The Book of Spells: Battling the Shadows
Magic is just an illusion; this is the mindset of the majority. Yet for some, the myth of humans with the capability to control elements lives as the truth. The magic is fueled by an ancient book guarded by a powerful sorceress. But, the barriers are penetrated, the book is stolen and the existence of magic is put in grave danger…
Prologue: The Sorceress and The Witch.
Saki glanced at her wrist watch. It was already half past three o' clock in the afternoon and she was still outside the Raimon Junior High premises, despite the fact that it was summer break, waiting for a certain someone to show up in front of the grand gate of the institution. They agreed to meet up at the place thirty minutes ago, but seeing that there was no trace of the boy, The girl began to feel hopeless that he would fulfill his promise; that is to accompany her to the Inazuma Library and have a glimpse of the newly released fantasy books or so the boy agreed to whatever silly excuse she told him. So with a heavy sigh, she quickly brought her iPod earphones to her ears and started to drown herself in sweet Japanese Pop music, hoping to combat the feeling of loneliness that lingered beside her while waiting for the boy to show up.
Her curly strawberry blonde locks were tied in a way that kept her bangs from falling down. Thus, exposing her light blue orbs that were affixed on the ground. Her lips synced with every word of the song that was currently playing on the device. The girl was so engrossed in listening to the music that she didn't notice the figure that now stood beside her.
The figure resembled a boy; about in his mid-teens, with spiky platinum blonde hair. He gave the young lady's shoulder a few taps before he finally caught her attention. The girl's head turned to the direction of where he was standing and as their eyes met, onyx to blue, the boy saw something spectacular in the light blue marbles that Saki had. He saw small flames that were set ablaze. For a second, he thought that it was some kind of sorcery. But as soon as Saki blinked, the flames were gone. The magical aura replaced with formality as the girl displayed a small smile. 'Maybe that was just the after effect of practicing my hissatsu.' The boy thought.
"Gouenji-kun..." Saki let out a sigh of relief while standing up from the small bench just parallel to the Raimon Junior High gate.
"Thanks for waiting." The boy said. "I got caught up with practice"
The young lady gave him a small nod. "Though I feel like I should be the one thanking you." Because of the statement, the boy immediately looked at her, confusion written all over his face while mouthing the word 'Why?'. The girl, who saw the boy's lost expression, giggled as she explained. "You're doing me a favor by accompanying me to the library, the least that I could do is to say 'thank you.'"
Gouenji smiled at Saki. "There's no need. I promised you, right?"
The cellars always smelled dry and musty, the odor of parched curling paper filled the air as the richer aroma of leather bindings and dusty cobwebs mingled with the earlier scents. This was the essence that the strawberry blonde girl came to love whenever she came by her favorite old library. It made her feel relieved from the weight of all the secrets that she tried to conceal to everybody. For once, It made her feel safe from the dangers that surrounds her and the one that she protects.
But today, it was different.
Saki stepped in the vast place that contained towers of books, Gouenji following her lead swiftly. The "cling" of the bell that was attached to the door signaled their arrival and all heads craned to the direction of the glass door. The scent that greeted them was unusual; and because of this, the girl wrinkled her nose in disgust. It was the odor of mud mixed with jasmines. The scent sliced through the heavier smells of leather and paper and was strong enough to make Saki's sinuses tingle: She felt as if she was going to sneeze at any moment.
Then it hit her, the smell reminded her of the ones that she used to battle, the main reason why she had to always check up the library. The strawberry blonde girl scanned the perimeter and noticed that the carved symbols that adorned the corners of the library were now gone. Saki turned to Gouenji with fear present in her light blue orbs and extended one of her pale hand at the boy. Gouenji took it as the sign to hold her, so he reluctantly reached for her hand and held unto it. "Open your eyes and you will see the truth." She whispered to the boy before letting go, leaving behind a confused Gouenji Shuuya standing in front of the entrance. And then, there was a sudden sting of pain on the place where Saki held him. Gouenji glanced at the palm of his hand and saw a red dot in the middle, inside the circle was some kind of ancient writing. The boy shrugged it off. 'I bet it's some kind of her ancient beliefs.' He thought.
