"My name is X, short for Alex, short for Alexander", he reflexively replied.
"X?" The fiery girl questioned, confused by how strange the name was. Alex was already cutting it short. Why was there a need to shorten it further?
X's face twisted into an ugly grimace. He felt like his head was about to splinter into countless pieces.
"Just... Alex. Yeah, call me Alex." He felt he had to convey that, no matter what. His name was important.
His host, on the other hand felt like there was no need to pursue the issue. He clearly didn't remember and there was no need to push the issue if it caused him literal physical pain.
"I'm Rebbeca by the way, but its fine if you call me Becca." She smiled. Instantly Alex felt as if the room had lighted up. The naive little boy was dazzled. Of course a crush in a magical world wouldn't be normal.
A strong, unidentifiable emotion welled up in Alex's chest.
"And by the way, I know you don't remember much but wha--- wha whaaaa.." Becca trailed off. All around them dancing firefly like yellow lights were floating. Alex's eyes had turned a slight golden.
Becca was stunned because it was not everyday one saw a light mage, but she soon snapped out of the daze, but it was already too late.
"Hey do you know what you are__!" Alex suddenly felt weak and faint. His vision blurred and those were the last words he heard.
"__doing... Great, he's asleep again. This is what I get for not minding my own business." She mumbled to herself
"What kinda idiot faints from spellfade just after waking up?" This Alex sure was an amusing albeit frustrating oddball.
He hadn't even realized what was going on before he ran out of energy. And Rebecca couldn't even get a full sentence from him before he collapsed.
She sighed and waved a hand. Out of nowhere, a large mechanical arm propelled by small blue jets of flame appeared out of nowhere. The flames came from small compartments all over the arm, allowing it to do some flexible maneuvers in the air.
It was covered in glowing yellow runic scripts, but a cobweb of cracks was all over it from where a dim blue light pulsed from time to time.
The arm was twice the size of a reasonably well built adult man's and seemed weirdly amputated and as if it was designed to be independent at the same time. It was no doubt a beautiful work of art
"Take him back to bed. Don't leave his side and bring me to him at any sign of change. He can wield light. This might be troublesome." Becca ordered the machine.
It vibrated slightly in acknowledgement and then proceeded to grab Alex by the leg, Lift him like a chicken and carry his through the air towards the bed, where it hovered above him like the remnants of his guardian angel.
*****
The alarms were blaring in the middle of the night. There sounds were panicked and the footsteps outside were a clear sign that this was not a drill. Not even close.
There were flashes of bright light. Muffled bang could be heard from the new device they called "gun". It was pandemonium. The men in white coats were running everywhere and the blue jackets were scrambling with their guns to maintain order.
X had to go out, he had to stand up. That's when the first time he felt that the floor was being ridiculously intimate with his face. He pushed himself up. He looked outside his room, his cell.
No-one was paying attention to him. He was X after all. Why would he do anything? X smiled. It seems no-one had figured it out after 2 months. His smiled turned into a grin. Now, he had his opportunity.
And today he was gonna get free
He turned around and checked out the room he was in. Similar to the clothing he was wearing it was a particularly stark and barebones white. He heard a voice behind the door and the sound of his heavy door opening.
He immediately schooled his face into a blank expression and stared blankly at the space in front of him. Like he had been doing for months. It had been hard, but he couldn't afford to drop the ball at the finish line.
The doctor walked in. He was a short pudgy man, one would doubt would be able to get a handle on anything. "I got X!" He shouted to the guard in blue outside the door. " He's not a problem I can't handle alone. Go secure the other letters"
"But-" The doctor interrupted the voice coming from outside "I know its a violation of the Goddamn protocol but X is practically a sheep and we can't let The Letters get out!"
The doctor clearly wouldn't take no for an answer.
"Not only is X close to me, but he's also the only one not to react violently with the Matrix assimilation last month. He's practically the best possible result for this project. Now stop wasting time and go!"
The guard finally relented, saluted the doctor and sped down the hallway. They would need him especially to deal with M.
The doctor sat down on the bed next to X.
"I wish all of them were like you X. You're perfect, always doing as you're told." He laughed out loud.
"I know I'm just the grunt charged with monitoring here but I can't help but feel proud of what we've accomplished. The perfect mage corps. Well, after we deal with the rebellious tendencies of the rest."
The ugly toad of a man man was going practically feverish. His eyes grew bloodshot and his smile lecherous as he let go with his fantasies.
"And after we do, I do hope I get to play with that M. Such a beauty, a shame for her to be untouched."
X's mood suddenly changed and his lip twitched. He could feel the rage build up in him. How dare such filth even have such ideas on her? All he could think about was ripping this man to shreds but it wasn't time yet.
He had to bide his time. He had to wait. He had to...
"I'm going to take my sweet time too and savor her. And the best part? I'll make her take the init-"
The doctor was confused. Why was it that suddenly he couldn't talk? He tried again, but instead of words his lifeblood came up. He could see a cold, grey dagger in his throat. He looked up and saw the same steely grey in X's eyes.
The last thing he heard was the supposed 'sheep' saying "Ah, now why did you have to go and make me do that. Now this is just gonna complicate things. You were useless trash to the end."
His eyes turned blurry and the last thing he felt was confusion, and then a dark glee. Something told him that a lot of people were about to suffer. He'd be laughing from the afterlife, waiting for them.
X looked down at the corpse of the smiling toad, baffled at what it is about death that could make the man so happy. He shook his head and looked at the door. They said plans never survived the battlefield... It was time to see if his would survive the battle.
*****
Alex slowly opened his eyes back in Becca's bed. He just stared at the ceiling as he tried to process what had happened to him. And what he had did. He had killed a man. His hands were tainted with blood.
And that wasn't even the worst of it. The problem was that it didn't bother him, even though he knew that it should. He lifted his hands and looked at it.
"Who exactly am I?"
"You tell me" came the unexpected answer. He sat up lightning fast and looked to the right where the voice had come from.
A tall youth with a hair of blazing red that looked strikingly like Becca stepped out of the shadows. Except his hair and some literal licks of fire curling up now and then.
"And while you're at it explain to me what it is you're doing in my bed."
Alex noticed the resemblance almost immediately, so he hesitated a bit before replying " Becca must have put me in here after I fainted. I didn't know it had an owner."
He paused a bit to consider his words before continuing, "I'm Alex, nice to meet you." and stretched out his hand.
The flamehead shook the hand he had been offered coolly said " Royce, Becca's awesome twin, and I'm sure the pleasure is all yours."
"I guess it is then" Alex smiled and shook his head. What an interesting family he had come upon.
He decided to sate his curiosity a bit. "Ummm if you don't mind explaining, can you tell me how I got here?"