The three ladies were walking towards a restaurant to have a small reunion.Two young girls, one carrying a crossbow really tightly to her chest as if it was a bomb she was afraid could go off at any moment, and a twin ponytail girl with dark skin and weird eyes listening to music on her cellphone.
Between the two, as if trying to make sure the ponytail girl wouldn"t come closer to the crossbow girl, was an older woman walking very stiffly and not taking her eyes off them for a second.
"Where did you get that phone, Mia?"
"Oh, this? I bought it a few months ago. I saw a movie that had an amazing soundtrack and wanted to listen to the songs whenever I wanted."
"Mia... How do you know what a movie soundtrack is?"
Ellie was confused as usual. She just heard the weird-eyed girl saying she bought a cellphone just to listen to some music and her aunt"s biggest concern was how she knew what a soundtrack was?
"How long have you been in my world?"
"Oh!! Your world? Excuse me, I wasn"t aware that I was in the presence of a queen! Should I bow down to you?"
"How. Long. Have. You. Been. Here???"
Mia looked like she didn"t have a care in the world but Evlin was behaving like she wanted to throw the girl off a cliff.
"Aunt Evie... You"re scaring me..."
"!!!"
Evlin turned her attention towards Ellie and accidentally looked at the young girl with the glare she was directing at Mia, which only scared her niece even more.
"Aahh!!"
"Ah! Sorry Ellie, I didn"t, I was just... I..."
"My, my, stick-girl... It"s not nice to bully little girls you know?"
"..."
Evlin started to pull Ellie even closer to her side. Just a few seconds ago she saw Mia using red crystals to blown up an entire playground, and she had just announced she still had four more left. Evlin needed to be ready to grab Ellie and run as far as she could at any moment.
But at the same time, she didn"t want to get too far from Mia. Who knows what this crazy girl could do if she took her eyes off of her.
"I don"t wanna hear that from you... In fact, I don"t hear any word from you... Just pack your things and go home!"
Mia then turned around and smiled at Evlin while playing with two crystal that she pulled from her pocket.
"Make me!"
"Tch!!"
"You might have been the most powerful mage in the other world, but in here? You"re just our personal toy to use and play with until we get bored. Do not forget that for even a second!"
"..."
Powerful mage? Other world? We? What was she talking about? Mia was making it sound like Evlin was some kind of fantasy character.
"Aunt Evie?"
"What is it now Ellie?"
Her aunt looked angry. Ellie wanted to find out the truth about this whole thing but her aunt was making such an intimidating face that the small girl was afraid of even saying a word.
"It"s... Nothing..."
"..."
Looking at her aunt was becoming harder, so Ellie started to look at Mia instead. The things she was saying started to make Ellie think about the stories her aunt used to tell.
People who used magic to fight. Powers being locked inside special items. Weird creatures that had the power to change their bodies. Could it be that these were not just tales? And if they were not, who was this girl? Which part of her aunt"s stories was she from?
"We"re here..."
Mia finally reached the restaurant she taking the two towards and entered the doors while hiding her phone.
Evlin took this opportunity to hold Ellie"s shoulders.
"Ellie, listen to me, and listen to me very carefully..."
"!!"
"I have no idea what"s going to happen in there, but I know it will not be good... So the moment you sense anything dangerous or suspicious, I want you to run as far as you can, understood?"
"Aunt Evie... What are you-"
"Understood??"
"... Ok..."
"Good... Now... Do not leave my side."
The two entered the building as well and noticed Mia was already sitting on a table with a menu in hands.
It was a fancy place that Evlin probably could never afford, and yet, Mia was just sitting there like she had been visiting it every day.
Ellie and her aunt joined her on the table and just stared at the girl.
"You two not hungry? Don"t worry, it"s on us!"
"You have money...?"
"Lots of money..."
"How?"
"Se-cre-t!"
"..."
The waitress came and Mia gave her order. She also went ahead and ordered something for her guests. Once she was done she gave the lady the menu and watched as she distanced from the table.
"Thanks, Tara!"
Evlin continued too lock eyes with Mia.
"You know her?"
"Of course! This is our favorite restaurant! And Tara is our favorite waitress!"
