Inky Dream Place

Origin Quest - prologue - Bad Memories

Origin Quest - prologue - Bad Memories

Erma smiled when she saw the college, feeling her heart race a little bit.  It wasn’t like this was really a big deal, but she was excited nonetheless.  Other young, talented mages, just like her!  Of course, Levi wasn’t going, and that was somewhat disappointing, but hey, that was his decision, not hers.  He would have enjoyed it, though.  She'd have to tell him about it later.

The cab stopped in front of the college, and she let herself out, giving the driver a tip.  Standing in front of the buildings were several other people, including... "Guy!  William!  You guys didn't tell me you'd be here," she greeted the two boys, bumping fists with Guy, who laughed.

“Well, we wanted to surprise you, of course!  Well, that’s sort of a lie.  It’s not like I actually checked whether you’d be here or not,” he replied, grinning.  William waved at Erma, murmuring a small ‘hello’, which made her smile.  This was certainly a pleasant surprise, she hadn’t seen them in years.

A car drove up, and two teenagers and a young woman got out, and Erma checked her phone.  “I think it’s about to start soon, we should probably head up there.  The starting lecture is in B5, right?” she asked, and the twins both nodded.  She put her phone back in her pocket, and they started going up the stairs that led up to the main building.

When Erma sat down, she noticed that one of the teenagers from earlier was there too.  It was the boy with caramel skin, and long, reddish-brown hair.  It looked like he wasn’t sure whether he felt irritated or overjoyed.  There was a girl and a grown woman with him. They didn’t appear to be staying beyond dropping the boy off.

“As you know, this is the Young Mages Workshop.  I am Professor Sienna Black, and I am the spell teacher here.  I welcome you all to Daybrook state university, and I hope that you all enjoy your time here.  My assistant, Ms. Pudella, will hand out sheets of paper.  On this sheet of paper, you can sign up for a variety of classes - fighting, healing, familiars, etcetera, and it also contains the schedule.  Once you are finished, please hand it in to Ms. Pudella.  The first classes start at 12:30,” a lady with a microphone at the front of the room explained.

As was said, a girl with dark skin and even darker hair handed out small, square papers with options for classes, and when they would take place.  Erma whispered 'thank you' when she got hers, then marked off the classes she wanted.  Fighting, familiars, magic history, and finally, magic and technology.

She waited for a few moments before getting up, and handing the paper to the girl, then went back to her seat up, tapping on the desk as she waited for it to be time to go to the first class.

"For those who chose the spell casting class, I will see you in an hour.  Go, and have fun!" Professor Black stated, and they all rushed out of the room.  "Courtyard...courtyard..." She mumbled, and saw people gathering near one door in particular, so she decided it would be best to head over there as well.

Lo and behold, the door was labeled 'to the courtyard'.  They entered it, and they were greeted by the sight of a beautiful garden, with a clearing in the center.  A man in his late twenties stood at the back, as well as the girl from earlier.  "Please, take a seat wherever you like," he said, gesturing at the benches to the sides and also the ground.

Erma took a seat on the ground next to Guy, who smiled at her.  "Now then.  I'm Mr. Ghilradi, and today I will be teaching you basic fighting techniques and their relationship to magic.  First, we will give you a proper demonstration of how to use magic while defending yourself.  Mimi?" The girl, who was next to him, nodded and stepped back.

Energy built up around Mimi and formed into a great sword and a shield. They looked somewhat translucent, being made of energy, yet strong and sturdy all at the same time. The stern look stayed on her face, though there was a smile playing at her lips. She lifted the sword slightly higher, getting into position to attack, and then jumped forward at Mr. Ghilradi.

With the grace of someone who knew all too well what he was doing, Mr. Ghilradi sent a blast of an almost invisible red force to where Mimi’s sword was aimed. it stopped the translucent, white blade in its tracks. However, Mimi knew all too well what she was doing too.

After hardly a moment’s notice and no second thoughts she spun, pulling her sword from the energy and aiming for Mr. Ghilradi once again. He stopped her once more, but hardly. Her blade was but inches from his face and his eyes were somewhat widened, glasses cracked. “That was a little unnecessary, wasn’t it, Mimi?” She smiled in response.

“In a real life situations the opponent wouldn’t just stop after one block.” Mr. Ghilradi rolled his eyes but had to give her that point, though her fast reaction time still had him slightly shaken up.  He took a deep breath, and suddenly released his shield, taking a step back, letting Mimi fall onto the ground.  She tried to get back up, but he put an energy shield above her that kept her from moving.  "Uncle, uncle," she said, and was released.

