A Mage Magician Among Mutants
Chapter One: We Learn How To Fly

Ren

It all started with a dream.

At least, that's what I would later tell my five best friends when looking back on it later.

I stood atop the radio tower in town, holding a pink staff topped with a bird's head in my hands. I wore a long sleeved off white dress that had yellow sleeve cuffs and a short yellow hemmed skirt over a pair of red denim pants. Completing the outfit was a pair of off white boots that were yellow at the top and a yellow hemmed white cape decorated with a red star at the bottom corners which was red on the inside. Beside me stood my family, consisting of my five best friends, Raph, Leo, Donnie, Mikey, Tyler and Master Splinter, and four girls I didn't recognize, two with black hair, one with brown hair, and another with sandy brown hair that wasn't quite blond but wasn't quite brown either well as a broad chested dark chocolate brown mare with a striking snow white mane and tail. I tossed a card up into the air and slammed the staff down onto it. Little wings sprouted from my boots. I jumped . . .

Only to wake up, cursing.

"Someone's in a bad mood." Mikey teased as he passed by my room (I got my own room because I was the only girl in the house).

I flipped him off. "Wouldn't you be cursing too, if you had a dream that felt real and didn't make any sense? Besides, that's every night this week!"

"Ouch." He winced.

"So," I changed the subject. "Has Leo come back?"

Sighing, Mikey shook his head. "Not yet." He muttered dejectedly.

Leo's training period had ended around six months ago, but all communications from him had ceased. It was like he just dropped off the face of the earth or something. Normally, he found a way to get a message to us about every two days, but it had been half a year since anyone had heard from it, and we were really getting worried.

Not even Master Splinter had heard from him.

I sighed. "Damn. I hoped he would at least send Master Splinter a letter, or me," Despite the fact that they all were my best friends, Leo and I had been close ever since I ran headlong, distraught, through the portal that led me here, having been banished banished from my family for sticking up for my big brother, who didn't have any talent at the fire magic our clan was known for, who had also just been banished himself. "But I guess he's pulling a ghost act on us or something. Man I wish he would at least write to me or something."

"We all do, Ren, we all do." Donnie replied, likely having come to see what was taking me so long to get out of bed when I was usually one of the first.

Heaving another sigh, I hurried to get dressed and start my training.

Since I was a human, more or less, it was easier for me to move about above the sewers that we called home, which was why I was usually the one who did the shopping, using some money that one of the boys filched.

That, or I did a bit of wallet returning sans finder's fee.

What was wallet returning sans finder's fee? Basically, taking someone's wallet and giving it back, pretending they dropped it after taking all the cash in it.

Today, I was headed for the bookstore. I wanted to find some books with maps of the jungles where Leo was studying, because April had an assignment near there to find four statues that were nearly three thousand years old. It would take a while, but April promised that if she found Leo, she'd let me know so that I could tell everyone else. I knew he was studying in Central America, but I didn't know where he was beyond that.

When I got to the bookstore (after doing a bit of wallet returning sans finder's fee), the first thing I noticed was an unusual red and gold book. On the front of it was a horse's head.

Turning it over, I noticed that there was a magic circle symbol on the back instead of a synopsis.

Interesting. Was this somehow related to my dream last night?

The card that I had tossed up in the air was red and gold and had the same magic circle like symbol on the back of them that the book had on its back cover, so it was possible.

Looking at it, I noticed that it was called The Clow, although the words which I assumed were the title were printed in all capital letters.

"Odd." I muttered. "There's that weird picture on the front and then there's the lack of a synopsis as well as the magic circle on the back. What's up with this book?" I took it to the counter and asked how much it was, fishing out some of my . . . liberated . . . money.

The woman at the counter looked at the book and then looked at me. "Five bucks. It can't be worth any more. It's strange, though. I don't remember ever seeing this book here, and I've been here for a pretty long time."

I blinked and set the money down. "Well that is pretty weird." I walked out with the book and took it back to the lair after getting groceries. It was Mikey's turn to make dinner tonight and he had requested a few things from the store he needed. Mikey was without a doubt the best cook. I was okay, but at least I wasn't as bad as Leo. Whenever Leo tried cooking, it either wound up exploding or burning, or some combination of the two, and it did so often that Master Splinter had forbidden him from trying to cook unless it was something simple.

Raph was a little better, as were Donnie and Tyler. Raph was too impatient to really be a great cook, though, and Donnie didn't really have the imagination to experiment and make things better as necessary. He worked best when following a specific set of instructions. Well, when it came to food anyway. Tyler was too prone to blowing things up to be a good cook.

Shaking myself out of my thoughts as I entered the store, I looked at my list, grabbed a basket, and then found the things Mikey needed.

After that, I returned home, making sure that no one could see me duck into the sewers.

Most people would probably be grossed out and revolted by the very idea of living in the sewers, but not me. While yes, I had lived above ground for the first eight years of my life, I was so used to living where I did that there were times when it felt like I had always lived here, away from the rules and limitations of the Kannagi family. It felt like I had always lived here and had always been free to practice my magic at my leisure and free to have fun and relax, rather than having to live up to a certain standard so that I didn't dishonor the esteemed main family.

