AN: I was advised against making a new story, since I already have so many in-progress, but I couldn't help it. I Have so many ideas I need to write down! This one is actually a more recent idea. Please enjoy. P.S. I obviously don't own Iron Man. P.S.S This main character is similar to the one in my story The Ghost. Magic-wise anyway.
My life was never really simple. I was always different from everybody else. Instead of pointed ears they were round. My nose wasn't pointed either; more button like. My lips weren't thin and purple, but more plump and a pinkish rose. My hair was a dark red, almost brown color, but everyone else's was snow white. Instead of red eyes mine were a teal color. Even my height was different from everybody else's. I was shorter by four inches, making me five foot six.
Growing up the differences bothered me, and why wouldn't they? Nobody else looked like me, not by a long shot. It was their reason for making fun of me. Most of it was just name calling, but as I grew older and got further in my studies I was able to brush them off with ease.
Another thing I noticed as I grew older was that guys held no interest in me. Once there was a guy who was dared by his friends to go out with me. I found out about it and got so angry all of his clothes disappeared.
This was just another thing that set me apart from everybody else. My magic wasn't based off of one of the elements like everybody else's. My people were blessed by the Gods and Goddesses themselves. The god of fire, lightning, earth, and dark gifted us with the ability to control anything related to those elements. The goddesses of water, air, earth, and light allowed us to control everything related to those elements.
I, on the other hand, proved my differences once again by having a magic I called Life Magic. It wasn't based off of any of the elements. Sure I could control the elements, but it was only because I could manipulate the particles in the air. I could feel them constantly buzzing. I could change them into whatever I wanted. I could change the particles in an object to make it something else.
Since nobody else had this magic I was left to explore it on my own. Even then my parents had me practice it when I was alone, and where nobody could find me. They were no different from everyone else. Mother was constantly giving me looks mixed with disappointment and disgust, but father at least tried. I remember asking him why mother didn't like me when I was younger. He always reassured me that she did, and as a child I believed him, but I know better now.
Father was the one I went to whenever I had a problem. I had no friends I could turn to because nobody would dare approach me for conversation. On some occasions I heard rumors about me having some sort of disease. That was what prevented me from ever trying to approach others.
My own tutor could barely stand my presence. He was an instructor for lightning magic. It was the type of magic my parents had me pretend to be blessed with.
I often ended up leaving my home to practice my magic in the large forest that made up the backyard. Nobody else went in their because it was our property. It was a wonderful place to get away and just relax. To hide from the looks and whispers that followed me everywhere.
More then once I went into this forest with plans to end my life. With me gone my parents would not have to stay hidden in our home. I would no longer have to listen to everybody mock me and my looks. Yet every time I readied myself for the killing blow I found myself hesitating. If I killed myself then all of those who talked bad about me and insulted me would win. Would know that everything they said had gotten to me. So I continued on, forcing myself to accept that every day of my life would be a struggle I would have to fight through.
Now I no longer enter that forest with thoughts of sadness and depression. I go in there with my magic ready at my disposal. It was easy to work my magic when I felt angry. Fire and lightning were the most destructive of elements, along with dark magic. They were what I would use to burn down the trees in the surrounding area. I've done it so often there was now a blackened clearing that I sat in every day to calm myself down.
It was where I was sitting right now. My recent date had just informed me that he was only into me because I was so exotic. That hadn't been the first time I'd heard something like that, and those men only seemed to be interested in their carnal desires.
To get away from it all I left him behind and made my way here. The smoke from a tree I hit with lightning wafted through the air and into my nose. The smell barely registered with me as I examined the particles in front of me.
These small little charges always had a hard time moving around. There were so many it was a wonder nobody else could feel them. They constantly bumped and rubbed up against one another. It's what made it so easy to control fire and lightning.
For the first time I wondered what would happen if they had more space to move. Would it change anything? Would some sort of element appear in the space? It's possible there would be some sort of vacuum there. An area with absolutely nothing inside. Like a neutral plane.
