145 Abandon who you are

Part 1

A young girl was sitting in the middle of an office talking with a man who looked to be above the age of forty behind his desk.

"So... Which of you would like to start...?" asked the man. He was wearing a grey suit and had lost almost all of his hair. Because of his bald head, the girl and her friends would often call him Mr. shiny when he wasn't looking.

He was looking rather angry at her, probably trying to make her feel bad about what she did, but the girl herself was simply responding with an annoyed expression as if she was wondering why she was even there right now.

The girl was ten years old. She had short curly hair and chestnut skin and was wearing the uniform of the school while being interrogated by the principal. Part of her shirt was torn off and pieces of her hair had been pulled by force.

"He started it..." she said while looking at the boy who was sitting next to her.

He was a young lad one year older than her with a tanned skin due to having spent so many daily hours on the beach. He was also wearing a school uniform that was slightly ripped apart, but instead of having pieces of his blond hair missing, he had a black air in the spot where he was punched. He was glaring at the girl as if he wanted to return the gift he received from her.

"You were the one who attacked me first, you crazy animal!!" the boy said, responding to the girl's comment.

"Me!?? You were the one who ruined my drawing, you neanderthal!!"

"I said I was sorry!! And you still pounced on me anyway!! The hell is wrong with you??"

"Hey, watch your language you two!" the principal said while standing up from his desk.

"Sorry principal Shang..." both kids answered in unison while lowering their heads. The principal assumed it was a sign that they regretted their actions, but the two just wanted to make faces at each other without the man noticing it.

"Why is it that every time you two end up in the same class I always have to hear about some fight you started? How hard it would be to just get along with each other for a couple of minutes?" asked Mr. Shang.

"In my defense sir, you have no idea how much self-control it takes to stay close to this thing for even a few seconds." said the girl while acting as if the boy wasn't in the room.

"Claire, please..."

"Sorry, sir..."

"You see!! She's the one who always tries to start these fights!! It's her fault sir!!" the boy tried to add.

"Joseph, try to stay calm as well... I didn't call you two here so you could point fingers at each other... I called you to try to know what it would take for you both to try and get along."

Joseph and Claire looked at each other and almost if they could read each other's minds, answered in unison again, "Not happening."

The principal simply returned to his chair showing that he had given up.

"Hmpf!" Claire simply turned her face around. She had heard that comment many times before. People assumed that just because her mother was a therapist it didn't make sense for her to be a troublemaker, 'Can't you just treat her?', is what they would say, as if therapy was some kind of magic that simply fixed people's problems with the snap of fingers.

The three remained silent while Mr. Shang continued his call when they realized that a phone was ringing right outside the door.

Suddenly, a woman who bore a strong resemblance to Claire entered the room shouting for her, "Claire!! Claire are you ok??"

"Mom...?" Claire said, shocked to see her mother.

"Whoa... That was fast..." Joseph said.

"Claire we need to get out of here, now!!!" The woman said while grabbing her daughter's arm.

"Miss. Chloe?? What is the meaning of this?" The principal asked, confused by Chloe's sudden display of panic as if she had seen a ghost.

"That!!" Chloe said while pointing at the window. The other three individuals on the room turned around and spotted the reason she was in so much uneasiness and wanted to leave, a pair of dragons piercing the sky and flying right at them with fire drolling from their mouths.

"Mother of God!! What is that!!!" Mr. Shang shouted.

"Holy sh-" Joseph was about to scream as well but before he could, the dragons began to roar with an immense sound that broke all the windows nearby.

The beasts then started to charge their fire breath so they could release it upon the building.

"Aaaaahhhh!!" Claire hugged her mother's leg at that sight and closed her eyes. The flying creatures finally released their deadly attack and a massive ball of fire could be seen coming right at the individuals in the room.

They were all about to be turned into ashes when a giant hand made of fire appeared from below and blocked the incoming blast.

Caire opened her eyes after realizing she was still alive and saw a third figure rising outside the window, a huge gorilla entirely made of flames and even bigger than the dragons.

"What the...??" Claire mumbled before ashing towards the window and taking a closer look at the fire ape. She noticed that on the ground, right in front of the school, there was a group of six individuals in white robes pointing their staffs at another white-robed figure, who in turn was pointing its own staff towards the sky to create that massive ape.

"Remember our mission everyone!" said the figure towards the other robbed individuals, "We cannot let any harm come to this place under any circumstance!"

The dragons continued to approach making the fire gorilla respond by charging at them as well and starting a fight right in front of the schoolyard.

Claire just looked at the scene wondering if she was dreaming and hoping that no one would wake her up, "Coooool!!!!"

"Claire, let's go!!" Chloe said while pulling her daughter again.

The principal noticed that and decided to do the same after somehow calming himself down a bit, "Joseph! We need to go!!! Now!!"

"But!! But!! This is literally Godzilla fighting King Kong!!" Joseph said in protest.

"Joseph!!!" the principal shouted.

"Ughhhhh! Fiiiiine..."

Joseph then joined Claire on the outside of the room, and before the adults could pull them away from there, they saw one last glimpse of the creatures fighting each other.

Part 2

Evlin raised her hand towards Ellie and started to release a small portion of healing magic to fix her wounds.

