Chapters A boy walked through a forest, the trees tall and lean, the branches too high up for anyone to climb. Well, at least in human form. The boy had his white tiger/wolf ears perked to her the sounds of the forest, his tail waving around thoughtfully. He stopped by a cave and knocked on one of the rocks. "Hey Naga! You home?"
He looked into the cave. A long green snake tail could be seen slithering around. A boy appeared from the cave, the snake tail replaced his legs. He yawned and opened his red-green eyes. "Yeah, I'm here. Inferno's here with me."
The boy twitched his ear. "She couldn't sleep again?"
Naga nodded and brushed his long silver hair out of his face. "So, what 'cha need Ace?"
"Help."
"With what?"
"Magic."
Naga looked at Ace confused. "But you can't use magic!"
Ace sighed. "I know! But I've got to try."
Naga thought for a moment. "Aetaes?"
"Yeah."
Naga smiled slyly. Ace twitched his tail in confusion. Why is he smiling? He thought. Then it hit him. He facepalmed. "No, it's nothing like that you idiot!"
Naga looked at him. "Then why would you want to learn magic?"
Ace rolled his eyes. "You know she died once, but was reborn right?"
"Yeah."
"Well, she might die again. But she might not be reborn if she does."
Naga rolled his eyes, "That's not likely."
"But possible."
Naga sighed "But why would you come to me for help? I don't know anything about magic!"
A girl stepped out of the cave, her white monkey tail curled in the air, and her short green-tipped black hair brushing lightly against her face. "I can help. I know a bit of magic."
Ace looked at her. "You sure Inferno?"
The girl nodded. "I can teach you what magic I know, but weather you have the ability to learn it is another question entirely."
Ace sighed. "That's a good question. How can I learn magic? I don't even know if I can use it!"
Inferno laid her red-brown eyes on Ace. "You want to protect her, right?"
"Yeah."
"So, magic I shall teach you."
Inferno grabbed Ace's wrist and started dragging him into the forest. Ace struggled for her to let go. "W-wait! Where are we going!?!"
"There's a clearing not far from here. It'll be the perfect place to practice."
Day passed as their magic sessions went on. Naga would come watch them from time to time, to see how it was going. Ace didn't mind, just as long as no one told Aqua he was taking magic lessons. If she found out he was, and his reason behind it, she'd never let go that she thought this meant he "liked" Aetaes. That was never the reason. Everyone else seems to have some sort of power, and Aetaes is too weak to defend herself. He just wanted to help protect her, just like Star and Taern. He still wonders how Taern protects Aetaes, after all she is blind. Then again, she does seem to have holy magic. A lot of holy magic. He shook his head and cleared his thoughts. He had to concentrate. Inferno was teaching him defense magic. He was getting pretty good, but his magic was still weak. She fired a fire ball at him. Ace held out his arms and made a shield. The fire ball hit the shield and projected itself back at Inferno. Inferno simply jumped out of the way, letting it hit the small pool behind her. She nodded. "Very good. You know the basics of defense magic. Now, lets try some combat magic."
People were running back and forth in the room, putting programs into a computer or fixing up machines. A single girl sat in the middle of the room, watching everyone as they ran around almost in a panic state, her white tiger/wolf ears laid flat to cut out the noise. Her short white tiger/wolf tail wrapped around her leg. The fifteen year old adjusted her glasses let her blue-grey eyes wander to the machine that they would soon use. It was tall, and fairly big. A single tube ran down the center of it. "You sure you wanna do this Aetaes?"
The girl turn to see who was talking. A woman stood in front of her, her blue-tipped white wolf ears perked, and her white wolf tail waving nervously, her long blond hair covered half of her face. The girl nodded. "We've got to get him back."
The girl quickly darts her blue eye toward the machine. "But we don't even know if this is possible!"
Aetaes twitched her ear. "I did it once, Star!"
The girl looked sternly at her. "Yes, but only when you were killed, Aetaes Wolf! And that is not a chance we are willing to take!"
