'It wasn't supposed to be this way.' she thought, sitting on the small bed, staring the small wooden door that separated her from the rest of school. She could hear them; the shuffling of footsteps, the distant chatter and laughter of the students from below her. The reverberating magical auras, she could feel the school, every inch of its body. The pumping blood, the nerves, each and every bone.
She wanted nothing more than to burn it to the ground.
She wanted to rip it apart, limb from limb, until she found her. She wanted to, but she wisely swallowed her initially rage down, letting it fester a bit more. She was still weak from last night's attack.
And honestly Sofia didn't feel up to totally decimating something she knew nothing about. Her eyes snapped to the door. Heavy footsteps. The handle turned slowly. She forced herself to remain seated, despite her instant urge to run into the corner of the room, ready to blast this newcomer into dust.
The door opened. A large green Minotaur, instead of the red-haired woman from last night (Wanda? Wanda, if she remembered correctly).
This definitely raised some alarm bells, but she forced herself to remember that, rule one of the Mystic Arts, the unexpected in all ways and forms of the word, which her aunt Vesper (a powerful Mhuruuk, turned guardian) had (abet limited) exposed her too. However she hadn't to date seen any green minotaur's before…
Sofia forced her face to go blank, swallowing down her initial comments. This was serious, this was Vesper's life. She also didn't want to be rude.
The green minotaur looked at her, offering her a small smile. "Hello, Sofia," he (was it a he?) they, it said, walking inside, gently closing the door behind him. Sofia instantly stood up, clenching her fists, before opting to clasp them behind her back.
"My name is Rintrah, I'm a friend of Wong's, the man you spoke to earlier," he said slowly, "As well as, my master the Sorcerer Supreme and, Ms Zelma Stanton, who I believe you may have already met?"
Sofia nodded, her eyes lighting up at that name. Zelma Stanton. She remembered her, and the Wanda from last night.
"I was just wondering if you are well?" the minotaur asked, edging further into the room. "If you would like anything to-"
"I'm sorry, are you seriously here to ask me about my feelings?" Sofia said, before she could stop herself. The minotaur paused. "I was simply wondering if-"
"No offense, but I don't care what you're wondering. I just want to talk to Vesper. Where is she?" Sofia asked, trying to swallow the bursting energy inside of her, she needed to chill. It wasn't working.
"I'm afraid, I do not know." Rintrah said slowly. Sofia bit her lower lip, this wasn't right. She saw Vesper with those two woman, meaning she probably was here. But she didn't come to see her…She didn't come to explain...These people were not friends.
"However I'm sure my master and his fellow associates will be able to answer all your questions soon." Rintrah added. "Really?" she said quietly, her eyes drifting to the ends of the room, glancing outside the window on her left. What was she dealing with? Zealot's? Nut-job disciples? Cult leaders? Cult leaders that ran a school?
"Yes," Rintrah said, seeming happier that she dropped the subject. "Now would you like something to eat, I'm sure-"
"Yeah, no thanks," Sofia said raising her hand, thin purple lines, connecting into each other. The blast shook the wall, the green minotaur flying though the walls, slamming hard into another across from her.
Gasps and shouts echoed, the voices much closer. Students crowding around Rintrah, some peering through the crack at her, faces of different species and creatures gazing at her.
'That probably wasn't the best idea.' Sofia thought. Then again, bad ideas it seemed to be a running theme of late.
2 DAYS EARLIER:
"It's not a big deal." Sofia groaned sliding off the counter, watching her aunt shaking her head, as she threw some of her green beans into a colander. "Yes, it is." the old woman huffed, slamming the tap closed. "You don't understand-"
"I do understand. The only thing I don't understand is if I've got all this power, why aren't you letting me use it." Sofia snapped, shooing away the ghost cat: Eden away from the flowers, the cat meowing, floating through the door and back out in the chilly New Orleans streets.
"You're not ready. And what you did today proves that." Vesper replied, rubbing her forehead, the sleeve of her maroon dress, falling back down. "You think you're invincible, whether that is the product of your youth or your own stupidity. I don't know."
Sofia sighed. "I'm sorry. I am," she added, seeing Vesper's face. "I just-I know, I can do more, I-I know I am capable of more. More than just history books and the same old spells that I can do in my sleep. I just," Sofia said taking a breath, forcing herself to be calm. "I just don't understand why you won't teach me."
"You're not ready." Vesper said, pulling her sleeve to her elbow, continuing to wash her green beans. "You don't trust me?" Sofia guessed.
"No."
"You think, I'm going to…blow up the French Quarter or something?"
"No."
"Then why-?"
