11 years ago.

  ...

  .…..

  “Mom, this way, this way!”

  I hear the sounds of the waves calmly crashing onshore as I catch up to Xavier. I stop in pce and bend over, catching my breath, “You should slow down a bit, Mom doesn’t have the energy to catch up to you,” I tell him.

  Xavier’s childish voice calls out to me, “But, but, Mom, I need to show you something!”

  “Does it really need to be right now? Can’t you let Mom catch a breath for a moment?” I ask softly.

  “No, no, I found something,” he gestures his hands up in the air, “This big,” he pauses for a brief moment, “You have to see it, Mom!”

  I look up and see his dark sapphire eyes filled with excitement. I sigh. There’s no way a parent can turn down their child if they look like that, I stand back up straight and walk over to him. I grab ahold of his tiny fragile hands. “This time, you follow my pace. OK?” I say.

  “Mhm!” He nods excitedly.

  ___

  I stop in my tracks, “Is this it?” I ask Xavier. He nods. “Phew,” I let go of Xavier’s hand. I should’ve brought Anna along… I rest my hands on my knees to take a short breather. I look up. I turn my head left and right. “Xavier, where are you?!” I lightly yell out to him - my voice bouncing off the walls. I see a rge rock in front of me and take a step forward. I peer behind the rge rock. He’s not here… I turn back around. Now that I look at this pce. It’s kind of amazing. I walk over to the striped walls and lean in. I bring my right arm towards the wall and touch it. Looks like this pce has been eroded for a few long years. I feel a slight shiver run down my back and immediately turn around. Just the wind. I sigh in relief. I look up. This sea cave is pretty small. The ceiling doesn’t reach as high as other ones..TSHHH. The sounds of the waves crashing ashore echo throughout the cave.

  “Over here Mom!” I faintly hear Xavier’s voice. I turn my head to the direction of the voice.

  “At least tell me if you’re going to be running off on your own!” I wait for an answer. Nothing. I expeditiously walk towards the direction of the voice and enter a small tunnel. I make sure to not trip over any pieces of rocks sticking out from the sand. I reach the end of the small tunnel. “It’s a dead end…” I quietly mumble to myself. Whoosh… Huh? Wind? I look over to the right of me and see a small crack in between the rocks. It seems to be just about wide enough to fit a human.

  “Ouch!” I hear Xavier’s voice echo through the cracks.

  “Hang on! Mom is coming!” I shout. I look at my pouch. “It should fit.” I frantically take off my sandals and throw them to the side, finding myself squeezing through the crack - just barely. Please… please… please… I can feel the burning sensation of my face and the forming of sweat all over my body. The pounding in my chest gradually increases the further I squeeze myself through the cracks. PLOP! There! Finally made it through! I look around the area and see Xavier sitting down on the sand holding his right knee. I run over to him and kneel down, “Are you alright? What happened!?” I frantically ask while inspecting his face and body.

  “Nothinth happened… I’m fine, Mom. I Just accidentally fell,” Xavier replies back - both my hands squeezing his face. I sigh in relief and let go of his face. I grab a bandaid from my pouch and pce it over his injury.

  I rest my left arm to the side and motion my right arm towards the top of his head. “Don’t make me worry like that…” I tell him as I gently rub his hair.

  “Sorry…” His voice is quiet.

  Look at what I’ve done. I put on a bright smile, “What was it that you wanted to show Mom?” I ask. I see Xavier’s expression ease up. He looks over to the right and points. I tilt my head in confusion and slowly turn to look right. A sudden gush of chilly wind comes by. I instinctively close my eyes and raise up my right arm to block the wind from hitting my face. I feel my hair sway to the right. “Is it over?” I tell myself. I slowly open up my eyes. “Eh? What is this…?” I say out loud. A forest on the shore of the beach?

