Sorcerer Girl: The Grey Fairy

[5power]

Sorcerer Girl
Interlude: The Friend
​

Carol stepped out of her father's car, onto the concrete sidewalk just outside Sir Vincent school.

She forced a smile onto her face, "Thank you for driving my dad." In all honesty, Carol didn't mind the idea of using the bus on the first day, but her father had to drive her to school, and she didn't have the heart of disappointing him. In truth, he was probably feeling a little guilty, because of the recent move.

Carol's dad, Thomas Westwood had eager to move to back to their home city for many, many years but West Crown wasn't in best of shapes so Carol's mother Catherine Westwood, had blocked every attempt, at first she did so subtle and then not so sublet after Carol was born. It wasn't until he got a big promotion that Carol's mother finally relented.

Carol didn't like the idea of moving at all, but her dad was so happy and even though she didn't show it much Carol's mum seemed to be excited to be moving back. Carol had decided not to say much on the subject and pretend less bothered by the move that she was. She wasn't sure how well her act worked given that they were spoiler her more than usual.

"It was my pleasure honey," Thomas smiled, "Try to have a nice day and call us if something goes wrong with the bus."

"I will dad, see you," Carol said before shutting the car door behind her.

So here it was Carol's school for the seeable future, Sir Vincent. She had only visited it once when her dad had taken to visit late summer to see if she was ok with it. Today the school felt a lot bigger.

Carol a deep calming breath, her grandfather, had told that when possible one should try to make the best out of any given situation. So if she was going to be intending new school then the best thing to do to make a good first impression. Carol put on a strong smile and walked into the school.

Fifteen minutes later Carol stood in front of the class, the group as a whole was thankfully no hint of the shady awful carp she heard online about the schools in worse off place in the city. There about fourteen students with a roughly even dived of boys and girls, a few near the back goofing off while most were paying attention to her.


"Hello my name is Carol Westwood it is a pleasure to meet," said Carol while smiled, her new classmates started muttering amongst the gist seemed mostly positive, a first good impression.

"Carol's family moved to West Crown this summer and will be attending this school for the foreseeable future, so try to make her feel welcome," The teacher a lovely woman named Miss Clarke explained. There was some more excited muttering; then Miss Clarke decided to quit the class down.

"Ok, calm down everyone, if you have any further about Carol, you can ask her after class," The students quickly stopped talking.

Miss Clarke turned to Carol, "Alright your desk is over there." She directed Carol to the desk on the right end of the middle lane, behind a girl with orange hair who was gazing out of the window, with a bored expression on her face.

Carol thanked Miss Clarke and sat down at her desk. The lesson itself was just some basic English nothing too stressful after it was over one of the students a brunette girl approached Carol.


"Hello Carol, my name Julie Stark," Julie offered her hand to Carol.

Carol wasted no time in responding to the friendly gesture. She shook Julie's hand.

"So my friends and I were talking, and we were wondering if you would like to join us for lunch?"

"Of course see you there," Carol accepted without hesitation.

The rest of the week went incredibly well, she spent every lunch with her new friends and even got invited to hang out after school and on the weekends.

It wasn't until after the first week of school that Carol noticed something a little strange. On the table directly across from the one, Carol and her friends were using, sat in the same spot as she always did, a short girl with orange hair. What was her name again….Sophia Blake was it.


"Was her story?" Carol inquired.

"You mean Sophia?" Julie asked.

Carol nodded firmly.

"Well you see during the first week of our first-year school, Sophia was always quiet and gloomy, it looked like she just wanted to be left, so everyone did.
"But there was this guy from our class called Dave, for some reason started harassing Sophia, at first she didn't react beyond the odd warning and nasty glare. But then one day Dave decided to be just a little bit meaner and said something bad about Sophia's mom and well she just explored.

One moment she was just glare at Dave then before anyone could react she punched him so hard his nose broke, then she punched him three more times before kneeing the guy stomach and kicking him in the leg.

"It was only then a couple of teachers were able to restrain Sophia. By that point, she was scream like a monster while Dave was floor shaking."

It took a while for Carol to absorb the story she just heard fully. One the main reason Carol's mom had been so reluctant to move back to West Crown, was that the city had infamous for horrible schools and had taken a lot of talking on the part of her dad to convince his wife that Sir Vincent school was safe enough to send there Carol to.

