Picture Challenge #46: Magic

[Arcadia]

​

INFO: They say that a picture can tell a thousand words. How many can you find?

Each week a new image will be posted, and your challenge will be to write whatever the image inspires you to write. It can be anything as long as it relates to the picture. A plot, a scene, a short story, a poem, a character, etc. You can write as much or as little as you wish. It's not the length that matters, it's what you put into it. There is no time limit to these challenges, so feel free to jump in at any time.

(Source)​

 

[Arcadius]

Well, whatdaya know. The kid actually managed to pull it off. You don't arrive to a place and see one of your less-than-stellar student at a moment of triumph, though a kind of triumph she probably did not expect.

She wasn't a bad kid, mind you. Came from a well off family, not exactly rich, but she was never in a threat of actually working in her life. Makes sense that when her talent made itself known, her family didn't think twice about giving her the option to develop it further. She ended under my tutelage through sheer luck, as her tests proved she was mediocre student a best. I owed an old friend a favour, and thought it would be nice to have a student that would not challenge me at every turn. I'm afraid I was the cause of her downfall.

Under me, she studied as the best studied. It challenged her, no doubt, but I thought I could help her reach greatness. I approached her as I would all my pupils, but well... it was too much for her. She was adequate, sure. Made it through all I had for her, but just. I should have sensed the anger brewing inside her sooner. I can only imagine the questions: Why was she not good enough? Others have done it; so she must too! She has the best teacher, one that taught the masters that have changed the face of the world. She must be good, so why. Is. She. So. Mundane?

Surrounded by such examples of absolute greatness, she was unable to cope with her own mediocrity. Not once I said something wise to her. People called me Wise, and other pointless monikers. Yet me, the Wise, never sat down with her and told her that a human is a sum of his parts; that she should look behind the part that is her special talent, and look at the other bits. She was clever and charismatic. Beautiful, even. Others under me studied for years to know how to perform love and lust spells, but she could have just pointed at a man or woman, and quite literally own them in days, such was her beauty.

But no. One day, I found my study broken into, and pilfered for one tome, containing instruction for incantations and sorcery of great power, written in ancient rune script. Ancient rune script I know she tried to learn, but her handling of it has been awkward at best, having issues with tenses and identification of proper adjectives. She was nowhere to be found.

And now I found her, or what is left of her. I could see the abomination she created from miles away. Roughly translated from the ancient language, it is called "mana womb", an incredibly strong source of magical energy. I imagine she through it was a metaphor, or perhaps misread the text. I can easily deduct where she made wrong translation. To summon the womb, one needs a female. I think she thought a female must be the one performing the ritual, but that is incorrect. A female does not have to be one doing the ritual, but a female is needed for the ritual. For...

Well, for reasons I think are obvious now.

 

[chaosheart13]

Here, in the heart of the city, was the one thing that corrupted all of its people, she assured herself as she stepped closer and closer to the glowing heart. It pulsed with a sickening light and the effects of what it had done to the previous citizens were nagging at her mind, whispering of terrible things that she knew that, in her right mind, she'd never commit. Truth be told, she was a little fearful of the object changing her permanentlyinto a heartless, bloodthirsty killer. But still, she persisted.

The air was getting harder to breath and panic was beginning to set in as the voices became more pronounced. They knew of her intent, and they were going to stop it from being carried out. You can never win, they whispered, It's useless. Give up! She merely gritted her teeth and continued advancing, trying to ignore the offending voices as she continued. Just one step at a time, she thought to herself, Just one step at a time...

When she got near it, the voices became louder, telling her that what she had in mind cannot be done. Her face remained determined as she stepped into the light and found herself in another dimension. Here, where the voices were strongest and the feeling of hatred and anger swirled around her, was where her will will be tested. She found that she was floating, the feeling of anger and hate digging into her heart, nearly numbing her. But she refused to give in, not when she was so close to freeing everyone from this thing's curse.

Deeper and deeper she went, avoiding the monsters that popped up from time to time within. She needed all her strength to fight the maker that slept in this objects womb. She knew this, but she couldn't help but feel that maybe it was the wrong thing to do- no, it wasn't. She needed to free the people of its influence. She found her target after a while and pursed her lips.

"Hello, Mother." The thing that was once her mother bolted up and shrieked, feeling her hatred smack against the girl. Yes, her mother was the one who created this monstrosity, so full of rage was she when her father had cheated on her after suffering a lifetime of hardship. Could she even recognize her daughter anymore? Her daughter, who she had taught the good spells that counteracted the bad, who she sang to sleep every night, who she loved with all her heart. Not anymore, her mother wasn't sane anymore to figure it out.

The girl closed her eyes and prayed for forgiveness as she advanced on the woman that was shrieked and moaned, only to stop when the girl hugged her. "It's okay, it's okay, Mother," she whispered, trying not to cry, "I willl end your suffering." She chanted a dangerous spell and soon everything was enveloped in light. If anyone had been around the object to see what had happened, they would have seen it completely obliterated.