The Beginning - Part Two
Title: March 24 - Sierra
Series: The Beginning
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Death
Word Count: 1881
--- - ---
--- March 24th ---
--- Sierra ---
“I can't believe you're going through with this, Serra...”
I shook my head, ignoring Andreas' chatter. Despite his objections, he had come with me all three days that the procedure had taken, if only to complain more. I had started to make jokes at his expense, which only made him grumble more, and move to sit where he couldn't see the procedure being done.
The Nishina handling the job had been shocked at first when I didn't mind him sitting around, watching them work on my bare chest. A few years ago, I would have been as well. Then again, a few years ago, I wouldn't have even considered this procedure. But in order to impress Kira, I need power, and I need foresight. This is exactly what I need, no matter what the price.
And the price is so small as to be nonexistent. A couple hours work a day on this tattoo across my torso, to enhance the small magic power I am already capable of wielding. The work is free, and done in secret save for Andreas, done by the Nishina who work on the magic limiter tattoos for the country. And it is free because I have promised them and the other mages of the city something they have never had before.
It started nearly six months ago, when I and the rest of the protomages were called in for a new experiment. We usually dread those; no one wants to endure more of the scientists' poking and prodding as they try to discover what led to us gaining our unique powers. That time, however, they had us working with mages. We were each assigned to a Somenre or Miyana, and asked to focus our powers on their limiters. It went slowly enough at first; the only person to get their subject to react was Chione..The sessions continued, however slowly, and after another two times, I was finally able to make my subject use her magic at my command. The experiments were discontinued after a while, but I continued on in secret.
They wanted us to simply be able to completely block the magic of a loose mage in order to minimize damages and costs to the city during escape attempts. But I thought, why not take it further? If we were able to control them completely, make their abilities our own, what would we be capable of doing?
The first of my own experiments was on a young Miyana woman from the outer city. She worked for the government, cleaning the hallways of the capital buildings, and despite making more money than most mages would around the city, her wages were pitiful even compared to what little they give us Specialists. The lure of extra money to support herself and her only child were enough to draw her into what promised to be a perfectly ethical study into how her abilities worked. Only Andreas knew that I was working with the woman, and even he did not know what I was planning to do.
Things went slowly. It was easy enough to use my magic to command hers, as I had already learned how to do. But what I noticed over time was the way the magic of a natural-born mage was entwined with their...being. Their souls. Take one away and you lost the other. By extension, if you managed to gain enough control over their magic, it had to be possible to take control of their minds. In doing so, you would gain the power to control them completely...
That was what I thought at first. The experiments, however, weren't working as well as I'd hoped. The magical limiter seemed to be the immediate problem, but I had no way around it. So I continued to push the mage woman's limits, until it backfired gravely.
I was working with her in one of the cells belowground, both of us sitting on stools across from each other in the cold, barely-lit room. I had no need to touch her once I had her power in hand, and had my eyes closed in concentration. The only sounds in the room were those made by her shifting; she told me that the limiter tattooed around her neck felt 'itchy' whenever I used her power. All was normal; I had a firm grip on her magic and was trying to catch on to that elusive presence I felt within her that had to control her.
Then she spoke, her voice strained. I paid no attention, because I had it. I could feel that entwined presence firmly in my magical grasp. It was with a rush of victory that I opened my eyes.
There was fear and pain in the woman's eyes. I barely acknowledged it, only murmuring some perfunctory words about nearly being finished, asking her to bear with it for a little while longer. In the shadows, I failed to notice that the limiter around her neck was gleaming wetly in the dim light.
“Stand,” I whispered a moment later.
Slowly, the motions stiff as her body moved on autopilot, the woman stood. She spoke again, protesting louder, the words the only thing left for her to control. The tattoo had started to run, but again, I failed to notice.
“Walk forward,” I ordered.
She took a jerky step forward, and I could feel my hold on her weakening, but not through any fault of mine. There was something forcing me to let go of her, and the more I fought it, the harder it became to hold on. Finally, regretfully, I slowly released the magical ties that held her.