If she ever found out about this event, there was a good chance that she would overreact and...Well, she would probably start demanding that Carol be pulled out of Sir Vincent, then she would calm down, maybe. So yeah Carol was going to keep this little story to herself.


Many hours later Carol lying on her bed stare at the ceiling she, while the sound of rushing water came from the bathroom as her mother was preparing a bath. Her mind drifted to Sophia Blake, Carol couldn't but think the other girl looked so damn lonely, coming to school day after day without anyone to speak she must be having a very dull time.

It was that moment made Carol a decision she was going to befriend Sophia Blake, mostly out of sympathy with just a hint of curiosity.

Time passed until the lunch break of the next day, the room was packed as, and just like usual Sophia was sitting at the same table.

As her friends sat down to eat Carol stopped, "Actually I think I will site with Sophia today."


The entire group looked at her with both worry and a bit of shock. "Why would?" They all asked at the same time.


Carol smiled sadly, "It's just that is doesn't seem just right leave her alone, without even talking to her."

"But what if you say or do the wrong thing and she attacks you?" Julie asked with concern.


Carol clenched her right hand into a fist and slammed it into her left palm. "Don't worry I can handle myself," Carol smiled, with fire in her eyes.

"Ok then, but be careful alright." Carol nodded and approached the table where Sophia sat dispassionately eating her meal.

"Can I sit here?" Carol question caused Sophia to look up from her meal. She gave the other girl a questioning look, which held for a few seconds before beginning replaced with her usual dull expression.


"It's a free country," She said before returning to her meal.

Well at least Carol hadn't been to get lost that was a start, she sat across from Sophia and started trying to probe the other girl into a conversation, most of the time Carol only got a few words out of the moody girl.

This process continued every other weekday, until out of the blue Sophia looked Carol straight in the eye. "Why doing keep trying to talk to me?"

Carol's eye widened with surprise, "If I'm bothering I can leave."

"That's not it what meant, I'm curious why are you spend so much time on me when could be hanging out with your friends or doing any number of things that would better use of your time."

"Well," Carol need to choose her words carefully, "Ever since I started coming you have been alone, I have never seen you hang out with or even talk with anyone."

"Why does that bother you? I never carded," Sophia's eyes didn't break their stare.

"I think everyone deserves some company, or at least that is what my grandfather taught."

There was an awkward stalemate, then suddenly the two girls burst into laughter. Both Carol and Sophia then relaxed and let the previous pressure dissolve away.

"Hey, I know you're probably not interested but I don't have any plans this weekend, so I was wondering would like to come over to my house."


Sophia looked back at Carol with surprise, "This is the first time anyone has ever offered me that."

"Holy hell this girl is lonely." Now Carol was now even more determined to get Sophia to hang out with her.

"Well, in that case, it will be a new experience for you."

Sophia still didn't seem conceived. "Oh come!" Carol was now started feeling flustered.

There were a few more moments of hesitancy and then Sophia eventfully relented.

"Fine, I will come over to your house."

"Excellent!" Carol cheered, "Exchange contact information."


Carol would not see Sophia until she heard the ringing of the doorbell. Carol excitedly pull the door open to see Sophia, the other girl was wearing a snow white hoodie and jeans, her body was twitching slightly, and her posture had an awkward quality.

"Don't just stand come in," Carol beaked eagerly.


Sophia stepped inside and took in the view that was Carol's home.

"It smells like peach," Sophia commented.

That wasn't the reaction Carol excepting, oh well she just needed to roll with the punches.

"That's probably the air freshener my Mom likes to put around the house."

Sophia didn't say anything instead she looks started. This was going south fast! Carol needed to think of something, her eyes immediately darted to the living room and then there was a flash of inspiration!

"Hey, my family keeps a whole bunch of games in the living would like to try one out?"


Sophia thought about the suggestion for a moment. "It's your house I will go with whatever you want to do."


Not the best reason to do something but progress was progress, so Carol took and leaded Sophia into the living room. If asked to describe her living room in one word Carol would use cosy, a calm green carpet with four equally bright green chairs surrounding a coffee table. A couple of feet from the table was widescreen TV and bit further away from that was an electric fire and in the right corner was cupboard where various board games were stored.