  Whoosh, rustle, rustle. The sounds of the leaves waver as the wind blows through. The forest seems to stretch further beyond the shore of the beach. I notice varying sizes of colorful crystals standing tall on the sides of a faint man made path. The start of the path, made out of sand, while the rest made out of dirt. It almost seems like the dirt is devouring the sand. I try to peer further into the forest, only to see the repetitive visual pattern of the trees. "Is this? A dungeon?" I mumble to myself.

  “Isn’t it cool?!” Xavier asks me as he jogs towards the center of my view.

  I slowly stand up - feeling the gentle breeze flow through the crevices of my shirt - and walk over to Xavier, grabbing ahold of his hand. I gulp down the saliva in my mouth. "Don't let go of Mom's hand, OK?" I say. I slowly walk towards the nearest crystal - feeling the cold dirt surface - and peer into it. Is this made out of mana? I raise up my left arm and touch the crystal. It’s cold and smooth. I bring back my hand and look at it. No effect?

  "Mom, what're you doing?" Xavier asks me. I feel his grip tighten up. I snap out of my trance and look over at his worrying face.

  I reassure him, "It's OK. Mom was just checking to see if it was safe." He nods in response. I feel his grip slowly loosen. I look back towards the path. Why and how did these crystals form? Why specifically here? If this is a dungeon. This is the first time I’ve ever seen anything like this. I let go of Xavier’s hand. “You can go and py, just don’t go near the forest, OK?” I say.

  “OK!” Xavier nods and enthusiastically runs out of my sight.

  Alright, I’m curious as to what these crystals are made of. I’ll quickly just snatch a piece. I kneel down and grab ahold of my pouch. I lightly swing it in front of me. I unclip it and reach inside, grabbing a long sharp magic item. Click. The magic item glows in a bright blue hue, turning every knot and bolt on. I bring it near the crystal’s surface to make it analyze the material. It takes a few seconds. CLINK! The sharp tip instantly splits in half, creating a horizontal suction. “Okay, seems ready to go.” I bring it closer to make contact with the crystal’s surface.

  Xavier’s voice calls out to me, “Mom, I’m hungry! I’m going to go back first!”

  “Alright! Make sure to not trip again!” I nonchantly reply.

  SUCK! It abruptly suctions onto the surface. I still can’t get used to how forceful it is… Click. I press the button to initiate the extraction process. WHRRR! I see a sharp water bde form from the center of the horizontal suction and swiftly carve out a tiny piece of crystal inside of it’s rger counterpart. That should be good to go, I grip tightly on the handle and pull it out. “NGHH!” The horizontal suction loosens and snaps back together, creating a capsule to hold the tiny piece of crystal. “I’ve seen this dozens of times but, it always impresses me.” I look at the tiny piece of crystal contained by water within the capsule. The crystal’s color seems to be more vibrant due to the water being a reflecting substance. I nod in satisfaction and store it inside of my pouch.

  I stand back up and stretch my back. “Nghh…” I turn around - facing away from the crystal - and look up at the sky. I see the pale tint of orange clouds floating above. Ah, I got too engrossed with myself again… I wipe sweat off my forehead. “Phew.” I look down at my chest and notice the abundant amount of sweat. I grab a hold of my shirt and fp it. “It sure is hot today…” I mumble to myself. I turn my head to the direction of where me and Xavier came from. I should probably get going. I take a step forward, feeling the warm and rocky sand go in-between my toes. Whoosh… I close my eyes and take in the breeze. “Ah. Feels nice.” All of a sudden, the warm heat of the sun disappears. I open up my eyes and notice a dark circur shadow on the floor looming above me. I look up. A dark silhouette in a pitch dark cloak.

  FUMBLE, FUMBLE!

  ___

  W-what happened to me? I slowly open up my eyes, seeing the yellow sand. I look down and see an arm around my neck.

  “Seems like you’re awake,” says a female voice.

  Huh? Who is this? I try to move my head. The grip of her hand tightens around my neck. Can't breathe… I bring up my hands and grab her arm, trying to pull it away.

  “Don’t bother to try and resist. I’ll suffocate you if I have to.”

