Tea slouches over the counter at Burger World, resting her chin in the palm of her hand and checking her phone with the other. She taps around on her phone to pull up an old thread of messages between her and Mana. It had been few days since she had heard from her and the last message that was sent was from Tea's end, inquiring about Mana's whereabouts. But she received no answer. She had hoped that she would see Mana today at work, but she never showed up. Although Mana would turn up to work extremely late sometimes, she never actually skipped out. It was well into their shift and Tea was convinced that Mana wouldn't show up at all, which caused her to grow concerned.
The bell rings at the front door and Atem enters to Tea's surprise. "Atem!" She noticed that he didn't seem to be in the best of moods. His eyes were lowered to the floor and it appeared as if he hadn't gotten any sleep lately. She rushes over to him from behind the counter. "Hey, are you okay? You look like you haven't slept in days."
"I'm fine, Tea…" he fibs and Tea raises an eyebrow, folding her arms.
"Yeah like I'd believe that. And have you heard from Mana?"
"She's not here?" He too had not seen or heard from Mana in a few days and was hoping that she would at least be at work. After their moment at the beach, she never even came home.
"Wait, you haven't seen her either? What's wrong, Atem? Did something happen?" Tea asks worriedly. Atem sighs and nods slowly, causing Tea to grow even more concerned. She gasps in realization, fearing the worst. "She…she wasn't kidnapped by whoever is causing the disappearance of the magicians has she?"
Atem shakes his head. "No, Tea. I highly doubt that." He turns his head away.
"Well something must have happened, Atem. You're moping and she's not here and—" she pauses mid sentence as if finally coming to the right conclusion. "Did something happen between the two of you?"
Atem nods reluctantly. After sitting down at one of the tables, he relays the story to Tea as to what occurred at the beach.
"Oh my…" Tea says, placing a hand up to her mouth.
"It seemed like everything was moving in the right direction. But now I fear that I'm right back at square one," he said placing a hand on his head with a sigh. "I should have never brought up sparring. But I was just telling her another memory."
"Don't beat yourself up Atem. It's not your fault," Tea says reassuringly. "She's gone through a lot…well…she's still going through a lot to this very day. I'm sure it's really overwhelming for her."
"I just wish I could take it all back. I'm not sure what triggered her, but I wish I could take it all back, just so she could talk to me again."
"Don't worry, she'll come around. Just give her some time."
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Cairo walks down the sidewalk wearing her school uniform which was the typical sailor uniform consisting of a red pleated skirt, a blouse and a matching red bow. Her black hair reached her calves that were partially covered by black knee high socks and she held her brown book bag over her shoulder. She stops when she reaches a huge red and white tent and she gazes up at its enormous size. Her eyes then scroll down to a sign that had a picture of Arcana along with an image of a red Dark Magician in the background.
She entertained the thought of being Arcana's apprentice and what that would mean for her. She would get stronger. She could use her powers more frequently. And because she was stronger, she wouldn't have to live in fear. At least, that's what she thought would come out of it. But she also didn't want to disobey her father. He would be furious if he ever found out that she was around Arcana. She weighed the options in her head. Become stronger by being Arcana's apprentice, or face her father's wrath.
She dims her eyes and scratches the back of her head with a light chuckle. "I don't think I wanna take that risk," she says to herself and she starts to walk away.
"Leaving so soon?" a voice from behind her says and she turns around to see none other than Arcana standing there, wearing his usual red suit outfit, paired with his top hat and striped mask.
"Arcana," Cairo says, clenching her book bag.
"Have you made your decision?"
"Yeah. I'm going to pass on being your apprentice," she answers and he narrows his eyes.
"What about everything you've ever wanted? To get stronger and not having to live in fear? Isn't that something you still desire?"
Cairo lowers her eyes. Deep down he was right. There was nothing she wanted more than to be able to use her powers freely without having to worry about her safety. She shakes her head. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'll find a way to get stronger on my own. And then…" she clenches her fist. "I'll defeat whoever is taking down the magicians. And then none of us will have to live in fear ever again."
Arcana grins. 'Is that so, you little brat?' he thought to himself as he watches her walk away. 'You'll regret the day you decided to go against me.' Once she is out of his sight, he turns his head to two lingering figures in the shadows.
"You two know what to do. Don't let me down again," Arcana commands them and they both nod in unison.