Closing my eyes for better focus I made an image of what I saw in front of me come to the forefront of my mind. Instead of just burnt trees I added the thousands of dancing particles.
Sticking out my hand I slowly took hold on the energy I could feel running through the charges and pulled them apart. In my minds eye I could see them ever so slowly pushing away from each other. I had to bring up my other hand to help speed up the process.
After several minutes I has a small hole forming in the air in front of me. There was a sense of success building up inside of me, but it was also joined by fear. The particles pulling apart was what I expected, but what I hadn't seen coming was the swirling red light that pulsed inside of the hole I was forming.
The only thing preventing me from hiking back to the house was my curiosity. I was always curious about things I had no knowledge about, and more often than not it got me into trouble.
This curiosity is what had me stilling my hands. They were still positioned to keep the charges pulled apart because I didn't want the red light to disappear. It was rather beautiful and reminded me of the stars above, only a red instead of black sky.
With slow and careful movements I opened my eyes to see that pulsating light was sitting right in front of me. The air in my lungs constricted, and I murmured to myself, "It's real." I didn't want to take my eyes off of it because I was afraid it would be gone once I looked back.
"What are you?" Of course I didn't get a response. Had I gotten one I would have become frightened and quite possibly fled.
Instead of doing the right thing and putting the charges back into place I reached forward with one of my hands to touch the light.
I don't know what I expected to happen when I touched it, but I certainly didn't think my fingers would disappear. It made me snatch my hand back with a sharp inhale.
"You should run away while you have the chance, Kendra," I mumbled under my breath. "Pretend none of this ever happened." But how could I? Such a phenomenon was unforgettable.
With a steadying breath I reached back out to touch the light. This time I was prepared for my hand to go right through it, and I pushed it farther in.
Pretty soon I was elbow deep. My other hand was still held out in front of me because I was worried if I stopped my magic then the light would disappear–taking my arm with it. To prevent that I situated my body to go in sideways. That allowed me to place my foot through the light and continue through with my head and torso.
When bringing my head through I closed my eyes against the onslaught of light. It was very bright, but thankfully only lasted a few moments. When the moments passed I could open my eyes to see that the other side of the light wasn't just a blank space. It was a world. There was a night sky filled with stars, grass beneath my feet, and off in the distance were some sort of towers that threatened to scrape the sky.
My breathing was shaky as my mind made a decision without me really realizing it.
With a quick step I had my other leg coming through what now must have been some sort of portal. That left only my arm behind. Should it close I could end up losing my arm, but if I was quick enough…
Taking one more deep breath I let it out very slowly while counting to five. Once the number passed I yanked my hand through the portal and, just as I expected it would, the portal shrunk down on itself in the blink of an eye without me using magic to hold it open.
Another odd thing happened once the portal closed. It had shrunk down, but instead of fully disappearing it left behind a small stone. It glowed a soft red that, had I not experienced what I just did, would have seemed innocent.
Even though I knew something was off about this stone I reached out and picked it up with the tips of my fingers. At first I just held it over the grass to see if it would do anything. It did glow a little brighter once I touched it, but it didn't hurt me in any way.
Holding it closer to my chest I inspected the red stone with a confused eye. Whatever it was must have brought me here, but how? I had been separating particles, so it could have been something I created; though I doubted it. That meant it would have been in the same place as I was at the perfect time. Maybe it was some sort of coincidence. Either way I placed the stone into my pocket and sealed it closed to prevent it from falling out. Something about the air around it screamed other worldly.
There wasn't much of a choice for me except to go towards the tall buildings. Walking would take too long, so I manipulated the air around me to shoot me into the sky. Flying was something many Air Magics enjoyed doing–as did I. It allowed you to get a better view of everything, and in a new place such as this it would be something I could use to my advantage to learn what all of these strange things were.