"..."
"You probably have a lot of questions right now... Stick-girl..."
"No, I don"t... I want nothing to do with you... Go home right now!"
"Nope... there is nothing left for us there anymore... You kinda ruined our toys..."
"..."
As usual, Ellie had no idea what these two were talking about, and just stood there listening in silence. Her aunt took a deep breath and tried to calm down a bit.
"Ok Mia, I"ll play your little dumb game... What do you want?"
"I told you... I want a new toy. Me and my green friend lost our favorites after your little dance with... What was it that you called him? Chuck?"
"Your favorite toys...? You mean Ashley and Ria?"
Ellie"s heart started to beat even faster after hearing her mother"s name. Was she involved in this whole thing too?
"Ashy and big sis? Please... We are over them... They were never our favorite toys, just momentary distractions..."
"Then..."
"We"re talking about our swords!"
For the first time ever since they met, Ellie saw Mia dropping her smile.
"Your swords...?"
"My silver sword and her black sword... You took Marcus away from me and destroyed the devourer of whispers..."
Marcus? Devourer of whispers? These were names Ellie would hear during her aunt"s stories.
Marcus was the boy that had the power to turn into a sword blessed with divine energy, and devourer of whispers was the weapon of someone known as the leader of demons.
Did Mia just said that her aunt took those from her?
"Then why are you even here? You want a new toy to give you power you came to the wrong place... There is no magic in this world. That"s kinda the reason why I even like living here!"
"Not for now at least..."
"!!!"
Evlin started to shake the whole table.
"What... What"s that supposed to mean??"
"It means... That I"m starting a new game! And I want you to be my opponent!"
"Me?? Why me?? You never cared about me!!"
"I. Do. Now!"
The waitress returned and placed their orders on the table. Mia gave her a very large tip and started to dig into her plate.
"You see... I realized that I was wasting my time playing with big sis when I could be having much more fun messing with you! I heard from my green friend how you used the powers of the three forces to completely demolish the demon leader like he was a little kid."
She sliced a piece of her steak and swallowed it while dripping a bit of blood from her lips.
"When I heard about your battle all I could think was..."
She then licked her lips to clean the blood.
"I want that!!"
This time, Ellie was the one who was shaking. This girl was creeping her out in every possible way.
"Aunt Evie... Can we go...?"
"Sorry, Ellie... Just a little longer..."
Mia took a drink from her gla.s.s and continued her speech.
"The power, the brutality, the possibilities for destruction!! The more I think about it, the more I realize... You"re just like me!!"
Evlin"s face started to look sick from hearing Mia say she looked like her.
"Ah, yes... I too enjoy tormenting people and chasing after demons just the drench myself on their blood... We two are soooo alike... You know what else I love doing? Going home!! Why don"t you try?"
"This IS our home now stick-girl! Do you know how easy things are in here?? I can just do whatever I want and n.o.body can say anything because n.o.body is strong enough to touch me! I can"t even begin to tell you how much easier it is to kill people in here!!"
"What did you say??"
"Ah! Yes, that reminds me, you can"t say no. You will be playing my game, or your little niece, your little sister, your little momma, and anyone else I can think of will receive a visit from my little red friends!"
Evlin stood up from the table and pounced on Mia. But the moment she did so the little girl simply grabbed her with one hand and smashed her against the table.
"Guaahhhhh!!!"
"Aunt Evie!!!"
Mia was now holding Evlin by the neck with one hand while Ellie observed in terror. The whole restaurant was looking as well, confused as to why an old woman was being held by a small child.
"See how easy it would be to end you right now? No powers, no friends, no weapons... You"re just a shadow of what you used to be..."
Evlin tried to free herself but Mia was somehow much stronger than her.
"How... How are you...??"
"I told you... The game has already begun! Soon this world will have just as much magic as the other one... And then we can all play together again!"
Mia removed Evlin from the table and raised her with one arm while strangling her neck.
"Stop!! Stop!!! Leave my aunt alone!!"
Her niece dropped her crossbow and tried to punch Mia with her fists, but the weird-eyed girl looked like she wasn"t even feeling it.
"Ellie... Run...!!"
