A dark, little stone box is not the greatest of places to start a new life from. Events unfold including but not limited to: Sarah has warm hands (in comparison at least) And Hannah ruins a perfectly good outfit.

Breath, breath, breath..

I can’t focus enough while caged up like this to actually meditate, but by zoning out and just focusing on my breathing I can hold the panic back for a while..

Breath, breath, breath-
My mantra broke when I felt the jolt again

Finally I'm getting out of here..

G-force pushing me into my corner a bit tighter, but it still seemed slightly cushioned.
They probably have some kind of enchantment in place to protect the prisoners during movement.
I could design something to do that pretty easily.. but not right now.

I need to get out of here.
I can’t focus properly like this..

=======

The second jolt made me lean forward a little but didn't leave me sprawling like it did the first time this happened, mostly because I was prepared for it.

I let out a deep breath of relief when the dark stone walls around me became translucent again.
The light hurt my eyes a little but anything is better than being stuck in this tiny box with nothing but stone to stare at.

While I was busy trying not to freak out, the stone cell has been busy moving rooms apparently?

The room outside looks very.. pompous.
A huge difference from the cluttered mess of the lab techs office earlier.

The first thing that comes to mind is that this room’s owner is probably some sort of stuck up politician.
Two of the walls are covered in floor to ceiling bookcases, judging by their neat color coded order, the owner is either obsessive compulsive or has never actually used the books for anything but display.
A thick, dark wooden desk took up most of the floor space in the room with a high backed chair behind it.. another classic, pompous ‘power-play’ move.

A shift in the room’s lighting drew my attention to the thing I’d been trying to avoid.
Standing in front of a large bay window behind the desk, with his back to me, was the silhouette of a man.
The window is most likely a fake enchanted one, you don’t get real windows in the Hub.
Yet again, another detail designed to intimidate and show power..
It’s like this guy has been following some kind of ‘power-play’s for dummies’ book.

He turned slowly from the window to face me.
As he stepped forward he came out if the windows glare and into focus.

His suit screamed ‘I'm in charge’.
Sadly it was undermined a little by the fact that his haircut screamed ‘man who is so old he still believes slicked back, greased hair is fashionable’.
Neither his suit nor his hair suited his surprisingly young looking face though.

“Arista..”
His tone was smooth and silky.
It put me on edge instantly.
I've never met someone who talks like that and wasn't some level of messed up in the head!

“You’re shorter then I was expecting”
I let out an indignant noise and staggered to my feet in defiance.
Judging by his smirk, he was expecting that reaction.

He walked toward my stone cell with the swagger of someone who KNOWS they are holding all the cards.
I’d like to say he wasn't but.. I'M the one trapped in an inescapable box with a bad case of claustrophobia clouding up my thoughts, while he stands outside smirking at me..
Kind of hard for him NOT to be holding all the cards at this point really.

“Who are you?”
It was the first question that came to mind at the moment.
He smiled in pleasure and waved his hand in the air with a dramatic flourish.

“My name.. is not important”
His smirk took on a teasing tone, which showed in his voice as well.

Like a gleeful child he moved up to the front of my cell.
If there wasn't a slab of thick invisible stone between us, I'm sure he would be invading my personal space by now.

“My, my.. your lithographs really don’t do you’re beauty justice”

I shuddered and took a step back from him.
His eyes were wide with wonder and just a hint of madness.

I know those eyes..
I've seen those eyes before..
Max had those eyes when he demanded to know my true feelings for him.
..Obsession.. madness..

“What the hell is a lith-o-graph? I'm sure I've never had one before, whatever it is.”
For a moment his happy smirk slipped and his whole face darkened along with it.

“Let us not play games Arista.. at least.. not yet.”
The darkness eased from his face again but didn't truly leave his eyes.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as his eyes slid over my body and slowly made their way back up to my face.

“So much power, in such a little vessel..”
He cupped his hands under his chin and offered me a smile that, I believe, he thought would be charming in some way.
I shuddered hard in response and took another step back toward the center of the cell.
Tight and horrible as it was, I felt slightly glad that there was a solid stone wall between us right now.

“The Fae have been talking about you, you know.. all little whisperings.”
He fluttered his hand as if trying to show me visually what a ‘little whispering’ was.

“The old one, they say. The true partner to Pathos, they call you..”
He leaned forward and pressed his nose up against the see-through stone wall between us like a child at an aquarium.

“..and, my personal favourite.. Death.. They scream it in ecstasy! The death of millions, destroyer of worlds, Queen of the damned..”
His mouth pouted slightly and he seemed to relish the next few words.
“..Arista.. de La Morte”

My head was shaking frantically from side to side in denial before I even realised I was doing it.
That’s not me!
That’s not even Arista!
I have her memories but that’s not me. That’s not HER!
Nothing even hints at something so.. so..

“You've got the wrong girl..”
He perked up again and grinned at me happily.

“Oh, I do so love it when a girl plays hard to get”
With surprising grace he pushed himself away from the stone wall between us and reached for something on his desk.

He leaned back toward me, in his hands he now held some large vanilla folders full of paper.
Carefully, almost lovingly he pulled the first one from the pile and flicked through it until he found what he was looking for.
The rest of the folder dropped from his hand but he didn't seem to notice, now focused solely on the small picture in his other hand.

