A dark haired girl walked purposely down a muddy street strewn about with pieces of glass and chunks of buildings. A few brave souls had begun to pick through the wreckage of their homes and businesses, a mere three days after the wrath of a ancient demon god rained down upon the humble streets of London. Kitty Jones pulled her coat a bit tighter around her as she came closer to her destination. Behind a line of yellow police tape lay a tangled mess of iron and trees and whatever was left of the Glass Palace. Kitty looked around as some of the Night Police dug through wreckage to clear the surrounding streets under a drizzling grey sky.
"That's good, that's good, keep it up!" A buxom red head wearing a tight, short skirt and a padded jacket, walked among the debris. "Ah Miss Jones!" She waved at her and wobbled over on high heels.
"Oh, Miss Ferrar," Kitty plastered on a smile. Even in private, the woman was intolerable.
"I didn't see you at the council meeting," Jane purred.
"Oh, yeah," Kitty ran a hand through her short dark hair. "I don't think I'll be attending many more meetings,"
"Its alright if you feel a bit," Jane shrugged. "Alienated? After all the integration of commoners into the system will always feel harsh," She said, all but dripping with sincerity.
"Actually I was hoping to travel a bit." Kitty quipped, turning away from the woman to look at the wreckage. Jane walked up alongside her and scanned the devastation. As Kitty looked at the mangled iron rods and glass scattered like ice over the singed grass, she let her hand run over her bandaged arm.
She couldn't help but feel empty, and alone, standing there in the midst of such violence that had killed her…friend? Companion? Cohort? They had barely known each other, really known each other, for maybe four? Five hours? So why did it hurt so much? She glanced over to a singed tree and her voice caught in her throat.
I'll see you later Kitty…
"Terrifying isn't it?" Jane said after a moment of silence. "Such unbridled power, magic can be a powerful force, can't it?" She purred.
"I suppose there just aren't many solutions to an ancient demon lord ravaging the city." Kitty quipped, rubbing her arm.
"Are you hurt?" Jane asked.
"Yeah, some glass got me, I was…" What could she say? 'Running away'? "Close to the explosion," She settled on.
"Ah, yes, Gladstones staff." Jane said. "Such unbridled magical energy, it's a wonder anyone could wield it at all," She paused. "It's a shame about John."
"John?" Kitty asked. "Oh, Nat-" She stopped, and bit her lip. "Yeah, its…" She swallowed. "It's too bad." Jane nodded.
"He was a good person," Jane replied. Good person? Not her exact choice of words. The John Mandrake she had known was an ass. No other word. An ass. A noble, brave ass. "Such potential too, he could have been Prime Minister, if he had wanted."
"Yeah," Kitty agreed, shoving her hands into her pockets. "Listen, I have to run, I'll see you later Jane," She said, turning abruptly, eyes burning. Once sufficiently out of range of the red suited woman. She lingered by a still standing wall and leaned against it, breathing heavily. So many times had 'John Mandrake' come up with her, everyone saying they were so sorry, how much of a shame it was, losing such a powerful magician. It made her furious, talking about him like some come and gone tool of the government. He was more than that, especially to her.
It seemed unlikely, a man who at one point had made killing her a top priority and vice versa, but it all seemed to fade away as trivial now that he was gone. No matter how much she wanted to hate him, she could only remember that gleam in his eyes as woken up from her trip to the Other Place, or the way he smiled just before he had left. Sure, he was awkward and uptight, but that just seemed to add to his charm. And she missed him, though she would never say as much.
She bent down and scooped up a piece of forgotten glass. It was shaped like a star. She smiled. She could remember as children, wishing on sparkling stars. She tucked the piece of glass into her pocket. Give him back.
Night had long since fallen on the dingy apartment Kitty called home. It sat over the pub where she worked and she could hear the shouts and laughter from down below where the men and women drank and sang in glee. No doubt from the whole Not-Being-Killed-By-A-4,000-Year-Old-Demon-God complex that had rested on the entire city. Barely any details of the 'incident' had been told to the public, and Kitty wondered if even members of the new government knew all the details themselves. She slipped on a nightgown and turned off her light, but then went to the window and opened the blinds. The room flooded with silver moonlight from a cloudless night.
She gazed at the flickering lights of the city before turning back to her dark room. And though she couldn't help it, she felt alone. She had been alone her entire life, true enough, but now she could really feel it. Was this what she had come to? A smart-mouth djinni and a stuck up magician die being her only friends? She rolled over and closed her eyes, and tried to get some sleep.
When she opened her eyes, she wasn't in her familiar moonlit room. It wasn't even night anymore. She stood up, realizing she had been lying on a curb, in the middle of the day, fully dressed. It was a cloudy day, but that didn't seem to stop the throngs of cars and people bustling through the streets. Kitty looked around, this was definitely London, but how…?
"Kitty! There you are!" A voice called out to her. Kitty whirled around and gasped. There was a face she had never expected to see again…
