Magic Has Many Faces [Sabbo]

It was three in the morning when the phone rang in the big, quiet house in Santa Mariela. No one, much less Cadenza Madrigal, was inclined to be personable at three in the bloody morning. She uttered a series of impolite groans and mumbled swear words, and groped around on the bedside table for her cell. Damn, she thought, she should've turned down the volume on the ringer. The whole neighborhood could probably hear Madonna's greatest hits blasting from the little thing.

"Diga me," she managed, after a few grumbled tries at a greeting. Screw that. No one who called at three AM deserved a greeting anyway.

Tracey de Carlo's jittery, somewhat nasally voice came over the receiver loud and particularly irritating to the gypsy's groggy senses, "Cadenza, Cadenza, oh thank the lord you answered! I know it's late, but... but see, Alex has gone missing, and... and Monroe and I have searched everywhere, and...! And...!"

"Wait..." Cadenza muttered, wincing at the detective's sheer volume. Her temples were already beginning to throb. She had no idea how Rain was sleeping through this. Sloths couldn't have slept through this, she thought. "...she's only eight, Red, where could she have even gone...? Don't you guys lock your doors...? How long's she been missing...?"

"I... I don't know...! She just... we went up to... to tell her dinner was ready earlier, and...!"

There was a momentary pause from the gypsy woman's end. "...oh gods," she said finally, "Alex missed dinner? This is serious. Well... come on, Holmes, you're the detective here. You must have some other details I could go on..."

Tracey's voice suddenly became defensive at this, as if she were deeply offended. And that was precisely why Cadenza had said it. Hopefully it'd make her at least try to speak in clearer, more fluid sentences. And quieter. Please quieter. "Of course...! We... we have searched all over town and the neighboring deserts and shacks. We have left word at the police stations and inns, and have received no word back since seven this evening. And... well... the door to Monroe's study was left... ajar. Perhaps...?"

"Perhaps... what? Finish your sentences, de Carlo. I haven't got a clue what's in your hubby's little grubby office."

"I believe he mentioned... some sort of door to the 'Dome'... perhaps she wandered through...? He was going to search, but... we have no way of tracking her, a-and..." the detective's voice faltered. She hated to admit she couldn't pick up on a trail.

"...you don't, but I do. No, don't ask me to explain... it'd involve magical jabber and you'd just wind up confused and asking way too many questions. But trust me, I'll get on it. I'm not having my poor niece wander around alone in some unfamiliar world..."

----------------------------------------------

In an unfamiliar world, Alessandra Dionne, known as "Alex" to her friends, was wandering around alone. It was not, altogether, a horrible place. It seemed very wide and open, and the air smelled fresh, for the most part. Here and there as she walked, she could catch a whiff of some rather delicious smelling food coming from small little homes near these strange stepped and watery expanses of land filled with rice. She had tried asking an old man she'd passed what the funny-looking places were called, but he'd just rattled off something to her in a weird, fast-paced foreign language and hurried on his way. She had been hoping he'd at least offer her some of whatever snack he'd been munching on. She felt he'd been kind of rude.

After some time walking, the girl was beginning to get cold. It was the wind, that was it. What she wouldn't do for that nice electric blanket her dad would wrap her up in on cooler nights... but hey, what was keeping her from warming herself up like that now? She had a sweatshirt on over her clothes... that should be good enough. All she needed was the electricity, right? Well she definitely had that covered.

A small spark of green arched from her fingers into the cloth, and did just the trick. Alex wasn't aware that using her magic would give off a trace of magical energy to anyone who was sensitive enough to it. Or that she plain exuded magic, as all mages from her world did, at all times. And she certainly didn't know that could get her into trouble if she ran across the wrong kind of people...

OoC: Because Honor didn't know what it meant--
"Diga me" = literally "Talk to me", a common phrase used in Spanish when answering a telephone call

It had been a few years, but Tatek was once again in his home country of Zhonguo, and as he walked north-east along the Shuitian Road he could see the celadon qi of the rice paddies on either side of his path. He knew that the foothills of Xueshan would be somewhere to his left, and the ocean out of sight to his right. Just behind him was the country of Okoku, while somewhere far ahead was the Zhonguen city of Gangkou. Yes, the blind man took comfort in the fact that, for the first time in months, he knew where he was.

Spotting a few farmers up ahead, Tatek donned his hood to hide his lack of eyes. Walking away from the late afternoon sun, his face was almost formless to those he passed. When he looked around to see if he could remove his hood, he realised that he had entered the heart of this particular community. He could see not only numerous farmers, but also children playing along the side of the road, which in this region echoed a local law to only let children play within sight of their home.

One particular child though had inadvertently caught his attention as she walked along. She was more than just a small figure of qi on the road. She had magic. As for knowing what type of magic though, the anti-mage was unsure. It seemed somewhat yellowish, and rather fast, but the distance between the girl and himself made it hard to see.

