Terri headed for the front door where the car was pulling up to while I made my way around back. I slipped through the bamboo and entered the onsen area. Skirting around the edge of the hot spring, I snuck inside the house and made it to my room without anyone seeing me, not that I was avoiding anyone, but Alice. I hopped in my shower long enough to rinse off the light layer of sweat that had acc.u.mulated on me throughout the morning then I switched into some comfortable clothes, including a light jacket that could hide my horns when the hood was pulled up.About the time I finished, a knock came from the other side of my door. Terri poked her head in a moment later with a bit of disappointment in her eyes, but it quickly vanished as she opened the door completely and smiled at me.
"Alice wants you in her study," she said.
I nodded as I fixed my hood then stepped over to her. "Is there anything else?" I asked in a playful, hushed voice.
She pushed me away as she snickered, "You are worse than your brother."
"You wound me," I said, holding a hand over my heart in a dramatic fashion.
She rolled her eyes as she turned and left my doorway. While chuckling, I followed her down the hall and turned for Alice"s study while Terri made her way to the main room. I took a deep breath in before I placed a hand on the k.n.o.b and opened the door.
Alice"s study was nearly as large as a bedroom and even had its own personal bathroom, which made me wonder if it was originally a bedroom. The walls were filled with built-in bookshelves that were jammed-packed with books, journals, and random knick-knacks. There was a desk along the back wall under the window which was open to the garden, allowing the comfortable smells of flowers and herbs waft in throughout the room. In the center of the room were two couches placed across from each other with a small wooden table in between. A seemingly simple crystal ball was placed on a small marble pedestal, but it was the focus for Alice"s visions.
Alice was sitting so that she was facing the door and was now wearing a red blouse, that was on the verge of acceptability in most social settings, and form-fitting black leggings. She gave me a smile as I entered the room while another head turned to face me.
The woman sitting across from her was obviously Katye, our brand-new member of this strange group. Her hair was a bright violet color and was nearly as short as my own, but what was captivating about it, was that the ends seemed to release an illusion of flames and electricity. My eyes went straight for her neck and saw the same suppressing collar I had to wear for the first year after my bloodline had awakened because I had no way to control myself at the time. Her eyes were the same bright purple as her hair and clearly contained fear and confusion which I easily understood.
I made my way around the couch and sat down while I introduced myself and held out a hand, "Good morning, my name is Rebecca c.o.x, but everyone calls me Becca."
She looked down at my hand nervously, without any attempt to touch it, and said, "H… hi, I"m Katye. I"m sorry, but I can"t shake your hand."
"Go ahead and try Katye. Becca is like you and has a chaos bloodline, so there shouldn"t be any problem," Alice chimed in.
"Oh… okay," she responded.
She slowly reached out a hand and, only with a finger at first, touched my hand. I instantly understood her hesitation as electricity jumped from her hand to mine, but there was something about the energy that was unlike any of the other magic that the girls had. It didn"t hurt, in fact, it felt quiet pleasant as the bolt of energy danced around my hand and travel up my arm before it was absorbed by my skin.
"I"m so sorry, it"s never done that before," she said quickly.
"No, it actually felt nice. Care to explain, Alice?"
"It is because both of your bloodlines have been corrupted by chaos energy and, while its harmful to most people, it is beneficial to your body in particular. Dragons strengthen themselves by bathing in the natural forms of energy, so her chaos energy is the closest you can get to a natural source for the time being."
"Dragons?" Katye asked.
With a sigh, I pulled back by hood, revealing my horns, and said, "That is the source of my bloodline."
Her eyes widened at the sight of my horns, but she still had the best reaction of anyone so far as that was the only response she had to them.
"Your bloodline originates from a fairy, but like Becca, it is corrupted with chaos energy. It gives you amazing power, but it is far harder to control than normal forms of energy," Alice said.
Katye gave a small sigh then asked, "So, is this when you explain why this is happening to me and why the b.l.o.o.d.y American government kidnapped me?"
I gave a wry smile as Alice nodded and began her rehea.r.s.ed speech. "Long before written history, people told stories of creatures like minotaurs, qilin, thunderbirds, and such as well as stories of people who wielded powers that made them G.o.ds. By all modern understanding, it seems like they are just myths, but within ten years" time, likely sooner, the Earth will be plunged into a world of "myth".
"You, Becca, and the others that I have gathered here are all a part of the catalyst that started the ending of "Magicless Age". The "Great Ward" which had been blocking all forms of mana from entering Earth is now beginning to collapse. The ten of you are just the first to generate your own mana, but now, more people will begin to awaken the magics that have long slumbered in their blood.
"The problem is that the more people who start to develop magical abilities, the quicker the "Great Ward" will destabilize. Once it is completely gone, humanity will be forced to undergo a huge evolution and not everyone will be able to handle the change. To make matters worse, all the animals and plants will undergo the same, forced evolution rebecoming the creature of myth and even more dangerous things.
