Chapter 22: Magic
Day 22: Magic
"Sensei!" Calli screamed as she watched a man jump in between her and a shining lance. As the lance impaled the man, he reached out and grabbed his attacker's face, which erupted into black flames. The man then turned to Calli, blood dripping down the corner of his mouth.
"Live, my pupil… succeed me well…"
Calli woke with a start. She wiped her cheek before examining her finger, which a tear lay stationary. "A dream..?" She asked herself before sighing. "Fuck."
-
Ryan shot up when the familiar ring of his phone awoke him. "What the hell happened?" He asked himself as he looked around. Last thing he remembered, he was with that bastard Storm and…
'No wait,' Ryan sifted though with memories. What he found was something like a how-to article on how to use magic, as if it had been ingrained into his memory. The amount of information was astounding.
'I'm capable of all this?' Ryan thought to himself as he sifted through his memories. The phone's continued ringing snapped Ryan from his stupor. He grabbed the phone, answering it.
"Morn-,"
"KIKKERIKIII~" Kiara's voice cut him off almost instantly. "I didn't see you at the recession. Where did you go?"
"I… don't know," Ryan sighed. He held out his free hand, palm up. A small flame flickered on top of it, dancing around his palm.
'So cool,' Ryan stared at the flame, completely mesmerized.
"Are you listening to me?" Kiara asked through the phone, causing Ryan to jump. The flame suddenly jutted off his palm towards his phone, causing it to explode.
"HOLY SHIT!" Ryan dropped the phone, his hands flying upwards. As he did, water flew out of his palms, causing the water to rain down all over his room, extinguishing the fire. He looked at the burnt heap of metal that was once his phone. "Well, this is going to take some getting used to."
-
As soon as Ryan walked through the magical barrier, his instincts screamed for him to move. He dived just in time to miss a blade of fire that was aimed for his neck. As he stood up, he saw Kiara dashing towards him with her sword in hand, wings of fire jutting from her back. Ryan instinctively held his hands out, closing his eyes in a feeble attempt to block, but with a soft glow, something formed within his grasp. His eyes shot open as he heard the clanging of metal to see that he was holding a jet black sword, vines of ruby etched into the blade and the guard sprouting from a red gem at the bottom of the hilt.
Huh, I thought Tenchou's sword was plasma, Despite the situation, what intrigued Ryan was the blade of his attacker. Why was the sound of clashing metal?
"Who the hell are you and what did you do with my employee?!" Kiara spat, adding more force into her blade as sparks flew from where the two weapons clashed.
"Woah, Tenchou," Ryan jumped back as he felt himself losing the struggle. He dropped the sword, holding his hands up in surrender. He felt some sort of aura from the sword which Ryan somehow knew was malicious but ignored it for the time being. There were more pressing matters in the moment. "It's me."
"Ryan doesn't have magic and your presence was enough to put strain on this barrier," Kiara didn't attack, but Ryan knew she would at a moment's notice. "I didn't even know that was possible."
Ryan scratched the back of his head, sifting through his memories. Sure enough, there was a section dedicated to concealing his presence and not letting all of his magic leak from his body. "My bad," Ryan sighed as he focused on the memory, following the instructions listed. "I'm still getting the hang of this magic thing, but I assure you, I am still me."
"Prove it," Kiara narrowed her eyes, obviously still not trusting Ryan. Ryan didn't account for this, but he knew what to do. He grabbed the collar of his hoodie and pulled it down to the direction of his right shoulder. What was revealed was a scar in the shape of the laser that pierced him only a couple days prior. Of course, it was completely healed, but it still did leave a scar. Ryan didn't mind this, of course. He thought it looked badass.
"Well, I got this when I saved your ass a couple days ago, so there's that," Ryan sighed. "Man, I didn't even ask for this shit. First thing I do with it is blow up my phone."
"Ryan?" Kiara did an instant 180, tackling Ryan into a hug. "I was so worried! When I heard the explosion, I thought someone went to assassinate you!"
"Why would someone assassinate me?" The more people that gave Ryan hugs, the more he started to appreciate them. Maybe hugs were a good thing after all.
"Nevermind that," Kiara pulled away from Ryan. "Where did you get all that magic power?"
"Dunno," Ryan replied, cracking his back. "Some weird dude gave me a ball of light and suddenly I have magic."
Fuck this, Ryan heard an androgynous voice in his head. When he looked around, he noticed that the sword was gone.
What the hell? Ryan asked himself but didn't really care at this point.
"How about we get to work" Ryan asked. Kiara smiled.
"I thought you'd never ask."
-
Ryan almost forgot what day it was. "Crap! I forgot to get the sake!"
"You're right!" Kiara said. "Wait, how did you know we needed sake?"
"I said that out loud, didn't I?" Ryan said. "Give me a second."
He sifted through his memories to see if there was a way he could get sake. "Perfect! Portals!" He concentrated as he held his hand out, a portal appearing before him. He stuck his hand in and pulled out a bottle of sake.
