Fire - This is all she is able to see around her.
The entire city that she grew up in is now covered in giant, red flames yet she walks barefoot on the path that the fire takes her, holding tight a large book in her arms like the most precious thing for her. Her red necklace shines brightly from all the light around as if it is enjoying the miserable surroundings. Tears flow down her small, ash-covered cheek to vaporize instantly by the cruel heat of flames. She has nothing to lose, her eyes are lifeless and her mind is blank.
Her only family just died a few moments ago and now Ayame is alone at the age of 8 years. The house where she used to live in crumbled in front of her eyes, trapping her father in the sea of flames. Fire started in the middle of the night and she was sleeping. Panicked, her father took her from the bed hurrying to carry her to the door downstairs. The old, wooden house was collapsing from everywhere. She has woken up, coughing from the smoke and sweating from unbearable heat. When they were almost to the door, the father put her down and kneeled before his daughter, looked at her face with serious, clear eyes, studying all details of that small face. His expression was full of pain and a sea of tears would not be enough to express the pain he felt when he hugged his child for the last time. A few seconds before the old wooden house, now fragile and burnt, yields under the pressure of flames, he puts a large book in her arms, a necklace with a red crystal around her neck, saying to use them in his stead, and pushes Ayame out of the faithful building that tried to withstand so much for their saftey. The kid flew directly through the front door, which came off immediately from hingers, falling and sliding down the small stairs to the sidewalk, with the child on top of it. When she recovered from the shock of falling on the sidewalk, she turned to face the house, and called her father. No answer.
Tears begin to flow down her little face. She continued to shout, hoping her father would answer when he'll hear her cries. Swaying, she approaches the pile of wood on which fire was dancing its majestic dance. When she climbed back up the steps to the front door, the flames became more aggressive, pushing her back, causing her to roll back down the sidewalk. Raising her face from the hot cement, she cried with all her strength left watching her house becoming ashes blown in the wind. When no voice could come out of her throat, Ayame took a large breath, feeling the warmth from all-around deep down her insides. She takes the book, tightens her grip, stands tall and starts walking towards anywhere her eyes that cannot stop the tears from falling, can see. She is devasted. She wants to die, but still, the fire seems to be avoiding her, letting her pass while the hot air is dancing around her, making a way out of the red hell.
The next thing she sees after opening her eyes is a white ceiling, with an old chandelier in the middle. She realizes she is laid on a bed. As she looks around, she observes a man sitting on a chair by the window. His gentle face had a kind smile.1
"Hello young lady, my name is Makoto. Me and my friends are going to take care of you from now on. What is your name?" said the man with a pleasant voice.
"A-Ayame.." the little girl gathered courage to say and regretted the second after. Her throat burned and let out a voice too broken. It was not yet recovered from the night before when she cried her heart out in front of her burning house.
"What a beautiful name, like the Iris flowers. It suits you well. You seem delicate like a small flower." laughed softly.
The girl blushed and turned her eyes away yet she tried to take sneak peeks at his beautiful face caressed by his light brown hair strands blown by the wind coming from outside the window. When her eyes met with his yellow, gold-like eyes, she could not look any other way. She just stared at him.
The silence inside the room with the tow people staring at each other did not last long: the door slammed open and a large man came inside. His hair was like the girl never saw before: the sides we're shaved with careful details, the hair in the middle was standing up, like a cockscomb and black shades colored the tip of his orange hair.
With a big smile that showed his sharp teeth while looking at Ayame said: "Oh, it seems like you are up! Makoto, shall we?" and turned his head towards the gentleman by the window, sun rays now falling over his being, making him seem like a saint covered in divine light. Ayame averted his eyes for a second.
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"Well then, let's take you to the meeting room," said Makoto as he stood up from his chair.
The large man took a step to the side and waved his hands toward the door, telling her to be the first one to exit.
Ayame got out of the bed and walked slowly towards the door while being cautious of the surroundings.
They stopped in front of a large, double-leaf door with detailed models engraved in the wood. The door opened by itself and Ayame saw a large, round table, with ten seats. Some people were already sitting. The two gentlemen that stood next to the girl made a bow and with their arms toward the room welcomed her in.
As she took a few steps inside, her eyes could observe a man who was standing by the window. She suddenly stopped as she could not see all the details of the man if she continued walking. She was impressed by his beautiful hair, long almost to the knees, with the color of wisteria, a light purple that became even lighter at the tips, all caught in a ponytail. His lips were small, with a vague color, and his eyes were the more intense color version of the hair.
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He turned and looked at her. She wanted to take a step back but couldn't, her whole body was frozen. His glance was so deep that seemed to be looking into her soul, searching for all her secrets.
"Ayame?" whispered slowly Makoto into her ear to wake her up from the trance. He seemed used to people reacting that way when first seeing his Captain.
She suddenly shivered and looked away from the window, to Makoto's face. He was smiling warmly and took her to a seat.
After a few more people came inside, the man with purple hair walked away from the window, approached the table and sat on a chair. The chair right next to Ayame. She felt as if her body will begin to shiver, but Makoto put his hand on her back and she could feel that he was saying <
"Let's begin with the basics: we are Team V of Decenvirs that protect this kingdom of Solis. Do you know what Decenvirs are?" continued the same man.
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"You are right. And do you know what your element might be?" asked suddenly Makoto.1"I have never used magic before, I do not have any knowledge about it.." Ayame responded looking at the floor, wanting to melt away and disappear from that room with people who were staring at her.
The whole room started to get noisy as the other people whispered between them. Ayame felt bad... those people had expectations of her and now that are criticizing how she even got there. They started to look at her with pity, to ask themselves why is she even doing here if she has nothing to do with magic.
"Silence!" said Makoto with cold eyes that made his usually kind face now frightening. 1They stopped in a second, bowing their eyes on the table.
"We all know that our captain never mistakes when he approves someone." continued him looking at both Ayame and the captain with purple hair.
"That is something you should never doubt: my sense of magic. Even if it is faint, you can feel it too if you just try. There is no mistake that she has magic and not any magic, but elemental one." replied the captain.
"She even had a big book of magic when we found her, it was an old spell book. I did not know those still existed." said the large man with weird hair.
"That was not mine, it was my father's. He gave it to me before he... " the memory of her father pierced with deep pain into her heart, she could not say anything anymore yet she held her tears in front of those people.1Makoto gently patted her head and said: "It's ok now, we are going to be by your side. You can trust us. We want to help you understand your magic and do amazing things with it. Did you know that a Team is like a second family? We stay together almost all times, you are no longer alone."
Hearing that, Ayame felt relief, those were the things she needed to hear. She started to cry in the arms of Makoto. He lifted her up and left the room. Once in her room, he laid her on the bed and sat beside her, holding the small hand of the 8 years old Ayame who stayed strong because that's what she learned from her father, but without him, she could no longer hold it all.
The remaining members standing at the round table were silent. Indeed they tried to feel her magic and they felt something that was not ordinary, but yet it was clear that she was a Decenvir. They. Were all looking at the purple-haired man, waiting for an explanation.1The round table was silent. They all wanted an answer but none of them dared to ask the question.1
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