Threshold Deity: … and Arctodus

Cristina was scared. She didn't understand what was happening. For the first time, she realized that something was happening to her. She could see those sparks that her body was emitting.

“What is happening?” she asked. To no one in specific, but her question was answered.

“You are a witch, lady” commented the young man next to her, holding his left arm. “For now, just obey. Look at him. He wanted your magic to become chaotic, he wanted to…”

The young man next to Cristina watched as the attacker tried to free himself. Big mistake. He didn't want to adapt. The eyes of that young athlete changed color to a dark blue. The atmosphere became hostile almost immediately. The attacker panicked; his magic was fading away.

“If you don't want to adapt, then your end will be more painful" said the young man, not letting Cristina get free. "Girl, it's your turn. Close your eyes, feel that power emanating from inside your body."

Cristina obeyed. She was trembling, she didn't understand what was happening, but she felt a strange warmth. Like when you drink cold water and you feel it go down your esophagus and suddenly drop into your stomach. She felt tickles.

“Try to guide it to your left hand” continued the young man. He saw how the symbol on Cristina's hand modified.

It was balanced between night and day. The girl's hand glowed. Her hair also changed. Her characteristic black color began to take a strange hue. The tips acquired a golden and pink color.

“Throw that power at that man: shouted the young man." Cristina moved her hand, doing so as if she had thrown a handful of seeds.

She saw how that glow went toward that man and paralyzed him. She saw him scream in pain and fall to his knees on the ground. That young man then took advantage and finished the job. A strange power emanated from his eyes: like light blue water vapor, it came out of both eyes and enveloped the attacker.

The attacker was trembling, beginning to repeat phrases that couldn't be heard, that couldn't be understood.

“It's all over…” he whispered. The young man watched and listened to him. "It's not worth fighting anymore…"

He screamed. His magic had been neutralized. He didn't understand it at the time, but the young athlete did. His magic made him lose the will to fight; it was he who neutralized his magic.

At that moment, she saw some butterflies arriving, and dodged them. They were attack butterflies. He neutralized some of hem. He noticed that his power could not be compared to those butterflies. Two of those butterflies landed on his body, he got paralyzed to such a degree that he felt his heart stop. He saw the girl by his side. She was also attacked by those butterflies.

He saw how two people, a man and a woman, arrived where he was; one of them was singing and was surrounded by butterflies. The woman stopped singing and watched, recongized Cristina.

“Cristina!” the man shouted and ran toward the girl who was about to faint.

He hugged her. Little by little, Cristina began to wake up. She saw Alex without understanding how he had found her. She was exhausted and could do nothing more than let Alex comfort her. Maya took one of her butterflies and it transformed into a sword that she placed near the chest of the young athlete.

“You've got the wrong enemy” said the young man with a broken voice. It was noticeable that the attack affected his magic. He couldn't attack back. "It was that man who attacked first."

“Name and rank” ordered Maya.

“Thomas Mansell” replied the young man. "Blessed by Arctodus."

“An illegal…”

“I am not, miss” Thomas stretched his right arm toward Maya; a symbol appeared: a four-pointed blue star. He was there legally. "I am part of Polaris clan."

Alex began to feel despair and shout the name of Cristina, who had, again, fainted. Maya and Thomas saw them. Already with his strength renewed, Thomas stood up and tried to leave.

“The girl needs help” he said in a serious tone, taking Maya's sword.
It turned back into a butterfly, which startled Maya. She didn't understand that man's power. Maya didn't know what to do.

“She has a symbol on her left hand. She is a magic user” Thomas explained. “Do you know what it means?”

“A lunar one…”

“Or a Threshold Deity” corrected Thomas with pride. “Arctodus is a Liminal affiliated to Polaris. It's up to you to figure out what's happening to her.”

Thomas walked slowly away from that place. The first thing Maya did was call her father to ask for help. While they waited, some butterflies perched on the man to prevent him from escaping or attacking again. She looked at Alex and Cristina.

She felt a new emotion while watching Alex hug Cristina. She felt frustration, she felt some hatred. She began to feel uncomfortable with the presence of her friend's boyfriend and didn't understand why.

“I have to take her there” Maya mentioned after a moment of silence.
“We have to take her to the hospital” Alex explained. “That man surely did something to her, plus her body is cold.”

Maya took Cristina's left hand. Thomas was right. It was barely noticeable, but there was a symbol she didn't recognize. She cursed. Problems were accumulated one by one. Maya took her phone and made several calls. Alex only waited, with a lot of doubts about what he could do.

After a few minutes, some people took that man away, and Maya decided to take Cristina to a place only she knew.

“I'll handle things from here” Maya explained to Alex. “Go back to Azulona and explain to Cristina's parents what happened.”

“But…”

“Just do it!” Maya shouted as she got into a car which had a symbol drawn on it that seemed strange to Alex.

It was entirely blue. A four-pointed star was in the middle. The vertically aligned points were larger than the horizontal points. Behind these were secondary diagonal trails. This star was surrounded by a circular halo also in blue color. Maya closed the car door and drove away.

When Alex arrived at the school, there were some police cars at the entrance. Javier and Dolores were there. Both were talking to the cops and explaining what happened. Alex didn't know how to approach and just wanted to walk past. He felt tired. Javier saw him.

“Alex, wait” he told him, taking him by the arm to stop him. "Do you know where she is? Did you find her?"

“No…” he lied. He couldn't find the courage to tell the truth. At the school entrance, Circe was watching in silence, she was also worried. "I don't know where she is…"

“Are you sure?” Javier asked; Alex nodded and apologized. 

He was telling the truth. At the same time, he was thinking about what Maya told him. How could say it? He only wanted to go home already. Alex decided to search for her mother and tell her what he wanted, only praying that Cristina could be safe and everything could finish with a happy ending.

Circe stopped him before he entered the school, and Alex, knowing what she was going to say, avoided her. He tried to enter the school, but Circe stopped him by grabbing his shoulder.

“I know Maya took her” That was what Circe said. Alex shuddered.

“I don't know what happened” he began to say rapidly. "I only know they talked about magic, threshold deities, and I don't know what happened with a strange person…"

“Let's leave Maya to handle it” Circe said with a fake smile, eerie even for Alex, who still didn't understand what was going on.