Where One Life Ends (Michael)

Home. A place that should be something people look forward to being at. A place people should feel safe and secure. To Serena Mason, it felt like none of this. It was her own personal torture chamber. She had run out of the house that night after being beaten to the point she couldn't take it anymore and now she was there sitting on a bench along a sidewalk close to her home. The night air chilled her to the bone after having felt the sharp sting of pain even though the pain was going away slowly now. She closed her eyes and put her head back wishing things were different. That she could have a family that actually cared about her. She knew this was not going to be the case though. That, until school again the next day, she would be completely alone. She would have no caring mother to tend to her wounds because it wasn't just that her mother never did anything to help with this in her life, some wounds were not entirely physical and could only be healed with something she knew her mother would never be able to give her enough of after sitting idly by so many times just watching her father beat the tar out of her.

Love. In her life so far she had only found a couple people who she had shared what she was going through with and they had actually cared. She knew that they were genuine and that only made things worse because she knew they wanted to help her but she didn't see how that would have been possible seeing as how this had been going on for 8 years so far. So instead of just ending it all because she couldn't take the pain anymore, here she was cold and alone on this park bench at this time of night.

Tears had welled in her eyes but she had trained herself not to cry too often over the years and this was not the time no matter how much it hurt. She checked her skin for damages. There was a cut on her right shoulder where she had been hit by her father's belt. There wasn't too much blood despite how much it stung however there was some and it had soaked through her shirt a bit. Luckily she always wore a dark shirt so the blood wasn't very visible. She felt her back and though it stung there didn't appear to be any open injuries. She sighed and sarcastically said, "Thanks, dad. I really appreciate everything you do for me."

She reached in her bag which she had brought her art pad in and began drawing in it under the light of the street light. She began tracing an outline of the sky. The clouds, she made to look as though they were dancing within the blue expanse, happy for the freedom that they had. Freedom that Serena, herself felt she would never have. She then drew some birds flying through the clouds into the distance facing the world that was most likely unknown to them. The brightness of the drawing made it seem as though it was day and the sun shone through the clouds illuminating a river below where several spots shone back up in a reflection to the sun. She then drew several trees past the river and darkened each one until they were almost shadows. To her the drawing symbolized what her life was like. She had to reflect the happiness that surround her as the water of the river reflected the sun's rays, even if she wished to be free like the birds from the dark cruel forest that was her father. The clouds were merely ideas, lost in time which was what the sky represented. Ideas of ways to allow her to enjoy her life but just as clouds are not really solid and you can't feel them, so also were these ideas of hers. She knew that it would be a long time before they came to fruition if they even became real at all.

Clouds weren't the only things in the sky that night. Michael had been wandering around the city all day; trying to find a way to get settled in. He had practically nothing except for a bag containing his two books, 3 changes of clothes, and some basic necessities. He hadn't really packed very much; how was he to know that the portal wouldn't hold out and would leave him stranded here? He would just have to find a way to make it in this new world until the sages on the other side could get the portal working again; however long that would take.

Anyway, even after searching all day, he had yet to find a job or a place to live. It was a bit discouraging, and he had decided to relax in his favorite way; going for a flight on a white Pegasus that he summoned. At this point he was nearing the end of his flight; and he looked for a spot to land at. Looking down he didn't seem find any particularly good places, so he just decided on a spot and had his mount start to descend.

As he came closer to the ground he noticed he was lowering towards a girl who seemed to be drawing. He wasn't sure what to do now; should he pull up and land elsewhere? She he land right by her? Or should he land some distance away? He decided to go with option three and landed about 10 yards away; though he knew that he would almost certainly be spotted, he wa ok with that. He touched down and looked around the area for a moment; then over at the girl, who may or may not have seen him by now. Getting over his anti-social side he called out. "Hey there."

Serena looked up from her drawing when she noticed a white horse fly, that’s right, fly down into the park. She looked at the person who got off of the horse, shocked. She couldn’t believe what she had just witnessed. She placed her art pad inside of her backpack and stood up. She heard him address her and in response she shyly said nothing holding her backpack in front of her as if to use it as a shield. She didn’t trust most people and she was especially not going to trust a guy who just descended out of the sky on a white horse. It made no sense. That kind of thing shouldn’t have even been possible. She said to him, “D-don’t come any closer. I-I won’t let you hurt me.”

She didn’t know how else to respond. Every other encounter she had had with a male approaching her had been her father when he was going to hurt her and she was not about to let this guy do the same. She would fight, run, do whatever it took to ensure that she wasn’t hurt by him if that was what he intended to do once he got close to her.

