The Last Bastion

... nevermind this, yet again, another moved/deleted post.

Renny couldn’t stifle a cry as the voices in her head suddenly vanished. The people around her paused and gave her weird looks, but she paid no attention. She only increased her pace, her head bent and her arms folded tight over her chest as her entire body began to shudder.
This shaping up to be a very... odd week. First, that light, followed by the feeling she was almost always being watched. Then, she was hearing voices. Voices, plural. Several different people were talking in her head at once, but only one had been real clear. He had seemed surprised that she could hear him, so it really couldn’t have been something on her end, could it? She wasn’t crazy, she knew she wasn’t. Though after all this... She wasn’t so sure.

So then... Who was it that she’d been hearing? The more muddled voices sounded like they wanted favors from her. To talk to them, to talk to someone else for them, to do something involving family members... Things ghosts in stories and movies asked for. But no, that couldn’t be right! This was real life, not some fictional story! And she certainly did not believe in ghosts. But what else would explain the voices? And what about the guy whose voice was clearer than the others? He hadn’t spoken for very long... In fact, she was starting to believe that, whoever he was, he was the reason she could hear those other voices. Now that she thought about it, those other voices sounded kind of... echoed, in a way. She hadn’t heard them before, so perhaps she’d been hearing their cries through the ears of the mystery man? If you could hear someone’s thoughts, it would stand to reason you could possibly hear what they heard. After all, what you hear is echoed inside your head, isn’t it?

“Oh god, I am going crazy,” she groaned, rubbing her now aching forehead. “I need to get home and... and stay home.”

Tyco whistled a tune as he walked down the downtown sidewalk. Ah, damn it, the Gundam Wing theme is stuck in my head again. I must be turning into an anime freak, he thought with a slight grin. A small grey sign hanging out over the sidewalk, nearly obscured by the wide shop-front awnings on either side of it, proclaimed BOOKS in faded yellow paint, with no punctuation or lowercase letters. Tyco smiled, and turned left into a narrow, surprisingly elegant doorway. Opening the thin wood-panel door, he walked through into a long, narrow hallway. The warm lights and the hardwood floor and walls seemed at odds with the outside world of concrete and neon. It was warmer in the book store than outside, and Tyco took a deep breath of the warm air, which as always held a slight scent of incense.

Walking down the hall, sometimes edging sideways to avoid brushing against small rectangular tables placed at intervals along the hallway, Tyco smiled as the narrow walls opened out into a large chamber filled with bookshelves. The shelves only came up to chest height because of the long, wide flight of stairs between the closest two, but the expanse of bookshelf-tops soon disappeared from sight as Tyco walked down the steps.
It's like descending into a completely different world, thought Tyco with a smile. And that might not be such an impossibility as I once believed...

"Back again, young Tyco Landsdowne?" Tyco smiled again as the bent-backed old Chinese guy who ran the bookshop approached from behind him, calling his usual greeting. And I can never tell he's coming until he's there. Go figure... Suddenly seized with suspicion, Tyco turned around to face the approaching old man. "How do you always get behind me? Do you... have some kind of secret magic?"
A soft, musical laugh as the old man, wearing the same kind of embroidered oriental robe he always wore- today it was a red garment decorated with a machine-sewn dragon motif- raised his thick white eyebrows at Tyco. "One too many fantasy novels, yes? Well, let me help you find some good ones, I hear there's a new one by Steven Erikson..."
Tyco shook his head, feeling a bit foolish. "No, not fantasy this time. I'm looking for nonfiction."
The old man twirled a finger in his long, thin white Fu Man Chu mustache, which Tyco had thought was fake when he first met the old Chinese guy. "Oh, this is a surprise. For your studies?"
Tyco blinked. He didn't think he'd ever talked to the shop owner for this long before.... and his studies had never come up. "No... For personal reading."
Oddly enough, the old man didn't ask what kind of books he wanted. He simply said, "Follow me, then," and started walking down the aisle formed by the bookshelves on either side. Cookbooks and Recipes, Tyco remembered. For some reason those are almost always the closest section to the door in any bookstore.

He'd always wondered how one old guy took care of so many books, and where he got them all from. Must have been rich to get all these in stock in the first place, Tyco thought. I wonder how many he actually sells? This place is massive, but I've never once seen another customer. He should get a bigger sign. Tyco returned to reality with a start as the old man stopped, and gestured down an aisle no different from any other. There aren't any numbers, so how does he tell the difference? This thought was interrupted as the old man spoke. "This is the 'personal reading' section." Tyco turned and stared at him for a moment, but the old man betrayed no sign of joking. Walking into the aisle, Tyco looked at the shelf to his right and gasped despite himself. How...??
Notable Witch-Hunters of the Late 1400s to the Early 1700s. Next to this was Myth and Mysteries of Isis, Egyptian Goddess of Magic. Tyco's eyes flicked from that onto Magecraft: Fact or fiction? Tyco managed a snort of laughter as he read on one book's spine, Five Steps to Mastering Basic Hexes.
Pulling that one from the shelves, expecting it to be some kind of cheap hoax book, Tyco's eyes widened as he took in the arcane-looking design inlaid into the cover, the decoration made of a thin wire of metal which could only be solid gold. Flipping to the inside cover, Tyco found, instead of a publishers' information page, a small signature Julian Sandscroft, with the small date beneath it, October 21st, 1797.

Feeling a presence next to him, Tyco turned to see the old man staring intently up at the books. He stretched to reach the shelf, but wasn't quite tall enough to reach the shelf, which was at Tyco's eye level. Tyco, without thinking, pulled a book from the shelf before having second thoughts. What will he think if he finds out that my 'personal reading' is about "real magic?" Still, Tyco was now holding the large volume off the shelf, staring at it. He had to make a decision. He'll know what I was looking at when I go to buy something, anyways. He handed the tome to the little Chinese man, but as he did so, his hand brushed that of the bookstore owner.