After a little bit of rummaging around Carol pulled out the checkerboard and placed it on the table.

"So do you know the rules?" Carol asked with a playful smile.

"I have played a few times against an A.I on the internet."

"Ok since you already know the rules," Carol reached into her back pocket and pulled out a fifty pence conic. "Want to flip to decide who goes first?"


Several hours later Sophia had a smug smile as she dispatched the last of Carol's pieces, "And with that I'm victors."

Carol glared at the board, "I was so close to too, damn it." She then smiled and locked determined eyes with Sophia, "I want a rematch!"

Sophia grinned and grabbed one of her pieces and placed back on the board, "Bring it on."


After Carol the won the rematch, she gave Sophia a quick tour of the house and then sat down to watched a movie and then it was time for Sophia to headed home.

"Thank you for inviting me over, it was fun," Sophia said as he stepped outside.

"I'm glad you liked, anyway see on Monday."

Sophia smiled and opened her mouth to say; then she hesitated thought about for a moment and turned around, "See you soon." Then she turned around and headed to our stop.


A couple of weeks later Carol was sitting in English class eagerly watching the clock countdown to the moment were school would end, and she could go home.

"Finally before you leave I have a bit of homework for all of you."

The classroom was immediately filled with quite annoyed grounds, Miss Clarke ignored her students and continued, "It will require you to write a piece explaining your ideal job. Don't worry if you aren't sure to make something up, the paper needs to be at least two thousand words and needs to hang in by the end of next week."


With that students start gathering their stuff and eagerly heading out of the classroom. As Carol stood up from her desk, Sophia approached her, "Hey would alright if we met up at Druid's Peek there is some stuff I need to get off my chest."


That sounds serious, "Ok, just let me call me, and we will head right there."


Was Druid's Peek one of the highest points in West Crown from there you could see the entire city and the sea which is stretched well into the horizon, the water glowing a bright dazzling orange due to setting sun.


"Sometimes when I'm having a horrible day I like to come up here and think," Sophia explained as she stared at the setting sun.


"So did so did bad something?" Carol asked.

"No its just that homework assignment got me thinking about a lot of stuff." Sophia reached her hand towards the sunset.


"I'm guessing this stuff is more serious than just not being able to decide what write."

"It's quite the opposite I know what I want to do but, "Sophia moved her had away from the sun and looked at Carol with a bitter smile.

"Promise me you won't laugh because my dream is really stupid."


"You are probably too hard on your self, but I promise."


"I want to become a hero of justice." That statement complete caught Carol off guard.

"I know, I know, its vague and dumb and childish," Sophia rested both her arms on the barrier and looked down sorrowful manner.

"That wasn't always the case; when I was really little, I wanted to be a writer."

"Were you any good?" Carol asked.

"I don't know probably not, anyway one day while out on a trip to Lake Alfred I fell into the lake and almost drowned and was then rescued by a man who then disappears like a puff of smoke. Since that day I became obsessed with becoming a hero that saved people and achieved amazing feats like the characters in stories I read or like the man who rescued."

"Then something happened that caused to give."

Sophia nodded, "It took me a while to really notice, but suddenly mom and dad turned cold to each other and sometimes when I was out of sight I could hear them arguing then one day after a stormy night the police came to the house and told us that Mom had died in car accident."

Sophia face tightened up as if to hold back a flood of tears. "Since that day Dad started to do everything his power to avoid me, he always goes to work early before I get up, barely says a word to me at home no matter how well or how badly I'm doing." Small flow tears fell down Sophia's cheek as she poured out her heart. "And the worst part is that I don't know even why, sometimes in the back of mind I wondered if he blames, I have tried to ask many times, but he always walked away without saying a word, it's just so frustrating that I just want break something!"
Sophia gripped her hand into a tight iron fist and slammed it against the barrier and small drops of blood burst from her knuckle while her eyes glared at the city with angry, then just as it appeared the rush raged died out like an ember and Sophia broke down into tears.


Carol at that moment tried desperately tried to find the right words to say but she couldn't. Compared to what Sophia had experienced Carol's worst experience didn't even come close, sure her dad couldn't be around often due to work but she always either had her mom or grandfather around, so she had never had to endure the soul-crushing loneliness that Sophia had.


