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[]-Voice

.............

... 

Breathe in.

Breath out. 

In. 

And. 

Out.

In.

And. 

Out.

In.

And. 

Out. 

Become, calm.

........ 

Become, centered.

......... 

Become, BORED!! 

Ughh.!! 

Worse yet, the chains were making his skin really itchy. 

Wordlessly, he scratched. Being careful to mind the two new scars that marred his face. 

[Yikes. Watch out for Tetanus, brat.]

'Tetanus? What's that?' 

Though curious about the new word, Al decided to drop it in favour of another subject. 

'Hey Voice, you really think this will help with magic.'

Al curiously thought.

After his recovery, he was promptly kicked out off Old Lady Nana's cottage at the peak of Mount Zyr, six moons ago.

Much to his frustration. 

Since then, he followed every step in the Voice's, "master plan" to become Lady Nana's apprentice.

He was skeptical. 

Yes.

But Al could trust the Voice.  

Just look at all the new stuff Al learnt.

Like skeptical.

Haphazard.

And other cool new words.

Albert, Al's father, even said he was beginning to talk like a noble.

Just without the arrogance, or the stuck up attitude.

He even learnt those really funny words sailor's used.

The ones that would have his dad screaming bloody murder, asking him where learnt them. 

Then there were the weird ones. 

Oppai.

Harem.

Trashy Isekai protagonist. 

And Loli.

So much loli. 

Al might not know what all of it meant. 

But he was sure the Voice was super smart. 

So if he listened to it, he could totally get magic. 

Al was sure of it. 

First though. 

The Voice said he had to prepare his body. Or something like that.

Neither of them knew anything about magic but the Voice said he had a few ideas.

Some were practical.

Others...not so much.

[Meditation is one of the last, more 'tame' ideas I can think of when it comes to magic. 

The only other ideas I got are different variations of selling one's soul.

So let's stick with meditation.

I've already been in enough toxic work environments. 

Plus, it's something long-term and you've got loads of time.]

That was another thing.

Everyone had been acting strange.

Al reasons it had to do with their latest stunt.

You see. 

The Voice had very weird ideas when it came to magic.

He had Al eat a flower that might have had some magic properties. 

It gave him a weird feeling at first.

Which gave the both of them a little hope.

Hope that was promptly dumped down a latrine together with most of Al's innards in a wild display of uncontrollable diarrhoea that lasted two whole days.

Then, the Voice told him to try and absorb magic from items that were supposed to hold magic in them. 

Lapis, for example. 

When Al asked where he could find lapis, the Voice promptly shut up.

Then they tried dancing around a fire. 

Chanting.

Nope. 

Connecting with nature by walking out in his birthday suit. 

Nuh.

Well.

They made cute little rat friends. 

And got sick.

But no magic. 

No matter what they tried, nothing worked.

Then, last week, Voice had an epiphany. 

He said something about finding the magic within by reaching a higher state of mind.

To reach that state of mind (and the source of Al's current dilemma) Voice had Al grind up some weird plant thing he called c@nnabis.

Which they baked at relatively low temperatures. 

After mixing it up a bit, Al ingested the weird concoction. 

Maybe it was some sort of magic potion that would give him wings. And swords. Or wings made of swords. Or-

[Your getting sidetracked. Also, who are you talking to?]

Anyway. 

Let's just say Al got to that 'higher state of mind.'

He also got to spend sometime at home.

In chains.

Yay!! 

Why? 

Al couldn't really remember. 

He just knew everyone was being strange ever since he woke up. 

Now, stuck in this shed, all he could do is meditate and hope to reach 'zen' or whatever as he waited for his father to bring him a bowl of porridge.

Sigh.

Maybe he shouldn't have listened to the Voice after all. 

Al was brought out of his musings by the sound of the door opening. 

In walked Albert, Kim the Baker, Luke the blacksmith, a local guard, the head hunter and the town mayor. 

All with some form of a weapon -and or baguette- drawn. 

Visible fear contained within their eyes. 

Lady Nana walked in afterwards. 

Dressed differently than Al was used to seeing her. 

Fine robes, a purple cloak and finally, a long pointed hat that hid her graying hair. 

She could pass as a noble. 

[Or a witch.]

The floating book in her right hand and the glowing staff in her left though, made her look downright ominous.

[Ominous and cool.]

If you asked Al though, the look of genuine fury really sold the whole ominous vibe.

Al decided to focus on the cool part though, and gave a toothy grin. 

Normally smiling at the problem helped make it better. 

But it didn't seem to work.

Instead. 

A small shiver ran down the backs of the shed's inhabitants. 

Strange. 

"You've definitely been... busy since we last spoke." Nana began, hesitating slightly. 

She had ignored all of his other actions, treating him if he went too far, up until now in hopes he would give up by himself.

He did not.

And that smile. 

Nana shivered. 

She could still remember those awful critters.

Nana was sure neither she, nor Zyrtec's villagers, would ever be able to forget them.

So small. Yet so fast.

So much havoc they wrought. 