Suddenly, Tyco's vision tunneled, then blackened. Blinking to clear his eyes, Tyco shook his head, but found that he could not. Nonetheless, his eyes were slowly clearing, and as blurred colours returned to his vision, he realized he was in a completely different place. Thoughts not his own cascaded through his head, too quickly to make sense of them. Pictures came into focus from the blur of colour in his vision then flashed away. Colourful shop fronts. A bright red lollipop. A river with men swarming along the banks, holding something in the water. Pavement onto which blood was leaking from some source not in his field of view. Then, darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shuguan Skyholder stood by the railing of the boat. Mother was wearing what she called the GoodQualityClothing, which meant there was a major occasion. That didn't make any sense; Father went on fishing trips like this all the time. But maybe there was something different. After all, this boat was bigger than the one Father always went with to fish. And there were more people on it. There must be something special going on. Maybe there would be a party on the boat later. No one had told Shuguan about a party, but he was only seven, so no one told him anything.
Grandma and Grandpa were on the dockside, talking to a young man wearing a strange robe. It was white, with a bit of blue, but there was gold on it so he must be a rich man. Shuguan looked up at his mother, who noticed his stare. It was good that she'd noticed; Shuguan had been given a scolding the last time he'd tugged on Mother's GoodQualityClothing and accidentally ripped it.
"Mother, who is that man?"
Mother looked a bit uncomfortable about that question. "That's your Grandfather."
"No, Mother, I mean the rich man he's talking to."
"He's... just a good man who is helping us."
Shuguan blinked and looked back down towards the man with the rich-looking robes. What is he helping us with? Is he organizing the party? As he stared, Shuguan realized he could hear what the Helping Man was saying to Grandma and Grandpa.
"Take care, family of mine. The place you are headed is not kind to immigrants." Shuguan wasn't sure what immigrants were, but it must mean Grandma and Grandpa and Mother and Father and maybe Shuguan.
Grandma smiled. "We are bound for a rich land and a new life. What could we possibly fear?"
The young man shook his head, looking sad. "All too much." He hesitated. "When you arrive, you will find a place ready for you. It will be safe."
"How will we know where it is?" That was Grandpa, with his gruff, powerful voice.
The Helpful Man looked at Grandpa and placed his hand on Grandpa's shoulder. "You'll know."
Grandpa fixed the Helpful Man with the look that always scared Shuguan, the one that seemed to look into your soul and see something there. The Helpful Man met it with one that was almost exactly the same, and Shuguan blinked again in surprise as he saw Grandpa look away. Grandma and Grandpa bowed to the Helpful Man then, and walked up the plank to the ship. Shuguan started to realize what was different about this fishing trip.
"Mother... are we ever coming back?"
"No, Shuguan. We are going to a better place. We are going to America."

----------------

A lone figure stood on the docks as the ship pulled away. His intricate robe flapped in the wind, and he watched the sea vessel pull away with a melancholy smile.
"Such things are doomed always to repeat themselves. And yet, I am simply thankful that I must not see my own son die of old age while I remain." The smile faded. "They will find a place of safety in the land they seek. It is my right, to do this thing... But beyond this, I can do no more."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tyco opened his eyes, and lifted himself from the carpeted floor of the bookstore. That was no dream. What's going on here? Looking around, he found the old man staring at him intensely, holding the book Tyco had handed him. Tyco let out an uncharacteristic bark of laughter, which caused the man's thick white eyebrows to rise, though the piercing stare didn't waver.
"That look, Shuguan Skyholder... It's exactly like your grandfather's."
The old man- his name is Shuguan, Tyco realized- took a step forward, his wide-eyed gaze flicking back and forth between Tyco's eyes. Then he spoke in a very different voice from before, deeper and stronger. "You... have it. The power of the old world has come again." Shuguan Skyholder looked down at the large tome in his hands, then placed it respectfully on the floor to one side. He stared down at it as he spoke, still in that low, mesmerizing tone. "The days themselves, then, are numbered. These next years will be our final records... Unless." His eyes met Tyco's, and there was something like fire deep within those eyes. Tyco stared, transfixed, unable to look away. "Unless..."

Suddenly, that contact was broken, and Tyco looked away. His eyes alighting on the large book beside Shuguan's foot, he picked it up, and without looking at the cover, slid it back into place on the shelf. "I can't write that off as anything normal. There is magic in the world, isn't there, Shuguan Skyholder?"
The old man smiled weakly, and said in his normal, reedier tone of voice, "Please, call me Shugan. I have not been called by my familial name since..." He stopped, then continued. "This library has... secrets, but many people come here to buy books, and none have ever done such a thing as you did just now."
Tyco grinned, trying to act normal. "So do you use magic? To find books, and to show up from nowhere?"
Shugan shook his head. "No. Most of the library is normal, and I simply remember which sections are which." Then he smiled, and this time it looked more natural. "As for appearing behind you, There is a secret passageway which I use when I hear visitors enter the hallway. It amuses the more credulous customers, and confounds the rest."


A few minutes later, Tyco walked out of the shop's small door with his new copy of Five Steps to Mastering Basic Hexes. He'd only been joking when he said he wanted it, but Shugan had let him buy it for ten dollars. That probably doesn't even come close to the value of the gold on the cover, thought Tyco to himself, shaking his head. Honestly, there's no way my day could get any wierder.
Lost in thought once more, Tyco didn't notice as a girl came around the corner, rubbing her temples. He walked straight into her, and they both went sprawling. Apologizing, Tyco got to his feet, and went to help her up. As he came to where she was sitting up, looking dazed, Tyco froze.
It's the girl from the graveyard dream. 'There's no way my day could get any wierder,' huh? Boy, when I put the foot in my proverbial mouth, I do it thoroughly.

(Still need you to remove that post and maybe repost it below fire)

As the fight dragged on, the deviations from the records became more and more obvious. Blows that should have been dealt were not dealt. Injuries that should have been inflicted were not inflicted. Frustrated with all the inconsistencies, the boy began mumbling to himself as he attempted to find a cause for all the abnormalities in the flow of events.

“Something’s not right here… from the records two of them should be unconscious at this point, yet all of them are still fighting fit… the book also doesn’t say anything about those chains they’re using nor that girl over there… wait, girl?”

Having finally noticed the presence of the girl staring at him, he proceeded to swear mentally as he realized she was also able to see him. Irritatingly enough, it appeared that “Tyco Landsdowne” hadn’t been the only abnormality in the present world. Another abnormality in the construct… can this day get any worse? Well… maybe it’s not all bad, I have an “excuse” to rewrite this segment now… A smile creeping up onto his face, the youth then descended from the wall into the lot, the book levitating in mid-air as it glowed a soft blue. Putting his staff aside, the boy then proceeded to proclaim his entrance as he returned to the “normal spectrum”.

“Now hear this! I, an archivist for the grand library, hereby proclaim that on the ninth hour and fifteenth minute of the three hundred fifty-fifth day of the seven thousandth and twelfth year, thirteen men were found in an empty lot, their bodies broken and torn by an unknown assailant!”

Reacting to what the apprentice recorder had just declared, a “chain” of enigmatic symbols and runes shot forth from the book, forming a floating “circle” around the lot. The events within the lot would now be automatically rewritten in accordance with the actions of the recorder himself, with his proclamation as the main base for what would soon be written.