Star walked away, Aetaes muttered under her breath. "I still did it!" She thought back to when she first crossed worlds. It's only been six months since she first arrived, but is seems like a long time ago. When I first crossed.... She thought, I had no memory of my life. She had to admit, Star was right. The first time she crossed over, was when she was killed. She remembered. Remembered how she was killed.
She had been walking down a road, on her way home. From what? School? A friend's house? She shook her head, unable to remember. But she was walking, the sun was hot, but the wind kept her cool. A strange cloaked man came out from an alley and grabbed her. She struggled, trying to break free, but was unable to. The man took a knife from his cloak and sliced her eyes. She screamed and fell onto the ground, she could feel the blood pouring from her eyes. She felt the knife pierce her back, and she slammed against the ground. Tears ran down her face from the pain. She felt something against her head. The last things she heard was a gunshot.
Aetaes awoke back in the room, tears ran down her face and the pain from her memory clung to her. Star had wrapped her arms around Aetaes, trying to comfort her. Aetaes grabbed Star, crying from the pain. "Make it stop....Make the pain stop!"
Star rested her hand on Aetaes' head. "It's alright, the dream is over. You're back in this world, not the world you are from."
Aetaes hugged Star, the pain was fading but the memory still clung. The memory of her, six years old, being murdered.
Aetaes woke up the next morning, and headed to the main room. It was another day of everyone working frantically to get the machine online. Aetaes sighed and went back into her room. She laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She thought back to her old world. Will going to this new world change my age again? Or my species? She sighed. She knew she was once a human, but she became a neko when she crossed worlds. No one even knows how she was able to cross worlds, this is a mystery even to her. She didn't question it though, she just felt lucky to be alive. Even if her only memory of that world was of her death. Aetaes slipped in her white tiger form and curled up into a ball. She was scared, but she knew she had to get him back. Star walked into the room. "Aetaes, you alright?" She looked at the white-tiger Aetaes on the bed. "Nervous?"
Aetaes looked at her. "You can tell?"
Star nodded. "You're in that form when ever you're nervous."
Aetaes sighed. "I just don't see how I can do this."
"Aetaes."
"I did it once, but there's no guarantee I can do it again!"
"Aeteas."
"What if it doesn't work? Or if I die again?"
"Aetaes!"
"Hmm?"
"Human form. Now."
"What? But I-"
"NOW!"
Aetaes rolls her eyes. "Fine."
She slipped into her human form, shaking her head and adjusting her glasses so they sit perfectly on her face.
Star sighed. "I don't get why someone who's crossed worlds before can be so nervous about doing it again!"
Aetaes threw her pillow Star, it hit her face and fell on the floor. "I don't get how a vampire can be around so many people and not attempt to feed!"
Star threw the pillow back at Aetaes, it hit her head and fell behind her. "Half vampire."
Aetaes waved her tailed and smiled amusingly. "Still a vampire!"
"Yes, but at least I don't drink blood!"
Aetaes thought for a moment. "Touché."
Star never told Aetaes that she was a half vampire. She never had to. Aetaes has a way of "sensing" things about people. She could have just met someone, and she would already know everything about them. Though, she always kept what she knew a secret, knowing that some things would be better off a secret.
Star waved her tail. "Now get up, Taern's gonna teach you some defensive spells."
"Defensive spells? But I already know them!"
"No, these are advanced spells. Now hurry, she's waiting for you downstairs."
"Oh." Aetaes got up and ran out the door. She stopped and ran back infront of her room "Hey-"
"At the end of the hall on your left."
"Right. Thanks!" Once again, Aetaes ran off, making her way through the building. She raced through the halls and down a flight of stairs, until she stood in front of a door. Training, right. This should be interesting. She sighed. Maybe Taern will be able to tell me what will happen if I go through with this.
Aetaes opened the door in front of her, and looked inside. The room was brightly lit, and the floor was bare. She guessed they moved what ever was in the room for the magic training. A woman sat in the middle of the room. Her blue tiger ears perked to hear the sounds all around her. Her faded blue eyes fixed on Aetaes. Aetaes shivered. She felt like the woman was staring straight into her soul. Aetaes took a step forward. "Taern?"
