eyes were locked ahead.
I was waiting for it. Any second, just as Aili said. At first, the dark blue turned to a violet. That changed again into a pink, then an orange, then the sky turned closer to a blue. It took a few minutes, but half of the sun was staring right into the room, smiling happily with all of it's colors. Aili squeeked happily, then laid on the carpet and smiled. She became immobile in the morning sun.
I decided to leave her then, letting her to her lonesome. I went downstairs and Fina was changing her bandages, facing away from myself. Neva was helping her. When I reached the bottom creaky step, Fina looked over at the sound. Her face blushed, and I felt my own body warm up.
"Oh, Mana," Neva began,"I got a tutor for.. that thing you did yesterday."
"The two spells in one? It could have been anyone, Neva. I doubt I could pull it off if you are so amazed by it. The crowd there was full of people, many who hated that bully. Then the man on the balcony too."
"What man?"
"He had spiky blond hair and a vest.. Tank top, uhh... OH! He didn't have shoes on."
They had finished the bandages by now, and Fina walked by, not even making eye contact with me. Haiz pulled her book up more, hiding her face behind it, but obviously listening. Neva's face had gone solid.
"What? Why did everyone just stop? Is it so bad some weird guy might have helped me out?"
Neva said - no, she nearly shouted, "That wasn't just some guy, Mana. It was an escaped serial killer! He is suspected to have murdered the Gran Mage Unis and multiple others! Do you know where you saw him? Maybe we could tell the authorities!"
I decided to keep the voices in my head from the fight to myself. I tried to re-collect the exact setting in my head, but I could come up with nothing. All of the houses in the area looked the same to me. Neva sighed, and gave up. "Anyways, I don't think a serial killer would assist a passing fight. I still think you used a hybrid spell. Haiz saw it with her own eyes, she's seen them before and we got the best to help you out with it. He's at the library today. Let's go."
Again, I was dragged to the library. Neva seemed very easily upset with me recently, compared to before I had gotten in my first fight. I personally came to the conclusion she was stressed out about everything, and tried to think of a way to help her out. She dropped me off at the Library Magnam and went about her own business.
I walked inside and sat the the table she told me to before hand. I was there for about ten minutes before someone showed up. He was a man with long silver hair past his broad shoulders. He had piercing red eyes that would make the most compulsive liar tell the truth. He had gloves with no markings on them, Navy blue in color. He wore casual clothes beneath his equally blue cape. A cape was something new to me, as all I had seen so far were cloaks. He was a confident, well composed, brave, and wise man. Just his very image brought awe. He spoke with a confident voice. "You are Mana Candle, I assume?"
I was almost sure I was staring. "Yeah.." I managed to spit out.
"Your dorm mate, a beautiful young girl by the name of Nevalene Prane, came to my dorm last night and told me yesterday you pulled off a hybrid spell. That's a very powerful caliber weapon at your disposal, if you can learn to master it."
"Seriously?"
"Indeed, and not anyone can use it." He crossed his arms. "It's a genetic abnormality. You must have some magic in your blood."
"No, I was brought to this world by a stranger. I fell from the sky." I pointed up, stupidly. I had forgotten we were inside.
"Ah, good. You're that boy. This makes it even more interesting. Well, my name is Curser Seif, Adept Hybrid Mage. Dorm 53. I'll be your teacher for this ability." He sat in the chair across from me. "Watch this." He spoke the word "Infra" and the table dropped like a magical elevator. The opening it left was replaced with a glyph, which turned into a trip floor, magically holding the place of the table until we returned. The chamber the descended into was cylindrical, lit by floating flames. It held a large Hexagram, with a mural in the middle of the floor. The table rested on the side and I suddenly understood why I had to sit at THAT table. "Come, Mana, I've much to teach you."
I followed him into the middle of the room, standing on the opposite side of the circular mural on the floor. "This is so epic," I said.
He laughed. "Epic? Not quite epic, but indeed an amazing work, and under a library of all places! This is my personal training room. I'm allowed to practice here whenever I chose. My dorm mates shared it with me, until most moved, upgraded, or passed away."
"Passed away? You look like you're only in your early twenties."
"I never said that their death was a natural one. Anyways, I've moved on, looking passed the misfortunes. We're here about you. Hybrid magic is a very delicate thing. The spell in which you use, Fulmine, is a plasma spell. This pulls from the Fire element, but without counting as fire itself. This is the perfect spell for you to use, coincidentally. This is because no two opposite spells can be used in hybrid."
"Why not?, and how do I know opposites?"
"For opposites, either use common sense or look at your feet. The hexagram we're on shows opposite elements in the corners. The pairs are Fire-Water, Wind-Ground, and Light-Dark. Fusing them will create a unpredictable spell, and could kill you. Painfully.. Yet, nearly instantly."
"Oh..."
"Yes. Now, to use a spell like this, you must focus your primary element for the attack, Fulmine in your case, with another element. I'll suggest a wind spell, Ventus, since you've used it already. You must focus both in equilibrium, then release at the same moment. Give it a try." He held up his arm and mumbled "Petra." A stone pillar rose near me.
I focused. Closed my eyes. I felt my own energy shocking throughout my body, trigger happy at my fingertips. I took a breath, letting air fill me as well, I focused them. Around me I felt a swirling motion, and my fingers were crackling now, small shocks jumping about. I pulled my arms back, then shot them forward, opening my eyes and locking onto my target. A swirling fusion shot towards the pillar and enveloped it, crushing and tearing it to dust. I watched in amazement at the devastation my own hands could cause.
"Amazing Mana! You've done it! I'm proud. I want you to try one of each spell before we wrap up today, however. Try Ignis next, the fire spell." The target repaired itself.