Shifting himself into an abnormal combat stance, the boy then taunted the bewildered brawlers who had momentarily ceased their fight. Flinging demeaning remarks somewhere along the lines of referring to the men as dress wearing pansies better off playing with dolls and makeup with their mothers (a poor insult derived from what knowledge he knew of the world following countless years of study). Flinging demeaning remarks somewhere along the lines of referring to them as dress wearing pansies better off playing with dolls and makeup with their mothers (a poor insult derived from what knowledge he knew of the world following countless years of study), the boy hoped to edge the men into combat with him. The insults, as horrible as they were, managed to achieve their desired effect however, as one of the more hot-headed men charge the boy after becoming aggravated by the arrogance the youth showed. This however, proved to be a fatal mistake.

Catching the arm of the man as he attempted a punch, the boy ducked and then shattered the man’s arm with a precise blow. This was followed by a powerful blow towards the man’s chest, smashing his sternum with a sickening crack. Critically injured from all the injuries that had been inflicted already, the man cough up blood onto the ornamental robes his opponent donned before being knocked flat onto the ground with an uppercut. Smiling, the boy readied himself again as the companions of the man he had just felled came at him, enraged at what he had done to their comrade. And as their companion before them, they all fell to the boy’s crippling attacks one by one, as would the group after them. The mandatory hand to hand combat in which all Archivists had been taught was hardly sufficient for combat against multiple targets without magical enhancements. However, coupled with the calculations of the future the records relayed directly to the minds of the recorder, the style was more than enough to crush a motley gathering of street thugs, with magic or without. Execution arts, the combat form in which one would dispatch their opponents in the quickest, and most often, brutal manner possible with various techniques geared towards crippling the enemy for eternity.

Dusting himself off, the boy watched as the runes retreated into the book, the “conditions” which he had proclaimed now fulfilled. Turning his attention back towards the girl who had been watching the events happen all along, the youth did his best to put on a smile as he approached her.

“Now that those barbarians are gone, perhaps you can answer some of my questions Miss… Layora is it?”

Of course… walking towards a person while smiling after beating thirteen men to the brink of death is hardly a way to make a good first impression, if not the worst way.

Hey it's that weird magic kid from yesterday... I think I'll as him about that timefreeze or whatever it was... Michal thought as he spotted the kid while watching the fight that was going on from the rooftops nearby. Jumping off the roof and landing without breaking anything. seeing that the kid hadn't moved from the spot despite the fact that he had just landed a jump off of a four story building, he walked up and asked, "I take it you know something about that bright light the other day, and time seemingly stopping. Also, I'm going to assume said events have something to do with me being able to survive a five story fall."

Layora had frozen on the spot. This sort of thing just didn't happen. A single man, no, boy, had just killed a group of people, from the bad part of town, without so much as breaking a sweat. The ease with which he did it was scary enough, but what really terrified her was how he didn't seem shaken at all. Not only was he not shaken, he was smiling. Was he insane? He certainly seemed to be...

Layora's mouth opened and closed several times, reminiscent of a fish. This boy was clearly very dangerous, if she tried to run would he attack? She was a witness to his crime after all! Then again, could she judge him by what a normal person would do? She had just seen him levitating a second ago! That sort of thing just didn't happen! Then it dawned on her that somehow he had known her name. Suddenly, she found herself thinking of the great beam of light she had witnessed the night before. Was he somehow connected?

"Y-yes," she answered, taking a moment to steady her voice. "I'm Layora... how did you know my name? Who are you?" She tried to keep her voice calm so as not to cause alarm.

It was then that another boy jumped down, accusing the boy in robes of having something to do with the beam of light that he had seen last night. So he saw the light too? He felt time stop? And, he seemed to have gained some sort of special ability, having jumped down from a five-story building without injury. Were the thoughts and feelings from plants and animals Layora had recently been receiving connected? So many questions needed answering!

Well, at least she wasn't going insane!

“Eep!” Renny’s thoughts snapped back into place as she fell backwards onto the sidewalk. She shook her head, blinking up at the boy who’d walked into her and was now apologizing. “Oh, don’t apologize. I wasn’t looking, either.” She stared quizzically at the boy who’d stopped before her, his hand reaching out halfway to help her out. He looked surprised. Did he know her? He didn’t look familiar. But he kind of... sounded familiar.

“Um...” She got to her feet and brushed herself off. She paused, spying something out of the corner of her eye. A book was laying on the side of the road, its front cover open. She bent over to pick it up, thumbing through the pages as she noticed the title of the book. “Hexes, huh? This is yours, right? Practicing to be a witch?” Renny grinned, flipping it open to a random page. Her lips as she read a bit of it silently to herself, then she closed it again and examined the cover. “Wow, it’s so... pretty for a silly magic book. Oh, I’m sorry!” She flushed as she suddenly remembered that it wasn’t her book she was looking through. She hastily handed it to the boy, averting her eyes from his.

“Er...” She coughed in her fist, feeling she should introduce herself after having looked through his book. After all, it’s nothing a stranger should do unless they planned on stealing it. And she certainly wasn’t a thief! “My name is Renee Calliger. You can call me Renny. Sorry about that, the book just looked kinda interesting...” Her voice trailed off. Odd, she felt like she was being watched more intently now. Oh, she hated living here.

Tyco received the book, and averted his eyes, thinking rapidly. A moment later, he realized that this probably made him look very shifty. Searching for something to stare at, his gaze landed on the book in his hands. Oh, wow, I'm such a total kook. Carrying around a book on magic, for Chrissake!
"I'm reading this book for a report on superstition and its relationship to reality," he explained quickly, making it up as he went along. "It's for my psychology class." Hoping that was enough to make him look a little less abnormal, he tried to distract her from the book. "I'm Tyco. Umm..." At a loss for more to say, he stopped and looked up from the book, only to see Renee's eyes flicking back and forth, looking for something. Looks like I'm not the only crazy person here. That thought was immediately followed by remorse. What a thing to think.

Tyco knew exactly what it was that was on the girl's mind... Literally. He just wasn't sure what to do. But he couldn't simply ignore the panic growing on the girl's face as the voices in her head no doubt increased in number.
"Renee?"
She didn't answer. She lifted her hands to hold her head, and whimpered slightly. She started to lean forwards, and Tyco made a split-second decision, stepping forward to catch her elbows as she dropped to her knees.
A cacophony of voices erupted into his head, so many and so loud that he couldn't pick even one out from the mass. He could feel Renee's consciousness somewhere nearby, as if their two minds were floating somewhere in this maelstrom, and he struck out towards the sense of the girl's presence.

