Chapter Text
LUCY
All I feel is fire. Licking the walls of my insides. Pain creeps in, adding to a mad inferno of… something.
What the fuck just happened.
Guilt floods from the pit of my stomach as I recall all-too-quickly the moments leading up to this. I’m suddenly ice cold, and my eyes aren’t even open yet.
I remember.
I hear Hugo shout something in his usual sarcastic, 'you dumbass' tone I’ve learned to tune out. I put up with him. (Just). He’s a good friend, just a whole handful. I can see he’s smiling though, which means it means nothing. He’s talking to Christopher, my other friend, who just smiles, no teeth, content, feeling most likely the same as me.
“Why are you smiling poo-brain, you’re supposed to profess your eternal hatred for me! Why, does this shit turn you on huh?” Hugo and Christopher have had some ongoing feud, God knows why. They’re arguably closer to each other than I am to either of them.
“How can I be even a tiny bit pissed when we’re here? My favourite place in the world.”
“You’re too much ‘pher honestly it's just a theme park! We come every year.”
That’s when I interrupt, “Oi, you know full-well that this place is worth waiting every year for.”
I punch Hugo in the shoulder for good measure. He’s still smiling, not putting his ‘I’m better than you’ façade up very well. Which is understandable, we’re at Star Lake Park, collectively our favourite place, as Christopher said, in the world. (as lame as it seems.)
Star Lake Park is a theme-park we visit each year, it sits practically in the middle of nowhere but as soon we first discovered it, we vowed to come back every year. We’ve stuck to that vow and this year is our 5th time visiting.
The park itself is built on an old heritage site; many say it was an old convent, others say an elite school for those with ‘special powers’. I call bullshit on the latter, but Hugo seems somewhat convinced. He has a whole conspiracy theory worked out. Christopher just goes along with him as always.
We’re nearing the entrance to the park when I catch sight of the first ride. I grab hold of Christopher’s hand and Hugo’s wrist, “Come on! Let's go on as much as we can…”
“Till our stomachs can’t take it any longer!” Hugo and I say in unison, breaking my grip to high five each other.
I turn to Christopher, “Hey, why don’t we go on the TreeTop Train to start things off easily since you need some time to get used to the adrenaline.”
I watch his face drain of colour and his hand go clammy as he removes it from mine, he looks down as he wrings his hands together.
“Come oon ‘Pher, I know you don’t have the best relationship with adrenaline, but you’ve never had a problem with literally the most mundane ride in the park.” Hugo placed a hand on Christopher’s shoulder (he can't handle either of us being in a bad mood, despite how much he hates to admit it).
“I know, I just think that… maybe we should skip this one,” Christopher shrugs Hugo’s hand away.
“What the f- you know what, if you’re gonna get moody all of a sudden, we’ll leave you here while Lucy and I ride without you.” Hugo grabs my wrist and drags me away, without much effort, since I want to ride too. However I still look back at Christopher apologetically, he still looks extremely worried.
“Hey! Uh, I’ll come.” Christopher stutters, almost too quiet to not hear.
“I knew you’d come to your senses!” Hugo jogs up to Christopher and slings an arm around his shoulder.
“Let’s go!”
Christopher still looks too nervous for a kiddy ride, but at least he seems to have cheered up a little.
The carts are arranged in fours, a pair in front and a pair behind. Hugo and Christopher take the rear and I sit at the front next to a crow-haired stranger who seems around our age, so I give him a smile.
“Hello!” the boy chirps and waves at me. His smile is so wide, it almost looks like a sneer.
We don’t speak again as the ride begins for a few seconds, as normal.
“See ‘pher! There was no point in being worr-” The ride jolts as Hugo speaks. I abruptly begin to feel warmth course through my body, tingling at my fingertips. Must be adrenaline.
“I knew it…” Christopher mumbles. I look back at Hugo, we both share a confused glance before Hugo speaks up again:
“As I was saying, there’s nothing to worry about. I’m sure the ride only jolted since the tracks are old.”
“Yeah! This was one of the first rides ever built here. We’ll be fine.” I add. I hear a sharp intake of breath come from beside me, followed by muttering. Is he laughing?
I tense up a little bit but snap out of it almost immediately.
The heat’s building up.
The ride continues as normal: the train climbs steadily to a height of about 6 metres. Then stops.
It’s not supposed to stop here.
“What in the bloody world was that.” Hugo profaned, clinging on to Christopher. The latter’s face limp, devoid of colour. He’s terrified.
The ride jolts again, making the ride shake violently in all directions without a single breeze in the air. I black out for a second then feel the ride go from horizontal to completely vertical.
Due to the obvious lack of safety precautions (because this is a fucking kids ride after all) I lose my grip. My vision goes blurry and fades to black once again. My body is fire until I hit cold, hard concrete. My eyes clench shut.