"Because you do not understand the dangers of what you are, and the dangers that may come, Sofia." Vesper said tiredly, putting a pot on the stove. "We tried things your way, remember? It didn't work, so we're back to mine." she said, reaching out gently touching the younger girl's cheek. "I know, this is hard, but its all to protect you-"
Sofia dodging the hand. "I know all about the big bad evil, that's going to swallow me up and-"
"You have no idea of the evil that threatens you," Vesper hissed, making Sofia's resolve weaken slightly. "The reason you are in my care, is because of the danger of who you are, Sofia and-"
"And who am I? Hmm?" Sofia snapped, before she could stop herself. All their arguments about magic seemed to lead to this point. Who was she? Why was she in such deep need of this protection? Vesper's old answers no longer satisfied her, like they had when she was little. Her aunt knew what she wanted and Sofia knew she would never give it to her.
"No more magic." Vesper said, after a long silence. Sofia scoffed, shaking her head, turning on her heel, walking upstairs into the bedroom.
"No more magic, Sofia. I mean it." Vesper called from below. "I got it." she said, closing her bedroom door. "No more magic." she mumbled. 'None that you know about.'
PRESENT:
It was rare, that something could out-do practicing dark magic in catacombs or practicing magic in a volcano on: SOFIA'S LIST OF TERRIBLE DECISIONS.
But this, definitely reached spot Number 2, or at least spot Number 3. Skidding though a door, slamming it shut, locking it with her magic. She took off, running to the nearest window, throwing a hand carelessly behind her, sending things crashing to the floor, in some way to block the entrance.
Turns out, when you blast a giant green minotaur through a wall, knock out the remaining students with a sleeping spell, and destroy the staircase between them and her, and take of running: does not vibe well with them. Weird.
Currently she had some students chasing her down, (there magic was subpar at most, but they made up in numbers) climbing out of the window. She slammed onto the wooden floors in another room.
"What the?" Sofia whispered, glancing behind her. She was sure the window led outside, which meant… She whipped back around, falling into a defensive stance, there were stronger magical aura's all around her: masters of the mystic arts.
'Fan-friken-tastic.'
"Kid," said the one in the middle, dressed in blue with a red cloak on, his hands like the others in the room, were lowered, faces were calm. "Sofia," the man said, he said her name strangely. Almost kind, soft, very gentle, but there was a hinting tone of mild disbelief. "It's okay, we're not going to hurt you, but need you to relax, alright?"
Sofia glanced around the room, her eye fixating on the door behind him. A woman was behind her, she could feel her eyes. Another man stood to her left, dark skinned, his hair the same, save for the white at the top.
Three against one was never good odds, and she wasn't nearly stupid enough to fight masters of the mystic arts…Distract? Yes.
She was definitely stupid enough for that.
It was a good thing, she let her anger fester a bit. It made the whole sending the ceiling crashing down on everyone a lot easier. She sprinted past them, while they put the shields up.
Running as fast as her legs would carry her, students shrieking and screaming (a mixture of the ones who were chasing her and others) Running here and there, a few giant blue people stomping around, making the whole ground shake.
She dove into the trees, her legs burning, before they caved in, sending her crashing onto the soft grass.
The woods were silent.
Eerily so.
No birds, no wind, just nothing. She could hear her heart, she could feel it drumming in her chest. She could hear her blood, rushing around her. Her hands squeezing the grass as if it would her give her something…
Sofia got up, dusting herself off, taking a deep breath holding out her hand. Hoping she had enough in her to teleport herself somewhere. It glowed with its usual purplely-pink hue, but gave nothing more than that. She dropped her shaking hands, starting to regret not taking at least a glass of water.
The crunching of grass. Sofia whipped around, hands glowing, ready to blast this goatee-coat-wearing nutjub, even if he could possibly turn her into a toad or something.
"Sofia, stop! Stop." the man said, dropping his hands. "I'm not going to hurt you. Okay?" he said slowly edging towards her. Sofia catching a glimpse of a sling ring on his fingers.
If memory served her right, they were used for beginners to assist teleportation, a helpful magically tool typically traded between masters and their students. She only ever used them a few times, but she knew how they worked. She instinctively took a step back, but dropped her hands.
"Okay," he said, straightening up. "My name is Doctor Stephen Strange, I'm the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, and I'm here to help you, alright?" he said, edging closer.
Sofia nodding.
"Alright," he said, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "Let's head back, and we can talk-Ah!"
She took her chance, and kicking him as hard as she could, where the sun don't shine. He doubled over instantly. Sofia, slipping the ring out his fingers, into hers, opening a portal, jumping though, slamming it shut, before Strange could make a jump for it.
She crashed onto a pavement, the pain shooting from her knees all the way up her body.
"Ugh." Sofia groaned, peeling herself off the pavement. Being met with tall buildings, people pushing and shoving past each other, and buses and taxi's zooming past.
"Where the hell am I?" she mumbled, tucking the ring into her pockets, turning around, staring at one of the signs. "Huh," she said, unable to stop the smile that came. "What a time to come home." she said, dusting herself, straightening her jacket.
"New York, I can work with this." she said, walking down the pavement, leaving a large building behind her, with the sign: 177A Bleecker Street.
My other stuff, was depressing me and this happened, somehow...someone needs to like take my keyboard away...
Thoughts?
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Till next time...