I focused again, feeling my body warm, a similar crackling, then launched this as well. The pillar was destroyed by the flaming, crackling bullet and exploded. Curser laughed, as amused by the destruction as I was. He repaired it again and we tried more. Aqua, the water spell, Ripped the pillar inside out. Lux, the light spell, sliced it clean in half, followed by a slow degrading from the cut. Petra, the same spell used to summon the stone pillar, created spikes that shot up from the ground and trapped the pillar, electrocuting it as long as I held my arms to the ground. Finally, Umbra, a shadow spell, reached up the same as Petra and zapped whole chunks from the pillar.
"You're good at this, boy!" Curser yelled, mid-laugh.
It was an hour later, and he had taken me to a nearby restaurant, Gordan's Burgers. Made me nostalgic for Burger King. I chewed away at the food and we laughed.
"You mean she didn't even let you EAT before dragging you out of the house?! Wow, you must really irk that girl!" He laughed again.
"Dude, you don't even know. That's not the first time I've been dragged down the street either."
"How long have you been here?"
"Three days, I think?" I laughed, which he joined after a moment of surprise.
"You're really something, kid. Two fights, a bunch of ladies, and you haven't even been here for a week? Damn, you're really something."
"Thanks, I get that a lot here."
He turned a bit more serious, and said to me, "Mana, there's not many who can do what you do. You have a hybrid gene, and you have the empathy ability. Both of which are genetic. Only a very few people have ever had these both at once, and almost all of them have gone crazy with power, or just plain crazy. The most recent one is Fiend te Baphom, a man who was supposed to be executed very recently. He's a serial killer. Some people have claimed to see him since he broke out. This man is almost sure to go after you. He has pitch black eyes, spiked up hair, and a psychotic grin. Beware of this man at all costs, he is a master of the elements."
I stared again. I didn't know what to really say. Everyone who had ever been like me had gone insane, what was to say I wouldn't as well?
"Mana."
"Yes, sir?"
He scoffed. "Don't call me sir, I'm not in deserving of such a title. I'm still a student, just like you. I want you to make sure you get close to those girls in your dorm. Take some time and talk to them, get closer, and not only with you have friends, but you'll grow stronger from them."
"One girl, a Dark Elemental, she died. Before I got here."
"Oh.. So you're in Umbra Vedraoh's dorm..."
"Yeah, her, and Tera's never around."
"Wow, that sucks. Then talk to the four you can. Go home now, Mana. I'll pay for the food." He waved, and I stepped out of the restaurant.
Chapter Ten: Bonding
I walked into the house and glanced around. Fina was laying on the kitchen table, softly singing to herself. No one else was home yet, it seemed.
"Hey, Fina."
"Eh? Oh, Hi. Aili's upstairs, can you go get her? She's been up there all day."
"Seriously?" I looked up the stairs. "Since I left?"
"Yep. She skipped breakfast. I ate hers. Oh, and yours. Yeah. There's a great cook in this house."
I laughed. "You're the cook, Fina."
"Damn straight!"
I shrugged, letting her win her little internal argument and walked up the stairs. The door was open a bit, so I just nudged it and walked in. Aili was staring at the sky, laying just as I had left her that morning. I took my place beside her and watched the sky with her.
"What are we supposed to be looking at?"
"Clouds, silly! That one looks like a cute little squirrel! Squirrelly squirrel of squirrelliness!" She reached upwards as if she would grab the shape form the sky and hold it. "I want a squirrel.."
"You're silly Aili. Squirrels need a good bit of space to be free in."
"Aww. So, you're home! How'd it go?"
"Really good, actually! I had a lot of fun."
"That's awesome!" She sat up. "Can you teach me anything?"
"Maybe. I'll see if I can find some time in the near future."
"All right!"
Downstairs we heard the door close, and some yelling. There was a huge argument going on with two people who just walked in.
"Hey, Aili, I'm gonna go check on that." She frowned, and I looked at the clouds. "Look, that one is kinda shaped like a bird."
She looked up at the cloud and smiled softly, spaced out again. I took the opportunity and left again, closing the door behind me so the yelling wouldn't reach her. I walked down the stairs and ducked under a flying book.
"Oh! Sorry Mana." Tera said, then remembered she wasn't supposed to like anyone and her face turned from sorry to her normal eff you face. She was arguing with Haiz about something, but she decided that with my interference the fight was over. She walked past me and up the stairs, though I wasn't sure why. There was only two rooms up stairs, The sun room and balcony.
I walked over to Haiz. "Hey, are you all right?"
She slumped down to the floor, her legs curled up under her. Tears streamed down her face. She sniffled. "T-Tera she.." another sniffle. "She said that I was weak, and I should just go away and drop out and go and be a shop keeper like my mum." She covered her face and sobbed. I moved next to her and held her, tried to calm her down. She pushed out of my arms. "No!" she yelled, then ran upstairs and I heard her door slam. I sat there on the floor staring blankly ahead. I didn't have much experience with this kind of thing.
Fina walked over and pulled me up by my arm, and not gently. "Ow!"
"Shut up. Go talk to her." Her mouth slanted. "We both know she'd rather talk to you than any of us."
"All right.."
I went to start up the stairs and Fina called me again. "Oh, Mana, another thing. Have you seen Neva since you went to the library?"
I shook my head. "No, she dropped me off and then she just left."
"Oh.. all right. Tera said she wasn't in class today."
"Why didn't Aili go to class?"
"She doesn't have class on Tuesdays."
"Oh." I shrugged and went up the stairs, then opened the door to the balcony. I slipped in quietly and watched Haiz. She was sitting on the railing, talking to Parva again.
