Here lies Matthew, beloved Son, brother, student and friend. Born on the second of June, in the year 1206 of the Grand Calendar to the 1214th of the same calendar. May his soul rest in peace.
His tomb was his room, a perfect 6 feet below the earth. Cause of death, blunt force trauma to the head by his mother. He was foolish enough to be suspended after his first excursion.
Matthew lay motionless on his pillow, steam still coming off of his head.
Mary sat at the table, one leg over the other. A great vein bulged from her forehead, her left fist was steaming.
Hazel waddled into the room. "Mama, are you angry with Matthy?"
"No, just disappointed." Mary smiled absolutely naturally, scooping Hazel into her arms. "You don't ever be like Matthew, okay?"
Hazel nodded. "Promise. I'm not like that stupid poopoo."
"Good." She kissed her adorable daughter on the cheeks. "Go play with your toys in the lounge room, I need to have a serious talk with your big brother."
A few minutes after Hazel left to go play on her own, Matthew descended down from his room like a ghoul. His face was paler than when he ran for his life from the widow matriarch. "Yes, Ma?"
Mary did not look pleased whatsoever. She was silent.
Matthew marinated in dreadful anticipation.
Eventually, Mary broke the silence. "...You didn't use them, did you?"
Matthew looked off to the side. "...just a little."
"Matthew." Mary's lower lip trembled. "You stupid boy, don't you know why I tell you not to use them?"
Matthew looked down in shame.
"They'll take you away! They'll know when you use your power, and they'll take you away like they did your father!" tears rolled down Mary's cheeks. "I can't lose you too…"
Matthew tightly hugged his mother, shoulders vibrating. He spoke, voice trembling: "I'm sorry, ma."
Mary wiped her tears away. "No, I'm sorry. I should have been there for you," she embraced her son. "I'm just glad you're back, safe and sound." Mary gently ruffled her son's hair…his long, long hair. It had been too long since she had cut it. Maybe she would take him to a barber before he went back to school. Mary chuckled, "don't think this means I've forgiven you, little troublemaker. You're still grounded."
Matthew jumped out from his mother's embrace, face completely devoid of tears or snot. "What! Not even a little?"
'The nerve of this little actor…' Mary's eyebrow twitched. "I applaud your heartwarming act, son, but your mother is immune to such things. Now get back to your room and think about your actions! Do that again, and I'm pulling you out of Kiertzche!"
Matthew's eyes widened, gulping. "Y-yes, Ma'am!" He dutifully marched back to his room, making sure to close the door as quietly as possible. Finally entering, he sound proofed the room.
"Damn it! I was looking forward to these two weeks!" Matthew rolled across his room in frustration. He jumped on to his singular mattress bed. "Damn it!"
Matthew kicked and tossed around his bed until he tired himself out. He gazed up at the ceiling. '...what a crazy ride.'
After returning from the deadly mission to the Center, Matthew, Demitri, Zayne and Lauren were proud of themselves. They had not only proven their bravery, but their abilities when confronted with danger. Not only had they come back with incredible, irrefutable evidence of demonic behaviour, they had come back alive! Demitri was practically glowing with pride. Although there were a few scratches and scrapes on them, the wounds weren't life threatening. Their initial plan of returning before anybody was any the wiser was a bust. Lazellia, Hedrick, Orion and Dylan were prime witnesses. Although that wasn't what did them in. It was another witness who saw them leave. Madoc. So, when the group returned just before the crack of dawn, who but Julius Zoran stood between them and safety.
Then it was a downward spiral. Poor Matthew, such heroics, for nought~
Hey, at least he didn't get expelled, guess that's what the heroics did!
Principal Kiertzche wasn't very pleased with the group, or that's what his outward appearance portrayed. When the doors to his office closed, he was all smiles and cheers.
Sadly, he had to act the part of Principal, so, begrudgingly he suspended all four of them.
And that's where we come back to now.
Matthew stared up at his only window, watching as the sun fell across the horizon. Night came, but there were no stars out. Not in this city. He listened closely to all the noises in his home, and when he heard the door to his mother's room shut, he snuck out.
It was suicide to try and escape via the front door, but luckily for Matthew he could create exits wherever. So he tunneled up.