Ellie's arm was no longer bleeding and her belly wasn't hurting anymore, making it easier to breathe.

The young girl stared at her aunt. She didn't want to let Evlin anywhere near Mia because of the nightmare she saw, but right now, witnessing her aunt coming to her aid was just what she needed to start feeling hopeful again. Despite everything, Evlin was still her hero, the crossbow mage girl from the stories she loved so much, and she still believed that if she relied on her, everything would be ok.

"Aunt Evie..." Ellie started to say, full of sparkles on her eyes.

"You are so grounded..." Evlin interrupted her.

"Eh!!??" Ellie responded, not really expecting that to be the first thing she was going to hear from her aunt.

"What in the world were you thinking!!?? Coming after Mia alone!!?? Have you lost your goddamn mind!!??" Evlin said while pulling her niece's ear.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch!! But... But..." Ellie mumbled, trying to not cry from the pain on her ear, "I wasn't alone!! I took Detra with me!"

Ellie pointed at her aunt's maid and Evlin glared at her as well, "East!!???"

"Oh, boy..." Detra said while trying to cover her face with one arm while Lance tried to eat her hair.

"East!! What is the meaning of this?? You just let a nine-year-old drag you right into Mia's hands?? Did you suffer brain damage or something???"

"It- It wasn't me!! It was the talking frog!!" Dera said, covering her head afraid Evlin would try to smack her. Evlin however was simply lost trying to process what she just heard.

"... The what now...???" She asked while lowering her fists.

Detra then pointed at Xadi, who was now possessing the body of a stuffed frog doll with bowtie and a tophat.

He looked at Evlin and waved at her, "Sup?"

"..." Evlin pointed her index at him and blasted the toy with a small beam of raw magic, making the frog lose an eye.

"What the hell!!!??? Why did you do that for??" he complained.

"Sorry... For some reason... I just have this desire to injure you very badly..." Evlin answered.

"Aunt Evie!! That's Xadi!" Ellie said, trying to hold her arm.

"Oh! I see..." Evlin said, proceeded by blasting Xadi again, this time with a bullet made of rock. The bullet clashed with his body and smacked him against the ground.

Ellie and Detra just looked at the knocked out Xadi and returned their attention to Evlin, imagining that it would be better not to question her gesture.

"How did you find us?" Detra asked.

"I increased the power of my geo-radar to locate Ellie after I realized you two were not back at the hotel."

Ellie heard that explanation and started to shiver a bit, "You can do that...??"

"I can! After I use my radar to track where someone is once, I can track them anytime I want after." Evlin said.

"So you can know where I am all the time?" Ellie said with a surprised expression, "That's so cool!!! Also a tad creepy, but still really cool!!"

"Thanks! Now..." Evlin said while giving a few steps forward, followed by glaring at Mia who had finally got out of the wreckage Evlin threw her at, "You two stay behind me... I have unfinished business with that one!"

Mia simply stared at her with a smirk on her face, "You came early! I gave you two weeks to get your powers back and find me... And you managed to do it in just a few days! I'm impressed!"

Evlin simply stared at her without saying anything.

"You really are the best stick-girl! I can't wait to see you become the ultimate weapon you were always mean to be!"

Evlin once again stared at Mia in silence. She was making her final resolve right now.

Mia was a monster. A horrible being that created pain and misery anywhere she went. If Evlin was just a few moments later she would have killed Ellie without a second thought. No matter how you looked at it, she needed to be stopped, and Evlin was the only one who could do it.

There were two problems though. First, Mia looked like a kid.

It didn't matter that she was two hundred, three hundred, or one thousand years old. She looked like a girl around the age of twelve, and Evlin was extremely weak towards kids.

For her, just like animals, kids were a symbol of innocence, sincerity, simplicity. Something that needed to be protected, raised, and loved. A small agglomeration of purity that showcased the best of humanity before turning into adults that stopped believing in hopes and dreams.

So trying to see her as an enemy made Evlin feel like she was betraying everything she believed in. She wanted to be the one to help kids in need, the same way she was helped when she was a kid herself. And instead, right now she needed to do the opposite of that.

And to top it all off, there was also one other problem. If Evlin wanted to stop Mia for good, the only way would be to end her life.

Evlin never killed anyone before. She killed monsters, demons, and even some wild animals that either tried to attack her when she needed to eat to survive. But killing another person? That was a line Evlin was hoping she would never need to cross.

But Mia was different. She had pushed Evlin to the edge. This child tried to break every single aspect of her life. If Evlin wanted to protect her family for good, she would need to betray her two strongest beliefs. She would need to abandon a child and end her life.

Evlin closed her eyes and took a deep breath, her usual routine for when she either needed to deal with something stupid or something important.

"Are you ready...?" Mia said while leaning forward with both hands on her hips and projecting a huge smile, "You sure you don't wanna deal with the dragons I sent after your school?"

"That's taken care of..." Evlin said before she opened her eyes and began to energize herself with healing magic to boost her strength and speed, "Right now... My attention is all yours..."

Ellie joined Detra's side and alongside Xadi, who was relishing seeing his plan working out, gazed at the sight of Mia and Evlin charging at each other and starting their fight to the death.