"And I never liked home! There was never any fresh air, Central is such a horrible place! Such an icky little thing! All the smog and..." She sighed. "I like being here better. The fresh air, the friends, the quiet. You're here too, you cute little guy!" She scratched the top of his head and he made a sound, the lizard equivalent of a purr I suppose. He rubbed his head on her cheek, then rested there, staring his little slit of eyes at me.
"You like to sssstare, don't you boy?" I heard him talk and a high reptile voice. I was shocked, and fell backwards. Haiz turned and saw me there, not surprised, but blushing.
"Are you okay?!" She turned and practically floated the three or four feet to me in less than a second. She helped me up and I felt stupid. Why was I so surprised that a foreign monster could talk?
"He'sss not ussed to thingsss here yet. Pity that you are so uselesss... But thank you for saving Haizelle the other day from those bulliesss."
I shook my head, trying to get a good grip on my life. Okay, I fell from the sky, and could shoot electricity from my fingers, and my room mate had a dragon who talked, and I was awesome in the eyes of my tutor who was an adept at magic, and I have only been here for a week..... Sounds stupid when I look over it like that, am I just tripping REALLY bad?
"I'm fine. How are you Haiz?" I finally managed to say.
"I'm upset. Don't tell anyone he talks, okay?"
"All right, why not?"
"His kind aren't allowed within the area. He's a rare breed of serpentine hybrid, but he's still not allowed here. It's a pact."
"Wait, so why is he?"
"I just said, he's a weirdo to his people. They kicked him out and he just kinda... wandered until he got here."
"Oh. Hm." I looked at Parva. His light green scales - usually slicked down - stuck up around his neck, like a mane of a lion. He looked proud, and powerful, definitely dragon like. He let the scales down again and continued to stare at me from the railing.
"You intrigue me, human. You're a special kind of man, one who seems to be soft hearted and defending, but unknowing of why. I wonder, what brings you to this world?"
"I just got attacked by some weirdo in an alley and woke up here."
He laughed, a hissing sound. "I meant: Why would someone pick YOU to come to this world? You have amazing skillsss, so I highly doubt someone picked you by chance. You've been targeted to be here. you even landed in the one place that you were assured to stay and live. You landed in a dorm missing one member with the smartest Wind Mage in her classss sitting on her balcony to save you from assured death. Your being here is not a simple coincidence." He flew over to me and sniffed. "Did you have a cheeseburger?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Bastard! I love cheeseburgers.."
We all laughed. I stayed out on the balcony for a bit longer, until Aili walked in and yelled "FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!" then we said goodbye to Parva and he flew off, we went downstairs. It was just the four of us, Haiz, Aili, Fina, and I.
"Here ya go!" Fina said, shoving a plate my way then going and grabbing one of her own. Aili and Haiz went right back upstairs, but I stayed downstairs and sat at the under-used table with Fina. She looked at me strangely. "Hi?"
"Hey. How are you?"
"Good.." She continued to look at me strangely. "Why are you sitting with me?"
"Why wouldn't I? Want me to leave?"
"No, nononononnooooo... Stay. I'm just confused because you never sit with me. You're always with someone else. It's strange is all."
"Nope. I like getting to know all my room mates." I pointed at her bandage. "How's the cut?"
"Oh." She looked down at it, then back to me. "It's healing."
"Good." I stared at her as she spaced out, looking at her food, but not eating it. "What's on your mind?"
"Huh?!" She looked up surprised, pulled out of her trance. "Oh, it's nothing... just home."
"What about it?"
"I just... Mom and Dad are high on the food chain, if you catch my drift."
"They're famous?"
"Yeah. Everyone knows who my dad is."
"I don't."
She nodded. "Everyone else, then." She got up and I followed her outside, then she pointed to the Spiritus Turres. "The one with the fire on top. My Dad works there."
"What does he do?"
"Oh, well," She turned to me. "He owns it. My dad is the Ignis High Magister."
"What?"
"Yep."
There was a awkward silence.
"You're very rebellious for someone so famous."
"That's usually how it works, heh. Everyone expects you to act like someone you're not, be as awesome as your parents are, but I'm no High Magister. I'm just a punk."
"You're not just a punk. You're an awesome friend and an AMAZING cook. You'll be famous one day for it."
She laughed. "I bet I'll die before I ever get the chance."
"Don't say that." I tried to find something to change the subject. "So what about your mum?"
"Priest under Father."
Brief and to the point. Okay, change subject again.. Uhm... "So, why did Tera go upstairs?"
"Her Re-room is up there. It's at the end of the hallway behind the false wall. You just push the wall and the door clicks open. She hates company though."
I grabbed Fina's hand and dragged her back inside, where she couldn't see the Spiritus Turres anymore. I got back to the table and we sat down again.
"So what did your tutor tell you?" She looked at me weird again.
"Get to know everyone."
"So that's why you're showing a sudden interest in me?"
"Yeah."
"Hmph. Thanks, glad to know that you go out of your way to talk to me when your teacher says."
"You seem upset.."
"I am. You don't talk to me as much as everyone else."
"I do too. I went and visited you in your room and everything."
She sighed, then moved and sat on my lap. "But you do that for everyone. You're always trying more for them, but not me. Why not me?"
"I uh.. I don't know. I never noticed." I was blushing a lot. "Why are you sitting on me?"
She stopped acting the way she was and burst into laughter. She was laughing so hard, she fell off my lap and onto the floor.
"I don't get it." I sat there dumbfounded.
She finally calmed down enough to talk. "I'm just messing with you!" More laughter. "You should have seen your face!" She stopped laughing and let out a end-of-laughter sigh. "That was awesome. Sorry if you thought I was serious." She stood up again. "But do try and hang out more, and I won't have to prank you again. All right?"
