Chapter One- New Beginning
Disclaimer: I do not own W.I.T.C.H. but I do own M.A.G.I.C.
A brilliant white light surrounded him, he felt as if he were floating in water yet at the same time on the ground. He felt a cool breeze from a wind but an intense heat from an invisible flame. He had no idea what was going on, he looked round the infinite white…nothing, nothing was in this endless blankness, not even sound. He drew a breath but sucked in nothing, he yelled out loud but made no sound, he ran as fast as he could but made no progress anywhere, finally he knelt on the non-existent floor, defeated. He wept but no tears fell, there was no hope anymore, he was stuck in this infinite desolation. Suddenly it began to darken and five bright lights appeared around him, he stared at them in wonder, they were beautiful and each had a symbol in the middle, swirling lines and circles. A bright pink one neared him then entered his body, instantly he felt rejuvenated. An aqua light passed into him next and the tears he had been prevented from weeping flowed from his eyes. A flame red orb entered him and he felt a new determination like nothing he had felt before pass through him. Next came a green light, which gave him a strength he never knew he had, and finally a silver glare entered his body and the air he had been starved of rushed back into his lungs. Amazed he slowly stood up, looking around the now black area, he took a step forward… and was blinded by a flash of brilliant gold light. Yelling aloud with his newfound voice he was engulfed by the light…
And sat up in the car screaming his head off.
"AKIRI! AKIRI!" his father yelled silencing the screaming teen who sat breathing heavily, eyes wide. His father shook his head "Jesus son! You had me terrified there for a moment, what was that all about?" he asked
"I have no idea dad but…damn that was scary," he answered, a cold sweat forming on his forehead. After a few moments of silence Akiri noticed they were driving over a bridge passing under a sign saying WELCOME TO HEATHERFIELD lit up by small spotlights in the gloom of the night. "I take it that we're almost there then huh?" Akiri asked his father quietly; his response was a nod and "mm hmm" confirming grunt. Akiri sighed and looked back out the window; his reflection stared back at him. His eyes, their naturally unnatural reddish gold, like a sunset, bored straight back into him, his long fringe of black and red hair flopping in front of his face looking almost a dark purple in its current lighting. The back of his hair jutted out at the base of his neck no matter what he did with it, fortunately right now it was clinging to the curve of his neck rather than a messy tuft.
Half an hour later Akiri and his father had pulled up outside the house they had bought a few weeks ago, it was a detached plain and simple three bedroom house along a fairly quiet street although that might have something to do with the fact that it was 2o'clock in the morning. Akiri climbed out of the car as his father turned off the engine and popped the boot open, as his father walked around to the back of the car Akiri scanned over him as he often did to people.
"Akiri, are you going to stand there or are you going to help me bring this stuff in?" his father asked.
"Yeah sorry dad," he answered, "I'll be right there."
He turned back to the car and pulled out of the boot two bags, one full of clothes the other clanking around with the sound of metal and wood. This second bag contained his weapon collection, which he was quite proud of; he shrugged the bags onto his shoulders and trudged up the stairs to their new abode. After about another half hour they had successfully separated their individual bags and moved them up to their rooms, Akiri left his lying on the floor then walked over to the bed, removing his top, trousers and socks, finally collapsing onto the springy mattress. He shuffled up to the pillow and pulled the cover over himself, going to sleep almost as soon as his hand hit the mattress, after all he had had a long day and in just four and a half hours he had to wake up for his first day at his new school.
At 7:30 a pair of sunset colored eyes flickered open. Groaning, Akiri clambered off the bed and made his way to the bathroom to splash his face with cold water, ten minutes later and feeling greatly refreshed he walked back to his bedroom to get dressed. As he was just about to pull on his school uniform he remembered that his new school did not have a uniform so he could wear whatever he wanted. Grinning at this he dropped the boring grey trousers he was holding and reached for a pair of his favorite jeans, a black t-shirt with a red cross on the front and his denim jacket which he wore whenever he went out no matter what the weather. Another virtually permanent accessory he pulled on was his pair of fingerless gloves, both of them were black but the left one had two golden bars crossing on the back of his hand whilst the right one had two silvery grey bars in the same cross. Slowly, Akiri trudged down the stairs and into the kitchen, snatching a piece of toast out of the toaster he proceeded to make breakfast.
From the table Akiri's father looked over at him then to the clock on the wall and finally back to Akiri.
