Cinder - school of magic

Overcome the fear

I understood now; Why Vir-Vir wanted me to walk around the block multiple times. He wanted me to arrive at the perfect time. How did he know? Could he see time just like me? No. Was it his calculation? Is this guy even an elf? Too many questions, not enough time.

Vivian: "Oi, Tabi! Wanna join us? We've got this nerd cornered. Let's see what her tidy backpack hides!"

I felt conflicted. Whose side should I take? Who would be a stronger ally? Lucky for me, I had an extra brain behind my back.

Virion: "You don't know whose side you should take? I'll help you with that."

Virion whispered his newest set of instructions into my ear. For a second I got scared.

Virion: "Don't worry, with your powers you should be able to succeed. And even if you don't, I've made various preparations to ensure a maximum gain."

I slowly stepped towards the group. My heart sank into my stomach. What I was about to do would make me rely on my powers once again. I trusted Vir-Vir but this time, he made a fatal miscalculation.
I opened my mouth and took a deep breath.

Tabitha: "Vivian, Mandy, Jessica... I-I can't allow you to continue. Let Lyn go and apologize."

Mandy: "Yeah? Then make us! I don't care how much of a star you are, you're no fighter. I've seen it in the battle classes. You can't even use magic."

Tabitha: "F-Fine, let's make a deal then. I-If I beat you in a 1v3 match, right here and now, y-you'll have to do everything I s-say for the next w-week."

Vir-Vir had a plan. He wanted me to fight them using my abilities. What I never told him, was the fact that I was too scared to use them anymore. I was afraid of the future I'd see if I went too deep. I saw terrible things and I can't forget about them. The screams, the pleading for mercy still echo's through my dreams. I can't get rid of it. Yet here I was, about to fight a battle I can't win.

Vivian: "DEAL!"

Without hesitation, they all ran towards me. In school, they taught us that we should bow before an official match and that we shouldn't try to hurt anyone on purpose. This wasn't a school sparring. It was a battle. I gathered all the knowledge I had and took a defensive stance. Useless. Mandy's power was electricity. She kicked me right in the shin and I felt a strong electric current run through my body. It was painful. In school, we wore many kinds of protective gear, so every blow wasn't that hard. This was nothing like it. It felt like I was about to get killed in a minute. I could feel the wrath. They were enjoying it. Another blow came from the side. Vivian's power was "Iron fist". She could harden her skin to make her fists his as hard as rocks. He hit me right in the face. I fell to the ground. My vision got all blurry. It took me a while to properly recover from that blow. The used that time to their advantage. Jessica stood beside me and let out a deafening screech. That was her power. Banshee. My head hurt from the sound. My leg hurt from the kick. My neck hurt from the punch. I wanted to give up. I opened my mouth but instead of saying "I give up", I stopped for a second. I saw blood dripping from my face. Blood. I haven't seen it since the war timeline. At that point, something in my brain changed. For me, this wasn't just a fight and I wasn't just losing. Right there, at that moment, it was done or die.

I looked into the future. Just a few seconds forward to find the perfect timeline where I do the best next step possible. I grabbed a tiny rock from the ground and threw it right at Jessica. I tried to not move my head. I saw a future where I hurt my neck even more by sudden movement. I had to avoid that. The rock was tiny and my throw perfect. It went right into Jessica's mouth. She started to choke on the tiny rock, forcing her to stop screaming. Just as my best-timeline-me, I got up and punched her in the stomach, making her spit out the rock, and used the time when she was confused to deliver a perfect uppercut. She fell unconscious onto a pile of trash bags. Just like I predicted, Mandy got angry and moved towards me, preparing to fire another lightning bolt. I quickly grabbed a metal pipe from the trash pile and threw it at her. Not like a spear, more like "Pass me a broom" style. She reflexively caught it with both hands, forgetting her right hand was already charged with electricity. Despite her abilities, she wasn't immune to her own magic. The current was just enough to put her out of the fight.
I looked over at Vivian. She was the smartest of those three. She knew she should back away and one deadly look was all I needed to make her pick up her friends and run away as fast as she could.

With all of this over, I myself collapsed onto the pile of trash. It was the softest thing around at the moment. With doubts, I looked at Vir-Vir.

Tabitha: "Did I do good?"

Virion: "No."

My sudden feeling of pride was crushed into nothing. I managed to mess it up once again.

Virion: "You managed to reach a possibility with even more potential gain. You did great! I'll leave you in Lyn's hands, for now, I need to re-calculate our next steps."