Forums » General Roleplay » On the Wings of Freedom: 1x1

Alexis had managed to avoid the flame as well, breaking away from Erasai as several came after her. The man bearing the wrench fired another jet of flames and Alexis opened up a dampening field that killed the flame before it reached her. As soon as he stepped in, a night field was opened enveloping the immediate area in absolute darkness. The man was disarmed, his arm was twisted then broken at the elbow before he was knocked into the deep pool at the center. Several more had run into the magic field only to be met by debilitating strikes before being sent into the pool. Several that fell in quickly returned, however. Calling up a pillar of filthy water to wash them back onto the walkway while others brought down columns of rocks from the ceiling.

This in turn caused the entire room to shake under the damage and large chunks of dirt fell in threatening to crush whoever stood underneath it. Alexis, in her shadow form, slipped back and forth between falling debris as she progressively fought her way backwards towards the ladder. These magic users were untrained but relentless. It wasn't until the sixth one came at her in the darkness that she had enough and she snapped the man's leg at the knee causing him to fall to his knees. These people were damned anyways, she thought as she snapped his neck. "Erasai!" she called out as she fought off another two, "We need to go now or we'll get crushed!"

She deflected a few spells that had come at her, by making a shield of light over her hand to knock them away. The shield diminished after a few attacks, and she would have to re-conjure it. But, when they started to become more aggressive, toward the tunnel itself, she knew things were going to become bad. She dodged falling debris as it came down around her, and avoided anything cast at her from these people.

She heard Alexis, and was already next to the ladder. She would turn to it, raising her hand to shield her face from debris and dust, and begin to climb.

She had no clue where this was going to lead them, but hopefully it would be some place safe, free of crazed people, and far from the city.

It was a strange ladder. One that curved under the dome of the ceiling and at the very top, a person would be hanging with their back towards the ground before they reached a straight up climb to the lid. She began to climb as well, kicking off hands that grabbed her legs and shielding her face from falling rubble.

They tried to stop them. With effort from the earth mages, the concrete around the ladder was torn off as jagged spikes of rock shot through the walls, missing the girls but only by a few feet. They continued to cast their magic until they reached the neck of the climb where an earth mage, in an attempt to squeeze them at the choke, accidentally sealed the exit closed behind the girls, allowing them to escape.

Alexis paused for a moment to catch her breath before climbing up to Erasai's level right at the lid and with several attempts in pushing, managed to move the heavy lid away, opening up into what looked like the bottom of an ocean side cliff with a wall of earth on one side and a sandy shore line that stretched for miles. Alexis climbed out and rolled on her back on the sandy cement in exhaustion. It was late afternoon but the day felt like it had gone on for so long.

"Jolt addicts," she said with a heavy sigh, putting an arm over her face as she caught her breath.

Erasai climbed out with Alexis, and looked to the ocean, a wave of relief just washing over her. "It's the ocean!" she called out, running to it and jumping it. Besides the fact that it was the ocean, she had wanted to jump in to try and get the horrible smell off of her. She would dive under, and then resurface, wiping the salt water from her face.

"It's so nice and warm!" she said, waving at Alexis. "And... what Jolt, by the way."

She wasn't really concerned with anything at this point. She just felt free. Free from the chase, from the threat of being captured, and from Zuzu and Wolfe.

Alexis slowly got up and followed Erasai to the water's edge, letting the shallow wave clean the muck off her shoes. She took her shoes and socks off and stood on the warm sand and took a deep deep breath. The salty air was a big change compared to the smoke filled streets of lower Haven and definitely more inviting than the sewers.

She sat down, bringing her legs up to her chest as she watched the other girl play in the water. She was already practically dressed to go swimming but she didn't want to get wet at that time. She just crawled out of an addict-infested sewer, after all. The late afternoon sun reflected off the water and Alexis could only see Erasai's silhouette against the light. It was a beautiful sight to see and not something seen often, coming from a girl who lived underground for half her life. This was her way of celebrating her freedom: sit, relax, reflect. Worries of the world, her life, still hung heavy on her shoulders. Alexis was way too different compared to Erasai and she found it funny how they even hit it off as friends in the first place.

"You want to know?" she asked, tracing a finger in the sand, "It requires a bit of explaining on my part so you might want to sit down right here." She tapped the spot next to her as she tried to figure out where to begin on explaining what Jolt actually was.

