"People are not born humans, they become human."
Or at least that's what my mother told me when I was younger.
The last time she told me this was when I was 10 years old and the very first Anti-Magic Act had been passed. I had seen her crying in front of the television whose sounds quickly became nothing but an intruding static. I approached her slowly, cautiously, feeling out of place in what I still believe was supposed to be a private moment that wasn't meant to include me. We were just mere inches apart when I used all of the strength I could muster to hug her as she continued to cry. We stayed like that for 20 minutes.
As she began to settle down her phone started ringing, she didn't answer it. The anonymous number called again but remained unanswered. Finally, on the third call she answered the phone and as the muffled voice on the other end began to speak my mother's face shifted into one of pure fear and she turned away from me, it was when she whispered something to whoever was on the other line that she broke out into a hard cough. The image of the blood that she so violently spat out is still ingrained in my mind. Turning back to me she carefully leaned into my personal space and quietly told me to exit her room and go to the living room so she could finish her call.
Looking back, The moment I opened the door to go to the living room I could tell something was wrong, but I continued walking anyway. I should have stayed. The moment I set foot into that room I saw my mother's usual barrier, the one she used when I upset her. Except this one felt different than the ones of the past. As if it were nicer as if it were meant to protect me. The thought quickly vanished, she wouldn't do that for me.
I had waited for a long time before I heard a loud bang from the other end of our house. Two more large crashes followed as the barrier began to shake and a blood-curdling scream echoed throughout the hallways. This would have been normal If there was a sparring match with company or if I was in trouble, however, we should have been alone and I wasn't with her. I was scared. Anyone would be in my situation. I tried pounding on the clear wall, I screamed, I cried, I fought but nothing was working. However, I hadn't dared try to use my powers, it was forbidden for me to do so.
When the barrier finally let itself down I quickly started running towards my mother's room but the closer I got to her the familiar metallic smell of blood grew even stronger. I ran faster. When I reached her room it was completely impossible not to notice the dark figure above her, blood dripping from their hands as they made their escape. My mother lay almost lifeless as she continued bleeding out on the floor. I rushed over to her as fast I could, and when I finally reached her She looked up to me with pure hate in her eyes as she told me, "Robin, you and I were born different from the rest of this world. We have powers that they don't, and we are hunted because of that. Don't trust anyone who isn't like you. Never make the same mistakes that I did. These 'humans' aren't born humans they become human, but most of them are just demons in disguise, ready to kill us and those like us at any given moment". Her breath was labored and the glint in her eyes faded.
She died right then. I haven't cried since that day so many years ago, I never thought I would again. After that day I ran away. I ran fast and far, farther than I should've. On the second day, I had grown weak from hunger. My city, Dealta City isn't known for its magician-friendly laws, so going into any kind of establishment in my state was inconceivable.
I decided to reside in one of Dealta's many alleyways for the next few days. Surviving was hard and my constitution was more of a hindrance than a help. About a week later It began raining, raining harshly, to say the least. I had been living off of scraps that I found around me for survival, swallowing more of my pride as the days passed. That's when I met Arc, at that time I didn't know how much of an impact he would have on me. At the time he was just a lean boy only just inches above me in height, not much older than I was, he was quite dirty and didn't seem to be a beastman by appearance, and lacked a magician's collar, so he wasn't a magician either. I believed that I had been discovered and would be sent to some kind of holding facility. Therefore, once again, I listened to my mother's words as I backed away from him and mustered up my last ounces of pride before gaining the confidence to speak to him.
"Who are you?" I had asked him wearily.
The boy seemed stunned as if he didn't notice I was there to begin with. As we made eye contact I noticed him move closer to me, the closer he got the further I had backed away. When he noticed my collar he let out a sigh of relief, as if I would never dare to harm him. As if I was helpless. Finally, after a few more moments of silence, he spoke rather abruptly
"My name is Arc, magician,'' he stated as if it were just a plain fact that anybody would know.
"Why are you here?" I asked while rather irritated and slightly hurt that I was just called "magician" by this seemingly simple boy.
"I'm running away," he said with an infuriating amount of pride.
"Why?" I asked while trying not to seem intrusive.
He stopped, he looked confused, as if I had been living under a rock and didn't know the most obvious of things. He seemed to try and give me an answer but his facial expression repeatedly changed every few seconds, as if he were recalling memories he would rather not have. At last, he finally just sighed and simply said " Forget it. It's not something a magician like you would understand" as if it were bothersome for him to even ponder over this.
We went back to the silence we had before, as the rain provided a small noise keeping the moment from being too awkward. After a while, he eventually asked me "So who are you anyway?"
"The name is Robin"
"Like the bird?"
"Don't compare me to a bird."
He seems shocked at my tone as if I shouldn't be capable of being pissed off. I sat down, I was tired of backing away. I knew that I couldn't be the scared and submissive weakling I had always been before but I couldn't figure out how to muster up the courage to do so. However, Arc didn't seem to get the hint that I was done talking to him as he continued to close the gap that we had created between us throughout our short conversation.
