Oct 3, 2017
Day 2 bruising
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Day 2 bruising
Berthold Brecht_Erinnerung an Marie A.
Chapter 7: Fire
Mariea
The vision faded, and Mariea ended up back in the empty void. “That’s all?” she asked the woman standing next to her, unable to hide her disappointment. The little bit of information she had gained didn’t really make sense to her. There was one thing that had caught her interest; the aura that they were creating as a cure to this new disease sounded very much like that of a demon aura. Could it be possible that the demons had once had a purpose? That they had once been creatures of good, instead of the mindless monsters they are now? She wondered, shaking her head, unable to believe it.
“No, but that is all I can show you now,” the woman responded. She too seemed a bit disappointed that they couldn’t continue.
“Alright. I will look forward to the next time then,” Mariea decided, trying to not feel impatient. She looked around, wondering what would happen next. Glancing back to the woman, she realized she was fading, and then the dream ended.
........
Mariea woke to her alarm clock. Reaching up, she silenced the blaring annoyance and sighed, stretching. Bracken was already up; sometimes he left a little earlier to get an early start on the day.
She sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She felt as if she hadn’t slept at all, and was still groggy. Her mind dwelt on her dream. Part of her wondered if it had really happened, or if it had just been a normal dream. If it was just a dream, her imagination’s ability to create bizarre but surprisingly realistic stories amazed her.
But part of her was sure it was real. It had been too vivid, and the story was too organized for a typical dream.
Starting the day was difficult. Usually, she didn’t mind mornings, but the sleepless night seemed to drag at her as she tried to prepare. As her thoughts wondered back to the dream, she knew she would dwell on it a lot throughout the morning. She wondered who the woman from the dream was, and couldn’t help but think it ironic that she looked so much like herself.
As the day continued she managed to put the dream out of her mind as she taught, but in between classes and during dull moments, she strayed back to it. She couldn’t help but think about how the woman had mentioned that whatever she was showing her would help her get through some sort of ‘turmoil’ in her future. She wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean; she wasn’t even sure she wanted to know.
During lunch, she ran into Bracken, and decided to talk to him about it. She quickly explained the dream, and then waited to see what he would say. “It seems like just another dream to me. Something your imagination made up to pass the time. Isn’t that what all dreams are?” he mused.
“I guess, but this dream felt like more…” she muttered, puzzled.
“Maybe it was. I guess if you do have another similar dream, we’ll know for sure,” he decided. Soon after, he got a call and had to leave. She remained in the teacher’s lounge, thinking about the dream.
Eventually, after she had mulled over it enough, she pushed it to the back of her mind and tried to focus on the remainder of the day. Every night afterward, she knew she would be waiting for a similar dream.
The bell rang, starting yet another class. Mariea waited for everyone to sit down. They chatted excitedly, knowing what was in store for today. She smiled. She loved teaching, especially teaching first years. Their fascination with the elements always made her happy.
“Today, we learn to light a flame,” she announced, starting the class. “You’ve learned the spells to protect yourself while you learn to control the flames, and you have all passed the test on them, so that means you are ready.” She had to pause to allow the excited exclamations pass so she could be heard again. Once it was somewhat quiet, she continued. “Now, everyone is going to need a handful of matches and a cup of water. It’s easier to start with something to light the flame on.” She gestured to the box on her desk, and cups filled with water next to it. She laughed inwardly at the irony; normal schools warn kids against playing with matches. This school used it as a teaching method.
After everyone had some matches and a cup of water, she grabbed one for herself. Holding it up in front of the class, she started to explain how to light the match. “The flame you are calling comes from inside you. The flame you create is fueled by the fire of your life force and your will to live. When you use Fire Magic, you harness that natural energy with your aura and will it to light the match. This is why learning Fire Magic is the easiest; you naturally have the ability to create the fire.
“To bring the fire to the match, you have to concentrate on bringing the heat and the oxygen to the fuel. If you concentrate hard enough, eventually, the match will light on fire.” As she said this, the match in her hand lit with a little flame on the end. “Over time, you will be able to call the flame faster, and it will become easier. You try now.”
