Leo and Shelly: Passing the torch

Ill Tidings
A single boy sat in the corner of a hospital waiting room. He couldn’t be any older than three years old, but had been left alone regardless. He watched people walk by through the window to the maternity ward across the room, watching for his parents to come through at any moment. While waiting there, he thought back over the past few months, his mother’s belly had grown and both his parents talked about him being an older brother soon. He didn’t really understand much of what was going on, but his dad had said yesterday that whatever was happening would be happening soon.

Lost in thought, he had failed to notice his father walk down the hallway on the other side of the window. The door to the waiting room open and the boy noticed his father holding a small bundle in his massive arms. “Leo, come meet your new sister.” He said happily, kneeling down to his son’s level.

Leo hopped off his chair and crossed the room, looking in on the bundle in his dad’s arms. He was met with the small face of a baby sleeping inside the blanket; small purple hairs doted over her head. He watched her for a moment as she slept in her father’s arms, not entirely sure what to think, before asking. “Can, can I hold her?”

“’Course you can.” He responded, holding her out for Leo to take. “Just be gentle.” Leo slid his small arms under his newborn sister, lifting her away from their father. “Careful of her head now.” Leo adjusted his arms, trying his best to mimic the way his father had been holding her a moment ago. “Good Lad.” He patted Leo on the head, while Leo watched her sleep.

She shuffled a bit inside the blanket, though settled into her brothers arms soon enough. Leo still wasn’t sure what to think of everything that had happened, nor did he really understand most of it, but smiled as he looked at her sleeping face. “What’s her name?”

His father was quiet for a moment, thinking of the best way to explain. “Well, your mom thinks we should name her Shelly.” He said with a bit of distain. “But I was thinking we could call her-.” He was cut off when one of the doctors burst through the door to the maturity ward, telling him he was needed. He turned on his heel and exited into the hallway behind the window. Leo watched him through the glass, while his baby sister shuffled herself awake. She began to cry out as Leo watched the doctor enter into another room, with their father gazing into another window on the opposite side of the hallway. The newborns cry’s grew louder and louder as Leo watch his father sink to his knees, his hand sliding down the glass with him. He wasn’t tall enough to see into the across room from the waiting room, but could tell that something had gone wrong when the doctor immerged a moment later shaking his head.

A particularly loud cry from his newborn sister drew his attention away from his dad and the doctors. Leo went back to the chair he had been waiting in before and gently began rocking her, hoping that it would calm her down. Thinking back to a time when their mother did the same for him, he remembered a song she used to sing him to help him sleep. He couldn’t remember any of the words, but he hummed the rhythm as best as he could recall. After a few rounds of this, his sister had calmed down and soon fell asleep again in her brother’s arms. He smiled to himself as she slumbered. “Shelly sounds like a nice name.” He looked up again to see the doctor had gone, and his dad had slumped onto the floor. Leo stood up and walked out of the waiting room to join his father, with Shelly still in his arms. “Hey Daddy? When can we see Mommy?”

He was surprised by Leo joining him, but quickly wiped his eyes before meeting his gaze. “That’s…” He seemed to have trouble thinking of the words. He pulled Leo in under his arm, keeping him and Shelly close against his side. “Your Mom. She had to go away for a while.” Leo looked up at him quizzically, but his father fell silent as he watched the doctors wheel a gurney out of the ward.

8 Years Later

Leo ran through the forest, emerging near the back of the mage guild Blazing Soul. Making his way around to the front gate he heard an explosion in the nearby town of Merow City, followed by the low rumble of thunder. He ducked instinctively, despite the sounds coming from half a mile away, but came through the forest and onto the dirt road that passed by his guilds entrance. Pushing through the front gate, he was met by a handful of mages who had come out to investigate the noise. “Dad Dad!” he called to his hulk of a father. “The city’s on fire!”

He knelt down to his son as he came to him, placing his hands on his shoulders. “Wait, slow down son.” He gave the boy a few moments to catch his breath, apparent that he had to run quite a ways to get here, while several of the other mages formed a circle around them. “What’s happened?”

Leo opened his mouth to speak, but before he could a voice came from down the road. “[[Davin Vamiro|Davin!” They all looked up to see an incredibly tall man vault over the guilds outer fence. “Jaina’s in a fight. That dark guild’s back again!”

Several of the mages looked between the tall man and Leo’s father Davin. Taking a moment to think, he looked to the others around him and said. “Everyone head into town and help people where you can.” The tall man opened the front gate, and several of the mages headed out to town, when Davin called after them. “Steer clear of Jaina if you find her. We’ll just get in her way.” They all nodded before heading out again. One of the last to leave was a woman with long black hair wrapped up in a bandana. Davin took hold of her arm as she passed by, stopping her in her tracks. “I uh. Can I ask you to take Leo inside? Make sure the two of them are safe before coming after us?” He said in a much softer tone than before.

