Chapter 1: The beginning with the end
The wind breezed by me as I ran. Lighting followed me in my wake as I pushed through the prickled bushes, a gash opening in my right leg as I passed. The rays of the moon briefly bathed me, casting shadows in all directions as I ran past the bushes. The only sight in view was the alluring bark of the trees. I stopped to catch my breath; it was dead silent except for the crickets chirping. A voice appeared inside my head.
"𝐆𝐨!"
I broke into a run, a storm surfing behind me as I moved. The sound of lightning cracked like a whip at the spot I just left.
𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦?
𝑯𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅. 𝑾𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒎 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒎𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒕.
"Shut up. I don't want to hurt anyone else. I just want it to end."
The voice continued to probe me. 𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆, 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒓 𝒃𝒆 𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅.
"Shut up! It wasn't even my ch-"
𝑫𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑, 𝒉𝒆'𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒔, 𝒇𝒐𝒐𝒍.
The feel of the grass became squishier as I progressed.
𝘈𝘮 𝘐 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘵?
Lightning crackled behind me. Closer than before. I came into a clearing, my ears filled with brief silence followed by the hiss of a stream. I came into a clearing at last. A river flowed like a spear down a creek surrounded by trees. The river reflected the full moon, illuminating the space around it.
"Shit. What are we going to do now? I'm in no condition to swim."
Footsteps echoed behind me.
"Well it looks like the little mouse has finally been cornered."
I was hesitant to face him. Blood trickled down, dyeing my blazer red. There were no other sounds around me now. My breath filled my ears. The reflection of the moon expanded, shining down on where my pursuer and I were standing. I slowly began to turn around, desperately trying to formulate a solution to get me out of this god-forsaken situation.
"Too late." He said, A javelin of lightning struck at my side. I squeezed my eyes shut.
𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺.
2
Now as I'm about to taste the cold kiss of death, let's rewind back to the beginning. Before that though, let me tell you a little about myself. My name is Viri Inumbro and I hate my family. My early life was simple and more or less normal. I lived in New England with my parents, mostly in solitude from the outside world. I went to a school with ten other students in my class for all of elementary and middle school. I wasn't close with anyone, but that didn't stop me from doing well in my studies. It wasn't until high school when my life began to get more difficult (and I hated challenges). My parents shipped me off to high school in Boston, but it wasn't any normal school, it was a school for mages, Hartford Academy.
Turns out I came from a long line of mages, the Inumbro guild. The school looked very Victorian, dark brown buildings, wooden spiral staircases, red banners hung down from every marble floor bearing the HA insignia of the school. Each classroom had metal chairs and brown wooden desks. Most classes still had chalkboards as well. It was a place that shouldn't belong in this era. There were around 500 students attending when I came to Heartford. During my first year, most of my classes were based on bringing out what mages called "Signature Spells''. Each mage family had one. It was an archetype of magic that was exclusive to your family and was the only type of magic they could use.
I remembered one of my first days in my class. I looked around in my Spell Seeker classroom to see others trying out their types of magic. A blond girl with gorgeous green eyes held a brown pot with just soil in it.
𝘏𝘦𝘩, 𝘴𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘦.
She closed her eyes and furrowed her brow. Small beads of sweat dripped down her head as she continued to focus on the small pot in her hand. The other twenty students gathered around her desk to watch the spectacle.
"Kyah!"
She opened her eyes with great speed. She glanced down at the pot. A small flower with yellow petals had sprung from the center. The professor had also come over to get a good view.
"Splendid, Ms. Bellis. Your parents will be bewildered to hear you can already use your family's magic on the 3rd day of class."
He put his hands together and began to clap. We all followed. Her face turned as pink as peaches.
"Students. It seems you are ready after all to manifest your family's magic. Form a line and show us what you can do."
I gulped so loudly that everyone in the room could hear. The second kid in line had spiky black hair and red eyes. His look perfectly matched our black uniforms and reminded me of a vampire. He pulled out a small knife, bringing out a worried face from the teacher.
"Relax pops, this is part of the show," He smirked, his face full of arrogance.
He pulled off his white surgical gloves (big germaphobe I assumed). He made a small cut on the outside of his thumb. Blood began to trickle out, but before it could plummet, he stuck out his free hand. It froze in mid-air. He wiggled his fingers up and down, manipulating the blood's form and expanding it.
"Here ya go. Pretty dope, right? Where's my praise?"
The droplet had transformed into a small teddy bear. He moved it into his hands.
"Would any lucky lady be my valentine?" he said mockingly.
The ten girls in the class all turned away in unison, clearly filled with disgust. He made the bear walk around in his hand before transforming it back into a blob. He returned it to the cut, sealing it up and returned to his seat, his gloves once again on.