With surprisingly speed he twisted the picture in his nimble fingers and slammed it against the stone wall.
His grin became slightly manic as he watched me trying to work out what it was meant to mean.

“Kherty, the slaughterer. This is the earliest known depiction of.. him”
I tried not to let my confusion and annoyance show through.
The last thing I need to do is set him off somehow.

“The Egyptians worshiped him as a death deity. What many don’t realise is that, before Egypt’s second dynasty, SHE was worshiped as a deity.”
I frowned at him, not finding this story in any way as amusing as he appeared to.

The picture was of a rough carved sandstone drawing.
Most of the details were useless, I could just make out a generally feminine form and what appeared to be a set of goat horns on the figures head.

“A cult formed up around her actions, as cults tend to do”
He slid the picture off of the wall and stared at it thoughtfully.
“The narrow-minded priests of ‘Leotopolis’ found it more fitting to swear themselves to a male deity, it’s a common problem among their ilk, so they changed her references to suit their needs”

He was losing me quickly, it felt like this tangent he’d drifted into was completely pointless..

“She was deeply connected to Osiris, they were said to share the task of ruling the underworld together.”
His eyes drifted from the photograph, back to me with a considering look on his face.
“We know from confirmed sources that you’re dear.. friend.. Maxarimus was, or at least portrayed himself as, Osiris..”

A cold chill went down my spine.
Oh.. That’s why he’s telling me this.

“You think that.. that Arista was this ‘Kherty’? That she pretended to be a god with her magic, just like Max did?”

He grinned at me with childish glee and dropped the photograph carelessly to the floor.

“I don’t THINK anything, I KNOW you were Kherty. The data all makes sense if you look deeply enough.”
He shifted forward and peered about as if searching for spy’s listening in.

“It’s okay, you can tell me Arista. I'm right aren't I? So many incarnations, and a pattern to all of them.”
His eyes lit up with unholy glee for a moment.
“Death, Goddesses and Maxarimus. Wherever all three are present.. there you are.”

My mouth dropped open in shock.
He’s insane!
I'm not.. I mean Arista’s not.. She’s innocent!

I've got her memories, I KNOW she’s innocent.
There’s not even a hint of some kind of.. of god complex or death fetish in her memories!
Arista may have had some incarnations that were a bit high strung or in positions of power but nothing like this!

“You don’t believe me”
He sounded really disappointed for a moment but flipped back to an excited grin moments later.
“I’ll just have to try harder to convince you”

He grasped the next folder and flicked through it at speed.
With a painful sounding slap he placed another photograph against the wall for me to see.

It was of another engraving.
This one, a lot less rough to the eye, seemingly moulded in clay rather than sandstone.
It showed a woman, being jabbed with spears and held over an open flame by a group of mostly naked men.
Not a very pleasant image..

“Gullveig”
He smiled at me hopefully.
“She is believed to be the same person as the Goddess Freyja, but in human form.”
When I didn't react he frowned and continued anyway.
“They called her ‘she that remembers, the first on earth’. She was stabbed within Odin’s temple and burned as sacrifice.. and then she returned.”
He smirked and wiggled the image a little against the wall.

“They burned her to death three times, and three times she returned to smite them. She was said to be a practitioner of magic.. It was said that she could see and know more than any other of her time, and to the evil, she brought great joys.”
He pulled the picture way and turned it around casually.

“Freyja, her goddess namesake, was the goddess of sex, gold, war.. and death..”
He smirked at me and fanned the picture teasingly.
“She had a husband as well, a fellow god by the name of Odr, not much is mentioned of him in myth.. but some clues can come from his name.”
He leaned toward me excitedly.
“Do you, by chance, know what the name ‘Odr’ translates to?”

I shook my head and held my breath slightly.
His eyes lit up with glee.

“Of the many possible iterations ‘Odr’ could mean, a few stand out.. tell me if they remind you of anyone in particular?..”
He twitched his hand a little and stared meaningfully into my eyes.
“The Divine madness.. the frantic, vehement and eager-”

“ENOUGH!”
I shivered and brought my arms up to hug around my waist.

I knew those words.
In past lives, some people have described Max with EXACTLY those words.
His chasing of m.. His chasing of Arista.. it came across to many people as simply that, a man driven mad by his eager lust for the woman he loved.
No-one ever looked twice at his motives or actions, he was considered a love-struck fool in a lot of incarnations.
It suited him to be overlooked while he chased me.. chased Arista!

This is bad, this guy has my head all mixed up.
I'm not Arista!

She’s in here, I can access her memories but my trick with the ‘Inner-Hannah’ is keeping her at bay.
I'm NOT Arista!

“You are starting to see my side of things, one more perhaps?”
My head shook ‘no’ but he ignored it and flicked open the next folder instead.

As much as I willed him not to, he found the next picture quickly and slid it onto the wall like the others.
It was a picture of a marble statue.
Well.. the head of one at least.
The woman depicted looked a bit moody, her hair was held back by something which made it look like she had two little puff balls of hair on top of her head.
They reminded me of little panda ears, even on a carved statue.

“Dea Tacita”
My eyes cut up to him and he smiled at me warmly.
“The Roman ‘silent goddess of the dead’. She went under other names as well.. Muta, Larunda and Lara.”
He pulled the picture away and stared at it lovingly.
His hand came up to stroke the images face, then he looked up to me and smiled.
“Under the guise of Lara, she was punished by Jove for having a loose tongue.. by having her tongue removed.”
I winced, he seemed to find the movement of my face enthralling for some reason.