Atem turns the keys to the front door of his house and walks in, closing the door behind him. He flips on the light switch which brightens the living room. To his dismay, there was still no sign of Mana here. Normally she would either be sitting on the couch watching television or napping after a long day at work. But that wasn't happening. He sighs in disappointment and looks toward the kitchen, noticing the lights were on. He walks in to see Cairo at the counter with a book open and a notebook and pen out, doing her homework
"Good evening, Cairo," he greets and she glances up at him before focusing back on her homework.
"Hi dad," she says back, scribbling away.
"Did you have a good day at school today?" he asks as goes to the sink to get a glass of water.
"Eh…"
"As good as it will ever get, huh?"
"Yup," she responds with a chuckle. "How about you?"
"Today was alright I guess," he replies, leaning on the counter and taking a sip.
"Is Mana ever coming back?" she asks, still keeping her focus on the book in front of her.
Atem sighs, walking over to sit in the stool next to Cairo's. "To be honest, I'm not sure."
"Did you make her mad?"
Atem looks away, thinking back to their time at the beach. The moment between him and Mana had went from great to worse in almost in instant. He couldn't stop beating himself over it, thinking if he had somehow handled things differently, maybe they wouldn't be in this current predicament. If he hadn't have brought up sparring, the kiss wouldn't have happened. Cairo finally looks up from her book completely, waiting on her father to answer her previous question. She could see he was stressed out about something.
"Dad? Are you okay?"
Atem snaps out of his thoughts and attempts to put on a brave face. "Yes, I'm fine."
"Whatever happened must've been pretty bad," Cairo guesses.
"You could say that."
"I hope she comes back."
"Sadly, I don't even know where she is," Atem says, causing Cairo to perk a little.
"Well maybe I can find her!" she exclaims. "She was able to sense my power from far away in the past! Maybe I can do the same!"
Atem shakes his head. "It might be best to give her some time to herself, Cairo."
Cairo frowns with disappointment and her shoulders drop. "B-B-But, I can find her dad. And then you can say you're sorry for whatever happened and then we can be like family again!"
Atem's eyes widen with surprise. "Family?"
"Well she was like family to me. I liked having Mana here. She always looked out for me and she always spent time with me…almost like a mommy would," Cairo explains and Atem's heart drops. Is that what Cairo really thought of Mana? As a mother figure? He silently took a deep breath to hold himself together as she continued. Cairo was similar to him. She rarely ever expressed her emotions. So hearing this coming out of her for the first time was surprising to him. He never knew he thought of Mana in that manner. Her eyes start to water up and she sniffles. "I don't know what having a mommy is like. But being around her made me feel like I had one."
"Cairo…" He places a hand around her shoulder and brings her closer to him, leaning his head on hers.
"She'll be back right?" she asks, sniffling.
The road to recovering Mana's memory's has been a tough one. From not talking to her in years, to finally being able to make some sort of connection, to not talking again, it was full of its ups and downs. But Atem was determined to get his family back together. Regardless of how hard it has been, for his daughter's sake, he wouldn't give up.
"Yes Cairo," he finally answers and she wraps her arms around him in a hug. "I promise."
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The rain outside pours on the streets below and the lightning flashes every so often, combined with a sound of thunder. A pedestrian makes her way underneath an overpass to keep shelter. She didn't have any jacket on to cover her arms from the cold rain. She only wore a white pleated skirt and matching tank top. She leans on a concrete wall, watching as the rain pours, not showing any signs of letting up any time soon.
The events at the beach kept replaying in her head. How could she let herself get carried away like that? She was so embarrassed. And not only that, she felt that she had disrespected Atem's marriage. Regardless if he hadn't seen his wife in years, he still obviously harbored feelings for his missing wife and she didn't want to come between that. He would never forgive her, she thought. After all of the help he has given her throughout it all, she just had to kiss him. She didn't remember where her feelings for Atem started to arise. Maybe it was when he saved her from falling off a building. Maybe it was his ability to keep her levelheaded whenever her powers started to go haywire. Or maybe it was the fact that he was always there for her no matter what, not to mention his physical looks.
