Next Mage
36.Shock

~Marilla's POV

Adrian whammed his fist into my face, and my teeth dug into the inside of my cheek, drawing blood. I yelped and the crimson liquid spattered to the ground.

Mom was staring in shock, and no one was moving.

Not even the Ragnarok mages.

What...what just happened? I thought, pain stinging the side of my face. My cheek was swelling, the purple smudge of a bruise already forming. I glanced around, tears pricking at the back of my eyes in pain.

The Ragnarok mages were acting strange; their heads were tilted to one side as if they were expecting something and strange, smug smiles were painted on their pale, hollow faces. I huffed and more blood dripped onto the pavement. Then mom spoke up.

"A-Adrien? What did you just do?!" She cried in horror, her face aghast. Adrian's head was lowered, a shadow casting over his features and preventing me from seeing his expression.

Then he looked up.

And his eyes were red.

dashy line thingo

Something squeezed inside my stomach. For some reason, I felt unsurprised but shocked all at once.

It was as if I was expecting this, I thought. The others weren't as calm.

"This dude is a Spirit mage?"

"Oh no!"

"What in the world is happening?"

All around me, people panicked. But who panicked most of all was my mother. A strange expression was cast across her face, as if she were thinking of something from the past but she couldn't remember it clearly. Then her eyes widened. "Mage?" She uttered the single word, and everyone turned to look at her. Mom gasped, and all at once the Ragnarok mages disappeared and Adrian was left alone, eyes still a blazing red. He gnashed his teeth and lunged towards us again. I closed my eyes and braced myself for another bone-crunching punch, when all of a sudden a flash of heat flew past my face. I opened my eyes, and everything seemed to happen in slow motion.

My mother standing in shock, grey eyes wide.

My friends gasping and shouting.

Adrian drawing closer, fists raised.

Oliver, flying towards Adrian, his hands looking like comets as they soared towards my attacker. Destan opened his mouth to shout.

"No, Ollie!"

Oliver's hands were on fire.

~Oliver's POV

I swung my arms towards Adrian, not thinking and setting them on fire.

"No, Ollie!" Destan screeched.

Only when Adrian dodged my attack I had realized what I had done. I gazed at my fists in horror, but I couldn't hesitate for long. I called off my fire and resorted to hand-to-hand combat. Adrian was grinning like a maniac.

Why are you doing this? I thought furiously, hoping the Ragnarok would hear me. You bastard! I thought of a few more colorful words to insult the Ragnarok with. In my head, the Ragnarok only laughed, like it was a Roman emperor watching a gladiator fight a lion.

As I continued to fight, strangers began to gather around the brawl. No, I thought, my heart sinking like a pebble thrown into a pond. The last thing I need is attention.

Then the world stopped.

dashy line thingo

No one moved, no one said a word, Adrian paused mid-lunge, and the whole world was covered in a strange but familiar golden dust. I knew that dust. Whipping around, I turned to face her.

"Elvira!" I exclaimed, genuinely happy to see her. She wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug, and I embraced her back.

"Are you okay?" She demanded. "Tell me you're okay." I nodded.

"Marilla's mother's boyfriend is a--"

"I know."

"We made a deal with the--"

"I know that too," Elvira grinned. I smiled back.

"I'm glad you're okay." I said. Elvira blushed slightly, then turned to face the scene. She sighed and face palmed.

"What have you done this time, you stupid..." She muttered. "I guess I'll just have to erase all these people's minds, then," I nodded vigorously.

"Please do." Elvira shut her eyes and concentrated. Slowly, the gold faded away, and everything resumed its course, all except for the spectators and Adrian.

Elvira walked over to the frozen strangers and muttered a spell. Then, with a click of her fingers, they disappeared into thin air.

I glanced over at Marilla, who was staring at the whole scene in confusion. Then she looked towards her mom, who looked like she had just gone through a big revelation.

"M-m-mage..." Mrs Waterson was muttering, over and over again. Everyone was staring at her.

"Mom?" Marilla said tentatively. Marilla's mother looked over at me.

"You..." She said. "The fire..." I looked at Elvira and Destan worriedly, unsure of what to do. Elvira stepped forward, raised her arms and opened her mouth to utter the spell to clear Mrs Waterson's memory when Mrs Waterson stopped her. "No. Don't erase my memory. I know what mages are..." She turned to Marilla with a sad look in her eyes.

"Your father...he was a mage, Marilla."