Without any hesitation, Carol approached Sophia and wrapped her arms letting the other girl have a good long cry. Eventually, Sophia was able to regain her composer and wiped her tears away.

"Thank you I need it," Sophia said while making an embarrassed chuckled.

Carol looked at Sophia's hand which looked like was in a very nasty state with blood flowing from it and bruises were already begin to form.

"Your hand in pretty bad shape, I have some stuff home that will help patch it up."

Sophia was about say something but then took one look her hand and recognised. "Alright lead the way.



One year later

Sophia sat on her bed staring at the tiny faint scar on her knuckle.

"Is something bothering you?" Exile asked.

"No, just thinking," Sophia got up from her bed wondered over to the light switch next to her door. A second later the room when went dark and Sophia drifted off to sleep.

 

[5power]

Going back to school was surreal, very surreal. Superficially, nothing had changed. Sophia still got on the same bus with the same people at roughly the same time. Classes happened on the same days in the same rooms taught by the same teachers. This mundane cycle was totally incongruous with the bizarre, wondrous and incredibly dangerous world that Sophia had recently joined. It was like she was existing on a completely different plane to all the other people around her. It wasn't that she felt superior to them in any way, she just felt out of place, then again, she had always felt like that, but now the gap felt much bigger.

Suddenly, Sophia's phone vibrated in her skirt pocket; she pulled it out and saw that she had gotten a text from Mr Brown. It read: In meeting won't be in school today call if there is an emergency.

"Who is it?" Carol asked, almost startling Sophia. She quickly shoved her phone back into her pocket, denying Carol the chance to see the text.

"Just something related to my new job." The explanation was as much for Exile who was hiding behind a glamour spell as it was for Carol.

"Anything interesting?" Carol probed.

"Nothing, one of my fellow employees, was telling me to call him in an emergency."

Thankfully Carol didn't press any further, and the two of them, plus Exile entered the school. As much as she wanted to tell Carol everything, the time wasn't quite right. Like most weekdays, the halls were packed with students though everyone was a bit grumpier since it was a Monday.

"Watch where you are going, IDIOT!" There was a crashing sound as Alan was shoved to the ground by Jason, his stuff scattering into a disorganised mess.

Alan immediately got to his feet, scowling while rubbing his neck.
"Why do keep sticking your nose in where it isn't wanted?"

"I don't know. Why are you so pathetic?" Retorted Alan

Jason looked annoyed but then suddenly grinned, "You call me pathetic, but you're a lonely freaky bitch who spends all his time moping in the corner waiting to be lured out by his dumbass girlfriend."

Rage immediately began to boil within Sophia. She took a step forward with a raised fist. Both Carol and Exile immediately rushed forward to stop her. She raised her fist, and Jason braced himself for the punch, only for Sophia to lower it.

"You know what? You aren't worth it," Sophia turned around and started walking back to Carol.

"That's it. Just walk away, you cowardly bitch just like your mum."
The moment those vile words reached her ears, the rage that Sophia had suppressed exploded like a volcano. Suddenly the rest the world faded into a blur, the only things that existed was herself and Jason, the only thing on her mind was wiping that smirk from the bastard's face.

Without even thinking, Sophia marched over and shoved Jason. She expected him to topple over and fall to the floor. Instead, the boy went flying and slammed into a locker near the end of the hallway. There was a horrible cry that overlapped with a crack of flesh and bone hitting metal.
The entire hallway shocked into stunned silence as every single student stopped to stare at Sophia with their mouth hanging open. Sophia, on the other hand, just looked down the hall in horror. A second later she was running to a nearby restroom.

"Sophia, what the hell you were thinking?" Exile asked with a mixture of concur and stern anger.

"I am sorry," Sophia answered while gazing at herself in the mirror, her hands shaking with shock.

"Damn right, you should be sorry. If you hadn't had your restraint on, you might have hospitalised or even killed that boy!"

"I know," was the only response that Sophia gave.

"I gave you your powers because I thought I could trust you, but if you are recklessly lashing out at every single fool who gets under your skin, I'm going to have to terminate our pact. You understand, right?" Exile finished this time sounding more like a concerned parent.
A part of Sophia wanted to argue, but she knew it was fruitless, Exile was right she did need to control herself, especially after acquiring such strength, today's mistake couldn't happen again.

