The Magitrix: A Flame Awakens

Chapter 13: The Magical Healing Incident

Chris ran up the stairs, pausing only once to catch his breath. He barely thought about anything else other than getting himself up the giant staircase and talking to Ace. He would process his thoughts and confusion later, once this was all over.

Right after the guards knocked out the girl with that strange powder, they dragged her and Kazuma, almost covered in chains, off. King Lumos just stood there, watching, his eyes cold and calculating and his face with an ethereal hue to it. He looks like an angel, Chris thought. Even more so than before.

He waited until the prisoners were out of sight before he left, feeling more questions bubbling up. Where were they going? What was going to happen to them? And then he remembered Ace and Summer, and ran.

"Ace," he gasped once he reached the top. "Not dead. This girl... flew into me. She tried... to save him. Nobody else." Chris was so winded he could barley breathe standing up, so he sat down. He crossed his legs in lotus position facing the courtyard. All the council members were in chaos, he noted, talking and swarming around. He stared so intently at them that eventually, their wings, star-colored eyes, and hair blurred together until everything just looked like a huge mass of white.

He heard footsteps, and saw an intrusion of red in the side of his vision. Ace crouched down next to him."That's strange," they murmured. Their voice was barely audible through the cloth covering their mouth and the wind, still howling around them, but he could hear them clearly. "Everything about this is strange."

Chris stood up, having regained usage of his lungs, and saw the white mass separate and turn into many angelic figures once more. "Does this always happen?"

They made a sighing sound that resembled a snort, and pushed themselves up on their feet. "No. This is the first time a rebellion stormed into the courtyard and started demanding hostages in my memory." They started forward, stopping to bend over Summer and lift her up into their arms, as if she only weighed as much as a feather. Her long hair sprawled under her, looking as light as the wind blowing it, as her head leaned back under gravity. They glanced back at him. "Let's go. We don't have all day."

Chris nodded, and quickly started walking after the Luxamag-

****

He was snapped out of his memory by someone briskly tapping on his shoulder. Surprised, he barely stopped himself from whirling around and hitting his head on his open locker door. Instead, he just turned his head. "What-"

He was so surprised by what he saw that he flinched backward and hit his head on the locker door anyway.

It was Summer. Her arms were crossed against her chest, and she had a look of determination on her face. She blinked, eyes widening. "Oh sneezle toad snatchers, are you okay?"

Chris rubbed his head gingerly. Ouch. "Yeah, sorry." He looked her up and down. "You... cut your hair."

Sure enough, that's what happened. Summer's hair now went to her shoulders. It was kind of an ombre brown- it slowly got lighter the lower it went. "I did," she said, absently tugging at it.

"Well, it looks good," he said sheepishly. "It's cool. Yeah." He subconsciously cringed at himself Chris was always bad at compliments, but now he just seemed ten times worse than he usually was.

She looked him in the eyes with her icy blue gaze, and despite her being shorter than him, he felt like a dwarf in that moment. But then, she must of felt nicer than when he last saw her, because she said, "Thanks."

He gave her a smile he hoped wasn't weird and creepy looking. "You're welcome."

They just stared at each other for a moment before Summer shivered, seeming to break out of a trance. "So, you're back in school."