Within the Axis, Mari held on for her life. Currently, she was grasping onto a pillar, holding on tightly. Behind her was a giant blue wormhole, sucking everything that wasn't mounted on to the floor, towards it.
Mari scanned the area, looking for the right material. As she observed, a shimmer caught her attention, she looked closer and saw a blue crystal trapped under the bookshelf.
Mari grinned, it was exactly what she was looking for.
She raised her hand, and a vine that was dangling on a pillar began growing. It fastened itself onto Mari's waist and then to the pillars.
Mari took one step forward, the force of the wormhole causing her to lose balance, luckily the vines kept her from being pulled. Mari found her balance again and proceeded to walk, this time slower and more firm.
She now arrived at the bookshelf and kneeled down, she grabbed the crystal and placed it in her sling bag.
She walked closer to the wormhole, she was now a couple feet away from it when she took out the crystal. She tore a piece of the vine on her waist and wrapped it around the crystal, she placed it on to the floor and the vine started moving, planting itself into the ground, securing the crystal.
She proceeded to do this with four other crystals, until the wormhole was now surrounded by it.
She stood in front of the wormhole, securing herself in vines. She closed her eyes and breathed. She concentrated, trying to keep herself calm while raising her arms forward.
She began summoning her magic, her hands emanating a faint green light. She slowed down her heartbeat, tuned out the sounds, and concentrated.
"Lagus ane siradi"
She chanted, repeating the line five times, each time a crystal would shine. As all the the crystals shone brightly, Mari opened her eyes and repeated the line one more time.
The crystals glowed brightly as a circle traced itself onto the floor. Lines of blue energy escaped through the crystals and surrounded the wormhole, trapping it in some cage-like structure.
The wormhole glowed brightly, its body no longer seen. Mari covered her eyes, she slowly felt the wormhole's pressure lifting until it was gone.
Mari opened her eyes and saw the wormhole was gone, all was left was the crystals. The entire room was now a mess, papers, books, and all sorts of materials were scattered all throughout the floor.
Mari waved her hands and the vines retreated back, letting go of her body and returning to its place.
She stared at the chaos left by the wormhole, thinking about how long will it take for them to clean it.
"Good job Mari!"
Mari looked up and saw Lloyd standing over the balcony, holding a piece of paper and a pen. He was writing something down, observing how she handled the situation.
"It's only been three days of training and your already making good progress! I mean you already know how to cast a middle class spell, so that's amazing!"
Lloyd happily wrote in his paper while Mari blushed from all the compliments. It's true that it has been three days since they started training and she herself can even see the progress she made.
Lloyd walked down the stairs after he finished writing, he walked over to a chest and grabbed a piece of jewelry. He observed it and handed it to Mari.
Mari took it, the jewelry was a golden necklace, with an emerald pendant. There were markings of vines and leaves, and the pendant was in the shape of the circle.
"For your next test Mari, find what that thing can do, you have three days to do so"
Lloyd said, as he snapped his fingers and the entire place was now spotless, clean and shiny.
"What do you mean 'find what that thing can do'?"
"I mean, discover its abilities, find out what they are and how to use it"
Mari nodded, she was now touching the pendant, feeling every part of it. When her fingers touched the emerald, she felt a jolt of energy, like an electric shock.
"Woah.." Mari removed her finger and started waving it around the air. Lloyd chuckled, he lead Mari towards the stairs and proceeded to bid her goodbye.
"Do not come here tomorrow Mari, focus on that thing. Come back within three days to tell me wether you figured it out or not.."
Mari nodded and Lloyd smiled, she soon left the Axis and went home.
______________________________________________
( Mari woke up to find herself in the forest, her clothes all tattered, her hair in a mess. Her face was filled with dirt, and her eyes were red from crying. She looked around, it was night, the moon could be seen hovering overhead.
Mari observed her surroundings, it was quiet, there was no one around, until she heard something.
"....help..."
Mari stood up, it was faint but she could hear it. Someone was asking for help, from the voice she deduced that it was a girl. She dusted her clothes and began running towards the direction of the call.
"....help....help..."
The voice was now getting louder, Mari couldn't help but sweat. She was running aimlessly throughout the woods, her body relying on her instinct.
"....help....help.....help...help....help"
The voice was now getting quicker, Mari immediately sped up her pace. She soon arrived in a clearing. There was an old giant tree in the middle. Mari looked around, trying to find the source of the voice, but the voice was gone, she hadn't noticed it stopped.
She was now searching frantically, her breathing becoming ragged, slowly succumbing to fear. She walked around the tree, she looked at it and froze.
She stared in horror, her body was now shaking, her legs barely keeping her up.
Right in front of her was a girl, hanged on to the tree, her dead body falling limp into the air. Blood trickled down her feet and then fell to the ground.
"Aaaarrrrrghhhhhh"
Mari couldn't help but scream, her hand immediately covering her mouth, but it was pointless, she soon heard a chuckle in the corner. Mari turned around and saw a man carrying a knife, he was wearing a black coat and a hat, completely concealing his face.
"What do we have here, looks like someone found my little secret, we can't have that, right?"
The man said with a sickening voice, Mari couldn't help but feel fear and disgust from this man. Without thinking she stood up and ran.