The door behind Sophia swung open as Carol stormed into the restroom looking pretty damn angry. Sophia had never really seen Carol be anything but laid back and occasionally annoyed, just another sign proving how badly Sophia had screwed up.

"What the hell was that?!" Carol yelled. Sophia was about to explain herself, but Carol cut in, "And don't try to bullshit me. You just shoved Jason further than most fully grown men could. I know you have always been strong for your size, but what you just pulled off should be physically impossible, so what the fuck is going on?"

Sophia just stared back at Carol, trying to find a way to explain everything that at least sounded sane if not plausible, but nothing came to mind, so there was only one option left.

"Exile turned off your glamour spell."

The fairy did as requested as he lost his translucent appearance, Carol's body jolted in surprise, "Where the hell did that cat come from?"

Before either Sophia or Exile could explain anything, there was a faint hissing sound as a strange mist slipped its way under the door and started filling the room, turning everything red.

Carol began to breathe heavily as her body took an uncharacteristically unhealthy appearance. "I feel dizzy…." Carol trailed off as she collapsed, Sophia, rushed and urgently grabbed her.
"Exile, what the hell is going on?" Sophia asked as she turned her head to see the gem attached to Exile's paw.

"If I had to guess, a damaged fragment is active, and its corruption has manifested itself as this fog, which is draining everyone of their magical energy." Exile explained as he touched Carol's head, his paw glowed for a moment, and his face became urgent, "This is bad; we need to seal the fragment as soon we can."

Suddenly there was a loud stomp, then another and another. Sophia summoned her sword and shoved the door open back into the hall with Exile following close behind. It wasn't a pretty sight, the floor was littered with the unconscious bodies of all the students and staff.

A strange malformed creature with glowing red eyes emerged from around the corner, Its left arm was just a bit longer than its right, Its right hand was three times larger than its counterpart. Growing out the back of its neck was a huge jagged red crystal. While these features were twisted and horrific, the thing that disturbed Sophia was the fact that she recognised him.

"Alan!!!, How did he end up like this?"

"My worst fears have just come true, he must have stumbled across a dormant fragment and picked it up which activated it. And then it fused with him like with the pigeon."

So it had finally happened, in all honesty, Sophia should have expected this, it was only a matter of time before some curious bystander saw a shiny red crystal, picked it up and turned into a monster. But the idea that it would happen to someone that Sophia knew in a place that she visited five days a week stunned her.
"Any hints before, I go out there?"

"Since the boy is both large and far more intelligent than a pigeon, he has raw magical power at a much higher level, which means he will be a lot more dangerous."

So it wasn't going to be an easy fight, hopeful Sophia might have a way of avoiding it.

"Exile, do you think I could possibly reason with him? "It might be possible, but in his current state of mind, the slightest thing could trigger him off him so be very careful."

With that warning given, Sophia stepped into view, "Alan."

Upon hearing his name, the boy turned beast called Alan stopped, "Oh hello Sophia." His voice seemed calm, but one could easily feel the rage that was bubbling just below the surface, "Sorry, but I don't have time to talk. I need to kill Jason." He then started moving away only for Sophia to block his path.

Alan's red eyes narrowed, "Get out of the way, Sophia."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Sophia said sternly as she tightly gripped the hilt of her sword.

"Why?! Jason deserves it!" Alan's calm broke as he started screaming with pure hatred. "He is a piece of crap whose only real talent is making me miserable so no one will miss him!" It was becoming evident that Alan wasn't going to listen to reason, but despite that, Sophia tried anyway.

"Alan, I get it. Jason is a massive asshole, but he doesn't need to die, and he isn't worth becoming a murderer for," Sophia pleaded desperately, but Alan simple ignored her and tried to move around her. Sophia immediately barred his path.

"Last chance, get out my way!"
Sophia didn't budge, "If you really want to kill Jason, then you are going to have to go through me."

Alan's eyes narrowed into snake-like slits, "Then you will die." He raised his misshapen arm. It glowed red before firing a bolt of magical energy at Sophia. She spoke her magic words and ducked behind a corner, shifting into her sorcerer outfit mid-movement as the bolt exploded.

