Magic.
The word that sparks all inspiration. It could send one to a new world, filled with Dragons and Goblins adventurers fight tooth and nail to earn fame and glory. It may spark the idea of using psychic powers in the modern world in a more physical manner. There may even be ideas of a world filled with powers based on martial arts.
But what is Magic, really?
That question has separated communities for generations. Sparking conflicts so heated that outsiders might mistake it for a call to war.
To be honest, who could blame them?
With how diverse the subject is, there is little doubt that those who fantasize about the idea of Magic are so awestruck that they seem obsessed. Just this word creates art, music, even allows scientists to challenge the impossible.
'Oh, it's like Magic!' Readily became a common phrase spoken when someone comes face to face with what they think is impossible.
No, why go through all of this rambling? When Magic cannot be truly described? Well, that's simple.
Magic itself is annoying.
This was what a young child thought while focusing on the blank piece of paper that sat in her lap. Her head bobbed to the beat of a rather excitable song usually heard in clubs, playing loudly in her headphones. The girl's jet black hair was pinned to her head using discarded bobby pins she had managed to find a few days ago along with the wired headphones that covered her ears.
She was forced to tie the large, maybe white shirt, tight behind her back so the the notebook could stay clean. Her legs were covered in a rough looking pair of jeans that were much to big for her tiny body. The dirt and grime stained denim melted into a large pair of work boots that were filled mostly by socks that she had barely gotten the stink out of.
The notebook itself rested on a large leather jacket that had a fuzzy inside that could comfort the girl no matter where she slept.
Well, to put it simply, this little girl was homeless.
Ever since she could remember, she was always alone. It took everything her tiny body could manage in the beginning to scrounge up enough just to get by. Of course, she did try to seek help in the beginning.
But that effort ended up pointless.
The last family she got adopted by gave her a disconnected phone and dropped her off in the middle of the city. That same phone was tucked nicely in the pocket of her jeans.
Yes, she had always been alone. That was, until she discovered music.
She got wind of a free music app and had been using it ever since. It kept the sounds of the city out of her mind in place of a wonderful world filled with awe and wonder. From there, she discovered art and cooking. She felt she could do even better than most restaurants given just the taste alone.
12 long years alone in this world, yet she still remained happy. Well, as happy as she could manage given the state she was in.
No, not about being homeless. Nor about how sickly her pale skin looked.
Well, it was kind of hard to explain.
"Seriously, do they never stand still?" The little girl sighed in a low whisper as she looked up from her notebook.
All around her, the rain had all but stopped. Suspended in the air like gravity had forgotten what its task was. There was a puddle on the level below her that was in the middle of rippling, frozen just like the falling droplets.
"At least they have cool effects." The little girl sighed with a soft smile as she tapped a raindrop infront of her with her fairly new mechanical pencil.
She watched as the small amount of water quickly splashed to the side. Now that it was slowly freezing in place out of her view, she could see the flashing lights a ways away.
From her spot on the roof of a tall abandoned building, she got a clear view of the cause of this frozen world.
Flashes of a menacing purple and fiery red erupted in sparks in random places in the sky above. Balls of flame or spikes of a purple shadow would occasionally rain down on the city below, but the girl simply ignored them to squint a bit and lean forward.
"Just one moment." She whispered softly while gripping her pencil.
Her eyes widened as she caught sight of the sources of these strange attacks. A middle aged man dressed in a fine maroon tuxedo was wielding a longsword made entirely of flame. His features suggested he was quite young, but those eyes gave away years of practiced experience. His eyes seemed to flicker along with the flames to match his sword as well.
This man's sword was currently clashing with a pair of menacing looking claws that glowed a supernatural purple. They were connected to a smirking man that looked to be in his mid twenties. Unlike the pale business man, this guy looked like he belonged in a rave. With a torn, sleevless black shirt depicting a rock band, his baggy jeans held several holes that made him look quite fashionable. Even those shoes looked to be from a high end brand.