"I'm home!" I called when I entered the house.

"Welcome home, Ren." Master Splinter greeted. "How was your trip to the surface?"

"It was good. I found a really weird book, though. Oh, and Mikey, I got the stuff you needed from the store." I told him, handing over the bag.

"Thanks sis." Mikey said thankfully. "Alright, lunch time!"

"Let's see this 'really weird book' o' yours." Raph suggested.

I shrugged. "Okay." I brought out the book and showed it to him before I opened it. "Huh, well that's pretty weird. It's filled with cards."

"How interesting." Donnie commented. "Why would it be filled with cards rather than pages?"

"Beats me." I looked at them. "Weird names, too. First is the Windy, and then there's the Fiery." I grinned. "Sounds like my kind of card."

"And mine." Raph agreed.

I smirked. "Indeed, Raph-nii-san, indeed." However, I was interrupted by a sudden gust of wind which blew all of the cards away except the Fiery, which I had clutched tightly in my hand.

And then the mare from my dream appeared.

"Hello," She greeted, looking around. Her eyes came to rest on the empty book. "Were you the one who let the cards out of the book?" Her gaze swung towards me.

I hung my head. "Yes, I was." I admitted. "All I did was read the names of two of them and they all vanished. This one's the only one left." I showed her the Fiery.

She sighed. "Alright. But just so you know, you'll have to get them back because they easily have enough power to destroy this city and more. To start, however, I need you to go stand in that corner." She pointed with her muzzle to the nearest corner. "What's your name?"

I shrugged and did so. "Kannagi Ren."

"Key of the Seal, you have chosen this girl, Ren. I command you to bestow her with the language of the staff." The mare intoned. "O Key, grant her your power!"

A small key that looked a bit like the staff I saw in my dream floated up from the book, lengthening into a staff around half the length of the one in my dream. A bright light flashed, and I had to throw up an arm to cover my eyes.

"Damn it that's bright!" I cursed.

"Never mind that, grab the staff." The mare ordered.

"Fine." I grumbled, and somehow managed to struggle forward to grab the staff, which doubled in length until it was the staff from my dream.

"I, Icesong name you Cardcaptor!"

A while later, I sat above ground, Icesong under a Genjutsu, me holding a cell phone to my ear, pretending to speak to someone on it so that I didn't look like I was crazy and talking to myself, talking with Icesong about the cards. However, our talk was interrupted when a massive bird, bigger than anything I'd ever seen, swooped overhead.

I abruptly stood up. "Hey Icesong, is that what I think it is?"

"If you think it's a Clow Card," She responded. "Then yes."

"Great. How do I use the staff?"

"Focus." She instructed as we lured the card to a deserted area where no one would be around to witness what I was about to do. "I'll come to you."

The key dropped between my outstretched hands. "O Key of Clow, power of magic, power of light. Surrender the wand, the force ignite! Release!" The small key tumbled endlessly over itself before lengthening into the staff. I grabbed it and twirled it and slammed it down onto the Fiery card. "Fiery, wrap yourself around Fly's wings and force it to the ground, and above all, don't let it escape. Fiery, release and dispel!"

Fiery rose from her card, wrapping herself around Fly, forcing it to the ground.

"Now would be a good time to seal it." Icesong advised, keeping one eye on the Fly Card at all times. It was evident she thought it was about to break free any second now.

Nodding, I raised the staff and slammed it down onto a glowing card. "Return to the guise you were meant to be in! Clow Card!"

Fly was sucked into the glowing card. Slowly, the glow faded away and the card floated into my hand. Smiling, I wiped the sweat off my forehead I hadn't realized was there until a minute ago.

"Well done." Icesong praised. "You did very well."

I grinned. "Thanks. That was pretty intense, but I think I could get used to it."

"Good, because it's only going to get more intense from here." She told me. "But for now I think that you should experience one of the benefits of being the captor of the Clow Cards. Touch the staff to the Fly Card."

Raising an eyebrow, I did so.

To my great surprise, the tiny for decoration only wings enlarged into huge wings that could easily support flight. "Now that is pretty damn cool." I admitted.

Icesong seemed to grin. "Care to go for a flight?"

"One little problem." I pointed out. "You can't fly."

"Au contraire, Ren." She smiled and began running, taking to the air soon after. "I can fly."

"Okay, I'm impressed." I decided and mounted the staff. Pushing off, I was in the air moments later. "I take back what I said before: this is really cool."

"So," Icesong began. "Can I count on you to help me capture the cards so that they don't cause too much trouble and potentially destroy the city?"

I grinned. "Of course. And can I count on you to tell me what you know about the cards so that I can capture them more easily? I would rather not be left in the dark."

"I'll help you all I can." Icesong promised. "Because from this night on, the two of us are partners, and we'll learn to fly together."