"So much for diplomacy, time for force," Sophia leapt around into the hallway only for a bombardment of blueprints to flow into her, overwhelming her mind.
"Bloody…lockers," she muttered while forcing the flow of information to slow down, unfortunately doing so left her vulnerable.

Alan screamed like a wild beast and slammed the floor, causing a tidal wave of red lighting to erupt from it. Sophia had no time to dodge, and it struck her. Every single muscle was howled with intense agony like it was being sliced by thousands of tiny knives. There was an explosion, and Sophia was sent flying through a wall.

Up until that point, the most painful thing Sophia had experienced was when she accidentally cut herself on a broken beaker while in science class at her old school that experience didn't even come close to the agony of trying to stand up after being electrocuted and blown up.

Sophia groaned as she tried to stand up, but her progress was sluggish, and Alan was readying another attack. Sophia was on her knees, if she could just get to her feet, there might be a chance of surviving. She just needed a few more seconds.

"Back off!" Exile voice cried out as an orb of white light slammed into the side of Alan's head. The boy turned monster sprung around and charged at Exile, knocking the fairy aside.

The distraction hadn't lasted long, but it was long enough for Sophia to get to her feet. Sophia ran towards Alan. Her plan was simply to shove him close to a locker and use her power to turn it into a means of containing him, a prison.

Of course, Alan wasn't just going let Sophia get close and began unleashing an energy bolt. Sophia tossed her sword at the bolt, causing a small explosion of smoke even so she kept rushing forward ready to use her bare hands to get the job done when an entire bombardment of red lightning bolts came thundering out of the smoke right towards her.

Sophia leapt sideways but was nicked on the right side of her abdomen, the bolt burnt through her sorcerer's armour, leaving behind nasty smoking burning wounds.

Sophia gritted her teeth and fell to her knees, she was panting and feeling dizzy as Alan charged up for another attack. This wasn't good. Sophia couldn't take another hit, but she needed to close the gap. Maybe she could use some surrounding material to make a shield? No that wouldn't work, all the metal within reasonable reach was inside the school with Alan, she was outside surrounded only by grass.

Dammit! She was out of time; Alan wasn't going to stop until Sophia was dead. That couldn't happen. If she failed Jason, everyone else could die, including Carol.

Sophia gripped her hands into knuckles in frustration. She just needed something to work with, hell it would be great if she didn't need premade material. If she could just create metal whenever it was needed.
"Can you surpass me?" A familiar and powerful memory suddenly burst forth from the back of her mind. It was from the dream that Sophia had a night ago, all this time she had been wondering if there had been any deeper meaning or whether it was the result of her mind trying to deal with the massive change that was happening in her life.

But maybe it was her power's way of communicating with her. Was that even possible, did that make sense? Unfortunately, Sophia didn't have any more time to consider it, Alan's attack was about to finish charging up.

Sophia attempted to focus on that dream and remember how she created that sword. First, she pictured the blueprint of the object that she wished to create, then Sophia imagined the material she wanted to use, in this case, it was Avalon metal. Finally, she combined those two elements together to create the perfect image of the object; then she began to call on the magic within her body. Her right arm suddenly felt like it was going to explode as if every vein in her limb was going to erupt.
There was a massive blinding flash of golden light, and a metal kite shield appeared on her arm. It wasn't a perfect recreation of the image that Sophia had in her head. The metal wasn't true fairy steel but some bizarre Frankenstein material which had the strength of Avalon metal while also being as brittle as glass.

Before any further investigation could be made, Alan fired a bolt of lightning. Sophia immediately threw up her shield and prayed that it would work. Upon being struck, it shattered into thousands of tiny pieces, but it did its job, and Sophia was still in one piece.

There were no more options left, Sophia needed to make her move now. She got to her feet and charged at Alan who unleashed blast after blast of red lightning. Sophia created copies of her shield in response. Each of them shattered just like the original absorbing only enough force to prevent their creator from being knocked over. Each cycle was just as painful as the first, from that alone, Sophia could tell that the process was putting a massive amount of strain on her arm.

Sophia was just a few feet away from when Alan was quick with another blast of lightning, Sophia tried to create a shield in response, but the moment she tried there was a sickening cracking sound as a fountain of blood erupted from her arm. She stopped to grab her arm and screamed in pain. Alan fired his lightning, and Sophia just barely ducked just in time to avoid it.