"Finally." The little girl smirked as she committed them to memory and began to draw furiously.
If anything about the girl was Magic, she figured it would be two things. The ability to enter this strange frozen world, and her excellent abilities.
Honestly, this was probably the reason she was finally kicked to the curb. For how little she was, she could easily match kids twice her size in strength. Adults struggled to match her speed if they chased her from rummaging through the trash.
Her stamina was also way better than her body should be able to have. This helped her move from city to city without being caught. You know, since she did not rumors running amok about her.
Thanks to these abilities, she was also able to hear and see better as well. The normal human eye would never be able to follow those two's movements. But her eyes could so long as she really focused.
And finally, her heightened senses were also similar to an animals. If there was something that could threaten her life, she felt it instinctively.
It took her a while to get used to it honestly. Especially when she first found herself in a frozen world at the age of five. She could still remember running for her life away from Magic blasts of various forms that rained down around her. It took three days for her to escape that world, by then she was a fear stricken mess and was inconsolable.
Now, she could simply ignore the purple blade that clashed into the building a few feet away from her spot. Though the spell could definitely cleave her in two, the girl barely reacted while she focused on her drawing.
Since the rumbling of battle was annoying, she turned the foreign rock up. She only needed to rely on her instincts anyway.
Her stomach gave a low rumble, making her reach into her oversized backpack into a plastic bag filled with her favorite snack. A good old, juicy piece of jerky.
A familiar song she liked came on while she munched on the jerky. With a full mouth, she sang the lyrics while bobbing her head. Despite the current danger of spells being flung around by the two Mages, at least what she called them, she was rather happy.
This frozen world allowed her to slip away from normal humans and truly enjoy herself. No need to hide from the public when you aren't even in it.
After about an hour of drawing, she was finally finished. A soft giggle left her lips as she awed at the expressions she had made. The business man's serious face devoid of most emotions, while the rave guy's various bracelets and his spiked collar complimented his rather ecstatic features.
"It's a shame I'm bad at serious faces. Fire Business doesn't look nearly as good here as Shadow Rave." The girl critiqued her own work as she reached for more jerky.
Disappointment in finding her snacks had all but vanished made her pout. She then sighed in acceptance and folded the plastic bag as small as she could manage before tucking it into the small garbage pocket of her backpack.
"I think I still have some candy? Or did I eat it all?" The girl sighed as she rummaged through her bag.
In the middle of her searching, she felt a small tap on her shoulder. This was ignored since her instincts were not warning her. Instead, she brushed her shoulder while rummaging.
"Another spell must have landed close by. Ooo, I have chocolate!" She squealed with pure joy.
While she wiggled to get comfortable again, she fiddled with the wrapper just in time to feel the tapping again.
"Did they move?" She grumbled as she turned her head.
Before her eyes, the two men she had just finished drawing were standing on the roof behind her. While Fire Business looked at her with a deep, concerning stare, Shadow Rave was smirking with a cocked brow. Honestly, he seemed quite amused as he looked at the girl.
However, the girl felt a deep sense of danger. The last time a Mage found her, well, her head would have quite literally flew off her body if that deranged woman was any faster.
All the girl could do was give them a stunned smile. Since her hands stopped working, she accidentally dropped the chocolate down the side of the building several stories.
It took her a moment to collect herself. And by that, collect her things and run away.
The girl shoved her jacket and notebook into her bag as fast as she could. In that moment, she gripped the top of her open bag to hold the opening closed while she dropped from the roof.
The music in her ears raged with club music in her escape and her instincts worked full throttle. She sensed something coming at her back and reacted by kicking herself off the side of the building. Using her arms to shield her face, she crashed through a glass window several stories up and rolled along the ground.
Luckily for her, she crashed into a beanbag chair at the other end of the roof, the glass freezing in the air before it could touch the ground. Double lucky as she found a bowl filled with candy bars.
