Reflection One : : Seer\ /
It has been said that we create our own future. But at the same time, there is destiny, fate, the set course of events we must follow. There are prophecies, carved into the stone walls of the ancient ruins, telling the grim tale of what is to come.

It is said that we cannot change the past. We cannot. But neither can we change the future. To be a seer is to see the future. A seer knows what course it will follow, but in the end even they are simply pawns of fate.

The past is what makes us who we are. The future is the outcome of our being. The present is life. Make your own decisions and never doubt them.

Because I will not tell you where they will lead. \ /
A faint sound danced in the air, like the resonance of fine glass when struck. It seemed to spread out like the ripples in a pool. Hitting an invisible barrier, the sound echoed back, stronger than before. Then suddenly it seemed to collapse onto itself and disappear.

Holding up her hand, the girl looked at the small charm that hung from her wrist, eyes narrowed. The small dark blue sphere set in the silver shaft glowed slightly. Slowly lowering her hand, she looked ahead of the ship, at the dark shape on the horizon.

“Something wrong?”

A young man stood just behind her, his soft brown eyes tinged with concern. She smiled slightly, brown hair dancing on the wind, her cloak billowing.

“No.” Came the soft reply. He nodded slightly, though she couldn’t see the gesture.

“It seems… we have arrived.”

The imperial city of Olympus Mons loomed ahead, rising majestically over the empty plains. The airship had reached its destination.\ /
The city teemed with people, bright colors of their clothes mixing together, blue, green, red, and yellow, all together, visitors from all four countries gathered in one place. Sapphire Alttasin, nicknamed Alta, walked through the city carefully, looking around expressionlessly. She disliked people in general, and this loud gathering was almost more than she could handle.

Tak, tak, tak. The rhythmic sound of her boots on the pavement was calming as she walked steadily through the city.

What am I doing here?

Around her, the voices and bustle seemed to fade into the background, becoming a distant echo. Slowly, her eyes narrowed, darkening to match her namesake gem.

These people…They’re… they’re…

The city seemed to change, growing darker. The people were still there, their voices rising into the air. But there was something different. Tak, tak, tak. She continued walking as the voices murmured, a hint of panic and terror in them. Cracks spread along the ground, everything shaking. Chunks of ground thrust up, others disappearing. All around the city, a dark wall rose, growing higher and higher, covering the skies. A dark power swept through the streets.

Time stopped.

The steady clicking stopped as she stood still in the middle of the road, eyes staring blankly ahead. Suddenly, she seemed to snap back to reality, the city light once again, the colors as brilliant and cheery as before. The people moved around her again, chattering happily. And yet among the moving crowd, two figures stood still, as if part of a separate world.

For a moment, their eyes met. But as the cloaked figure disappeared, she made no move to follow.

She sighed and continued walking. Almost sub-consciously, she turned onto a smaller alley, knowing all too well she would end up lost in the narrow dark streets. She’d have to think of some excuse to get out of the city before tomorrow. That’d be fun for sure. That’s when the annual four kingdoms meeting began. Just opening ceremonies, sure, but Mikhail would be set on staying.

Well, he had trusted her before…

She stopped for a moment. A figure in a dark green cloak passed by on a parallel street, looking all too out of place. ‘A white mage…’ she automatically thought as the corner of a white dress flashed among the folds of the cloak.

‘Well… I’m lost anyway… with nothing to do…’

Capricious was a word often used to describe Alta. And she often did her best to live up to that description. Following mysterious cloaked figures down the back alleys of large cities was definitely under the “impulsive” category.

However, it seemed Alta was not the only one to take interest in the white mage. Though… she wasn’t entirely sure exactly what was following the girl. Or who she assumed to be a girl. ‘Could be a guy,’ she thought absently, ‘white mages can be male… But they usually wear a different style of robes… Wonder if that thing’s male… Come to think of it, do three dimensional moving shadows have genders?’

A moving shadow was probably the best way to describe the thing. It seemed almost like a semi-transparent ink stain with arms, legs and a head. Sidestepping behind the corner of a building, Alta watched as the thing turned to glance around, revealing two glowing red eyes.

‘That’s not natural.’ Mentally she rolled her eyes at the thought. ‘Kinda obvious there. Still… I wonder if it’s dangerous… Guess we’re going to find out…’

The white mage had walked into a dead end street, apparently almost as lost as Alta herself. Turning around to try a different route, the stranger found themselves confronted by the shadow. As the creature advanced, Alta carefully moved to stand next to the alley. Light footsteps heralded of the strangers slow retreat.

‘One… What the hell am I doing? … Two… This is my charity work for the next decade… Three…’

On the count of three, she moved to stand in the entrance of the alley, the light falling directly behind her. The shadow, exactly half way between the entrance and the end, turned sharply to face her, hissing quietly.

‘It’s a Kodak moment,’ she thought, smirking inwardly. Abruptly, she realized a very interesting fact. ‘I don’t a have a single weapon on me.’

The shadow seemed to sense her hesitation like a true predator. It hissed viciously, revealing two fangs, at the same time baring its claws. As it slashed horizontally, Alta danced back, shifting from foot to foot. Something seemed to click in her mind. Everything changed.

There was one opponent. Weapons, claws, possibly fangs. No reinforcements expected. Weapons none.

She smiled slightly as the shadow crouched, preparing to attack again. As the creature launched itself in the air, claws prepared to strike, she held out one hand, palm forward. A sphere of light gathered. And as it prepared to strike, the shadow was suddenly engulfed in ice.

As the block of frozen water fell to the ground, it shattered, the shards flashing for a moment before vanishing.

It was a moment later Alta looked up again as the white mage approached.

“Thank you so much for helping me.” The young woman drew back the hood. “My name in Melody.”\ /
Tada! This is probably the… fourth time I’m rewriting this chapter. Or is it the fifth? Well, anyway, here is the new version of Reflection. After twelve chapters, I remembered why exactly I hated first person pov. So that’s gone forever. I also lost track of the plot somewhere along the way. Reading the chapters I abruptly realized the story made no sense.

So I’m completely rewriting the whole thing. There’ll be plenty of changes, but some things will stay the same. And this time I’ll actually work on my website.

But since no one is reading this, it doesn’t matter. Thank you for your time.