I stormed off my face flustered red. I had never felt so embarrassed, but I wasn't angry. I walked up the stairs, calmed down, and knocked on the wall at the end of the hallway. Tera opened the wall/door and looked at me.
"Oh, it's you.." She sighed and opened the door wider. "Let me guess, your tutor said 'get to know everyone'?"
"Yeah." I stepped in and looked around. Her re-room was a circular garden. There was the normal Hex in the middle of the room, and a circle of flowers along the exterior. There was a curved glass roof, and a system for getting rainwater into the room. Although, something about the room felt weird, but it may have been all of the flowers. "Wow, you planted these?"
She closed the door and walked into the room with me. "Yeah, I spend a lot of time in here." She knelled next to a group of closed blue flowers. "It takes a lot to keep them growing." She made a movement with her hand, whispered, and then the flowers opened up.
"Whoa, that's cool."
"Thanks, but I've got a lot left to learn. I kinda want to be a gardener." She looked over to me. "Sorry about the book earlier. Me and Haiz disagree a lot."
"What about?"
"Just stuff. I'm more rigid of a person, and she's more free. We get into a lot of conflict."
"Well.. Try and see it her way?"
She shot me a look. "I'm not going to agree with her. It's not what I do. I think you should actually leave, I don't normally allow company."
"But you might be able to connect with her. I mean, you have to live with her anyways, right?"
"You don't Know me..."
"Oh, all right.."
"Take a flower, if you want." She turned back to her flowers and spoke not a word more. I picked up a small, light blue flower and walked out of the room. The door automatically closed behind me, turning back to it's normal ruse. I walked down the stairs.
"Neva home yet?"
"Nope." Fina replied, looking at her class text book.
"Oh..." I went and sat at the edge of my bed, thinking a bit of worry. I laid down, and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep..
*******
Hours later, I sat up with a jolt, suddenly thrown out of sleep. I looked around. The room was dark, everyone was asleep, but Neva still wasn't home. I got up and walked to the door, then opened it. There she was, sitting on the small step to the doorway. She looked at me. "Oh. Hi Mana, I didn't know anyone was still awake." She smiled. "How did your session with Curser go?"
I sat down beside her. It was cold, but I decided to deal with it. "It went really well, actually. We went and got some food afterwards. Where have you been?"
She turned to the sky. "That's good, I'm glad you had a good time with him, maybe you could go and train again sometime soon? Never hurt anyone to learn things, and there's not exactly a class for someone as unique as you." She said, yet avoided my question.
"Oh. Okay, you don't want to tell me." I followed her gaze up to the sky, looking at the moon.
"It's pretty tonight."
"Yeah, it is.."
The moon was half full, and gleamed brighter than the normal moon I had seen. There was no pollution or bright lights here to block it's beauty.
"I was walking around." She finally stated. "I didn't want to come home, I was having fun by myself." She paused, and shivered. "Then it got cold." She moved close, and cuddled up beside me. "But I wanted to watch the moon before going inside."
"It's more beautiful here.. Then where I come from."
"It is?"
"Yeah.. Where I come from there's pollution in the air, and bright city lights.. it makes the moon hard to see."
It was quiet for a while.
"I was worried about you, Neva."
"You were? Why?"
"People are not trustable. Just yesterday I got into a fight because someone was messing with one of my friends. Four guys against one girl? It's not the best odds."
"You think I can't take care of myself because I'm a girl?"
"No, no, that's not it." I shook my head. "It's just that you're a very beautiful girl, boys would follow you or attack you or something. I don't want anything bad to happen to you. You're important to me, Neva."
She was quiet. A few minutes passed, with her just leaning on my side. It was very warm, quiet, and very serene. Just Neva, the moon, and I.
"Mana?"
"Yes?"
She leaned up and pressed her lips to mine, held for a moment, then pulled back. "Thank you." She got up then, walked inside, and left me there in surprise. I'm not sure how long I sat on that step... But eventually, I ended up in my bed, deep in slumber...
"Hey, Fina."
"Eh? Oh, Hi. Aili's upstairs, can you go get her? She's been up there all day."
"Seriously?" I looked up the stairs. "Since I left?"
"Yep. She skipped breakfast. I ate hers. Oh, and yours. Yeah. There's a great cook in this house."
I laughed. "You're the cook, Fina."
"Damn straight!"
I shrugged, letting her win her little internal argument and walked up the stairs. The door was open a bit, so I just nudged it and walked in. Aili was staring at the sky, laying just as I had left her that morning. I took my place beside her and watched the sky with her.
"What are we supposed to be looking at?"
"Clouds, silly! That one looks like a cute little squirrel! Squirrelly squirrel of squirrelliness!" She reached upwards as if she would grab the shape form the sky and hold it. "I want a squirrel.."
"You're silly Aili. Squirrels need a good bit of space to be free in."
"Aww. So, you're home! How'd it go?"
"Really good, actually! I had a lot of fun."
"That's awesome!" She sat up. "Can you teach me anything?"
"Maybe. I'll see if I can find some time in the near future."
"All right!"
Downstairs we heard the door close, and some yelling. There was a huge argument going on with two people who just walked in.
"Hey, Aili, I'm gonna go check on that." She frowned, and I looked at the clouds. "Look, that one is kinda shaped like a bird."
She looked up at the cloud and smiled softly, spaced out again. I took the opportunity and left again, closing the door behind me so the yelling wouldn't reach her. I walked down the stairs and ducked under a flying book.