As the kids concentrated on trying to light their match, Mariea let the flame she had lit die, dipped the match in a cup of water on her desk, and then threw it away. Then she turned back to the class and watched them carefully, waiting to see who managed to light a flame.
Nothing happened for a minute, but then a girl in the corner squealed, obviously surprised and happy. On the end of her match a small flame flickered back and forth. Soon after it had lit though, it disappeared. “Good,” Mariea praised. “You know why it died?”
“Because I stopped concentrating on it?” The girl guessed as she dipped the match into the water.
“Yup. Eventually, you won’t have to put much effort into keeping the flame alive. I can keep a flame that small going all day long without much thought. With practice, you’ll be able to do that.”
Mariea watched as the students concentrated on their match. Some of the student’s faces almost made her laugh because they were concentrating so hard. Every time someone managed to light the match, there was always some sort of exclamation of happiness.
Eventually, everyone had managed to make at least a small flame. Some people had ended up trying too hard and the flame and spread up their arms, but the spells they had set up earlier had protected them. Five minutes before the bell was going to ring, Mariea told them it was time to clean up.
After they were cleaned up, a boy asked what they were going to do next. “After you manage to learn how to light and dowse the flame at will, then we will learn how to control the size of the flame. Then we will start experimenting with other things, like throwing flames, which we will use the lab for,” Mariea told them. Then the bell rang, and the class left.
Chapter 3: the Auraes
Mariea
“How’d you do that?!” a kid cried out from the back of the group. Mariea stood in front of one of her many elemental classes at the Rolondo Aurae Academy. In her hand, five multicolored flames danced around her fingertips. Her aqua blue aura swirled around her, making her golden blonde hair shift as if caught in a breeze.
The class she was teaching was made up of students in their first year at the academy. The Academy consisted of a student’s high school years up to graduation of college, and was an alternate school, designed to train Auraes.
“This is the Elemental Magic of fire. This is just one magic you will learn in this class. Being first years, you begin with fire. It’s the easiest of the elements to learn at the beginning. But do not take it lightly; though the easiest to learn, it’s still one of the elements. It’s hard to tame, and will take much diligence and practice,” she said as she let the flames die. Loads of questions filed from the class like “When do we start?” and “Won’t it burn us?”
“Whoa! Slow down, one question at a time please,” she requested with a small chuckle. At once almost the whole class raised their hands. Mariea chose a girl with light brown hair and hazel eyes. The first day of Elementals 1 always made her feel like she was a third grade teacher, not a professor at an Academy teaching students fourteen years and older. This class was usually one of the first times kids were introduced to the full extent of their aura’s power, and it was always exciting. She had to remind herself she was dealing with the youngest group at the Academy as well, and they often weren’t as mature as the kids in her other classes.
“When will we start?” the girl asked, voicing the question on most of the student’s minds.
She recited the answer to the often asked question. “As soon as I think you know all the important precautions, I’ll allow you to light you’re first flame. There’s only one of me and twenty or so of you, so this may be a slow process, but it’s impeccable that you know everything you can about the magic before actually using it. Any other questions?” Almost all the hands from before flew up. She called on a red haired boy with icy blue eyes and freckles, whose name was Owen.
“How do you do that without getting burned?” he asked, his fascination evident.
“Practice, mainly. Until you are in complete control of the flames, there are spells that I will teach you that will protect you. This is what you must learn before you start actually working with the fire. Next?” she called on someone new. Mariea spent the rest of the class period answering questions.
“Okay,” Mariea eventually said, “We are almost out of time, and I need to pass these out.” She grabbed a stack of papers from off her desk. “These are the class syllabus. It includes all of the requirements for this class; pretty much what I expect of you and what you can expect of me. Here Lily, come pass these out,” she said, handing the papers to a dark-haired girl with blue eyes who was one of the few students in the class that she already knew; she had Lily in her first period.
“I need these papers filled out, signed, and brought back before we can begin!” she added kind of sternly to get the point across. Lily stood and took the papers from her and began passing them out.
After the papers where passed out, the bell rang to let the kids out, leaving Mariea to prepare for her next class.
................
After a long day of showing off the Elemental Magics, Mariea was happy to be home. The first day of the semester was always busy, but important and fun.
