“Ah, what a bore.”

Ugh, I hate books! I know they’re useful, but to learn on my own from a book is annoying. These words just aren’t the best for describing what I want to hear to make a proper image of the magic in my mind. Why does it just say “Now raise your arm and imagine small but fast white or blue flashes in front of you”? What is there to even imagine in that? It’s barely creative at all.

I flipped through the pages and hoped to be relieved from my suffering. I just needed to see a picture of a mage casting the magic. I finally found a painting that made the spell clear. A slight blue colour stemmed from tiny tree roots that waved their way out in all directions and went towards some surface and away from others.

This is it! With this image, I can do a far better job describing it to myself than the words in this book ever could. I just hope the one on wind magic also has an image or it’s doomed. If I have to interpret more poorly written words, I might just get a headache

I raised my hand to the dead end of the alley, pointing it at the wall. Bringing the image to the forefront of my mind and pushing back the frustration I just had, I saw magic forming in front of me. From a purple light which matched my hair came cerulean coloured root-like objects. Suddenly, a piece of iron made its way towards me quickly, almost as though it was attracted to me.

“Huh?” I let out the noise while closing my hand and dodging the item.

I checked behind me to see where the piece of iron had gone and more importantly if it had hit someone. It looks as though it had hit the ground and stopped right outside the alley. Letting out a sigh of relief, I saw a stranger walk by, look around for a bit, and then pick up the bar and pretend as though it had always been his.

Well that was…yeah. I don’t know how to describe that. Well it wasn’t my property, so it’s not like it makes me mad that he just took it like that. But I can’t say it doesn’t bother me a little that he took it from its original owner. I would say something, but to get into a scuffle at the Capital may not be the greatest thing for me. So for just today, I’ll overlook what happened and pretend I didn’t see it. Well, maybe I should leave something.

Using a reinforced icicle, I carved a message into the wall where the iron had come from. It detailed the description of the man who stole the item and what he had done. Hopefully this should help the original owner get it back. Turning away from the end of the alley and making my way over to the books, I began thinking I should start leaving soon. It wouldn’t be great if the original owner came back anytime soon.

“Ah, what a bore.” A relaxed, piercing voice came from behind me.

The subtleties hidden in her voice caused my whole skin to freeze up ice cold. Her melancholic voice had stopped my brain from thinking of anything other than fear. My hands began trembling uncontrollably, unable to even close up. The only thoughts I was having were to run, but my legs felt so stuck to the ground it was as if they were heavier than the bricks that comprised the path.

What was happening? This feeling is entirely different from anything I’ve ever felt before. This feeling was so different it seemed almost to surpass fear itself. It was like the person, or thing behind me had already won by merely sneaking up on me. It was as if I could be dead in a matter of seconds. I could have my head removed from my torso faster than I could process the action occurring.

“Oh, aren’t you going to greet me? After all, it was a great hassle to come all the way here.” The distant voice of the entity continued.

My body instinctively began turning around before I had even wanted to start. It was as if her words controlled my body as opposed to my own thoughts. The odd sensation spread throughout me further and further. Each step I took to turn around felt as though it could cause my legs to fall and send me to the ground.

A shadow began to grow over the region, darkening it from the sun. When I had first walked into this alleyway, there had not been a cloud in sight. Even then, this eerie shadow had worked its way to me—no—us, and blocked the light.

“Ah. You’ve done good to properly face me.” The woman praised me. Or maybe she wasn’t praising me?

As I tried to process the being in front of me, nothing about her seemed correct. She was fairly tall, being around my height or just a little shorter. Her hair was a magenta colour, and shone as though it simply outpowered the light of the sun on its own. I wanted to cover my eyes to block it, but my brain could not process that her hair shone that brightly. Her eyes were also an oddity, matching the colour of her hair perfectly. The match was so perfect that I couldn’t even think of another colour for them. Even her nose seemed perfect.

But if that was the only oddity about her appearance, I think I would have been grateful. Her mouth was gone. More so, I couldn’t even tell if she had a mouth or not. It was covered by a rough black shading that extended over her face. It was like some artist had roughly painted it on as a way to block her expressions. The censor seemed as though it wasn’t supposed to be there. It was as though reality had warped itself, bringing it in front of her mouth through a dimension which was not supposed to be visible.

Trying to look away from her terrifying mouth, I examined the clothes she wore. The gaudy silk robes seemed as though they didn’t belong from this century, but instead one further back. Yet the fine craftsmanship and detailing made it look as though it was brand new.