She nodded and began hurrying Leo inside the guilds building, while Leo began to protest. “Hey wait, no. Kat, I want to help.” He tried to squirm away, but Kat kept a firm hold on his shoulders as she pushed the door open.

“You heard your dad; he wants you to stay and look after your sister.” Leo mumbled something about that not being what he said, but Kat ignored him while looking over the guilds main hall. “Shelly? Where did you go?”

“Over here guys.” They heard from the far end of the hall. They looked to see a small girl, only a few years younger than Leo, hiding underneath one of the tables. She sat their clutching a sketchbook against her chest, while Leo and Kat made their way to her.

Kat put a hand on each of their shoulders as Shelly stood up. “Your dad wants the two of you to stay here and watch the guild ok?” Shelly nodded while Leo stood still, stunned that he was being sidelined like this. “We’ll all be back in a bit, just wait behind the bar until then alright?”

Shelly nodded again, and another clap of thunder rung out from the direction of the town. They all flinched at the sudden noise, and Kat turned to leave when Shelly asked. “What are you going to do?”

“To kick some butt.” She said with a big grin, before disappearing out the door again. There was a flash of magic, and the siblings saw a pair of wings flap before the door closed completely. The pair of them stood alone in the guild hall, while more noise from town echoed over the property.

Looking around the guild, Shelly took her brothers hand and led him behind the bar like Kat had said. She sat on a box of empty bottles, opened her sketchbook, and began to draw whatever it was that had come to mind. Meanwhile, Leo sat across from her on the floor, listening to the sounds of what he assumed was a fight and the scratch of Shelly’s pencil on the paper. They stayed sitting there for a few minutes, not saying anything to each other while they waited for their guild mates to return.

Growing tired of the silence, Shelly glanced up at Leo and closed her book. “I’m thirsty.” Leo was too engrossed in his own thoughts to notice, until Shelly hoped off her seat and began tugging at his arm. “Leo, I’m thirsty.” He didn’t say a word but got up off the floor, filled a glass with water and gave it to her. “Thank you.” She took a sip while Leo sat back down, and then walked out from behind the bar into the empty guild building. “This place is weird when it’s empty.” She said, trying to get her brother to respond in some form. “I like it better with the others here.”

“The others.” He repeated, looking down at the floor. “I should be out their helping them.” He stood up again, joining Shelly in the empty guild hall. “I should be fighting with the rest of them. Everyone’s out there, while we’re stuck here." Shelly backed away a little as Leo approached, not sure what to say. "I’m a part of Blazing Soul too; I should be doing my part.”

“But, but Kat said Dad said to stay here.” She took Leo by the arm to stop him from walking off and began thinking of something to say to get him to stay with her. “They want us to look after the guild building. Protect it if the bad guys come.”

“I can’t protect a whole building on my own.” He said defensively, trying to shake his arm out of her grasp. “Dad just want’s me out of the way.” Shelly looked at him with disbelief. “He said so himself, we’ll be in the way if we go to help Jaina. That’s what he said Shelly.”

“Well, Jaina’s a lot stronger than we are.” She rebutted, as a dull rumbling coursed through the ground. “Besides, I’m sure Dad was talking to the whole guild when he said that, not just you.”

“Then how come he had Kat tell us to stay here?” He asked, finally shaking his arm from Shelly’s hands. “Why did he let the others go and stick us in en empty building?” Shelly open her mouth to speak, but couldn’t think of anything meaningful to say. Leo waited for a moment, while another rumble flowed through the ground, before he turned towards the door. “I’m going to help them, and Dad can’t stop me.”

“What?” Shelly stood their surprised, before dropping her drink and running to Leo. Broken glass and water scattered in all directions as she wrapped her arms around his chest. “No. No no no. I don’t want you to leave!” She began pulling him back towards the nearest table, but Shelly’s small size compared to her brothers made it a difficult task for her. “Don’t leave me alone.”

“Hey! Shelly, I got’a help.” He pushed against her head, trying to get free, but Shelly held on like her life depended on it. “Come on, let go already.” Shelly buried her face into Leo’s back while he tried pushing off her shoulders. It was only then that Leo realised she was trembling, holding on as tight as she could to prevent her brother from leaving. He stopped pulling away and looked down at the top of her head. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Keeping her face against his back, her response came out a bit muffled. “I don’ wan’ you da’ go.” She tilted her head up a bit, just enough to let Leo see her watery eyes. “Stay here.” Leo was about to argue, but Shelly’s puppy dog eyes tugged on his heart like nothing he had ever experienced before. He silently nodded his head, while Shelly wiped her eyes and looked up at him with a smile. “Good.”

Leo sighed a little, before looking back at the bar. “Come on, let’s go wait for the others.” Thunder rang out again, though this time it sounded much farther away than the last.

“No way, it smells funny back there.” Shelly complained, pulling him back away from their previous hiding place. She looked around at the empty guild hall and the several square tables dotting the floor. After a full turn, she looked back at him and said “Let’s make a fort.”