She stood up, and they both bowed.  "To say the least, none of you will be going up against us, and you will have weakening and protection spells on you.  I would like anyone who feels confident in their skills to volunteer for a sparring match," Mr. Ghilradi explained, and several people, including Erma raised their hands.

"Hmm...  You and...you," the teacher said, pointing at Erma and the boy from earlier.  Erma took a moment to look at him, wondering what kind of magic he had.  They both stood up, and walked into the center of the clearing.  "Can you please introduce yourselves?” he asked, and they both nodded.

“I’m Erma Foster.  Nice to meet you,” Erma said first, taking a bow and smiling.  “Kaleb Hunt,” the boy said next, a somewhat blank, but confident expression on his face.  Mr. Ghilradi put his hands together.  “Great!  Now, Erma, Kaleb, you will be doing a small sparring match.  Mimi and I will be putting weakening and protection spells on the both of you, so you don’t get hurt.  Don’t worry, just go for as long as you can, you can stop anytime.  Afterwards we’ll talk about how you did, then maybe do 2 or so more matches,” the teacher explained.

As said, the spells were cast, and they got into basic fighting positions.  “On the count of 3, you may start…  3, 2, 1, start!” Mimi started them off, and Erma immediately summoned her magic - two thick, translucent teal blades that sparked with electricity.  Kaleb moved from the fighting stance to stand as if he was engaged in a casual conversation.  She paused, confused, wondering if this was his way of acting condescending, but before long she lunged at him.

He just dodged, only by a few inches, his long hair dragging behind him.  She continued falling forward, then pulled back, catching her footing and trying to get him from behind.  He dodged again.  It continued like that for what seemed like forever.  "Why do you keep dodging?" Erma said breathlessly, frustrated.

Suddenly, he moved in the way of one of her blades. Letting himself get hit in the shoulder, though because of the protection spells placed on them there was no severe damage.  "Uh," she started, but he ran one of his hands along the bruise and purple magic began to glow under his hand. In no more than a moment the magic shaped and formed into one of Erma’s own blades. Her eyes widened in disbelief and Kaleb smirked. He leaped at her, faster than she expected, and went on the attack. Erma swiftly blocked blow after blow with her own magic.

“This isn’t fair!  This really, really isn’t fair at all,” she muttered, and she was forced to dodge the boy for a bit, until the teacher stopped them. Her shock at what had happened was wearing on her, any longer had that match went and she might have found herself on the losing side.  “Hmm.  Kaleb, can you explain to us what you just did?” Mr. Ghilradi said, a spark of curiosity and excitement in his eyes.  The boy stopped, and faced the crowd.

“The magic that I use is called ‘Mirror Magic’.  Basically, any physical force that hits me, I can duplicate it.  Usually, this concerns physical magic, but it can be used on any force.  I like to call it ‘karma’,” he explained, waving the blade around, and Erma huffed. “It does have a downside though.” Kaleb muttered. “I can only duplicate the force after i get hit from an attack and I can only use the duplicate I create against the attacker, anyone else and it won’t have any effect.” He looked around as everyone was listening to him. Kaleb always forgot how secretive his family was about this style of magic, so not many people knew about it. “I’m trying to find a way to fix that though, to make it less of a self defense magic and more of a deadly offense style magic.” He grinned.

“Yes, yes, wonderful.  I haven’t seen that sort of magic for years!  You’re quite the surprise, Mr. Hunt.  Anyways, the both of you have fantastic forms.  You both really should apply for here, I’m sure you would be great students,” Mr. Ghilradi said, before dismissing the two of them and talking more about their ‘forms’, where they had it right and where they didn’t, did a few demonstrations, then held a few more sparring matches.  

Erma couldn’t stop thinking about Kaleb.  Like, seriously?  Mirror magic?  How was that in any way fair, how was she supposed to combat herself?  That must have been really useful in wars, though.  Wasn’t that something that should have been outlawed years ago?  Who exactly was that boy, and where the hell did he learn that?

Before she knew it, the next class was starting.  Her thoughts started drifting back to Levi.  She wondered how he was doing.  She couldn’t wait to meet his familiar, whatever it would be.  That’s why she was taking this particular class, on familiars, in the first place.  Though, Guy’s new familiar - Enoch, she thinks its name is - looks pretty cool too.  Too bad she didn’t know a summoning spell herself.