The man shouted and quickly followed after her, Mari looked back and waved her arms, soon a tree root sprung up from the ground and wrapped around the man's foot.
The man fell down and Mari quickly disappeared into the forest. Her steps were echoing throughout the forest, even her breathing was becoming ragged.
Mari was no longer thinking, all she wanted was to run. She had no idea how she ended up here, and no sign of Lloyd anywhere.
Mari soon got caught up in her thoughts, she was not paying attention causing her to trip on a tree root and hit her head, after that everything went dark.)
Mari gasped, she stood up from her bed, and ran towards the bathroom. She looked in the mirror, her face was sweating and her hair was all over the place.
Mari proceeded to take a shower, after she was done she went out of her bathroom and sat on her bed.
She thought about what happened, that dream felt so real. Mari looked to her side and saw the necklace, maybe it wasn't real? she was now becoming confused, it was just like with the black goo monster.
Mari looked at her clock and dismissed it for now, she stood up and got ready for school.
Mari walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, her parents saw her and greeted her happily.
"Morning sweety" her parents said in unison
"Morning guys"
Mari sat down and her mom gave her a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast.
Mari quickly ate her meal, eating down every last bite. Her father chuckled and her mother smiled.
Mari finished her meal and exited the table, she was about to say goodbye when her father offered to drive her to school, Mari nodded and they were off.
They were now almost at her school when they were met with people standing by the forest. Mari and her father looked, they saw the police standing by, while there were teams of people holding chainsaws beside them. Mari and her father stopped for a minute, asking the nearby people what was happening.
"Hey Kelly!" Mari's father called out
The girl in question looked around and smiled when she saw Mari and her father.
"Hey Peter, driving your kid to school"
"Yeah, Mari this is Kelly, a co-worker"
Mari smiled and waved, the woman did the same.
"Hey, could you tell us what's going on"
"Some activists are blocking the path, you see the mayor decided to cut down the big oak tree in the middle of the forest, in the clearing. Unfortunately, some people disagree, and now here we are"
"You mean the old oak tree where 'it' happened?"
"Yup..."
Mari listened in on there conversation, she couldn't help but perk up on the oak tree and what her father said.
"What oak tree?" Mari asked, leaning closer.
"Well, there is a giant oak tree in the middle of the forest, in the clearing. Twenty years ago when your parents and I were kids, a crime was committed there. The entire town was left in shambles, and worst of all they couldn't find the criminal"
"What crime?" Mari asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"No need to go in deeper sweety, it was twenty years ago"
Her father dismissed it and the woman, Kelly nodded. Her father quickly said goodbye and left.
A few minutes later, they both arrived at school, Mari kissed her dad and exited the car. He waved goodbye before turning around the corner, disappearing.
Mari walked towards the school gates, the gardeners were still busy cutting up all of the plants she accidently conjured three days ago.
Mari felt bad, but she has bigger things to take care off. She touched her bag and felt the necklace inside of it.
She walked up the stairs and entered the building, everything was going back to normal, the students were no longer looking at her.
She sighed and walked pass them towards her classroom. She was about to open the door when she heard it.
"...help..."
Mari stopped, why does it have to be now and in school. Mari turned around and right at the end of the hall she could see the figure of a girl staring at her.
Mari tried to shrug it off, but something inside of her told her to go. Mari grumbled and followed her instinct, she looked around and saw no one was around this part. Mari started walking faster, she reached the end of the hall where a girl stood still.
"Um....hello?"
"Hello Mari...."
Mari stopped for a moment when she heard her name, but this time she shrugged it off.
"Who are you?"
The girl turned around and faced her, she was wearing a dirtied pink dress, covered in dirt and blood. She had deathly pale skin and brown hair tied into pigtails.
"I'm Izzy" The girl said, her eyes showing no emotion "I'm lost Mari, I need your help, I need you to find me"
"What do you mean find you?"
Before Mari could get an answer someone grabbed her by the neck. Mari was caught off guard, she was now holding her neck, trying to remove the hands holding her, but it was to strong.
"Hello little girl, what are you doing?"
Mari froze, she knew that voice, it was him, it was the guy in the woods. Mari started struggling, she tried to scream but all that came out were soft grunts. The grip on her neck tightened, soon she started chocking.
"Mari.....Mari.....Mari!"
The girl helplessly watched as Mari's eyes started to close, her limbs falling limp. Mari's vision was becoming blurrier, all she could here was the sound of the girl shouting her name.
"Mari....Mari....Mari....MARI!"
The last call of her name echoed in her mind, she opened her eyes and gasped for air. She turned around and saw Angelo looking at her, worried. Mari fell to the ground clutching her neck, breathing heavily.
Angelo had no idea what to do, he was just walking towards his room, when he saw Mari in a corner standing still. He approached her but she didn't react.
Angelo started calling her name but she didn't do anything, she was frozen. After several tries she finally snapped back to reality. He was now holding her as she sat in the ground, holding her neck.
"Are you ok? you've been acting really weird recently"
"I'm fine Angelo"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes of course I'm sure"
Mari hugged Angelo, to which he returned as well. They were both hugging when they heard the school bell rang. Without waiting any longer they stood up and ran to class.