Fictional Fantasy Volume One (Completed)

Chapter Fourteen - Rachel Haglee

I sat in my chair, staring in front of me at what I had created. A pair of mechanical legs. I'd created the designs over the course of the past several years, but with the help of the marks from the Grimoires I'd obtained, I could finally create them. The question now was, would they work?

I was about to test them out when I heard Yuki's voice in my head. It came from my right and sounded far away. He was saying hello.

"Hey, Yuki," I replied, hoping that he wasn't reading my mind too much.

"So, how've you been?" he asked.

"I've been alright. Same as always." I decided not to mention the legs. "You?"

"Mind if I send memories?" he politely requested.

"Sure." Suddenly, my mind was flooded with silent memories of meeting a dragon and encountering a unicorn, and finally an underwater strip club. "You're in a strip club?"

"Yeah. It's really boring." He did sound bored. I wished that he'd contacted me more often, but at least he had me. He seemed busy though in that interesting box thing for the most part. Until now I guess.

We chatted a bit about the past few days, before doing the mental equivalent of hanging up.

I turned back to the legs. I hadn't told Yuki, but I'd read all the marks in both Volume #1 and #18. Not all of them worked for me, but still. I'd done it. I don't know why I didn't want him to know about it, but I didn't. I grabbed the legs and strapped them to the pathetic stumps at the bottom of my body.

Carefully, tentatively, I stood up. I stumbled slightly but managed to stand. It worked! I walked circles around the room until I got dizzy and nearly fell.

I hadn't been able to walk since I was a little girl. I was so happy that magic had, in a way brought me back my legs, although maybe a bit shinier. It probably couldn't bring back my parents, but still. Now I was crying. I sat down on the floor.

After a few minutes, I managed to pull myself together, and move over to the closet. There was a pair of pants and a pair of shoes that Yuki had left some time I couldn't remember. I pulled them on, so glad that I could.

My mom was at work, so I had no trouble leaving the apartment. As I walked out in the streets, I spent a lot of time looking at the ground, making sure not to trip over anything.

I went down into the subway to actually sit on one of the benches along the walls of it. I didn't pay attention to where the train was going, I was too excited.

The marks I used to change rocks into metal for my legs were my favorite of all the magic spells from the Grimoires. The subway train loudly clattered along, and I got off at the next stop.

I wandered down the street a bit, before stopping at a coffee shop. There was a pride flag hanging in front of it, and I went in. The cafe was cozy. I went to sit down after ordering a drink and a chocolate chip cookie.

After a few minutes of watching people out the window, someone sat down in the other seat of the small table that I sat at.

"Is this seat taken?" The woman asked. She had light green scales and wore a pretty yellow long sleeve shirt, a purple hat, and red jeans. She was absolutely gorgeous.

"No it's not." I replied, flustered.

She giggled. "I haven't seen you around here lately."

"I don't think I've ever come in here," I answered. I took a bite out of my cookie. It might've been rude, but I was hungry.

"What's your name?" She asked me.

"Rachel. What's yours?" I tried to just keep eye contact with her, but my eyes wanted to roam over her beautiful body. I swear I'm not shallow, but if you'd seen her you'd understand.

"I'm Marigold." She replied. "Any chance you don't have plans tonight?"

I thought about the homework I had waiting at home. "Nope."

"Well that's good. I have two tickets to the Romanna concert and my friend just bailed." She leaned in seductively. "Any chance you're a fan?"

I was wearing a t-shirt for the band. "Hell yeah!"

She leaned back. "Fantastic. Let's go." Marigold stood up and headed out of the cafe.

I shoved the last of the cookie into my mouth and chased after her, carrying the coffee cup.

"How did you get the tickets?" I asked her.

"Called into a radio program," was her answer.

"Nice."

We spent a while talking as we walked. She was a freshman in college. I was a senior in high school. She lived across the city from where I was. She had a little brother, and an annoying roommate. She was so cool. Mainly in her demeanor and personality. I was definitely attracted to her. Maybe that's what led me to just follow her blindly like this. That and the excitement of legs. Ever since I'd read those books I'd been more reckless. Like Yuki.

Maybe that strange woman was behind it. Maybe not. Either way, it seemed to be going well for me. I had a date.

~_~

The concert was fantastic. We had a blast. Once it was over, Marigold admitted something to me.

"I invited you on a dare. My friend said that she didn't want to go, and so she said I had to go and invite someone I didn't know and make a new friend."

"Well, I'm glad your friend did that because as a result, I had a great evening." I thought a bit then asked, "Any chance that you'd like to keep in touch?"

"Of course! You seem great. I'd love to get to know you more."

We exchanged contact info. When she turned to leave, I noticed something I hadn't before, there was a dark circle underneath her shirt on her back. I decided to ignore it and head home.

~_~

I entered the apartment. I was heading to my room when I heard a shocked "Rachel."

I turned around to see my mom. "MOM!" I looked down at myself. "I can explain."

"I sure hope so." She was between being shocked, annoyed, and happy. Her face was so mixed it was like cake batter.

I pulled up my pants, revealing the metal legs.

"How did you get those?" She demanded.

"I made them. I finally got enough money from a funding project online for the materials. Sorry I didn't tell you. It just happened." I finally came up with a good excuse, even if it was on the spot.

"Well I'm very happy that you've become more mobile. I want to ask you more questions, but you should head to bed. Tomorrow may be Saturday, but you've still got to get some sleep."

"Alright, mom." I went to my room. I'd already had dinner before I went out, and wasn't still hungry so food wasn't a problem. I practiced different magic spells before going to sleep with the legs on the floor next to my bed and Marigold on my mind.

I forgot to take my antidepressant.