Chapter 1: Alice

  I tried to open my eyes, but had to quickly close them as the bright lights nearly blinded me. I’d be better off staring at the sun in all its glory. Bandages surrounded my body, enough for a new egyptian era of mummification. Blinking my eyes several times to adjust to the light, countless thoughts filled my head.

  “Where am I? How did I get here? How am I still alive?” If not for the amount of pain I was feeling I would've thought I was in heaven, the room I was in was completely white. If not for that same pain that shot through my body I would of just layed there thinking of all the scenarios that could have possibly happened, for me being here.

  My body feels like shit, no the word shit wasn’t even close to describing the pain I'm in right now. My body feels like it went through a garbage compressor. Then, take that, multiply it with can-a-syphil-aids (so horrific it can only be compared to if syphilis did it with cancer and got full blown aids.), folded over by avogadro's number. I think you get my point.

  I observed the room around me. I must be in a hospital or something, where else could I be. However, I couldn't clarify my conclusion, because my body won't move. As soon as I would try, pain shot throughout my entire body and made me want to go insane. You’re probably thinking that I’m exaggerating the shit out of this, but if you were in my situation you would be saying the same thing.

  Just laying there, I couldn't help but chuckle at my current situation, which caused even more pain to shoot through my body. To think that one day I would end up in this kind of mess. First, I was living a boring and one hell of a shitty life, and the next thing I know I’m fighting some criminal who threw me around like a ragdoll. Now that I think about it how did I even live through all that? It almost feels like I wasn’t human at all. I wavered the thought, the only thing special about me is my overwhelming ability to not make friends.

  What exactly happened. I remember a guy who beat the living shit out of me. Was that real, or a dream? I have no idea what exactly happen, I saved a woman and her baby, some guy who was trapped. There's no way those things didn't happen, but it's more unbelievable if it did.

  If it was real, then I don't regret what happened, even though my body hurts like hell. The problem is, if that entire scenario was a dream. I don't care if I didn't do something heroic. I'm just afraid that if the opportunity presents itself in the future before me, would I be able to step up, and jump in for real?

  I also remember that he had lightning powers. No impossible, that doesn’t make sense, but... I remember the word magic.

  What’s going on, magic doesn't exist, that's the crap you hear about in light novels, books, anime and all that other made up stuff to entertain people and to get away from the harsh reality. There’s no scientific basis around magic, it can’t be applied to the real world. Maybe the guy hit me so hard that I got a comatose like concussion and I really dreamed the entire thing. Hell, maybe lightning fist didn’t even exist, there could have been an extreme accident that I got caught up in. Yeah like if there was a fire, and rubble smashed my head, and that's why i'm covered in bandages, because my body is severely burned.

  There was little comfort to my constant rambling of possible solutions. However this isn’t what an emergency room looked like, I know because back in middle school Kyle pushed me off a steep concrete staircase, and I cracked my head. Could this be a burn unit?

  My eye’s grew wary from all this thinking. I didn't want to go back to sleep, I wanted answers, but my body couldn't take it. I needed rest, I needed to heal, I needed the sweet bliss that is sleep, to momentarily escape this pain. I closed my eyes and transcended through space and time.

  That night I dreamed that I was hero. I could shoot fire, had enormous strength, and ran at supersonic speed. More importantly I was kicking lightning fist’s ass. It felt great, it was like nothing could stop me and for once I wasn’t on the side that got their ass kicked.

  I woke up, this time feeling a thousand times better, my body still felt sore but nothing I’m not used to. I layed there deep in thought again,  I didn’t even notice someone was in the room until I heard her speak.

  “You're finally awake, you're probably feeling better than before, right?” asked the voice. This made me snap out of my train of thoughts and twist my head quickly in her direction. “uh… I feel a lot better than before.” I said. In front of me stood a very attractive women, who looked to be around in her mid-twenties. She had amber eyes that stared at me with wondrous curiosity. Her chestnut colored hair was tied into a ponytail, and rested over her shoulder. She was wearing a gray shirt with a black cardi over it, and a pair of light blue jeans that brought out and emphasized her legs. She was pretty...

  She must be a nurse I thought to myself, but why is she dressed so cutely, my face was red.

  “You’re red dear, do you have a fever?” the woman asked with a concerned voice. For some reason I felt guilty.

  “No, No, No… I’m fine, I'm ok.” She stared at me unconvinced.

