Ten years ago...
For those seeking to better themselves or their skill, there is a place. Into the Appalachian mountains, far from mundane eyes, lies the school of Radiance. Radiance, for as far back as most can remember, existed to illuminate the darker places within not only hearts, but the world around them. Teachings of old were taught to any soul willing partake in the mystery of a long secret, magic world and all the dangers it held.
Radiance has always had an Archmage, a leader to help guide those who entered its halls. There were always some who scoffed at teaching; believing it to be a waste of talent. It is those same people who have never felt the surge of pride one feels as they watch inspiration take the place of desperation in a young mind. To feel joy as a student, a friend even, returns to show their mentor what they have achieved with their gifts.
“Can you guess what it is I feel, Raine?” The Archmage spoke as a familiar face entered her study. The Archmage placed down her tea and faced her visitor. "How my heart breaks seeing my greatest student returned?”
“I’m not your student anymore.” The woman with fiery red hair replied as thunder clapped the skies above the school. The hood of her black robe hid nothing from her former teacher. “And there’s only one thing I’m interested in you telling me today.”
“Do you even know who you’re here to find?” The elderly Archmage asked.
“It’s another name on a list.” Raine stated. “I don’t want to take the information from your mind... but I will.”
“I guess we’re both doing things we’d rather not today.” The Archmage fired off an azure glyph, shoving her pupil off the balcony and into the pouring rain.
With the threat of a hundred feet below her, Raine created a crimson glyph for her to bounce back and enter back through the balcony. Raine dashed forward at her target with her palm shrouded in fire. The Archmage moved as her desk was struck in half. The elder mage froze the splinters in mid-air, grouped them, and dropped them like stalactites.
Raine’s magical aura burst into flames around her, turning the wooden projectiles into falling cinders. Gathering the cinders, Raine sent them forward as a stream of ashes. The Archmage dodged once more with ease, as if she knew just where to move. The Archmage followed up quickly, delivering a kick to Raine’s chest. Raine fell back, shattering a mirror behind her. The Archmage motioned with her hands, opening a portal through the mirror.
Raine summoned a whip of flames at her target, pulling the Archmage towards the portal. The Archmage snapped the line but Raine was already on her and wrestling to get a hand on her mentor’s mind. Feeling her former student's strength overtake her, the Archmage threw the both of them into the mirror and shut the portal behind them.
Quick to recover, Raine wrenched the Archmage to her knees and held her head still. Digging deep for the knowledge she sought, Raine cut through countless memories for the one she came for. There was no time to appreciate the moments they shared together, no time for sweet memories long turned bitter by time. No sooner than she had the location did she exit her victim’s mind and drop her body to the ground to the void of the mirror world that so closely resembled the school it resided in.
Despite her failure, the Archmage laughed as she raised herself off the black surface at her feet. "Congratulations..." She said, her voice drained. "You've found your name on a list. But only the Archmage of Radiance can access its mirror-verse and I've already named my successor. We're stuck here, Raine."
Raine stood motionless, still under her hood. "You always told us we had power to illuminate the dark places." The Archmage's expression turned still. "But something I've learned the hard way... is making my own dark places."
The Archmage marched to her former student, tearing off the black robe in desperation. Rather than her fallen pupil, only a phoenix perched where she had stood. The Archmage could only look on, distraught. "You cut yourself from your familiar and made it mimic your appearance..."
"I know what you're feeling," The Phoenix echoed its master's voice from miles away. "I feel it too, Lucy."
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Under the pouring rain, deep into the woods of New Jersey, lay a forgotten shack. To mundane eyes, it was exactly as it appeared. Atop the wet grass and mud were the unconscious bodies of those who stood between Inquisitor Raine Sutherland and the last name on her list. Following the path of his defeated friends was Harrison Black.
The man ran as fast as he could in her wake. Recognizing a brunette woman beside a burning tree, he stopped to see her.
"Emyrah, what happened?!" He pleaded.
"Harry... I tried but she..." Emyrah sobbed in the darkness, beaten.
Harris broke off, sprinting towards the shack in view. Outside was another familiar face dragging himself through the muck to reach the doorway. The man was desperate to get on his feet but could barely manage to move his body.
"Vince!"
The curly-haired man kept his eyes locked on the shack, fighting back tears. "I can still fight..." Vincent collapsed onto his back, his eyes now stuck to the hopeless sky falling down on him.
Harrison moved into the quiet shack, better furnished than the exterior implied. There was barely a sign of struggle as he entered the last room of the house, thunder booming overhead. He found his wife's body, eyes gently shut as her assailant kneeled next to her, hood down.
"No..." Harrison begged.
Raine looked up, tears fresh on her cheeks. "Harry... I-"
Harrison wrenched the metal beams in the walls to come screaming out and form around every fiber of Raine's body. She couldn't speak, she couldn't move, and for longer than he'd like to admit, Harrison wished he could crush her under the weight of the metal until she couldn't even feel the pain he wanted to bring to her.
Another Inquisitor was quick to arrive on the scene, ready to take Raine away in chains. "Mr. Black." The Inquisitor began. "Inquisitor Samson; I'll be taking it from here. Thank you for helping bring her in... To think, one of our own behind all those murders..." The man gave a heavy sigh. "Get back to your family. They'll be needing you."
"So did she..." Harrison said with regret.
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