"That definitely doesn't count as a plan."
"I disagree, but what else could I expect from a fish out of water." Alix and Mo were on their way home after yet another long day of school. Sometimes it's easy to forget that Alix even attends the school with the amount of extracurricular activities she does.
Tutoring two idiots, working on her own magic, as well as keeping up with her martial arts training with her mother. It's a totally packed schedule. And that doesn't even mention her work in figuring out how to literally trace a spell onto the air itself.
'I've been stuck on this idea for the past month and yet I've made absolutely no progress in it. Maybe it was a fluke? No, if I managed to pull it off once in a trance then I should be able to do it on purpose. But what is it that's so different now in comparison to back then.' Alix was lost in thought as she continued to walk around town.
She didn't find herself doing this often but whenever she really needed to think she just couldn't sit still. There had to be something that she was missing.
The Blaze slowly shifted out of the sky and was replaced by the moon. Alix had been walking around for hours but still hadn't been able to think of anything that could help her solve this weird puzzle that she had somehow built herself.
"Hey, Lexi?" Mo got the girl's attention. "What is it, Mo?" She replied with a hint of indifference in her voice. She was still trying to think of a solution to her problem.
"I understand that yer 'deep in the sea of thought' and all that but I'm really gettin' hungry here. Think we can call it a day so that I can get some food in me?" Alix stared into the fish's pleading eyes and sighed.
"Fine. I guess thinking about it this deeply about it has yet to help so what is the point of doing it now. We should go eat something." Mo smiled brightly at the girl. "I'm thinkin' somethin' earthy. Ya know, like vegetables."
"You and those vegetables. I thought fish ate bugs and stuff." Mo shook with disgust. "Bugs? Are ya kiddin'? Those nut brained flying freaks eat bugs. I am a classy water monster. I eat more refined things." Mo spoke in a overbearing tone. Alix laughed at her friend.
They continued to walk when something caused Alix to stop. It was a stain on the ground. Stains were no oddity in any town but a bloodstain would always draw some eyes. Alix looked around for any sign of life but saw no people or even any monsters. It was so empty and yet the blood stain looked so recent.
"Why are ya lookin' at it like that? Are ya gonna go hunt down the ever elusive serial killer that's been walkin' the streets." Mo joked.
"Serial killer?" Mo looked at Alix with uncertainty in his eyes. "Lexi, yer not actually sayin' that ya've been so unaware of yer surroundings that ya didn't even hear about the rumored serial killer roaming yer town's streets." Alix shook her head.
"This is the first time that I ever heard of it." Mo could not believe what he was hearing. "Ya realize how insane this sounds right? Somehow I heard about this rumor when the only time that I'm not with ya is in that teacher's office, yet you didn't hear about it. No wonder ya don't have any friends other than me. Ya know, a talkin' fish."
Alix ignored the sarcastic insults from Mo...
At least she thought they were sarcastic. That didn't matter though as she continued to analyze the area and saw that the trail of blood led into a nearby alley. Alix nodded and walked in the complete opposite direction of the bloodstains.
"I have no reason to get involved with any serial killers. They went into that alley so I'll just go nowhere near that alley." Alix nodded reassuring herself that she was making the best decision. She walked along a path that had absolutely no cover. A path that no criminal in their right mind would follow as it was far too exposed and would increase their chances of getting caught and imprisoned.
"Smart choice, Lexi. I almost thought that ya were actually thinkin' of confrontin' a serial killer." Mo said relieved.
"Obviously not! I am merely a young mage on her way home from school. I would never risk my life for the sake of morality." Alix and Mo both nodded proud of themselves for making a smart decision in the case of almost running into a serial killer.
It was time for them to get home safely and enjoy a nice, warm meal prepped by the girl herself since her mother was absolutely abysmal in the kitchen. All was well.
...Is how this should have gone but what the hell is this situation! There in the middle of an open street with the moon basically acting like a spotlight showcasing the lead actor of a performance. A man sat with a knife firmly planted into another man's chest.
"How in the world did this even happen?" It was illogical. No person in their right mind would commit a crime so openly...unless. The killer seemed to have noticed Alix as he called out. "Wow, so you actually had the common sense to walk away from a blood trail. Good on you."
Alix almost face palmed. The rational thinking skills that she prided herself on had instead led her to not fall for a distraction placed down by a surprisingly smart killer. How had this come to be?
"Well, I have to kill you now too. Mama always said leave no witnesses after all. Though I think that mantra was meant more so for herself than me." Alix's eyes narrowed. The way the person spoke seemed familiar. The light from the moon was actually making it difficult to the man's face as he was wearing a coat and had the hood pulled up, but the coat itself also looked familiar to Alix.
It was black fur coat...
