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Eyes of the Magician
By Margaret Avera

The fire flickered giving the room an eerie orange glow. Thunder crashed and boomed,
while rain pounded against the windows. Two people sat in over stuffed armchairs, talking.
It was a man and a girl. The man looked about 60 but the girl was middle aged, 15 at the most.
“ Ojiisan tell me a story.” pleaded Hero.
“I’ve told you every story I know.” answered Ojiisan. Outside thunder crashed. And in that moment, looking down at his granddaughter, Ojiisan decided to tell Hero about his last legend, the one that he had kept secret from the family until now, The one about Heavens Trapdoor.
“ Fine, I'll tell you my last one. Hundreds of years ago there was an ancient battle. Heaven’s trapdoor opened, allowing the souls of the dead to pass through and come back to the living world. Souls
came into our world from both heaven and hell.
The evil souls wish was to change the fate of the
earth so that it would be overrun by evil and darkness. Bad souls looked like shadows
but their eyes... their eyes were like flames.
The good souls passed through the trapdoor to be guardians and to battle the evil souls.
They joined the good humans to drive the bad souls back to the underworld and to shut
the trapdoor once and for all. They looked like water that was in the shape of humans.
And their eyes looked like blue vapor. In this legend there was a hero, a little girl a lot
like you Hero. She became the chosen one. She used a thing called soul magic. In the end she was the one who saved the earth. Her name was Isaka.
The battle field was a dry desert where nothing lived. Heat lightning crackled overhead
but no rain ever came to this place. Some of the humans had joined both of the sides, if
they died in this battle, their souls would come back and fight on the side that he or she
had chosen.
The battle raged on for almost three days. On the third night evil was winning but the
tables turned. Isaka had been fighting with her family (on the side of good) when
she saw that her brother was fighting for his life against circle of black flame. In that
moment Isaka realized what she was truly fighting for. In the pureness of her heart
Isaka was able to gather together all the good soul’s strength. Her soul magic began pouring out of her body in waves, pushing the wall of darkness back through the
trapdoor until all you could see was the light of pure souls going through.
Only humans remained now in that dry desert staring up at the light in the sky as the
third day dawned. The light was so bright that it purified all the souls of the humans,
even the ones that had chosen to join the dark side. All was safe.
But In doing this Isaka had used up all of her life force. So then she too went up to join
the souls of the dead. As her soul passed through the trap door she looked behind her
and saw that the darkness had been vanquished.... for now. She shut the trapdoor and locked it but before she did she took her last spark of magic and passed it down to her baby sister, Hana. Her family saw her pass into the light and realized that she had died. The mother looked down at Hana and said
“ You're the only girl child in this family now..... “ and as she was looking down at Hana, something amazing happened. Hana's eyes turned purple.
“ Isaka... “ She whispered. So from then on in each
generation, one child was born with purple eyes that shone like the brightest star in the sky.” Ojiisan smiled down at Hero and said
“Its time for bed.” Then he got up and walked to a door in the corner of the room and opened it halfway then stopped. Hero looked at her grandfather a confused look on her face. She ran up to her grandfather and grabbed his jacket,
“ Ojiisan, Where did you get this legend? “ Hero said. this ones new.... he's never told me this one before... he ran out of legends a long time ago..... At least thats what he told me..... Hero thought suspiciously. Was he keeping this one a secret?
“ My grandfather told it to me, When I was just a young boy. “ Hero Glared at him, tapping her foot against the floor her arms crossed.
” Your not telling the truth. “ She said. Ojiisan looked at her starting to get nervous. She knows that I've never told this one before..... but I'm not supposed to tell her the truth until shes at least until shes 15....
“ Oh don't be silly Hero...... I told this one tons of times when you were just a little baby....” Ojiisan Replied wringing his hands nervously.
“ And you just recently remembered? .... “ Hero said sarcastically.
“ Uhhh... yeah... thats right.. I need to go to bed now.. See you in the morning.. “ He said hurrying off to a different part of the house. Hero sighed, now I'll never get it out of him He'll have forgotten by tomorrow morning She thought. I guess since theres nothing I can do about it now.... May as well go to bed... So she walked to the door, opened it and went to her bed room.