After hanging up her jacket and dropping her purse on a nearby table, she looked around for her husband, Bracken. She could hear typing, informing her that he was in his office. She walked in to the dimly lit room. She could just make out his wry form hunched in front of the computer screen. Smiling fondly, she flipped on the light, knowing he had worked through most of the day and hadn’t noticed the dimming light. He blinked and leaned back as if he had just realized how dark it had gotten. Glancing over his shoulder, he smiled in greeting and said, “Thanks.”
She nodded. Walking over to the desk, she wrapped her arms around her husband and gently kissed him on the cheek before turning her attention to the computer screen. “Working on yet another report?” she asked.
“Yes,” Bracken answered shortly, and then continued typing, his thin, nimble fingers flying over the keys.
“And let me guess, I’ll have to read it when you get done?” Mariea asked. She had become his editor the moment she married him. Even though she pretended like it was a pain, she enjoyed being able to help him.
“Yes,” Bracken answered again, mainly focusing on his work.
“Is that all you can say?” Mariea teased.
A small smile played on Bracken’s lips before he repeated “Yes,” then continued his work.
Mariea laughed and then asked, “What do you want for dinner? And don’t say ‘yes’, I can’t cook yes.” Mariea always cooked for them. Even though they definitely had the money for a maid or two, Mariea was too independent to allow somebody else to cook and clean for them, so she took care of the large house on her own.
“Something fast so I can finish this,” Bracken requested. “I need it done for tomorrow.” Tomorrow he had a very important meeting which Mariea didn’t know about. Bracken was definitely a busy man, just like Mariea was busy with her work.
“Okay, I’ll find something,” she said as she left, heading for their large kitchen. When she got there, she went to the sink and started washing her hands. As she was washing them, she noticed someone outside moving towards the house. Wondering why someone was visiting so late, she went outside to meet them.
When she got outside, Sage, a third year from her Earth Elemental class, ran up to her. “Professor…” she started then stopped to catch her breath. She had clearly ran hear from somewhere in town. “Professor Rolondo,” she started again, “we found a demon wandering through downtown. I think he was hunting someone. He’s powerful and it’s only me, Owen, and Professor Andreka. He told me to come find you.” She said this like it was all one word, like she couldn’t say it fast enough.
“Alright Sage, come with me,” Mariea urgently instructed and then ran back in the house. Sage followed, closing the door behind her. She didn’t even bother to explain to Bracken where she was going. All she could think was, why are there demons in the city?
Owen
Another flash of green whizzed past Owen’s head. Rolling to one side, he barely avoided being beheaded. Looking to the source of his near demise, Owen gritted his teeth and ran towards it. As he ran, a faint orange glow surrounded his hands as he gathered his aura.
When he got closer, a figure appeared out of the smoke and fire, silhouetted in the same green light that had shot past Owen’s head. Owen spread his hands, palms facing the figure, and a bolt of orange electricity shot towards his enemy, who avoided it easily. He’s too fast and strong, I’ll never win alone. Hurry Sage, please! He thought desperately as he prepared to shoot another beam of energy at the demon.
Suddenly the green light disappeared, taking the person with him. For a moment Owen looked around in bewilderment. His hands fell to his side slowly as if in his surprise he had forgotten about them. Looking around, he searched the nearby shops and burning buildings, trying to find the demon. Then, from behind him, a horrific growl echoed through the streets. He flipped around to see what had made such an unearthly sound, and to his horror, he found the demon, or what he thought was the demon.
Standing in front of him was a black dragon. It towered over even the highest buildings, making Owen feel like an ant. The dragon opened his large mouth, and with another growl, green fire shot into the sky. The light from the fire reflected eerily off of the dragon’s black scales and the sharp red spikes running down the beast’s spine. Owen could barely make out humongous tattered black wings tucked against the dragon’s back, and couldn’t help but wonder if it could actually fly.
The dragon looked down at Owen with his glowing green eyes, seemed to smile, and spit fire at him. Owen ducked, but he knew he couldn’t avoid the fire. He prepared for the singeing pain of being burnt, but to his surprise, it never came.
Cautiously, he looked up and saw that the dragon’s mouth was dripping with water. He looked around and saw Professor Rolondo, water dripping from her hands, her aqua blue aura swirling around her like mist.