"I know my words are hard to believe, even in your current state, but I can "show" you the future that would exist without you ten," Alice said.
"Without us? Why not with us?" Katye asked.
I chuckled since I had also asked a similar question when Alice explained everything to Gustavo and me.
"For the same reason I gathered the ten of you. Your individual power is so strong that I can barely "see" you, so I hope that by bring you all together, you can change what I"ve "seen". Are you ready?" Alice asked as she picked up the crystal ball. She rolled it around in her hands, the inside turning cloudy, and tossed it Katye after she nodded.
When the ball touched her hand, she vanished while Alice"s study was replaced with the ruins of a strip mall. Since we were sitting so close, Alice and I were pulled into the vision as well, but we wouldn"t get the memories that went along with scenes that would play out; we were just along for the ride, seeing things through her eyes.
Although she wasn"t truly moving, she began walking down the road. Nature had reclaimed most of the buildings but there were still traces from a battle. When she turned the corner, she suddenly froze as she looked out over the water in the distance. Obviously, she realized where she was then she took off running for edge of the cliff and look over the city. It wasn"t hard to guess the city when I saw the skeletal remains of the Sydney Opera House. When I was the one who went through the vision, it was the fallen remains of Reunion Tower that made me realize I was seeing Dallas. The first of the scenes would always show you a major city, close to your heart, that you never thought would topple.
The surroundings blurred for a moment and we found ourselves along a riverbank and the edge of a forest. Not too far away, a tall wooden wall was under siege by strange, half-rat, half-man creatures wielding makeshift spears. Smoke was rising from within the encampment and creatures could be seen climbing over the wall in places. Suddenly, the metal gate swung open and a group of people rushed out of the burning city. The elderly and children were in the center of the group while several men and women made a ring around them, to fend off the attacks of the creatures.
They fought well, especially a woman who could shoot bolts of icy energy that would freeze anything it touched, but they were too outnumbered. While the fighters were bogged down with four or more of the Beastmen, more spilled by and began slaughtering the inside group. I could only watch on with my fist clenched in rage as I was helpless to stop anything. The location changed again, but the scene remained the same, only with different people and new monsters. There were several more jumps and, even though there were people who had the strength to survive, death was far too prevalent.
Slowly, the final vision of a few people abandoning the weaker members of their group as they fled into the desert began to fade and was replaced by Alice"s study. Katye was still sitting on the couch across from us, now with a few tears rolling down her cheeks. Unlike us, Katye was given information to help explain what she was seeing, so she was trying to sort out the foreign memories. It was nearly ten minutes before she fully awoke from her daze.
"The discomfort will fade in time, but now you have an idea what will happen. Humanity may not fully be destroyed, but the death toll will be in the billions.
"Even when things begin to settle into a balance with the creatures, far darker things will begin to rise. There was a reason why so many people that were revered as G.o.ds gave up their life as fuel for the Great Ward in hopes of blocking magic for good.
"My hope is that by training you now, when the ward falls completely, you can work together and give humanity a real chance. The United States"s government will be releasing information about the coming disaster to all the world leaders soon, along with my plan to help protect the different countries. The details will be ironed out after the conference, but your group will be instrumental in saving the world," Alice explained.
Katye was quite for several more minutes before she asked, "So, how do I fit into this group?"
"With your Chaos Fairy bloodline, you have a nearly limitless supply of mana to fuel ma.s.sive, destructive spells that stem from lightning, fire, darkness, arcane, and possibly more branches of magic," Alice said.
"Will you teach me how to control my bloodline?"
"I can give you a few pointers, but it all comes down to your own ability. Becca will be a big help to you since you won"t accidentally hurt her with your excess mana, so she will be looking after you for now."
"Thanks then," Katye said, giving me a nod.
"The best thing to start with is studying magic. Here," Alice said as, with her usual flare, she waved a hand behind her and several books flew out from the bookshelves then over to the table, where they stacked up neatly in front of Katye. "The only thing is, you won"t be able to use your magic while you are wearing the collar. Read through the books and see if you can understand anything before trying out something. I"d recommend having Becca nearby when you remove the collar. By now, your bloodline should have fully awoken, so you will feel some changes once its off."
Katye nodded as she reached down and picked up the book on top, looking over the cover. "Thank you for the warning. Even with the collar, I can feel some of the changes," she said without looking up.
"It just takes some getting used to, but it"s not so bad. At least, you aren"t stuck with horns," I said with a chuckle.
She smirked as the back of her shirt suddenly shook like some small critter was running loose across her back. "I"ve got my own problems."
I couldn"t help but smile in excitement. "You have wings?!?" I exclaimed.
Thankfully, she laughed and nodded. "Yes, I do, but I don"t think I could fly with them."
"Its very likely that you can actually. Fairies fly more by magic than the thrust from their wings. Even without studying magic, you should be able to fly if you practice," Alice added. "Why don"t you show her around and let her pick a room?" Which was Alice"s polite way of asking us to go.