“Shelly…” Leo complained, while she ran off and began pushing tables over.

“It’ll be fine.” She said as she dragged a pair of overturned tables together. “Besides, if anyone comes here, we can use it for protection.” Leo wasn’t as naïve as to believe that, but began helping none the less when Shelly had trouble moving one of the tables. More noise from town made Leo hasten the pace, though he still didn’t think a couple overturned tables would do either of them any good if the fighting made it to the guild.

Waiting in the Wings
After about 15 minutes, the two siblings had made themselves a small table fort in the corner farthest from the guild’s entrance. Though all it was really composed of was a pair of tables on their sides with the legs sticking inwards against the corner, with a tablecloth draped overtop, acting as the roof. None the less, both siblings seemed content with the work they had done, and where now siting patiently inside their fortress for their comrades to return. The sounds from the town had ceased a few minutes ago, and now only an eerie silence hung over them. Wishing for something to happen, Leo felt a tug on his sleeve, which nearly made him jump out of his skin. “Hey Leo, tell me what Mommy was like again?” He composed himself before looking to Shelly, crouching next to him with her best puppy dog eye look she could muster. “Please?”

“She was…” Leo thought for a moment. It had been such a long time since their Mom had passed, and he was so young at the time that he had a hard time remembering much about her at all. “She had a really pretty voice.” He began. “She always sung this song to me whenever I couldn’t sleep; Dad’s sung it to you a few times too.” He paused again, taking longer to think. “Oh, she also took me down to the beach whenever dad went away.”

“Uh-huh.” She muttered, seemingly only half listening. Leo carried on, but Shelly seemed to have one question in particular on her mind. “Hey Leo…” She interrupted. “How did she die?”

“What?” Leo asked, apparently caught off guard.

“How did Mommy die?” She asked again. “I want to know what happened, and Daddy always gets really quiet when I ask him about it.”

Leo wasn’t sure what to say. He knew exactly how their mother died, their dad had explained it when he was old enough to understand, but neither of them knew how to approach Shelly about it. “She uh…” He stuttered as Shelly stared at him, seeming judging his every word. “She died a little after you were born. She got injured one day and, well, there wasn’t anything Jaina could do for her.”

Shelly blinked a couple times. “Dad said she got sick.”

Leo froze, realising he had been caught in a lie. He couldn’t think of anything to say to backpedal, and soon began stuttering incoherently. He stopped when he heard Shelly giggling, and blushed a little when he realised she had tricked him. He crossed his arms and turned his head away, while Shelly burst out laughing. “You’re a bad liar Leo.” He tried his best to ignore her, until she began pulling on his sleeve. “Hey, Dad said I look like her.” She said while crawling closer to her brother. “What do you think?”

Leo glanced over to find Shelly leaning close to him on her hands and knees. He had to admit, the resemblance was uncanny, even if she was much younger than their mother. Despite this he grinned slyly, seeing this as the perfect chance to get back at his sister for tricking him. “No way, nothing like her.” Shelly gained a look of surprise for a moment, before puffed out her cheeks and slumped down further away from him, apparently annoyed by his answer. Leo laughed at her reaction a little, though the pair of them jumped when the door to the guild suddenly swung open. Shelly immediately forgot any grievance she had and leapt to her brother’s side, wrapping her arms around him again for comfort.

The pair of them edged closer to a gap in their fort to investigate, all the while hearing hurried shuffling coming from the other side. They edged closer and closer, until Leo caught a glimpse of the tall man from before going through several of the cabinets along the guilds far wall. They both sighed with relief, and the pair of them considered coming out of hiding before the door swung open again. “Where are the others?” A man with long dreadlocks barked. The first man gestured toward the door, while the second began pulling tables together. “Go out back and get the med kit from storage.”

Kat returned a moment later, just in time to see the tall man slip through the back door. She seemed surprised however, to see the man with deadlocks present as well. “Mace? When did you get back?” Though before he could answer, she shook her head and reorganised her thoughts. “Never mind, do you know about the town?”

“Just now. And I ran into a civilian who filled me in.” He motioned for her to give him a hand and the two of them pushed a pair of tables together, before Mace looked towards the door and shouted. “Zumma, move your ass!”

Kat leaned back against one of the other tables, and it was only then that the siblings saw that she had been injured. “So…” She stopped for a moment to catch her breath, apparently exhausted from whatever had gone on in town. “What have you heard, about Master Jaina?”

“I heard it isn’t good.” He said as the man called Zumma walked back through the doors with a large duffle bag in hand. “She and some dark mage made a real mess of town.” Mace grabbed a bottle from behind the bar and began wetting a number of cloths with alcohol, while Zumma began unpacking the contents of the bag onto the table.

When the bag was empty, Zumma approached Kat to attempt to treat her wounds, but she brushed him off before he could have a chance to do anything. “Sh-should we call Isa?”

