I couldn’t help but watch with sympathy as a new teen walked into my room. His blonde hair flopped over the side of his tanned skin, as his crystal blue eyes stared into the ground. He shuffled forward, his long body making small movements. My eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly, he was probably 6’1. His black boots made nary a sound on the wooden floor as he walked forwards, perhaps, even less noise than the rustling of his golden coloured combat pants, despite said pants being tucked into his boots. His shirt made zero sound, despite it moving slightly from the brisk wind coming through the window, as its purple colour was held down by his golden parka.
His parka had a symbol on it. I couldn’t see it properly from this angle. It looked like a school logo. His purple shirt, on the other hand, had six words written on it – Life Upon Death, Death Upon Life – written in bold gold writing. I couldn’t help but feel a crinkle of amusement, he certainly likes his gold. I asked him to sit down, opposite to me in the wooden chair padded with black leather.
“Yes sir,” my eyes widened as I heard his soft voice. It didn’t sound like the seventeen-year-old I knew this boy to be. It sounded like a scared ten-year-old.
I watched him sit down, his tanned nose was ajar slightly, most likely due to fights, his lip had a little scar on it. I remember hearing about a boy -at the age of 7- who cut his lip on a sword, most called the boy a fool, but me? I personally found the scar a symbol of his inner strength. He started to lift his head from the ground and started to finally notice the room with which he now sat.
The walls on all sides, bar the one behind me, were painted a deep sky blue. The one behind me was painted black. An all encompassing black. None of the sides had anything on them, excepting the wooden door he had shuffled through when he entered. I watched as his eyes widened when they came across the black wall. I felt pleased.
“So, tell me a little about yourself,” I encouraged. I could immediately tell that he was surprised by my own soft voice, but I needed it for this job.
He turned his eyes back to the ground as he answered, “My name is Felix Dale. I’m a human, and I was born in the city of Kronos. I’m here because my teachers are worried that I’ve been misusing my magic.”
“Well hello Mr Dale, do you mind if I call you Felix? I’m a half human-half elf, and I was born in the city of Odin. May I ask how you’ve been using your magic?” I asked him.
He wasn’t surprised by the question, and as such, had a quick answer. “I’ve only been using it in magical practice, magic duels and duels. I don’t know why my teachers think I’m misusing my magic, when I’ve only been using it during those classes.
I quickly thought for a second, “Okay, but were you having struggles with school previously that have been solved, and as such you’ve started to perform better?”
My eyes started to widen as I watched his blue eyes start to cry. I could tell he was about to open himself up to me. “Because I was born in Kronos, it was kill or be killed, and my mum… she didn’t kill. So she fell into the latter category. I always loved her for that, but… when she was killed? I hated her. I hated that she would leave me like that. I hated that she would just leave her five-year-old child alone like that. So in a rage, I activated my magic… my time magic… and I killed everyone in a five-kilometre radius. I had… accelerated all of their ages to beyond their lifespans, even the Fae who were visiting were killed… despite their lifespans lasting almost infinitely.”
My brain started to weave together thoughts as he continued speaking. “When I woke up the next morning, as I’d fainted due my mana being lost in a huge spell like that, I noticed I was in a clinic, and there was a letter, sealed with what I would later find out to be the official stamp of the Titanic School,” as he said this I finally recognized the symbol on his golden parka – it was the symbol of said school. It was a golden black scythe, with a purple snake encircling it – the symbol of Kronos, the Titan of Time, and obviously, the house that his school had him placed into. He didn’t stop talking as I realized this, “I lay there confused before a practitioner of healing magic walked in and started talking to me. He told me that the headmaster at the Titanic School had felt my magic, and would like for me to attend, once I come of age. The man had told me that if I could read, I should read the letter next to me, as it was from said headmaster.”
He took a moment to breathe, and I had many questions to ask him, so I did, “You’re saying that at the age of 5, you had not only awakened your magic, but avenged your mother, gotten an official invitation from the headmaster of the Titanic School, but you also managed to kill Fae? A nigh-immortal and time immune species?”