“Jove ordered the god Mercurius to escort her deep into the underworld.”
He leaned in again, as if he was going to share some great secret with me.
“During the journey, Mercurius fell in love with Lara and forced himself upon her.. As a result she became mother to twin minor gods, the Lares, guardian deities to the Romans.”

He smirked at me, it wasn't a pleasant smirk.
“There are confirmed reports that Mercurius, Mercury in modern English, was Maxarimus..”
I hissed in a breath and glared at him, daring him to finish that sentence.
He seemed to enjoy my reaction.
“The rest is purely speculation of course..”

A growl came from the back of my throat.

“It’s not me!”
He frowned slightly.
“Arista never did any of that, and beside that I'M NOT ARISTA!”
My arms hugged tighter around my stomach.
“M.. my name is Hannah..”

He drew back, looking slightly offended.

“I thought we were past this Arista..”
His eyes stayed fixed on me as if he was trying to work out some kind of puzzle.
“Very well. Quickfire round..”

He hopped up to sit on his desk and pulled the next folder toward himself, waved it at me slightly, then tossed it over his shoulder carelessly.

“Nyx, lady of the night. Greek, said to have stood at the beginning of creation and with help from her husband Erebus she birthed the twin primordial deities, Aether and Hemera, Brightness and Day.”
He smiled slightly.
“Later, with the loss of Erebus, she either figuratively or literally brought forth a brood of personifications to subjects including; Death, Destruction, Doom, Blame, Pain, Distress, Retribution, Deceit and.. more Death”

My mouth dropped open a little.
It fit with the pattern he’s been trying to establish but that doesn't remove the fact that it’s NOT ME!

I stamped my foot and glared at him.
My foot came down with a crunch, probably from ice forming on my boots.

He pulled up the next folder without breaking eye contact.
“Manea, mother of ghosts. Etruscan Goddess of insanity and madness.”
‘Slap’ went the folder as it impacted the floor.

Slowly, he picked the remaining folders up, and one by one, tossed them onto the floor as he chanted off their contents.
“Lamia, Styx, The Keres, Crete, Marzanna, Pajauta, The Czernobog, Patulas, Oźwiena, Num..”

He looked so smug.

I shuddered hard.
Those aren't me!
I don’t remember any of these!
I didn't recognise even half of those names as WORDS let alone past-incarnations!

He let the last few folders slide out of his hands carelessly.
Slowly he settled his hands back into his lap and smiled at me brightly.

“Asking me to use anything other than your true name would be a waste Arista. You and I both know that any one of these could be as good a fit for you as this new.. Hannah..”
His tone became patronising when he said my name.
As if my name was somehow worth less than all the others he’d listed!

“My NAME is Hannah”
I put a bit of extra effort into that sentence but he didn't seem impressed.

“Call yourself as you will. I’ll not play your games about it, I learn from the mistakes of the others that have come before me. YOU are Arista de la Morte.. I will address you as such”
He slid off the desk and moved closer to my stone cell.

It felt like he was weighing my worth and judging me with his suddenly cold eyes.

“The important question is not what to call you, it’s much simpler than that.”
He took the last few steps forward and placed his hand on the transparent stone between us.
“Why are you here Arista?”

I huffed and stamped my foot again, ignoring the crackle of breaking ice I got for my efforts.

“I Live HERE!”
I stamped my foot again and continued to stamp with each following point I had to make, it made me feel better for some reason.
“This is MY town! I have family here, I work for the Hub! I AM NOT ARISTA!”
My breath was coming out in frustrated gasps which misted instantly.
“My NAME is Hannah Cooper! I've had ENOUGH of your stories, let me out of this DAMNED BOX!”

With a grunt I swung back my arm and lashed out at the stone wall between us with a solid punch.
Magic was pooling all over my body, I could feel it, colder than usual but still of use.
When my fist made contact with the wall a pressure wave of energy blasted out of it, protecting my hand from damage and multiplying the force of my strike.

A lot of dust came up, it set me off into a coughing spree.
After a few moments, some part of the box’s enchantments must have kicked in because the air cleared sluggishly.
I may have actually damaged the thing?

Right in front of my face, seemingly floating in the middle of the air between us, was a long crack that went from the floor all the way up to the boxes ceiling.

The crazy storyteller’s eyes were wide in shock.
I slowly looked back down from inspecting the crack and smirked at him darkly.
Not so inescapable after all..
One more hit, maybe two?

My fist came back for another punch and the storyteller flew into action.
His hands skittered across the surface of the stone wall between us, obviously he could see something I couldn't, probably the same thing the lab tech guy kept looking at earlier.
I paid it no mind, just focused on gearing up for my next strike.
I will NOT stay in this damned box a moment longer!

As my fist swung forward to strike the wall again the world slowed down.
I couldn't move my head, it felt like my body was trying to swim in treacle.

The storyteller let out a sigh of relief and turned back to me with wide, interested eyes.
“That’s not a skill we have on file.. Very interesting.”

I opened my mouth to cuss him out but my tongue felt like it weighed a ton.
Now my jaw was open it took so much effort to even move it, let alone speak.