They ran inside the old library, storming through some particular sections and stopped at the last book division. "Ancient Mythology?" The boy asked as he spotted the sign that hung above their heads, questioning Saki's preferences. But the girl paid no heed to what the boy thought about. The scent of mud and jasmines was getting stronger by the minute.
Saki gritted her teeth as she started to scan the shelves. "The book of spells.."
But before the girl could finish her sentence, three long spear-like blades of black energy flung across the room, hitting the high shelves of the ancient mythology section. Gouenji ducked while the girl stood unnerved by the events. Her expression darkened as her hair that was tied into a neat ponytail now flown out about her, as if it were blown in a gentle breeze. Only, there was no breeze.
A static charge rippled down the young lady's hair, pink sparks crackling.
"How did you.." The platinum blonde's eyes widen in disbelieve at the sight of Saki.
Then a lady with raven black hair came into the picture. She was dressed entirely in black; wearing a plain T-shirt, skinny leather pants, gloves that had no fingertips and pointy-toed, stiletto heeled boots. She had small dark wings that stuck out from her back, similar to those of a bat.
The lady smiled at the two, showing off her razor sharp teeth that were concealed by her lips.
"Nyx..." Saki murmured.
There was this unexplained spark that Gouenji saw at each end of Saki's finger tip. With hands hidden behind her, pink energy started to form at the tip of her long slender fingers.
"It has been a long time…" The lady named Nyx approached Saki with a wry smile on her face and scanned the girl's figure with her crimson red orbs. "The spell you cast upon the library was a tad bit harder to break this time. Kudos to that."
Nyx then cocked a brow at the platinum haired boy beside Saki, sending a glare at his direction. "I see that you have a new friend with you. Mind if I ask what happened to the other sorcerer?"
"Mamoru had finished his training a month ago, why would you care anyway?"
Gouenji eyes widen even more in realization, His mouth stretched into a thin line. He knew that they were referring to Endou Mamoru. All these years he believed that Endou was just a normal teenage soccer-loving boy, just like him. But the sudden revelation made him shudder. Magic doesn't exist! Not in this era! 'This is all just a t.v show that records all my reactions.' he assured his self an explanation to what was happening. Now the boy wondered if there were hidden cameras…
"Just got curious." Nyx answered. "And him?" She pointed at the direction of the platinum haired boy. "A Warlock, I guess?" The lady paused, nostrils flaring. "I can sense the fire aura inside him.."
Saki continued without wasting another glance at the boy. "A new addition to the team." She corrected. "Warlocks are those who work for evil, just like you..."
The lady in black noticed the red dot in the middle of Gouenji's palm. Nyx released a deep laugh similar to a man chuckling. "You cannot prevent me from sensing his aura, Saki." Nyx reminded her. "I am more powerful than the others, Even your rare pale white aura is easy to detect on my watch."
"That is why you wish to posses the book, to awaken your final form." The strawberry blonde glanced at Gouenji. And in front of him, the hue of her eyes slowly faded and was replaced with a new layer of magenta pink. Gouenji furrowed his brows as he unconsciously bit his sudden dry lips. His head was trying to process what he just stumbled upon and for the first time, the boy was petrified. The events were beyond his comprehension and the thought of magic and sorcery could not sink in even for his complex mind. He thought that all the things, starting from the spear-like energy blades, Saki's hair floating in mid-air, and the pink energy were just special effects. But Saki's eye color suddenly changing in front of him…. THAT was something that a normal T.V. show could not achieve.
The strawberry blonde girl cracked a humorless smile at Gouenji before turning her head back to Nyx. "Give me back the book." She demanded.
But the lady in black just smiled. The book bind in leather designed with hints of iron rested in between her fingers. "If you would hand me the key first, Then I would happily give it back."
"Never!" And in an instant, Saki drew her left arm across her eyes and hurled a tiny pink crystal ball at the direction of the lady. But Nyx effortlessly dodged the attack with a malicious grin.
The girl repeated her movements once more, this time the crystal ball was bigger compared to the first one.
Nyx moved to the side with a satisfied smirk and the ball again missed its target. The large chandelier received the impact and fell to the ground. The people inside the library began to scream and panic, but there was something strange about the happenings, it seems like they didn't notice the fight in between the two ladies.
