10 years later, summer break had finally come for the 100 first year students of the Northstar Mage Academy's combat specialist class. They were being transported by escort bus to a wooded camp north of New Seattle, a few miles away from the ruins of the old city. Although it's referred to as a 'bus,' the transport vehicle was a large, armored vehicle over 20 feet tall that was more reminiscent of a train; it even consisted of multiple passenger cars. They were designed to trek the mana contaminated lands outside of the walled cities, outfitted with large cannons attached to its hull in order to intercept any hostiles or debris.
Ever since ordinary people began experiencing mana mutations, the camp was one of many locations that had been repurposed to an on-field training facility for the budding mages that would soon traverse the uncharted territories plagued by the dangerous creatures within. The camp was in a relatively controlled zone, however, and had a holographic dome barrier surrounding the camp grounds powered by the same mana in the atmosphere. 20 years ago, the camp was the site of one of many recreational summer camps, its cabins have since been renovated to something more adjacent to condos while keeping the large bonfire grounds just outside of the facility relatively untouched. They would be staying there for one week to hone their magecraft, then promptly return to the academy where they could spend the rest of the month having a proper summer vacation.
At 6pm, the escort bus came to a screeching halt. Students poured out of the passenger cars in droves, most seemingly unaffected by the long and turbulous drive through the contaminated territory. Morgan was no exception, but when he turned to his friend Rei, he noticed she had dark marks under her eyes, and swayed from side to side a bit more than he was used to. Her skin even seemed a bit paler, and her long, red hair looked matted in a few places.
"Couldn't sleep?" He asked. Probably motion sickness.
"Mm…" Rei gave an ambiguous groggy response, but Morgan took that as a yes.
"Well, at least we won't be starting until tomorrow."
"Mm…"
"…How did you even get bed-head? There wasn't space to lie down…"
"Mm…"
After they entered the lobby, the accompanying professors gave the students their electronic room keys and ushered them to their quarters. Training would begin at 8am sharp, so they suggested spending the evening eating dinner then quickly going to bed.
"I can't wait to take a shower, my car was so musty…" one of the girls sighed.
"I wonder what they've got to eat, I heard that since we're so far north, they can even import syrup from over the border!" a boy would speculate.
"Hey, I saw a sign for a karaoke room that's somewhere on the second floor, let's go look for it before dinner!" another girl told her friends.
"Hey, you're gonna get left behind…" Rei said.
Morgan jolted awake and turned to the elevators. It was completely stuffed with people, but Rei somehow managed to squeeze in. For a moment, Morgan put his foot forward but quickly stopped himself upon seeing the student's judging eyes.
"Ah, I'll just take the stairs," he replied. Even if it's the 10th floor…
The next morning, 4am, Morgan sat in silence in his dark room. Last night, he went to bed at 12am and woke up at 3am, after which he did light exercises for an hour. That was his usual routine, believe it or not. There was a light switch, for overheads and a bedside lamp, there was also a flatscreen tv, though all of these things were left off since he entered the room last night. He sat by the desk placed to the left of a large window. Though the curtains were shut, on the other side was a balcony large enough to fit two people, and it overlooked a large, rectangular courtyard surrounded by the apartments. He leaned back in the chair, whenever there was nothing to do, he would force his eyes closed even if he wasn't tired. His smartphone laid on the desk next to his glasses, screen off. He only got one because his mentor needed a way to contact him during work hours. So 'Carthesia Tempest' was the only name in his contacts. Wait, that's not right…
Morgan had one more contact, Rei. She tapped her number in after their first sparring session. He remembered her mentioning something about it 'being fun' and 'informational' but he himself never liked sparring all that much. Too many restrictions, can't alleviate the pain. Though, he figured that if she gained something from it, it wouldn't hurt to continue entertaining her.
A short, double buzz came from the desk.
"Hm? Who…" A meaningless question, his mentor was on a business trip in New Los Angeles, so there was only one other person who it could be.
'Come outside, balcony outside'
'Why are you awake?'
'comecomecomecome'
What is wrong with you… Taking two slow steps for positioning, Morgan pushed himself from his lounge chair and dragged his feet to the curtains. After the deep flapping of cloth, he was met with the dimmed safety lights illuminating the square below. Although the light helped somewhat, it wasn't bright enough to weaken the lines dancing across the surfaces of the hotel and courtyard. Forgot my glasses…
"What a bother…" Morgan complained. He turned to go back inside, but was stopped by someone's voice.