XIUHAO
For the first time, I hear screams of unfiltered terror. Not only that but from a kiddy rollercoaster. I emergency stop the ride I’m working on and sprint in the direction of TreeTop Train. Before my lungs give out, I catch sight of someone on the floor. I see she’s unconscious but breathing as I approach her, she doesn’t seem to be having a seizure or begin choking so I do what most first-aiders wouldn’t do: I lug her on my back to the infirmary, despite ironically not really being welcome there. (I think the nurse is jealous of my skill, knowing Mandarin spells as well as English. Bit prejudiced if you ask me.)
One of the only buildings kept for its purpose from the convent was the infirmary. The building was refurbished when they built the park, and oh boy is it one of my favourite places. The inside walls and high ceilings, adorning carvings of religious patterns and imagery, are all painted white, with the odd splash of colour on the imagery on the ceiling. Everything was refurbished and made to look even more heavenly than before. The beds are lined up in columns, the white of the bedsheets adding to the pure aesthetic of the place. One thing that constantly baffled me, however, was the need for such a big infirmary in a theme park. There are even separate rooms for goodness knows what.
However, to stay away from the nurse that gets oddly pissed off whenever I visit the infirmary, I slip into one of the secluded rooms, and lay the unconscious girl on the bed.
As I examine her body, I simultaneously become more confused and awestruck. A fall from that height in any regular human’s case would have been fatal; she only has a few grazes, and is just knocked out from the impact, but not great force. She could wake up easily without magic, but I decide to spell her anyway, just to make sure there aren’t any internal injuries. And there wasn’t.
I count down until she wakes up and wait in complete curiosity.
“Wh- WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY F-”
“SSH, you’re okay I took you to the park’s infirmary, I’m a nurse here” I’m not, but she wouldn’t have calmed down otherwise I bet, “I believe you fell off the TreeTop Train.” Those words felt foreign in my mouth.
“But…”
“You’re okay, somehow you managed to only have a few scrapes and bruises. How on earth did you manage to fall from that height and be in such good condition? What are y-”
“Dude, I don’t know what the fuck your problem is, but I’ve just endured something traumatising and my friends… wait where are my friends?” Her breathing starts quickening and she sits up, I steady her by placing my hands on her shoulders. I can feel her magic rush to her skin. It’s warm and thick.
“Hey, stay here, you’ve had quite the fall, I don’t want you to hurt yourself more.”
Her eyebrows attach together as she slouches, still sitting up. I rub her shoulder, taking a less ‘curious asshole’ approach.
“I don’t know what’s just happened but I’m sure your friends are okay.” She looks up, glassy-eyed, the glint of light revealing her one brown and one golden eye. She can’t be…
She’s still frowning as she mutters: “Thanks for staring, the doctor told me I have some rare form of heterochromia.”
I’m almost completely certain it’s not just heterochromia. Hasn’t she been told? Surely any magician suspected to have this kind of ability would be kept away from earth, let alone be told they have this sort of immense power. I mean, I’m not too sure, I’ve never actually met someone like her before. She’s probably not divine, she might just be a human with an extremely rare case.
I feel a sudden surge of warmth as if a fire’s been lit right beside me. She’s standing and sprinting out the door.
So she’s definitely magic at least.
“Hey!” I try using a basic speed spell- although all magician’s on earth have specific abilities, we can also cast very common spells; their effectivity dependent on your specific skill- and it works, letting me catch up to her slightly. But even with the spell, she keeps her distance. I catch a glimpse of her ankle. It’s glowing bright gold.
I’m almost coughing my lungs out by the time she stops. Right at the site of her fall. I stay a decent distance away from her and watch.
“Hugo! Christopher!” She wails, her voice hoarse and distorted with sobs. A small silence follows before a small, straw-coloured haired boy appears from behind the coaster operating hut: he’s carrying another boy on his back; white-haired, lanky, clearly unconscious. I step forward at the sight but hesitate as I watch Lucy run over and hug the conscious one.
“Lucy, thank fuck you’re okay,” That must be the girl’s name.
“Hugo, is Christopher okay?”
“I’m not sure, he’s breathing, but completely out.” The small boy- Hugo -explained, worn out and breathless.
I decide to walk over and offer to help.
Hugo edges away from me and turns to Lucy, “Who is this guy?”
“He took me away to the infirmary when I fell, but he’s super weird. I say we don’t trust him.”
“But, Lucy, look how high you fell! Surely if he helped you this well, he can maybe help ‘pher.”
I speak up, “Hey, Hugo is it?” He nods, “Let me take care of your friend, you look exhausted.” I smile apologetically and Hugo shifts to take Christopher off his back.
“Hugo-”
“Look, Lucy, I know we barely know this dude but he’s the best chance we have at good help. There are no hospitals nearby an I don’t want to put his condition at risk.”
“Trust me, I want to help.” I pick Christopher up and support his head. They ought to have more stretchers on-site, “Follow me.”
I cast a hovering spell to remain as steady as possible before I hear a sharp gasp,
“What in the flying fu-” Hugo curses
“Hey! Let him go you creep!” Lucy shouts shakily.
Have they never even seen magic before?
I’m too confused to comprehend Lucy and Hugo’s situation, so I fly off to the infirmary. There’s no time to explain the whole world of Mages while someone’s life is in my hands.
Despite this risky move, they run after me.
After their friend lying in my arms.