Of course I had the usual dream, but it ended in a flash. I had another dream, it was dark. I saw the back of a woman’s head, her blonde hair was familiar. I called silently for my mother, before my vision flashed. Then it flashed again, and again. Rapid images and clips of people I knew, and people I didn’t. It was all so nondescript, aside from the darkness around us every time. The sensation was the same in each and every one- fear, despair, panic. With every flash the sensation of dread rose higher and higher, and the flashes only happened faster and faster until eventually I found myself flinging my body off the bed and onto the floor.

I breathed heavily at the floorboards, startled after having woken up mid-launch. I pushed myself up, and sat at the edge of the bed. Easier said than done, it turns out. I was still so sore from yesterday.

“What the hell was that?” Jett asked from across the room.

“Bad dream.” Was all I said, because honestly, I didn’t even know. I was filled with a sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t just that, though. I retrieved my phone, and quickly tapped in my mother’s phone number.

The phone began to ring. It rang. It rang. No one answered. I lowered the phone and saw the time, it was almost 6 am. My brother likely wouldn’t even be awake yet today, and my mom sleeps in late since she works in the afternoons. I exhaled a slow, worried breath and tapped my fingers on my knee. After calming some, I grabbed Jett and his satchel and headed out for the kitchen.

Camilla was in there, sitting on the couch with her legs sat before her, she was watching tv, it sounded like the news. I went for an apple for breakfast, and cut it into slices. I started walking toward the table when Camilla spoke up.

“Hey. You made 6 o’clock news.” She said casually. I froze.

“What..?” I slowly turned my head to look at her, and she pointed to the television with the remote. I quickly walked over to the couch, and she moved her legs so that I could sit as well.

The reporter was going over an attack at the place of business we were yesterday, and even showed cctv footage of the room we were in. I began to get nervous and jittery as the reporter began.

“Here you can see one of the people involved approached this group who appeared to be standing guard at this door. The contents of the room are currently unknown, but according to employees, none of the people involved worked in the building. We have to warn you, the following footage is graphic and violent.” I tapped my fingers impatiently as the woman began setting up to explain what we could all see in the video. They skipped ahead a little bit, to when Camilla kicked the person to the floor.

“-and just like that, nearly everyone in the room entered some sort of frenzied panic, charging at the unidentified woman. Witnesses recount the scene.” Someone who must have been at the building yesterday when it happened appeared on screen with a microphone in her face. “I was just running some errands with my son yesterday, when suddenly that woman started fussin at them people. I didn’t catch what they all said, but when she kicked them down it was like suddenly there was a tidal wave of people goin crazy trying ta tear chunks out of her. I could only run and hope my son an I got outta there alive after that.”

I glanced at Camilla, who seemed almost uninterested, but was watching intently. The camera was back on the reporter, with the cctv footage in the corner.

“We weren’t able to receive a report of what happened once they all made it out of the exits. We weren’t wondering long though, as another person stepped out of the shadows, with what appeared to be a glowing sword.” And there I was, on screen getting ready to charge. I was so thankful there was no sound in the footage.

“What followed could only be described as an intense battle, the mystery swordsman appeared to be losing. Here in the footage, you can see he somehow produced a bow from nowhere, and the sword is nowhere in sight. The clip of this fight has viewers raving. Especially so when his opponent fired a gun at him, which he somehow seemed to duck below. Some on the internet seemed to have even taken to calling him ‘Swordsman Neo’.” Camilla snorted, I glared at her briefly for interrupting.

“After seemingly resting on the floor for several minutes, our ‘Swordsman Neo’ returned to the fight. Eventually coming out on top, and eliminating the last man between him and the door. I’ll warn you again, this footage is graphic and violent... The man appeared to have literally disappeared. No other bodies were found, and no one has been reported missing. So far the only ones who know exactly what happened in that building were our ‘Swordsman Neo’ and his mystery accomplice… Police investigation is still currently ongoing. Back to you Ryan.”

I set the plate on the arm of the couch, and tucked my knees under my chin. I worried someone I knew might actually recognize me. Worse, I worried the police would be able to pinpoint me somehow. Camilla stretched beside me.

“Man, I wish I got an internet nickname.” She said.

“This isn’t fun, Camilla.” I glared from where I hid behind my knees.