A tear streams down her cheek. She feared the friendship she had with Atem was over. She felt as if she had betrayed him in a way. "I'm sorry, Atem…"
"What's the matter? Afraid of a little thunder?" comes a baritone voice and she lifts her head slow, her eyes moving from left to right to find the source. Her eyes land on two figures standing in the shadows. One of them was significantly shorter than the other. As they come closer, she rolls her eyes and turns her head, looking down at the ground.
"Stay back. I'm not in the mood to deal with you two knuckleheads," Mana warns, folding her arms.
"Our master would like to have a word with you," Umbra says.
"Tell your boss to go find a new hobby," Mana says, narrowing her eyes at them.
"This is your final warning girl," Lumis says.
"And this is your final warning to leave me be," Mana snaps, whipping her head around to look them directly in the eyes. "If you cross me one more time, I promise you it won't be pretty."
"Have it your way," Umbra says. "Maybe that younger magician will do…"
Mana's eyes widen and she could feel the anger building up inside of her. She clenches her fists and a black aura starts to appear around her. The ground below them starts to tremble as her rage increases.
"What was her name?" Lumis asks before smirking. "Ah yes…Cairo, was it?"
"You stay away from her…" She says between gritted teeth as she tries to simultaneously try to keep her emotions in check so that her powers didn't go haywire.
"Aww, did we strike a nerve?" Umbra taunts and he begins to laugh as they turn to leave. "You brought this on yourself."
Mana watches as they disappear into the pouring rain. She takes a few quick breaths to manage her emotions and the dark aura around her dissipates. She takes out her phone and looks at the blank screen. After a few days of not charging it, it was finally out of juice. She sighs in frustration and makes her phone disappear in thin air. "I have to tell Atem."
Cairo walks down the sidewalk the next morning on her way to school. She sighs heavily, dreading having to go. School was never fun for her and it was very much boring. Not to mention the fact that it has always been hard to make friends. It was a bright and sunny day as car whoosh past on the street heading to their destinations and pedestrians fill the sidewalks walking to wherever it is they needed to go. As she passed a dark alleyway, she narrows her eyes as a bad feeling overcomes her. She could sense eyes on her and that there is two people following her. She starts to quicken her pace, holding on to both straps of her book bag tightly. Unfortunately, they started to quicken their pace as well. That's when she decided to make a run for it.
Luckily, her school wasn't too far ahead of her. The closest building at her school was the old abandoned gym. The building was gray and dull and had a few cracked windows. But she figured she may be able to hide in there. She quickly bursts through the doors, quickly surveying the area. The wooden floors were old and creaky. A few basketball rims hung off of its hinges and parts of the walls had holes in it. She looks toward the old bleachers and decides to hide underneath them, hoping that the two strange individuals wouldn't find her. She peeks through the cracks and sees two hooded men, looking left to right. Part of their faces were hidden by masks.
"We know you're in here, Cairo," says Lumis.
"We can either do this the easy way or the hard way. Your choice," says Umbra and they both turn their sights to the bleachers.
Cairo grits her teeth and backs up slowly until her back touches the wall. Who were these people and what did they want with her?
Mana bursts through the front door of Atem's house. It was dark and seemingly empty. She goes through the living room and into the kitchen. After seeing no one, she runs up the stairs and walks past Atem's room and then stops at Cairo's. Unfortunately, no one was home. "Dang it," Mana says with frustration before whipping out her and wand and closing her eyes in concentration, searching for Cairo's energy. "Where are you Cairo?" Her mind roams through all of the streets and crevices of the city, searching every street and building until it lands on an old abandoned gym. She focuses on the gym, zooming inside and sees Lumis and Umbra standing across from Cairo. Her eyes shoot open. "No!"
"Who are you and what do you guys want?" Cairo asks, standing defensively.
"Our master has requested your presence," Lumis says.
"And who's that?"
"That's none of your concern," Umbra replies, taking a card out of his pocket and raising it into the air. "Come forth my Masked Beast!" In a blinding light, a monster appears. The bottom half of the monster had the legs of what seemed to be some sort of reptile or dinosaur. The top half was more human, complete with a masculine looking chest, muscular arms and a red mask that covered its face. It also carried a huge wooden staff that had a rock hard ball at the end. Cairo looks up as it towers over her and she narrows her eyes that started to glow purple. She had no choice but to use her abilities.
