Lixarts Academy: First Year

Rose fiddled with her hair as the lesson went on. The details go in one ear and out of the other. She wasn’t really too worried about Magic Theory right now. She was worried about other things.

How to better utilize her companion magic. What to wear to prom. Who to go with.

For the majority of this entire year, Rose, Dominick, and Aura never got to be ‘normal’ teenagers. They never really got to go out and enjoy the city, to gossip about crushes, teachers, and things alike.

“It’s just been constant attack after attack and our parents somehow let us stay here even though things seem more dangerous here than when we were at home,” she sighed and laid her head down.

“Ms Garner, please do not sleep in my class-” the teacher proclaimed before being cut off.

“Rose Garner. Principal’s office,” the Vice Principal herself had made the trip down here from her office to deliver the news.

Rose grabbed her bag before weaving between the desks. She waved to the class before closing the door behind her.

“So what’s this about?” Rose asked.

“Something important that cannot be discussed right here in the middle of the hallway,” she began to walk faster as her heels clicked in more rapid successions.

Rose was confused but worried at the same time so she didn’t press the Vice Principal any further. The two made their way through the length hallway without a single peep to one another. Her heels clacked against the staircase, her steps giving away the severity of the situation as her face betrayed her, showing no emotion whatsoever. The brown mahogany door stood tall as the Vice Principal knocked on the door then swung it open.

“Ah. Ms Garner, have a seat,” his attitude welcoming despite the feeling I had earlier.

“What’s the problem, sir?” Rose was always polite with older folks she respected.

“We’re not quite too sure, either. That’s why you’re here,” he shuffled his position to lean forward, protruding his long frame. He was facing her now, his eyes staring into her soul.

“What do you mean?” She asked, jittery.

“I mean that Aura Hunt and Dominick Blackburn were meant to return earlier today at 12 o’clock and there is no sign of them at 2:35. I know Vodgel, her grandfather, he’s a good man. Okay, he might not be a good person but he does have the basic decency to bring them back to a time that we agreed upon,” he interlaced his fingers together.

“Okay but didn’t they tell you where they were going? Haven’t you checked?” She asked.

A valid question.

“We have checked their last location. All we found was this,” he pulled out a pink smiling t-rex from his pocket.

She reached out and grabbed it. Tears rolled down Rose’s cheeks.

“This is Aura’s, she would never leave this behind,” she sniffled.

“There was evidence of a struggle however,” the principal added.

“Of course there was. I don’t think either one of them knows how to give up,” Rose replied, chuckling and crying.

“Was there anyone you know of that might’ve known where they would be?”

Rose closed her eyes and started backtracking to the day that Aura told her she’d be training with her grandpa. She asked Rose if she wanted to train and that she was going to ask Dominick too. Rose politely declined.

“I believe she stopped by Dominick’s room to get him,” Rose told the principal. Then she suddenly knew.

The only person that could’ve known besides herself, Aura, and Dominick.

“Josh.”

“Josh? As in Josh Parsons?” The principal leaned forward, excited to learn a new clue.

“Yes, that’s him,” she threw her fist onto the desk.

“AURA, SHE TOLD ME SHE HAD A BAD FEELING! WHY DIDN’T I LISTEN?!” Rose screamed. She suddenly stood up out of the chair and bolted towards Dominick’s room.

“Ms. Garner, please wait!” The vice principal shouted following behind her with the principal in tow.

They flew down the hallway, weaving corners and students with amazing precision.

“JOSH!” Rose shouted as she kicked the door open.

No one.

“Mr. Parsons?” The principal peeked his head in.

A light breeze flew in.

They looked up and saw the window wide open.

Rose ran to the window and surveyed the area.

No dice.

“DAMN IT!” She punched the wall.

She slumped against the wall. She buried her face in her hands and started crying again.

“Why can’t we just have a normal school life?”

The vice principal walked over to her and sat down on the floor next to her. She put her hand on her back and started rubbing circles on her back.

“It’ll be alright,” she said, looking straightforward with a blank emotionless stare.

She leaned her head on the vice principal and let it all out.

“ROSE!” Aura shouted as she walked away.

“AURA!” Rose shouted as Aura walked away.

The two turned their backs on one another in their heads. The two have spent the entirety of their lives being friends but now there’s something in the way.

In the dark empty space that we were confined in, I was met by stares.