With the gap now closed, Sophia lunged desperately, slamming Alan into a locker then with her good arm she touched the locker and quickly reshaped it into a mass of chains that could keep him in place. The possessed boy struggled against his bounds like an angry bear in a cage.

"Exile we need to remove the fragment now!"
Exile who had just got up after being pummelled rushed over and began glowing green, "I Exile A Guardian of Forbidden Knowledge command you to separate!"

With that, Alan glowed green as the large red crystals growing out of his neck were pulled away by Exile's magic. His body quickly reshaped back to his usual size, and he slipped out of the chains.

At the same time, the red crystals shrank into a fragment that was no bigger than Sophia's ears before disappearing into Exile's storage gem.
Sophia finally put her restraint back on, her tattered and ripped sorcerer cloth turning back into a perfectly intact uniform. She had never felt so exhausted in her life; her head was pounding from a massive headache brought on by constantly trying to keep control of all those metal blueprints while fighting at the same time. Her body was aching all over from bruises scratches and burns, and her right arm was a bloody mess.

It wasn't too surprising when Sophia vomited on the floor before collapsing into unconsciousness; Exile's cries quickly being smothered by darkness.

 

[5power]

Interlude - A Meeting at a Pub​

Mathew Graves stepped into the pub called Red Cane and stepped inside. It had a pretty friendly atmosphere; it had been carefully crafted to feel warm and welcoming. However, while it was usually a loud and boastful place, the pub was now tensely quiet. People only spoke occasionally, and when they did, it was always done in hushed tones.

Mathew still remembered the excited little girl begging her parents to buy something from his shop. There was a good chance that Mathew would have forgotten her entirely if not later that same week when the girl and her family came back to the shop.

This time she was different; her excitement was mixed with a great deal of nervousness, especially whenever Mathew looked her. The parents had explained that their daughter had been obsessed about metalworking ever since they visited his shop. They were wondering if he would be willing to teach her. After having a chat with his wife, Mathew decided to give it a try.

The first couple of lessons was used to teach Sophia all about health and safety. He expected her to be annoyed and complain but was pleasantly surprised when Sophia took every word seriously and didn't complain once. When the time came to start using the tools of the trade, she learned incredibly quickly, producing work that put anything he had made at that same age to shame. Sophia was also pleasant to be around, always jumping to each lesson with great vigour, always willing to listen to Mathew when he talked about something other than metalworking and Sophia was still willing to share any new little facts over tea. In truth, teaching Sophia was one of the most pleasant surprises that Mathew had in his entire life.

Then the light in Sophia dimmed. It wasn't immediately apparent, but she would always go through a lesson with pain in her eyes. The passion for the craft would blow it away, but it would come back the next time she visited Mathew's shop. The source of that pain was no mystery to Mathew, and it was time to chat with a certain man about it.

Mathew walked up to the front desk, "Excuse me but is Jack Blake here?"

"Why are you looking for him?" The bartender asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I just need to have a word with him," Mathew explained. That seemed to satisfy her as she pointed to a nearby table in the corner at which Jack Blake was sitting staring at a photo with sad longing his eyes.

Matthew approached the table and pulled up a seat, "You know I'm disappointed that you aren't at the hospital with your daughter."

"She doesn't want me there," Jack replied while keeping his eyes wholly fixed on the photograph.

This response irritated Matthew. He was unable to tolerate the self-pity that radiated from the other man. He slammed his fist onto the table, finally causing Jack to break from his almost dream-like trance and give the smith his full attention.

"This is the kind of behaviour that I came to talk about!" Matthew cried and stood up. This caused many of the other patrons to stop what they were doing. Some stared at him with annoyance, others out curiosity or some combination of the two. Having caused a scene, Matthew sat back down and forced himself to calm down; it was times like these that he wished that he had a third of his wife's patience.

"Your daughter has just been hospitalized, and you are just sitting in a pub feeling sorry for yourself."

Jack opened his mouth to make an excuse, but Matthew cut him off swiftly. "Sophia doesn't hate you. She is angry at you because you always avoid her, and I think I know why."

"Because I'm the reason that Alison was driving the car that night," The mention of Jack's deceased wife brought a dark cloud over the table.