"Back when I was in the academy, our understanding of magic rested on the idea of there being people who gained powers through unexplained events. That's how it happened to me. I was born without magic and around the age of five I suddenly started being able to manipulate the shadows. It's not genetic as far as we knew but that's a different story. Basically, our bodies aren't equipped to use magic naturally. I don't know if it's the same for you, seeing as you were genetically altered, but for us... we magic users learned that there are two forms of energy within us that we can use to conjure spells." Alexis raised both her hands and stared at them. She held one up against the sun and with a soft whisper of words, dark waves of energy arose from it, casting the light that passed through her fingers in a soft shade. "Mental energy is one. It is the first resource our bodies naturally use to produce magic. Depending on the individual's state of mind mental energy can be abundant and it always regenerates quickly. We can spend it with little to no consequence. The second..."

Alexis raised her other hand and held it against the light. After visible effort on her part, a large plume of dark energy arose from her palm, blotting out all of the sun's light in the immediate area. "The second is life energy. We draw from the very essence of our life to create significantly more powerful spells. Its abundance, again, depends on the individual. Children and healthy young adults possess the greatest potential in using this energy." Alexis gripped the energy, snuffing it out. "Using it comes at a price, though. People feel nausea, headaches occur, loss of vision. You can kill yourself if you use enough. That's where Jolt comes in. Jolt is like a shot of adrenaline. It increases your senses, your mind works at a blinding speed. Everything about your body just feels... more powerful." Alexis ran a finger down her right arm, stopping at her wrist where her watch was. She removed it, revealing three small dots on her wrist. "It was designed for magic users to refuel lost energy in a second. Just inject it into your bloodstream and continue fighting. But... more recent studies show that it only affected your mental energy and very little of it. The way your body feels when you use it is strictly all part of the brain going on overdrive. You don't gain life energy back and the more you use it, the more you trick your mind into thinking you've recovered. And that's why addicts exist."

She strapped the watch back on and let out a heavy sigh. "Those people in the sewers were a product of Jolt. Ophelia probably kept them under her thumb by providing the drug. And she sent us down there knowing what they were capable of. She probably expected us to die, too."

Erasai would look to Alexis when she motioned for her to join her sitting down. She slowly made her way out of the water, clothes soaking wet, but seeming not to mind. She sat down next to Alexis and listened to her tell her story. She would become intrigued, when Alexis hinted that she had used this Jolt before. And, that it was an addictive substance.

"That's tough..." she would say, looking to Alexis after she had finished. "That sounds a lot like what we went through. Except, there was no Jolt... you just used magic until you passed out. But, I guess I was lucky in that." She motioned her head back toward the manhole, referring to the people that had been attacking them. That, was unlucky.

She removed her shoes, and let her feet slide under the sand. It was still warm, even though the sun was about to set.

"It is hard to tell what is worse; magic when you know how you obtained it, or magic where you have no idea what you have."

Alexis nodded, clenching and unclenching her fist in thought. "To know what was done to your body to force those powers onto you must have been a nightmare. I don't think I can imagine the experience you've gone through... But then again, I do want to know what made me gain these powers. If there was an explanation or some conceivable reason... I could have prevented this from happening."

Alexis then buried her fist into the ground in a fit of frustration. "It's also ridiculous. The whole reason why I'm out here in the first place is because of a stupid stereotype. So if I were any other type of magic user, I'd be more accepted in society but because I control dark magic, suddenly I'm an enemy to everyone? I didn't choose this damn element so why do I... why do people like me have to hide it? It's not our fault."

Erasai looked to the indention in the sand that Alexis had made with her fist. She frowned, and then shook her head. "Because, the world is closed-minded. Society is egotisicial, and accepts anything they fear." She would give a heavy sigh. "But... I like you. I also hate you, mind that. But that's only because you tried to capture me, not because you use dark magic." She gave a laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, well... Thanks. And I'm sorry," Alexis said. She wrapped her arms around her legs as she watched the setting sun. She was thinking. Thinking about what could have been and what had happened instead. "And I understand. I'd hate somebody too if they ever tried to capture me. And to be honest, I didn't want to become your friend when we first met. I did my best in trying to keep myself as business-minded as possible but..." She rubbed her eyes with her arm in an attempt to hide the small build up of tears. She sniffled and rested her chin on her arms. "I never actually had a chance to live my life like that. As a normal girl. I was given the opportunity, I got a little selfish, and I started to like you. And for that I'm glad to have been given the chance to live like that. Though, of course, all this other stuff happened after. I didn't want it to end, believe me. I'm still surprised you still even like me after what I put you through."