As he drew closer, the surroundings coalesced once more into a meaningful world. A night sky, dominated by a large full moon, stretched over a landscape of grassy hills dotted with small trees. In the center of a large patch of tall grasses, Renee stood, her hands held ineffectually over her face to ward off the twenty or so ghostly figures which swooped around her- and through her- producing a babble of noise which could only be described as maddening.
Tyco found himself suddenly possessed of his corporeal form, despite the fact that he seemed to be inside Renee's dream... or hallucination, whatever you wanted to call it. He raced towards her, and several of the transparent whitish fluttering things (Tyco's sense of the absurd noted that they looked like nothing more than see-through bedsheets, like unimaginative hallowe'en costumes given the ability to fly) left off Renee to rush towards Tyco. He braced himself, then blinked as they suddenly stopped a few feet from him. They fluttered agitatedly (if that were possible), then shot off into the night sky.

Tyco wasn't sure what had just happened, but it was convenient. He resumed his rush towards Renee, who was, alarmingly enough, beginning to float. Either the spinning mass of spectral white forms was accompanied by an equally strong whirlwind, or something else was holding her up. Considering how the rest of his day had been, Tyco was willing to bet on the latter.
As he arrived next to Renee, he felt a tangible force suddenly press into his face and chest, like running into a wall of soft rubber. His momentum completely halted, Tyco leaned forward and took one labored step, then another, as if against a strong headwind. As he came close, the whirlwind of ghosts shifted slightly away from him. A bit closer, and it was leaning to one side.
Without warning, the force disappeared, and Tyco stumbled forwards. The spinning ghosts scattered, and Renee's body fell to the ground. A bit dazed, he bent and checked her pulse- yup, she's alive- then picked her up- she was very light. Well, this is a total cliche, thought Tyco detachedly. But he didn't say anything. That would ruin the moment.
Then the world disappeared, and Tyco found himself back on the city sidewalk, on his knees, holding onto the elbows of Renee, who was in a similar posture. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but the distinct lack of strange glances or averted eyes manifesting in the people around them implied that it hadn't been long.

Tyco wasn't sure what he should do now. The girl would want an explanation; he'd best start with that.
"You know, now. You saw the light in the sky last night. Look for a boy wearing robes."
Renee stood up, too. She was staring at Tyco with confusion and more than a little fear. Way to go, kook boy, Tyco thought to himself. "All right, I'll stop being cryptic. Your answers are literally out of this world. Magic exists, believe it or not, and there's at least one mage kid running around town. I don't know why all this happened, but maybe if you try you can find out."
He turned to leave, tucking the book under his arm. He didn't look back.

(Argh, the conflictions between firehawk's post with the mine and Lifon made this one relatively hard to type, please tell me if anything seems a bit off x_x)

“I am…”

The boy paused for a moment as he appeared to ponder for a bit as he attempted to come up with a name so as to be addressed. Having intended originally on spending his time on this world veiled, he lacked a pre-prepared identity for interacting with others. After a brief moment of silence, the young mage finally decided upon an alias with which to use, choosing randomly from the list of “common names” recorded in the tome he carried.

“Leon, Leon Alvseratch Ainswatch , a recorder of history past if you please.”

The book appearing in his hand, Leon began to approach Layora, regardless of the fear she showed.

“Now then, may I please have your full account of what you saw last night? From what the youth over there is saying, it appears that something quite interesting happened without my knowledge… you’ll cooperate with me in the search for truth will you not?”

A smile appearing on his face once more, the “historian” failed at making himself seem less dangerous. The fact that the people he felled to the ground were still coughing up blood, did little to improve that image. Then again, intimidation was often a relatively effective way of obtaining the information one so desired….

Layora blinked at Leon's introduction. A recorder of time? The idea itself was ridiculous, that someone could go around using magic and skip through time to write down what happened. Then again, in a situation like this logic should be thrown out the window, she reasoned. While he obviously was strange and had magical abilities, she didn't buy this "recorder of type" explanation of his.

If he was a magical time recorder looking to help record time, then why would he kill several men for no apparent reason? Why would he even be talking to her? She would think someone like him wouldn't want to mess up the time line, as he would have to rewrite his records of the future. Part of her wanted to know more about what happened, though... And she couldn't exactly refuse Leon any information. He could most likely beat or torture it out of her if he wanted...

"A-all I saw was a bright pillar of light. It only appeared for a few moments, and during that period time seemed to stop... When I went to see what had happened, nothing was there," she told the robed boy.

"I saw what she saw, as well as time stopping for a few minutes. Now tough boy, I wanna know what the hell is happening to me." Michal said, looking the kid in the eye. "Listen, i don't know what is going on here, and i want some answers."

Renny reeled backwards as Tyco walked away, for no seeming reason other than a sudden pounding in her head. The voices that had just been clamoring for her attention had left just as suddenly as they'd appeared, but... What had just happened, anyway? One minute, she'd been talking to Tyco and then the voices were there, frustrated, excited, sad, angry, lonely... Many different people, many different emotions. Many different people that had... captured her and held her, demanding things she wasn't even sure about while she ineffectually tried to ward them off. She couldn't see anything, really, not with her actual eyes. At the same time she was being held, she could feel her body still on the sidewalk where she'd been before. The whole thing had unfolded inside her mind, right before her... her "inner eye", she guessed.

Then she'd seen, or "felt", rather, Tyco coming to her aide. Somehow, he'd managed to get rid of the force that had been holding her body in the air--despite the fact that neither she nor he had actually moved during the entire time. The voices had grown very angry and distraught then, leaving her head one-by-one with extreme reluctance. Now that they were gone, Renny only felt relief, despite the headache it had produced. Then again, it was a good headache that wasn't caused by anything messing with her head. Though really, it was a product of such a thing. No matter, she was once again alone in her head. She couldn't even feel the presences around her anymore.

She stared numbly at the retreating form of Tyco, her lips forming words she couldn't quite voice right now. What was that he'd mentioned about a mage kid? And magic... Magic like the book he was carrying, supposedly for a project? Magic like that, only more... And he'd mentioned the strange light, too. Perhaps he'd been unaffected by the strange time stop as well? Renny shook her head violently, her thoughts still a bit muddled. At least they'd pulled together enough for her to reach a decision on what to do. Or at least, what to try to do. Tyco said she needed answers, but she'd never been one to walk around the city much, particularly not by herself.
"Um, hey! Tyco!"

The boy paused, looking back over his shoulder at her. Renny hesitated for a moment, then ran up to where he stood. "Listen, um, I think... God, I'm not sure about anything right now. Whatever it is that just happened back there, uh... Thanks for helping me. But I have no idea what to do about anything right now, so maybe..." her voice trailed off and she lowered her gaze to the book in his hand. "Um. This magic boy you mentioned... You've talked to him? Is he really, you know, magic? The real stuff, not parlor tricks, of course. It's... nothing I've ever believed in before, but now..."