“Oh. Did this scare you?” She pointed to the black thing hiding her mouth. “Watch. I can change the shape if you like.” She quickly switched it to form a shadowed smile, then a frown, and then one of neutrality.

The sight of her morphing mouth of shadow had only caused more dread as I watched the thing not of this world start bending to her pleasure. The sight of me caused her beautiful eyebrows to raise, but I was unable to see her true expression as she had still been switching it around.

“In the end, I do prefer this, and from the looks of it, so do you.” She stated as she brought the shadow back to its original form.

‘WHO ARE YOU?” I shouted, unable to tell I was shouting as my ears were starting to deafen.

“Who am I? What a standard question. Let’s see, I’m someone who was born at the breath of creation to watch over you pitiable mortals.” Her bored voice pierced the deafening silence I thought I was experiencing.

“WHAT IS YOUR NAME?”

“Huh? My name? You mortals are far too concerned with naming. I’ve been called far too many titles for far too many centuries to even bother remembering. How about this? Make one for me.”

“H-h-h-uh?” The sudden request had caused me to start staggering.

“‘H-h-h-uh.’ What an interesting name you propose. But a little hard to say, wouldn’t you agree? Let me try relieving the threatening aura I have. Sometimes it simply turns on by itself. Try again, why don’t you? I believe you can do it.” She encouraged me for some reason.

No, this is really bad. This thing is far too powerful. Making her angry could get me killed instantly. I need to respond with a proper name or else I’m finished. I tried to examine her face again, trying to ignore the sight of the circulating rigid black shadow covering her mouth. Its existence almost caused me to start throwing up. I took notice of her eyes after glancing away from the shadow. It was the only thing I could think about.

“I-IRIS!” I cried out without thinking in panic.

“Iris, huh? Well, it’s fairly interesting. All right then, let’s go with that.” She positively responded to her new name? “Well, Celestia, my name is Iris, watcher of this world.” She proclaimed as her aura had started to spill out once again.

Hearing the name I gave her being used by her made my knees tremble harder. The name seemed as though it fit far too perfectly. It was as if she had controlled my body once again, this time with her thoughts to say the name Iris. Seeing as she liked it, however, meant I was in the clear for this interaction.

“Ah. I was right to have such an interest in you, Celestia. It’s been quite some time since I’ve had any interest in humans.” She told me.

“M-ME?” I responded to her words with an overwhelming dread forming in me.

“Oh, of course. Your talent, goals, ideals, and everything is quite commendable. Round of applause.” She began clapping in front of me, but as she started, I heard a whole crowd clap instead.

“H-HOW?”

“It’s not something you need to know about. These basic books are quite interesting. Learning about all this, I’m sure Fae would be proud if she were…actually nevermind.” She stopped herself short.

“YOU KNOW FAE?”

“Well my dear Celestia, I know everyone and everything. How else do you think I could find out what you were called by without asking you for it.”

She was right. I had never even given her my name, yet she was using it so casually like she had been an old friend.

“Well, look at the time. It looks like it’s about time for you to get going. After all, you have someone to meet now.” She reminded me of an appointment I didn’t know I had and handed me my books. “And please, try to keep me entertained until the end.”

“WHAT?” I attempted to question her.

With a sudden release my legs were freed and had quickly turned away from the strange entity, making a mad dash away. The ominous shadow which had blocked the light of the sun had begun disappearing, trailed behind by a menacing laugh that echoed. Her final words kept ringing in my head “And please, try to keep me entertained till the end.”

Finally escaping from the confines of the alleyway, the inherent fear that was built into me had begun disappearing, but the memory was entirely ingrained into me. Checking back to see if she was there, all I could see was the same alleyway I had originally walked into before, completely empty. The missing piece of iron had even returned back to where it was.

Looking away from the strange sight, I stared intently at the ground, trying to catch my breath and regain some of my lost sanity. A sea of questions raged in my mind that I did not dare ask aloud at the fear she may reappear to answer them. My legs and hands were shaking so hard it felt as though they would never stop.

“H-hey are you okay?” A man's voice called out to me.

I shuddered away from where the voice was calling from, fearful the woman had come to torment me again with a different voice this time. When I glanced up, I could make out a man in tattered clothing. He had strange black hair, and black eyes. He was approaching me slowly, limping over to me. Around his back he was holding up a large bag made of rags. Seeing the destroyed state of the man in front of me caused me to snap out of the fear I was still wrapped in. I was going to heal this man.