Tap. Tap.
Rayn paused mid-thought. Light footsteps pattered across the rooftop beside the street, quick, agile, and belonging to someone small in stature. He looked up. If this was the thief, then catching them would be easy.
Under the moonlight, a small figure sprinted across red roof tiles, each step making a crisp clack. A magic staff glowed in his hand, arcane power circulating around it. A black cloak, a wide hat, and a dark green mask concealed his identity, leaving only his eyes exposed.
A rooftop at night, a hidden face, and a suspicious escape. It was every cliché of a thief in one scene.
"Rayn, is that the thief?" Kanna asked, blinking up at him.
"No," Rayn answered softly. His eyes narrowed. But I know that outfit…
A masked mage with a staff. Cloak. Concealed identity. The more he stared, the clearer the answer became.
"…Mystogan?"
Rayn's eyes widened. Then everything clicked at once.
Multiple worlds. Edolas and Earth Land. The mission's disappearing objects. Anima.
Of course.
The world's magic theft wasn't being done by a human thief, it was the early, unstable state of Anima, the inter-dimensional magic Edolas used to steal energy. The objects weren't stolen, they were absorbed. And Mystogan, rejecting his father's plans, had secretly crossed over to stop it.
Rayn exhaled.
"So Anima has already begun…"
He tried to recall the original timeline, but his memory was hazy. It was a small miracle he remembered Mystogan at all.
"Kanna, we're following him."
Without hesitation, Rayn scooped Kanna up. Magic flowed through his body—his steps lightened, weight dispersing. With a short sprint he leapt, landed on a metal sign, then kicked off again, landing atop the rooftops with ease.
But Mystogan was no longer there.
"He noticed us," Rayn muttered.
"Over there," Kanna pointed without hesitation.
Rayn didn't doubt her. He sprinted in the direction she indicated, roof tiles cracking slightly beneath their combined weight.
Meanwhile, in a dark alley, Mystogan landed and took a long breath.
"That was close… but I can't slow down."
The fluctuations of Anima were growing stronger. Soon, it would no longer target only objects, it would start devouring life. Even if the range was small at first, Mystogan refused to let anyone die because of Edolas.
He ran again, cloak fluttering, gripping his staff tightly.
Please… let me seal it in time.
Moments later, he reached an empty town square. He scanned the area.
"Good. The radius is small. I can stop it here."
Then the air rippled like water. Space twisted before him, distorted and warped by invisible force, accompanied by a violent wind. Purple light bled through the cracks of reality.
Mystogan slammed his staff into the ground.
"Seal!"
A massive magic circle expanded beneath him, encasing the distortion like a cage. Space froze, its movements halted.
"It's working…!"
Mystogan exhaled in relief
CRACK!
The twisting space suddenly spun counter-clockwise. His magic circle shattered instantly, exploding into fragments of light. A violent blast hurled Mystogan backward, slamming him into the ground.
He coughed, chest tight and vision blurring.
"What!?"
Then his eyes widened.
"A reversal…?"
The Anima that should have been absorbing Earth Land's life was now reversing, devouring Edolas' life instead and sending it here.
Mystogan forced his trembling arms to push himself up.
"I won't… let either world suffer!"
He tried to stand, only to collapse again. The backlash had done more damage than he thought. His body refused to move.
The rotating rift pulsed violently.
BOOM!
In the next instant, several black silhouettes were violently expelled from the twisting space, like reality itself was spitting them out.
605 Words