Time, Forever Ours

You sighed slightly and brushed your long blonde hair. You’ve been practicing the whole day. Since 2am. Why? Tomorrow was the final battle of course. At least, that’s what you’re aiming for. You didn’t want this to be a never-ending mêlée. For three years this war had been going on. Even though you weren’t exactly personally affected by it, you intended to help and see it through to the end. Three years ago the demons of the Arcane Shores (as they so eloquently call it), decided that the rest of the world wasn’t fit to exist. They started small though. It made more sense to rid themselves of their highest competition first, Werewolves, Centaurs, Seraphim, Vampires, Wiccans, Fairies and Elves and such. They hadn’t factored in Mages since the Magi Order had been underground for the last two-hundred years. Demons, Witches, Sirens, Djinns, Ghouls, Banshees and even more were siding against you.. well.. all of you. It wasn’t the Order who had managed to persuade the Phoenix of the South and the Dragon of the East to join your side. It was you. You were one of the last three Archmages left to the Order and you were highly respected. You had trained yourself until you were twelve, which was an amazing feat on it’s own. You were a Natural Mage by birth. The only reason as to why the Magi Order had discovered your well hidden abilities was the fact that you had accidently transported an entire lake –along with yourself- from where you lived to the middle of your school’s library (where it was promptly blamed on a faulty pipeline). Your mom and your two sisters didn’t know this though. They are blissfully unaware of it, and you intend it to stay that way. Earlier in the day you had been practicing your sealing spells, but it was highly unlikely that you would be able to conjure one in time when in battle. They took effort and a lot of energy.. chi.. akasa.. mana.. whatever people wanted to call it these days. It irritated you how people would judge those in practice of magic. Just because some people were ignorant of it, or didn’t have full understanding of it they labeled it as “Evil” or “Unreal”. Both labels were equally bad in your eyes. Even the fact that they deny magic was laughable. How CAN people ignore what’s really in front of them? Are they really so blind as to not see what’s really going on? You didn’t need an answer for that. Hypocrisy wasn’t something you favored to debate in your spare time. You’d rather research your favorite obsession of the moment and just surf the internet. It had been a little awkward at first to get used to using English as your main writing medium as opposed to Chinese, but you had easily adapted. You stared at yourself in the mirror. Eight hours before you need to get up. Nine hours before you need to be at the Arcane Shores. Ten before the battle starts. You looked up slightly. You had written a shortened version of your motto in red lipstick at the top edge of your mirror when you had started training three years ago. “Crying is not going to change anything.” . Writing on walls/doors/tables ect. wasen’t exactly ‘your thing’ as per se (face it.. it's like vandalism only worse...), but you needed to remind yourself constantly. Especially with a Magus like Dewi scrutinizing your every move like he usually does. He’d constantly nag you about arm positions, enounciation and stance. Even when you improved, he’d find something to comment on. A frustrated sigh left your lips. He was an amazing Magus though. He was part elemental, part vampire. He had complete control over fire and water. With brown puppy eyes, short black hair and an athletic build he wasn’t too bad looking either. Dewi was an awesome sorcerer.. but it was an irritation to spar with him since he’d use his telepathy (he had gained that as a vampire) to predict your moves. This forced you to build a mental block out to his invasion into your thoughts. The only way you could tell that he was trying to read your thoughts was that your head started to pound, like in a very bad headache. You’d usually yell out “You’re cheating” when you recognized that type of pain. His usual retort would be “Aww.. poor baby” he would mock. Dewi was very sweet though when you were sick or depressed. He was

also very protective towards you and solidly forbade you to head into any type of fight without him by your side. It was a comforting reassurance knowing he was there, even though you held your own in battle. You looked down again and took in a deep breath. Even though it was only 6pm, you knew you had to be awake at 2am. You walked over to your bed and climbed in. You switched off your bedside lamp. It didn’t take long for you to fall asleep. *Bee-* You quickly shut it off as to not wake the rest of your family. In all honesty you’ve been awake for five minutes now, just lacked the willingness to shut it off beforehand. For some reason your body had always been an internal alarm on it’s own, so alarm clocks and you never really did find a lot of use for each other. You got up and walked over to your table. You had written them a note. ‘I’ll be back by 6pm. Don’t worry, I’m going to the movies with Dewi. Love you!!’ you had written. That way they wouldn’t call your cellphone. That way they wouldn’t worry. You took a short, cold shower and dried off when you got back to your room. You dressed in a short plaid skirt, white blouse with a black tank sweater over it and a pair of low-heeled knee-length black boots. You added a necklace with a Celtic cross. There wouldn’t be time to create a spell circle on the battlefield, this way it wouldn’t be necessary. You brushed vigorously through your long blonde hair and tied it back into a ponytail. First foundation, eyeliner followed, mascara came next, red eye shadow and finishing with dark red lipstick. A little flashy, but you were going to battle in anyway. You wanted to make an impression. These demons had been the bane of your existence of the past three-years. They were the reason you looked like an insomniac!! Walking to the front door you started to feel a knot in your throat. This battle. No.. this war was about to end. In just another two hours the fighting would be at full out. This was a surprise attack on their hideout. An all-out attack. You opened the door, walked out and locked the door behind you. You were more than a little surprised to see Dewi right in front of you with a small solemn smile on his face and it as strange to see him like that. He