"What's a bother?" Rei's voice came from the balcony above. As she leaned, dangerously far, over the railing, her scarlet eyes seemed to glow, no, her irises really were glowing as they stared into Morgan's own eyes. Small embers rose from her hair that was being gently blown by the wind. Due to the lake nearby, the air would get rather chilly at night, even during the summer. Morgan preferred the cold over the heat anyway, so it didn't bother him all that much, but Rei would use anything as an excuse to use her magecraft.
"A certain girl named Rei, of course," he replied.
"Hm?"
"Forget it… still can't sleep?"
"No, I slept well, since 6:30."
"6:30?! Did you even eat?"
"I ate, Claire brought me food."
Morgan sighed. Rei continued to stare down at him with her usual expressionless face, and Morgan continued to stare back. It wasn't because he wanted to, he really couldn't look away.
A normal person wouldn't dare look him in the eye longer than they had to, but in Morgan's humble opinion, Rei wasn't a normal person. None of his classmates could do the same. They couldn't see the lines, but they could see that whatever Morgan cut faded away in a black mist and the deranged smile he had on his face while doing so. Whether he had his glasses on or off, she would hold the same deadpan stare whenever they met. It was weird, since looking at any other part of her proved she was actually quite energetic, she always popped up in weird positions or was doing some kind of small sway or movement with her body. She would do this wherever she was around him but Morgan simply thought, has she just taken a liking to me? As if she were some sort of animal. He even tried to get rid of her once.
Since joining the Northstar Mage Academy in the fall, about a month passed of her tailing him, sitting near him during lunch breaks, group projects, and offering to be his partner for training exercises when no one else would. She would borrow his notes and pens, and when he was late for the bus she would rant about how her favorite sweets shop once mistook her order for strawberry cheesecake as strawberry shortcake, or how she once missed a super market sale because of a fire alarm that she accidentally set off.
As circumstances were, Morgan never had luck getting to know other students, but for some reason, Rei was always there. Because of this, he had grown used to seeing her. To be more specific, he memorized all of her lines. Even if it were under broad daylight he could trace over each and every branch that covered her body with relative ease. For whatever reason, he told Rei about this. Just scare her off, and be done with it, he thought. It was while they were on their way back to the dorms from the library. He took off his glasses, allowing the ghostly glow of his iris free reign under the fractured moon. Rei wouldn't have known, but her black lines began to fade into his line of sight. He thought this was it, that the weird girl would finally see why no one wanted to be near him, that she would go her own way, but…
"Hm?" She cocked her head with that same damned deadpan face.
It's not that he wanted people to be afraid of him, he only thought that it made sense. If everyone else is doing it, why doesn't she also…?
"Could you…stay away," he said.
"Huh, from what?"
"…From me."
"Huuuuuh…?"
Was this a joke? It must have been because Rei started using her figure to curl her hair like she usually did when one of her friends told her a joke. But it couldn't be, I wasn't lying, I could really kill you, you know. Because of his training with his mentor, he was awfully proficient at it. Morgan could easily map his movements; so as long as he could get a cut to her right thigh or her sword arm before she noticed, the rest would fall into place. It would be a beautiful canvas of red and black that would blend well with her hair. Understandably, no one wanted to be around someone like this.
"If you don't leave, I'll kill you, so please leave," he reaffirmed.
"So… you don't want to?" Rei asked.
"Right…"
"Wait… so, you don't want to… and it's not like you've killed anyone else… So… what's the problem? This doesn't make a lot of sense…" Rei began spinning in place.
Huh, she's really spinning, what a weirdo.
As much as he wanted to believe her words, he really did want to kill her. All because of the blank expression she always had on her face. Morgan didn't remember much from his childhood, but he could recount the night where it all went away with relative ease. I know they aren't the same, I know, I know, but I can't help it. When I look at her, I only see him. And when I do, I want to carve him up so bad… After that night, there was only one thing that gave him nightmares, and it was the dead stare of that grey man. Not when the man's face was full of fury once he realized he was in danger, but the dead stare that reminded Morgan of his silent killings. Morgan couldn't even stand to look at himself in a mirror, his own hair was the same shade of snow white that so majestically flowed in the wind while thrusting that lance straight towards him. Worst of all, he saw that same unfeeling force of nature within himself. One that would trample over anything and everything without reason.