(Gosh darn it Renny, stop using so many damn ellipses. O:< )

(Argh... I blame firehawk's one-liner (err, two-liner now) for the blockage in creativity fluids... Short post for now to get things moving...)

So both of them were immune to my time distortions even then… however what was this about becoming able to survive a five story fall? Was there more to these anomalies than he thought?
Desirous to confirm his suspicions, the young sorcerer found himself tempted to see if Layora too would survive a fall from such a height. His hand slowly stretching forward, the base of a basic wind spell began to form in the palm of his hand, intended on launching her high into the air. Rational thought however, stopped him as he realized that the aftershocks of time distortion magic may have had different effects depending on the person. Determined to gather more data on the “powers” the “disturbances” had been granted, Leon resumed his questioning of Layora, ignoring Michal’s demands for answers.

“Tell me, have you gained any ability that you were without before? Enhanced reflexes, strength… anything? Do hurry now, the authorities are due here in about half a hour…”

And in accordance with the predictions granted by the records, the authorities certainly would find their way to the lot in particular. Whether or not they would even see Leon, or much less hold him accountable for the brutality that had taken place, was an entirely different story…

Tyco sighed and- tentatively this time- placed the hand that wasn't holding the book on Renny's shoulder. "Calm down. You're babbling." He looked around, and motioned with a jerk of his head for Renny to follow him. "Come on, we're attracting too much attention." Agh, damnit, now I sound like a spy thriller, thought Tyco despondently. I almost wish life were simpler. Or at least that I could get the hang of actual magic.

Realizing he'd been lost in his thoughts for a moment, Tyco brought himself back into the present, noting Renny's vaguely impatient stare. "You saw the pillar of light, didn't you?" He asked her. "When time stopped, last night?" She nodded, and Tyco took a deep breath, as if about to dive into the deep end of a pool. "So there's more than just me. There might be more than just the two of us. Probably. Now, about magic..." He turned to face Renny, walking backwards now. "...really, I don't know much more than you. The one thing I do know is that I saw this one kid, wearing a robe, go skydiving off a building. With no parachute." Tyco turned once more to face forward, putting his hands in his pockets, out of the slightly cold winter afternoon air. "This all sounds crazy. Maybe I am crazy. But since that's always a possibility in any worlds-crossing-over fantasy book, I think we can discount it for now. So we're left with... magic exists. And of course, there's a small group of 'chosen' who know about it."
Tyco looked up from where he'd been staring at the cracks in the pavement, to find himself at a place on one of his more familiar jogging routes. A ten-foot concrete wall stretched from the sidewalk to his left, with a wide gap a little ways ahead. Inside was a surprisingly nicely-kept public lot, where small bushes and clumps of flowers grew in the available soil. Some rowdy types sometimes hung out there, but Tyco had never had trouble with them.
He looked at Renny again, trying to find his train of thought again. "If you haven't noticed already, I'm comparing just about everything to books or movies. It feels like I'm in one, you know what I mean? All of this stuff is impossible, but-" Tyco's sentence ended abruptly as he realized he could hear voices from around the corner. He motioned for Renny to stop, and listened intently.

"...Leon Alversatch Ainswatch. A recorder of history past, if you please." A short pause. "Now then, may I please have your full account of what you saw last night? From what the youth over there is saying, it appears something interesting happened without my knowledge. You'll co-operate with me in the search for truth... will you not?" These last few words were spoken with a distinct undertone of threat beneath them, making Tyco bristle with annoyance. This magic kid was so full of himself, wasn't he? A soft female voice responded to Leon's demand, too quietly to hear.
A moment later, another male voice, not nearly as melodic as Leon's, spoke. I saw what she saw, as well as time stopping for a few minutes. Now, tough boy, I wanna' know what the hell is happening to me!" The confrontational tone was bordering on threatening, and Tyco sighed. Some punk was going to get his ass kicked if Tyco didn't go in there and stop him. The youth motioned for Renny to stay where she was, then straightened his back, and walked around the corner, taking in the scene in the usually pristine courtyard.

The magic kid from before was there, along with a dangerous-looking boy wearing tattered clothing. Bodies, some of them in very unlikely positions, littered the lot. Broken greenery and squashed flowers were strewn all over the concrete, and though there was very little blood, the scene made Tyco want to retch. Switching his gaze back to the robe-wearing young terror in the center of the lot, Tyco only now noticed the girl the mage kid was talking to; her self-effacing manner seemed to make her harder to notice. Leon, as an obvious insult, had his back turned to the street boy, who was standing with clenched fists, as if simply waiting for an excuse to start a fight. Tyco decided he'd best try and defuse the situation.

"Oh, hey, Leon. Not-very-long time no see. Jumped off any buildings lately? Or did you find slaughtering hoodlums more to your liking?" A moment later, Tyco realized that referencing the evident carnage was not the best idea for easing the tension. Nonetheless, maybe the aggressive punk would heed the reminder that this mage-kid, Leon, had (as far as Tyco could tell) just taken out more than ten full-grown men on his own, without so much as breaking a sweat.

Renny didn’t protest as Tyco slipped out from view. She leaned against the wall, staring down at her hands as she tangled her fingers together. She still didn’t know what to think about this whole thing, with the light and the voices and... whatever it was that had happened to her earlier. It seemed she would have to agree with Tyco that there was indeed magic in the world, of a nature. And since that light and time-stop had given her, Tyco, a presumably a few others certain powers, there was no doubt this “mage kid” had something to do with it. Only question was, were they caused directly by him, or were the powers a result from the time stop itself?

She’d only been half-listening to the voices from around the corner, but Tyco’s comment roused her curiosity. “Slaughtering more hoodlums”? What did he mean by that? Despite the fact that he’d told her to stay there, Renny couldn’t help walking into the lot to actually see what was going on. She took in the destruction of the flowers and the bodies on the ground with wide eyes, but she held back comments. Namely because she wasn’t sure what to say. She hadn’t walked right up to the little group, so none of them had noticed her yet. Renny, keeping her eyes away from the bodies, pressed herself back against a wall to keep watch on them. It wasn’t hard to tell who the “mage kid” was... but despite everything, she couldn’t help but let out a little snicker of laughter at the clothes he was wearing.

(Gah, short. I couldn’t think of much right now, sorry...!)

Tyco’s remark about the “massacre” that had taken place amused Leon, if only slightly. Had he fought the men with the intent to kill them, the damage to the surrounding area would have been far more extensive than a few crushed flowers.

“Slaughter? I merely changed the reason behind their hospitalization in the records… instead of wasting valuable time interrogating deviations from the original course of history, these “gentlemen” are now reflecting on their sins upon the earth which bore them. ”

A “gentle” kick to one of the fallen bodies proved his point, bringing a smile to the boy’s face as the felled man coughed up a lovely spurt of blood.