usually loved to battle but it seemed like he was ready just to walk away and pretend this war had never existed. You both knew he wouldn’t do that though. Without even greeting you he wrapped his arms around you. You knew what was coming and took in a deep breath. You hated this. It started to feel like all the oxygen was being sucked out from around you. The world was obscured by view and it seemed like black and red whirlwind. Then, just like that, it stopped. You were standing on the Arcane Shores with him. It took a minute for you to get over that teleportation. Dewi hugged you tightly, all the while keeping you steady. “I’m fine” you said and pulled away. He brushed a stray blonde hair away from your face before walking to the main camp. The army was ready. You clearly saw the diversity, even in this community of “the good guys” . Vampires sat with Vampires. Fairies sat with Fairies. It was a bit awkward. Each group sat with their own kind, far enough away from others’ groups. Internal rivalry amongst magical beings has always been there, even if it was masked with a veil of peace. You walked around for a while until it was time to form the lines. Dewi softly commanded each individual where to stand in the battalion formation. The first row was mainly Elves. They were armed with long bows and light swords, they were going to literally set the battlefield on fire. Second row was werewolves and centaurs –even though it took a bit of persuasion for them to stop snapping and kicking at each other. That persuasion was Dewi. He stood in front of a pair of them. A red haze erupted from the ground, it grew into pitch-black bats which started to encircle them. The pair was so scared of this that they immediately dropped to the ground. The ground beneath them melted and erupted into thousands of centipedes, spiders and snakes. Dewi smirked and snapped his fingers. It all disappeared. “Now, now… Marcia, Natalie.. are you still going to fight?” he mocked while leaning towards them. Needless to say they shook their heads and

behaved like obedient children. You laughed at that. You were sorted into the third row, along with the Fairies and Seraphim. The lines behind you were a mixture of all the remaining beasts. You took in a shaky breath. It was calm outside. It was a little cold and a drizzle was falling down from the heavens. The Arcane Shores were mountainous and luscious with grass and daffodils. Hardly the place you had pictured for a hoard of demons and necromancers to make home. The mist was rising. It was time for the attack to begin. The Elves readied their bows and arrows. Dewi ignited all twenty arrow tips with a wave of his hand. The arrows were released and the battle had begun. It was dark outside, but your eyes had adjusted to the darkness. It was full moon out tonight. It seemed surreal as screams, howls and explosions flared up all around you. It wasn’t long before your third row was drawn into the battle. You were facing two witches. It was obvious that they excelled at the black arts by the spells that they casted on you. You managed to deflect most of them, but one had hit you badly. It felt like your insides were on fire, but you just smirked, “Aquae surgi… venio” you whispered while spreading your palm. The two witches laughed and the one walked closer to you and took hold of your chin with her bony fingers, “Bitch, latin spells are for magi.. not a second-rate spellcas-” she sneered but stopped. Her rant had been interrupted by a large earthquake which shook the entire battlefield. A massive tidal wave rose to the top of the mountain where you all were fighting and washed over it. All your allies were safe, but your enemies..not so much. You watched as the tidal wave washed them all to the side. “Adire dextrorsum … flecte te” you said softly and with your hands motioned to the right, as if turning while in water. The wave obeyed your spell and swooped around and washed back to the right side. You smirked a bit and extended your right arm in front of you, palm spread out. “Glacies” you commanded. The entire wave turned to solid ice. You could see that more than half of the enemy was trapped. You knew that this was the perfect time. Around you was a pretty much clear field, the rest of the battalion was occupied with your sides’ forces. You had time. You took your stance. Feet apart, arms straight ahead, palms facing down. “Satisdatio iudicatum solvi… ” you started, but you suddenly felt that same searing pain in your mind. It wouldn’t be Dewi, would it?? He wouldn’t try this on the battlefield!? ... thoughts ran through your mind but a moment later your world went black. *** You woke up. “Hey, Alex!” it was your sister. You shook your head. But you were just in a battle!!! Right!? .. Right? … “We’re going to the beach in a few minutes” she said happily and pointed to a bag by the door. “Mom already packed for you” she said and hugged you. You sat up and looked down. You were wearing your Hello Kitty pajamas. No, that had to be real. You took hold of the empty glass on your nightstand, “Venio aquae” you said irritably. Nothing. Water should have appeared in your glass by now… You frowned and tried it again. Nothing. You put the glass back down and got out of bed. “Alex! Are you ready to go yet? Dewi is waiting!” you heard your mom call from the kitchen. He should know what’s going on!!! You ran to the kitchen, grabbed him by his plaid shirt and pulled him to living room. An akward smile crossed his face, “M-morning” he said softly. Since when did Dewi stutter? You shook him a bit. “It’s not working! My spell isn’t working!!” you said urgently. “.. spell? .. Um.. don’t you think we’re a bit old to be writing spelling tests? .. or do you need some help with sp-” he started but you cut him off by waving your arms in the air. “No! Damnit! My spell.. I can’t use magic!!” you repeated. A glint formed in his brown eyes. “You’re always magical to me” he said softly and leaned down.. and He.Was.Kissing.You. Your eyes widened. He licked your bottom lip and pulled away. You couldn’t help but stay frozen. He just kissed you. DEWI JUST… “Are you feeling better now?” he asked sweetly. His brown eyes were shimmering with worry and love. You were getting even more worried. Dewi usually wouldn’t even stand close to you, expect for special situations.. but this?? “W-why did you just kiss me?!” you asked, your voice betraying your feelings with its high pitch. He laughed and hugged you, “Aww..