As a measure of caution - Tatek didn't want the farmers or other children getting hurt - he figured it would be best if any potential fight was as far away from normal people as possible. As a means to this end, he quickened his pace to a run to catch up to the girl walking away, giving him time to grab her and, before his mind had even registered that her reaction was in an unrecognizable language, throw her far into a nearby - albeit unoccupied - rice paddy.

<Children are not exceptions,> Tatek announced as he ran to catch up to where he threw the girl. <Witch... it is time for you to die.>

Cadenza had thrown on the first blouse and pair of jeans she'd grabbed over her mythril armor (man, getting into that was a chore--thank the gods Omar had insulated it so it didn't chafe anymore), scribbled a quick note for Kate (the girl was a worrier like her mommy), and sped out the Dome door in the hallway in ten minutes flat. And it still hadn't been fast enough, in her estimation. Every second that passed was another second Alex was lost out there, and could get herself into trouble. Ohhh, she's good at that--causing problems, or just stumbling into them. She must get that trait from me. What a crappy gene. Natural selection my arse.

The Dome halls were filled with the same array of sights, smells, and sounds that she had always remembered when she arrived. The woman felt she could have walked through them blindfolded. There were the pungent aromas of the cafeteria, filled with cuisines to please a thousand different species' palates, and the general stench that came from any room with too many sweaty, active people, like the fighters of the Dome, in it, and then the libraries, with the musty old smell of books, and disinfectant, and pine wood shelves. The gardens were a colorful splash of heady, floral scents (Cadenza would never admit it, but she'd always had a thing for flowers--Rubato had so few), and musky tree sap-like smells that washed your senses clean. Just walking past them gave Cadenza a slight spring in her step, however cranky she felt. She'd take whatever she could get to feel more awake, at this point--because it was not like there was any turning back without Alex in tow.

The Vosslers so owe me after this... and I should have brought coffee. Good, strong coffee.

There were countless traces of various magics in the seemingly endless building of corridors, but a tiny green-yellow spark was distinctive and familiar enough to Cadenza to follow. Sure enough, Alex had been here. She'd recognize that spark anywhere. It was a spark that had short-circuited three television sets, eight stereos, and one car battery. And despite all that, it still belonged to someone she really wanted back home. Family was above all else.

The gypsy followed the trail doggedly, elbowing passersby out of her way (some that remembered her from long-gone teacher days cringed and shielded their vulnerable spots just out of hard-forgotten habit), until she came to a door.

---------------------------------------

It was smelly and it was wet and Alex thought she'd scraped her knee. And that summed it up--the whole experience had stopped being a fun little outing (albeit one severely lacking in food) the moment she'd been hurled into the rice paddy. The worst part was that she didn't even understand why. She only knew there was this mean man coming after her, calling her things like "wupo", which she hadn't the faintest idea what it might mean. It didn't sound bad... it sounded silly, to be honest. Like the name of a toy.

But whatever it meant, it sure had not been meant to be comedic. Because he was still coming after her.

There had been few times Alex, as tough a girl as she was, had ever wanted to cry. But this was definitely one of them. As she picked herself out of the muck, and looked down at her bruised knees, she began to wail, "I want my Daaaaaad!" and tears started to run down her tan cheeks. Her voice warbled, and her hands shook, and little sparks of electricity leaked from her in her distress.

<Shut up, witch; I'm sure you'd rather not have a painful death,> Tatek said plainly when he reached the wailing girl. Hearing her response though made Tatek realize that this child was likely not from around here, as he didn't recognize her language in the slightest.

Doing his best to ignore the noise the girl was making, Tatek took a close yet brief look at her magic. The most obvious things he noticed were that it was a slightly off-yellow color and that it was very fast - faster than almost any other magic he'd seen before. He also noticed that it easily spread through and slightly damaged the nearby rice stalks. From this, Tatek thought it a safe assumption that while it was dangerous to most life, it was still just magic, and so was of no danger to him.

As the anti-mage reached out his hand to grab the girl's arm though, she had seen this and backed away quicker than Tatek had thought she would be able to. Slightly confused, a glance at her gave him a good idea why she was able to do that: she had turned her magic inward, speeding herself up considerably.

But how fast are you really? With that thought, Tatek focused the qi in his legs and jumped after her; when she ran away, all Tatek could do was run after her. After all, even if she was initially faster than the anti-mage, he almost certainly had more stamina than the child.

Static sparks shot off Alex's muddied sneakers as she darted over the rolling fields, her black hair standing on-end like a startled cat. Normally she liked to run, but this was no game of gym class tag. Her heart was pounding, and her chest was beginning to burn--she had never been this afraid before, not even on Halloween when she'd stayed up to watch slasher films past bedtime. Even the rush of adrenaline surging through her felt electric. The girl could taste its biting, sharp twang in her mouth... her watering mouth that reminded her how hungry she was, and how badly she wanted to be back home. This was the worst trip ever.