“We have more pressing matters than next of kin right now.” The siblings heard Mace’s voice a lot closer than they remembered him being, and the roof of their fort was violently pulled away. Shelly screamed from the abruptness of it, and all three of the adults jumped back in surprise. Mace leaned over the table to investigate, only to find Leo looking up at him with a teary eyed Shelly hugging his waist. “What are you two doing?”

Nether of the siblings said anything but soon they all heard a commotion from outside, seemingly growing closer by the second. They all listened for a moment, before Kat pushed off the wall towards Leo and Shelly. “Come on you two, you don’t need to see this.” She lifted the pair of them over the wall of their fort and hurried them towards the back door.

Both fought against her, while Zumma and Mace set the tablecloth over the tables they had moved together. While pushing against Kat, Shelly felt her hand land on something wet, and looked at her palm to find it covered in blood. “Hey, wait a minute.” She looked around her to find Kat was bleeding from one of her shoulders, and that the blood had soaked through her shirt as it bled down her back. “You’re hurt.”

Kat reached around her back to feel for herself and grunted a little when she saw blood, but smiled none the less. “Naw, this is nothing. You should see the other guy.” She joked, while wiping her hand off on her pant leg. “Come on, your dad’ll be along any minuet.” The trio turned a corner and headed towards a smaller building next to the guild, mostly used as a supply shed. She pushed the door open, which Zumma had left ajar, and stood the siblings inside. “Stay here alright?”

They both nodded slowly, as they heard the commotion drawing to the front gate. Above all else they heard a woman screaming. “Lemme go damn it. I’m going to kill’em, I’m going to kill’em all!” They recognised the voice as that of the guild master Jaina, though it seemed different about it somehow. Like how one would expect the cry of an animal would change after an injury. Shelly drew closer to Leo, taking one of his hands in both of hers as Kat took off to rejoin their companions. There was what sounded like a brief scuffle, then a door closing, leaving the two in silence.

Minuets passed by, and they heard several muffled screams and shouts echo from inside the guild. Soon after, the shouting subsided, and Leo peeked out of the shed to see if he could see what was going on. Several of the guilds mages rounded the corner of the guild as he did so, including their father Davin. He glanced back at Kat, who pointed at the shed, which he then ran to in under a second. The door nearly tore away from its hinges as Davin swung it open, standing before his children with a look of relief on his face. He knelt down and took them both into his massive arms. “I’m so glad the two of you are safe.” He let them down but quickly noticed Shelly’s hand, still covered in blood. “My god Shelly, what-?”

“It- its ok Dad, it’s from Kat’s shirt.” She interrupted, a little embarrassed about making her father worry. “What’s going on? What happened to Jaina?”

“Well, the guild master’s been injured.” He began. “Pretty badly at that. She and a dark guild made a real mess in town. It was the same one…” He stopped for a moment, trying to think if the best way to explain to his kids. “Same ones, who killed her husband a few months ago. They showed up to cause trouble, and Jaina wouldn’t have it.”

Though both the siblings listened intently, Leo seemed to get hung up on something their father had said. “Wait, if she’s hurt that badly, why did everyone bring her back here? Why not bring her to the hospital in town instead?”

Davin was about to answer, but stopped and chuckled a little. “My god you’re a smart kid.” He patted him on the head before continuing. “The hospital was damaged in the fighting. And what’s left of it has hit capacity dealing with the townsfolk who got injured.”

“Cap, cappa, ca-pa-city?” Shelly turned her head to the side, confused by her father’s speech. “What’s that mean?”

“It means they can’t treat any more people right now.” Leo explained quickly, before turning his attention back to Davin. “What’s going to happen to her?” He asked earnestly. “I mean, we don’t have any doctors. And nobody can use healing magic, right?”

“We’ll make do with what we have for now. But in the meantime, I want the both of you to head on home now.” Shelly nodded while Leo stood with his mouth hanging open. “The fighting was mostly on the far side of town, so don’t worry, our house will still be there.” Shelly took her brother’s hand and dragged him off, though he was still in shock over being brushed aside once again. Davin watched his two children disappear down the street, before sighing and running a hand through his hair.

He leaned against the wall of the guild, lost in thought, when a small flicker in his peripherals caught his eye. He glanced to the side to see Mace approaching him, struggling to light a cigarette in the process. “Kat wanted to call Isa.” He retrieved a small communications lacrima from his pocket and handed it to Davin. “It’ll be better coming from you.”

Davin was slow to respond, still caught up in his own thoughts, but he shook off whatever it was and took the object from his hand. “Yeah, your right. Thank you.” Mace nodded, finally getting his cigarette to light, while Davin activated the lacrima and waited for a response from the other end. There was a small click, then the muffled voice of someone answering the call. “Hey Isa? It’s Davin.” Silence followed momentarily, then more muffles. “I-I’m fine.” Mace took a long puff on his cigarette as he listened, before slowly blowing the smoke away from them both. “Yeah you uh, you might want to sit down for a second.”