"Akiri? Aren't you supposed to be in school in 10 minutes?" he asked calmly. Akiri froze at these words and his head turned to the left to see the clock. It read 7:45.
"Ooohhhhhh crap!" he mumbled, as he bolted out the kitchen and back upstairs. He snatched up his backpack and opened his travel bags, withdrawing two metal objects, he stuffed one in his bag and hesitated with the second but decided that he didn't have time for a debate with himself and chucked it in as well. He then ran back downstairs, slipped on his Converse All-stars, grabbed the piece of toast he had left and, after making a hurried and mumbled farewell to his father, shot out the door. His father chuckled and went back to reading the newspaper.
It was a good thing he had memorized the map for Heather field, Akiri realized as he sprinted down the street, other wise he would have never got to school in time. As he turned a corner and raced into the traffic, dodging and weaving cars, he started to remember about why he and his father had moved here. They had always lived in England, in a detached house not far from London, just him and his father. Akiri had never known his mother but apparently he had been named by her and also inherited the color of his eyes from her. Still one day when Akiri had just got home from school his father announced that they would be moving and that he had already chosen a house, Akiri hadn't asked too many questions as it was his nature not to try and understand other peoples decisions by pestering them. In one month all their things, including the car, had been flown to America leaving Akiri and his father to bring the last things over with them. Akiri decided to stop reminiscing here as he had to spring backward to avoid a speeding car.
Nine minutes later Akiri was sprinting through the gates of his new school, under a sign reading Sheffield Institute, and into the school building. He ran down the hallway, dodging several people messing around in their lockers and was about to turn a corner until he charged right into somebody coming the other way. Akiri really couldn't believe his luck, he was late to school on his first day and had already managed to knock someone over, 20 seconds after having entered the premises, still he couldn't go back and change mistakes, and all he could do was to at least try to lessen their impact. His instinct from gymnastics took over as he grabbed the person falling beside him. He then swiveled round so he was falling on his back and placed his right hand out to the ground, managing to catch himself and victim in one quick move, his right leg fully extended to balance him while his left was bent up underneath the person to keep them from landing on their butt. He slowly stood up.
"Sorry about that," he apologized as he helped the person up, he now noticed that it was a girl "not just any girl," he thought "a beautiful girl." She may not have been supermodel material or even as pretty as some of the other girls in the school but she had an aura surrounding her that just felt comfortably beautiful. She had on a pair of baggy grey jeans and a pink jacket on over a grey top, there was also a strangely demented looking backpack on her back in the shape of a frog. Her flaming red hair was just brushing her shoulders and her hazel eyes seemed to show the innocence of a normal teenage girl, but as he looked deeper he could see something else in there, a fiery determination and something else, un-describable that told Akiri this girl could definitely look after herself. "I wasn't looking where I was going," he finished
"No it's alright it's my fault," she replied a smile and a blush growing on her face at the same time, her eyes staring into Akiri's strange irises. "You're new here right? The student who moved here from England?" she asked. Akiri nodded both times
"Yeah that's me," he acknowledged in his best British accent causing the girl to giggle and him, smile.
"Well in that case you can have me as your unofficial tour guide for the day," she announced. Akiri's grin widened at this
"Sure okay then thanks, my name Akiri" he told her. The girl's smile lit up her face
"Well Akiri welcome to the Sheffield Institute my Name's Will Vandom." The girl said.
"It's nice to meet you Will," Akiri said. "Shall we be going to class?"
"Um, yeah sure," Will said. "Sorry, do I know you from so where?"
"I don't think so," Akiri said as they started walking.
As they were on their to class they were stopped when a Luba appeared before them.
"Um…. I know I'm not seeing things here," Akiri said shocked. "Right?"
"No you are not seeing things that you are not supposed to see," Luba said.
"What's wrong Luba?" Will asked. "Usually you call us if something is wrong."
"No there's nothing wrong," Luba said. "I'm here because Valora needs the help of the Defenders."
"THE WHAT?" Will and Akiri said at the same time.
"Akiri is one of the Defenders that the Ice Heart has chosen," Luba said. "The Oracle wants to see him the other Defenders are already been found and waiting for Akiri."
"So where are we going to meet the others?" Akiri asked.
"In Kandrakar," Will said. "It is an ethereal realm at the center of the universe and the heart of infinity."
"Shall we go," Luba said as she opened a fold to Kandrakar.
"Sure," Akiri said as they walked through the fold.