Mia then waved her hand and slapped Ellie against the wall.
"Kyaaahhh!!"
"Ellie!!!"
Mia returned her attention towards Evlin.
"Leave her alone...?? I"m never leaving her alone ever again!! She"s my new toy now!! And I"ll play with her until she breaks, or until she breaks us!! Whatever comes first."
Mia then launched Evlin against the ceiling making her almost break her back.
"Gaaahhh!!!"
She then proceeded to fall on top of the table, completely spilling the food on the floor. Mia then approached her and raised her fist.
"Now, here are the rules... "
"Ugh..."
"Number one... You have one week to get your powers back... If you don"t, I"ll kill your whole family..."
She said as she showed one finger.
"Number two, once you get your powers back, you will have another week to find me. If you don"t find me, I"ll kill your whole family..."
She raised another finger as if making a peace sign, and then proceeded to raise another.
"Third and final rule, the three of us will fight to the death. We never really fought now that I think about it so I want this one to be special! And when I say to the death, I mean I want you to come at me with intent to kill!!"
"Why are you..."
"Don"t turn me into a frog, don"t throw me into a portal, don"t knock me out and steal my weapon... Come. At. Me. To. Kill. Me!!"
"..."
Mia then closed her hand and lowered her knees to approach Evlin"s face.
"You"re like me... But there is no need to be two of me... So I want the best me to be the one standing..."
"..."
Mia then started to play with Evlin"s hair.
"You were almost there... You killed the demon leader, but then you just ran away back home with your tail between your legs... I want to release the killer inside of you!! You even took the G.o.ddess with you and started to take care of her... You really can"t bring yourself to truly harm anyone..."
"Drop dead Mia..."
"I will if you make me! You took my blessed weapon, and my cursed weapon, so now, you will be my new weapon! My favorite weapon! I want to see you become the world"s best weapon!!"
Mia stepped on Evlin"s stomach making her almost throw up.
"Guaahh!!"
"Don"t disappoint me... If you do... Guess what? I"ll kill your whole family!"
Mia then grabbed one of her red crystals and launched it into the restaurant"s kitchen while Evlin began to lose her consciousness, causing a huge explosion.
"Bye stick-girl... It was nice meeting your niece!"
Mia then left the place that was now catching fire while all the other clients started to panic. Ellie approached her aunt while limping due to the pain of being smacked against the wall.
"Aunt Evie!! Aunt Evie!! Please wake up!!!"
She got no response. Evlin was completely unconscious due to all the damage Mia cause on her body. She was bleeding from her mouth and her eyes were open without any sign of her iris.
Ellie tried to carry her but her aunt was simply too heavy.
"Someone help!!! Please!!!"
The little girl started to scream hoping someone would come but they were all trying to escape themselves.
"Aunt Evie!! Cough! Cough! Please don"t die!! I"m so sorry!! I"ll never play with the crossbow again!! Please wake up!!"
The fire started to grow. Everyone had already left. Only Ellie and a knocked out Evlin remained inside.
"Please!!! Someone!! Anyone!!!"
The structure of the place began to fall apart and a piece of the ceiling Evlin was knocked against started to fall on top of her.
"Pleeeease!!!!"
"Roooaaarrr!!"
Suddenly, a black ma.s.s appeared out of nowhere and destroyed the debris that was about to squash Evlin and Ellie.
"Huh!!?? Cough! Cough!"
The creature"s roar cleared the smoke a bit and she realized that her aunt"s crossbow was catching fire as well. The girl tried to recover it but the smoke from the flames started again and began to blind her vision making her gasp for air. Ellie looked again and managed to see what the figure was, a huge black lion with red eyes. The creature looked at her and started to roar one more time.
"He found her!!! Hurry!!"
Ellie heard the sound of a man coming from outside of the restaurant and suddenly saw a silver blur moving through the fire and coming towards her. The girl tried to figure out what she was looking at but her body was also about to faint due to the smoke.
"What"s going on!!?? Cough!! Cough!!"
She finally couldn"t take it anymore and began to pa.s.s out while feeling that she was being carried by something, and the last thing she saw before closing her eyes was the sight of her aunt"s crossbow being burned to ashes on the floor.