The sun was setting on the ocean by the time Leo and Shelly had returned to their house. Home offered little comfort to the siblings however, even if it was one of the few familiar sights they had seen that day. Some of the streets they had passed where in shambles, despite what their father had said, and a light haze had fallen over the city from all the dust that had been kicked up in the fighting. Leo cooked dinner for both he and Shelly in an attempt to get his mind off things, though this had proved futile once the plates had been cleared and Davin had not yet returned. They waited and waited, still there was no sign of him, and the siblings began to worry that something bad had happened again. Just as Leo considered going to look for their father, the front door opened, and Davin strolled into the living room a moment later. “Dad!” They called in unison, rushing to his side. Leo stopped half way across the room, thinking back on all that had happened that day, while Shelly wrapped her arms around Davin’s waist with a big smile. “We thought you got lost.”

“I’m sorry I’m late sweetie. I had something that needed taking care of.” He said, ruffling his daughter’s hair with his massive hand before looking back up at Leo. “How is everything? No trouble getting through the city I take it?”

“No.” He answered shortly. Leo tried his best to avoid looking Davin in the eye, but he couldn’t hide the fact that something was bothering him. Fidgeting uncomfortably under his father’s gaze, he looked up and asked. “Can I talk with you about something?”

Knowing what had been on his mind all day; Shelly spun around and stood between her brother and her dad. “Leo, don’t fight.”

Leo seemed to have been caught off guard, half because Shelly rarely got confrontational, but also because she knew his intentions. “I’m not going to.” He argued

“You’re lying.” She rebutted.

“Am not!” He said, growing more annoyed now.

“Guys, guys, calm down.” Davin urged, half stepping between them. “Shelly, do you mind setting up the spare room? We’ll be having a guest saying over for the next little while.” Shelly didn’t say anything, but her face as she looked back at him told Davin exactly what she was thinking. “No fighting. I promise.” Shelly smiled and gave her another hug, before rounding a corner and heading upstairs. They listened for her footsteps to reach the guestroom, and Davin flopped down on a nearby couch when they did. He rested himself for a moment as Leo stared him down, before sighing heavily and saying. “Leo, I know that look-.”

“You cut me out of everything today.” Leo interrupted. “Everyone went into town to fight the dark guild and you had Kat make me stay behind. I could have helped today.” Davin listened silently; though this only seemed to irritate Leo more. “I can fight as well as anyone else Dad.”

“I know you can.” Davin started. “But-“

“But nothing.” Leo interrupted again. “I get Jaina can take care of herself, and I know that the others have way more experience than me. But how am I going to prove myself if you stick me with babysitting an empty building every time something comes up.”

“Building? Leo, I don’t give a damn about the building.” Davin huffed; disappointed that Leo had misjudged his intentions entirely. “Buildings break and they can be rebuilt, simple as that.” Leo stopped his rant, confused as to what his father meant. “I asked you to stay behind so you could protect your sister. Shelly isn’t able to defend herself quite as well as some of the others from the guild, yourself included.”

“That’s…“ Leo trailed off, not able to think of anything to say in the moment.

Seeing his son had calmed down, Davin leaned back against the couch and thought for a moment. “Let me ask you something then. Did you want to leave the guild and join the fight after we had left?”

“Yes.” He answered shortly.

“And did Shelly want you to stay with her at the guild?” He asked, pointing towards the stairs.

“Yeah.” Leo said, though he was slower to answer this time.

“Then you know why I asked you to stay behind.” Leo’s expression betrayed the fact that he still didn’t understand, so Davin elaborated further. “Your can fight, certainly. But the reason I asked you to stay with her has more to do with the fact that you’re the only person who has ever been able to set her mind at ease.” Davin took his son under the arms and lifted him on to the couch next to him. “Kat, Mace, Zumma, they all could have protected her just as well as you could. But she wouldn’t feel as safe with one of them as she would have with her own brother.”

By this time, Leo was too embarrassed to even look his father in the eye. He realised now that he had misjudged everything, what was worse, he had made a big fuss about it to his father. “I- I’m…” He couldn’t even think of the words to apologise he was so flustered.

“It’s alright Leo” Davin said, putting his massive arm around his shoulders to reassure him. “You got your mom’s spirit. In fact, I’m pretty sure the only thing you got from me is the hair.” They both laughed a bit over Davin’s comment, before hearing light footsteps making their way down the stairs.

Shelly peaked around the corner from at her family and smiled, happy to see they weren’t fighting. “I’m done Dad.” Davin waved her over to the couch, but a knock came from the door before she could join them. Davin got up and went to answer, while Leo and shelly listened from the living room. They could hear their dad greeting someone, though neither could make out the voice, then him reassuring whoever it was that somebody was safe. “Who is it?” Shelly whispered to Leo, who shushed her as they heard Davin invite whoever it was inside.