So much havoc he wrought. 

It took two days to make the repairs.

Four days to heal and restrain the boy. During which she found traces of an intoxicant in his blood. An incredibly potent one that she was, thankfully, able to clear. 

And the whole of yesterday to stop an angry mob from killing Al. 

Nana should've known. 

The boy had been acting strange.

Right down to his speech pattern. 

Possession, she was now sure.

"I should've paid heed to your words about that voice, Al." Nana began as her book began to flip through pages.

"Let's see what type of spirit has possessed you, now, shall we."

A great breeze swept across the room, somehow. As though the air itself was coming to life. 

Words Al did not think a human being should be able to pronounce began pouring out of the Old Lady's mouth.

Literally.

It seemed as though with every syllable she spoke, a glowing word-like thing would begin to fly around her.

All in a (strangely) beautiful glowing shade of purple. 

Was this magic?

Awesome!! 

With a circular wave of her staff, the words flew towards Al.

And chained themselves together in a circular pattern, orbiting him.

Lady Nana poked Al on the forehead with the tip of her staff and then...

......

[Ah!! It's so good to finally meet you all in person. 

I was so bored.]

A Voice mirthfully spoke. 

__________________________________

It was a nice sunny day for the denizens of Zyrtec Village.

The village hunters had just returned from the Lesser Wilds.

Their expedition was a resounding success. 

A feast was scheduled to take place on that day in celebration. 

It would be a truly splendid day.

Where nothing could possibly go wrong.

Preparations were made.

The Hall was filled to the brim. 

All 612 citizens had gathered. 

Zyrtec was not the most populous of villages. Though none of the villages in the Faraway Lands were. 

The nobles and commoners gathered together excitedly in one place to enjoy this rare delicacy.

Out here, meat was only eaten on special occasions. 

Even nobles could rarely eat meat to their hearts contents.

As such, the nobles would tolerate the 'filthy plebians' and the commoners would tolerate those 'stuck up blue bloods. '

This, coupled with the fact that the two groups were kept separate. 

With the commoners dining at the tables and the nobles dining from their elevated balconies, supported by wooden pillars, ensured minimal contact. 

Oh yes, they would tolerate each other. 

It was all for the meat, after all. 

A tantalizing aroma was wafting from the tables.

In the ever-growing darkness as the sun set and as the light was blocked out by dark clouds, everything was illuminated by candlelight in the Hall. 

Once everyone was seated, the town mayor stood up to make her speech. 

However, before she could say anything, a horrid stench suddenly began to spread in the hall. 

A tremor was felt. And then two and then three and soon, it was as if a miniature earth quake had struck. 

And then, the dead silence in the hall was immediately replaced by squeaking noises.

At first low, but then slowly becoming louder and louder. 

As though the origin of the sound was getting closer and closer. 

Dread settled in the bellies of the hall's occupants. 

The bloodcurdling screams of what could only be members of the towns guard sealed the deal.

The doors to the hall burst open. 

Panic and fear grasped the hearts of even the bravest. 

And in, they rushed. 

Some tried to ran away.

To save themselves.

But eventually, they were all overwhelmed. 

Black fur was all any could see. 

As tiny rodents began to swarm the Hall. 

There was no crevice they dared not to enter.

No morsel of food left untouched.

Nothing was spared. 

Through it all. 

Old Lady Nana was the first to see the boy. 

Thunder roared. 

Al. 

The only son of Albert, stood on the roof of the town hall.

His tan skin and brown hair fluttering in the wind as he played a hypnotic melody on a pipe. 

Naked as the day he was born.

On any other day, one would stop to appreciate the sound of the strangely beautiful melody.

On that day though.

That melody would ring true in the minds of the denizens of Zyrtec village. 

Embodying their greatest collective fear. 

A flash of lightning.

The town mayor screamed as Albert tackled her out of the way of a collapsing pillar.

The head hunter held three children in his arms as he fought hard to escape the stampede of rodents.

Kim and Luke stood back to back. 

Sword and baguette in hand. 

Duelling rats. 

And losing.

Al cackled drunkenly through it all. 

As though he was completely unaware of his own actions. 

This further cemented the growing fear of all who gazed upon him.

Nana quickly cast a spell to subdue whatever evil she thought had possessed the boy.

She used drops of the rain as a catalyst for a purification spell. 

If only she knew.

The boy was not possessed.

Simply 'high'. 

Miraculously though. 

Al suddenly stopped.

And fell. 

From the roof.

Face-first. 

Through the glass. 

Into one of the tables. 

Causing it's contents, which sadly included a few lit candles, to be sent flying.

Soon, the entire building caught fire.

All as Al rested deeply in his 'high' induced sleep.

It was a taboo to speak of The Burning Night.

All who did, spoke in hushed tones.

That night would forever etch itself into the history of their humble village.

An unspoken rule, the only indicator of the night's existence.

No bar or pub would open its doors to the boy. 

And Al had never been allowed near intoxicants of any kind so long as he lived in Zyrtec Village.