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I watched him wilt under my questions, before speaking up once more, finally looking me in the eyes, “Yes. I don’t know who my father is, as my mother never told me, but I knew from that point on that he wasn’t some weak nobody, he was obviously a mage. I don’t know how, I managed to kill a Fae using time magic, nor do I know why the headmaster invited me, all I know is that it happened, and I wouldn’t change it for the world. However, at the time, I was still angry, I accepted the letter, and I went to the school. But I was constantly in fights. And because I wielded time magic as my innate magic, I would always win. But I would still fight. Inside class, outside of class, in the city, anywhere and everywhere. Anybody who complained about a parent, or complained about a sibling, I fought.
“For why did they get to complain about such things, when I had none? What gave them the right to complain about something that others don’t have? For me, family is everything. Even though I lost my mother when I was young, and even though I never new the love of a father, or the annoyance of a sibling, I still thought that family is something to be cherished, to be loved and to be kept close. But it seemed as if none of the other students there agreed, so I was always getting into fights.”
I thought for a second, “So would I be correct in assuming that you wish to help families? To help protect families, to help keep them together, as a battlemage?”
He responded without hesitation, “Absolutely. I wish to protect families so that none have to know the fear and pain of losing a loved one. I wish to protect those who choose not to protect themselves. I hate those who do not cherish their families, but I hate those who wish to break families apart even more. However, I would love to be able to protect those families, even those who dislike each other, because feeling dislike for each other would be so much better than feeling the sorrow and hate that occurs after a loved one dies.”
I couldn’t help but smile, “An admirable goal, one that if all had, the world would be a better place.” He quickly became shy again and started staring at the floor. I started talking once more, “So, what’s changed?”
He looked up at the roof before answering, “I learnt that I could help their bodies using my innate time magic, so I decided that even if I fight, I can heal them. However, healing magic, no matter what kind of healing magic, fire, time, water, earth, lightning, anything really, is personal. It connects people on a personal level, so as such, I simply don’t fight anymore. However, some people at the school hate me for always winning in fights against them, so they just go to teachers and such saying that I fought them again and healed them afterwards. It finally got to the point where the teachers set up this meeting for me, saying that it would help me get a control over my anger.”
My smile still alive, I laughed before speaking, “Sounds like they’re jealous.” He brought his gaze down to my eyes, staring at me in confusion. I quickly explained, “It sounds like they had discovered your trigger, setting it off, hoping to one day win, but now that you’ve gained the mental strength to stop fighting, they have to try and get you removed because you’re more powerful than them. People are petty, students especially, and if they can’t beat someone up, then they’ll get to them in other ways. I’ll have a talk with your teachers and ask them to actually check what is going on.”
I noticed his eyes, which had become clear, start to fog up again. He started thanking me profusely, however I stopped him. “If I speak up for you, then you need to stay on the path you were talking about today. If you deviate, even for a second, then not only will you lose your position at your school, but I would lose my job, and chances are, I’ll get executed. Do you understand?”
I could tell he didn’t know where the danger would come from, but I could see the conviction in his eyes as he spoke up once more, “I understand. I wouldn’t stray from this path either way, but now you’ve just added more incentive not to. I can promise you that, and I hate promise breakers.”
I started to smile again, “Good luck on your journey Felix, I wish you the best of luck in your endeavours. And good luck in your time and scythe training.”
He had been walking towards the door, however, he stopped as soon as I mentioned a scythe. “How do you know about my scythe training?”
I simply grinned, activating my own time magic, and bursting through my room towards him, my own scythe ripping his head off. I laughed as his red blood seeped into the carpet, covering the walls, roof, the furniture and myself. Laughing I stepped through the doorway, before saying, “What a fool. A gullible fool. Who would have thought that as a teenager, I would have been like that? No one, that’s who.”
I opened my eyes, having emerged from my memories, I laughed once more. I was a gullible fool back then, but at least now, I can be whoever I want, and nobody can stop me. Looking across the battlefield, my crystal blue eyes lit up in glee at the carnage. They thought they could stop me with only one million men? Wrong. I grabbed the nearest man, having heard him groan. I quickly punctured his armoured neck with my teeth, absorbing his magic and lifeforce, further expanding my own already overwhelming lifeforce and magic. Looking up at the sky, I simply said one thing.
“I’m coming for you Father. Don’t think you’re safe after letting mother die like that. You’re the Titan of Time. You could have prevented that. And that's a promise, and you know I hate promises breakers."