“Time dilation field, it’s part of the system we use to block warping from inside containment, I just ramped it up a bit..”
I could hear him fine but my body wouldn't react to my thoughts.
Normally time dilation like this causes words to be muffled and distorted.
The box must have some kind of telepathy based ‘intercom’ system built into its runes to send sound from outside directly into my brain, bypassing my ears.
“The box slows all biological matter inside it like this, luckily, as a mage you can still listen and think just fine..”
DAMN IT!
I WAS SO CLOSE!

“Speaking of the systems we use to contain newly awakened mages..”
He tapped out something on the wall again and something behind me made metallic sounding series of clicking noises.

Just above my lower back, resting on my spine itself, there was a burning sensation.
For a moment I thought it was my ‘no lying’ brand acting up but it was slightly higher up then that should be.

I wanted to scream.
I wanted to thrash around in pain.
I wanted to stop it!.. but I couldn't.
I couldn't move, the time dilation was forcing every mental twitch of my body to take so long just to go down my nerves let alone actually DO something.

The burn increased, my spine flared in so much pain I wished I could black out but I couldn't.
It felt like a torturous lifetime before my body collapsed to the floor.

Whatever was burning me didn't stop, if anything it got worse, but at least my body could move again and it wasn't so mind numbingly slow now.

“Sorry about that, receiving a brand while under time dilation.. how unpleasant.”
He sounded mildly amused.
“You’re lucky I caught it so quickly. Imagine if I’d left you to it until the brand finished?”

I didn't respond to him, I just curled up into a ball on the floor and tried not to twitch too much while the brand did its work.

“I have more questions of course, I doubt that you will be in any state to answer them now though”
He made some kind of gesture at the box’s wall and the burning at my spine increased.

I let out a scream of pain but it didn't seem to affect him.

“I'm not sure why you've come here, I don’t understand your logic behind trying to integrate with the Cooper family of all people.”

My lips twitched slightly.
It took a lot of effort to push past the pain but I needed to get this out now, while I have the chance.

“Screw.. you..”

He made a disgruntled noise but didn't react otherwise.

“The sister is unimportant. Low level eye-candy for the PR departments little TV show project.”
I could hear his feet move as if he was pacing.

“The mother is one of Christian’s many descendants, her mother is a relatively powerful first-generation mage but she has personally shown no talent in any way”
The burn of the brand slowly started to cool, I twitched a few times but tried to focus on his words instead.
I've never heard of mum being even slightly related to some ‘Christian’ guy?

“The father.. we don’t have much on him. Absent at best, derelict at worst.”
I growled at him as much as I could manage.
He shouldn't be talking about my family like this!

“So that just leaves.. the son..”
He stopped pacing and loomed over me.
The brand was apparently finished doing whatever it was doing, the burn was already cooling and I could hear the chain retracting back into wherever it came from.
“Curious case that one. An awakened mage by power levels, but no true awakening. We've been able to make use of him as a free contractor for a few years now”

Free contractor!?
Like HELL I was!
I worked for the Hub as an awakened mage!

“Last report we received, he was in South America on an assassination job.”

It wasn't an assassination!
I had to take out a damn Toraxis demon that had a whole village under his thrall!

“He completed the job and then dropped off the map suddenly, a few days later and his monitor crystal dimmed.”

I got a call from the hospital about Sarah, of course I left quickly!

“You wouldn't happen to know what happened to him, would you?”
I grunted and tried to push myself up so I could see him better.
My legs weren't working properly, the brand must have done something to my spine, hopefully it’s only temporary.

“That sounds like a yes..”
I gave up on standing and just swivelled my head so I could glare up at him instead.
“Did you have to kill him Arista?.. I know it’s your thing but the boy was a useful asset.”

My glare went up a notch.
Why would he instantly jump to THAT.
I didn't kill myself!
I mean.. yeah.. I died.. kinda.. but it wasn't on purpose or MY fault!

The storyteller sighed and rested a palm on the box for support, as if he was tired of standing.
“I think that’s enough for now. I'm sure we will get to the bottom of it all during your therapy sessions, with that brand in place it’s not like you can avoid them.”
I grunted again and made the effort to bring myself up to a kneeling position so I could look at him properly.
He looked a bit regretful for some reason but I was beyond the point of caring.

“What did you do? What’s the brand for?”
He rolled his shoulder and seemed to lose interest in me slightly.

“A basic security precaution. We give it to every awakened mage these days, we’d be stupid not to”
His eyes caught mine and he seemed to get lost looking at my face for a moment.
“If you try to use too much magic at once it will burn, if you are given an appointment at the Hub and do not turn up, we will burn you remotely.”
I flinched away from him hard.
I feel sick..

Another brand.
On top of the other one.

The Hub’s do this to all awakened mages?!
That’s not public knowledge.
Who the hell would want to become an awakened mage with that hanging over you?
Even if you ignore all the possible negatives that can come from the awakening on its own!

“I'm not heartless”
My eyebrow popped up at him instinctively but he didn't seem to be affected by it.
“We will help you settle in with your new.. family..”
What does he mean-
“You’ll love the group sessions and retraining too. Most of the awakened mages we have to hand see them as the highlight of their day..”
He looked amused for some reason.

“I think we are done here Arista. I’ll be in touch eventually. Try to stay out of trouble.. someone like you.. I will be watching”
It felt weird to see his face suddenly so serious.
Weird and scary.

“Bye Arista, have fun”
He started tapping something on the wall.
I growled low in my throat and surged to my feet.

“MY. NAME. IS. HANNAH!”
He didn't react.

