Chapter 3: First Encounter

"I'm guessing you've never seen a tower before?"

"I have. Just, not this real."

Brooke strained her neck up, looking upon the white and purple-roofed structure that was the tower. The street circled around it, as a sign saying, 'Golem Tower' hanged above the door.

Brooke turned to Merle. "There aren't really Golems in there, right?"

"Well," Merle said. "There are a few that do reside in this tower, but we're not going up that far."

The old wizard finally turned his body towards Brooke."Allow me to explain your predicament. My full title is Merle Ambrose, Head Master of The Raven Wood School of Magical Arts. It's a small Campus, but it houses 6 Schools for our students to choose from. We're actually getting a new school here, but I'm getting off topic."

"Question." Brooke said, raising her hand.

"Yes?" Merle hummed.

"Why am I here?"

"I'll get to that Brooke. Let me explain a few more things so that your answer is a bit clearer."

Brooke huffed, crossing her arms as Merle continued on. "While our Campus is small, our City is not. Wizard City is one of the many planets in the Universe we call, the Spiral. Much like the Milky Way where you come from, the Spiral holds several unique planets. One of them is Reath, where many of our students come from. It is almost identical to Earth, but unlike your planet where Magic doesn't exist, in Reath it is identified and practiced."

"So… I'm the only human here?" Brooke asked, feeling more alienated.

"Not exactly. We have had human students here in the past, but it is rare I will say."

"This still doesn't answer my question." Brooke sighed, looking around them. "I obviously don't belong here, so why did you send me that invite?"

"Well…" Merle started when suddenly the ground shook violently.

The sky got dark fast. Lightning struck the sky, making Brooke scream in fear, as Merle stood his ground. Rain poured as if it were being emptied from a very large bucket. But the one thing that caught both of their attention was one lighted window in the tower. A tall figure strode by.

"He's here." Merle growled, as Brooke looked to the old man.

"What? Who's here?"

"Quickly Brooke!" Merle said, pointing to the door. "We have to get into the tower!"

"Are you kidding?!" Brooke shouted, flabbergasted. "You want me to go towards the looming figure in the creepy tower? No way!"

Merle turned to Brooke, a bit irritated. "We don't have time to argue about this, we have to stop him! I'll be at your side, now go!"

"Alright, alright!" Brooke said, lightly jogging to the tower as she put her hand on the door knob. "It was nice knowing me." She whispered to herself, opening the door and running in as Merle followed.

The two entered into a circular room, much like the one Brooke was in when she entered Wizard City. It was similar in décor and items to, but what stood out was the figure in the middle.

His eyes were the first thing Brooke saw.

They were black, with small, white pupils in the middle. He had long, black hair in braids down his neck, as well as a long black mustache and a hanging goatee. Black and Gold robes tumbled over his deathly pale body, as he held a long staff much like Merle's. However his was grey with a golden dragon perched on top, its tail spiraling down from the red orb it sat upon.

"Malistaire." Merle growled to the man in the room.

"Ambrose." The man said back, looking to Brooke who stood next to Merle, stiff as a wooden board.

"And a human. My, my, you don't see much of that kind in this universe." Malistaire's eyes caught with Brooke's as she suddenly felt very, very small.

Merle took a step in front of her, his staff raised. "You are no longer welcome here! Why have you returned?"

Malistaire gave a sly smile in the direction towards Merle. "I'm here to resolve my unfinished business." His gaze then went back to Brooke, who poked her head out from behind the old Wizard. "Is this your latest student? I know you're trying to stop me Ambrose, but you are getting desperate now. You know humans don't believe in magic."

"Hey!" The two turned to Brooke, who had now come out of her hiding spot. "I did believe in magic when I was like, 10!"

Malistaire shot a sneer at the girl, who was now yelling at him. "Did you, little girl? Tell me, do you think you can handle this kind of magic?"

He waved his staff in the direction of Brooke, as the floor suddenly started to rumble. The floor cracked for but a few seconds, as scaly hands gripped the ground from the cracks. Brooke screamed in pure fright, backing up as two Dragon creatures flew out of the split in the ground, wearing green and gold robes. They roared at Brooke, watching her face fill with fright.