It was too late. Blood was already staining the woman's shirt, and her face was turning blue. When I released my hold on her, she fell to her knees, coughing violently. The hacking coughs expelled blood from her mouth, flecking on the floor. I moved to help her, immediately trying the rudimentary healing that all protomages had to learn. It did nothing but reveal to me exactly what was happening to her.
The limiter around her neck was destroying her body from within, starting from that point on her neck. Blood was filling her lungs, and the magic I was trying to force into her body only sped up the process. Before my eyes, she choked and fell forward into my arms, her eyes open and glassy. Her mouth moved one more time, mouthing a single word before she went limp.
It was a while before I could move again. With the Specialists, I had fought and killed people before. I should have been hardened to death, even such a violent, unexpected one. But even as I smuggled her body out of the underground cells and into the city, stabbing the body and stealing what little money she had on her to provide a hopefully plausible reason for her death, I shook uncontrollably. Perhaps it was because of the fact that I had grown to know the woman, had talked with her about her daughter and even asked to meet her once. She had thought I was a decent person, and I caused her death, orphaned that little girl...
Those experiments stopped for nearly two months. For the first week, I stayed in bed, still shaking and physically ill, claiming a serious case of food poisoning. I think Andreas suspected otherwise, but he never said anything to me. Throughout that time, he was constantly there, offering his silent support.
The week after, I went to visit the woman's little girl. I remember her sitting in front of her mother's memorial picture as relatives nearby squabbled over who was to take care of her. She didn't even look at me as I knelt next to her, offering a quick prayer to the goddesses for the woman's soul. Finally, the relatives became aware that the visitation line had mostly left save for me, and demanded to know what a human was doing at a Miyana's funeral. My explanation of my ties to the woman wasn't enough to placate them, and I offered the girl a place with my parents. I promised that under their care, she would be given a home, a proper education, and far better care than a mage orphan was likely to receive in the city.
They refused the offer, and forced me out the house. The little girl was watching as I left, and as I caught a glimpse of her huge, sorrowful brown eyes, I remembered her mother telling me her name. She had always talked lovingly of her little Sumitra, and I genuinely wanted to help the child, even though I was little more than a child myself.
Those eyes haunted me for weeks afterwards, even as I went back to my project again.
When I started again, I began with a study of the limiters themselves. They had been designed centuries previously, and little had changed since. They were made to choke the magical abilities of the mage, almost completely denying access to their magic unless allowed by an authorized authority. From birth to the age of fourteen, they would have access to only a small amount of their power, in order to become used to their magic without becoming destructive. After that, when they were deemed ready for work, they were given a short amount of time with the child limiters in order to find work. Once that occurred, a new limiter would be placed on them, giving whatever human master they served access to their magic. Only through the master allowing them would their magic become usable.
The limiter could also be used to induce physical reactions in the mage, meaning punishment could be administered without actual physical contact. With a powerful enough limiter and the proper will from the master, obedience could be forced on the mage. It was that that I had attempted with the Miyana woman from before. The limiters prevented outside interference, however, no doubt anticipating mages attempting to remove them from their own kind, and prompted the reaction that I had provoked when magic was used extensively on the unlucky mage.
With the information I had gained, I determined that the only way to access the powers of the mages was to alter the limiters themselves. As I was, however, I was nowhere near powerful enough to do that on my own, which led to conversations with the mages responsible for the limiters, which led to...
“You're done, Serra,” Andreas said from beside me. I opened my eyes slowly, looking down at the design inked across my chest. A larger version of the limiter's design crossed my chest, but served an entirely different purpose. With it, I would be able to use the full powers of the mages, provided I learned how to access their abilities properly. The first one I planned to try out immediately - the Nishina ability to see events on the wind. With proper foresight, my plans would be impossible to stop.
I fastened my coat over the design before leaving. There would be time enough for people to see it, when I was ready to reveal to the world - to Kira - what I had become.