Aura…

Rose…

Their faces were in scowls of anger mixed with disappointment.

Why are you looking at me like that?

“Why couldn’t you save us?” They said; in sync. Their voices were robotic and cold.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

A spotlight flickered on from above as it hovered over Aura. She was in horrible shape. Her eye was shut from the wounds she sustained in her battle. Her clothes were ripped to shreds; exposing the bruises and injuries she had.

Another light appeared and moved over Rose.

Her eyes were red and wet from crying. She was on the ground with her head resting on her crossed arms. She looked up.

“Why couldn’t you save us?” They repeated, their emotions growing stronger.

“I TRIED, OK?! MAYBE I’M NOT AS STRONG AS YOU THINK I AM!” I shouted, the tears almost rolling through the dam.

“Dominick,” the familiar voice returned.

“Huh?” I opened my eyes to a small wooden room. An older gentleman with long silver hair stood over me. His robe was an emerald green with a velvet texture. His long decrepit hands were wrapped around his wooden staff as he spoke.

“How do you know my name?” I jumped back.

He pointed to his temple, “I’m the man inside there.”

“BOO!” His voice echoed throughout my brain.

“What the?” I looked at him, confused.

“I am the previous 7th pillar but you can call me Nomad.”

“Ok, ok, slow down. First of all, why are you in my head?” I asked.

“I knew your parents, your real parents,” he responded.

“Really?! What were they like?!” I questioned; excitedly.

“I don’t have time for that right now; All I need you to know is that there is a reason they aren’t here.”

“Gee, thanks, that’s SO helpful,” I turned around and walked to the already broken door.

“Wait!”

I stopped in my tracks.

“The only reason I can’t tell you the reason is because of my pact, it physically does not allow me to say anything at all involving A-,” his mouth shut and he mumbled the rest of the words; which I couldn’t understand.

I sighed.

“However; they did leave this to you,” he walked over to his dresser and opened the drawer. He pulled the bottom off from inside and grabbed a large thick book. It was covered in dust and the spine was barely hanging by a thread. He held it out to me. I grabbed it from his grasp and dusted it off.

“The Story of Contra? Who’s that?” I asked; trying to pry the book open. It clamped down with the force of a thousand men. I gritted my teeth and mustered all of my strength and pulled.

Nothing.

“Why can’t I open this?” I looked at him.

“It has a spell on it. I’ve never been able to open it either. It’s pretty powerful stuff,” he replied.

“But aren’t you a pillar? Aren’t you guys the most,” I made an overly sarcastic face and shook my hands, “powerful wizards on the planet? Don’t tell me that was all a lie,” I grabbed my face and opened my mouth in a dramatic fashion.

“Hilarious. However, this is of the most vital importance so don’t lose that,” he pointed to the book with his staff.

I went to open the door.

“Did you see Aura?” I asked, holding onto the door knob.

“I did.”

I let go of the door knob.

“What happened? Why isn’t she here?”

“I’ll tell you why, he breathed heavily before continuing, “The magic that allows for me to connect into your mind is called Projection. So long as I have something that has the DNA of the target; I’m able to project my presence into their mind,” he pointed to the book again.

“That magic allows me to sense your vitals as well. So when your heart beat slowed down, I expected something was wrong so I hurried over to you.”

Nomad dashed across the pavement and to the dungeon entrance.

A creepy feeling washed over him.

He ran down the steps as fast as his feet would carry him. As he got further down into the cavern, he heard muffled voices that grew louder and more clear as he got closer and closer.

The torch became visible; Nomad crept around the corner and poked his head out. It was figures dressed in robes as dark as the abyss that surrounded them. They wore masks of Thorn Beasts to hide their faces.

A woman appeared from thin air, making her way over to the unconscious body of Dominick.

Nomad didn’t hesitate for a moment.

He ran into the fray and grabbed Dominick. Once he had secured him, he bolted out of the dungeon.

“AFTER HIM! HE HAS THE ASSET!” The woman yelled.

“I shouldn’t have gotten involved in this,” he muttered to himself, trying to find a way to grab the senseless girl but there were too many as is and they were right behind him.

“I’ll be captured if I go back for her. I’m sorry,” Nomad looked up and steeled himself.

Shouting and screaming ensued behind him as he pushed himself to go faster than before.

He had to get Dominick out of here.

Everything depended on it.

“And so, that’s how I got you and not her,” Nomad explained.