  Ignoring my sudden increase in testosterone, I examined her further, now that I think about it, she doesn’t look like a nurse at all. In the first place, since when did nurses not where their uniforms in the hospitals.

  “Where am I? Who are you?” I asked cautiously. I may be misinterpreting the situation, but this isn't a hospital, nor is she a nurse.

  “You're in the care of Northwest Hospital Medical Center, and I'm your nurse Alice” That was definitely a lie.

  “Ok why am I here, what happened to me?”

  “You got caught up in a terrorist attack, and you’re recovering from your injuries.” She had an answer for everything and her soothing voice made me want to believe her. However, she will have to do better to convince me.

  “Who attacked us, why in an open marketplace, who else is hurt, what are my injuries, how long have I've been out, and why aren't you in a nurse’s scrubs?”

  “Hehe, someone's feisty. You must be very cranky just getting up.” she smiled, and got close. She seemed very touchy, feely. I'm not sure if it's compassion, or a charade.

  “But if you really want all those questions answered then fine,” I didn't answer.

  “A local boy with severe mental issues came to the area, placed bombs everywhere and shot up the place; 3 dead, 12 injured, 1 you. You sustained massive head trauma, 3rd degree burns along your arms, legs, and abdomen. Spinal damage, fractured, well everywhere and you've been out for 3 days.” she finished with embracing me in a warm hug.

  Sigh, maybe everything was my imagination.  I mean the whole idea of magic, and lightning sounds pretty stupid now. I smiled in relief. “Heh, hey you didn't answer me why aren't you wearing nurse scrubs?” a pitiful attempt to erase my earlier accusative questions. “Oh honey, I just wanted to look sexy for when you would wake up. I know how you teenagers are with your hormones.”

  “Ha, I think you'd accomplished that better, if you had just worn a nurse's outfit.” We both laughed.

  “Can you get away with how you're dressed? Aren't hospitals incredibly strict with that kind of stuff?” I asked in wonder.

  “Nah it's ok, we have casual fridays every week.”

  “Oh but today isn't Friday, it's wednesday right?” Her face instantly switched tones.

  “Oh, well umm… I guess it would be Wednesday, my mistake.”

  “Well that seems awfully dumb, how do you mistake the two da… oh shit.” I threw the blanket over her head and made a sprint to the exit. My legs were still injured, and I could barely move, but I pushed forward purely by willpower and fear. I made it to the door, just as a hand grasped my collar, and yanked me into the air.

  Holy crap she was strong, she lifted me a foot off the ground.

  “WHO ARE YOU!? REALLY?”

  “Trust me, I'm a friend, so please stop struggling, you might get hurt.” I didn't stop…

  She carried me as if I were a baby all the way to my bed. No matter how much I struggled it was hopeless, she was too strong. My mind drifted to possible scenarios. I grew hysterical and started to cry.  

  “Please don't dissect me!!!!!!” I screamed in terror.

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  “What!?”

  “Don't cut off my fingers and toes, I can't regenerate.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Don't rape me”

  “Please listen to what I have to say”

  “Don't probe my asshole, anything but that"

  “Excuse me? Just listen to me for one second. I'm not trying to hurt you. I promise.”

  “Sniff...sniff. No butt stuff?” I whimpered. She sighed, rubbing her template, feeling a headache coming up “No butt stuff.”

  “Ok, I'll listen,” wiping tears from my eyes, I was back on my bed. Embarrassed about crying, I had my head turned down, but also thinking of a way to escape.

  "Look I'm sorry I lied. I just wanted some answers” Alice said sincerely. I’m confused, angry, scared, and hungry. Not a good combination of feelings. Yeah I'm terrified but her wanting “answers” pissed me off.

  I looked up and spat “Answers? You want answers? No I want some answers, where the hell am I? Who are you? You said you were a friend, but I have no friends.”

  “Come on that's seriously pathetic” her face was sour. “Ok fine, you're in the right, I'll answer some of your questions; You get four.”

  FOUR! I don't know if I'm more shocked that she's letting me ask questions, or that I only get four to ask. Where do I even start? Maybe I’ll ask her where I am, why I’m here, Who she is, and…

  “YAWWWN!” a very hearty yawn escaped from Alice’s mouth. She yawned? Who the hell does she think she is? “Have you figured out your question yet?” She sounded way too nonchalant. Although she sounded calm, her eyes were restlessly focused on me, like before. I can't tell if she's watching my every move, or she really does want answers from me. But what answers, I don't know anything. Wait from before...