She quickly got on her feet and raced passed the kitchen counter while snatching a few for herself. After stuffing them into her bag, she closed the zipper and slung it quickly onto her tiny back.
Her instincts warned her against jumping straight out the window. Instead, she jumped and drop kicked the glass to catch the windowsill. She used the momentum by flinging herself straight down at high speed, avoiding something that seemed to try and grab her.
"Girls don't like persistent guys." *She shouted at Fire Business, who looked more surprised than angry that she avoided him.
After sticking her tongue at him, an alarm rang from beneath her. With a flip, she kicked off the wall to crash on the roof of a smaller building. Instead of rolling, she slid on the gravel on her side. The sudden pain caused her to shout, but she was forced to ignore it.
Clawing the gravel as hard as she could, she managed to stop herself and kick the roof. She gained enough height to flip over Fire Business, who seemed to be in awe of her. For some reason, that sent chills down her spine.
The girl landed on her feet and dove to the right off of the roof just as Shadow Rave tried to snatch her. She had never been more thankful for her supernatural abilities, but these two were just relentless.
Her toes caught the edge of the building to stop her leap. Though it was planned, she ended up moving faster than she wanted and slammed her nose against the brick of the building.
A flash of white filled her eyes, but all she could do was grit her teeth and drop herself again. She could still feel their eyes on her. Just this feeling alone was enough to put a deep fear in her heart.
Another shout left her left shoulder smacked hard on the cold surface of a fire escape railing. The feeling of something popping out of place almost made her throw up her precious jerky. Still, she had to keep moving.
She flipped herself to try and grab the railing a few stories below, but the blood that caked her right arm had made her slip off the smoothe surface.
"Well shit." The girl sighed in awe.
She had never made a mistake like this before. Nor had she felt death hang over her so heavy. After years of dodging the eyes of the humans and Mages, this was how it ends?
The girl then grit her teeth and gripped the large kitchen knife attached to her back. Her instincts told her that one of those Mages were near. She would be damned if she simply let them do as they pleased.
Her eyes turned cold, drawing the knife and forcing her body to turn around at a painful speed. Her eyes caught Fire Business'. He had a strange look on his face, but that did not matter to the girl. She instead focused all of her rage to swipe at the man's neck in a last ditch effort to go out on her own terms.
Before the blade could connect, a force grabbed her backpack and yanked her away. Her blade just barely scratched the man's neck and drew blood, but the girl was not done. She used her broken shoulder to roll out of the straps of the bag with the same momentum. Her target this time was the neck of Shadow Rave who held onto her bag.
He had the same look in his eyes as Fore Business, but that didn't matter.
Before it could connect, Shadow grabbed the girls arm and made her shout from the sudden pain. It was not that he gripped her hard, it was where he gripped. She had not noticed the lodged gravel in her flesh before, but now it sent a white heat to her brain that forced her to drop the blade and scream in pain.
The girl grit her teeth to bear the pain. Opening one eye slowly, she saw Shadow speaking to Fire with a serious look. She wanted to strike at him, but her left arm refused to move. After Shadow finished speaking, he flew up to the roof of the building and gently set her down next to the blood stain she had created.
As soon as her feet touched the ground, she dashed back a few feet and slouched. The mix of pain and exhaustion were catching up to her. All she could do now was take deep breaths while looking between Shadow and Fire. Her mind raced while the two spoke.
Deciding it was better to just leave her bag and run, she took a step back to prepare.
"Can you stop already? You need treatment." Shadow's worry filled voice found the girl's ears.
The sudden lack of music caused her to look up and see her headphones hanging in the air from a purple string.
"Put those down!" She shouted through the sudden pain found in her chest and right side.
"Take it easy child, you need treatment." Fire spoke up while holding up his hands.
It was rather strange how worried the two looked. More strange how soothing their voices were despite how they dressed. Shadow sounded like a natural baritone that dipped to bass, while Fire spoke with the soothing voice of a low tenor.
