Ouroboros.

     The Magic Eater.

     Appearing with The Fall one year ago, the beast roamed from city to city, devouring all life within its wake – For life is magic, and magic is life.

     Only with the might of five powerful magi was the beast finally subdued. Subdued but not killed, for the beast exists alongside the very world it feeds.

     “When its body shattered, it took refuge in the most suitable vessels nearby, feeding and at the same time growing as it rebuilt its strength in the form of a curse.”  

      Lin sat in the school yard under a large oak, listening as Morgan went over the things she had managed to piece together. But despite the fascinating topic of magic at hand, it was hard to keep focus. It had been difficult sleeping last night, and by all accounts she was impressed that Morgan was as lively as she was.

      “Lin?” spoke her classmate, leaning forward. “Are you listening?”

     From drowsily watching the blue sky, she looked back down to find a pair of matching blue eyes staring uncomfortably close.

     “Yeah,” Lin replied. “Sorry, go on.”

     It was hard to believe that any of the events that had happened the day prior were real. The people that had been spirited away had all returned without knowledge of ever being gone from their world. All they knew of yesterday was that it had been curiously short.

      And so daily life carried on.

      “There were five of us that day,” Morgan continued. “If they were cursed like I was, then we have to go save them!”

      Lin stopped her with a finger pressed to her head, pushing her back and reclaiming the space between them.

      “And how are you going to do that?” she asked. “Your magic is sealed now with that curse, right? Also, have you considered what my mom would say about me suddenly leaving for some weird quest? What about Arthur?”

      Morgan bit her lip, unable to argue with the sense in her words.

      “Look, that dragon and butler-guy said that they’d look into it, right? Why don’t we just leave it to them?”

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      “That dragon tried to roast me!” Morgan retorted.

      As much as Lin hated to admit it, she did have a point there.

     “Look – look, summer vacation starts next week, right? If you still want to go by then, we’ll talk to the adults and see what we can do. That way, we at least won’t have to worry about school. Fair?”

     Morgan opened her mouth, but no rebuttal was found.

     RING. RING. RING.

     The lunch bell rang out across the field, thankfully postponing their discussion.

     “We’ll talk more about this later,” Lin said, cramming the remains of her sandwich into her mouth. Daily life had returned to normal, and yet somehow things were now more complicated than ever.

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After school found Lin sitting at the wall inside of the school’s gymnasium. While she wasn’t a member of the volleyball club herself, Morgan was – and as she had promised to talk more about the curse and Avalon after school, she waited patiently for their practice to end.

     Though Morgan was shorter than the majority of the students present, her astounding speed and agility made up for her lack in stature. While Lin had suspected all this time that her abilities had come from her magic, with that possibility now sealed it was apparent that her athleticism was actually the result of hours on hours of intensive training.

     The way the blonde moved was hypnotically graceful, her lithe form weaving and dancing about the court as she returned every volley. Every now and then she would leap high into the air, and with unexpected strength spike the ball down past the diving arms of the other team. There was no magic involved, and yet Lin could only describe the performance before her, as magical.

     “She’s good, isn’t she?” said Rye, joining Lin by the wall. The captain of the volleyball team, the boy was only a year older than her. His messy red hair and stark green eyes were often the talk of admiration among the girls in her class – and she supposed if she did look hard enough through squinted eyes, he was somewhat handsome in some regard.

     “Yeah,” she agreed, grabbing a towel from the side of the bench and throwing it to him. “If you’re not careful, she’ll soon take Captain from you.”

     “Don’t joke about that,” Rye laughed, wiping the sweat from his brow.

     “Who said I was joking?” Lin grinned.

     The captain took a seat beside her.

     “So why are you here?” he asked. “It’s not often that we’re graced with your presence.”

     “I’m waiting for Morgan,” she replied.

     “Hey Lin, so I was thinking…” Rye was suddenly smaller, as if struggling to find his next words. “You know… The new Cape Crusader movie just came out… Do – do you want to go see it sometime?”

     “Sure. Morgan’s been wanting to watch it too.”

     “Oh. Oh… yeah… sure.”

     Lin wasn’t sure why, but it almost seemed like Rye was disappointed for some reason.

     “Is something the matter?” Morgan asked, joining them as she was finished with her own practice.

     Rye shook his head.

     “No, it’s nothing. It’ll be great to hang out with the both of you.”

     With a nod and a wave, the volleyball captain took his leave, leaving the two girls alone. But it wasn’t till she was sure that Rye was out of hearing distance did Morgan finally speak again.

     “Is Avalon nearby?” she asked, leaning in. “There are some things I’d like to ask.”