The Guardian Tournament

Chapter 1

Theo huffed, kicking a rock and sending it tumbling down the cracked sidewalk. He'd been kicked out of the house, again. It wasn't like he did anything wrong, he just mouthed off a little to his mom and then left because he didn't want to get hit. So if anyone was really in the wrong here it was her, he did feel kind of bad about it, she was trying her best, but maybe she could try a little harder. He sighed and leaned against the side of a building breathing in the smell of smoke and car exhaust, home sweet home. The slums of lower Drewza, the city itself was nice, Theo went there almost every morning for work, but the slums of it not so much.

He watched a group of drunk guys hobble out of a shitty looking bar. Yeah, he definitely couldn't wait to get out of here, he only wished his mom would listen to him about leaving with him. But naturally she was still convinced Harold loved them, Theodore was actually kind of scared she'd tell him he planned on leaving, so he'd stopped pushing the matter. Good old manly man Harry, always there to remind Theo he'd only ever be half a man thanks to his small stature and less than muscular build. But it didn't matter how muscular he was or tall, with money he could do whatever he wanted. Of course you'd need a lot of it and Theo had far from a lot of it, in fact he almost didn't have enough Qenri to pay his bus fare. He pulled out a wad of the metallic purple bills and a few coins, yeah, especially since he was expected to give all of it to his stepdad to 'help provide for the family' which Theo roughly translated to; 'so I don't have to get off my lazy ass and make a living'. But naturally Theo was about to give him all his hard earned money to be spent on alcohol and maybe some groceries if Harold was feeling especially generous, no he kept half for himself, and of that half he took out what his bus fare cost and then the rest he saved. He was saving to afford an apartment in the real city, not here, in the slums. But of course he didn't get his paycheck every day, so saving up was hard, especially since, despite her faults, Theo was constantly seeing things he wanted to buy for his mom. But for now he had a pretty solid savings going, he just wouldn't be able to save the money he was holding in his hand, which was frustrating. But just a minor setback. He still had plenty of weeks ahead of him and at this rate, enough money for an apartment in Drewza next month.

He moved off the wall and kept walking, keeping his head down, sometimes drunk guys considered eye contact a federal offense. A poster caught the corner of his eye and he stopped to look at it, it was a warning, to report all signs of magic to local authorities, not the kind of parlor tricks and hoodwinks magicians did, but real magic. Like explode your head or curse your bloodline type stuff. Theo rolled his eyes and kept walking he had been hoping it was a job add, but it was just another stupid conspiracy poster. Personally Theo didn't believe in magic, or magical people, he believed in people who punished people for no reason under the excuse of magic, but not magic.

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, flipping his shoulder length hair out of his face, it was really time for a haircut. Naturally he couldn't afford one, he usually just lobbed some inches off the end and then tied it back in a ponytail, out of sight out of mind. Speaking of which, he pulled his hair back into a low ponytail, some of it still falling in his face unfortunately. He glanced around, trying to avoid the shadier places in town as he made his way back home. He'd apologize to his mom, and then he'd definitely go to bed, no need to be exhausted during work tomorrow. He yawned as he approached the rundown apartment building they lived in, at 17 he was just a couple months away from being old enough to leave, but he was sure his stepdad was counting on him to be too financially unstable to leave. Of course this was not the case, he took the stairs two at a time, pausing to pet the resident cat before making it to his apartment. He sucked in a deep breath and quietly unlocked the door, with any luck Harold would be asleep, and he could just quietly creep into his room. Naturally he had no such luck.

"Where have you been?" Harold demanded, his words slightly slurred. He was sitting on a ratty recliner wearing a very cliche wife beater shirt, and obviously drinking. Theo wasn't exactly sure how they could afford cable, or the apartment, but he didn't ask.