“Get somewhere safe!” she called as she continued to douse the dragon with water. The dragon growled in frustration and turned away from him to fight back.
That was all Owen saw because he looked away from the fight and climbed to his feet. He ran towards a girl, Lily, lying on the ground. “Sage, help me!” he yelled as he picked her up. Sage ran over and protected Owen as he carried Lily out of the way of the battle.
“What happened to her?” Sage asked when Owen set the girl down behind some debris that would give them a little protection against the flying magic.
“It’s all my fault. She tried an advanced spell. She asked me to cover her, but I was too busy. The demon shot her with his aura and she passed out,” he explained quickly. He studied his sister as he explained, hoping desperately that she would be okay. She seemed pale, and her breathing was shallow. “She barely managed to block enough of the blast to survive. If she doesn’t make it, I’ll never forgive myself.”
Sage patted his arm. “She’ll be fine,” she muttered encouragingly. Owen nodded halfheartedly, his attention on his sister.
Suddenly the sound of battling ended. Owen peered over the rubble to see Professor Rolondo standing over a fallen man, the dragon gone. She looked over, smiled reassuringly, and motioned for them to move closer. Sage and Owen cautiously ran to her side. When they reached her she said, “Let’s get this demon to the prison.”
................
Below some of the older buildings of the Academy was a prison designed specifically for holding demons. With the help of Professor Andreka and Owen, Professor Rolondo brought the demon to the prison. Sage had stayed to watch over Lily, who Professor Rolondo said would be fine.
After the demon was secured in one of the cells, Professor Rolondo turned to leave. Before she got far, Owen caught up to her. She paused when he asked, “Professor Rolondo, who was that?”
“That,” she answered, “was Malik.”
“But since when can demons turn into dragons?” Owen asked, confused.
“It’s very rare, but some demons can transform. I had hoped it was just rumors. We hadn’t confirmed it before today,” She explained to Owen.
“I think I recognize the name… wasn’t he one of the first demons on Rowanoak?” He asked. Mariea nodded. “I never expected to find a demon wandering through Verndale!”
“Neither did I, especially a demon like Malik. He’s an old demon. When they grow as old as he is, they tend to become cautious. If Malik is in Verndale, the demons have obviously decided that we’re no longer a threat; they used to stay away from the city. Every now and then we would here of attacks, but they were always outside the walls. We should watch for more demon attacks,” Professor Rolondo muttered. Owen couldn’t help but notice she seemed a bit concerned as she spoke. She paused, obviously deep in thought, and then sighed. “I’m sorry Owen, I would love to stay and talk with you, but I have injured people to care for, and I need to find out what we’re going to do about this new chain of events.”
“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Owen said in farewell. He had other questions, but accepted that they would have to wait. Professor Rolondo nodded and walked out, leaving him alone with the chained up demon in his cell.
Owen walked towards the door and peered in out of curiosity. Lying on the floor was a man who looked to be in his mid-twenties, but from what he had just been told, the demon was much older. Demons had ways of playing with their appearances to make them look younger, and Owen guessed the shapeshifter would be even better at it.
The demon had messy black hair and he was pale. Like all demons, his aura was a murky green, the color of all the auras he had drank mixed together.
As Owen watched, the demon sat up, brushed himself off, and looked around as if he was wondering where he was. Then, he turned and looked Owen in the eye. A small mischievous smile crept onto his face before the green light returned around him.
A searing pain shot through Owen’s body, and he fell to his knees. When he lost eye contact with Malik, the pain immediately faded. Owen sat dazed on the floor for a minute before he stood up slowly and headed for the door to leave the dungeon, all the while glancing over his shoulder at the cell door nervously.
.....................
When Owen and Lily got home their mother was sitting in the living room with a worried look on her face. When the door opened she jumped up, walked over to Owen and wrapped him in a big hug. “Where have you been?! It’s after midnight!” she exclaimed. Lily went straight to her room, clearly exhausted.
“I’m sorry mom. While I was out with Lily and Sage we found a demon. Lily was hurt, but she’ll be okay. That’s why she went straight to her room,” Owen explained. He purposefully left out how close Lily had come to losing her life to try and avoid freaking her out more.