  I looked at her straight in the eyes and asked.

  “Yeah. Only one. That guy with lightning powers, those explosions, magic. All of those things happened right?” She simply answered.

  “Yes.” Her answer was so blatant that I felt like I was just slapped in the face.

  “Ok ignore what I said before, I still have more questions… Is that why I’m here? Because I saw what happened?”

  “Yes” I was trying to stay firm and collected, but her answers were really starting to make me lose my composure.

  “Can you stop doing that?”

  “Doing what? And one question left” I hate this woman. I prefer her fake nurse persona.

  “I want answers, not just you saying yes or no”

  “Ok I’ll try to be more elaborate on your last question” But not the others?

  “Fine, what is this place, what am I doing here?”

  “Ha, that was two, but I’ll answer both. You're here, not because you witnessed what happened two weeks ago, but because of your actions”

  “TWO WEEKS!?!?!?!?!?!”

  “Yeah, sorry I lied about that, but that's aside the point. This place, this place is the Headquarters for the Magic Forces.” Magic Forces?

  “And the reason why you're here is because you’re a wizard.”

  I stood up in shock

  “Oh my god!... That’s bullshit. I’m not a stupid kid, you can't trick me like that.” Alice pulled out a tiny seed and all of a sudden it started to sprout until it grew into a tiny flower. I sat back down, feeling the reality of the world I once knew totally shatter. Magic was real? That means everything wasn’t a dream. That means I really saved those people back then.

  “Wait I’m a wizard, does that mean I can use magic too? In what context do you mean by wizard? And why did those other wizards come up and destroyed the place?”

  “Jeez I thought kids these days knew how to count. It might be easier if I explained everything” Alice said this while shaking her head.

  “Well no shit, if you'd just do that earlier, then we wouldn't of had all this trouble” her nose twitched. She raised her arm and smacked me across the face

  “Don’t you have any respect for people older than you. Sigh… Let me start from the beginning.” Holy shit that hurt, I thought as my hand rubbed my cheek which was a nice shade of pink.

  “There are 2 coexisting worlds. Earth, where we are now, and Krayer, where I’m from. The major difference between the two worlds, is that Earth, and the people on it, evolved without magic. Without magic, the people on Earth had to live very differently than the people on Krayer. A world more technologically advanced. On Krayer however, everything essential to human life is provided to us by magic, we have no need for the advanced technology earthlings have.”

  This was hard to digest. Although all of what she's saying sounds to unreal, I witnessed magic several times already.

  “Then why does no one here know anything about Krayer, yet you know everything about Earth”

  “Several thousands of years ago, genius mages thought of a theory of other dimensions. Through hard work and determination, they proved themselves right, and created void magic, portals to this world. You would never know it, but Krayens have had a big impact on all of Earth’s history.

  The Pyramids, Stonehenge, Greek and Roman Culture are all examples of our influence. We had too much impact on Earth, a lot of mistakes were made. Where one of the mistakes led to the sinking of an entire island; Atlantis. Do to all this, the three continents of Frayer held a meeting and agreed to ban all unauthorized travel between the two worlds. The only way you can travel between the two worlds is if you have the  permission of a high ranking government official.”

  Holy shit, they sunk Atlantis! This was the only thing that I could concentrate on before realizing that she was still talking and I probably missed something important.“...,

  but artifacts and underground teachers make it so that void can still be used and learned.”

  “Void? What’s that?” She just looked at me like she wanted to beat the shit out of me.

  “Are you even listening to me?! She asked in an annoyed and a bit of pissed off tone.

  “Sorry, I just got lost in my thoughts when I heard that you guys were responsible for sinking Atlantis. What were you saying before all that artifact stuff?” She just looked at me annoyed before repeating herself.

  “Like I said before, right now void magic is no longer to be taught, but artifacts and underground teachers make it so that void magic can still be used and learned.”

  I don't know what to believe, I mean this story seems too elaborate to be fake. “Ok so assuming this is all true, why would Lightning Fist come to earth.”

  “I don't know why in particular ‘Lightning Fist’ and his group came here, but it's always one of a few reasons. Either to make a new life in another world, wreak havoc with their superior strength, or an attempt at world domination.”

  “WORLD DOMINATION!” I cried. “ It's usually the second reason.” hmm power hunger does makes sense. “And that's why we have the magic forces. To stop these magical incidents and make it seem like an accident in this world” Alice finished talking.