"I can't believe you constructed a whole library just to destroy it." Nyx humored. "And the Deceiving Dust is working quite well on the people." Nyx turned her right palm upward, brought it close to her face and blew unto it. Then suddenly, there were spears of black energy homing at Saki. One ricochets on the mirror, and almost hits the girl. Good thing Saki saw it coming and produced an energy shield in seconds.
Gouenji watched the whole scene from the sidelines. The boy was composing a plan to help the strawberry blonde girl out.
He had finally decoded a part of what he witnessed today; Saki is a sorceress who guards a book that plays a huge part in the world of magic. There's this witch named "NYX" who tried numerous times to steal the book but failed. And now, She was successful.
It all seemed like a story fresh out from the fantasy novels that he likes to read; A surreal tale that would never happen. But now, seeing the events unfold in front of him, He was starting to believe that the world that he lived in held secrets that only a few knew of… And now, he was part of the few.
He glanced at the retreating people scrambling to the exit and noticed the large podium with an over-sized book. And then his mind had a brilliant idea..
"SAKI, DUCK!" The girl briefly turned her head and saw the incoming dictionary that flew her way. She crouched and the dictionary took Nyx by surprise.
Gouenji winced in sympathy as the lady in black took the full force of the big book in the face and it knocked her away.
Saki stood up from her position and approached Nyx, Her pink energy formed into a large sword. The girl pointed it at the lady that lay on the cold marble floor, crimson tainting the lady's lips that were colored in black. "Any last words?" She asked grimly.
Nyx grinned as she wiped the blood dripping from her mouth. "'Till we meet again.." And the lady grabbed the brown pouch that hung on her waist and threw it at the ground. The thing exploded as soon as it collided with the floor.
Gouenji hid behind the counter, sparing him from the impact, but Saki caught the full force of the explosion and was thrown back together with the books. Luckily, one shelf blocked her from hitting the wall.
That moment, Nyx heard the sound of a crow, as if it was calling her. "The supremo is harmed.." The lady whispered with a grim expression on her face. "You're in luck, Kai Saki.." So with the little energy that she had left, Nyx hurriedly stretched her wings and flew up to the hole in the ceiling, vanishing with the dust that filled the air of the library.
Gouenji called out to the strawberry blonde girl amidst the thick dust that covered the whole place. As the dust dispersed, the platinum haired boy spotted the girl standing up from the battered shelves of books, surprisingly earning just a few scratches and bruises from the explosion. He quickly ran to aid Saki in standing. "Are you okay?" The boy asked as the girl held unto his arm for support.
"I'm fine, don't worry. " The girl then looked around; the old library was filled with pieces of wood and broken parts of cement. Saki frowned as she saw the books scattered everywhere on the ground, some are even ripped off of their covers and some had their pages detached from the rest of the body. Nothing was spared, even the century-old glass chandelier.
"She got me this time.. But she'll never outsmart me." The strawberry blonde whispered. From inside her navy shirt hid a golden key that was hung on her neck by a small necklace chain. It was adorned with three pink diamonds and engraved with ancient Greek writing. The girl smiled victoriously at the boy. "I still have the key to the book."
Gouenji returned her smile with a small curve on his lips. He kept his cool demeanor on but in the inside, He was literally going crazy with all the new knowledge that came to him unclear. "You owe me an explanation to all of these events." He added as the boy extended his palm out, showing her the red dot that marked his skin.
Gouenji had a thousand questions running through his mind, and none of the answers that he thought was satisfactory, since all of them contained one awful word: Magic. He had witnessed a sorceress and witch exchange their wrath in the forms of spears and balls of energy.
Gouenji had witnessed magic.
But he still wasn't convinced that such thing exists.
"But first, we need to burn the remains of the building. We don't want to get found out, wouldn't we?"
A/N: ALL QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!
Here's a story that I wrote on my 14th birthday :D
Reads, Favorites, Follows and Reviews are highly appreciated.
Special thanks to Ma'am Marissa for Proof-reading and adding her "beautiful vocabulary" in the story. (She told me that she revised and borrowed a few sentences from 'The Alchemyst' so...) Credits are also given to Michael Scott's work.
Also a shot out to Ira-san for helping me out with the plot and the characters. Thank you!
-Saki Over and Out