The girl felt her headphones land around her neck, making her feel a bit safer.
"What do you want, Mages?" The girl snapped, still on guard.
"We didn't mean to scare you." Shadow spoke up first while mimicking Fire.
"What Guild do you belong to? We need to get you treated first." Fire nodded as ge gestured to the girl's wounds.
"Fuck you. I'm not going to a Guild just to be used for your fucking powers!" Memories of a Mages words rang clearly in her head from the past.
Just hearing the mention of a Guild brought her a deeper fear than death. While that Mage was trying to capture her, they went on about a life of power if they had her. How powerful they would become if they could just take her back.
"Child. I think you are misunderstanding some-"
"What? How your Aberath Guild want to use me for their power? All you want is to make me your pet!" The girl snapped at Fire, taking a cautious step back.
The two flinched as she mentioned Aberath. Their eyes grew wide in shock, glancing between each other then at her.
"Just, just give us a moment." Fire spoke up as he turned away while reaching into his suits inner pocket.
"Child, please just calm down. You're under a heavy adrenaline rush and can't feel it, but your life is in danger." Shadow spoke quickly, walking towards her slowly.
"What?" The girl took another step back to look down at her body.
A large shard of glass was protruding from her right side, surrounded by a large pool of blood that stained her shirt. A smaller piece pierced her chest just next to her lung, but the blood leaked much faster here. These injuries were definitely life threatening.
"Yes, understood. Juran, she's the Lost the Madam missed." Fire called to Shadow while running up to his side.
"Shit, this girl? That was 6 years ago. Do you think?" Shadow gawked as he flinched.
"It's possible. They will be here soon." Fire spoke up just as a thud was heard.
The two turned to the girl had fallen to her knees. The blood loss was taking its toll. All strength in her body was quickly fading. The body she had grown so used to, now feeling more human than usual.
"Fuck. I didn't even get to try ice cream." The girl sobbed as her life flashed before her eyes.
"Hold on child!" Fire shouted as his arms wrapped around the girl to pull her close. "Help is coming. Juran, can you treat her?"
"I can only stabilize her, Cal, but she's lost to much blood." Shadow spoke up, kneeling beside the girl to pluck the glass out quickly.
Just as the glass left, Fire held up a finger to make it glow a white heat. He then nodded to Shadow. The man responded by gagging the girl with a purple band.
"I'm sorry." Fire spoke in a soft voice before pressing the finger against the girls chest.
The heat she felt caused her to bite down on the gag and writhe. Shadow held her down using his powers while Fire worked. After the second wound was cauterized, Fire quickly tore at his dress shirt to make a bandage for the girls arm.
"You're gonna be okay. Help is coming soon." Shadow spoke while dispelling his magic. He then placed a hand on her forehead to give her a warm, comforting smile.
Thanks to her supernatural body, the girl somehow stayed awake as her body was burned. Images of being used as a toy flashed through her mind, but she was to weak to struggle.
"Just...kill me..." The girl barely managed to speak through the pain. "I don't...wanna be used..."
"Please, child. Just hear the Madam out. She will explain everything." Fire spoke, his voice catching in his throat as he tried a smile.
Tears streamed down the man's face, a sight the girl had never seen before. When was the last time someone cried while holding her? It made her feel guilty for some reason.
"B-bag..." She suddenly remembered her items, raising her right arm to reach out for it.
"Yes, your bag." Shadow nodded and quickly stood to find it.
He came back moments later to lay it in the girls arms. Slowly, she unzipped the top to pull out her coloring book. Thankfully, it was undamaged save for a few wrinkles. Tears flowed freely once again from the girl, making her finally look like the child she was supposed to be.
"I wish...I tried ice cream." She sobbed as the darkness finally took hold.
The worried voices of Fire and Shadow faded away in the darkness. The girl simply hoped that this was all a bad dream. Or, at the very least, that she would die here peacefully.