A second later, Davin led their guest into the living room. She was a strangely familiar looking woman who wore a robe of the Magic Counsel and had soft red eyes. Most noticeably though was that she looked deathly pale, something that deeply unnerved both the siblings. “Kids, this is Isa Wondril, she’ll be staying in the guest room for the next little while.” Isa smiled weakly and waved at the pair of them, who did the same in turn. “She’s the master’s sister so be on your best behavior for her, alright?” They both nodded silently again, somewhat intimidated by Isa’s sickly appearance. “Ok then, now off to bed you two. I’ve got some things to discuss with our guest and we’ve got a lot of work tomorrow.” Both siblings nodded and started for the stares, and Davin followed to tuck them in, before he stopped to look back at Isa. “Make yourself at home; I’ll be down in a minuet.” Though seemingly in a daze, Isa nodded and curled into a ball in the nearest chair she could find.

Once they had arrived at the second level, Shelly looked back to make sure Isa was out of sight, then up at Davin. “Hey Dad? If that lady is Jaina’s sister, why is her last name different?”

“I’ll explain some other time. Just get some sleep for now, it’ll be a busy next few days for us.” Davin continued to hurry them along, until they each turned into their rooms, made their preparations for the night, and climbed into bed.

Leo heard Davin tuck Shelly in for the night, and then came into his room to do the same for him. As his father drew the covers, Leo thought about what had gone on throughout the day. How he had been in town, saw the smoke, ran to the guild. How he spent most of the afternoon watching Shelly, and of how he had been so wrong about his father’s intentions. Davin was about to leave when Leo asked. “Dad, I-I’m sorry about what I said today.” Davin stopped and looked back over his shoulder at his son. “I know you just wanted us to be safe and… And I’m sorry for getting mad.”

Davin turned around in the doorway to face Leo. “It’s ok son. We make mistakes and we learn from them, it’s a part of life. Don’t think on it too much” He heard Leo sigh as he shut off the lights. “Good night Leo. I love you son.”

“Love you too Dad.” Leo said as his father shut the door to his room. Despite what his father had said, he still felt bad about the way he acted, and didn’t think apologising had really made up for anything. He lied in his bed, watching the moon through his window and thinking about what would happen to the guild after today. These thoughts weighing on his mind made getting to sleep a chore, but eventually Leo nodded off, unknowing what the future would bring.

Rising Star
Nine Years Later Leo crouched on a tree branch several meters above the ground, surveying the small clearing just through the foliage. He could make out three people, a man in a rust colored shirt and shades, a woman with an eye patch who was missing an arm and a leg, and a redheaded monster like woman hovering above them both on a pair of tattered wings. He could see his target however, a small bag sitting on top of a rock in the middle of the circle. There wasn’t any obstacles to use as cover should he be seen, and Leo wasn’t naïve enough to think he could take on them all on at once, so he decided the best course of action was a sneak attack. Before he could act however, he heard a gunshot ring out, and suddenly felt the branch below him fall away. Leo tumbled to the ground, landing on a soft patch of grass at the tree’s base. Slightly winded, he looked up to see a one eyed man in a long black coat staring down at him, twirling a large pistol around his finger. “So that’s where you been hiding.” He quipped, before catching his gun and taking aim at Leo.

Leo threw his hands up and shouted. “’’’Orbiter!’’’” As the gunmen opened fire. A bubble of light protected him from harm, before he rolled to the side and dove behind another tree. As the gunman took aim again, Leo surrounded himself in light and dove out of cover. “’’’Meteor!’’’” He jumped off another tree, aiming himself at his enemy. The gunman stepped back a bit, surprised by the sudden assault, but regrouped and ducked just in time for Leo to sail over his head. Before he could follow up however, Leo rebounded off another tree and performed a spin kick into the side of the gunman’s head. The blow sent hem reeling through the brush, despairing from sight behind one of the bushes. Not waiting to come under siege again, and knowing he had lost the element of surprise, Leo continued his Meteor spell and burst out of cover.

Immediately he found himself in the center of a rain of throwing stars let lose by the other man on the clearing. Leo dipped and rolled his way through the barrage, miraculously avoiding harm as the vegetation behind him was torn to ribbons. “’’’Strato Burst!’’’” He called with a wave of his hand, sending tiny glints of light back at his opponent. He slammed a fist into the ground, making a metal wall shoot up to protect himself while Leo’s light spell broke through his barrage of metal stars.

The attack hadn’t stopped him, but gave Leo enough time to get some distance between them. Though a shadow blocking out the sun reminded him he was far from done yet. He banked right, just in time to dodge the flying woman’s claws racking through the dirt. Leo hit the ground rolling as bits of earth where thrown into the air, while the one armed woman dove at him with her sword drawn. The first few swings where close calls, but one particularly wide swing gave Leo enough time to get out of close combat. He jumped over the sword with a flip, landed in the woman’s shoulders and kicked off towards the rock with his prize sitting on top.