Series: The Beginning
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Death
Word Count: 1881
--- - ---
--- March 24th ---
--- Sierra ---
“I can't believe you're going through with this, Serra...”
I shook my head, ignoring Andreas' chatter. Despite his objections, he had come with me all three days that the procedure had taken, if only to complain more. I had started to make jokes at his expense, which only made him grumble more, and move to sit where he couldn't see the procedure being done.
The Nishina handling the job had been shocked at first when I didn't mind him sitting around, watching them work on my bare chest. A few years ago, I would have been as well. Then again, a few years ago, I wouldn't have even considered this procedure. But in order to impress Kira, I need power, and I need foresight. This is exactly what I need, no matter what the price.
And the price is so small as to be nonexistent. A couple hours work a day on this tattoo across my torso, to enhance the small magic power I am already capable of wielding. The work is free, and done in secret save for Andreas, done by the Nishina who work on the magic limiter tattoos for the country. And it is free because I have promised them and the other mages of the city something they have never had before.
It started nearly six months ago, when I and the rest of the protomages were called in for a new experiment. We usually dread those; no one wants to endure more of the scientists' poking and prodding as they try to discover what led to us gaining our unique powers. That time, however, they had us working with mages. We were each assigned to a Somenre or Miyana, and asked to focus our powers on their limiters. It went slowly enough at first; the only person to get their subject to react was Chione..The sessions continued, however slowly, and after another two times, I was finally able to make my subject use her magic at my command. The experiments were discontinued after a while, but I continued on in secret.
They wanted us to simply be able to completely block the magic of a loose mage in order to minimize damages and costs to the city during escape attempts. But I thought, why not take it further? If we were able to control them completely, make their abilities our own, what would we be capable of doing?
The first of my own experiments was on a young Miyana woman from the outer city. She worked for the government, cleaning the hallways of the capital buildings, and despite making more money than most mages would around the city, her wages were pitiful even compared to what little they give us Specialists. The lure of extra money to support herself and her only child were enough to draw her into what promised to be a perfectly ethical study into how her abilities worked. Only Andreas knew that I was working with the woman, and even he did not know what I was planning to do.
Things went slowly. It was easy enough to use my magic to command hers, as I had already learned how to do. But what I noticed over time was the way the magic of a natural-born mage was entwined with their...being. Their souls. Take one away and you lost the other. By extension, if you managed to gain enough control over their magic, it had to be possible to take control of their minds. In doing so, you would gain the power to control them completely...
That was what I thought at first. The experiments, however, weren't working as well as I'd hoped. The magical limiter seemed to be the immediate problem, but I had no way around it. So I continued to push the mage woman's limits, until it backfired gravely.
I was working with her in one of the cells belowground, both of us sitting on stools across from each other in the cold, barely-lit room. I had no need to touch her once I had her power in hand, and had my eyes closed in concentration. The only sounds in the room were those made by her shifting; she told me that the limiter tattooed around her neck felt 'itchy' whenever I used her power. All was normal; I had a firm grip on her magic and was trying to catch on to that elusive presence I felt within her that had to control her.
Then she spoke, her voice strained. I paid no attention, because I had it. I could feel that entwined presence firmly in my magical grasp. It was with a rush of victory that I opened my eyes.
There was fear and pain in the woman's eyes. I barely acknowledged it, only murmuring some perfunctory words about nearly being finished, asking her to bear with it for a little while longer. In the shadows, I failed to notice that the limiter around her neck was gleaming wetly in the dim light.
“Stand,” I whispered a moment later.
Slowly, the motions stiff as her body moved on autopilot, the woman stood. She spoke again, protesting louder, the words the only thing left for her to control. The tattoo had started to run, but again, I failed to notice.
“Walk forward,” I ordered.
She took a jerky step forward, and I could feel my hold on her weakening, but not through any fault of mine. There was something forcing me to let go of her, and the more I fought it, the harder it became to hold on. Finally, regretfully, I slowly released the magical ties that held her.
