Inside an Inn within Desert's End
I see Akira as soon as i walk in the inn. Her right arm up in the air. I guess that is how she is projecting the triangle. I glare at her. I still can't believe she marked the inn with a magic triangle.
"Oh good you're here." Akira lowers her arm.
"Why?... Why couldn't you just stand outside the inn like a normal person? Why did you project a magic triangle into the sky? Do you even know what sort of panic you could've caused?"
"Oh... I didn't think of that. Thanks Ichirou!"
"Don't be so careless, Akira." I don't understand how someone can overlook the fact that people might see the triangle and freak out.
"What's the bag for, Ichirou?" Akira tilts her head in curiosity. Some of her hair leeks out from her hood.
"I told you that I was getting supplies, did I not? The bag is to carry all the supplies. I've got food, a map of the desert which shows a couple of suggested paths, and two compasses. One for Solitario Lupis and one for Ecotone."
"Why Ecotone?" Akira's eyes look frustrated.
"The store didn't carry compasses for Desert's End, and i figured we might need to get out of the desert so i decided to be safe and have a compass for another town."
"Good thinking Ichirou!" She turns and points to a hallway. Our room is that way."
I follow her through the hallway. But i can't help but think she said 'our room' and not 'our rooms'. Does that mean we are sharing a room? Isn't it weird to share a room with someone you only met hours ago? I couldn't possibly understand what was going through her mind when she thought this would be a good idea.
Akira stops in front of one of the doors. "This is it! Our room!" She opens the door to reveal a t shaped hallway. I walk down and look to both sides and realize that our single room is made up of two smaller rooms. "You can have the one on the left, and I will get the one on the right."
I nod and walk into my room. I set the backpack on a chair, leaning it towards the back of the chair to ensure that it doesn't fall.
I walk over to the bed and collapse. I am exhausted. The encounter with that nameless thief just angered me. Why was he telling me to leave Akira? I haven't been alongside her for long. Its been about three hours now since I woke up as her familiar. But i can still tell she doesn't mean to cause anyone harm.
I don't know how long I've been laying here. But it seems pointless i am not falling asleep. Can familiars sleep? I would think so.
A door creaks.
"Akira?" I wait for a response.
Nothing.
A resounding snore filled the rooms. Akira must be in a deep sleep. Maybe she was sleepwalking and opened a door.
I lay in my bed trying to fall asleep and right before i drift off to sleep a deep voice whispers, "Wrong Choice." I jolt up. There is a silhouette looking directly at me. The voice sounds familiar but i cant see the face to make out who it is. "You should've left. Can't say a didn't give you a warning"
The silhouette reaches out and grabs me by the neck. I am lifted off of my bed dangling in the air. I struggle. I squirm. Wriggle. I do everything i can to try to get free. It's futile. The silhouette has too much strength. But i can't give up. If i can't do my job as a familiar and get Akira to Atreus. Then what purpose do i serve?
The room lights up as I continue my futile struggling.
I saw his face. Well... His mask. But that was all i needed to remember who this was. That thief. Why is he here.
"You chose wrong. So it's time to say goodbye." The Thief stares at me. Glaring into my very existence.
I continued to struggle. And as I struggled the light grew brighter. I was starting to exhaust myself from the struggling. With my last burst of energy i swung my right leg around and kicked the thief. A horrific cracking sound came from his body and he dropped me. His body fell a couple feet over, the power of my kick pushed him there.
I backed away from him until i was against the wall. I raised my fist and ran at him. Before i could reach him a black magic triangle appeared underneath him. A cloud of dark smoke flew up from the triangle. After waiting a minute for it to clear I couldn't find the thief.
"What is all the noise, Ichirou?" Akira questioned from her half of the room.
"There is a thief in the room. But he just... Disappeared." I keep looking around my room
"Did the door open?" Akira asked, still on her side of the room. I head over to her side of the room to actually talk face to face instead of through the wall.
"Not yet no." I walked through the hallway connecting our sides of the room and went into Akira's side of the room.
"So this thief must be using shadow magic."
"What? Shadow Magic?" I don't know much about magic. I am unsure if it is because of my memory loss or if is because i used to be one of the races that couldn't use magic
Akira was facing the wall with her back turned to me. She still had on her cloak but the hood was down along with the mask. "The door hasn't opened, so he is still here... lurking in the shadow world."
"Wait. Akira, I don't understand"
The door creeks open and slams shut.
"Well the thief got away so we have tome now."
Without turning she explained, "There are three main types of Magic: Light, Shadow, and Mirror. The different types have a rock paper scissors like relationship. Unlike rock paper scissors though pitting "rock" against "scissors" doesn't always lead to the "rock's" victory."