"Holiday? Is that you?" The man froze when he heard Alix call out. He looked up slightly as his hood was slightly blocking off his own sight. After seemingly have confirmed his suspicions the man quickly turned on his heels and dashed in the opposite direction. Alix stood still for a moment looking back at the corpse on the ground then back to the figure that was currently retreating.
"Hey! GET BACK HERE HOLIDAY!" Alix blitzed after the man of whom she was now confident was Eric. He ran as hard and fast as he could without looking back. Without looking at anything at all seeing he had closed his eyes desperately hoping that he was dreaming. He began to slow down.
Just as he did the sound of heavy footsteps quickly approaching discouraged him. Eric had obtained a second wind and tried desperately to run away from his tutor. But it was already too late. The fact that he could hear the girl's footsteps meant that he had already been caught.
And get caught he did as the girl pulled the boy back by his hood and tossed him to the ground. Eric winced in pain as he felt a foot stomp on his stomach. "Ouch! Watch it, Mama Wolf!"
Her gaze traveled across Eric's body analyzing him. He was covered in blood that was clearly not his own as he had no injuries on his body. In his hand was a, strangely ritualistic, knife covered in the blood of the man the boy had just stabbed.
"Don't you 'watch it' me boy! What in the hell are you doing at this time of night?!" Eric gave a light-hearted chuckle as a response. This earned him another stomp from the girl.
"Ow! Ok! Calm down! I can explain." Alix released some of the pressure from her foot but didn't remove it. She would not give the boy a chance to escape and began her interrogation.
"So you are this so-called serial killer that people have been talking about?"
"Serial killer is a strong word I prefer to-ACK!" Alix pushed her foot deep into the boy again stopping him from speaking. "No excuses, boy. Yes or no." She said intensely. Eric swallowed deeply.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I-it's related to my magic." Alix stomped on the boy again. "What did I say about excuses." Eric shook his head frantically.
"It isn't an excuse I swear! Just check under my shirt and you'll see what I'm talking about!" Alix stared at the boy inquisitively but still decided to confirm whether he was telling the truth or not. She crouched down and grabbed the boy's shirt. Now that she was closer she did notice that the blood seemed to be coming from beneath the shirt.
She lifted the boy's shirt an was met with quite the sight. Some sort of strange shape was carved into the boy's stomach. It was like a triangle but the bottom had been open like a container and the entire thing was upside-down. It was weird to say the least.
"I know what your probably thinking. What the hell is this thing? Well you see a long time ago when I was-"
"So it's remnants of the Runic Clan, huh?" Alix spoke flatly. The girl's words completely threw Eric off. He was deeply surprised. "H-how do you know that?"
"Well, I don't know much about the group but I did see a little bit about them in my father's ancient texts. Though this does make the whole killing people in the middle of the night make sense." Alix let go of the boy's shirt and stood up.
"So, are you some sort of long lost descendant or something? Because from what I understand, the clan completely disappeared centuries ago." Eric slowly stood up still staring at the girl awestruck. "N-no. I'm no descendant. I got pulled into a Ruin when I was younger and this rune was engraved onto me." Alix nodded.
"Makes sense. That sounds like the kind of thing that clan known as a bunch of war fanatics would do. So you know anything else about it? I could look it up if you want?" It seemed as though every few sentences Eric was getting another unexpected reaction from the girl. He finally just looked her straight in her eyes and asked the question that was eating at him.
"You're not afraid of me?" The boy spoke with his voice lowered.
"Why would I be?" The girl asked seemingly unconcerned.
"You just caught me literally killing a person! You also know that I'm that one that has been killing people in the town for the past month! That's the kind of thing a normal person would have some aversion to!" He raised his voice as he was getting increasingly frustrated.
"You have the rune of a clan of people that was known for their insanity and ruthlessness on the battlefield. Yet you also go to school like any normal kid and pretend that you don't occasionally kill people at night. I can see how that could be frightening and something that should be scorned indeed." Eric solemnly nodded as the girl talked.
'So she is afraid of me.' His gaze slowly casted downwards however was stopped when Alix grabbed his chin and forced him to make eye-contact with her.
"I am not done." The boy was shocked. Alix kept holding Eric's head and continued. "I don't know what sort of incredibly ignorant or moral person you think I am but I am neither. I am Alix Deminal! I love all magic!" Eric's eyes widened.
"No immoral practices or unusual acts can deter me. Magic is full of surprising and interesting ways to make special things happen. Special things that may have once been seen as impossible to do. Runic magic is, of course, included in that." Eric's lip quivered slightly.
He remembered when he first got this cursed rune implanted onto him. The last person that had treated interacted with him without fear even though they knew he had this rune. It had been none other than his own mother. Eric met Alix's gaze as the visage of his mother that was ever present in his mind combined with his image of the girl in front of him. The words unintentionally left his lips.
"Mama?"