He just carried on tapping away on the wall.
A moment later he finished whatever he was doing.

For just a second he made eye contact with me once more and smirked.
“Arista de la morte..”
His voice sounded wistful but his smirk said something completely different.

“Get it through your thick-head my na-“
The stone box jolted, cutting me off.

“..no..”
He seemed a bit amused by my reaction.

“NO! Don’t put me back in th-“
Before I could finish the wall changed back into plain stone and the box went pitch black.
The room around me jolted once more and sent me flying head-first into the wall.

“DAMN IT! DON’T LEAVE ME IN HERE!”
I could feel it already.
I'm trapped again.
I’d forgotten with the light and the room and HIM..

“Damn it..”
I squeezed my eyes tightly shut and slid down to the floor.
My hand moved to my back and cupped around my new, still sore, brand.

Slowly, the air around me chilled and I could feel ice particles forming up on my palm, soothing the branded area.
The room kept cooling but I didn't care at this point.
I'm trapped in here again..

From above me snow started falling.

I couldn't feel the cold..
It was a sensation, but I didn't feel ‘cold’ in itself.. not like I normally would.

“Don’t leave me in here.. don’t.. I can’t..”
A tear came out of my eye and froze solid before it could leave my cheek.

“Please..”

======

“Holy sh-”
The man’s voice I vaguely recognise seemed surprised.
“Why is the time dilation so high?”

I didn't look up.
It’s just my head playing tricks on me again.
Don’t think, don’t feel, just breathe..

“Out of the way, idiot”
There was a scuffling sound and then a few loud thumps of flesh meeting stone.
“Hannah! Hannah, damn it answer me!”

“Sarah..”
Even as a hallucination, it’s nice to hear her voice.

“What are you staring at idiot! Open the door NOW!”

I sighed out a cloud of mist.
Her voice is really loud.

“Ms.Cooper I can’t just-”
There was a meaty slapping sound and the voices turned silent.
My head perked up a little.
Why would I be imagining the lab tech guy’s voice?
Although, the thought of him being slapped IS amusing.
..bastard..

“Open. The. Damn. Door!”
Sarah sounded pissed off.
They’d better do what she says quickly or she’s likely to start biting people on general principle.

There was some more noise and then with a loud ‘Thump’ the wall in front of me disappeared.

A sheet of thick ice came crashing down to the floor without the wall there to hold it in place but I didn't care.
I could see light, real light.
The cold air around me rushed out of the room and for the first time in so long I could feel a gust of warm air rolling around me.

My skin felt so sensitive to the warmth.

“Han? Han, your scaring me here..”
Someone moved in front of the light and I groaned a little.
I want the light.
Don’t take it away again..

“Oh Jesus..”
Sarah sounded worried.
“Somebody help me! Her.. is this.. ice?”

There was a lot of clattering sounds, moving feet from the sound of it, and slowly my cold little prison felt warmer then I can remember it being in so long.
Human bodies throw out so much heat!

“Bash it open, we need to get her legs free”
The speaker was a gruff male.
He got several equally gruff mutters of agreement in response.

After a long pause and some shuffling there was a loud ‘thump’.

“It’s solid, we didn't even make a dent in it..”

Someone bent down in front of me and blocked out even more of my light.
I groaned but they didn't move.

“Han..”
A warm hand stroked my cheek.
I tried to lean into the warmth but it moved away quickly with a hiss.
“Jesus Han, you’re freezing..”

Sarah.. Sarah’s voice, Sarah’s hand..

“Han.. we want to get you out of here but we can’t. Can you do anything?”
I groaned and shook my head slowly.

I don’t feel too good..

“Melt the ice or something? Anything Han.. we need to get you warm fast and we can’t do that in here..”
My head lolled to the side and I sighed deeply.

Warm, fast.. that would be nice..

She wants me to..
.. what can I..
I could..
..yeah..
That’ll work.

I squeezed my eyes shut tight and focused on the spell.
Its basic magic, all I ever seem to do is basic magic..
Usually it’s used to dry wet clothes.. but if I overpower it a little..

Someone gasped and the feet shuffled about a lot.

“Get back”
The feet all moved out of the room quickly but Sarah stayed with me.
Her hand was so warm..

I could feel my legs getting wet.
My jeans soaking up so much water from the ice that they couldn't dry off fast enough.

“This is going to ruin my jeans..”
Sarah let out a choked laugh which may have been a sob.

“I’ll buy you new ones, just get out of here okay.. Deal?”
My lips twitched into a smile and I wiggled my toes in my still frozen boots.

“Need new boots too..”
Sarah laugh-sobbed again and stroked my hair carefully.

“I’ll get you a whole wardrobe. Just hurry up, my feet are getting cold”
I lifted my head and smiled at her shakily.
My brain felt a little slow as if I’d just woken up but I could see that she was trying to be funny.

Behind me there was a loud ‘crack’ and seconds later a lot of crumbling noises.

Sarah stepped away from me awkwardly, it took me a moment to remember about her leg cast.
Some of the gruff men from before picked me up by my shoulders and with a heave I was being dragged limply out of the room.

Finally out..
Finally..

I managed a weak smile before my eyes closed and I passed out.

=======

‘Beep’

I groaned.

‘Beep’

I groaned louder but it didn't help.
Instinctively my hand shot out at the annoying sound and with a sparking crash it stopped.

