In the rapid crowd of people passing us, her wings flapped all the faster as she smiled brightly at me. It was like looking at the sun. Her small fingers tugged at my blade again, and it caused me to pull back.

“Ah, what are you doing?”

I asked.

“This sword you have… it’s something else.”

She admired.

 

 

I pulled to the side, causing her to stumble. Thankfully, I reached out my hand and grabbed her by the shoulder before she could stumble and fall on her face. When I touched her… she was warm, and it caused me to let go. It’s… been a while since I touched someone like that.

“It’s a dangerous weapon. You shouldn’t be grabbing people’s things.”

Trying to be the adult here, I scolded her with my finger.

Slightly annoyed, I turned around and made my way towards the city’s west gates where I live. I've had my fair share of dealing with people for the month, and I was beyond exhausted. I just wanted to go back home, cook my dinner, and read a book by a fire… in my blankets…

“Hold up, redhead! How much is it?!”

“Hm?”

Strangely enough, this small barklight girl flew up to me like a flea. Her wings were so massive compared to her that they looked a tad unnatural. Her eyes were like golden gems as they shined and marveled at my weapon.

“It’s not for sale, little girl.”

She kicked in the air like a baby throwing a tantrum. Shoppers were giving her mean glares as they were slapped by her wings as they passed.

“Everything’s for sale… Come on, what’s your price, chick?”

She tugged on the blade again as if it was already hers. I didn’t want to attract attention, so I leaned away from her.

“Listen, I have to be somewhere, so… go play with cats or something.”

She puffed out her cheeks and landed next to me. Still being small enough that I had to look down at her, we faced one another. Our height difference made me feel bad for her. Me being the age of 20… She had to be around 12 or 13 at the most. 

“I’m not a dumb kid! My big sister has been looking for things like this! She’d be happy if I brought it to her.

Now hurry up and tell me, how much?!”

Her screaming was causing the locals to stare at us. I looked about to see if there were any shadows I could escape into. But the sun was too bright, the ground was shining, and I had no escape from her. Annoyed, I looked back at her.

“Well, sorry to tell you, but this blade is important to me. It’s also too dangerous for someone of your… ah, age to be handling.”

Again, I attempted to leave her when she grabbed my wrist. The sudden motion caused me to drop my bag of tomatoes and oil.

“Get it with, Feodora!”

I was embarrassed as I rushed to pick up my things. I looked around to make sure nobody was laughing at me and turned back to the culprit.

“I will give you 10,000 gold for that weapon!”

My heart nearly jumped out of my chest. I was haggling for a few golds only minutes ago, and this girl was offering me that much? A normal day at the store would run a reasonable girl like me around 100 gold to keep me going for the week. Probably around 400 gold is a good rate for weekly groceries. It’s just reasonable to say… many people don’t see numbers like 10,000 gold for the common folk. 

“Eh…”

I was skeptical…. my trust in people has waned all the more.

“Sorry, but I can’t give you this sword no matter how much you want it.”

She shrugged her small shoulders.

“Oh, well…”

Dejectedly, she gave up. Done with that ordeal, I turned around, back to the gates.

“Eh?!”

 

I tripped on a rock, and my body tumbled face-first into the ground. Luckily my groceries broke my fall, effectively squishing two of the tomatoes in my bag. Some of the sauces dyed the golden cobblestone street an off green.

“Ah, dang it…”

I rubbed the sauce off my jacket. I wanted to cry but I stood strong… feeling a tad lighter on my hip.

“What the?!”

My sword was gone, and the golden-haired fairy was flying away. The smile on her smug face only aimed to make me angry. She was flying towards where I entered from.

“Wait, come back here you little thief!”

Seemingly appalled by my accusation, she pointed towards me.

“I’m not a thief! I tossed the gold next to you!”

Littered at my feet was gold. It wasn’t the 10,000 gold she promised, but it was a hefty amount.

“Money! Everyone, there’s money!”

“H-hey?!”

Shopkeepers and customers dived at my cash as they picked up the gold around me. At my feet, like rats, they all swamed on the ground picking up my money. The gold shined off the sun making the shopping district look all the richer.

“T-That’s my money!”

Even though I didn’t want it, they were still stealing from me. Annoyed, I rushed out of the crowd and started racing after her. She was flying in the sky, as happy as a bumblebee, but I was fast on her tail as I weaved my way through the crowded streets. I rushed back through that alleyway, and when I came out, I reached a clearing, I called out to her.

