Chapter 4 - Vitas

Lucy Rudolf's/Justine's P.O.V

As soon as my parents were able to sign all those stupid papers, I walked outside to get some fresh air. Has it really been two weeks? It felt like I was really only out for 10 minutes at the most.

The trip home was exhausting, since I was squeezed against a dozen other people on a public bus for 15 minutes. All I wanted to do was go home and sleep for the next year.

"I'm sorry Lucy, this is probably not what you would want right after leaving the hospital." My Mom apologized.

I smiled. "It's alright, I'm just glad I'm back."

As soon as we got home, I noticed that our house was completely fixed. There was no evidence of me being electrocuted anywhere, and it looked like the outlets were replaced as well.

I turned my back and walked downstairs. I was not about to step back into that room for a while, not after what happened two weeks ago.

Dad apparently had some things to take care of at the neighbors house, so it was only my Mom and I for a while.

"Are you sure you don't want to rest for a while? Your room is probably more comfortable than being down here."

I shook my head slowly to avoid a headache. "Not after what happened."

She had a look of enlightenment. "I don't blame you, I wouldn't want to be up there for a while either."

I slumped over on the couch face first. Malefici was somewhere out there, doing who knows what. He could be destroying a house, robbing a person, or something much much worse.

As for me, I was relaxing at home and doing nothing for two weeks. I knew I was in a coma and all, but it feels like wasted time I could have used to train or get rid of Malefici.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when my Mom's phone rang. She held her new phone up to her ear, and she sighed after a minute.

"Who was it?" I asked once she put her phone back in her purse.

"Work." she said shortly. "They are running low on staff today. Would you be okay with being here on your own today?"

I nodded. I was kind of hoping Mom would get a call like that, since I felt like I should go and practice my magic.

She grabbed her purse and slipped on her shoes before closing the door behind her. "I'll be back in a few hours, see you then."

I waved and made sure that her car was completely out of sight before going upstairs to the guest bedroom. After tracing the design on my shoulder blade again, I felt the same rush of energy.

I looked in the mirror again. It was as if I was a completely different person. My eyes were silvery, my hair was a foot longer, and I was given a black, white, and purple costume to wear.

But what was I supposed to fight with? I can't just beat Malefici with my bare hands, could I?

I vaguely remember seeing Polori hold a giant white staff in her hands during our brief conversation. Was I suppose to use something like that?

As if on cue, a white staff started to form molecule by molecule in my hands. It was just a little shorter than me, with a giant purple diamond in the center with a crown-like ring around it.

I tossed it from my right hand to my left to test the weight, and it was fairly light. I briefly wondered if the other users had weapons as well.

What if Malefici had one? What do demons usually fight with? Has he gotten stronger since the last time we've met? There was only one way to find out.

I cracked open the window and climbed out carefully with my staff. After stepping onto the roof, I looked around to see if Malefici has done anything else.

The entire neighborhood seemed to be peaceful this afternoon, so I concluded that Malefici has left the rest of us alone. I breathed a sigh of relief.

I hopped down from my house and ran as hard as I could down the street. I knew that I probably could have leapt across the houses, but I wanted to avoid going onto anyone else's property unless it was in a life or death situation.

After I was able to make it into the main city, I jumped up onto one of the many brick buildings.

If I was a blood thirsty, rampant, no good demon, where would I hide? If he was really human, he wouldn't want to be somewhere an actual demon would be, so I was left with nothing. This was going to be a lot harder than I thought it would be.

I was about to run aimlessly again when I saw a girl with long brown hair and yellow and orange cloaks. She seemed to be out of breath after she slumped down on a nearby building. Her orange mask prevented me from identifying her. Was she one of the other heroes?

I cautiously jogged my way over to her. Once I was just a foot away, she snapped her head back up and shot her hand out. A ball of light emitted from her small hands; they were shaking like there was no tomorrow.

"Y-you, aren't one of them." She put her hand back down and forced herself back up. I was about to ask her for her name, but she embraced me with a hug before I could comprehend what was going on.

"Are you alright?" the aura coming from this girl was incredibly strong, even more powerful than mine. She was obviously not one of the dark users, so that meant she was one of us.

She started to sob as she pulled away. "I'm just so glad I'm not alone. I thought I was the only light user in the entire universe!"

I noticed that her hand had weird red marks. "What happened to you? Did you find any of those Villains?"

"Yeah, two of them actually. Geez, I'm the strongest out of all of us, and I'm crying like a baby." she wiped away her tears with her orange sleeve. "It was the Devil user and the Demon user. I was about to destroy the Demon, but the Devil user showed up and did this to me." She held up her hand with the weird red marks.

I grew frustrated. "No way! You're the Life user, right? You shouldn't be able to injure so easily."

Her face grew dark. "The Devil user is actually pretty close to my level. The only user that is equal to me, however, is Death. If we don't destroy these people before Death chooses his user, things will be a whole lot harder for us."

"Death" I whispered. "As in, um, the Death?"

She nodded. "Yeah, which means that we need to be careful from here on out."

"Where did the other two run off to?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I had to run away, or else I would be done for. They should still be close by though. What is your name?"

I remembered what Polori told me. "I'm , uh, Justine, the Grand White Wizard user."

She had a smile plastered on her face. "White Wizard? I'm so thankful that you're here Justine. My name is Vitas, and I'm the Life user."

I smiled in assurance. "Hey, I've been dying to know. Does everyone have a weapon here? or is it just me?"

She looked puzzled. "I think everyone has some kind of weapon. The only people exempt of this rule would be Life and Death, since we just use our hands."

My heart dropped. That meant that Malefici was hiding some kind of weapon.

"Hey, can I ask you to do something?"

"What is it?"

"Could you leave the Demon to me? He is my problem. I was told by Polori that it was my job to get rid of Malefici, and I will be the one to carry it out."

She looked somewhat relieved by my statement. "Sure, if you really want to. But just let me know if you need any help."

I thanked her. "What do you suggest we do now?"

"I need to regain my strength. That Devil user really took all of my energy, and I need to heal myself. Maybe you could train? Or try to find any of the other heroes? I don't think you should go find those two for now, if they are still together."

"Okay, if you need me for anything, I'll be close by." I said before leaping off the building to continue my training.