Much better..

=======

“Whoa..”

I groaned and tried to swat at the annoyance.
The sound got worse for a moment, there was a lot of yelling and frantic footsteps but soon it was back to silence.
I snuggled deeper into the warmth and smiled sleepily.

======

“Han?”
Sarah sounded a bit lost.

My head felt heavy but I shuffled it out of my cocoon of blankets to look in her direction.
She was standing at the door, some kind of riot shield between her and me.

“Sare.. why are you over there?”
She peaked over the shield a little and gave me a tight smile.

“You kinda.. almost killed someone.. they wouldn't let me close without the shield”

WHAT!

I jolted up in bed and got tangled in the blankets.
A strangled yelp came out of my mouth as I slid off the bed in a jumbled mess.

Sarah snorted a laugh but didn't move to help me.

I growled in the back of my throat and gripped the sheets to pull them off.
Seconds later I let go of them with another yelp of surprise.
They’d frozen solid!
She was peeking out from behind the shield, with a weird look on her face.

“What are you laughing at?”
My free arm swung around to point at her in annoyance.
Sarah wasn't laughing anymore.
She dived behind the shield again.

Good thing she did too.
The moment my arm stopped moving a large spike of Ice formed up at my finger tip and flew off at her.
It missed, hitting the door frame to the right of her head but it was close enough to freak me out.

“What the-”
I moved my arm back and stared intensely at my hand.

My magic was bubbling under the surface of my skin.
It felt really cold but under so much pressure, like a fizzy drink bottle someone shook really hard!

I tried to focus my eyes into mage sight.
It’s not one of my better skills.
Normally I prefer to push magic into an object and read the light show it gives off.
It’s easier, works well with my sympathetic magic and hurts my eyes less.

The lines to my eyes finally built up enough magic to access mage sight.
My hand lit up with a deep sky blue color.

I gasped and leaned away from it in surprise.
My aura is wrong!

I'm a fire user.
It should be red!
..well.. more of an orangey red, with some yellow mixing in..

Definitely not pure BLUE though!
..Yeah, I know I've been having this weird problem with ice lately, but I'm still a fire user!

You can’t just.. just wake up and change your elemental affinity!
It’s.. it’s a part of you.
It’s like..
I dunno.

It’s hard to explain.
You have to FEEL it to understand.

The simplest analogy I can think of is with the religious concept of the ‘Soul’.
You are your soul, it makes up everything non-physical about you, your personality, your memories, your thoughts, feelings and opinions.

As a mage your magical core would be the very CENTER of that soul.
It’s the part of you that the rest of you is built around.
Every facet of your.. you-ness?.. is directly connected to your core.
It’s why the awakenings are called AWAKENINGS and not just reincarnation.

Your magical core holds all your past-life memories and experiences together when it passes on.
Its energy.
Energy, even magical energy, can’t be destroyed.
It can be shifted, dissipated into a wider area or have no visible effects but never destroyed.
When someone is born as a mage, they are basically getting a reused ‘soul’.
A magical core that some mage or mages before them had.
Awakenings are just the moments where our core’s finally settle into us properly, the disconnect between our current ‘soul’ around the core fades and the current version of us merges with all the past versions that were dragged along by our reused core.

No-ones sure if there even ARE any truly ‘new’ mages being born.

That’s why the MPA were set up in the first place.
While they have divisions that work as a police force, research teams, Special Forces strike teams and any number of other jobs that you’d normally expect to find in a larger independent country’s government system rather than a relatively small grouping of people hidden within one of the world’s biggest first-world nations, they are the MPA.

The Magical PROLIFERATION Agency.
Their whole ethos is based around finding ways to bringing more magic into the world.
The other jobs, the policing, the research and the special forces.. that’s all there to protect current mages from the public, not the public from current mages.

No-one really knows how the world would react if they found out about magic’s existence all at once.. but judging from similar situations in human history..
People tend to attack what they don’t understand.

A person can be rational, a person can see both sides of an argument and can be talked out of doing something rash or dangerous.
People.. in my experience.. People are stupid.
Get enough individual, rational, ‘persons’ into a group and they become the writhing mass of stupidity and rash, violent, fear mongers known as ‘people’.

It’s not anti-social to say that I don’t like people.
I like a person.
I like a lot of person’s in fact, but there’s a reason I don’t go out to clubs or try to hang out with the off-duty staff of the Hub like Sarah does.

Hell, I don’t even try to hang out with other mages!
I've never seen another awakened mage, outside of Max.
Normal mages, the lower grade ones who fear their awakenings..
They’re people.. They are PEOPLE.
Maybe a better word for them would be ‘sheep’?
They just herd together and gossip or follow the loudest voice.

I walked into the cafeteria of the Hub once and found all the off duty mages playing dodge-ball with fire.
Right in the cafeteria!
No-one had the guts to tell them not to and none of the mages were willing to tell the few voices who came up with the stupid idea that it was so whole-heartedly STUPID!

If you’re curious, I didn't stop them directly.
I sat at a table nearby and every time they tried to launch their ‘ball’ I put the flame out.
It was amusing for a good hour watching them trying more and more ‘complicated’ spells to get their fire balls working again.
One of them even theorised that their game had pissed off some voodoo god or something.
That’s when they all started getting nervous and scattered.
Irrational, stupid, PEOPLE.