"You never told me why you're here. Did you also run away?"
"Yes," I answered compliantly
"Why? Aren't magician facilities supposed to be nice places?"
I was growing increasingly more annoyed at the topic of his questions. It wasn't his fault, but I couldn't help but be a little irritated because of the topic. Being a magician was simply the way I was born, a thing I can't control, not just some trait that someone can just question or berate me about.
"I don't belong to a facility," was the simplest answer I could come up with.
"Isn't that against the law?" he questioned further, not backing down.
"Yes," could this child not understand that I wasn't in the mood to talk with him?
"Why don't you belong to one?"
" I used to, but it was shut down for experimenting on magicians."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
We had fallen back into the awkward silence we had before. I was uncomfortable, I had told him too much about myself and he would probably turn me into the "Magician Collection Force" a.k.a magician hunters. Those ruthless bastards could care less for our lives because as long as we had on these collars we would always be lower than dirt in this twisted society. Still, the way he looked at me when I talked was like he was listening to me and what I had to say. It made me want to say more, to talk more despite the potential dangers.
"So now I live with a lady who became my caretaker, well I used to..."
"Why? What happened."
"She was murdered."
The look of despair and pity that I vaguely remember seeing frequently on my mother took over his face. He silently walked over and hugged me like he understood what I was going through. He never would. Though I hadn't accepted his advance I didn't avoid his embrace. I did begin to push away when I got the sense that this hug was more for his sake than mine due to its length. Once we parted I could see him try to secretly wipe away his unshed tears as he tried to recover his prior demeanor. We both sat back down as we went back into our quiet.
After that we somehow grew closer as the days passed, he bought food with his supply of "runaway money" that he apparently had and I answered his questions about Magicians and how they lived under the obviously oppressive laws. We went from sitting on opposite ends of an alley to leaning on each other for support and comfort, life was somewhat getting better. A month had passed before we got caught. It was a warm night in August when a regular human civilian saw me next to Arc as we were taking a nap. It was an older lady, possibly in her mid-30s and upper class for sure, considering her vast amount of flashy jewelry.
Her face when we made eye contact was shock and pity, but when she saw my collar it quickly changed to disgust. It was nothing new. I had assumed she would leave once her daily quota of looking down on magicians was filled, but she stayed. That lady stared at me as if I was a dirty stray who needed to be checked for rabies. Her eyes looked me over, filled with disgust, hate, and curiosity. I stayed silent through this process not wanting to wake up Arc, however that silence did not last long because she quickly pulled out her phone and called a number that I could never forget. The Magician Collection Force. I needed to run away, to escape, but I couldn't just leave Arc, so I shook him a little more violently than I would usually until I noticed the crinkle in his brow and the squint of his eyes signal me that he was awake.
When Arc finally exited his dazed state he probably noticed the desperation in my eyes as he quickly shot upwards to see what the problem was. He looked to me as if he was silently asking me to point out the issue when I looked over to the woman distracted with her call he seemed to understand my situation. He kneeled back down and gently put his hand on my shoulder and whispered in my ear a simple phrase that I will never forget.
"I got this Robin, don't worry about it"
I was glad I had Arc, he caught on easily.
He walked over to the woman who didn't seem to have noticed him yet. As he approached her she spun around quickly probably in fear assuming she thought that the person who approached her was me. Out of all the things she could have done what she did was the most surprising at the time. She cried. She was looking at Arc through her tears as if she was relieved of something weighing down on her heart as if she knew him. A suspicion of Arc's identity began to rise within me but was pushed down quickly, Arc was my friend, my first and only friend in a long time. I wasn't about to suspect him for something I was unaware of.
Arc told the woman something that I didn't hear, but when he finished speaking she immediately hung up her phone. When he walked back over to me his face appeared to go through a variety of emotions, the most prominent being betrayal before he settled on a contemptuous look I won't forget. I never found out why or saw that woman again. Arch walked up to the base of my feet, grabbed my arm, pulled me up, and simply said "We aren't safe here anymore. Let's go" and with that, we set off.
"Where are we going?" I was confused, I didn't understand what was going on.
"When will we get there?"
"How long will it take?"
I knew I was nagging him but I couldn't help it, tons of questions plagued my mind as we walked for days on end. It took him two days of being pestered while traveling to finally answer my questions, "We are going to see a friend of my Uncle, he will help us".
We reached a house five days later. It was a small house near the outskirts of the city, it looked new with its neat paint job, fancy decor, shiny metal fence, and tapestries filled with the scent of fresh linen and lavender. It was a sight to see as it stood out amongst the more modern designs of the city. When we arrived we were greeted by a tall old man, with short gray hair, thick black glasses, and a clean black suit. He opened the door slowly but the moment he saw Arc a sad relief filled his eyes as they grew glassy.
"It's good to have you back, lad," he said sorrowfully.
"It's good to be back. But right now I need your help."
"I am under your request, young master."
"I need a place to stay and hide from them with my friend" he then pointed to me.
"I understand," the man said without asking any further questions.
"Thank you, Simon"