"Oh! Sorry Mana." Tera said, then remembered she wasn't supposed to like anyone and her face turned from sorry to her normal eff you face. She was arguing with Haiz about something, but she decided that with my interference the fight was over. She walked past me and up the stairs, though I wasn't sure why. There was only two rooms up stairs, The sun room and balcony.
I walked over to Haiz. "Hey, are you all right?"
She slumped down to the floor, her legs curled up under her. Tears streamed down her face. She sniffled. "T-Tera she.." another sniffle. "She said that I was weak, and I should just go away and drop out and go and be a shop keeper like my mum." She covered her face and sobbed. I moved next to her and held her, tried to calm her down. She pushed out of my arms. "No!" she yelled, then ran upstairs and I heard her door slam. I sat there on the floor staring blankly ahead. I didn't have much experience with this kind of thing.
Fina walked over and pulled me up by my arm, and not gently. "Ow!"
"Shut up. Go talk to her." Her mouth slanted. "We both know she'd rather talk to you than any of us."
"All right.."
I went to start up the stairs and Fina called me again. "Oh, Mana, another thing. Have you seen Neva since you went to the library?"
I shook my head. "No, she dropped me off and then she just left."
"Oh.. all right. Tera said she wasn't in class today."
"Why didn't Aili go to class?"
"She doesn't have class on Tuesdays."
"Oh." I shrugged and went up the stairs, then opened the door to the balcony. I slipped in quietly and watched Haiz. She was sitting on the railing, talking to Parva again.
"And I never liked home! There was never any fresh air, Central is such a horrible place! Such an icky little thing! All the smog and..." She sighed. "I like being here better. The fresh air, the friends, the quiet. You're here too, you cute little guy!" She scratched the top of his head and he made a sound, the lizard equivalent of a purr I suppose. He rubbed his head on her cheek, then rested there, staring his little slit of eyes at me.
"You like to sssstare, don't you boy?" I heard him talk and a high reptile voice. I was shocked, and fell backwards. Haiz turned and saw me there, not surprised, but blushing.
"Are you okay?!" She turned and practically floated the three or four feet to me in less than a second. She helped me up and I felt stupid. Why was I so surprised that a foreign monster could talk?
"He'sss not ussed to thingsss here yet. Pity that you are so uselesss... But thank you for saving Haizelle the other day from those bulliesss."
I shook my head, trying to get a good grip on my life. Okay, I fell from the sky, and could shoot electricity from my fingers, and my room mate had a dragon who talked, and I was awesome in the eyes of my tutor who was an adept at magic, and I have only been here for a week..... Sounds stupid when I look over it like that, am I just tripping REALLY bad?
"I'm fine. How are you Haiz?" I finally managed to say.
"I'm upset. Don't tell anyone he talks, okay?"
"All right, why not?"
"His kind aren't allowed within the area. He's a rare breed of serpentine hybrid, but he's still not allowed here. It's a pact."
"Wait, so why is he?"
"I just said, he's a weirdo to his people. They kicked him out and he just kinda... wandered until he got here."
"Oh. Hm." I looked at Parva. His light green scales - usually slicked down - stuck up around his neck, like a mane of a lion. He looked proud, and powerful, definitely dragon like. He let the scales down again and continued to stare at me from the railing.
"You intrigue me, human. You're a special kind of man, one who seems to be soft hearted and defending, but unknowing of why. I wonder, what brings you to this world?"
"I just got attacked by some weirdo in an alley and woke up here."
He laughed, a hissing sound. "I meant: Why would someone pick YOU to come to this world? You have amazing skillsss, so I highly doubt someone picked you by chance. You've been targeted to be here. you even landed in the one place that you were assured to stay and live. You landed in a dorm missing one member with the smartest Wind Mage in her classss sitting on her balcony to save you from assured death. Your being here is not a simple coincidence." He flew over to me and sniffed. "Did you have a cheeseburger?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Bastard! I love cheeseburgers.."
We all laughed. I stayed out on the balcony for a bit longer, until Aili walked in and yelled "FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!" then we said goodbye to Parva and he flew off, we went downstairs. It was just the four of us, Haiz, Aili, Fina, and I.
"Here ya go!" Fina said, shoving a plate my way then going and grabbing one of her own. Aili and Haiz went right back upstairs, but I stayed downstairs and sat at the under-used table with Fina. She looked at me strangely. "Hi?"
"Hey. How are you?"
"Good.." She continued to look at me strangely. "Why are you sitting with me?"
"Why wouldn't I? Want me to leave?"
"No, nononononnooooo... Stay. I'm just confused because you never sit with me. You're always with someone else. It's strange is all."
"Nope. I like getting to know all my room mates." I pointed at her bandage. "How's the cut?"
"Oh." She looked down at it, then back to me. "It's healing."
"Good." I stared at her as she spaced out, looking at her food, but not eating it. "What's on your mind?"
"Huh?!" She looked up surprised, pulled out of her trance. "Oh, it's nothing... just home."
"What about it?"
"I just... Mom and Dad are high on the food chain, if you catch my drift."
"They're famous?"
"Yeah. Everyone knows who my dad is."
"I don't."
She nodded. "Everyone else, then." She got up and I followed her outside, then she pointed to the Spiritus Turres. "The one with the fire on top. My Dad works there."
"What does he do?"
"Oh, well," She turned to me. "He owns it. My dad is the Ignis High Magister."
"What?"
"Yep."
There was a awkward silence.
"You're very rebellious for someone so famous."
"That's usually how it works, heh. Everyone expects you to act like someone you're not, be as awesome as your parents are, but I'm no High Magister. I'm just a punk."
"You're not just a punk. You're an awesome friend and an AMAZING cook. You'll be famous one day for it."
She laughed. "I bet I'll die before I ever get the chance."
