Six months.
It has been six months since Lizzie and Bridget started traveling with Shane and Aslen.
Three months.
Three months since Lizzie made her promise.
Today.
Today was the day Lizzie would be promoted from Mystic-in-training to Mystic. One of the most important days that a Mystic can have.
This was the day that I would become a Mystic. For those who aren't in the know and thought I already was a Mystic, you're technically wrong. I was a Mysta, a Mystic in training. The ceremony is a sort of passage for a Mysta to become a Mystic.
I was nervous, happy, scared and excited. I didn't know what to do or what this ceremony entailed. I didn't even know that there was such a thing as Mysta.
Doesn't help that Shane also invited several of his buddies for the ceremony. And said buddies liked to give you a good scare.
The quartet had chosen Yellowstone National Park as their next campsite. It was dark out, with a half moon hanging overhead and a small fire being their only source of light. It was here, Lizzie felt several auras invading her senses.
"Something approaches." she said in a robotic voice.
The three other Mystics stiffen. Over the months, they had learned that when Lizzie conceals all emotions, to be wary and be prepared for anything.
They formed a triangle around Aslen, while she started muttering spells to help them in a possible battle. Bridget had picked up a stick and was already pumping magical energy into it. Lizzie brought up her hands, already making a plan with her arsenal of spells. Shane had taken out two silver pistols and aimed them both to the trees ahead of him, all the while coating each bullet on his person with his magic.
They stood stark still, waiting for the inevitable.
"Why are we standing around, we need to get out of here?" Bridget whispered-yelled.
"They have surrounded us. The first one should be appearing soon." Lizzie explained.
"Where?" Shane asked.
"Directly in front of you."
Shane immediately took aimed. They all waited for them to make their move.
"Their stopping." Lizzie announced, her head tilted slightly.
"What?" Shane asked.
Then it dawned on him.
"Oh no."
And just like that, multiple voices screamed out, "Oi, Oi, Oi." in quick succession.
Aslen screamed.
Bridget threw her stick, which hit a man's leg. It got dislocated.
Lizzie screamed, jumped, and place a shield around all four of them all in a span of a second.
Shane was dying of laughter.
All around them, they could hear several other people laughing as well. Except the one whose leg got dislocated, he was screaming in pain.
All three girl looked at the only male in their group with startled expressions. Those expressions slowly melted into glares filled with murder.
"Shane?" all three asked in deadly tones.
Shane stopped laughed after hearing that. Looking over, he suddenly wished he wasn't there.
Aslen's, Lizzie's, and Bridget's eyes were glowing with the force of their magic. Aslen's hands were placed on the back of the other two girls. Said girls had both grabbed a stick and was powering it with their magic.
If I don't say the right thing, they're going to pummel me to death.
"I...um...I can explain." it sound more like a question then a statement.
"Then started explaining." Bridget gritted out.
"Uh...well…you see…thanks for the help guys." he yelled sarcastically into the trees.
Several snickers were heard afterwards. Snickering that was thoroughly silence when the girls turned their murderous glares to them. The message was clear.
Come out, and we won't hunt you down and give you an even worse punishment.
Slowly, several rogue Mystics, some familiar, some not, male and female, old and young, came out of the trees. They were glance over by the girls before their attention was back on Shane.
"Shane?" They repeated.
Shane gulped, "I asked them to come over to assist in the ceremony. I had nothing to do with this." he quickly added as he gestured wildly around him.
"Ceremony?" Lizzie asked, her voice was back to being robotic, but the tilt of her head gave away her curiosity.
"I was hoping to keep it a surprise." he said while scratching his chin sheepishly. Glad that she wasn't using that dangerous tone anymore, but still on edge with the robotic one.
"What you going on about?" Bridget exclaimed.
Aslen seemed to have figured it out.
"You mean, she's ready?"
Shane nodded.
Aslen squealed and hugged Lizzie sideways, preventing her to hug Aslen back if she wanted to, with the biggest smile on her face.
Both Lizzie and Bridget just looked at Aslen as if she grew another head, shocked into silence. In all the time they had known her, she never acted like this, nowhere near this actually.
Aslen spun Lizzie around so they were facing each other and grabbed both her hands, all the while bouncing in place.
"I can't believe this, you'll be the youngest Mystic ever!" she said with sparkles in her eyes.
"...Who the fuck are you and what did you do to Aslen?" Lizzie was genuinely concerned.
"Don't you know what this means?" she was in her own world by now.
"No, I don't. Mind explaining."
Aslen let go of Lizzie and started spinning in circles.
"And, we lost her." Bridget put in.
"I'm so confused." Lizzie said, putting her head into her hands.
Shane and his friends just looked at the trio, snickering.
It was then that Shane decided to enlighten us newbies of the ceremony. It wasn't anything spectacular or other worldly really, it just consisted of a long ass speech basically saying 'Congrats, you're a Mystic now' and getting a bunch of raw materials. I had to do one part of the ceremony on my own before doing the last bit.
This part of the ceremony is where I get my weapon, a specially made weapon that was unique to me and only I could understand it fully. Making it was exactly the same for making my cloak. I pictured what I wanted and I had it.
It looked like a two piece bracelet that had thin chains connecting the two pieces when I wasn't using it. When I was, the bottom half would open up, fall to below the knee and these little triangles, about as tall as my middle finger, would dangle off it. Using magic, the circlet would widen and the triangles with would fan out. All I had to do was fling my arm to send it flying at an opponent or to grab something.
The last part of the ceremony was a duel, a duel against my mentor. It was a sort of 'right of passage' to try and defeat one's mentor. Normally, if I did defeat him, I would graduate from Mysta to Mystic. If I didn't however, I would be spending more time training for a few centuries before graduating.
Yeah, learned this around that time too. Mystics can live as long as a demon, though we age differently when the Mystic is born from a human. I'll get to that at another time.
Anyway, back to the duel. Since I was a rogue, I wouldn't be forced to train, I would just get the living shit beat out of me and never live it down.
Saying this now, Rogues are assholes.
Lizzie looked down at her newly crafted weapons for a moment before slipping them on. She made sure that they were well hidden in her cloak's sleeves. Taking a moment to collect her thoughts and preparing herself for the inevitable fight, the newly promoted Mystic left her secluded spot in the woods.
She arrived back to the clearing all too fast. All but one Mystic had moved into the trees to watch the spectacle. Shane sat in the middle of the clearing, meditating from what she could tell. Again, the Mystic stopped at the edge of the forest to collect her thoughts.
This was not in the job description.
Sighing, the Mystic stepped into the clearing.