  Tch, I really have no choice but to obey her. Still feeling her grip tighten around my neck, I y my arms back down.

  “Good. This makes things easier for the both of us.” I feel the grip slowly loosen.

  Now! I swiftly swing my right leg behind her own leg and kick forward. The feeling of her chest pressing onto my back slowly comes off. She’s loosening the grip. I can get out. I bring my right arm and put it in between her arm and my neck - pushing her arm away.

  “Damn it!” She utters.

  I run ahead a few feet and stop in my tracks. Feeling the sand slide in between my bare feet. I turn around to face the anonymous woman as I motion my right hand over my pouch. I can’t see her face, her hood is blocking my view.

  “Who are you and what is your goal?” I ask her.

  “...” She doesn’t respond. She stands silently in pce. What’s she pnning to do? I gnce around the area. Still the same pce. Doesn’t look like she took me anywhere different. I feel the sweat around my thighs and arms slowly drip onto the sand. I gulp down my saliva. I can’t keep my eyes off of her or else she’s going to take advantage of that.

  “Oh. I recognize you,” she pauses for a brief moment, “You’re Kar Strain. The child prodigy. I didn’t expect to find an ex-Magicaster member here,” she ughs hysterically, “What a gold find!”

  I guess there’s no point in me trying to be anonymous anymore. I take a step forward. “You’re right. I am Kar Strain. An ex-Magicaster member of the magic crystal research team.”

  “This is a good opportunity to test out our prototype but, I guess pying around with you a bit won’t hurt,” she says.

  Prototype? I take a step forward. “What do you mea-” I hear a jingle from under her cloak. She swings out her arm. I see her holding a neckce.

  “Equip,” she says. The neckce breaks into tiny mana particles and forms into a one handed sword. She grabs onto the hilt and immediately charges straight at me.

  She’s charging. I jump back and unclip my pouch. I reach in and grab a silver key. “Equip,” I say silently. The key glows in a bright blue hue and breaks into tiny mana particles. The particles split in half and swiftly float to my arms, forming my magical weapon.

  CLANK!

  The sounds of our weapons colliding with one another echoes throughout the environment. I feel her trying to push more of her weight onto me. I push back - my right arm shaking along with her sword. “Just like the legend says, you do wield silver gauntlets,” says the dark cloaked woman.

  “It’s getting annoying how you’re always talking about my past,” I put more force into my right arm and deflect her attack - forcing her to jump away from me. I fix my posture. “So, what was that prototype that you mentioned earlier?” I ask her as I grab a hair tie from my pouch.

  “It’s nothing of importance to someone like you,” she replies.

  “Hm, are you sure you don’t want to tell me?”

  “Even if I did tell you, there’s no way you would comprehend what it is.”

  "Doesn’t look like you want to tell me,” I pause for a brief moment as I finish tying up my hair. That should be good to go. “I guess that means -” I accelerate towards her, instantly disappearing from her sight.

  “What?!” She utters as she sees me directly in front of her.

  “I’ll just have to beat it out of you.” Already charging up a right hook to her torso, I say “Water Encasing Magic: Leviathan’s Fist.” A leviathan made out of water forms around my gauntlet, enveloping it. My fist makes contact.

  BANG!

  She flies across a few feet and crashes into a rock. Phew, I guess I still got it in me. I walk forward. As I get closer to her, I notice the abundant amount of dust floating in the air. Kind of sucks that we’re fighting in an area where there’s sand everywhere. I stand waiting.

  ___

  I walk over to her - the dust gone. I see pieces of the rock ying on the sand. I go closer to her and kneel down. I grab ahold of her chin. Looks like she’s passed out. I stop holding her chin and bring my hand towards her chest. My fingertips lightly make contact, “Water Binding Magic: Water Cage.” Water strings rapidly form around the woman and connect with one another towards the center of her chest. I sigh and stand back up. “Now, what to do with you?” I pce my arms on my hips.