can’t I kiss my own girlfriend?” he joked. You stiffened again. Girlfriend?? Then you started to relax. You did always feel safer with him around.. maybe it was all just a dream.. a very REAL dream but a dream nonetheless. You took a deep breath in. He smelt like chocolate and strawberries. You smiled contently. “Are you two lovebirds ready to go?” your mom said, leaning on the doorway. You both smiled and nodded. “Honestly.. even after three years dating you two still look so happy together” she said and laughed. A blush crept over your face. Three years.. you’ve been together for three years.. He winked at you and took hold of your hand. Dewi looked down a bit before meeting your eyes again. You tilted his head, encouraging him. He smiled, “Alexandra.. can I ask you something? Do you love me?” **** “WAKE UP! PLEASE!! ALEXANDRA!!!” you heard Dewi scream. You tried opening your eyes, but it was difficult. It was so dark.. you could hear Dewi scream your name again. Why was it so dark? You tried to tell him to quit the yelling, but it only came out as a dry moan. “Al-alex.. you’re.. alive!?” you heard him say. You managed to crack an eye open, “Why wouldn’t I be?” you said irritably. You eye caught site of the plain around you. The grass was burnt. The daffodils were trampled. A group of Elves, Seraphim and Vampires passed you. They all had burns, some had slashes on their arms and chest, claw marks.. “What h-happened?” you asked hoarsely. Dewi’s brown eyes filled with crystal tears. He burrowed his face in your neck. What was going on? “The Djinn.. it attacked your from behind.. it was absorbing your life… ” Dewi whispered against your neck. “Djinn?” you wondered out loud. At this point you were confused over which reality WAS in fact, real. “He granted you your wish.. in exchange for your life” he answered and hugged you to him. It was then when you registered. Your were sitting in his lap. He never liked any type of physical contact.. but…now? You didn’t want to move though. It was painful just to breathe. Apparently the Djinn had drained a lot of your energy. “I was so worried about you” he said and sniffed. He quickly wiped his eyes… the same shimmering brown eyes as in the other reality... You couldn’t help but blush a bit. “Can you stand?” he asked softly. You tried, but it didn’t really work. Damnit. A smirk crossed his face and you could see his vampiric fangs, “Can I help?” he asked in a low voice. His voice sounded so sexy when he did that. “You think I’m sexy?” he asked with a raised eyebrow as he picked you up. You frowned and shot him a look. “Dream on” you snapped. “That I will..” he said and laughed. Suddenly it hit you. “I didn’t make a wish though.. ” you said softly and swallowed. It was your perfect reality though.. A happy family.. Together with Dewi.. You’ve grown fond of him.. “It doesn’t matter.. the genie just uses whatever reality you would want to have and makes it seem real.. even if it is all in your mind.. ” Dewi explained as he walked across the mountainous area. You could tell that your side had won. The demons that were left were being sealed by the seraphim angels into the sacred cells. You sighed happily. It was FINALLY OVER. “What did you .. you know.. ” he asked. His black hair was messed up, but it was still so cute on him. You couldn’t help but be reminded over your Perfect Reality. That would be perfect. “Is that so?” Dewi said with a blush on his face along with his cheesy grin. “Hey! That’s private!!” you yelled, elbowing him in the ribs. “.. Want me to do it again?” he said and leaned down a bit. You couldn’t help but blush at that. His chocolate eyes met your own sapphire ones. You smirked, “If you REALLY have to…”.