Akira continued. "Sorcerers who use Light magic, such as myself, can control anything related to Light. I specialize in Lightning but there are many other forms of Light Magic. Light magic is considered the Attack magic. Most light spells are straightforward attacks. Light magic has an advantage against Shadow magic."
She hesitated
"Sorcerers who use Shadow magic control the shadows. Shadow magic is the magic of Agility. Mainly used by Janoi this magic grants you access to the shadow realm. In the shadow realm you cannot be seen. It allows them to basically teleport. Shadow magic doesn't have many offensive spells and the few they have require you to be behind your opponent. Most of the Shadow magic spells are focused on getting your behind your enemies. Shadow magic has the advantage against Mirror magic."
Akira takes a deep breath.
"Finally is Mirror magic. Mirror magic allows you to reflect any attack that hits it. Mirror magic is the defense magic. It is a slow form of magic but can block almost all attacks. It has few offensive spells but plenty if defensive. The reason Shadow magic works so well against it is because their magic shields are difficult to maneuver. Mirror magic has the advantage on Light magic."
I nod to show i understand but she isn't looking at me anyway so like it matters.
"You can tell what type of magic a person uses by their magic triangle." She puts her right arm in the air, displaying her triangle. Mine is Purple. That means i use Light magic. Shadow magic is Black and Mirror Magic is green."
Akira turns with her eyes closed, head tilted, and a large smile plastered on her face. She opens her eyes and screams. She falls off her bed and quickly scampers towards the far wall. I jump. I expect to see the thief behind me.
Nothing.
I am confused. Why did she scream?
I turn back too look at her and she is curled into a ball. Her head buried in her arms.
"No... No. This can't be... Just... No..."
"What's wrong Akira?"
"You... You... You..." She stops. Takes a few breaths. "Loo-... Look at your...."
She looks scared. Actually more than scared. Horrified.
"...arm"
I don't understand why she wants me to...
My entire arm has white magic symbols on it. The symbols are drifting across my skin as if they are floating in water. The symbols are hard to make out because they are so bright.
"What color is white? You said there were three types of magic. And their colors are: Black, Purple, and Green. But you never mentioned white"
Akira is taking deep breaths. Trying to collect herself.
"I've never seen a case but i have heard rumors." Akira stands up and looks me in the eyes. "Sorcerers choose a type of magic that suits them and studies that magic. When someone is turned into a familiar they gain a random type of magic no matter what race they were, in other words Familiars don't get to choose what magic type they get."
She starts to pace back and forth along her bed.
"Usually when a Sorcerer switches what type of magic they are using they permanently lose the ability to use the other type. On occasion there is a person who manages to retain two types of magic and can combine them to create new spells and have unique capabilities. In extremely rare cases sorcerers are able to retain the ability to use all types this ability isnt learned. It just presents itself at random. These sorcerers can switch what magic they cast with ease. In addition they also unlock a fourth magic type. People call it "Annihilation" magic, but its proper name is Energy magic. People with this ability can manipulate energy; they can manipulate energy that is in their body, in objects, freely flying around, and in other people."
Akira continues to pace uneasily. She's nervous. Akira believed she was a monster, and here i am showing her up with my Annihilation magic.
"Akira, am i supposed to know how to control all this magic? Cause i don't have a clue. And also why does my hand have magic symbols on it?"
"No you aren't supposed to know how to use it. Usually the sorcerer helps if the familiar can use the same type of magic but i am unable to help with anything but Light magic." She stops pacing and turns toward me. "You will have to teach yourself how to properly use your Energy magic. As for Mirror and Shadow magic i will hire Sages to teach you how to use them."
Akira smiles.
"Well we still have that thief to worry about and you need to learn how to control your magic. Or at least one of them so that you can defend yourself. So it looks like we will be staying in Desert's End for a little while longer."
I nod. She seems to have assumed i could dispel magic "Hey... Akira, one last thing. How do i get rid of these?" I point to my glowing arm.
"Oh!" She laughs "I almost forgot! You dont know how to dispel the magic. Just in your mind visualize the magic in your arm. Once you do that imagine all the magic in your arm flowing back into your body."
I do as she says and without failure the symbols fade. As the symbols fade so does the light.
"Thanks! Well... Goodnight Akira."
I don't wait for a response. I just head back to my room. I lay in my bed and the only thing keeping me awake is whenever i start to drift off to sleep I see Akira's silver smile. The smile she killed me with. It haunts me. It is the grin that both scares me and comforts me.
But before i know it the world fades black. I become less aware of everything and i fall asleep.