Dust flew in Kaleb's face as he traveled down the dirt road.  He was starting to wonder if the darned workshop was worth it.  He should have waited until a workshop had floated his way, but here he was.  On the road.  With particles of dirt in his mouth.

Yet another car zoomed by, sending more dust towards the boy, his long hair blowing in his direction. The hair-tie that was in there had long fallen out by this point. Kaleb shook his head to get the dust off his face and in the process managed to shake a handful of clumps of dirt from his hair. What he wouldn’t give for a shower and a hairbrush, and maybe for a car to stop and give him a ride, but he had learned the hard way that stuff like that did not happen without a price.

He sighed, wiping the sweat off of his forehead.  His legs felt like noodles, and with that in mind, he stepped aside at the first sight of a good shade tree.  He sat down, and closed his eyes, listening to the soft breeze and the ringing in his ears.  After a few minutes of letting himself drift, he got up again, and waved at the first car he saw - a red Nissan GT-R, and it, surprisingly, slowed to a stop.  It pulled up next to him.

The window rolled down to reveal a young man - mid 20s, blond hair, blue eyes.  "You need something?" The man asked.  "Do you know how long it is to the next town?" Kaleb replied with his own question.

The man paused for a moment, biting his lip.  "Uh, 17 miles, I think," he finally replied, and Kaleb frowned.  "Hey, do you need a ride?" He asked, and Kaleb just stared at him in surprise.

He looked around nervously, before mumbling a quick 'sure', and let himself in the car.  "The name's Daniel, by the way," the man - Daniel, apparently - said, holding out a hand.  Kaleb shook it.  "Kaleb.  Nice to meet you."

"Here's a few dollars.  Go get yourself a sandwich or something," Daniel handed him some cash, before rolling up his window and driving away.  Kaleb sighed.  Okay, so his faith in humanity was temporarily restored, but he still didn't know how he was going to get from here to the city.

He would, however, start with Daniel's advice - getting something to eat, with this money he was so kindly handed.  Actually buying something would be a nice change from begging or stealing.

Kaleb, somewhat reluctantly at first, walked into what was probably the only grocery store in the town. He clutched the money he was given, reminding himself that he had no reason to be shy walking into a store when he actually had money to buy something with. He strolled down each aisle, not entirely sure what he wanted at the moment. 

“Watch where you’re going, dumbass!” Kaleb looked up to see a girl, slightly taller than him, that he had bumped into without noticing. 

“S-sorry!” he mumbled, trying to scurry away, but she would have none of that. 

The girl scowled and grabbed the back of his shirt. “No. You’re not leaving without facing me with a proper apology and preferably a damn good reason why you had to run into me and make me drop all my groceries!” she couldn’t have been much older than Kaleb himself, but he couldn’t help but be intimidated. Okay, he thought, she’s exaggerating this but she could probably knock out some of my teeth, so I should do as she says. 

Kaleb made eye-contact with her. “I’m sorry. I haven’t slept much and I’m exhausted and I guess I just wasn’t looking where I was going.” he hardly took a breath during the explanation. 

“Uh huh.” her icy blue-green eyes glared at him. She scoffed and walked away, hardly seeming like she even accepted his apology. Kaleb paid closer attention to where he walked from that point on. 

He found an aisle with bottled water and juice on the shelves. Immediately he went for the water. Sure juice would probably taste better but it probably wouldn’t hydrate him as well. By the end of his spree he managed to buy the drink, some fruit and a small bag of chips. Okay maybe chips wasn’t the healthiest option but dammit he was craving salt. Now to find a way to the city...and hopefully never run into that girl again.

He found a nice place to sit down on a bench in the shade, and started nibbling at his chips.  He tried to ignore the glares he could feel from passing strangers.  It was nothing new.

Nadya sighed.  Why'd she have to do that?  He should have paid attention to where he was going, sure, but it wasn't like he was rude about it.  Now that she thought about it, he looked really tired, and kinda out of it.  She groaned, and covered her face with her hands.  Putting away the groceries was certainly not going well for her currently.

"Uh, Annie?  I think I'm going to go take a...walk," she stated as loud as possible, and heard a vague murmur of approval from the other room.  She put the bag down, and walked to the doorway, putting on her boots before heading outside.