W-what did I do...? she kept wondering, with the guilty conscience of a kid who's broken many vases playing ball in the house, I-I didn't even break nothin' this time, honest...! This dude's just... just mean!

The soles of her old red Converse were flat and her heels and the arches of her feet ached against them. They weren't made for running like this (she liked them best for kickball, honestly.) And she had no idea when she could even stop. Alex was too terrified to even glance back over her shoulder--but the leaps and bounds of the strange, determined man could be heard approaching, regular and rhythmic, a steady and constant pace. How... she panted, shivering at another rush of electricity that she piped into her sore little muscles, how long's he gonna chase me for...?

When they'd come to the end of the rice paddies, where the lowlands met a wide blue river, she knew she just couldn't take it anymore. The girl had to sit down, her aching muscles were begging her to, if only for a moment to take a breather. The man was still coming after her, she could spot him in the distance, but she was just so tired...

With the resilience of a young athlete, Alex pushed herself to jog along the bank at least a while longer until she found a small yew tree, and quickly set to work hefting herself up into the branches to hide and rest. Good thing I practiced those pull-ups yesterday... now this is just for a l-little rest... With that assurance in mind, she leaned back against the trunk, wrapping her wiry legs around a branch so they wouldn't dangle. The tree glowed faintly as magic electricity discharged itself in small currents from her tired and tense little body.

She relaxed there for a moment, her eyes closed, just listening to the birds. Peaceful birds, she thought in the back of her head. Maybe her dad would buy her a canary...

And then Alex realized the pursuing footsteps had stopped. Her hazel eyes shot open like a rabbit's when poking its head out of its den to scan for danger, and she looked around at the fields between the cover of yew leaves that had been her sanctuary. No sign of the man, as far as she could see. Unless he was coming from somewhere that the branches were blocking from view... that was the downside to hiding in a tree. She had no idea who--

"--Alessandra Dionne, are you up there!?"

Instinctively Alex jumped at the familiar voice, and hurriedly declared her innocence from breaking anything in the past twenty-four hours (including a suspiciously specific denial of taking a candy bar from her dad's desk.) There was a pause from the speaker then, followed by a soft musical chuckle.

"...Yep, that's definitely you. No other kid I know is so well-trained for instant denial like that. Come on down here, menina."

The girl's eyes widened with recognition and deep, deep relief. "Oh Tia 'denza, it's you...!" she wasted no time disentangling herself from the yew and sliding down its slender trunk into the waiting arms of the woman, throwing herself with glee against her and hugging her tight. "I was so scared, there was this weird jerk and... and he was chasing me, and oh thank you so much for coming to get me!"

Tears of joy, replacing those of fear that had run only minutes ago, slid down her cheeks and soaked her aunt's jacket as Cadenza held Alex closely and protectively, her warmth feeling comforting and secure to the young girl.

" 'Course I came..." the woman told her, rubbing her back a bit gently, "but you know, you're not out of the fire yet. You're gonna get quite a talking-to when I get you home... and... I think your weird buddy's still around here."

With those words, Cadenza Madrigal glanced up from her niece into the concave shadows cast under a hood that should have been, she thought, this Asian man's eyes.

Tatek slowed his pace when he saw a purplish magic approach the girl he was following, and while the color couldn't be more different, he could still see that the two were similar. As he got closer though, he could see that the purple one had more than just magic at her call - her qi was also one of the brightest Tatek had ever seen in a mage before.

<I had wondered why a child as powerless as this was alone,> Tatek said as he stopped a couple of dozen feet away from the child and what he now could identify as a woman he guessed to be around his own age, <but now I see that she was not completely alone.>

Faced against someone with a warrior's reservoir of qi, Tatek stretched his legs sore from the run and stood in a high fighting stance, preparing for a fight. <But it matters not; now you both get to die.>

OoC: Ugh, my writing is getting sloppy; I should go read a good book.

<But it matters not; now you both get to die,> the man said, in a language that vaguely sounded like Zhenghese to the gypsy's ears. She could pick out a word that sounded similar to "die", because that was an important word. It always was.

She looked down at Alex, who refused to let go of her, and putting her hand on the top of the girl's head, gently turned her view towards the man facing them down, "That's the guy, right? Don't need to get hassled for beating up a harmless monk or something later. But he sure seems like he wants to have a go."

"Mhm..." her niece nodded and clung to her tighter, "t-that's him, Tia..."

"All right then," Cadenza crackled her knuckles, and hefted the girl up, "get onto my back if you don't wanna get off. And hold tight."

As soon as she felt the girl's weight swing around to her back, and her skinny arms secure around her shoulders, the woman murmured a few words and a shield sprang into life like a bubble around Alex. At the same time, a flurry of dart-shaped, shadowy blasts flew towards the man with the cloak.

At the risk of sounding cliche--bailamos, bucko. You seem ready. And no one crosses a Madrigal on my watch and gets away with it.

OoC:
bailamos = "we dance"/"let's dance"

And you're not that baaad. :O