“Hey, get back here!”

“Wow, you’re persistent. You won’t leave me alone, will you?”

The annoyed barklight snapped her fingers. Her hands shined a remarkable color of bronze as she spun in the air in excitement.

"That's earth spectrum."

I concluded what I was up against. She was likely an earth vessel user. As we reached a circular clearing with stores like the bakery from before we faced one another, she soared in the sky. 

She swooped down, occasionally touching the fountain in the center. The day was bright, and it was hard to focus on her as she moved around.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, a tremor ensued. My legs began to shake along with the stores and homes nearby. A massive rock, around 16ft tall protruded from the ground. Its body was round and gold but had jagged arms made up of rock that lay on the ground next to it. Its legs were slightly shorter and in the center of its body, a single bright purple eye looked about the area.

 

 

“What the heck?!”

A man cried out. Kids began running as bystanders began flooding away as the massive creature stood in my way.

“Are you serious?!”

Surprised, I cried out in frustration.

“Golem, break her!”

 

 

The child screamed in excitement. This child was surely an earth vessel. I confirmed what her main element was. I never expected someone would be able to use their spectrum to create living beings though.

She cackled from above, kicking her small feet about as she floated in the air. She flew over the triangle-shaped roofs as she was having fun.

“Break her legs, rip off her arms, just get her away from me!”

She commanded as she pointed to me. Despite how heavy it must have been, it effortlessly stomped towards me. The world shook with every step. Reflexively, I took my unarmed stance. Maxwell beat a lot into me during my training, and this was the time to use it.

“I don’t want to punch that...”

I dodged to the right, watching the golem’s heavy hand destroy a brick wall beside me. It shattered the glass of the business and made the walls cave in. Workers ran from the devastation as the roof caved in beside me. The golem stood up and attacked me again.

“No, you don’t!”

I rolled to the side, missing the next attack directed at me from the golem. It slammed its body into the ground nearby. Its attacks were slow and took wide swings to strike at me, so I used that to my advantage. Taking this chance, I raced away, heading right to the barklight still dancing in the sky.

“Give me my katana, you little-!”

I raised my fist as I rushed to her. A large stalagmite erupted from the ground nearby and attempted to pierce me. With quick reflexes, I dodged, ran on it, jumped off the top of the rock formation, and aimed at her. Before I could connect my fist to her face, an earth wall towered in front of her like a shield. It appeared from the ground below her.

My fist punched it directly. The surge of pain echoed through my bones as I fell to the ground. My body slammed on the cement pitifully. 

“Ouch! Ow, ow! That’s not cool.”

My fist caved and everything in me wanted to cry as I rolled around in pain. I lessened my strike; I didn’t want to hurt the kid too much, but because of my compassion, my hand had to suffer. I lifted myself and stared at the jolly girl laughing her tiny head off.

“That’s it, no more games.”

Angered, I got to my feet, shot one foot back, and prepared.

“Se!”

I channeled my darkness into my leg and swiftly kicked in a horizontal arc, creating a crested wave to break down the rock formation. Rocks scattered across the town square. Some broke windows and others destroyed wooden walls. From the side of my eye, she escaped above, still holding my precious blade in her hand.

“Hurry up, crush her! Make her crippled! Show her that disobeying me was the last thing she should have done!”

Manically, the sadistic child laughed as if this was a game. The golem reanimated at her command. It told me that she had to give it orders for it to move. It wasn’t sentient in any way. Again, it rushed me as its master escaped. 

But this time I was on the offensive as I cut my leg back, channeled the spectrum I had into my fist, and waited for the chance. Suddenly, it jumped in the air, casting its large bodies shadow over me.

“Got to try harder than that!”

I used this to melt into the shadows as they slammed on the ground. Its large body caused the world to shake in fear. From a nearby canopy of the bakery, I emerged. I watched as it lay there, hopelessly. The eye was exposed as it looked at me. Taking the chance, I rushed over with my fist raised. The blood in my body pulsed as I channeled everything into it.

“Ha!”

 

 

I thrust my fist into its eye. It felt like sand as my hand broke through. The darkness of the hole I made started to expand from the dark spectrum. The outside of its body began to crack as purple energy expanded inside of it.