Malistaire had contempt in his face as he looked in Brooke's direction. "That's what I thought. Humans are such cowards. All bark," He gave Brooke a glare, "No bite."

Brooke's eyes quickly flashed from being close to tears, to an anger that only violence could solve. That was quickly reverted back to tears though when one of the creatures let out a roar in her direction.

"Attacking an unprepared student? And without issuing a duel? You really have changed Malistaire." Merle said with disgust, as the dragon creatures were closing in on Brooke. She looked to Merle with cries of help in her expression.

"I thought we got over that Ambrose," Malistaire said, watching the creatures. "My Henchmen will soon finish this human off."

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Merle announced, pulling out what looked like a leather wallet with colorful rectangles in it.

"And just how are you going to get that to her?" Malistaire asked. "If she even knows how to use them, that is."

Merle looked to Brooke, who almost closed in as he saw a silhouette above Malistaire's head in the form of an owl.

"Merle!"

The two looked up as Gamma flew in and perched on the open window. Merle looked to Malistaire quickly, before chucking the satchel to Gamma. "Gamma! Brooke!"

The owl, understanding what needed to be done, flew into the tower as he caught the small pack in his talons.

"Stupid owl!" Malistaire cried, firing spells from his staff at the owl, as Gamma dodged them all.

"Incoming!" The owl shrieked, getting close to Brooke as he dropped the pack in her hands. She looked at the thing, opening it up as she pulled out… cards?

"Hurry along, Brooke! Take that deck of spell cards and deal with those creatures while I tend to Malistaire myself!" Merle cried, as Malistaire advanced upon the old wizard.

"Don't be so sure of yourself, old man!"

"What do I do with these?!" Brooke shrieked, one of the dragon creatures swiping at Brooke as she backed up fast to avoid.

Malistaire ran to Merle, the two firing spells at each other as Merle was pretty agile for his age. He jumped into the air, flipping backwards as he landed on his two feet. "Pick the spell you want to cast, and throw it in the direction of the Draconians!"

"Are you serious?!" Brooke yelled, noticing the space between her and the dragons was getting very small.

She shuffled through the deck, seeing magical creatures on each card. She picked up one that held a purple and yellow snake. "Alright, I hope this works!"

She threw it at the Draconians, waiting for something to happen. The card just fluttered to the ground, as the Draconians looked back up to Brooke.

She picked another one, throwing one, two, three more, as nothing happened.

"Uh, I think your cards are broken!" Brooke said in a grim reply, her voice starting to shake as one of the Draconians grabbed her arms. "Let me go!"

"What?" Merle said, seeing Brooke's predicament. His eyes widened in his mistake. He quickly turned to Gamma, "Gamma!"

"I got it!" The owl yelled back, flying out of the tower only to return seconds later with a black and white stick.

The owl flew desperately towards Brooke, as the Draconian started to crush the girl in its grip. Gamma was sure of many things, but he didn't know if he would make it.

Merle tried aiming at the Draconian, but was distracted as Malistaire kept firing at Merle. "This match is over, Ambrose!"

Brooke tried dealing with the pain, her fingers holding the last card she hadn't thrown. A fiery cat was the picture as its name flashed before her eyes. She brought her hand up a bit, throwing it into the Draconian's face in a last attempt, "Fire cat!"

They thought the card was just going to fall. However, it shined brightly as the Draconian let go of Brooke in pain. She dropped to her knees, Gamma stopping as the two old men looked over to the battle.

"What?!" Malistaire said in surprise, as the card dissolved into the air, forming an orange glow that resembled fire. A figure leapt from the shine as its body was completely made of fire.

It fell in front of Brooke, growling as it stood its ground. The Draconians tried to advance towards Brooke, but stopped as the cat leapt at one of the Draconians, exploding into a ball of fire. The draconian stumbled backwards in complete pain, as the other draconian looked to the girl.

Brooke just looked to her hands. "I did that?"