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Hero Sat up in bed and looked around her dark room. its still night out.... but now that I'm awake I'm not going back to sleep so I may as well go get breakfast going.... Hero rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and stretched her arms out towards the ceiling.
“ Wrrraaagggg “ She groaned standing up. She walked out the sliding door and into the still dark hallway. She headed towards the kitchen at the end of the hallway. She tiptoed along trying not to wake everyone else in the house up. When she reached the door she pulled it open and walked in. She reached up to the ceiling and grabbed the lantern that would light the room, and put a nearby candle in it. She hung it back up, and went grabbed the dishes to prepare breakfast. She walked over to the cabinet and was grabbing some pots and pans. Then she stood up and turned around, Then she screamed. A black shadow was slithering on the floor slowly toward her, When it was about a foot away from her it seemed to stand up and tower over her. she shrank down and ran for the door screaming
“ OJIISAN!!!!! “Hearing her scream Ojiisan woke up and ran out of bed.
“ Hero! “ He called. Hero ran towards him, and threw her arms around him, and started sobbing. “
Ojiisan! It was terrible, Its was big and black and! And! And... “ Her sobs turned into a small whimper.
“ The demons have come. “ Ojiisan whispered. “ Hero, take this-” He dug around in his shirt and pulled out a small necklace, It had two dragons intertwined. They seemed so alive, One was made out of a ruby and the other was emerald. He wrapped it around her hand in a way that it would not come off.
“ Ojiisan? What is this? “ she asked. Ojiisan looked at her grimly
“ Its a charm, to keep them away.... go wake everyone else up and get them out of the house! “
“But Ojiisan what about you? “ Hero cried. The black thing slithered out of the kitchen, towards the two. “ Hurry! Go! I'll hold it off, now go! “ He shouted. “ But Ojiisan!!! “
“ NO BUTS!! GO! I'll be fine! “ Hero gulped and nodded, then turned and ran towards the living room. Before she opened the door she looked back at him and whispered
“ Ojiisan “ Then she ran though the door. Hero was in the living room. She ran to a door on the side of the room and went through, plopping down next to a dark unmoving shape on the floor.
“ Shinju! Wake up! We have to leave?! Now!! “ She shook her, and turned her over. What she saw was horrifying. Her sisters face was deformed and had no facial features at all. The skin was white and almost translucent. The skin was stretched tightly over her skull. Hero screamed and let go, dropping her corpse. She ran into the next room over ( which was her parents just sows ya know ) Praying silently that whatever the thing was it hadn't got them.
“ Reidou! Daifu!! Wake up!! She grabbed her mothers hand.
“ no... “she whispered, letting the hand drop. She slowly walked out of the room grief weighing her down. Ojiisan.............. I'm sorry........... I failed you.... Hero walked back into the living room and out into the hallway. She looked into the hallway alert for signs of the monster, but only Ojiisan was there . He was leaning against a wall breathing heavily. Hero ran towards him, and kneeled down in front of him.
“ Ojiisan! Are you okay? “ She lightly shook him. His eyes fluttered open and he smiled
“ I'm fine, I'm a little out of practice, though. “ Hero heaved a sigh of relief.
“ Thank Izanami... “ She said he eyes twinkling.
“ What happened to the others Hero? Why aren't they with you? “ He asked concerned. Hero smile disappeared so fast you could have sworn it had been ripped of.
“ They are no longer with us.... they are in Tengoku now.... “ Hero said a tear rolling down her cheek.
“ But we still have each other right? “ She hugged him, her tears making the front of his Yukata wet. He hugged her back, and told her,
“ Its not your fault..... It was meant to be this way. They knew it was coming. “ She looked up
“ Then why didn't they fight? Fight for life! Never give up! “ She shook her head. then she stood up and glared at Ojiisan.