.. Where was I..?
.. My hand, my aura..
Oh yeah.
This awakening is getting seriously on my nerves!
I can’t go five minutes without drifting off on some thought tangent.

=======

“Han?”
Sarah looked relieved when I blinked a few times and let my mage sight slip away.

“Sorry, got lost for a second there”
She smiled at me nervously and waved toward me with the hand not holding up her riot shield.
“You okay? Got.. that under control?”

My fingers twitched.
Without any actual conscious thought, a needle like icicle formed out of thin air and slammed itself a few inches deep into the wall to my left.

“Definitely not under control”
I frowned and focused on the feel of the magic in my hand.
“Give me a minute”

It’s a bit harder to do when you’re not working with an element you understand I guess.
I doubt anyone else has had this problem before, but the same trick should work just as well with ice as it did with fire.

The problem is, what can I use to divert the ice effect?
Fire was easy, fire and orange are pretty connected and at that point I was so used to burning stuff and how to stop it that it wasn't even that much of a problem to start with.

Ice though.. and with THIS level of control..
I've never had my magic so eager to be used before that it would spontaneously react with a thought!
Something’s wrong here..

My best working theory at the moment is that whatever the storyteller guy did with that second brand has screwed up my magic somehow.

He mentioned that it should limit me from high level magic but it doesn't FEEL like I'm limited in any way.
If anything I feel BOOSTED, I feel like I could warp to the moon and back just for fun honestly..

My magic’s cold, which is a majorly weird feeling still, but it’s much more concentrated then usual.
I can’t focus on it for too long.
The feeling in my core is just too intense.

It’s almost calling to me to let it lose.
I can tell just at a glance that diving into my core at the moment would be.. euphoric?
It would be disastrous too.
Knowing my luck, I’d end up accidentally causing the next ice-age with THIS much power built up.. but for me it would feel so blissfully nice..

.. damn it! I lost focus again!..

Magic.. Ice.. how to change it.. think..
What do I associate with ice that isn't going to be so blatant when it happens that I can’t go out in public just in case it goes off?
First thought is liquids from ice.. drinks maybe?

Ice goes really well with drinks to cool you down..
Ice can melt into water, which is a drink..
Vodka Martini on the rocks..
Ice-pops.. Slushies!

Okay, liquids are a definite route for now.
I can ask Fena for a better idea later.
Better wet then throwing ice spikes.

Shouldn't take too long.
Take the idea ‘Ice to liquid’, take a sample of my magic, twist the two and seal the connection in my head..

“Oww..”
Last time I did this my head felt nice and warm.
This time I've got brain-freeze.

I hate magic sometimes..

======

My eyes opened and I let out a long sigh.

“Better?”
Sarah looked a bit worried but she seemed to know what I was trying to do at least.

We shared a smile.

She waved at me encouragingly but didn't move from behind her shield.
I don’t blame her for wanting to see proof that it worked before letting her guard down.
I hesitated for a moment but it DID need testing I guess.

“Do something to upset me?”

Sarah’s face lit up in glee.
It was probably a bad idea to give her a blank slate like that..

“MY SISTER HAS A CRUSH ON THE HUB RECEPTIONIST!”

My ears burned in embarrassment.
“SHUT UP!”

A chill went down my spine, pooled at my waist and slowly travelled down my legs to pool again at my feet.

We both stood there stunned for a moment.

“Did you just wet yourself?”
My face burned even brighter red in embarrassment.
Sarah face had a mix of disbelief and amazement on it which didn't suit her at all.

With a careful hold on my embarrassment to not make things even worse I glared at Sarah.
“Would you prefer an ice shard in your face?”

She blanched and shook her head rapidly.
My sister’s not stupid..

“Looks like, instead of making ice crystals, I'm making water from my back now”
Her eyebrow popped up at me.
“Just water” I added to shut up her scepticism.

Sarah considered me from behind her shield for a moment and then slowly let it slide away.
She walked over and gave me an awkward hug, trying to avoid touching any of the water on my back and legs.

“It’s just temporary, I’ll talk to Edith later and see if she has any better ideas”
Sarah seemed reassured by that but didn't comment in return.

“Do you think they can give me some spare scrubs?”
My hospital issue patients dress, gown, thing felt awkward and heavy with all the water trailing down my back.
“I'm not gonna wear my clothes when I'm like this”
Sarah winced but nodded in understanding.
“Wouldn't work anyway, your clothes are a write off. Your jeans and boots.. whatever you did to get free of the ice didn't treat them nicely.”

I frowned and huffed.

“Partly melted, partly charred, missing a lot of the thread and patches of leather?”
Sarah nodded and squinted at me a little.
“I expected it, the heat had to come from somewhere. Usually it’s barely noticeable while using it to dry clothes but I had to kind of supercharge it..”

My frown dipped a bit more and my hand came up to slap my forehead.
“Duh..”
A small amount of focus and a push to my core set off the spell.
The hospital gown dried instantly.
It didn't do anything for my damp legs or the puddle at my feet but at least my back was dry now.
“If you can get me some scrubs I should be able to keep dry better. My legs are still wet at the moment.”
Sarah nodded and made her way out.

=======

I spent the time she was gone practising with the water.
If I forced an emotion forward enough I could trigger it on purpose, a lot like I could do with my fire but even then it came easier than the fire ever had.
For some reason my elemental affinity seems to be on a hair trigger now and I have no idea how to stop it.
At least after a few tries I managed to change where the water formed, instead of getting a wet patch trailing down my back I could make the water come out of my hands and feet.
I even managed to make it come out of my hair, although that just left me with damp hair plastered to my face, so I doubt I’ll be doing it again.