It was too late. Blood was already staining the woman's shirt, and her face was turning blue. When I released my hold on her, she fell to her knees, coughing violently. The hacking coughs expelled blood from her mouth, flecking on the floor. I moved to help her, immediately trying the rudimentary healing that all protomages had to learn. It did nothing but reveal to me exactly what was happening to her.
The limiter around her neck was destroying her body from within, starting from that point on her neck. Blood was filling her lungs, and the magic I was trying to force into her body only sped up the process. Before my eyes, she choked and fell forward into my arms, her eyes open and glassy. Her mouth moved one more time, mouthing a single word before she went limp.
It was a while before I could move again. With the Specialists, I had fought and killed people before. I should have been hardened to death, even such a violent, unexpected one. But even as I smuggled her body out of the underground cells and into the city, stabbing the body and stealing what little money she had on her to provide a hopefully plausible reason for her death, I shook uncontrollably. Perhaps it was because of the fact that I had grown to know the woman, had talked with her about her daughter and even asked to meet her once. She had thought I was a decent person, and I caused her death, orphaned that little girl...
Those experiments stopped for nearly two months. For the first week, I stayed in bed, still shaking and physically ill, claiming a serious case of food poisoning. I think Andreas suspected otherwise, but he never said anything to me. Throughout that time, he was constantly there, offering his silent support.
The week after, I went to visit the woman's little girl. I remember her sitting in front of her mother's memorial picture as relatives nearby squabbled over who was to take care of her. She didn't even look at me as I knelt next to her, offering a quick prayer to the goddesses for the woman's soul. Finally, the relatives became aware that the visitation line had mostly left save for me, and demanded to know what a human was doing at a Miyana's funeral. My explanation of my ties to the woman wasn't enough to placate them, and I offered the girl a place with my parents. I promised that under their care, she would be given a home, a proper education, and far better care than a mage orphan was likely to receive in the city.
They refused the offer, and forced me out the house. The little girl was watching as I left, and as I caught a glimpse of her huge, sorrowful brown eyes, I remembered her mother telling me her name. She had always talked lovingly of her little Sumitra, and I genuinely wanted to help the child, even though I was little more than a child myself.
Those eyes haunted me for weeks afterwards, even as I went back to my project again.
When I started again, I began with a study of the limiters themselves. They had been designed centuries previously, and little had changed since. They were made to choke the magical abilities of the mage, almost completely denying access to their magic unless allowed by an authorized authority. From birth to the age of fourteen, they would have access to only a small amount of their power, in order to become used to their magic without becoming destructive. After that, when they were deemed ready for work, they were given a short amount of time with the child limiters in order to find work. Once that occurred, a new limiter would be placed on them, giving whatever human master they served access to their magic. Only through the master allowing them would their magic become usable.
The limiter could also be used to induce physical reactions in the mage, meaning punishment could be administered without actual physical contact. With a powerful enough limiter and the proper will from the master, obedience could be forced on the mage. It was that that I had attempted with the Miyana woman from before. The limiters prevented outside interference, however, no doubt anticipating mages attempting to remove them from their own kind, and prompted the reaction that I had provoked when magic was used extensively on the unlucky mage.
With the information I had gained, I determined that the only way to access the powers of the mages was to alter the limiters themselves. As I was, however, I was nowhere near powerful enough to do that on my own, which led to conversations with the mages responsible for the limiters, which led to...
“You're done, Serra,” Andreas said from beside me. I opened my eyes slowly, looking down at the design inked across my chest. A larger version of the limiter's design crossed my chest, but served an entirely different purpose. With it, I would be able to use the full powers of the mages, provided I learned how to access their abilities properly. The first one I planned to try out immediately - the Nishina ability to see events on the wind. With proper foresight, my plans would be impossible to stop.
I fastened my coat over the design before leaving. There would be time enough for people to see it, when I was ready to reveal to the world - to Kira - what I had become.