Before he knew it however, he was slammed aside by something, sending him tumbling through the clearing. He looked back to see the one armed woman had crafted some sort of magic limb of electricity to replace her missing arm, which he guessed was what had hit him moments ago. He quickly looked over the clearing, and found that he was much closer to his target than the three others trying to stop him. Looking between it and his opponents, he dug his heals into the ground and used his Meteor Spell to rocket towards it.

He moved quickly enough that none of the others could hope to make it in time to catch him, but the one armed woman had a different plan in mind. Her electric limb extended towards the rock, hoping to catch him just in time from accomplishing his goal. The race came down to the last second, and Leo grabbed the bag just as the magic limbs long claws closed over the rock. He slipped between the fingers as lightning tore the spot to pieces, rolling to a stop meters from where the rock use to be.

He lie in the dirt, clutching the bag against his chest and taking the time to catch his breath. The man with the shades stood over him inspecting the scene. “Damn.” He smiled down at Leo, flashing a pair of pointed teeth, then offered him a hand. “Nice work kid. I’d say that warrants a pass.”

“Oh, huff great huff.” Leo said between breathes. “Because I really, huff, don’t want to do that again, huff.” He waited for a moment to get his breathing under control, then sat up and let the man help him to his feet.

The gunmen rolled out of the bush and looked over the scene. Finding everything was done with; he holstered his guns and said. “Wow, the kid really did it.” He began kicking at the stones that once composed the rock Leo’s target was on, before looking over at the one armed woman. “Looks like us old timers are going obsolete, eh Jaina?”

She seemed annoyed by the gunman’s comment, but ignored him and walked towards Leo. Jaina took the bag they had just been fighting over and retrieved a small glass orb from inside. “Nice work Leo.” She complimented, crushing the orb in her fist. “You’re hereby an S-Ranked Mage of Blazing Soul.” Gold dust flowed from her hand, washing over Leo like magic. A yellow glow shone through his shirt from the guild mark on his chest, before fading and taking the dust with it.

Before Leo could say anything, the monster woman from before landed next to him and picked him up like a big stuffed toy.” Aw, you’re all grown up Leo. We’re all so proud of you.” Both the men laughed at his predicament, making Leo blush in the woman’s arms as she waved him around. “Oh shut up you two. This is a big day for him.”

Leo continued to kick in her arms, trying with no success to get free from her grasp. “Damn it Kat, let me go already.” She let him back on the ground, before glowing and reverting from her Take-Over form. He sighed upon seeing her big grin, then looked around at the clearing they had used as a battleground. Wooden splinters and shards of metal and rock scattered in every direction, not to mention several long gashes in the earth. “Hey uh... Should we do something about all of this?”

“You’re an S-Class mage, and you want your first job to be cleaning up some forest? No way in hell we’re letting you off that easy.” Jaina ruffled Leo’s hair, making him blush slightly. “It was mostly Rift anyways.” Jaina said, gesturing over her shoulder at the man in shades. “And if someone complains, Peltin can pick it up later. You got some serious celebrating to be doing.”

Rift and Kat laughed again, while Peltin seemed disheartened. “Wait, why am I getting stuck with janitor duty? Metal head’s the one who tore the place to pieces.”

Jaina leaned in closer to him with her hand on her hip. “Because you called me old.” Leo snickered, but caught himself before Jaina could hear him, knowing she might just turn on him next. “Now quit your bitchin’ and get movin’ people. We got us a party to kick off.” With a cheer, he small grope made their way through the forest, back towards Blazing Soul.

They reached the edge of the forest ten minutes later, and where about to step out onto the dirt path leading to the guild, when a pair of hands on Leo’s shoulders stopped him. “Bet your sister’s waiting for ya, right little bro?” Rift asked, while Kat chuckled a little at what they were about to attempt.

“Well yeah, I guess she-.” He was abruptly cut off when he felt himself being lifted into the air. The next thing he knew, he was sitting on both Rifts and Kat’s shoulders. “Guys, what the hell!?” They both ignored him as they carried him towards the guild hall, turning the corner to see a small crowd of people gathered in the guilds courtyard.

Seeing her brother being carried like a hero made Shelly’s face light up like it was Christmas. She ran towards him shouting. “You did it, you did it!” Rift and Kat let him down, and Shelly threw her arms around her brother, nearly talking him to the ground. “You did it Leo, you’re an S-Class.”

“Easy Bookworm.” Peltin quipped, lifting the pair of them by the collar to their feet. “He was there, he knows.” Shelly huffed at him; though Peltin simply laughed and headed inside the guild building.

A crowd began to gather around Leo, asking all sorts of questions. Was he hurt, what happened, what did it feel like? There were far too many for Leo to answer, simply letting himself be bombarded by inquiries. At the back of the crowd, a man with burning red eyes stood in disbelief. “Man, you telling me the boss’s kid made the cut after all?” He complained, running his hands through his silver hair. “The hells the world coming to?” He mumbled under his breath.