“I’m just glad you and Lily are safe, we can forget the extra hours past curfew,” his mother said kindly, pulling him over to the couch. Ever sense he could remember, his mother had made curfew eleven. She insisted they be home by this time because she claimed that midnight was the hour demons hunted. Owen couldn’t help but wonder if she would try to move it earlier because they had been attacked before midnight, but he wasn’t about to point that out to her.
What had happened at the prison returned to his mind and he wondered if his mom would be able to explain. “Um… I need to ask you something,” Owen said, partially reluctant to bring up the topic.
“Yes?” his mom invited with a loving smile.
“When I was with the demon at the prison…” Owen explained what happened when he looked into the door, and then asked what had caused the pain he had felt.
“I think the demon may have tried to drink your aura.” His mother replied, her brow creased with worry.
“What?!” Owen stammered, shocked.
“You should probably talk to your teachers about that on Monday,” his mother instructed.
“Okay, I will,” he agreed. No longer feeling up to carrying a conversation, he told his mother he was going to bed, and then he headed upstairs. Despite being exhausted, he didn’t sleep for a while, thinking about what had happened, and what his mother had said. He made a mental note to remember to talk to one of his teachers about it in the morning. After lying awake for another few hours, he finally managed to drift off to sleep.
Mariea
Another class finished. We’re another step closer to lighting flames, Mariea thought as the class filed out the next day. As she walked to her desk, she noticed Owen was still in the room. He looked like he needed to talk to her about something. “Everything alright, Owen?” She asked him.
“I think so… well, kind of… not really. I need to tell you something,” Owen stumbled.
“Go ahead, what do you need to tell me?” She said kindly, trying to reassure him. She couldn’t help but worry that something major had happened, judging by how he was acting.
“Last night, after you left the prison something… happened,” Owen began, proceeding to explain what had happened after Mariea had left, and then what his mom had said later.
When he finished, Mariea was frowning. “Your mom was right Owen. The demon had tried to drink your aura. You’re lucky he didn’t get too far. The doors of the prison prevent the demons from using their auras to take another’s, but Malik was still able to because he had eye contact. It was a good thing you ended up falling,” she told him.
“I figured my mom was right,” Owen murmured.
“You feel alright now, right? You were able to use your aura okay today? I know it was only for a few minutes, but I want to make sure nothing happened that could have a long term effect on your aura,” Mariea pressed.
“I feel fine, and my aura worked great today,” Owen said, reassuring her.
“Alright, it seems like everything is okay.” She sighed. “I’m sorry Owen. I shouldn’t have left you alone in there. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
He shrugged lightly. “I should have left. It’s not your fault.”
“Well, I’m just glad you’re okay,” Mariea told him with a small smile.
“So… what do you plan on doing with Malik, now that he’s down there?” Owen asked, wondering if she was just going to leave the demon in there.
“I really didn’t know what I was going to do with him, but… he escaped, sometime this morning,” Mariea informed him.
Owen looked surprised. “How?” he wondered.
Mariea shrugged. “You’re guess is as good as mine,” she told him, even though now she guessed Malik must have gained just enough strength from Owen’s aura to break through the magic guarding the prison. “Luckily, he fled the city without doing any further damage. I think he was too drained to risk another fight.”
“Well, at least he’s no longer our problem,” Owen muttered with a shrug. Mariea nodded, but she couldn’t help but disagree to herself. As long as there were demons, and she was an Aurae, they were her problem, as they were for all the Auraes.
The sound of a bell ringing made Owen glance at the door. “Dang, I’m late,” he grumbled.
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll talk to your teacher after classes and get her to dismiss the tardy,” Mariea offered, waving her hand slightly in dismissal. “You better go though.” Owen nodded, and after thanking her, walked out. Mariea thought about what she had told him for a minute, then started putting things away from the last class and pulling out things she would need for the next class.
taxes done.
>Bitches<
my ankle hurts [curse you jumpoline]
nephew = back to school tomorrow (Yes)
ever ate something with so much salt on it that your tongue was on fire?
Braids + take down = :(
Can't wait for moving day
get yo mind right!
don't worryyy about a thiinnng...
Guess Who is half of "50" today lol