“Scatter!”

Like a shockwave, its head exploded, and the area shook like an earthquake. Its pieces destroyed streetlights and even took out the top of the beautiful fountain I admired earlier.

“Oh my gosh! Golem!”

The barklight cried as she turned around. She began kicking her feet around in frustration. Wildly, the golden thief started hitting my sword against a wooden building in rage… and that irritated me.

“Do you know how long that golem took to make, redhead?! Oh, I'm furious now.”

She glided around casting her shadow across the ground. In the direct sun, she made a fatal mistake.

“Alright, here I go.”

I whispered as I rushed into the canopy again, causing my body to fade into the shadows. I connected with the dark places around me and melted my form accordingly.

“Ehhh? Where did she go?!”

Confused, the kid kicked around in the sky, looking for me. But little did she know I found a perfect place to emerge…

From the shadow that she created, I emerged.

“Ha!”

With an uppercut, I struck her from below. My fist connected with her stomach in a critical strike. Her eyes went wide, and I could see her irises roll behind her head. As much as I didn’t want to hurt her, she needed to be punished.

“Ah.”

 

 

She toppled onto a triangle-shaped rooftop as my dark blade spun in the air. I reacted by guiding my body over, catching hold of it, and landing on my feet. I nearly fell over but… luck was on my side, and I nailed the landing. Suddenly, I heard the sound of a large object bouncing around. Red tiles were falling from nearby. I looked up towards the roof and instantly knew what it was.

“Oh no!”

I ran over, saw her small body fly off the edge, and jumped for her. Thankfully, I caught her in my arms as we both rolled to the ground. As I held her fragile-like body, I felt all the more guilty that I slammed my fist into her stomach. She was small as she fit in my arms. Business owners and bystanders circled around us.

 

 

“Wow, she did it.”

They curiously looked at me. I had no intention of going further. The longer I stayed in this crowd of onlookers, the more insecure I was getting.  Voices rose from the group. They cheered remarkably to my surprise.

“It’s about time someone taught her a lesson!”

“Yeah! The Pasco family have been acting like they ran this place for years! Way to go, redhead!”

“Go girl, go!”

The sudden fans were getting to me…I just wanted to go home and make fried green tomatoes. So, I raced over, held my grocery bag in hand, and made my way back over to the fallen child. She was dizzy, likely from the fall. I bent down and placed a muffin in her warm hands.

“It’s cinnamon… I don’t like cinnamon… it hurts my nose.”

I wasn't sure why I was explaining this to a knocked-out child, but there I was. Neatly, I tucked it under her hand and organized her fingers to grip it. The muffin fell out though… so I put it back on her palm, silently hoping it would stay this time.

“Break it up! Break it up.”

That’s when heavy footsteps started to come in. Knights in those white uniforms and dark blue pants started gathering in the area.

“The knights are here everyone! Give them room to get through.”

“Oh no… I don’t want to be a part of this.”

The alarm bells were going through my head. First, I'd be questioned, then I'll be held… then I'll have to… deal with people. My anxiety was getting the best of me today. So, I held onto my grocery bag, put my hand on the shadow of the nearby store, and melted away before any knights could see me.

 

---

 

“Wow… that took a lot out of me.”

There was a limit to shadow walking. The furthest I could use this was roughly 100 ft away. Then there would be a brief time before I could use it again. It was always harder to move around on bright days like this. That's why I would only move at night. But… most shops were closed at those hours, and I was craving fried green tomatoes. In the distance, I could still hear the knights fixing up the scene. It wasn’t my problem anymore, so I calmly made my way to the west gates.

“Okay, time to make fried green tomatoes.”

“Hold it!”

 

 

 

I jolted at the aggressive voice directed at me from behind. When I met eyes with her, her beauty was breathtaking. With eyes that looked like burnt brass, she wore a purple cross pattern tank top that curved out her body flawlessly. Her stomach was showing, and a pink belt wrapped around her hips.  Her skirt fell just above her knees and shared the same pattern as her top half. With sharp grey and white boots, one could already see that she was worlds different than most. She approached, with every click of her shoes, the world around us ceased as if a carpet was rolled out for her. Hooked to the back of her skirt, she took out a dark red blade and approached me with it in her hand.

 

“State your name and occupation before I run my sword through you and force it out of you.”