Ah…this is weird, so weird, so weird, so weird, so weird. She really doesn't care, does she? Doesn't she want to live? Look at her, twirling her soft and bouncy hair, of course she wants to live. Everyone else does, that's why they stay away. Ah… My head hurts. I know, she doesn't have friends because she's always around me but she never complains. It's weird, I mean, she's weird, but she's also pretty, like, really pretty; not a lot of people manage to have a hair color that complements their palette so well. That man was the same, they both have such a smooth face and distractingly beautiful hair. And she's at the top of the class in both written and practicals. If she stopped hanging around me then she would probably be popular, wouldn't she? That man must have also been someone special, he wore robes like royalty. They really are the same, aren't they? No, of course not, but I can't help. I should just disappear, it would be better for her, for everyone else, wouldn't it? Someone like me shouldn't be allowed to exist. That man understood that as well. I don't mind, I don't. I really don't. I'm not like them. I don't want to live. I want to die.
In one motion, he took black and maroon cylinder from his pocket, flipped a switch on the side of the device and drove the emerged blade toward a black line on his throat. He didn't even close his eyes, which was why he was able to see the streak of red and trail of flames that scorched the stone walkway when Rei pulled his hand down.
The boy didn't understand why he ran towards death. For a while, he thought it was because he wanted to avenge his mother who died pitifully in the snow. But after meeting Rei, he realized it was nothing that noble; the urges he felt as a child told him what he would become if he kept living. As long as the world carried those lines, he couldn't stop, and the longer he refused them, the more pain he was inflicted with. His mentor gave him special glasses that would prevent him from seeing them, thus limiting his headaches, but Morgan was a registered mage, much like all of the youths his age. Using his eyes was the only way he could keep up with the mage academy's curriculum, and the eventual service in special forces during his upperclassman years. Ironically, if he couldn't see those lines, he wouldn't even be considered a mage at all. Unlike his peers, he couldn't strengthen his body or shoot lasers from his fingertips, but by definition, he was still a mage. If there were a way that he could never see those lines again, he would take it without hesitation.
"Sorry, I'm not very good with this sort of thing, so… I'm not sure what to do," Rei said.
Although she was holding onto his arm, Morgan was still trying to force his blade higher.
"…Could you stop? Getting stabbed actually hurts pretty bad," Rei continued, but Morgan didn't let up. "You're embarrassed, is that it? I've also done some embarrassing things, too. Before I came here, people would always look at me funny… even now, they still do, so that must mean it's not all in their head. But, you know, when we met at our first combat training, I thought you were really weird. I heard rumors there was a white haired student who could cut through anything during the exams. You seemed so cool, but you always stood by yourself and everyone seemed to avoid you… But you also didn't seem bothered by it. I figured, maybe you were just like me, so…"
Morgan couldn't understand her. She was airing out her feelings, but the only thing he's ever felt was the pain in his head when he stared at those lines. No, that's not true. He did understand one thing. Rei was not that man from ten years ago. It should have been obvious, it WAS obvious; for starters, Rei wasn't a 7ft man, but a 19 year old girl. Her hair was burning red, not shivering silver. Most importantly, she spoke to him, and treated him like just another person, as another normal person would. And as far as Morgan was concerned, Rei might not be a normal person, but he could hardly consider that grey man human. In the end, none of it mattered since he was already dead. And Rei is still alive… This is so dumb.
Something wet dripped onto the hilt of the knife, then onto Morgan and Rei's hands. Drip, drip, drip. Was it raining? No, nothing else was getting wet, and the droplets were oddly warm, and as more came they started to steam. Morgan finally looked up from the blade, and found the source of the soon to be scolding rain. Those scarlet eyes were glowing more than usual, sparkling as her tears continued to fall. Is it wrong to say that she was beautiful? Should someone like me even be allowed to look at such beauty? Of course not, there's no way, but I think I'd keep looking regardless. Oh… is that what it means? To live? Maybe.
