Restricted Magic - Arc 2: The Competition

Chapter 2

"So what if it's only level three? I have EIGHT different abilities. That has to match up to a measly level five ability, right? I mean, I really can..." Before she could finish the sentence she was thrown against the wall.

She couldn't move, couldn't breathe. The room was filled with his power, the air gone. Flames burst into existence all around her, the heat from the fire scorching her skin but otherwise not leaving a trace in the room around her. Blood dripped from her nose and ears, her eight year old body unable to withstand the pressure.

"Still think you can measure up to a level 5 capacitance?" Despite the ferocity of his attack, his voice remained calm, bored even. "I have the ability to topple nations, your measly little parlor tricks mean nothing."

With a quick hand gesture the flames, the wind, everything was gone. Her father smiled, the expression cruel. "Go back to your training. Don't bother me again unless you have something significant to report."

With that the door closed behind him, leaving her slumped on the floor, blood staining her clothes, sticking against her skin. It wasn't until an hour later that she finally crawled to her feet and left the office.

She never used her illusion ability again.

Erin shook her head, trying to clear it of the memory of that terrible day. She had just been a child, one who wanted her father to be proud of her. There was nothing to be ashamed of. She took a deep breath, steadying her thoughts, and kept her expression carefully neutral as she waited to be called into the office.

"You may enter now." Thirty minutes later the attendant stepped forward, looking at her with a disdainful expression.

Erin stood up, and entered the room, her spine straight and her chin raised. She wished she could believe she was ready for this.

The office was unchanged from years before. Still windowless, lit only by a magical lamp on the large mahogany desk. Papers strewn everywhere, taking up each and every available surface. A large table stood in the corner with a map on it, different markers placed at different areas of the world. There was no other chair, her father didn't believe that anyone should be so relaxed as to sit in his presence. Erin stood in front of the desk, waiting silently.

The man at the desk... her father. She knew in some ways his features resembled her own, but he was so much... bigger. Not just taller, although he towered over her when standing. His very presence filled the room, leaving no room for her. The silence was... suffocating. She waited there in front of the desk, focusing on breathing.

"You killed Lady Belanna?"

When he finally spoke, it caught her by surprise. He had not looked up from his work at his desk, his voice casual as if asking about the weather. She thought about his question for a moment, and then gave an answer from the official story they had given the school.

"It was in self defense."

He looked up, and Erin fought the desire to shrink back as his dark eyes focused on her. She felt like he was seeing through her, dissecting her down to her bones.

"But you DID kill her?"

Erin sighed. "Yes, but I would be dead if I didn't so I'm not sorry, even if she was a... special friend of yours."

"That's not the issue." He shook his head. "She had longed outlived her usefulness to me, her death matters very little."

Erin felt a slight pang for the madwoman who had made this monster the center of her world, only to have her death regarded as less than a minor inconvenience.

"If you don't care, why am I here?" She kept her voice calm, even as he stood up, leaning over her. His face came within inches of her own, making her itch to strike out, to hurt him.