(A/N: The prologue is posted in the auxiliary volume.)
It was a quite and rainy morning. The parrot wasn't quaking and the cat's weren't meowing, only the sound of the clocks could be heard as time slowly passed.
I leaned on the couch in the middle of my tiny pastel green and vintage living room to pick up the TV remote. As I turned on the TV, devastating news came up, "Sixty people badly injured and two families, dead in the recent neighborhood flooding this week; and as you can see really strong winds blowing south toward the next neighborhood making the storm sweep faster!" The news reporter was standing in the middle of a flooded road in a broken-up neighborhood full of broken families and ruined homes, trying to report what was happening over the strong winds carrying her voice.
Right now it's Monday, supposed to be the second week of the new school year, but today I had to stay home due to bad weather.
Again.
The whole AHMBI school district cancelled school due to the deathly, endless, barrage of rain and lightning. When I first heard about the storm coming and school canceling, I was like, "Yes! No school! No school!" And then a couple days later I was only grieving about all of the sadness and destruction that the storm was causing.
I used to ask myself when this nightmare was going to be over. Sometimes, because of my crazy silly imagination, I would ask myself, /What if all of this wasn't just an ordinary storm?/ What if this was some huge plot happening from some other crazy, magical world?/ What if I'm a descendant from said magical world and I'm going to become the hero of all heroes and save the world with magical powers and a sword?/ What if this storm was actually targeting me and my family because of some crazy op powers I have?/ ... Sorry for rambling LOL. Well, I guess you could blame it on the books I read ha... ha... ha…
Suddenly, I heard a huge rumble outside and went to check outside my window. That was when I saw something so big and white and as brilliant as the spring blue sky that changed my life forever.
It was something I will NEVER forget.
Something that made me wish I weren't alive here and today.
What I saw is what makes me, me today.
What I saw is what keeps me awake at night, curled up and shivering under my blanket.
What I saw was them. THOSE THINGS. Things I would later know to be part of something bigger than what I was told.
I suddenly heard a scream, and a second later, my mom was sprinting down the stairs with my brother not far behind. I turned around. She started gibbering," Are you okay Rora?! Rora! Answer me!" I looked at her with distant eyes and saw tears start streaming down her rosy cheeks, her face illuminated. Suddenly my head started to throb, black edges lining my vision. I could feel my strength start failing while I rocked back and forth in place. The next thing I knew, the ground was rushing up toward me, and complete darkness consuming me.
***The next morning***********
/Aauuurrooorrrraaaa... Aauuurrrroooorrraaa... I know you can hear me... answer me Aurora./
"AHHH!" The only thing I could feel was the cold dampness of my pillow underneath my head and cold sweat dribbling down my face. I shakily sat up in bed to see my mom sitting in a chair next to me, sleeping. I wondered why she was like that and how I got into bed, "What happened?" I mumbled.
I tried to get out of bed, but then I realized something even stranger, as I got out of bed, I didn't even have to pull the sheets to the side to get out or try to avoid my mom in order to not wake her, I... passed right through them!
I suddenly saw my older brother walking toward me in the hallway "Leo, what happened? How'd I get here?" But my brother just ignored me as if… he couldn't hear me? I held out my arms in front of him to try stopping him so I could get his attention, but he passed right through me, or I through him...? Anyway, it was a disaster, as if my life weren't enough of one already with the accident with my dad, my friends, and the storm. The storm… hold on. Last thing I remember was staring out the window and looking out at the storm.
/Could that have had anything to do with this?/
I slowly walked towards my brother. I reached out to him, (thinking that first time was just a fluke, or maybe I thought I was in front of him, but missed, so I tried again) but I passed through? "Brother--" I tripped after I realized he (really) couldn't see me, as the ground rushed towards me, I suddenly jolted up in bed, "Just a dream?" I stared at my hands, the dream felt all too real.
My brother ran to me in relief as my mom woke up beside me. I was too shocked trying to comprehend what happened, but I decided to leave it for now to not worry them anymore. "Mom? Leo? What happened?" I felt a small prick in my arm and see an IV drip, but one I've never seen before.
Usually when you think IV drip, you'd think a clear liquid or something, but this was different. A strange blue sparkly liquid dripped through the IV in my arm, "What's that?" I asked my mom, giving her a questioning look. She sighed, "I guess you would have learned eventually. That is a special liquid called Astada Sahr(1)."
"Magic Restore?" /how do I know?/
My mom's face became serious, "Exactly, after the Rayum Sarira(2)" /evil clouds../ "Sucked your magic, we had to give you the magic restoration liquid. Its not usually supposed to go directly into your blood, but because of your... circumstances, the situation was more severe than it should have been—" My brother cut in, "Just in case you were wondering, that's also the reason we didn't take you to the hospital instead."
"Yes, that and... we never expected them to come so soon." My mom seemed worried about something. My usual calm and cool-headed mother made a face that gave me chills, but made me all the more curious.