"Brooke!" She looked up, just as Gamma dropped the stick in her hands. The item glowed dimly in her hands for a few seconds before the light faded away. The cards that were on the ground also glowed before disappearing and reappearing back into her pack.

"Use the other cards!" Gamma said, as Brooke tried getting up. She couldn't though, "I-I can't… I'm too hurt!"

Merle, seeing an opening, pulled out one of his cards, as he threw it towards Brooke, "Unicorn!"

The card dissolved in a green light that resembled a leaf, as a large, magnificent Unicorn leapt from the shine. It landed gracefully onto the ground, grass and flowers growing from where it stood, as it looked to Brooke.

"Let me fix you right up," the Unicorn said, giving a deep bow as its horn shined.

Brooke felt her body float up in this new glowing light around her, as her body started to feel energized. She landed on her two feet, feeling her joints. Brooke looked to the Unicorn in wonder, "Th-Thank you."

"Not a problem." The Unicorn said, giving one last smile before disappearing into balls of light.

Brooke looked to the two Draconians, who started to advance once more. One of them yelled something in a different language, throwing down the same snake Brooke tried using at first, as the card activated.

The snake curled up and reared its head towards Brooke, opening up as lightning struck out. Brooke put her arms up in defense, feeling the electricity bounce through her bones and veins. She then lowered her arms, noticing she wasn't on the ground having a seizure, as the Snake disappeared.

She noticed the other draconian grab a card from his robes, as Brooke picked one of her cards quickly. "Imp!"

Brooke cast down the card, as suddenly her hand with the stick starting moving on its own. It carved the symbol of the leaf into the air, leaving a green light before the card activated. A green imp sprung out, giving off an eerie chuckle before pulling out a violin and playing a song. The other Draconian held its ears in pain, before the imp vanished.

Merle looked over to see the battle, "Good work Brooke!" He then grabbed another card from his hidden deck, tossing it Brooke's way, "Take this card, and finish them off!"

Brooke caught it quickly, having to dive for it, as the Draconians heard there Master call to them.

"Fail this job, and I'll have both of your heads!" Malistaire cried out. The Draconians moved away in fear before turning their attention back on Brooke.

Brooke looked to the card and then up at her foes, as they both cast different cards. One of them cast a black and purple fairy as she sucked some of the energy out of Brooke. Another was an ice beetle, who shot at Brooke and made her shiver.

Feeling weak and cold, Brooke shot the card Merle gave her at the two Draconians, her hand moving to paint the symbol of fire into the air. "Meteor Strike!"

The card vanished into the air as nothing came out. She started to wonder if it even worked, when Brooke felt a tugging sensation above her.

She watched her hair flicker in front of her face again, looking to where the pull was, as three rifts opened into the air above them. The Draconians, apparently knowing this card, starting running away with their tails between their legs in fright. They suddenly stopped, as if they couldn't run anymore, turning to face the threat as big balls of space smashed to the ground. Meteors.

Alit with flames, two of the biggest ones aimed for the dragons as they smashed into the beings. The Draconians fell to the ground, coughing in absolute pain, as they themselves started to disappear.

With curious eyes, Brooke watched the balls of the light that was the Draconians float up and go back into Malistaire's staff.

The evil old man gripped his staff in mild anger. "So, your human has some potential."

Brooke was about to say something, when Merle stood up straight, saying what he shouldn't have said. "That's right Malistaire, and she shall be the one to stop your madness!"

Malistaire just sneered. "Is that so?"

He looked to Brooke again, who looked to Merle in fear. "What?!"

He chuckled, "We shall see. But for now, I have what I came for."

Merle raised his staff. "Not so fast Malistaire. You're not going anywhere."

Merle started a spell, when something crashed into his staff. It twirled out of his hands to the ground, smoldering as Merle held his hand in hurt.

"You've become weak, old man. We shall cross paths again." Were Malistaire's last words before he disappeared into thin air.

Merle clutched his hand, Gamma flying over to where the old man stood. The two were inspecting the damage to his hand when they heard a voice.

"Merle?"

The two, both of them noticing the other didn't say that, looked over to the origin of the voice.

It was Brooke.

"Wh-what did you mean…?"