  “Wouldn't it be better if we did know, instead of being under the cloud, unbenounced to any of this.”

  “The witch hunts, that was because of us”

  “Oh” I replied not knowing what else to say.

  "Your human history is riddled with mistakes and problems because of Krayer, and it still is, the only thing we can do now is to protect it from the shadows.” That made them sound like Batman

  “I guess that makes sense…, but still, nevermind.” I just ended my train of thoughts there realizing that there was no point in questioning this any further.

  “Are you ok?” Alice asked.

  “More or less, just trying take everything in. You said earlier, that the reason why I'm here is because I'm a wizard. How do you know?” She looked uneasy.

  “I had my suspicions when I saw how much you endured in that fight. But I know for sure because of your mother.” I was shocked,

  “My mom, you knew her?” Suddenly every suspicion I had didn't matter, all that did matter was my mom.

  “Yes, I did. She was a part of the magic forces, and I was her apprentice.” I'm speechless, I don't know what to say. Alice realizing that waiting for a response was pointless, continued. “I was lying before because I wanted to know more about you.”

  “What do you mean? My mom… what do you know about her.” Alice looked dazed, as if she were recalling old memories, well I guess she is.

  "Your mom, Diana was a wizard and she worked on earth with the magic forces, when I was your age I came from Krayer to apprentice under Diana to be just like her. Several years later, Diana met with a human male and left the organization to be with him. I haven't heard from her at all since she left.” she paused to catch her breath.

  “When I saw your records I saw your parents and knew who you must be. I lied to you because I wanted to see you in your natural habitat, and decide for you whether or not to tell you the truth. To see if it was better to let you rejoin society, or to know everything.”

  This was way too much, I didn't know I had records, the orphanage didn't tell me shit. I could have known my mother and father. Above all that, I'm also a wizard, my mom was a wizard. This place, Krayer, magic, Alice! Everything is so confusing. I feel like my body might implode with all this pressure. My heart feels like it's being constricted by an anaconda. I felt the back of my eyes concealing tears.

  Alice cleared her throat.

  “Ergh emm, so… how's your mother.” I couldn't hold it anymore. I bursted into tears, water ran down my face harder than niagara falls.

  “Woah what's wrong!” Alice cried.

  “Why are you crying?”  She doesn't know, she doesn't know that my parents are dead.

  “whimper, whimper” I couldn't say anything except for hiccups and burps. Alice then threw her arms around like she did before, but this time it felt different, the hug before was fake, I can tell this one was real, I could feel the compassion radiate from her body.

  “I don’t know why exactly you're crying, but you can let it all out on my shoulder”

  “I… I'm… sorry” was the only words I could muster. “Never be sorry for crying.” Alice said softly.

  “That's not it…”

  I don't know why I was crying, actually I have never cried about not having parents before. Well maybe that is the reason why I was crying. Learning about my mom so suddenly was too shocking. After I subsided, I told Alice everything I knew about my parents, that being that they were either dead or gone, and I have no idea how or why. She was surprised by this, and it looked as if she were about to cry too. Alice and my mom must have been good friends. I still have no idea what to believe, but right now, the only thing I know is that I can trust Alice. Before she had asked me about my life, so I told her everything.

  “From what I know from the orphanage, I was left at the doorstep when I was just a baby. They ‘raised’ me, but in the end I raised myself. Through school and the orphanage, all I can say about my life is that, it is a monotonous, boring, pitiful excuse of a life. Sometimes I dream that there is something special out there for me, but when I look at myself all I see is a failure.” I finished.

  Alice didn't respond for a while. I thought she was asleep or something because she didn't say anything. Right as I was about to call out to her, she exclaimed.

  “Well that sucks, I guess you re-entering society is a no go.” I hated being this confused for so long.

  “What do you mea…”

  “I mean, your life seems boring and pathetic, so you should start a new one.”

  “Huh?” was all I could say because my head was spinning from confusion.

  “I realize it was stupid of me to choose for you, I'll let you choose to either, re-enter society with the price of losing your memories of everything magic, your mom, and the events that occurred, or keep your memories but stay in our facilities and maybe even join the magic forces.”

  “Wait, wait isn't there like a third option.”

  “Well I guess we could kill you, but that's pretty gory” Her voice is way too nonchalant. Alice’s eyes had brighten up. “Or I could take you to Krayer! You could learn how to use magic, and be an official wizard.” I let out a sigh, from thinking how shit really did get real.