“ Ojiisan! Let us fight against these monsters! Let us save the people! Teach me how! “
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They had been traveling for about 5 hours straight, and it took all of Hero's will power to stay awake. The pain was slowly soaking through the sheet on the top of their wagon. Drops splattered down onto Hero's head. It ran down the side of her face and to the bottom of her chin, dripping off and falling onto her hand. They're gone...... forever...... never coming back. I'll never get see they're faces again..................... never get to see them smile...... never again.... never again...... they just disappeared with out a word..... I didn't get to say goodbye..... Why did they leave me? ...... Why? She thought Why me? They can't leave me alone like this! A tear ran down her face. But she didn't notice she was too eaten up by her thoughts and emotions.
Ojiisan Looked back at her from the front seat
“ Hero its going to be alright, You're not alone. I'm here, I'll help. We'll get through this together. “ Hero didn't answer. He sighed. She doesn't understand...
“ Hero its not your fault.... “ He said softly. Hero slowly turned her head to look at him then she stood up and screamed at him
“ IT IS MY FAULT!!! IF I HAD BEEN THERE THINGS WOULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT! I COULD HAVE STOPPED THEM FROM GOING TO BED! I COULD HAVE STOPPED THE MONSTER AND TAKEN IT OUT ALL BY MYSELF! BUT DID I DO ANY OF THOSE THINGS? NO!!! I JUST SAT AROUND AND DID NOTHING! I could have helped them...... I could have helped..... “ She sank down onto the floor unconscious the days events had finally taken their toll. Ojiisan looked at her unmoving form a frown on his face things are not turning out well, she is developing too quickly..... she won't be able to control her power.......I have to make her understand that she could have done nothing about it..... Otherwise she will become power hungry, and if that happens I will be able to do nothing to stop her from getting what she wants.... I need to take action...and fast... He turned and looked back at the road into front of him squinting into the rain at a sign on the side of the road.
Osaka 2 miles
Kyoto 5 miles
He read it and sighed in relief,a the thought of a nice hot bath, a good meal, and a comfortable bed. Thank goodness..... If I stay in this dump of a wagon for much longer I think I'll go crazy....
When Hero awoke she was laying on top of a bed some blanket pulled over her. Her sat up and looked around trying to figure out where she was, then the memories came flooding back, an unstoppable wave of grief and hate. She sank back into the bed clutching her head in agony Fade away.... Just let the memories just fade away.... I don't want to remember anymore..... she slowly pushed them closer to the back of her brain so that grief did not have its hold on her any-longer. She sat up again and got out of bed stretching. She looked around the room curious. The walls were painted a tan color, making the room a bight brighter. There were pictures of flowers and baby animals with golden frames. There was a breakfast of Rice and Miso soup on the table. She walked over to the table and sat down on the red pillow. she ate slowly savoring the food. She heard a knock on the door.
“ Come in.... “
“ I would but the door is locked.... “ they laughed.
“ I'm coming. “ Hero said in a monotone. she stood up and slowly walked towards the door. She opened it and peeked out. A boy was standing in the doorway a smile on his face. He was wearing a blue and gold Yukata.
“ Hi! Sorry to barge in but Ojiisan told me to get you.... " He scratched his head nervously.
"oh I almost forgot my manners! My name is Taro! “ He opened his eyes and saw that she was still wearing her nemaki.
" I see that you are not quite ready to go out in public yet so, I'll wait out here until your done changing, then we can go meet Ojiisan. " she nodded at her and stepped back so that she could shut the door. She pulled it back in place and walked over to a small desk where a Yukata had been provided for her. she pt it on and brushed her hair then went back to the door and stepped out into the hallway. Taro was standing there apparently waiting for her. She blushed
" sorry it took me so long.... " Taro laughed at that. Witch made her blush even harder.
" whats so funny? " Hero asked looking confused
" You shouldn't be apologizing! you didn't take more than five minutes! "
he led her out of the inn and onto the streets. They walked fast hoping they wouldn't be noticed by any unfriendly person.
" You know I just noticed, Your eyes are purple..... kind of an unusual color, don't you think? Is it natural? " Taro asked.
" Yes, I was born with them that way.... " Hero replied. Taro stopped before a humungus gate. he held his hands up in a prestenting fasion
" I welcome you to the imperial palace! "


A remake of Heavens trapdoor....