  “Ugh… this is impossible… I can't be captured here by an ex-Magicaster member. What do I do now?” I hear the mumbling of the woman’s voice.

  She’s lost it. I should probably just go and turn this person into the magic force. I turn around and walk forward. I hope Xavier and the guys are not too worried about m- I feel my binding magic disappear. Oh no! Did she have a magic item on her that allowed for her to break free from my binding magic?! I turn around and see her standing with a dark purple colored crystal chunk in her right hand. What is that?

  “Hehe… hehe… HAHAHAHA… So this is what it feels like to have true power!” She says hysterically. Her bck cloak’s hood comes off, revealing her long dark purple hair.

  “What is that?! Is that the prototype you mentioned earlier?!” I question her.

  “Hahahahaha!” I see her left hand slowly reach for her mask. She yanks it off. The mask nds onto the sand. “I don’t need anyone anymore. All I need is just to be one with mana itself!” She lifts up her left and towards me. “Be gone, you insolent being.” A dark purple magic circle appears on her palm.

  What? She’s casting magic without a magical weapon? I quickly go down and pce both of my hands on the sand. “Water Creation Magic: Unbreakable Aqua Chamb-”

  “Fire Creation Magic: Dragon’s Breath,” a deep voice catches my attention. A body of fmes abruptly appears in front of me. FOOSH!

  Step.

  I hear someone nd on their feet to the left of me. I jolt my head. I see his bck uniform attire. A golden chain hung on the side of his waist and bck gloves on his hands. He has a chain. It’s a Magicaster, what’s one doing here?

  I look back at the wall of fire. It slowly dissipates. I gnce around. I see the woman run into the forest. I stand back up and look at the man, “Do you kn-”

  “Sorry ma’am. I can’t answer any questions you may have,” he denies.

  “Then. What’s the deal with this forest? Is it a dungeon?” I notice his eye’s looking at me. He closes them for a bit and opens them.

  “It is indeed a dungeon. So please do not do anything rash and enter the forest,” he says as he walks past me towards the forest.

  “Then, what’re those crystals?” I ask.

  I hear his footsteps stop. “We don’t even know ourselves ma’am.” I hear him walk into the forest.

  ___

  The sound of the wind calms my mind. I slowly breathe in - feeling the air flow through my body - and out. “Off,” I say quietly. My gauntlets glow a blue hue and turn into tiny mana particles. The particles fly in front of me and form a silver key. It floats in pce. I reach my right arm out and grab it, pcing it back in my pouch. I can hear the chirping of the birds coming from the forest as well as the calling of the seagulls up above the sky. I walk to the crack and squeeze my way through.

  Step, step, step.

  I hear the familiar sound of the waves gently crashing onshore. What was she holding in her hands? I know it was some sort of crystal but, how did that change her? After all, she was different from how she was in the beginning of my encounter with her. Ugh… thinking about all this stuff is getting me dizzy…

  “Mom!” I hear a familiar voice. I snap out of my trance and look ahead of me.

  “Hey, Mom! If you’re any ter, we’re going to leave without you!” Anna calls out to me.

  “Hey, we’re not going to leave Mom, Anna!” Xavier counters.

  Oh yeah, I’m a Mom now. I shouldn’t be worrying about all that stuff anymore. “Hahaha…” I let out a giggle. “Alright, let's head home then.”

  “Hey, hey, are we going to have watermelon when we get home?” Xavier asks.

  “Xavier! Mom, don’t spoil him, he’s just going to grow up being a spoiled brat!” Anna jokes.

  “Haha, I’m down to have some watermelon. Does this mean you don’t want any, Anna?” I ask.

  Anna looks away, “I wouldn’t mind if you spoil Xavier just for today.”

  ___

  “Get in the car Xavier!” says Anna.

  “Okay, okay, don’t have to yell,” Xavier gets inside the car along with Anna. I walk over to the driver’s seat with the key in hand. I look behind me towards the beach. Even though I told myself I won’t get involved with anything anymore. I just can’t shake off the feeling that something big is about to happen…