"Don't say that." I tried to find something to change the subject. "So what about your mum?"
"Priest under Father."
Brief and to the point. Okay, change subject again.. Uhm... "So, why did Tera go upstairs?"
"Her Re-room is up there. It's at the end of the hallway behind the false wall. You just push the wall and the door clicks open. She hates company though."
I grabbed Fina's hand and dragged her back inside, where she couldn't see the Spiritus Turres anymore. I got back to the table and we sat down again.
"So what did your tutor tell you?" She looked at me weird again.
"Get to know everyone."
"So that's why you're showing a sudden interest in me?"
"Yeah."
"Hmph. Thanks, glad to know that you go out of your way to talk to me when your teacher says."
"You seem upset.."
"I am. You don't talk to me as much as everyone else."
"I do too. I went and visited you in your room and everything."
She sighed, then moved and sat on my lap. "But you do that for everyone. You're always trying more for them, but not me. Why not me?"
"I uh.. I don't know. I never noticed." I was blushing a lot. "Why are you sitting on me?"
She stopped acting the way she was and burst into laughter. She was laughing so hard, she fell off my lap and onto the floor.
"I don't get it." I sat there dumbfounded.
She finally calmed down enough to talk. "I'm just messing with you!" More laughter. "You should have seen your face!" She stopped laughing and let out a end-of-laughter sigh. "That was awesome. Sorry if you thought I was serious." She stood up again. "But do try and hang out more, and I won't have to prank you again. All right?"
I stormed off my face flustered red. I had never felt so embarrassed, but I wasn't angry. I walked up the stairs, calmed down, and knocked on the wall at the end of the hallway. Tera opened the wall/door and looked at me.
"Oh, it's you.." She sighed and opened the door wider. "Let me guess, your tutor said 'get to know everyone'?"
"Yeah." I stepped in and looked around. Her re-room was a circular garden. There was the normal Hex in the middle of the room, and a circle of flowers along the exterior. There was a curved glass roof, and a system for getting rainwater into the room. Although, something about the room felt weird, but it may have been all of the flowers. "Wow, you planted these?"
She closed the door and walked into the room with me. "Yeah, I spend a lot of time in here." She knelled next to a group of closed blue flowers. "It takes a lot to keep them growing." She made a movement with her hand, whispered, and then the flowers opened up.
"Whoa, that's cool."
"Thanks, but I've got a lot left to learn. I kinda want to be a gardener." She looked over to me. "Sorry about the book earlier. Me and Haiz disagree a lot."
"What about?"
"Just stuff. I'm more rigid of a person, and she's more free. We get into a lot of conflict."
"Well.. Try and see it her way?"
She shot me a look. "I'm not going to agree with her. It's not what I do. I think you should actually leave, I don't normally allow company."
"But you might be able to connect with her. I mean, you have to live with her anyways, right?"
"You don't Know me..."
"Oh, all right.."
"Take a flower, if you want." She turned back to her flowers and spoke not a word more. I picked up a small, light blue flower and walked out of the room. The door automatically closed behind me, turning back to it's normal ruse. I walked down the stairs.
"Neva home yet?"
"Nope." Fina replied, looking at her class text book.
"Oh..." I went and sat at the edge of my bed, thinking a bit of worry. I laid down, and before I knew it, I had fallen asleep..
*******
Hours later, I sat up with a jolt, suddenly thrown out of sleep. I looked around. The room was dark, everyone was asleep, but Neva still wasn't home. I got up and walked to the door, then opened it. There she was, sitting on the small step to the doorway. She looked at me. "Oh. Hi Mana, I didn't know anyone was still awake." She smiled. "How did your session with Curser go?"
I sat down beside her. It was cold, but I decided to deal with it. "It went really well, actually. We went and got some food afterwards. Where have you been?"
She turned to the sky. "That's good, I'm glad you had a good time with him, maybe you could go and train again sometime soon? Never hurt anyone to learn things, and there's not exactly a class for someone as unique as you." She said, yet avoided my question.
"Oh. Okay, you don't want to tell me." I followed her gaze up to the sky, looking at the moon.
"It's pretty tonight."
"Yeah, it is.."
The moon was half full, and gleamed brighter than the normal moon I had seen. There was no pollution or bright lights here to block it's beauty.
"I was walking around." She finally stated. "I didn't want to come home, I was having fun by myself." She paused, and shivered. "Then it got cold." She moved close, and cuddled up beside me. "But I wanted to watch the moon before going inside."
"It's more beautiful here.. Then where I come from."
"It is?"
"Yeah.. Where I come from there's pollution in the air, and bright city lights.. it makes the moon hard to see."
It was quiet for a while.
"I was worried about you, Neva."
"You were? Why?"
"People are not trustable. Just yesterday I got into a fight because someone was messing with one of my friends. Four guys against one girl? It's not the best odds."
"You think I can't take care of myself because I'm a girl?"
"No, no, that's not it." I shook my head. "It's just that you're a very beautiful girl, boys would follow you or attack you or something. I don't want anything bad to happen to you. You're important to me, Neva."
She was quiet. A few minutes passed, with her just leaning on my side. It was very warm, quiet, and very serene. Just Neva, the moon, and I.
"Mana?"
"Yes?"
She leaned up and pressed her lips to mine, held for a moment, then pulled back. "Thank you." She got up then, walked inside, and left me there in surprise. I'm not sure how long I sat on that step... But eventually, I ended up in my bed, deep in slumber...
Chapter Eleven: Attack! Attack!