It was much colder than before, but still temperate, and the cool breeze felt good against Nadya's flushed face.  She tried to focus on keeping a constant pace and the scenery around her, but of course, she kept drifting back to that boy.  Annie would be mad if she found out.  Annie always said she wasn't mad, but Nadya knew she was just lying to make her feel better.

Just then, she thought she saw the familiar sight of dark, red-brown hair beneath a tree, and she ran towards it.  Lo and behold, the boy from earlier sat there, eyes closed.  She took a deep breath.  "Um, hey," she whispered loudly.

He opened his eyes, looked up, and she flinched at the look of fear in his eyes.  "O-oh, I'm not planning on...getting...revenge or anything....  I, uh, I just want to say I'm sorry," she explained quickly, and the boy mumbled something under his breath, and just nodded.

She walked over to him, and sat down.  "I'm Nadya," she said, smiling weakly.  He stared at her for a moment.  "Kaleb," he said finally.  They sat in awkward silence for a few moments, both of them not exactly sure what to say.  “So, uh….you just...sitting here?” she asked.

He sighed.  “Do you have a problem with that?” he asked, and she shook her head.  “No, no, but...don’t you have, like, somewhere you should be?” she replied, tilting her head and absentmindedly messing with her hands.  Kaleb looked away, a distant look in his eyes.

“Do you want to come to my place?” she blurted out, and immediately regretted it, with the surprised look on the other’s face.  She blushed.  “I-I mean, if there’s no place that you have to go right now, I’m sure Annie would be fine with it, u-uh, Annie is my guardian, like, she’s like my mom but not r-really,” she stuttered, and Kaleb laughed a tiny bit.

He shook his head, still smiling.  “I’ll be fine out here, honest.  I don’t need you to take care of me, and besides,” his sentence trailed off as they heard the pitter patter of rain from underneath the tree.  Kaleb frowned.  “Look, you don’t have anywhere else to go, right?” she asked, more like a statement, standing up and holding out her hand.  He thought for a moment before grabbing the hand, using it to help himself up.

Annie smiled when she heard knocking on the door.  She put down the pot she was scrubbing, went to  the front of the house, and opened the door.  A soaking Nadya stood there, as well as a soaked looking boy that she did not know.  “Hey, Nadya, I was worried when I heard it raining.  I’m glad you’re safe,” Annie cooed, and gestured for them to come in.

“This is Kaleb, and um, is it okay for him to stay here tonight?” Nadya asked nervously, and Annie thought for a moment, looking Kaleb over.  He looked sleep deprived, nearly starved, and quite rugged.  Not someone she’d think would hurt anyone who offered him dinner and a place to sleep.  “Sure.”

As soon as he was fully inside, Kaleb collapsed on the couch in their living room, and Nadya plopped down next to him.  “I was going to make Mac and cheese, you alright with that?" Annie asked, and the two of them just made simultaneous sounds of agreement.

“So, why are you here?  I know you don’t live here, I know everyone,” Nadya asked once Annie was no longer in sight.  “Well, there’s this magic workshop I plan on going to in Daybrook,” Kaleb replied.

She grinned.  “Daybrook?  I’ve been to Daybrook!  I have a friend there.  They’re not a girl or a boy, or at least that’s how they identify, and I always thought that was really cool, I mean, not many people are even brave enough to admit that sort of stuff.  I used to live there, a few years ago, but now I live here with Annie, and,” she stopped when she noticed Kaleb staring at her.  “Oh, sorry.  I’m doing the thing again, right?  Ugh…” she groaned, and looked away.

“No, it’s fine…  Anyways, you lived in Daybrook?  Everything I’ve heard about it sounds really nice, you’ll have to tell me about it,” he said, smiling a little bit.  She hummed.  “I’ve been wanting to go there again, but Annie’s been really busy, and I don’t wanna burden her with taking me there.  It’s not like I can really go anywhere without her,” she whispered.

“I would take you, but you did just meet me, not that I would be a good caretaker anyways,” Kaleb mumbled, thinking about how he could barely even feed or clothe himself.  He definitely couldn’t escort Nadya to Daybrook right?  Nadya gasped.  “What?” he asked, and she just stood up, and ran into the kitchen.

“Annie!  Isn’t aunt Jenny coming here soon?” she asked, and Annie looked up from what she was doing, somewhat surprised.  “Um, yes.  She’ll be here on Monday,” Annie replied, looking somewhat confusedly at Nadya.