"Attack!" Umbra commands and the beast charges at her, swinging its huge staff at Cairo as she dodges each attack before shooting a magical blast at it, causing smoke to appear. She takes this time to try and make a run for it, but she is quickly blocked by the monster again, who looks ready to attack more. She darts off to the left, jumping and dodging as the monster kept taking swings at her. She hops onto the bleachers, running across as each blow by the monster caused large holes into the old wooden structure.
"Stay back!" Cairo yells, sending multiple blasts its way. The monster dodges before grabbing her by the shirt and slamming her down through the bleachers. She lands on the floor with a thud and looks up through the hole between the bleachers that the monster had just created, using her body. The Masked Beast stares down at her through the hole, growling and plotting its next move.
"Give up little girl and come nicely!" Lumis says.
"NO!" Cairo yells with all of her might, shooting a powerful blast at the monster, causing it to be blown back.
"What?!" Umbra yells in shock, not expecting such an immense amount of power to come from a girl her age. "Impossible!"
Cairo slowly climbs out of the hole in the bleachers, panting heavily. She prayed that this signaled the end of their battle. But she sensed they had something else up their sleeve.
Lumis pulls a card of his pocket and grins. "I've got something for her…" he snickers as the card in his hand glows, revealing a spell card by the name of Mask of the was a greenish, blue mask with yellow ghoulish eyes with nails sticking out of it. "Let's see you try attacking us now! Go, Mask of the Accursed!" Cairo screams as the mask heads right toward her face.
Atem walks into the courtroom and sits down at his podium, going through papers and filing them into different piles and preparing for the next case. He holds his head, sighing heavily. The last thing he wanted to be do is work. He couldn't keep his mind off Mana. He just hoped that wherever she was that she was okay.
Mana swings open the door to the lobby of the courthouse, walking directly pass the reception desk despite the protests of the female receptionist. She looks from left to right, trying to find the way that would lead her to Atem.
"Hey! You can't go back there!" yells the receptionist who is following close behind her.
"Where is Atem?" Mana asks, ignoring her protests.
"Hey! Didn't you hear what I just said?" the receptionist asks before she pulls out her walkie talkie to alert security. A few security guards come from around the corner to intercept Mana and to keep her from going any further.
"Stop right there!" one of them yells and she keeps walking, unfazed by the number of them blocking her way.
"Move," Mana says calmly, blowing them back with a small amount of force, causing them to hit the wall.
"W-What in the world was that?" the of the guards asks, confused by what just happened. He shakes his head, regaining his composure and getting out his radio. "We need back up!"
Atem turns to the security in his courtroom as they get the call for back up. "What's going on?" he asks, but before the guard can answers, the doors to the courtroom burst open, revealing Mana who stands there with clenched fists. Atem quickly stands up, not expecting to see her there and under these circumstances. "Mana? What are you doing here?"
"Hey! Stop right there!" a guard says from behind her as she continues to walk to Atem's podium.
"Oh for crying out loud, BE QUIET!" Mana yells, whipping around to the guard and a blue aura blows across the courtroom, causing every except her and Atem to freeze in their place. They would only be frozen momentarily, but it would give her enough time to say what she needed. She sets her eyes back on Atem and stands in front of his podium.
"Mana, what's going on? Why have you—"
"It's Cairo. She's in danger," Mana reveals to Atem's horror.
"WHAT?!"
"Lumis and Umbra…they have her cornered in an old abandoned gym. We don't have much time!"
Without hesitation, Atem hops over the podium, whipping off his black robe, revealing his regular get up. He lets Mana lead the way as they run out of the courthouse. As soon as they leave, the people inside were finally unfrozen as they looked around with confused expressions.
Cairo screams as the mask attaches to her face. She shoots blasts of magic sporadically as she attempts to hit Lumis and Umbra who watch with a grin. She plops down in the corner of a gym, prying at the mask to come off her face, but it is no use. The mask left her being unable to see. She could hear the footsteps of Lumis and Umbra approaching her. She outstretches her hand to blindly shoot off another attack, but to her surprise, nothing came of it.
Lumis laughs. "With that mask on, you'll no longer be able to use magic. It riddles magicians like you powerless. Few have been able to break free from it." She screams as she tries with all of her might to get it off her face, but she felt her power draining. She stands up, holding onto a nearby wall to attempt to get away, earning laughs from the two men once again.
"Give up little girl," Umbra says with a grin as he prepares to take her. "You're coming with—" A magical blast from behind interrupts him as he is sent flying into the wall.