"You need to tell Sophia what happened. She has a right to know the full truth, and importantly, she needs to hear the truth."

"But if I tell her, she would....." Jack began feebly, but Mathew cut him off with ease.

"She would what hate you if she found out that you screwed up your marriage and that you're too cowardly to admit it," Matthew sighed with frustration.

"What do you want me to do?" Jack asked.

"First, I want you to get out of this pub and go check on your daughter. In the long term, I want you to find some courage and give her the full truth."

"I'm not sure I can do that."

At this point, Matthew lost any of his patients; he didn't want to resort to it, and he knew that Lilly wouldn't approve, but Sophia needed Jack to step up. It looked like that would only happen if someone else forced his hands.

"You are going to tell Sophia the truth otherwise I'm going to do it for you."

Upon hearing Matthew's ultimatum, an expression appeared other than overwhelming shame. His anger was muted compared to what his daughter was capable of but rage nonetheless.

"This is a private matter that you have no right to get involved in," Jack's voice raised just short of a shout.

"And you have no right to neglect your child's emotional and mental well-being." Being reminded of his failings cut down Jack's passion and let Matthew continue.

"You have three months to confess the truth. Your luck only gets you that much. After that, I'm going to tell Sophia everything."

"I can't do it," Jack said desperately.

"No, you're fully capable of telling the truth. You're just a coward," Matthew stood up. "You have wallowed in self-pity long enough; it is time for you to be a father again,"

Matthew then turned around and left Jack sitting at the table alone.

For about a minute Jack started at the pub door then he turned to look at the TV report about the gas leak that was still going on. He then turned to the photograph that he spent so much time staring at. It featured a four-year-old Sophia sitting on Lilly's lap. The image brought out bittersweet feelings.

Every night after having dinner, Jack would head out to this pub and sit in the corner, looking at this picture into Lilly's dark brown eyes while they filled with joy. An irrational part of Jack's mind felt they were judging him. They were telling him that he was unfit as a man, husband and father. Worse of all, he couldn't deny the criticism.

Suddenly the volume of the TV increased, pulling Jack away from the photo. The station was currently showing footage of students who were carefully being transported into an ambulance. Jack found himself thinking about Sophia lying in the hospital, hurt and alone. Perhaps Matthew was right; maybe it was time to start acting like a parent. Jack got out of his seat and headed to the door. He wasn't ready to explain the truth to her. Maybe he would never be, but right now, Jack could be there for Sophia at the very least.

Interlude - A Meeting at a Pub​

Upon entering his home, Matthew released a breath as the pressure from his meeting with Jack floated away.

"Did it go well?" Matthew turned his head to his wife, Sarah, who was standing in the hallway.

"I have given Jack my warning; I don't know if he will do anything, but one can hope."

"I still don't approve of this," Sarah spoke with displeasure.

"Jack needed that push to be a father again," Matthew said as he took off his shoes, "If it were just him, I would leave it alone, but I refuse to let Sophia be dragged down with him."

Matthew heard the front door creak open, and he turned around to see his niece, Jessica, who looked terrible. Her usually well kept light brown hair was messy, her skin was starting to look sickly, and the bags under her eyes were getting worse. A few months ago, a group of thugs entered the grocery store that belonged to Mathew's brother, Larry. They dressed it up in smooth words, but their meaning was precise. If Larry didn't pay them a large amount of money, the gang would hurt both his shop and his family. Larry was a man of pride and refused to pay them a single penny. A few days later, these same thugs set fire to the building and Larry was injured and hospitalized.

The damage was bad enough that the entire family had to move out while their home was entirely being rebuilt. While her mother and younger sister were living with family friends, Jessica had chosen to live with Matthew because of her part-time job. No one had said it out loud, but the stress was ruining the girl's health.

"Hello, Uncle," Jessica said before making a very deep yawn.

"Hey, Jessica, how was school?" Matthew asked, while another yawn escaped his niece's lips.

"It was ok," As she spoke, Jessica's eyes gazed longingly at the staircase to the upper floors.

"You know, dear, you don't look well so you should get some rest," Sarah suggested.

Jessica, in response, nodded in gratitude and slowly walked towards the staircase.

Matthew spent a few seconds watching his niece sadly walk upstairs with all the life of dying man. It was times like these that he wished life could be simple.