“Do you think she’d be willing to take me and maybe Kaleb to Daybrook?” she asked, and Annie hummed.  “I’ll have to check.  How about I call her after dinner, is that okay?” she asked, and Nadya nodded and ran back to the living room, where Kaleb was still just sitting, shocked.

“You might have to stay with us for a few more days,” Nadya said proudly, smiling as much as one person could.  Kaleb was not sure whether to feel relieved, or frightened.  Well, whatever, at least he would get free food.

The wind was warm.

The hills and skies and waters were cold, but by god, the wind was warm.  It was like a formless blanket that wrapped around Levi, with no way to measure from where it started or where it stopped.  

Levi held his head low, attempting to keep his hair from getting into his eyes.  Besides the screeching of the wind, he could hear the wings of large birds in the distance.  It was a nice change from the normal noise of the modern world - this is where the presence of the Earth was strongest.  He finally stood up, letting the warm wind swallow his entire being whole.

He raised his hand up, using it as a focal point.  He closed his eyes, feeling the grass beneath his feet, the air around him, the sun shining down on him, and slowly let his senses to extend.  The earth extending into the mountains beneath him, the trees going for miles, the birds high up in the sky - he could feel all of it, and that energy gathered in front of him.  He hesitantly opened his eyes.

Levi grinned, and let out a breathy laugh at the being starting to form in front of him.  “I did it!  I actually did it!  Oh my god, I-” Merlin’s Mirror’s “Love Spell” snapped his concentration, and the energy dispersed, sending him flying several feet.

He groaned, rubbing the back of his head.  He just stared at the blue of the sky for a few moments, not exactly feeling up to replying to the text.  But when the second one came in, he finally lifted himself up from the grass, and walked over to his bag.  Inside was his smart phone - the screen was cracked.  He sighed.  “Seriously, Erma…”

Erma :): Hey, levi!!

Erma :): Wanna go see a movie this afternoon?

Levi: Well, I was gonna be studying, but whatever.  Sure

Erma :): Aww. I’ll help you with that later, k? ; 3

Erma :): I’ll be at the westtown mall theater at 3. Be there!!

Levi groaned, but smiled anyway.  He put his parshly broken phone back into the handbag, and laid back down, taking a moment to breathe.  He decided that he would try to do the spell again later.  For now, he would gather his stuff and head back to the city.

"What are we planning on seeing, anyways?" Levi asked, and Erma hummed, picking at her fish.  "I was thinking…Ice Journal," she replied.  Levi snorted.  "Disney?  Really? You brought me back down here for Disney?" He laughed, and Erma gasped.  "Oh right!  How did your adventure in the hills go?" She asked excitedly.

Levi rolled his eyes.  ”I almost did it, but…how am I supposed to meet my familiar if you keep interrupting me in one way or another?  Also, I still think that Merlin’s Mirror’s music is annoying,” he explained.  

"Oh come on, they’re enchanting and you know it!  Anyways, I’ll schedule a ‘no bugging Levi’ day, so you can figure all that out.  I’m going to a young mages’ workshop next Wednesday anyways.  Deal?" Erma extended a hand to him, and he paused for a moment before shaking it.  She immediately stood up.  "Alright!  It’s about time we go and get the tickets for that movie.  This one is on me!"

She ran towards where the theater was - the other side of the mall, and he tried to call to her, to get her to slow down, but the sight of Erma was nonetheless swallowed up by a crowd of people.  Where did all these people come from, anyway?  Levi tried his hardest not to run into anyone, but inevitably, he felt his shoulder bump someone else’s.  “O-oh, I’m so sorry,” he automatically apologized, looking at the other.

He found himself staring at them - a boy, maybe about his age, with tanned skin lined with freckles, eyes like tigereye, and short, golden hair.  “It’s alright,” the boy said, smiling a toothy grin, before walking away.  Suddenly, it seemed like that wave of people had dispersed.  “Well, he was sorta cute, huh, Levi?” Erma asked in a sing-song voice, suddenly beside Levi, startling him.  She laughed.

“I-I guess so, but wasn’t there something sorta…off about him?” he whispered, and she hummed, twirling some of her teal hair around her finger.  “I guess, maybe.  But maybe that’s just because he was like, so your type!  Well, now that that’s dealt with, let’s get going.  Ice Journal next plays at five!” Levi was about to protest, but she grabbed his hand, and led him away.