The night air was cold and crisp. That's how night always was in Ilgrim, the city of mages. Matthew's breath pillared upwards like smoke. He smiled from ear to ear. Matthew liked seeing his breath, it made him feel like a mighty dragon from the stories his dad used to tell. Giggling, Matthew pretended to be the mighty fire breathing creature, a terrifying creature whose power was said to be peerless to all under the heavens. Eventually he got tired, and when he did Matthew gazed up at the barren sky, wishing he could fly.
With relative ease, Matthew scaled the nearest building. Reaching the top, Matthew simply stood on the roof. He gazed at the faraway city.
The lights were eternal, as if the stars from above that did not shine were here all along. The buildings towered above even those in Calonia, looking like the fingers of giants scraping against the sky. And one building stood taller than all of them, eclipsing the moon.
Demitri lay in his bed, both his arms in a cast, his leg in one as well with a cone around his neck. Since his arms were too injured, both them and his leg were held up by strings. The flames in his fireplace crackled, casting dancing shadows over his luxurious room made of exotic woods.
He groaned, frowning. "My nose is itchy! Maid!"
A beautiful woman with ebony hair in a ponytail, pale skin and round glass entered the room. Wordlessly and diligently –somehow masterfully– she itched his nose. "Anything else, young master?"
"When will I get out of these bonds?! They're slowly killing me!" Demitri whined, "at least let me watch the tv!"
The maid stood perfectly straight. She fixed her glasses which were angled slightly wrong. "You will be rid of your casts after they properly heal, we have the best healers in the Fourthbringer estate on duty so you will be ready before your suspension ends. However, you must focus on circulating the phoenix elixir throughout your body at all times, or else your healing will not go as planned. It is your fault for drinking the ember potion to amplify yourself. Your body was not ready, and as punishment for your recklessness, Master Fourthbringer said no tv."
Demitri groaned even louder. "Can you at least read me a book later?"
The maid smiled ever so slightly. "It would be my pleasure."
After waving her off, Demitri craned his neck to his bedside window.
The city looked as it usually did: annoyingly bright, obnoxiously big and as claustrophobic as ever. His eyes pulled themselves to a certain building in particular.
Zayne sat cross legged behind a small desk. On said desk was a book half the size of him. It read: The Ares Family Grimoire.
Inside the book were the thousands of techniques that the Ares family had cultivated over a millenia, and after his actions during Calonia, his father sentenced him to death by boredom.
'AKA, "You were too weak, you bring shame to the Ares household." and now I have to read a stupid book," he sighed.
Zayne fell backwards, startled from actually hitting the floor. He sighed once again, staring hopelessly at the ceiling. 'Anti magic room to stop me from escaping this jail cell again….'
He looked around for some reason, even though he already knew what he'd see. A completely white room with one bed and countless bookshelves filled with books he had already read…twice.
Zayne didn't even know why he bothered.
He would find some loophole in the runes, escape, get caught and repeat. His father was a very strict man, his mother even worse. Everybody in his family were uptight, suit wearing modern dinosaurs. Prehistoric and old fashioned. Heck, he was even chained to the desk!
'Where was I again? Oh, right, page fifty thousand and something.'
Dejectedly, Zayne stared up at his only reprieve from this nightmare. A single, small window that showed only one thing. The tallest building in Ilgrim whom he would sit atop one day.
Lauren rested on her bed, their blue curtains acting like a veil that hid her from the world. She looked like a faraway princess, trapped in an ivory tower. Her face was even more faraway, more akib to a porcelain mask than a human face. Her eyes betrayed the blizzard of emotions within. She gripped her stuffed rabbit tightly.
'Father's angry…'
After returning home from Calonia, Lauren hadn't left her room once. She wasn't allowed to.
Her room was terribly cold.
The balcony window swung open suddenly, bringing with it a gust of wind that blew away the drawings her father called a rubbish waste of time. She jumped out of her bed, reaching for them as they blew out into the night.
Lauren stood on her balcony, her little arms were still outstretched, still trying to reach for the drawings that floated off into the wind. Her mask cracked, a single tear escaping her. She looked up at the moon, but a building was in the way.
The Wizards Tower stood taller than any.
'Someday, I'll stand on top of that, and when I do I'll have finally become a Grand Mage!'
'I'll make it to the top, I'll burn away all the competition. I will make my family proud.'
'I'd rather die than sit atop that prison tower. I'll live my life the way I want. Like the wind'
'It looks lonely up there…'
Satisfied, Matthew climbed down from the building and stealthily crawled back into bed. He clenched his fist tightly. 'I'll show them all…'