“My actions aside Tyco, I believe I asked you to instruct me of any abnormal phenomena…”

Pausing as if he were educating a mentally handicapped person, Leon allowed the sarcasm in his statements to become extremely obvious to anyone who was listening.

“Let me put this in a way you might understand Landsdowne… piecing together your statements from our earlier meeting, it appears that this would be the first time in all my years as a recorder in which giant pillars of light and freak timestops are considered normal phenomena in a magically devoid world… A very rare and unusual occurrence no? For a person who’s watched your world’s history from start to finish to have such an experience…”

A dangerous tone becoming more and more evident in his speech, the young sorcerer allowed the “shockwaves” of air from the beginning of an elementary wind spell to be emitted from his present location, so as to stress his annoyance with the fantasy addict.

“Perhaps you would also like to shed more light on any normal ability that you may have obtained as a result of the normal timestop that accompanied the normal pillar of energy last night?”

The spell having nearly been completed at this point, strong gusts of wind begin to blow about the lot as Leon waited for a response for the person who had failed to inform him of the incident the previous night, his smile having disappeared. Thankfully for Tyco, the young librarian was distracted from his interrogation by the telepathic description of a rather “disturbing” event (in more ways than one) conveyed to him from the symbols he had deployed for recordkeeping earlier. Conjuring the giant tome into his hand, the boy began to read aloud the text that had just been written, turning his attention to the individual in question shortly after.

Entering the lot upon the mention of “slaughtering more hoodlums”, the human “Renny” proceeded to eavesdrop on the conversation taking place, doing her best to avert her gaze from the broken bodies upon the ground. After having identified the perpetrator in question, the female could not help but let out a quiet snicker at the garb which he donned…”

Shutting the grimoire none too gently, the youthful mage glared coldly at the latest anomaly, irked by the fact that the number of people capable of seeing through his veil was continuing to increase.

“Would you perhaps, like to share anything else with us anomaly Renny? Such as, if you obtained any unusual powers asides from the ability to laugh at the apparel of others?…”

Layora blinked, turning to see another girl step into view, who looked rather confused at being spotted. She was confused, and didn't know what to think of the almost-omniscient attitude of the mage-boy. It was painfully obvious he was what he said he was. She had seen his deeds, had seen him fight as if he knew what his opponent would do before he did it. She had seen him call on the wind, and had seen him detect and predict things without any logical explanation.

"Look... Erm..." What was his name again? Oh, right! "Leon... I don't know what all of this is about... I don't know anything about 'magic' or the 'supernatural,' and I'm not afraid to admit I'm more than a tad scared of things I don't know about... But if this is some serious issue, I'll try to help you..." If he really was some great time-keeper, then for him to be here something drastic must have happened, right? What could have happened so bad that someone had actually come through the time-stream to analyze it so?

"The only things I can report is a rather tingly feeling I get when around animals and plants... like I have some sort of connection to them... these flowers, for instance... it really... hurt, if you will... when they died," she said, rather quietly.

Tyco glanced at the quiet girl as she spoke with a very gentle voice, a voice in keeping with her demeanour. Unfortunately, the quietness of her words had the effect of making the strong winds, which continued to roar around Tyco, snatch up her voice and render her inaudible to anyone but Leon. Tyco squinted, then was forced to close his eyes as the wind intensified, now streaming directly at him while leaving the rest of the lot untouched. Unable to see, Tyco shouted, "All right, all right! Cut it out, you crazy little-"
There was a slight lessening of the gale, then an even stronger gust punched Tyco straight in the chest, like a massive, padded glove. Tyco, the wind knocked out of him- Oh, very funny. I go flying and all I can think of is a pun, he had a split second to think sourly- managed only a grunt as he was hurled across the lot, and came to an abrupt halt on the concrete wall, sliding down to land in the small bed of soil at its base. There was a slight squeak from the quiet girl standing near Leon as Tyco landed on the already-trashed flowers.

Tyco coughed slightly, and was dismayed to realize that he couldn't take a deep breath. "Hey, no fair..." He panted, trying (and failing) to smile insolently at Leon, who was standing with arms crossed and a murderous expression on his face. "Why punch for the solar plexus?" Uncurling from his fœtal position with some difficulty, he clambered to his feet, and leaned against the wall for support. "Sorry if I didn't tell you about, you know, the massive pillar of light and the timestop last night. I think the difficulty was when you immediately assumed that I wanted to help you. Can you see how hurling people against walls might make them unwilling to tell you everything they know?"

Renny gave a start when Leon turned to talk to her. She could feel her face reddening as she stammered a reply. “I, um, I... the l-light... ghosts...” She coughed into her fist, averting her eyes and trying to shrink back into the wall. He’d heard her laugh at his clothes? How, when he was standing so far away and she’d done it so quietly? Oh, right. Magic. Aware that the boy, and the others, were still looking at her, she added, “T-they even tried to hold me or something. Tyco saved me, though. Uh... So I can hear ghosts,” she finished lamely, still looking away.

After a bit, the other girl in the lot began to speak. Renny shifted from one foot to the other, wishing she was back at home in her bed. This couldn’t all be real, could it? Maybe she was actually dreaming all of this. Yeah, then all she had to do was wake up! Except that despite everything, this was a much more coherent dream than any other she’d ever had. Usually, she dreamt of... well, weird things. Evil television sets chasing her through the dark tunnels of the local strip mall in the heart of the Amazon, flying through deep-space on the back of a spider monkey to get to the distant planet made of chocolate... Sheesh, sometimes she thought her brain was switched with a five-year-old’s when she was asleep.
That aside, this didn’t really feel like a dream. And- “Oh!” she exclaimed, her train of thought violently forced off its rails and into a flaming ditch as Tyco suddenly flew backwards into a wall. Renny simply gawked at him, then at Leon. “You did that? Tyco, a-are you okay?”

Michal stopped dead, about to grab the weird robed kid's shoulder, as the kid in question- Leon, was his name, huh?- whirled suddenly to angrily address a young man of about twenty. Michal scowled. Who do these people think they are? They can't just ignore me! About to interrupt again, Michal's eyes widened as he was buffeted a step back by a visible shockwave of flying air that emanated from the kid in robes. The hell? Michal quickly reevaluated the dangerousness of the harmless-looking kook as Tyco, the young man who'd interrupted, went flying a short distance across the lot, to land against a wall. Michal had seen some pretty odd things in his sixteen years- after all, he'd been chased by some organization that he knew nothing about for the last three years, since his thirteenth birthday, and had lived on the streets since then to avoid bringing danger to his family- but this took the cake. The only explanation is magic. Michal thought incredulously to himself. Then he grinned his trademark reckless grin. Whatever. It'll make things more interesting.