-
Marine was looking for her next victim to get a drink off of. Since she was seventeen (season two), she technically couldn't buy alcohol. She made a turn to see if anyone was at the sake isle to see a hand grabbing a bottle of sake before disappearing through a portal. "What the fuck?" What she saw was enough for her to break character. "What the hell just happened?"
-
"Isn't that stealing?" Kiara asked as Ryan gave her the bottle of sake he "acquired" through his newfound magic.
"Well, they assassinated me, so I'll call it even," Ryan still wasn't over his brief stint with death, especially now that he knew who destroyed the barrier.
"But you just asked…" Kiara sighed, shaking her head. There was a lot about Ryan that didn't make sense.
"Poi!" Botan hopped through the door. "Oh, it's the best man! I didn't see you at the recession. I really wanted to meet the person who gained Watson's respect so quickly."
"Morning, Shishiro-san," Ryan said, placing four sake cups on the table before showing her the bottle of sake. "Did I get the right one?"
"Yes…" Botan narrowed her eyes. "It seems I'm at a disadvantage…"
"Huh, so that's what it feels to be on the other side of that," Ryan silently cursed himself for letting the fact that he knew their names slip again. It was a force of habit, and by golly was it a bad one. He then remembered that Botan was a pro gamer. "Name's Ryan Shade."
"Nice to meet you, Ryan," Botan offered him a smile. Kiara probably briefed him on what was going on. It was either that or he was a fan. Low chance, though because Ryan didn't bring up her career. She sat down at one of the seats as Ryan poured her a cup of sake. "I assume you know what's going on, yes?"
"A fair idea, though I don't think it's my place to say," Ryan replied. Kiara gave him a confused look, but now wasn't the time to interrogate him.
"Botan-chan!" Lamy burst through the doors, a light blue bento box in hand. "Did you also get one of these?"
"Yes," Botan shoved her hand in her Adidas jacket and pulled out a gray bento box, each box having a matching set of white flowers designed on the box. "It seems that someone paid us a visit."
"POL!" Polka dived through the doors, somehow flying across the room, tackling both Botan and Lamy at the same time.
"Omaru-san," Ryan smiled, pouring her a cup of sake. "Before I give you this cup, please promise not to drink too much."
"Who do you take me for?!" Polka grabbed the cup, downing it in one go. "There's no such thing as too much."
Ryan sighed as Polka shoved the cup in his face. Seeing no other option, he poured her another cup.
"SUPERNENECHI HAS ARRIVED!" Nene barreled through the doors, talking a spot next to Polka. "Oh, it's you."
"Yes, Momosuzu-san, it's me," Ryan said, unamused.
"Did you two also get bento boxes?" Lamy asked.
"Yep!" Polka chirped, talking off her hat, pulling the brown box out of her hat, which Ryan noted was smaller than the box. Probably some circus magic. Nene waved her hand and a yellow bento box appeared on the table. "It tasted just like Aloe-chan's cooking too!"
"It did," Botan nodded, a nostalgic smile on her face. Ryan smiled at the four and looked up to see a familiar figure.
"I'll be right back," Ryan sighed, a hint of anger flashing through his eyes as he walked out of the KFP
-
"I thought I told you I never wanted to see you again," Ryan spat, clenching his fist.
"I understand how you feel," Storm took a notebook out of his cloak and handed it to Ryan. "However, I am not here on official business. A… friend asked me for a favor."
"What's this?" Ryan asked, narrowing his eyes at Storm.
"A gift from Aloe," Storm replied. "She wanted to give this to her sisters."
"Sisters?" Ryan asked.
"Look behind you," Storm said. Ryan turned to see Lamy, Botan, Polka, and Nene chatting and drinking. Ryan turned around, opening his mouth, but Storm was gone. He sighed, relaxing his hand. He shrugged, walking into the restaurant. He willingly gave up his memories, so he shouldn't have the right to ask.
"What did he want?" Kiara asked. "Also, why were you so hostile with him?"
"He killed all my friends," Ryan said. He wasn't lying per say, so he decided that that was an apt answer. He put the notebook on the counter. "But he wanted you guys to have this."
"Wow, your life sounds like some edgy teen is trying to make it as edgy as possible," Kiara deadpanned.
"I know, right?" Ryan chuckled. "I'm going to clock out early. I need answers."
-
As Ryan left, the remaining members of Holofive looked through the notebook. "These…" Botan traced her finger on a line of writing. "These are Aloe's bento recipes."
"It seems so," Lamy said, reading through another page. "I wonder how he got these."
-
As Ryan walked down the alley, he felt a presence behind him. He turned his head slightly to see Calli staring at him. "Yes?" He didn't mean to come off as aggressively as he did, but he was already in a bad mood.
"I'm sorry," Calli closed her eyes, shaking her head. "I seem to have the wrong person."
As she disappeared in a gust of black mist. Ryan scratched the back of his head, sighing. "What the hell?"