“So you left a defenseless girl to be captured by the enemy?!” I shouted at him. I turned on my heels and walked up to him.

I stared at him in his eyes, looking for any remorse.

“I had no choice. You don’t understand-”

“I DON’T CARE. YOU LEFT A DEFENSELESS GIRL TO BE CAPTURED BY THOSE MANIACS!”

“Dominick, you need to calm down.”

I gritted my teeth. I cocked my fist back and swung my fist at his face.

He lifted up his staff.

The staff didn’t budge.

“Violence won’t solve it,” he stared at me.

“Yeah, it will. Let’s see how tough they are when I kick all of their asses,” I walked back to the door.

He put his staff in front of me.

I slowly turned my head to look at him.

“MOVE.”

That voice wasn’t my own.

What was that?

“Dominick, I need you to listen to me. These people, the ‘Shadows’, are much more powerful than you realize. You need to be prepared to face them in battle on your own. Their organization follows the god, Contra,” he nodded down at my book.

“And it so happens that your ability to nullify magic is a trait of their deity so my theory is that they plan to capture you and run some sort of experiment or experiments, plural,” he rubbed his chin.

“Okay, Nomad. Then teach me. I can’t waste any time; not when Aura is scared and alone,” I tore off my shirt that was already torn up anyways, squared my feet and lifted my fists up.

“I get that your colosseum is all you have. However, there is much more to your power than you know. Something prevented me from seeing it but I was able to access it once and allow you to harness it for a moment but I felt it, there is a magnificent power inside of you-”

I held my hand up.

“Is that why you couldn’t tell me how to make it stronger?” I questioned.

“Yeah, I didn’t want you to lose faith in yourself if the voice in your head couldn’t even give you answers,” he explained.

“I guess if my imaginary friend couldn’t tell me how to get stronger then I’d doubt if I even could,” I joked.

“This is no joking matter,” he rubbed his temples, “Meet me outside,” he walked out of the shack and into the field.

“Principal, what are we going to do?” Rose asked.

He looked out of the window and stared.

“It’s much too late for us to capture him; if he is in cooperation with the Shadows then he’s most likely back at their headquarters,” he said.

“So what about Aura? What about Dominick?” She asked, her eyes blazing with sadness and fury.

“The Magic Defense Force is currently gathering intel and conducting an investigation to figure out their whereabouts but the foes were well prepared so this could take up to a week-”

“WE DON’T HAVE A WEEK, PRINCIPAL. RESPECTFULLY, YOU CAN’T DO YOUR JOB NEITHER CAN THE DEFENSE FORCE!” She screamed, her face red and contorted with rage.

“I’LL DO IT MYSELF IF I NEED TO!” She ran to the door.

“Ms Parsons, please refrain from that,” he put his hands in his pockets and stared at her.

She looked him in his eyes.

Her intense gaze met by his unyielding authority.

“I can’t. Not with my best friend’s life on the line.”

Rose ran down the hall.

“I’ll stop her, sir,” the Vice Principal said.

Her heels clicked down the hallway followed by silence.

THWACK

A fist crashed into her face.

“Ugh…” Aura turned her head to the side and spit out the blood.

“You’re tougher than I give you credit for,” the man proclaimed.

He walked over to the table and grabbed the washcloth. He wiped the blood off of his knuckles.

“You’re just weak,” Aura taunted.

“Perhaps, you’re right. Maybe this will hurt more,” he walked over to the door and opened it.

A man in an extravagant robe walked in. The cape trailed along the ground as it sparkled underneath the fluorescent light. His face was covered by an indigo hood. He wore a atramentous chestplate that was freshly polished. The indigo robes draped over him, covering every piece of him. His cocky strut made Aura gag.

His pearly white smile was the only thing you could see.

He moved his hand over his hood and pulled it down.

“I KNEW IT!” She screamed; lunging forward. The chains held on by a thread as she used everything she had in her to try and get him.

“Yeah but your friends never listened to you, did they?” He chuckled.

“JOSH, I NEVER LIKED YOU! YOU’RE DEAD WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE!” Aura tugged at the chains.

He walked up to her and grabbed her chin.

He locked eyes with her.

“You’re never leaving,” He laughed in her face.

She spit in his face.

He cocked his fist back before striking her in the stomach.

“AUGH!” She doubled over, coughing blood.

Josh and the guard walked out of the room followed by a click.