This story is about a city. It's called Turnstoke, and it's fairly small. It's built on the ruins of New York City, which was destroyed in the cold war between warlocks and Regulars, or humans.
The war was a brutal one, and the Regs were vastly outnumbered. They were easily defeated by the warlocks. Later, a peace treaty was created so that both worlds could live at peace and not be bothered by each other.
Instead of conquering all of New York, the warlocks decided to split the land, which was the best choice for everyone. Turnstoke was divided into two sides by a magical border that only warlocks could get through. They wanted to be able to travel between the two worlds, and even invented a spell to make themselves invisible to Regs if they needed to be. The Regs, on the other hand, couldn't pass to the get to the warlock side of the border. That was part of the treaty that was signed after the war ended. And today, the two species have in place a hesitant, but strong, union. Members of both species have friendships, relationships, and even families with the other. The border was strong, but the ties the species formed were stronger.
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Our story begins 20 years after the signing of the Treaty of Turnstoke, with a man walking down a Regular road. He seemed strange, in a way. Strong wind blew through the thin sleeves of his crimson hoodie, making it flutter with an odd sense of power. And his hair. The wind attacked that too, but his brownish-auburn locks remained unmoved and styled to perfection. It was too perfect. Movie-star perfect.
The man's gait was cautious, but steady, as he strolled along the dimly lit road. His movements suggested that he had all of the time in the world to spend. The air around him was woven with a curious energy, it buzzed, somehow alight with a sense of excitement. Our mystery man was enchanting. He was magical. He was... a warlock, and a powerful one. One of the best of his kind. And his name was Ansel Augustine Hughes.
Though he seemed to be the very height of perfection, chinks in Ansel's facade showed there was more going on beneath the surface. The man pulled his phone out of his pocket, the blinking numbers indicating to him that it was 4:43am. He groaned audibly. Ansel had been up for hours, thinking only about one thing: Katherine Lovelace. More specifically, what to get her as an anniversary present. Tomorrow, or rather today, would mark two years since the two started dating, so Ansel knew he had to do something special. He just didn't know what.
Ansel was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice the sun beginning its slow ascent at first. In fact, he wouldn't have noticed at all if not for a loud, metallic clang nearby. The warlock was thrown from his mind and back into the real world, and he whipped around to see another man, about his age, stumbling nearby. Ansel snapped his fingers and muttered "auratos," under his breath, turning himself invisible.
"Shit," the other man said. He was sitting near a large dumpster, clutching his leg with both of his hands. There was a large array of items surrounding him, from a grey apron to a thick plastic binder. Everything about this man screamed Reg. His dirty blonde hair was messy due to the wind. The clothes he wore were bland, a plain black t-shirt accompanied with black sweatpants, and and the air around him seemed boring compared to Ansel. There was no hint of magic, no sense of power, and he was definitely not perfect. Ansel could tell, with total certainty, that he was a Reg.
"Hey, buddy, a little help over here?" the man called to Ansel with a friendly wave and smile. Or... maybe he wasn't so certain. Ansel glanced behind him. There was no one here but Ansel and the Reg. Could the Reg see Ansel? "Are you just going to stand there and stare at me?" Ansel hadn't even realized he was still staring.
"You— you can see me?" Ansel asked incredulously.
"Well... yeah. You're standing right in front of me, staring at me, are you not?" the man smiled at Ansel again, obviously less tense about the situation than Ansel was.
"I— um— I'm just going to—" Ansel gestured vaguely behind him as he started to walk away, unable to form the right words. "I'll just—" He gave up on trying to remain calm and bolted away. It was only when he reached the safety of his own bedroom that Ansel stopped. He shut the door and ran his hands through his hair in frustration, pacing back and forth.
This was not happening to him. This could not be happening to him. He couldn't understand how a Reg could possibly see him. The invisibility spell was well studied and was supposed to work perfectly. Even an amateur warlock was supposed to be able to cast that spell. There were no flaws, and no problems. Everything was supposed to work out with that spell. But that wasn't what happened today. After a few minutes, Ansel decided to put the thought behind him and think about Katherine. That didn't work, so he sat down on his bed, racking his brain for an explanation. When none came, Ansel told himself that maybe magic wasn't perfect. It had to mess up some time, and today, he supposed, was that time. It was just a fluke. Nothing would come of the situation.
Oh, how very wrong he was. For Ansel, today was only the beginning.
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hello!! it's ali here. so faith and i have decided to write a book. it's not the best right now but i promise it will get better and hopefully there'll be some more action haha. this is just the prologue might i add. also, the name for the book is currently spoones (opposite of forks from twilight lmao) but we're gonna change it as soon as we have a proper name lol. anyways, i hope y'all like this!! pls comment and vote ❤️❤️