Lumis whips around to see who shot the attack and to his surprise, he sees Atem and Mana standing at the doorway, both filled with anger and fury. "You two! How did you find us?!"
"You're going to pay for what you've done!" Atem yells, dashing forward and charging at Umbra, pulling his fist back to land a powerful punch that knocked him into the bleachers. Atem then eyes Umbra who is just now getting up from Mana's previous attack. Before he could fully stand, Atem runs full speed at him, jumping into the air and landing a roundhouse kick that slams Umbra into the ground.
Mana takes this opportunity to rush to Cairo's aid, who sat in a corner with the mask still attached to her face. She screamed angrily as she tried to use all of her strength to take it off.
"What is this thing?" Mana asks aloud as she reaches for the mask. But as soon as her hands make contact, a wave of electricity shocks her, causing her to cry out in pain and pull away from it. She holds her wrist, observing the mask more closely.
Umbra snickers as he sits up, wiping his bloodied nose. "Good luck in trying to remove it, girl," he says and Mana narrows her eyes. "It practically leaves magicians powerless."
"What?!" Mana yells in disbelief as Umbra laughs menacingly. Hearing Cairo's cries was heart wrenching. She looks down at her bare hands, knowing that she wouldn't be able to touch the mask without getting hurt. She wanted to do everything that she could to help her. But she didn't know how. As she weighs out her options, she notices a shift in the atmosphere. She felt a wave of strong energy all of a sudden. But it wasn't coming from herself. Her eyes slowly scroll up from her hands and she observes Cairo. A dark aura started to appear around her as she screamed.
Atem growls angrily, lifting Umbra up into the air. "Tell us how to remove it now!" he demands.
"Hehehe…never," Umbra says, earning another punch from Atem who is growing more irritated.
"What is going on…?" Mana asks lowly, but loud enough for Atem to hear and take notice as the aura around his daughter grows larger.
"What's happening?" Atem asks, confused as she was.
Cairo lets out a large cry that emits a large force that blows Atem and Mana back. The force is so strong that it causes the mask to crumble to Lumis and Umbra's shock. But what they weren't expecting was the tall dark figure to appear behind Cairo as her eyes look pitch black. Atem slowly lifts up to see a dark figure that had blue skin, long black hair and leather clothes standing behind Cairo with its long arms crossed in front of its chest.
Mana raises up as well and looks on with shock. "Is that…"
"The Magician of Black Chaos…" Atem finishes. Lumis and Umbra take this moment of distraction to retreat as Atem and Mana face Cairo, who seems to have lost all control.
"I didn't know she could summon her own magician," Mana says.
"Neither did I."
The Magician of Black Chaos makes its long black wand appear and it aims it at Atem and Mana to their surprise.
"Cairo, snap out of it!" Atem yells. Without a word from Cairo, the magician shoots its attack and they both dodge in opposite directions.
'This is just like when I lose control of my emotions,' Mana thought to herself as she stands to her feet. 'It seems Cairo's abilities are heavily affected by her emotions too.'
"Cairo! It's me! Your father!" Atem stands directly in front of Cairo and her monster, outstretching his arms. "You have to remember!"
"Atem, look out!" Mana yells as the magician shoots an attack at him, blowing him back and he crashes to the floor. "NO!" Mana lifts Atem into her arms as he grimaces. He is covered in scratches and bruises, and a few trickles of blood drip from some of his wounds. Cairo's eyes widen as she gasps in shock. The attack she had inflicted upon her father had caused her power to waver as she is filled with emotion, seeing her father hurt.
"Dad!" she yells. Her eyes return back to normal, the dark aura around her fades and the Magician of Black Chaos disappears at the loss of her concentration. She runs over to join them as tears stream from her eyes. "I'm sorry, dad! I-I didn't…I didn't mean to…"
Atem slowly turns his head over to face her. "Are you alright?" he asks, still concerned about his daughter. She nods reassuringly.
"Dad, you're hurt!"
"Don't worry Cairo," Mana says calmly. "He's going to be alright. I promise." She surveys his wounds and then the area. "We need to get back to house. We've already made a lot of commotion here and I don't want to risk anyone catching us here."
She helps Atem stand to his feet and they head toward the exit. Unbeknownst to them, Arcana watches them depart from the shadows.