The woman's eyes blinked and she shook her head, coming back to reality. She scanned the room and stood up, her eyes falling on Aetaes. "Oh, you're here."
Aetaes could never figure out how the nineteen-year old knew where everything was, even though she was blind. Taern had told her once it's because her senses were heightened to accommodate her blindness, so she can sense what and where everything is. Aetaes laid one ear flat. "Do you know how creepy it is when you're in that state?"
"So I've been told many times by Star."
"Right...Anyway she said you were going to teach me some magic?"
Taern nods. "Defensive spells. More advanced then the ones you know."
She stands up and hand Aetaes a small bottle filled with clear liquid. "Here, drink this."
Aetaes take the bottle. "Thanks........What is it?"
"It's a small remedy I made, so you won't feel weak after you use the spell for a few minutes."
"Oh..." Aetaes stares at the small bottle. This will help me..?
"Don't stare at it, just drink it." Taern turns and walks to one end of the room.
Aetaes twitches her ear. "Uh...Right, sorry." She takes the cork off the top and holds the small bottle to her mouth, drinking the liquid inside. Tastes sweet, kinda like honey.
Her ear twitched. She heard something. It was coming strait for her. She jumps out of the way just as a bolt of light strikes the ground, causing her to drop the bottle. The bottle breaks on the ground, sending shards or glass flying. Golden wings sprout from Aetaes' back, helping her land safely. She looks in front of her. Taern is standing at the far end of the room, her eyes glowing blue. "So, your senses are intact." Thick fog emanates from her, it quickly fills the room. "How's your instinct?"
Aetaes looks around the room, the fog making it impossible for her to see anything. She slowly walks through the fog, putting her hand out in front of her to feel for a wall. Her golden wings are held in the air, her blue-grey eyes continually scanning what's around her. I can't see a damn thing! I can't even hear anything! What am I supposed to do!? She blinked. Oh, right. My instincts. She sighs and closes her eyes, wrapping her wings around herself. She let go of all her senses.
Her eyes flickered open and she back flipped, a bolt of light hitting right where she was standing. Her feet hit the wall. She kicked off, and began to run along the wall. Two more. Both heavy on my trail. She ran along the wall until she could see one of the bolts. She jumped off of the wall and kicked the bolt, causing to hit the floor. As soon as her feet hit the floor, she began to run. She placed her hand on the wall, so she knew she wasn't running blindingly and would run into it. The last bolt came into view, closely following her. She jumped, her wings giving her greater height. She twisted her body around until she was facing the bolt, and shot a bolt of fire at the bolt of light. The bolts hit each other and were sent flying in different directions. She heard one hit the wall behind her, while the other hit the floor somewhere in front of her. She landed lightly on her feet, and the fog cleared. She looked around and saw Taern standing in the middle of the room. Taern twitched her ear, looking strait at Aetaes. "Good, you're ready to begin."
A girl watches Taern and Aetaes as they work, watching from the hall so she wouldn't get in the way. Her black demon tail nervously wrapped around her leg, her demonic fox ears perked to hear the sounds coming from inside the room. The girl sighs. Why can't I go with you?
"You're worries about Aetaes aren't you?"
The girl jumps back and makes herself invisible, startled by the voice behind her. The person behind the girl lets out a small giggle. "Come on, Eclipse. It's just me!"
The girl turns around her yellow eyes now fixed on the person infront of her. "Oh."
The person was a half-demon, her white cat ears perked. Her blond hair covered her right eye.
Eclipse shifts her body back so she can be seen. "You startled me Comet."
Comet chuckles "Yeah, sorry about that!"
Eclipse sighs. "Why can't I go with her?"
Comet looks directly at Eclipse. "Right now, the only person we know of that can travel to different worlds is Aetaes, so it's safer if she went. We're all worried about Aetaes, Eclipse. But this is the only way we can get Ace back."