The Bullies

I stopped a few feet in front of them and took a deep breath. "Stop picking on her and leave her alone." I said in a low voice. My face was flushed, and I clenched my fists. "If you don't leave her alone now, I won't be so forgiving."

The bullies laughed and threw me into a tree, hitting it with such a force I wondered how my skull didn't crack into a million pieces, as well as my vertebra. My ears were ringing; I could taste blood. But I refused to let the pain stop me, no matter how badly I was wounded, I stood up shakily and rushed them.

One of the bullies stepped forward and sneered. He was a head taller than me and was built like a wrestler. "Don't worry little kid. It'll all be over soon." he cracked his knuckles. He looked like a wolf that had just found his prey, his yellow teeth shone, and his eyes glinted with malice.

The fight had just started and things were turning sour. The larger, aggressive-looking kid launched himself at me and took a wild swing. It was much quicker than I'd expected. I dodged a half step and the other kid caught me with his leg. He then began to rain a barrage of fists on me. They hit me hard, causing my vision to blur slightly. I could hear the sound of bones breaking, skin tearing and flesh being sliced. Blood covered my shirt, it was painful, but I couldn't allow my pride to be overwhelmed by these fucking piles of garbage.

I was surrounded by three larger kids, and I had no choice but to endure the pain. Even if I had used aether it would've been pointless, and it would've damaged my entire body; no amount of training could've made my current body strong enough to fend them off without magic. So I held my hands up to protect myself and tried to dodge or block the blows. As soon as I saw an opening, I launched myself forward. The blow was meant for the kid's solar plexus, but my timing was off, and the strike came from an awkward angle. Instead of connecting solidly with my opponent's stomach, my fist grazed his ribcage, leaving me exposed and open to attack.

One of the bullies took a few steps forward. The bully swung his arm violently, making contact with me on my ribs and head, knocking the wind out of me. As I fell backwards, I could see a fist coming towards me. There were flashes of pain and I blacked out.

A few hours later...

My eyes fluttered open; it felt like my ribs were shattered. The left side of my face was swollen, and the ring on the boy's finger had split my lower lip. "God... this shit is painful. How badly did these shitheads beat me up?" I slowly stood up and winced at the sharp pain. My blood boiled at the thought of what I should've done with my newfound strength and powers; I swore that when the time was right and the bullies weren't closeby, they were going to know my full fury. I looked to my right and saw the young girl sitting next to me.

"You saved me," the girl said happily.

The girl was happy, she gave off such an aura of innocence. "I can't just leave you like this; you don't have the body to do what I'm planning to do to them. They better know what's coming for them..." I got up and winced from the pain. I placed a hand over my ribs, trying to minimize the pain and blood pouring out of me.

"My name is Ariel! Yours is..., uhh... what's your name, mister?" the young girl looked worried.

I stopped and froze, remembering the mysterious man and his deal. "Just call me Cyrus," I responded coldly.

The girl stopped in her tracks and froze. "Do... do you really think what they said was true? Was there a reason why daddy left my family behind? And now, mommy is so depressed, and we don't have much money for food; daddy even stopped sending us any," the young girl began to tear up, "he probably hates me," the young girl sighed.

I looked at her, surprised, and I gently rubbed her hair to console her, "Trust me Ariel, I'm sure there's a very valid reason to why he hasn't been sending anything to you and your mother. Come on, I'll walk you home so no one else bothers you, or I could help you pick out a gift for your mother; you owe it to her. If you want I could get my mother to make you guys dinner."

Ariel perked up at this and wiped her eyes, "Would you please? Mom's been cooking all sorts of weird food lately, and the last meal she made wasn't very tasty," she asked, with her eyes wide and hopeful.

I laughed and smiled weakly, my ribs were still killing me, "I will, come on let's hurry up, and we can catch her before dinner tonight."

"Yay! Thank you, Mister," Ariel jumped and cheered. She held my left hand and pulled me in the direction to my home.

At home I immediately got scolded for getting into a fight. I knew Dad would be back in a few hours and he was going to kill me. I looked outside and thought about the events of the past week and all that I had learned. Magic exists in this world. I can use aether to protect me, which would've given me the upper hand in combat and not become as beat up as I have currently. I feel the immense power inside my body and it is so addictive; I couldn't give it up at all. I wanted to learn how to use more of it, but for now it would be best if I decided to keep this power a secret.

It was nightfall. My mother went out and brought Ariel to her home after cooking a beef stew like promised. Dinner with them was delicious. I'm sure the first part of my plans are set in motion, I will no longer be under the eyes of everyone anymore. After a while I began to fade away into deep thoughts, "Are you ok, Cyrus?" a familiar voice had pulled me out from my subconscious.

I didn't respond, just simply nodded and shook my head.

My mind began to drift, "Why did you decide to save that girl today?" a faint voice lingered through my thoughts, and I recalled everything, remembering the good memories and the horrible experience in vivid detail.

I realized it was my subconscious trying to speak to me, more so my former self. "I save her because she needed saving." I stated matter-of-factly, not revealing anymore.

My mind seemed to grow a little irritated as it forced itself into my view, it showed a man slightly older than me, at least 20 years old, "Have you forgotten who you are, it seems you have gotten a bit too comfortable in this world. Your name is ----- and you kill people in order to achieve your goal, your pridefulness sets you apart from everyone else and you kill every challenger you face. And look, I can't even recall why or even who, yet it seems I lost myself and got too comfortable."

"I will still do what I must, but leaving an innocent to get beat up is something I can't ignore, my pride won't allow it." I smirked and looked straight at the form.