“Just be glad the camera was on the other side of the room. All you can really see is your hair.” She swept her hand through mine teasingly as she stood. I shook her off and frowned.

“AAAAA’s met me already. He’s going to recognize me, you know.” I reminded. She glanced at me.

“I guess that’s possible.” She shrugged. “We have more work to do. A couple people supposedly went missing last night, we need to find out if it's related.” She muted the tv, and went to her room to start her research I assumed.

“You seem more shaken up than usual.” Jett commented.

“What do you mean?”

“Tense. Huddled. Trying to make yourself feel smaller.” He observed, and I shook my head. I forced myself to put my feet back down, and I started eating my apple slices disinterestedly.

“I guess.” I started. “A lot on my mind. I don’t exactly like being on tv, and being a viral video.”

“You don’t think people are going to call it a hoax?”

“Mm. Maybe. I hope they do. It’s not really them that matter, though. The enemy is going to be looking for any blonde, curly haired men around my height. That’s if AAAAA hasn’t already sent out the memo about who I was.” My tone became more and more mopey, I was stressed and tired, I wanted to keep sleeping.

“Stop pouting.” he said suddenly, sounding annoyed. “You can’t do anything about it. Worry about things you can control. Like, do research on your magic, try to bless some crap.”

“Try to bless some crap.” I repeated, disbelieving. “Look, I don’t even know how my magic works. Besides, I don’t have the rod, Briar does.”

“I what?” Briar said, entering the room. He looked a little sleepy.

“Ask for the rod.” Jett commanded.

“Jett wants me to ask you for the scepter.” I announced for him.

“Ah, I see. An interesting little thing, that scepter. Just, let me get my tea.” He said pleasantly. I snorted. He wouldn’t do anything until he got his morning tea. He was such a stereotypical old man. Almost.

I spent the next few minutes nibbling on my apple slices and listening to Jett chatter on about whatever was on tv, even though it was muted. It seemed like he liked the talk show people, until they brought their guest on board.

“Oh! Fin! I like the look of that guy, you should try to get like that.” He said. The man in question was definitely stronger in appearance, and wore a tight fitting shirt to show it off. Probably the most eye-catching thing about him was that his arms were completely covered with tattoos. You could even see more peeking through the v cut in his shirt. I sputtered.

“You want me to look like… That guy?” It was one of the weirder things he’s said to me, I needed clarification.

“Yeah, well. No. You’re fine like, you don’t need to go quite that far with steroids.” He began, and I laughed. “I mean like, the tattoos. You should get some tattoos. That’d be so cool.”

“I’m not getting any tattoos.” I said firmly, but amusedly.

“Why not? I like them, you should get them.”

“Oh my god. You’re just trying to live vicariously through me, aren’t you?” I shook my head, and stood to go put the plate away.

“Possibly. Will you at least think about it?” He sounded ridiculous by this point.

“Oh my- Okay, fine. If after everything is said and done, and I’m still alive and kicking, we’ll go find somewhere to get a tattoo as a celebration for you, or something.” I relented as I began to wash the few dishes in the sink. Briar was watching me from where he sat in his chair.

“I’ll take that as a promise. I wanna see it done, I’ve never seen the process before.” He said, seemingly satisfied with my answer. I sighed, and thought seriously for a moment whether it was something I seriously wanted to commit to. Sure, it might be fun, but I have to save up, and decide what I’d want to get, and blah blah. In all, I realized I didn’t have as much of a problem with it as I might’ve had before all this started.

I put the dishes onto the drying rack and turned, about to ask Briar if he was finished with his tea. He was already halfway out of his chair, and he took another sip. I stopped because he held his hand out with his finger up as if saying ‘hush’ or ‘hold on’.

“Just a moment, my boy.” He said, and began walking toward the door to his room. “I’ll get you that scepter.”

I stared after him confusedly, I was just going to ask if he wanted me to wash his cup. I shrugged, and dried my hands before Briar reappeared with a wooden case under his arm. He set it down on the table, and waved his hand toward it for me. I sat down almost eagerly while he turned to clean his cup. I opened the case.

Inside was the stone I saved with my brother, beside the rod itself. I allowed myself to finally get a good look. It was made of aged gold, it was about the length of my forearm- shorter than I expected. There were swirles and curved detailes on the metal, raised bumps and grooves that made it feel interesting. I plucked the gem from the box, then the rod.

