The magician frowned, feeling something but unsure what it was. James quickly looked away and took a deep breath to calm himself. Putting his hand in his pocket to hide his shaking hand, he wore his friendliest smile, making sure to keep his barin protected with his aura. "Hi." James could hear his voice sound stiff, "Aren't you a bit young to run a store?" Not wishing for the magician to hear it, he asked.
"Of course I am, but grandmother said she will give it to me when I'm sixteen." James smiled and turned his head to look around.
"How long is that then?" The magician smiled.
"Next year. I can't wait." The Magician stroked the clerk's desk affectionately. James took a sharp breath. 'A killer at fifteen.' Peeking at the Magician, who was lost in his own world, James couldn't help but feel that it was strange. To take a life wasn't easy; it changed someone on a fundamental level.
Yet looking at the boy, he could still see a spark of innocence and a sense of wonder that he shouldn't have anymore. It wasn't as if he was a psychopath; James had seen enough to know what a real one looked like. Even if his smile was fake, the brightness in his eyes was real.
But it got him thinking about something else. To meet the boy so quickly was strange. Was it a coincidence, or was the machination of something larger at play, forcing James to meet these people? "Sorry." The magician jumped up in shock after realising how rude he had been. "What can I do for you?"
James stared at him and put on a friendly smile again, "I'm looking for a book related to the Door of Heaven, the old myth. Do you have it..." James paused, trying to get his name. The boy's face flushed with embarrassment.
Grabbing the end of his oversized hat, he tipped it towards James, "Magnus, the Great Magician." James smiled and watched as Magnus ran to one end of the shop, where a bookshelf was. Looking around and avoiding Magnus, he activated his eyes. Everything inside the shop was a regular item, bar one thing. Leaning against the back door, a wooden staff with a white gem at the top glowed with a yellow glow similar to Magnus' aura.
"Found it." Magnus happily said and ran back over, holding a thin book. Slamming it on the table, he beamed a bright smile at James, "You like these stories too? Although this one is good, I personally love the story about Jinxes the Trickster." Magnus looked at James with expectant eyes, hoping he would ask him about it.
'It's a good chance to try and understand him.' James thought to himself and nodded before looking at the book on the table. Suppressing his groan, he saw it was the same one the library had. "Jinxes? I've never heard that one."
Magnus's smile grew wide as he ran back to the bookshelf and pulled the book out. James could see how worn it was and knew the book must have been read hundreds, if not a thousand times.
"In the age of heroes, dragons, gods, angels and demons, Jinxes walked the world." Magnus put on a serious tone, trying to act like a movie narrator. It would have been a cute sight if James had known the boy wasn't a killer. He carried on. "Jinxes was a man who had nothing but wished for everything. One fateful day, an angel appeared before him and told Jinxes he was to be one of the heroes, to fight on behalf of heaven and end the war."
Magnus sighed and stroked the cover, "Despite being a hero, he was ridiculed by the people around him. He was blessed, but as his power could only fool the mind, they felt he was useless in the great war against evil."
"But Jinxus didn't give up. In his ambition to have the world, he approached hero after hero, dragging himself through dirt and horror, slowly training himself until he could have them all under his spell. When he had the heroes, he raised his gaze and waited for an angel to appear again. But one couldn't know how heaven moved, so he approached a cult." Despite the serious tone he put on, James could hear his voice growing more excited.
"Casting his spell on them, he stepped out of the darkness and spoke, 'The puppets of heaven have become too strong. Without a servant of our great lord, we are doomed to lose. We must summon one, even if it costs us our lives.' In their ears, under his spell, his words sounded like honey. Twenty days and twenty nights, they gathered their sacrifices and made the prayer."
Magnus spread his arms, "Oh, great lord. The one to liberate our mind and correct this wrong, please, we beseech you, we implore you, we pray to you. Send us your greatest servant, and help us fight the puppet masters."
Magnus was about to say something, but stopped and smiled. Looking back at James, he held up the book, "If you want to hear the rest, you have to pay." James was stunned before chuckling.
"I'll take it as well." Magnus celebrated a little. Putting the copy of Jinxus the Trickster away and grabbing a new one, he scanned the two items and put them in a bag. Handing the money over, James looked back at him and saw the young boy waving with a bright smile. Getting into the car, he sat down and lit a cigarette, finally able to breathe correctly.
'He's presence alone makes you wish to drop your guard.' Telling himself, he took a smoke. The longer Magnus spoke, the more he realised that the boy wasn't putting on a face. He was still a naive child who fantasised about stories. If he didn't know better and were told he had killed, James would question the sanity of the person.
'Is it really a coincidence? Actually...' James looked back at the shop. 'Maybe this is a chance?' Starting the car, James drove to the end of the street, turned around and parked on the opposite side of the road. Staring at the store, he waited. Magnus was still young and, from the way he acted, naive. James knew that, in such an organisation, they wouldn't let him move alone. But most importantly, he was someone talented enough to make a person die from an illusion. They couldn't risk losing him to an accident.
James' heart tightened, and looking around at the other cars parked up, he wondered if any of them were sent to watch over the young boy. 'It's too late to worry.' Despite telling himself, he took his gun out of its holster and rested it on his lap.
Bouncing his foot and smoking, a few hours passed. Magnus stepped out of his shop and stretched before holding his staff in the air, pointing it down the road. Leaning against the wall with a mischievous grin on his face, he waited.
James followed where he pointed, and saw a car approaching quickly. It parked up just before where Magnus stood. Stepping out, James held his breath. Alannah, still wearing he mask, stepped out and looked around for a second, rubbing her eyes in annoyance.
James saw Magnus unable to hold his laugh, point at her and grab his stomach. Starting the car, James had his foot on the pedal, ready. Blinking, he activated his eyes and got a clear look at Alannah's aura. It wasn't as overwhelming as he expected. Instead, only forming where her stomach would be in the shape of a black-and-white ball, interwoven like a yin-yang symbol.
Alannah spun around, pushing Magnus behind her, and James sped off, not wishing to face the touch of the women. 'Black and white. A power with two different attributes.' It was the first time he had seen something like it, but James didn't question it. Many strange powers existed, like Rose's own, that didn't follow any real laws.
'Black.' Thinking of the footage, he made a theory. 'Corrosion, death, decay. Something like that. Then white. It must be associated with it, but the opposite. Life, Repair, growth.' He couldn't be sure his theory was true, but the way her aura formed in her body made it feel like it might be.
James shook his head, taking a right going a different way home. Checking in his mirrors after making four left-hand turns, he sighed in relief that he wasn't being followed and finally felt safe to return to his apartment.