"Hey! Magic-boy! If you're done throwing your imaginary weight around, answer my question. In return, I'll answer yours, but you're going first." Michal paused for a moment, then decided that with stubborn weirdos like this Leon boy, it wouldn't hurt to repeat the question. "The question was, what the hell is happening to me?" His voice turned dangerous, and he subconsciously tightened his grip on the sheaths that were plainly visible strapped to either side of his body, just above the waist of his (stolen) jeans. Nobody had yet messed with Michal twice, and ignoring him was a bad idea, even if he knew he was outmatched.

As each person in turn finished their replies to Leon’s inquiries, the stress accumulating from attempting to make sense of all the deviations and irregularities began to take their toll on the boy’s mentality, causing his patience to grow dangerously thin.

All right, all right! Cut it out, you crazy little-"

It was at that exact moment unfortunately, that Tyco had chosen to interrupt the mage’s thoughts once more, triggering a violent subconscious reaction from Leon as the wind around him responded in accordance to the emotions of its caster. That being said however, the sorcerer himself failed to notice the college student being flung across the lot until the girl he had been interrogating suddenly gawked at him, apparently appalled by an unknown action that he had allegedly taken. Upon learning of what he had done, the mage was almost repentant for a moment; however any remorse he had for his actions was thrown completely out the window as a rather arrogant tone of voice rekindled his temper.

"Hey! Magic-boy! If you're done throwing your imaginary weight around, answer my question. In return, I'll answer yours, but you're going first."

Imaginary weight? Had anyone else besides a possible “clue” to the missing years of the world’s history dared to refer to him in such a manner, they’d have found their innards scattered about them already. However… knowledge took precedence over personal satisfaction, at least that’s what his master had always taught him. The quest for knowledge was greater than mere petty desires...

“The question was, what the hell is happening to me?"

Knowledge before personal satisfaction…knowledge before personal satisfaction… Knowledge be damned. Glaring dangerously at the boy had dared to address him, Leon opened the tome he carried as if to issue another declaration of death as he had done for the gangs that had populated the lot… but relented at the last second as he shut the book with a sigh. Reason having won the “internal conflict” within him, the boy chose the satisfaction of his curiosity over the satisfaction of his rage… for the moment anyway.

“Very well… as you have all answered my questions the best you could… I suppose I can give you some explanation of the events to come. However…”

“Dissipating” the book he held in his hand, the boy continued to speak.

“This conversation, shall be held somewhere more… private. Mr. Landsdowne , as you appear to be so awfully interested in such matters, I trust that you will not mind holding our little talk in your residence? We would be ever so grateful…”

From the boy’s tone of speech, it was obvious that the poor student had no choice in the matter whatsoever…

Tyco returned the robed boy's glare. This kid has a temper... and it doesn't go well with his apparent lack of compunction regarding hurting people. Much as the lofty young mage annoyed him, Tyco realized that when dealing with someone like Leon, a person for whom the opinions of others mattered not a whit, returning abuse with abrasive sarcasm was likely to simply earn more pain, rather than scoring any points in the game of insults. It'd be much more off-putting for Leon to suddenly receive complete acquiescence... Not that Tyco intended to let this uppity kid walk all over him, dangerous magical powers or not. However, having a bunch of people who'd suddenly discovered magic meeting in his apartment seemed like a good way to learn more. I want to know everything, just as much as Leon does. I'm just going to be nicer about it.

Having come to his decision, Tyco grinned at Leon, but was unable to keep a the sarcasm out of his voice. "Well, since you asked so nicely, I would be ill-mannered to refuse. I agree, though, out here isn't the best place to talk about sensitive subjects." A muted groan from behind him, where one of the brawlers Leon had brutalized had been thrown against the wall earlier, alerted Tyco to the fact that the man was coming around. "Case in point. I'm sure Leon can take care of himself, but the rest of us might not want to be here when they wake up." From the scowl on Leon's face, Tyco could tell the mage was growing impatient. "Follow me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Michal, his eyebrows rising in disbelief as the oddly attired boy made a huge book disappear into thin air- it was one thing to hear that the guy with the dress could do 'magic,' and another to see it with his own eyes- snapped them back into their scowl as the kid Leon suggested that they go somewhere "more private."
Michal's mind raced as he weighed the pros and cons. He wanted to know what was up with his new abilities, but figuring it out on his own was just as effective for that, even if it was harder. The big problem was that Michal didn't like the idea of following people he didn't understand to a place he didn't know. Who says they're not working for the Cloakers, anyways?
The Cloakers was his own term for the group that had been chasing him for years. He had a few guesses about why they were after him, but now wasn't the time to think about those guesses. The reality was that anyone could be one of them. The Cloakers seemed to be everywhere, and it was impossible for Michal to ever be in one place for too long without them turning up. He scowled. Suspecting these people of being Cloakers was obviously paranoid, but it was paranoia that'd kept him alive this long.
Nevertheless, Michal was curious. If they were Cloakers, he reasoned, they wouldn't have made themselves so obvious to me. With most of the thugs and crazies who randomly attack me out of a crowd, I'm never even given a chance to suspect 'em. While these peopled seemed ordinary enough, they were special enough to be involved with a kid who used functional f---ing magic. Ironic, then, that this was a reason not to suspect them of being after him. Michal smiled crookedly. Trustworthiness in noticeability... I hope.
As Tyco walked from the lot, limping slightly but hiding it well, he waved for the others to follow him. Michal hesitated, and saw the two girls do so as well. Leon, quite evidently secure in his confidence that no one present was a threat, walked breezily to follow Tyco. Michal would have liked to show the overconfident mage differently, but contented himself with a scowl at Leon's back. Then he purposefully crossed the concrete lot, scuffing his feet through small piles of torn-up shrubbery and flower petals, to join the two who were waiting by the exit.

Renny had once more fallen silent while the others spoke, her eyes flicking from one to another as they conversed. Her mind was still reeling with thoughts about ghosts and magic and she wanted to wait for it to right itself before she spoke again. She almost thanked Michal when the boy demanded to know what was happening to him; she’d been wondering the very same thing, though she figured it was too obvious a question to ask. However, Leon hadn’t said much about giving answers until Michal demanded them.