Zumma, who was next to him, ruffled his hair, though it was far too rough to be considered a kind gesture. “Ah, shut up Raven. You can whine when you make farther than the first round. Till then, pipe down.” Raven grumbled something, but Zumma pulled him aside when Davin appeared with Peltin in tow.

The entire crowd parted as Davin approached, a warm smile on his face and a twinkle of pride in his eyes. “I knew you could do it son.” He placed both his massive hands on Leo’s shoulders, making him seem smaller than he already was. “You’re hereby named as an S-Class Mage of Blazing Soul. I’m so proud of you Leo.” Everyone cheered around him, and Shelly threw her arms around Leo’s neck again. “Maybe, once you’re older, I’ll be able to pass the torch of guild master onto you as well, someday.” Leo smiled up at his father and he blushed, happy to hear those words. “Maybe we should wait until you’ve grown a little taller though.” Leo’s face immediately turned bright red, though this time for an entirely different reason, as everyone laughed at him and the guild master.

“Alright, alright, quit smotherin’ the kid.” Jaina cut in. “He’s earned himself a celebration, so let’s get to celebrating god damn it.” She flicked a cork off of a champagne bottle, letting the foam spray down the street before talking a long drink. The crowd around them cheered, and Leo got swept up in the flood of people heading into the guildhall.

Though the party was in his honor, Leo hadn’t done much celebrating. As the night rolled on, he had drifted between tables, moving on whenever someone had wanted him to have a drink. He had passed Shelly and her team a few times; though he had never sat down with them for fear that one of her hugs would break his neck. He passed by several of his guild mates, most of which had drunk too much, before he felt someone take hold of his arm and pull him towards a table. “Come ‘ere Wonder Boy; time to see how red your face can get!” Leo sighed as he recognised Peltin’s voice, before he threw him down in a chair and poured them both a drink. He practically put the glass in Leo’s hand, before taking him under his arm and downing his drink in a single gulp. Leo only watched the liquid fizz in his cup, not really feeling like celebrating anything. “I… Sorry, I’m not thirsty Peltin.”

“Hey now, I don’t let just anybody kick this face.” He said with a grin, poring himself another shot in the process. “This is your party kid, might as well kick back and enjoy the prestige while you can. Tomorrow it’s all about responsibility.” He said sarcastically.

“I-I didn’t do this for the fame.” Leo pulled out from under Peltin’s arm, sliding around the table. “I just entered because I was invited. It sounds like more of a hassle than anything else.”

Peltin smiled. “Yeah, whatever you say kid.” He finished another drink before taking one straight from the bottle, wiped his mouth, and looked back at Leo. “Why don’t you try explaining that to Bookworm then? See what she has to say about that.”

“What?” It took Leo a minuet to decipher what Peltin had meant. “Why?”

“Well, ‘cause little sis over there’s got a better built-in bullshit detector than I do.” He said, gesturing over his shoulder. Leo looked past him to see Shelly watching a cat with wings hovering around the table she and her team mates where sitting at. “Besides, I could have called that lie even if I’d lost both eyes.” Leo was about to argue the point, but decided against getting into a fight with someone so cynical. He looked down at the alcohol in his glass, which had stopped fizzing by now, and thought about why he’d decided to do this in the first place.

He wanted to be strong, he wanted to make his family proud, and he most importantly wanted to not be treated like a kid anymore. Though no matter how much he had thought about it, he couldn’t find any of those answers satisfying. The longer he thought it over, the more he realised that he liked the thought of getting recognition for what he had accomplished. “Huh, guess this won’t be so bad.” He mumbled.

Leo smiled absentmindedly, and raised the glass to his mouth to take a drink. He was snapped back to reality the second he felt the burn of the alcohol in his mouth. He spit it out across the table, and Peltin slid his chair aside to avoid getting sprayed, laughing as Leo wiped his face. “At-a-boy Little Lion.” He spotted Shelly approaching, coming to investigate what had happened, and Peltin stood up and patted Leo on the back. “Welcome to the top of the dog pile.” Before disappearing into the crowd just as Shelly arrived.

She watched Peltin leave before looking down at her brother, who was still trying to get booze off his face. “Leo? What happened?”

“No, Nothing happened. I’m fine.” He said quickly, before tossing away the rag he had been using to clean himself up. Shelly stared at him, and Leo looked for something to change the subject. The first thing he saw was the bottle Peltin had poured him a drink from. “Just uh, don’t drink any of that.”

Shelly looked between him and the bottle, before clasping her hands behind her back and smiling innocently. “Sure Leo. Whatever you say.”

Leo watched as she turned and walked back to her table. It took him until Shelly had gotten out of his sight to realise she had seen straight through him. ‘’”Wow.”’’ He thought ‘’”She really can’t be lied to.”’’ The celebration lasted well into the night, and Leo presided to drift through the guild as he had done previously. Though this time he seemed more relaxed than before, finally feeling like this was the starting of an incredible career as an S-Class Mage of Blazing Soul.

End