"Thank you, Mr. Sanguino."
There were two more people before me. The first one shot water out of his drinking cup, it soaked his whole uniform wet and he had to go get changed. The guy behind him was dirty blond and had dark red eyes. He was pretty good looking. If I was a girl, I probably would have fallen for him at first sight. He held open his hand. Red sparks spawned from the center jumping around like a rabid animal. More sparks began to build up. A sharp item began to form in his palm, but before it could fully form, he closed his palm.
"Thank you Mr. Fulmen. Next please."
It was my turn at last. My parents never told me what kind of power we had, but they said it had to do with our last name.
𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴, 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤....
I took my stride nice and smoothly to the center of the room. In reality it was more like the hobble of a senior, but I managed. I didn't even know where to start.
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵? 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘨𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴? 𝘕𝘰. 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣-
"Mr. Inumbro."
My head lurched up to face his menacing glare.
"Y-Yes?"
"Would you care to show your family's Signature Spell?"
My heart was jumping out of my chest.
"I...uh….I."
"You what?" Sanguino said.
"Quiet, Mr. Sanguino."
I looked up with the most earnest look I could manifest.
"I don't know." I said quietly.
"Come again?" He faced his ear towards me.
"I don't know. My parents never told me what kind of magic we could create."
The irritated look changed to one of pity.
"Oh...I see. Well you can take a seat. You must be a late bloomer."
That was the end of it. I kept my head down as I walked back to my seat. It was dead quiet as I did. I struggled to get into my seat, but at last I sat down. As my head hit the desk, the idle chatter around the room resumed as more students walked up to display their magic. I swore I heard a voice laughing behind me, but as I turned around, another student was presenting and no one was talking anymore.
Later that day I was sitting alone at lunch in the cafeteria. The cafeteria was large, but it was vacant. Most students had clubs to go to where they spent their lunch time. Almost all of those clubs revolved around magic so of course I didn't stand a chance of getting in. The only other people that lived at these square tables besides myself were 4th years who were too busy to continue their clubs and pursue their studies here (non-magical). There were also a few other loners, but I did not concern myself with them. The dude with the eye patch at the table across from me was looking my way. I buried my head into my book and continued to snack on my meatloaf. Footsteps echoed towards me.
𝘜𝘨𝘩. 𝘐𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘺?
"Look here, I don't need anything from you. I'm fine just the way I am so just leave me al--"
I looked up while I was giving my speech. It was someone I didn't expect to ever talk to me outside of class. Actually, the chances of talking in class were just as slim.
"Oh...I'm sorry for bothering you, Viri. I'll go back no--"
"Wait! Wait! That's ok. I thought you were someone else. Now what brings you to my lair?"
I sat up on the bench with my back straight up. It was Fiona Bellis. She was an angel and her plant magic earlier was really cool for a first year. She put her two pointer fingers together and began to slightly fidget.
"I saw that you weren't able to use your magic today. Those other kids should have treated you better. "
She got closer to me. Something started to rise and it wasn't just my heartbeat.
"You know, my dad was a late bloomer too. He told me he wasn't able to form his vine magic until he was a 3rd year so don't worry! I have faith that it will come sooner than that."
She curled some of her long golden locks around her finger. She really was a pleasure just to look at. I made a silent fist pump under the table. How lame was I?
"That's very nice of you to say, F-Fiona. It means a lot. "
I put down my book and started itching my neck, a habit of mine. I also slicked my hair back as if it would increase my appeal at all. I knew it wouldn't.
"Would you…. like to eat here with...me?"
I don't really know why I asked her. I had never really spoken to a girl besides my mom and there's no way that counted. I always sat alone and I was content with that. But when I saw her kind verdant eyes, I knew. She was someone I wanted to be associated with, even if she rejected me, I had to throw my hat in the ring. I looked at her soft face as earnestly as I could (which doesn't say much for someone as plain looking like myself). She put a finger to her lip.
"Ok...yea. I haven't joined a club anyway."
𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘥… 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘨𝘰…
She walked to the right side of me where the rest of the vacant seats were. She slid her hands down the back of her skirt as she sat down.
𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦. 𝘓𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦.
My heart beat felt like it was going into overdrive. Her eyes filled my mind with the sight of a tranquil forest and her long golden hair gave me a sense of royalty when I gazed upon it. Her smile was genuine even when mine was so half assed. Just being in her vicinity filled my heart with joy and hope. She kept talking to me. Asking about my family and what my life was like before coming here. I smiled and talked to her until the lunch bell rang. No one had ever approached me this way before.
It seemed she was as fond of me as I was of her. Every day we would meet up at lunch and chat. I was filled with bliss whenever I saw her golden locks coming my way. She was special to me, I finally had someone in my corner.
𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘣𝘢𝘥.
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