“Look at me, look at me. Please, look...” came a soft whisper across her mind. It was so subtle that she almost passed it off as her own thought before realizing how strange it was. Once noticed, the words repeated--only they were a little louder this time. Renny shivered and tried to block it out, when another voice joined the first.
“Forget your friends and listen to us,” the second was saying, over and over again. The voices inside her mind, growing a little louder still, also grew more desperate. Renny let out a low whimper, reaching back with one hand to rub at her head. The group had started to follow Tyco now, and none appeared to notice her discomfort yet. A third voice could be heard now, though it was just soft sobbing.
With the feeling of being watched returning to her, Renny debated whether or not she should tell Leon about this. She almost did, but told herself, mostly in an attempt to block out the voices, No, that’ll only stop us and make them all question me. I want inside, away from these... away from... away from this feeling... away... She shivered again, cursing the invisible people in her head as they interrupted her thoughts.

(Kinda crappy, but it’s late and I just wanted this up before I got off. So eh.)

Layora quietly followed the rest, the grey-furred cat following her with a curious cock of its head. The cat seemed to be constantly casting glances over at Leon, watching him as if he were some sort of dangerous predator. And, from what Layora had seen, that he definitely was. Layora wanted to know what was going on, of course, she was curious about all of this.

Layora thought that this meeting between them and a Mage, the timestop, and the new apparent abilities they had gained could have been a fun experience, actually. It could have been almost like a movie, or a book of some sort. But Leon obviously wasn't some good-hearted Mage, he was a cold-hearted murderer with apparently no regard for life, from what Layora had seen. He wanted to find something out, that much she knew, but he didn't seem to care how he went about doing it. She had just seen him fling that poor boy across the lot and into a wall! She wasn't quite sure about coming into an area where no one could see the group... then again, no one else could see the Mage but them, or so it appeared. If Leon had wanted to kill them all, he probably would have...

Layora figured she didn't have much choice at this point but to go along with things. She'd try to stay quiet and out of the way, though, Leon was definitely someone she didn't want to invoke the wrath of...

Dull, tired, blue eyes surveyed the dark alleyway yet again. The owner of the eyes was tired, very tired, and his only one thought was to protect his precious twelve cents hidden in the empty soup can behind him for the rest of the night. He’d be able to find a quarter on the streets easily in the daylight, and then he’d be able to buy a cup of ramen and some hot water to cook it with. He’d feast like a king.

The man with brown, shaggy hair in the alleyway stirred from his slumber as he heard footsteps nearby. It was probably some drunk from a nearby bar, which was a perfect target to ask for money from. “Aww, man. You’re so drunk.” He heard a voice say. There were two. Can in hand, the unfortunate man approached the end of the alley. “A few coins for a beggar, sirs?” He asked, holding out his can. The men stopped in front of him and stared.

“Hey, Ted, isn’t that the idiot lawyer, Isaac whatshisface, who couldn’t get the guy who raped your sis’ convicted?” The lesser drunk of the two asked, pointing slightly. Ted, the drunker of the two stared at him for a second. “Yeah! He is!” He said, his words barely slurring out of his mouth. “Serves you right to be on the streets. Now he just wants to rob us of more of our money. Before the ex-lawyer had time to reply, he found himself on the ground, getting kicked and punched by the two drunken men.

Suddenly the shots of pain stopped. Blue eyes were opened again to find that the two men were frozen. The ex-lawyer stood up and took another look at his two assailants before realizing that he must have had a guardian angel that night. A single bullet maintained in midair, heading straight for where he was just laying. His eyes connected with the gun in the less-drunk man’s hand, and froze.

Isaac found panic taking control of him as harsh memories of the past played through his head. His body shook violently, and as a bright light blinded him, he could only think of one thing to do. “GO THE HELL AWAY!” He shouted with all of his breath. His voice echoed throughout the entire dark alley. A dog began barking as Isaac sat himself down on the ground, calming down. He finally opened his eyes and looked up. The two men were gone. Had they run away?

The homeless man found himself falling asleep almost instantly afterwards, and the next time he opened his eyes, the sun was shining brightly. It was a beautiful day, and Isaac was glad. On a day like this, many people would be out and about, and Isaac might be able to get an entire dollar from random people passing by. With a bit of hope in his gut, he picked up his empty soup can and left the alley.

His first stop every morning was a TV store two blocks away from his alley, that would always have the news playing in front of the store, just like in all of the movies. Oddly enough, that morning there were several people crowded around the screens. “This morning, two men were found in the river a mile from the city late last night, drowned. They were quickly identified by a police officer as Ted Smith and Rob Redfield, two men who were local heroes for catching a serial rapist in the act.

Isaac froze as he watched the screen. How could they have died in such a short time? It could have only been three or four hours since he was attacked. His alley was on the far WEST side of the city, and the river was a mile away to the EAST. It was an hour drive just to get to the edge of the city…

The ex-lawyer backed away from the TV store and walked right back to his alley. He wouldn’t try to get any money today, not after what he just heard. It was impossible for this to have happened. Amidst his confusion, Isaac never realized that someone was standing in front of his alley, who he happened to crash into. “Hey, watch it!” The guy said, putting down his cell phone for a second. Isaac looked up. “Oh, sorry.” He said, looking him in the eye.
The man seemed to calm down rather quickly. “It’s okay. Just watch out next time.” Isaac held up his can with high hopes. “A few coins for a poor beggar?” He asked, as he always did. The man hung up his cell phone and took out his wallet. “Spend it on something worthwhile.” He said, with a smile as a twenty dollar bill was placed in his can. Isaac was flabbergasted.

The stranger was gone by the time he was able to open his mouth to thank him. Isaac sat down in his usual spot, just wondering what kind of miracle he’d stepped into… and after a while, he felt that things had gone too easily. He decided to test to see if it was just “luck”, finding the whole situation very suspicious after what had happened the night before. People don’t just freeze completely. Bullets don’t stop before your eyes.

It took Isaac a minute, but he located a woman sitting on a bench on the nearby bus stop. She was on her cell phone, talking about some dress she wanted to buy to presumably one of her friends. Isaac smiled as he put out his cup. “Some change for a poor beggar?” He asked, being as polite as a beggar could be. The girl huffed and looked up, she seemed angry. Isaac tried again, this time looking into her eyes. “Some change for a poor beggar? You don’t need a new dress, you’re pretty enough.” The tension in the woman’s eyes lessened, and she was suddenly very happy. “Oh, of course! You should go buy yourself something nice. Everyone deserves to get complimented.”

As Isaac looked down to see what was added to his can, the bus arrived, and the girl stepped on, and left. She’d left him an entire one-hundred dollar bill. It was then that Isaac realized just what was going on. He’d finally learned how to convince people… only this time, it almost seemed supernatural.

With a better mood and yet more money in his pocket, Isaac turned around to hear imaginary sirens and bells run through his head. A boy, looking to be about sixteen was walking with a group of other youths. His robes, which did somewhat make him look like a sissy, were lined with GOLD. Isaac wandered over. “A few coins for a poor beggar?” He asked, holding out his can and staring the boy in the eye.