She then looked at the horse. It didn’t seem like the kind of horse that some cruel hurtful person would be riding. She looked at him cautiously still not entirely sure about him and said, to him, “Y-you don’t seem like you want to hurt me… Who are you and how in the world does that horse have wings? That’s not normal.”

She waited patiently for his response still ready to run away if things got too crazy. She however felt a small amount of comfort knowing that at least his horse didn’t seem like the kind to be ridden by an evil person.

Michael looked somewhat surprised at her reaction as he got down.  He had seen several people be surprised at his mount but never the fear that he might hurt them.  "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you; and I don't want to hurt you either."  He decided it best not to approach and risk possibly worrying her more.  "And as for my horse," he looked at it, then back; "She has wings because she's a Pegasus.  Apparently people around here have never seen them before."  

He introduced himself; "My name is Michael; I'm new around here, and I just came down from a flight out to get some fresh air.  I'm sorry again if I scared you."  He really hadn't meant to do that; he just kind of wanted to talk to somebody.  He just wasn't always the best at introductions.

Serena listened to the boy who was apparently named Michael, as he explained himself. She felt a little bit better as he told her that he wasn’t going to hurt her and that he didn’t mean to frighten her. She placed her backpack down next to her feeling a little bit more secure and said to him, “I-it’s fine, I guess. Y-you don’t seem like such a bad person actually. My name’s Serena. It’s nice to meet you.”

Michael wondered what she meant by that.  Was she really that concerned about a guy on a Pegasus?  Or were people around here violent or hostile or something that she would seem this worried about talking to a stranger?  "Nice to meet you too Serena."  He decided to ask her, "You seem kind of nervous.  Is it my ride?  Or are strangers around here not normally friendly?"  

He wondered what kind of a place this was.  He wondered if violence was a norm here; if so this place might have some need for a person like him.  The whole reason that he had chosen to learn the book of Overlight in the first place was to use his spells to help others.  He might be able to do that better here than back at home.

Serena listened as he asked her about why she was so nervous and she thought about how to answer him. It was a question she heard often but technically was forbidden from answering. She said to him, "No it's not everybody around here. At least, I don't think it is. It's just, umm... Okay... if I tell you, you have to promise not to tell anybody, okay? He'd be really mad if he found out I told someone. It's my father. He beats me. Every day I have to look forward to him beating me senseless and I just couldn't take it anymore tonight. It was too much so I ran and came here. I don't know if he's going to come here for me or not but all I know is that I just had to get away from him."

Michael was speechless.  The feeling that came over him as she spoke was just awful.  Beaten by her own father; not that he had never heard of that kind of thing, but he just couldn't imagine what it was like.  Then again, perhaps he could; he didn't know which was worse.  He barely had any words, "I...I'm sorry.  I really am.  That just...sounds gut-wrenchingly awful.  I promise I won't tell anyone; mostly because I don't know who I would tell.  But if I can help in any way..."  He got a thought about how he might be able to; and started to slowly walk over to her.  "Are you hurt at all?  I'm know a spell for healing."  He couldn't see anything from this distance; but then again it was a bit dark.  Her wounds would become apparent as he got closer.

Serena shook her head and said, "Don't pity me. I don't need it. I've had to deal with this for eight years now. It's become just a part of my life. I'm grateful that you are concerned but I'll be fine as I always have been since it started. I'm strong and can take it and if I don't at least this nightmare will be over."

She heard him offer to heal any wounds she might have received and she thought. If he could make the current pain she was feeling go away perhaps there was hope after all for her being able to trust him. She said, "If you think you can help go ahead though most of it is scarring and bruises. There's a cut on my right shoulder from where my father struck me with his belt. It's probably dried up by now but if you think you can help it then by all means give it a shot."

Michael nodded, and as he approached he held up his right hand.  In it he produced a sphere of healing; a shining, white orb of light that also doubled as a light source.  He held it up, and as he came closer saw the cut on her shoulder.  The sight of it pained him; how could she deal with that for 8 years?  

He came up to her and gently put a hand on her shoulder to examine the injury.  Ooo...that looked like it hurt.  Thankful to have access to the only healing spell known to his people that can be used on others, Michael set the white orb of light on the injury while he still held it.  Pressing lightly he released the orb, and it immediately it burst in a flash of light.  The blood left on here would still be there, but the injury would have disappeared; restored by the sphere's healing magic.  The pain would also vanish and be replaced with a temporary soothing feeling.  Michael would see that the sphere had done it's job well; then look up from it to look Serena in the eye.  "Is there anything else I can do for you?  Anything at all?  Any other spots perhaps or something else you need?"  He felt compelled to help the girl in any way he could.  He had always had a desire to help others; just like his father.  He felt that there was a lot of opportunity here to do that; not just with Serena but with this world altogether.  But for now, she was his main priority.