Morning hit fast. I guess time flies when you're awake almost all night. My head hurt when I woke up, the sun was already high in the sky. Light burned my eyes before I even opened them. I had a nightmare the previous night. I saw the hooded figure who attacked me in the alley. He was directing a large shadow, it enveloped hordes of people and devoured them whole. There were large headache inducing booms, like I was standing in a war-zone. The shadow advanced through the masses, finally reaching where I stood. I was enveloped by darkness, and then...
"I said wake up!" Fina yelled.
"I'M UP! God!" I sat up, holding my hands over my ears. "I heard you the first five HUNDRED TIMES!" I glared up at her, and her face was trembling.
"Fine! Take your god damn breakfast and be a dick!" She tossed the plate at me - food flying everywhere - and ran down the stairs. A door slammed - loudly, I might add - downstairs.
Haiz stared wide-eyed on her bed at me, peering over her book. When I looked over to her, she hid like I was scary. I sighed.
"Sorry, I just have a huge headache." I hung my head in my hands, then felt gentle hands around me.
"You don't have to act so alone, Mana." She whispered. "Go and apologize, and I'll clean this up for you."
I nodded. "You're right." I got up and walked down the stairs, finding myself at the dark wood door of the Fire Recharge Room. A took a deep breath, let out a large sigh, and opened the door silently, sliding in and looking around.
Fina was curled up in a ball on the floor, sobbing. None of her candles were lit, but you could tell from the light down the stairs flowing in. I stepped over the line of unlit candles and sat beside her.
"Fina.."
"NO! PISS OFF, ASSHOLE!"
"I didn't mean it."
"No!" She paused, crying even harder. "No!"
I pulled her up and hugged her. She continued crying for several minutes, drenching my shirt in her tears. "No.."
"It's okay, Fina. I didn't mean it. It's just a morning thing. We all wake up on the wrong side of the bed every now and then."
Her sobbing had slowed down. She sniffled then said, "You didn't have to be so mean.. I made you breakfast and.." She sniffled again. "Get out. I don't want company." She turned away from me and laid back on the floor. I decided I wasn't getting any progress sitting there, so I put my hand on her shoulder for a moment, then got up and left the room.
Back upstairs, Haiz handed me the plate of mangled food. There were waffles shaped like smiley faces. I felt like a jackass....
"Sorry, I got as much as I could."
"It's fine, thank you." I put the plate down and hugged her. She staggered, surprised, then hugged back tightly.
"I take it didn't go well?"
"No. She's crying."
"I'll go talk to her. Don't you have another lesson today?"
"Yeah, Crap I'm late! I'll see you later." I let her go and shot out the door, not even finishing my sentence before I was out of earshot. When running down the road, I ran by Dorm Eight, where Veno and Tera were sitting outside. I got a few glares, but ignored them and continue down the street. I bumped into Wyrm, Jason's friend, who yelled something after me that I didn't listen to.
I could see the library ahead of me. I looked up to the top of the front wall and something white was atop it. Something new... It looked like a gargoyle-wolf monster made out of ice. It wouldn't have caught my attention normally. That is, if it hadn't been moving. It jumped down and landed in front of me. It's eyes were a crystal blue, with black where there was usually white. The ice that made it up flowed like fire, and the ground froze underneath it's paws. Two paws in the front, but two hooves in the back. The creature itself had no definite form or shape, as it's skin continued to flow.
It laughed a shattering-ice cackle. "Child! How you will be useful to me! Where is your master?!"
"What?" I took a step backwards. "What the hell are you talking about? I'm not some kind of servant!"
"You're a disciple! You must have a Master! Every book has a writer, and you're only half written!" Another insane cackle.
"Curser?" A took a few more steps back from the threatening creature.
"Yes! Where is your Master? I have words for him!"
"I don't know! Don't ask me, I'm not his babysitter!"
"What a pity. You're not as useful as I thought. Let's get his attention then, shall we?!" Another, louder, longer laugh.
I took another step back, and the creature jumped forward, nearly snapping a bite out of my arm. I turned and bolted. I could tell the creature was one step behind me, a hunger in it's blood. If I could find a place I could fit where it couldn't! Where would I, though? I could feel the creature, breathing at the tail of my coat, creating frost along the heels of my shoes. As long as nothing was in my way, maybe I could escape! Ahead of me someone dropped their books and bent over to pick them up. There's no way I'd be able to turn in time. I thought as quickly as I could, and jumped over the person. The beast followed this action, but I stopped as soon as I landed, reversed, and shot back towards the library.
"Child, it's useless! A mortal could never outrun a monster!"
I couldn't stop to reply, my chest was filled with pain, heaving to try and keep up with my overworked legs to escape the beast. It leaped from behind me to the wall on a nearby building, then shot across the way to the opposite with not even a percent of effort. I couldn't outrun it forever!
I could see the library again, and a thought of safety shone in my mind. I felt a pain in my knee. My injury from the explosion earlier in the week finally caught up with me, and caused my body to collapse on itself. I rolled nearly a dozen feet, then tried to get back up, falling pathetically to the ground.
The monster crashed down over me, as if to deal a final blow. The cold of it's breath frosted my hair, and made my own breath a puff of white.
I heard a yell, and then a meteor-like object shot towards the beast, blasting it back and lighting it aflame. The creature took on this attribute, now a burning meteorite of it's own.
"The Master shows himself!"
"Leave my student alone, Fiend." I heard Curser's voice behind me, and turned to see him step up towards me, his eyes trained on the monster and his hand stretched out, his fingers already making symbols for his next spell.
A burning laugh. "You'll hear from me, young Master. Expect a visit.."
With that, the monster dove up the side of the building, leaving nothing but a burn mark where it once was.
Out of breath, I managed to choke out "Thank you" to Curser.
He didn't change attitude, just lowered his hand and said firmly, "Go home, Mana."
