United (Magics AU - Part 1)

Chapter 21 - Chase

Chase felt like his head was splitting in half, and there were many reasons for this fact. First, he had hardly eaten anything in four days. No matter how much his sister, Abby, protested, he had continued to lend her a larger portion of his rationed food. It was having its effect on him, but he refused to show that to his sister. She didn't need to worry more than she already did. Second, he couldn't remember the last time he'd been given clean water. All of the water that the mysterious, red-eyed man had sparsely given them was lukewarm and not purified in the slightest. Chase was grateful for the water, but he knew that it wasn't good for either of them. Third, he'd used quite a bit of the limited Light Magic he'd gained from birth to heal his sister. She had recently upset the man with the red eyes, and he'd hit her so hard that she'd collapsed back against the cell floor and given herself a concussion. For almost two days, she had hardly stirred, causing Chase to sit awake beside her with worry keeping him from falling asleep. Fourth - and probably the most shocking of all of them - a man who was undoubtedly their father had just showed up in front of their cell. Chase couldn't tell what time it was because it was always dark in the dungeons, but it obviously wasn't during the day - or the red-eyed man would have shown up by now. As Chase stared up at the tall, white haired man before him, pulsing pain throbbed behind his eyes and in the back of his skull. 

The light hovering above the man's shoulder swelled brighter, illuminating several of the empty cells around them. The shadows around his face deepened, but the bright golden eyes stood out in the bright light as he blinked at the two children below him. 

Everything about his face was what Chase remembered seeing - the sharp, alert yellow eyes; the firm, thin mouth; the set, hard jaw; the high cheekbones; and the sheet-white hair that grew all the way down to his legs. 

There was no doubt that this man was Shintaro Carter, their father. 

The man who was supposed to be dead. 

Three years ago, when Chase was fifteen and his sister twelve, their house had suddenly gone up in roaring, unyielding flames. Chase still wasn't sure where the fire had started, but in mere moments, the whole place had been ablaze. Chase had immediately sprinted for his sister, who had been back in her room reading peacefully. When he'd made it into the room, he'd been distressed to find that she wasn't there. He'd fled back into the hallway, screaming for Abby with all the panic that had been practically strangling him. He'd found her in their parent's room with their mother, who had been shoving open the untouched bedroom window. Not a moment later, the whole room had burst into explosive flames, scorching the air with its heat. Chase remembered that out of nowhere, a boy no older than Abby herself had come hurtling out of the shadows, wrapping them in an odd, dark cloak. When Chase had opened his eyes, he and sister had been standing outside of their house, which was burned to the ground. The boy was nowhere to be seen - instead, there was the red-eyed man that had taken them custody and kept them. There was hardly anything left of their home, including their parents. 

Or so they had thought. 

Here, standing perfectly alive and unharmed before them, was Chase and Abby's father. How had he managed to escape? Had he teleported at the last moment out of panic? Surely he wouldn't have left his family there for the hungry flames. 

Shintaro's hands suddenly flew upward, slapping against the bars and wrapping around them. He clutched the metal so tightly that Chase saw his knuckles turn white, before a bright flash emitted from his palms - and the sound of a lock clicking free filled Chase's ears. Shintaro pulled harshly on the gate, and it swung open. Without a moment's hesitation, Shintaro hurried into the small cell and dropped onto his knees in front of his children. 

Chase blinked a few times to focus back on his father, who had moved too quickly for Chase's tired mind to keep up with. He was about to open his mouth to speak - though he wasn't sure what he was going to say - but Shintaro gently yet quickly grabbed his son's face and tilted it sideways, back, and down in examination.