“They didn't have any scrubs, I bribed the ward medi-mage for her spare outfit though. It should fit.. maybe..”
Sarah stepped in the door with a bundle of clothes under her arm.
She didn't seem completely convinced that the clothes would work but anything’s better then what I currently have at least.

Without another word I tugged the hospital gown over my head.

There’s little modesty between us.
It comes from doing quick changes of outfits since we were kids.
Sarah DID seem unusually interested when I stood before her naked though.
I guess the change in body IS a bit off putting.
I'm just trying not to think about it.

When she didn't hand them to me directly I ended up having to snatch the clothing from her instead.
That seemed to break her of her trance-like stare at least.
I laid out the clothes on the bed for inspection.

The undies were utilitarian, white cotton with a wide cut, they looked comfortable so that’s something..
The bra looked a bit big for my shoulders but it would be tight everywhere else, probably a sports bra from the looks of it.
The top was just a plain T-shirt in olive green, nice and boring.
For my legs we had some leggings, a knee-high black pleated skirt and some soft sole ballet flats.
Overall, not a bad haul.
I didn't waste any time getting dressed, I just want to get out of here now.

The bra was a bit awkward, it fit but was generally too tight feeling.
I've never liked sports bras, even when I was just filling in for Sarah with no actual boobs to compress.
They felt too constricting.

Beggars can’t be choosers though.

The ballet flats were nice and soft at least.
I’ll have to look at getting some more of them later.

When I’d finished pulling myself together, Sarah grabbed a brush out of her purse and waved me to sit down.
She hit a few snags but generally just brushed my hair to hang flat down.
I’ll have to see if I can cut it back to our usual length.
Having it hanging around my shoulders like this is annoying..

“We’re cleared to leave, they set you up an appointment with the Rep from ‘Awakened Mage Support’ later this week but physically your fine at least.”

My face scrunched up a little in annoyance.
I'm not up to testing this new brand yet.
I've never heard of this ‘Awakened mage support’ before but I guess it can’t hurt to see what they want.
If it comes to it, I’ll keep my back to a wall and push my new water talent to full blast, if I push hard enough I should be able to imitate a point blank fire-hose with a bit of practice.

“Ready?”
I nodded and she took my hand to lead me out of the room.

The medi-bay mage offered me a strained smile but everyone else seemed pretty tense at the sight of me.
I put my head down and followed Sarah.
If I don’t react maybe we can finally get out of here.
The sooner I can get to Fena’s shop for some research materials and help, the better.

She led me out of the medi-bay and through a lot of turning corridors.
As we walked along there was a general hush that would form up and when we passed the sound would build up again as whispers in our wake.

I could feel myself getting tense because of it.

I don’t like people paying so much attention to me.
My job has made me healthily paranoid against people staring at me.
Especially if they are being so blatant when talking about me behind my back.

We came out of the corridors into the main reception area.
I lifted my head a little to look for Felicia.
She was sat at her desk.

It hurt to see the fear in her eyes.
She tracked me the entire way, while we walked to the exit.
As we stepped out of the entrance way I just caught the huge sigh of relief she gave off before she sunk down in her seat.

“Don’t worry, things will work out eventually. I got a briefing while you were unconscious.”
I frowned and tugged her hand a little for a better explanation.
“I’ll explain at the flat. It’s not great but it could be worse too, so don’t panic”
I opened my mouth to question her logic but stopped short when her mobile started ringing in her purse.

She let go of my hand and fished around frantically for it.
When she finally got it out she stared at the screen a little for some reason.

“It’s mum..”
She sounded confused by that fact.
I stood awkwardly to the side while she answered the call.

“Hey mum I-”
Sarah frowned deeply.
“What?.. I didn't-”
Her mouth pursed tightly in annoyance.
“What are you.. no I.. Mum will you just.. Of course sh- I mean..”

Sarah’s eyes went wide in surprise, her head swung around to stare at me with worry.
“She’s here now.. yeah I g-”
She growled low in her throat and tightened her grip on her phone.
“Yes.. Mother..”
She sounded really angry now, she was talking through clenched teeth.
“We’ll be there soon”
Sarah hung up without saying goodbye and stared at me with a lost look.

“What is it?”

She took a deep breath in and huffed it out.
This is going to be bad..

“Mum’s been trying to call for ages.”
I nodded, it made sense, the Hub cuts off cell phone services.
It cuts off most things actually, if you work in the Hub there’s no TV or radio available sadly.

Sarah’s teeth clenched again and she glared at her phone.
“She wanted to know if I’d ‘stolen Arista on the way home from school again’ and if I was ‘trying to corrupt my poor impressionable little sister’.. and THEN she demanded that I bring you back home RIGHT now or she’s calling the cops on me for kidnapping..”

My jaw dropped.
We both stood there in a kind of stunned silence.

My brain finally tweaked on a forgotten detail..
I was so busy getting worked up at him at the time, it just hadn't registered initially.
The storyteller.. that son of a bitch!

“Crap”
It came out as a whimper.
I could do nothing BUT whimper at this.. things are about to get a whole lot more complicated.

Sometimes.. I REALLY hate magic.