"But what about-"
"- go home." With that, he turned and walked off. There was only one building I knew with any significance in that direction, the principal's building.
"I said wake up!" Fina yelled.
"I'M UP! God!" I sat up, holding my hands over my ears. "I heard you the first five HUNDRED TIMES!" I glared up at her, and her face was trembling.
"Fine! Take your god damn breakfast and be a dick!" She tossed the plate at me - food flying everywhere - and ran down the stairs. A door slammed - loudly, I might add - downstairs.
Haiz stared wide-eyed on her bed at me, peering over her book. When I looked over to her, she hid like I was scary. I sighed.
"Sorry, I just have a huge headache." I hung my head in my hands, then felt gentle hands around me.
"You don't have to act so alone, Mana." She whispered. "Go and apologize, and I'll clean this up for you."
I nodded. "You're right." I got up and walked down the stairs, finding myself at the dark wood door of the Fire Recharge Room. A took a deep breath, let out a large sigh, and opened the door silently, sliding in and looking around.
Fina was curled up in a ball on the floor, sobbing. None of her candles were lit, but you could tell from the light down the stairs flowing in. I stepped over the line of unlit candles and sat beside her.
"Fina.."
"NO! PISS OFF, ASSHOLE!"
"I didn't mean it."
"No!" She paused, crying even harder. "No!"
I pulled her up and hugged her. She continued crying for several minutes, drenching my shirt in her tears. "No.."
"It's okay, Fina. I didn't mean it. It's just a morning thing. We all wake up on the wrong side of the bed every now and then."
Her sobbing had slowed down. She sniffled then said, "You didn't have to be so mean.. I made you breakfast and.." She sniffled again. "Get out. I don't want company." She turned away from me and laid back on the floor. I decided I wasn't getting any progress sitting there, so I put my hand on her shoulder for a moment, then got up and left the room.
Back upstairs, Haiz handed me the plate of mangled food. There were waffles shaped like smiley faces. I felt like a jackass....
"Sorry, I got as much as I could."
"It's fine, thank you." I put the plate down and hugged her. She staggered, surprised, then hugged back tightly.
"I take it didn't go well?"
"No. She's crying."
"I'll go talk to her. Don't you have another lesson today?"
"Yeah, Crap I'm late! I'll see you later." I let her go and shot out the door, not even finishing my sentence before I was out of earshot. When running down the road, I ran by Dorm Eight, where Veno and Tera were sitting outside. I got a few glares, but ignored them and continue down the street. I bumped into Wyrm, Jason's friend, who yelled something after me that I didn't listen to.
I could see the library ahead of me. I looked up to the top of the front wall and something white was atop it. Something new... It looked like a gargoyle-wolf monster made out of ice. It wouldn't have caught my attention normally. That is, if it hadn't been moving. It jumped down and landed in front of me. It's eyes were a crystal blue, with black where there was usually white. The ice that made it up flowed like fire, and the ground froze underneath it's paws. Two paws in the front, but two hooves in the back. The creature itself had no definite form or shape, as it's skin continued to flow.
It laughed a shattering-ice cackle. "Child! How you will be useful to me! Where is your master?!"
"What?" I took a step backwards. "What the hell are you talking about? I'm not some kind of servant!"
"You're a disciple! You must have a Master! Every book has a writer, and you're only half written!" Another insane cackle.
"Curser?" A took a few more steps back from the threatening creature.
"Yes! Where is your Master? I have words for him!"
"I don't know! Don't ask me, I'm not his babysitter!"
"What a pity. You're not as useful as I thought. Let's get his attention then, shall we?!" Another, louder, longer laugh.
I took another step back, and the creature jumped forward, nearly snapping a bite out of my arm. I turned and bolted. I could tell the creature was one step behind me, a hunger in it's blood. If I could find a place I could fit where it couldn't! Where would I, though? I could feel the creature, breathing at the tail of my coat, creating frost along the heels of my shoes. As long as nothing was in my way, maybe I could escape! Ahead of me someone dropped their books and bent over to pick them up. There's no way I'd be able to turn in time. I thought as quickly as I could, and jumped over the person. The beast followed this action, but I stopped as soon as I landed, reversed, and shot back towards the library.
"Child, it's useless! A mortal could never outrun a monster!"
I couldn't stop to reply, my chest was filled with pain, heaving to try and keep up with my overworked legs to escape the beast. It leaped from behind me to the wall on a nearby building, then shot across the way to the opposite with not even a percent of effort. I couldn't outrun it forever!
I could see the library again, and a thought of safety shone in my mind. I felt a pain in my knee. My injury from the explosion earlier in the week finally caught up with me, and caused my body to collapse on itself. I rolled nearly a dozen feet, then tried to get back up, falling pathetically to the ground.
The monster crashed down over me, as if to deal a final blow. The cold of it's breath frosted my hair, and made my own breath a puff of white.
I heard a yell, and then a meteor-like object shot towards the beast, blasting it back and lighting it aflame. The creature took on this attribute, now a burning meteorite of it's own.
"The Master shows himself!"
"Leave my student alone, Fiend." I heard Curser's voice behind me, and turned to see him step up towards me, his eyes trained on the monster and his hand stretched out, his fingers already making symbols for his next spell.
A burning laugh. "You'll hear from me, young Master. Expect a visit.."
With that, the monster dove up the side of the building, leaving nothing but a burn mark where it once was.
Out of breath, I managed to choke out "Thank you" to Curser.
He didn't change attitude, just lowered his hand and said firmly, "Go home, Mana."
"But what about-"
"- go home." With that, he turned and walked off. There was only one building I knew with any significance in that direction, the principal's building.
© Sebastian Dow 2009 - 2011