NINA
All six of us looked at each other and then back to the detection device as we paused our training. I was first to manage the shock and picked up the device. A holographic arrow appeared me pointing behind me.
"Okay guys," I told them. "Do we take the car?"
They all snapped out of their daze and I watched Ren smirk.
"No, we have a much better idea."
I frowned, "We flying?"
Ren chuckled, "We don't do flying baby but our magical spirits do."
Now I felt my jaw drop to the ground. They looked away from me, preparing some things and calling out their magical spirits. I was left alone and helpless, and I felt my anger surfacing again.
"Hey! That's not fair! Nobody told me about this and you're looking away? I don't know a single thing about flying!"
Ren was beside me in an instant.
"Hey baby, relax. No one's abandoning you. They are just preparing themselves and absorbing mana before going there to fight."
I felt myself relax from his touches and his soothing voice.
I sighed, "I'm sorry, it's just, I am easily angered nowadays."
"I know, we'll get that sorted out after we go to the site where a new mage is born or probably awakened. Alright, baby?"
I nodded at Ren. Even though I get super, super mad sometimes, Ren is always there for me. He can calm for an instant, and I'm thankful for that. I don't know what would happen if I burst out.
I followed them, calling my magical spirit. I asked it if it was capable of flying. And I wasn't surprised, it really can fly. So much for learning my spirit.
"Are you ready?" Ren asked me.
"A little nervous, but let's do this."
He addressed everyone, "Let's go."
And we all shoot up to the sky. Holy moly, this is fast, very fast. I held my sword tightly, which earned me a glare from her, alright I consider it a she so whatever.
'Stop gripping hard on me, you're not going to fall," she said to me in my mind.
'But I can't help it, this high and my nerves are all over the place.'
She chuckled, 'No, we're connected so wherever I go, you go. Our bond is too strong that you won't fall off from me. I promise.'
I inhaled then started relaxing my fingers. And oh boy, I felt like falling but I pushed through until such time I was used to the feeling of weightlessness. The others were leisurely flying, not even holding their magical spirits. Can I do that too?
'Yes,' my spirit replied. 'You can do other things and not holding me like you're life depended on it. As I said, our bond will make you stick with me, okay?'
'Fine, I'll slowly do that until I can fly like them,' I replied to her, a tinge of anger in my voice.
The sword just shrugged at me.
I slowly lost my grip until I felt I was standing on air. Oh wow, I'm not falling. I looked at the others, they are in a sitting position. Ren came up beside me, sensing my confusion.
"They're meditating, because unlike us, they are not blessed by mana. They easily lose their mana and need to replenish their pools before depletion."
I nodded, understanding the logic behind it. I learned that those who have white hair are blessed by mana, having pools as large as the Caspian Sea. And I'm one of those people since my hair turned white.
I close my eyes and sought my pool, okay there's no pool but a white room. Is this my pool?
'Yes,' my sword replied. 'Yours is so vast that a pool would not suffice. It's endless.'
Whoa. 'How come?'
'It's predetermined at birth, so I guess you're just lucky.'
I opened my eyes and saw the arrow descend down, meaning we have arrived. Our spirits dived down and I felt the food I ate earlier this morning are going back up. Oh skies, let not this be the end of me.
I closed my eyes and held my sword. 'I'm sorry, I'm so f*cking afraid.'
My sword just chuckled. I felt the wind whoosh at my face and closed my eyes so tight, afraid of what I'm going to see. And then I felt the ground beneath my feet and I placed them eagerly, contented that I can finally feel my weight again.
I wobbled, adjusting to the feeling, Ren at my back in a heartbeat, preventing me from falling. His touch sent tingles throughout my body. This boy is going to be the death of me.
I looked at him and smiled gratefully.
And then we all looked around us, we are in the busiest district of the city. People passed by us, rushing to their work and to their errands. The arrow was pointing left, towards the largest mall of the city.
"An awakened," I said breathlessly. Our situation is getting dire. If the mage awakens inside, there is no telling that the beast might appear in the middle of this city. We can't afford to warn them beforehand because who would believe the story of 6 adults talking about monsters.
We ran together inside the mall, arriving to the same conclusion. We have to take the awakened inside Agrissi before the beasts get a sniff of his/her magic.
A newborn mage and an awakened mage release the same magical wave that beasts can sniff. It's impossible to have a newborn in the mall – except if it was an abrupt labor – but our bets were on the awakened side. We have to be quick or else the human side would rescue and bring him/her to the hospital, making more casualties in the process. We can't afford that.
We navigated around the crowd congregated in front of the mall. A good glimpse inside and Ling would be ready to warp us inside, skirting the security processes, which would make our lives easier.
We waited for Ling and when he gave the signal, we stepped away from the crowd and warped.
The holographic arrow now pointed up, meaning he/she could be in the upper floors. We ran to the atrium, the part of the mall where you can see all the other floors.
"Ling, warp us up. You can see the upper floors already right?"
He nodded. To hell with witnesses, we are on a tight schedule now. We first went to the second floor, but the arrow is still pointing up. So, third floor it is.
At the third floor, the arrow pointed to the right, to where the cinema is.
I smiled, it's going to be dark, no one would see us if we warped the mage.
We ran towards the cinema and I thought of one problem, we have to buy tickets to enter.
"Guys, stop," I said loudly so that they can hear me.
They screeched to a stop and looked at me in confusion.
"Uh, cinema, we need a ticket to get inside. And we need to be sure what movie the mage is watching now."
Ren groaned in frustration, "Can we not barge inside?"
I shook my head, "I wish we can, but they have ramped up their security. There are guards stationed to every cinema room."
"Well, we can't wait here," Sylvia said, clearly frustrated of our situation.
Just then, I noticed a commotion on one room. There were guards and mall workers running to and fro. I inched closer to eavesdrop and heard someone, "Someone collapsed inside. Please get the medic!"
I faced my team, "You heard that? It's show time!"
"What?" Cellon said. "What are we going to do?"
"We pose as the medics of course," I said to him with a wink.
We are found ushered inside the cinema, workers never questioned us about our lack of equipment. A clear sign that they don't know what they are doing and they are in a state of panic.
Cellon was first of us to enter. Ren and I came last because we have a heated, whispered discussion about the implications of what I'm doing.
"Ren, we're in a pinch. We can't delay any longer. We have to take any chance we've got."
"I know. But they would probably wonder if we warp him/her away with them as witnesses."
"What? Are you out of your mind? No. We are not warping immediately. We have to show the humans that the mage needs to be transported to the hospital. And when we are safely away from their prying eyes, we warp."
Ren looked pointedly at me, "You know there are so much loopholes in that plan. But you're right. The sooner we get him or her out of this place, the better. Now, let's hurry."
We stopped on the area where the mage – a teenage boy holding a popcorn container, its contents spilled out – collapsed. Cellon assessed the boy.
"He's got no pulse! We need to take him out of here!"
Just then, we heard a loud boom outside the cinema that shook us on our feet. Ren and I shared a look. This is not good. The mall workers started to run outside as debris started falling on top of us.
"Ling! This is the right opportunity! Go warp him to Agrissi, we'll take care of the monster!"
The others snapped out of their loss of balance and Ling quickly warped the awakened mage. The five of us ran outside towards chaos.