That night, they both walked back to the dorms in silence, only going their separate ways when Rei left the elevator for her floor. The next day went as usual, they sat in the same class, sparred in the same training room, and walked to the same dorm. From that day to the next, he would find himself gradually losing the urge to sever what ties together the world around him, or so the young man thought. In the end, he never thanked her for saving his life that night, because he still wanted to die. I can't get her out of my head…
So, why hasn't he yet? The reason for that is even more simple. After that night, much like how his mentor gave him a roof to live under and a, albeit rather violent, lifestyle to follow, he gained another excuse to keep going for a while longer. As beautiful as it was, I don't think I want to see her cry again.
"Do you need something to cut?" Rei asked.
"Wha–?" Morgan couldn't formulate any words.
"Let's go to the forest. The beasts shouldn't be too active this early, and I know you can't seem to focus around other people so…"
"Hm… I guess you have a point–Rei!?" She was halfway perched on her railing by the time Morgan realized what was happening.
"Hup!" she jumped, leaving a trail of orange sparks from the soles of her feet, she flipped over her balcony's railing, then once she leveled Morgan's line of sight, she sparked another small burst of flame under her feet to propel herself right into Morgan's balcony.
"Huh, wha-?" No, wait…
"There we go," Rei positioned herself under Morgan's right arm, then grabbed onto the back of his shirt. Of course, jumping from the 10th floor to the first was the fastest way down, there was no argument he could raise against that.
Wait, wait wait wait wait. Rei could fly, this wasn't unknown to Morgan. Morgan could not, and this wasn't unknown to Rei. However, at that moment, he doubted if this was really the case.
"Hold on tight, oh, and keep your mouth closed," said Rei. Sparks flew from the soles of her feet. With relative ease, she lifted Morgan into the air and the two were flown over the balcony. His mind went blank, and before he knew it, he was already surrounded by the green of the forest. Absentmindedly, yet surgically swinging his knife at a stone-skinned bear, effortlessly weaving each swipe of its elongated claws while Rei's controlled flames burned away the scales of a crystal crocodile, bringing daylight to the darkness without setting everything else ablaze.
The sun had begun to rise on their way back to camp. In the lobby, Morgan puts a few coins into a vending machine, followed by the rhythmic thumps of two cans of cold tea. He hands one to Rei before popping his own. Rei plops onto the nearby wooden bench and silently sips her tea.
"I can't believe you wanted to keep going, you should get some kind of rest before the actual training," Morgan said.
"I slept just fine, remember? If anything, you should be the one getting rest," Rei replied.
"How many times do I have to tell you, I don't ever feel tired."
"Because you somehow supplement that by sleeping for three days straight," Rei raised three fingers. "THREE days, and those dark spots under your eyes were still there."
"…It's no big deal."
"It is a big deal!" Rei slammed her empty can into the bench.
So loud… What's with her all of a sudden? Did she get drunk off of tea? Morgan, who was leaning against the wall with his gaze at the laminate floor turns to Rei.
"…Just what is it now?"
"You do this at the start of every month, and you're due for this month's by the end of this week." To the beat of her words, Rei swayed her head to the left and right, her hair swishing along.
"…So?"
"At this rate, you'll miss the party on the last day!" Rei threw her hands in the air, nearly knocking Morgan's can out of his hands.
So my wellbeing wasn't the concern? Not that it mattered, I guess.
Ignoring how Rei completely mapped out his sleep schedule, Morgan pushed himself off the wall and tossed his empty can in the metal trash bin. I need to leave before she ropes me into something, he thought, but it was too late.
"And? People don't exactly want me there anyway."
"I mean, it'd be pretty boring if I went by myself…" Rei twiddled her thumbs.
"Then don't go."
"Hm…" Rei puts her index finger to her chin and cocks her head. "Then what should I do? Should we hangout in your room? I wanna see your room."
"No." There's nothing there anyway.
"…So sad." Her head slumps.
"H-Hey…"
"Boo-hoo…" Rei cries into her hands. It's fake crying, but Morgan doesn't realize this. Or perhaps he does, but his next reply would not have changed.
"Alright, alright, fine."
"Okay let's go." Rei sprung up from the bench and trotted toward the elevators.
"W-Wait, we're going now? I thought we were planning for Friday?"
"I need to see it now so I can know what to do on Friday, of course." Rei hit the up button three times.
'Of course.' 'Of course,' she says. But once the elevator arrived, Morgan joined Rei on her trip to the 10th floor.