“Is it okay if I put em together? Jett thinks I might be able to do something with it.” I figured it’d be best to ask, in case he had other plans. Briar looked over his shoulder.

“Did he? Then by all means, go ahead.” He shook his hands off before drying them, and I turned back to the scepter parts.

“Wait.” Jett suddenly said. I tensed. “Put me on the table.”

I relaxed, and set him down where he asked. I started messing with the rod, turning it over. One end was where a group of decorative swirls originated from, and the other had a divot around it. I concluded the gem went there. I noticed before I put it on that there was a hole at the top, just under where the gem would be. I managed to get the ring to slide over the rod, and the pointed end of the gem fit within the rod, completing the scepter.

“Huh. Well, it’s put together now.” I tilted the scepter from side, the weight felt nice now that it was all put together.

“Try blessing something.” Jett said, and I made a face, annoyed.

“Any idea how?” I asked.

“I dunno, try it on the case.” He ordered. “Then just… put energy into it. I don’t know, magic is confusing, just try different things.”

I sighed, and closed the case, before staring at the scepter while debating. I shrugged, and let the gem thunk lightly onto the wood. So far, just touching did nothing. Check that one off the list.

I shook my head, trying to clear it. I exhaled slowly, and tried focusing my energy on it, like he said. Although, who knows what that actually even meant. I could feel my palm get hot where I was holding tightly onto the metal in an attempt to get it to do what I wanted. I realized then that Briar had been watching over my shoulder the whole time, and I lost focus. I moved the scepter from the case.

“Hey, why’d you stop?” Jett complained.

“It wasn’t working, what do you want me to do?” I asked tiredly.

“Yes, it was. I saw it. Pick me up, and try again. Try manifesting the blade too, might help.” He said, I quirked my brow and settled him in my other palm. The blade of light emerged shortly after, and I was faintly aware of it startling Briar behind me. I tapped the scepter to the case again, and tried focusing like before. Even faster than last time, my palm heated the metal, hot enough that I realized that it wasn’t coming from my palm at all.

“Uh-” I said absently, paying more attention to that warmth. It was almost like it was pulling at me. I chased the feeling, and suddenly all at once the heat rose till it nearly burned. I could see that light enter the gem, probably from the hole beneath it. It emanated a soft pink glow. Briar gasped ever so quietly.

“Ha ha! Now tap the case!” Jett sounded victorious. I was still a little shaken, but I did as he asked. I lifted the scepter and gave the case the gentlest of taps. Not much happened, aside from a slight ripple of white light going across the surface of the case, which could have easily been chalked up to a trick of the light. I knew by now though that it hadn’t been. I lifted it up again, to look at it, before I tapped Jett’s satchel with it next. The same thing happened.

“It’s so…” I started, eyes watching the way the light danced around within the red gem, but realized the scepter was only getting hotter. “Hot. Really hot. I need to put this down.”

As soon as my grip loosened, the light retreated. The temperature was still high though, so I had to set it down quickly. I opened the case and placed it back within as quick as I could before shaking my hand. My palm was red and tingling when I looked at it.

“My word! What exactly was that?” Briar asked as soon as I put it down.

“Jett was theorizing that I could bless things with my own magic, we were testing it out.” I said in a daze, rubbing my fingers to get the tingling to stop.

“Incredible! This could even be useful- now. I have to write this down, excuse me.” Briar walked off, and I shook my head watching him go.

“How’s it feel, hot shot?” Jett asked, still in my hand. I withdrew the blade, and ran the ribbons attached to the hilt through my fingers.

“Weird. Almost burned me. My hand feels like pins and needles.” I explained.

“Huh, can’t say I expected that. ‘S it feel like when your arm falls asleep?” He asked.

“Yeah, sorta, but only on my palm.” I held it out flat, looking at it. The pink color was returning to normal. For some reason I got that feeling like I was missing something, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what it was. I sighed and went over to flop onto the couch. Wincing at the soreness it brought.

I looked at my phone to check the time. It was getting closer to 7 now, my brother would normally be up for work soon. I remembered my worry for my mother and brother suddenly all at once, feeling like an idiot for letting myself get distracted. I found his contact and called, praying that he’d pick up. It rang for too long, before finally...