Justin A. McQueen
CHAPTER 1: JUSTIN A. MCQUEEN
CHAPTER 1: JUSTIN A. MCQUEEN
It's once again summer, the sun is shining, the flowers are blooming, family barbeque are everywhere and it's the perfect time for kids to be kids, rolling down a hill, swimming in a lake, playing baseball, staying indoor and play videogames non-stop ...
Unless you're a young blonde boy named Justin McQueen, who is busy getting his ass whopped by the he son of Hermes, Hagan. The two boys are currently battling on the damp green grass of the Alfea academy training field. Every year, the academy would open up a summer program for the freshman so that the wouldn't be such a 'fish out of the water'. The program revolves around magic safety, first step transformation and emotions evolution.
But obviously those are for the fairy and witches. Justin and Hagan on the other hand are Specialist, the non-magical students of the place. Their program, as basic as it can get is all about combat training, weapons management and of course, technology safety. Not that Justin care about not having magic, all he knows is that he is a specialist, he good what he's doing and that's all that matter.
Justin would be attending his first year at Alfea starting this August. At first it seem like a joke for a human child to be attending the school but after learning about his accidental encounter with a magical creatures when he was only 14, the school council has had a lot to reconsider. A boy that barely know how to turn on the oven, managed to survive not to mention defeating a 'Firefly goblin'? That was most definitely never heard of.
Even though most memories of that giant monster just felt like a fever dream to Justin, the large scar run across his back said otherwise. 'He was so lucky to still be alive' is something that he had heard about a billion time by his doctor, the police, his therapist, his teacher, his friends and his parents. He got asked constantly on how he did it but it's always the same 'I don't know'.
"Dude, seriously you need to focus because right now I'm literally running circle around you." Hagan said mockingly. He picked up the wood sword that Justin has discard then poke it gentle in his stomach, mainly trying to irritated Justin.
"Go... away..." Justin struggled with his hitching breathe. He is simply lying on the ground trying to catch his breath after being knocked out.
"Are you alright?" A voice asked.
Both Justin and Hagan turned to the sound. It was one of the fairy student, Matthew. Matt is an upper classman that volunteered to assist the teachers helping the students settles in. Justin actually quite fond of Matt, not only did he explained everything to Justin's parents but he also helps Justin process his 'issues', gave him a hand while Justin was moving into the dorm, showed him around Magix and trained him personally so that Justin can catch up with his peers. Not to mentioned Matt also there to make sure Justin eat and sleep on time.
Needless to say, Justin really appreciate the guy.
"Hi Matthew! What are you doing out here?" Justin slowly sit up, his smile beaming.
"I come to check up on you since I missed you this morning. You're starting to get up really early lately." He said.
It's started ever since he moved here. Matt would always come over every morning to check up on Justin then the 2 would grab breakfast together but lately, Justin's roommate has been insisted Justin on joining him with his daily training.
"Well, it's actually all thank to me. If I wasn't the one to drag his lazy bum out of bed, or else he would never be able to catch up with the others, especially me in combat." Hagan chipped in the conversation rudely.
Realizing how that came out, Hagan mentally cringe at himself. He didn’t meant to be rude in front of handsome Fairy counselor.
"I'm Hagan by the way." He offered his hand. Hint of ashamed in his voice.
"I know, pleasure to finally meet you." Matt replied politely paying no attention to the previous comment.
"Hey Matt, Hagan and I are about go get lunch, would you like to join?" Justin asked eagerly.
"Thank you for the offer but you two go ahead, I still have some work to catch up. I'll see you around Justin." Matt turned down the offer, bid the 2 boy goodbye then process to head to the main building.
'What a same' Justin thought, he really like Matthew to get to know Hagan more.
"So... lunch?" The redhead asked, interrupting Justin's train of thoughts. Hagan’s eyes also lingered after the Fairy but not in the same manner as Justin.
"Sure."
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And so as time pass, Justin slowly adjust to his new life. He attend tutoring session with Matthew, he go to training and his classes, he remember to call his parents, he try to talk things out with his therapist but most importantly he tried to make friends, that last part however is not really working out…since apparently, discrimination against students with no magical root is still a thing in such an ‘’advance’’ society.
The final day of summer has finally rolled up, everywhere on Alfea campus started to be fill up with more and more students, Fairy, Witches and Specialist. Justin is currently running like a mad man through the hall, bumping into other and almost kissed the floor a couple of time all because no one woke he up this morning.
It's already 12h at the moment and usually his tutoring start at 9h30. He blindly continues to run as fast as he could, not even noticing he was still wearing his pyjamas pants and his shoes laces are untied which would make that kiss between him and the hard cold marble floor come sooner than we thought. When finally spotted the library building in sight, he started to pick up pace.
"MATTHEW! I'M HERE!"
"SHHHHHHH!!!" All the other students there including the librarian turned to him in an annoyed manner, immediately shutting Justin down.
"Sorry!" He whispered loudly.
Justin look around until he finally spotted Matthew on the upper floor with... Hagan... surprisingly. He headed up, the closer he got the clearer the small laugh between the two other boys got.
"Hey Matt, sorry I'm late." Justin took a seat right across Matthew. Hagan sitting next to Matthew.
"Hagan, what are you doing here?" He asked.
"Hey dude, Matt was just telling this crazy story about the abandoned Oracle monument in the woods." Hagan said.
"Oh?" Justin curiously respond.
"The Oracle monument used to be where the people blessed with seer ability will come to keep the prophecies safe but after the attack by 'Vicissim' it's rumours to be cursed by the dark fae in order to blind every single seer to every exist and their bloodlines as well. Many prophecies stored there was either stolen or sabotaged." Matt explain looking a bit disappointed.
"The prophecies? Like the one about 'The Boy Who Lives' you were teaching me the other day?"
"And that sound like the cue for me to head out." Hagan got up and started to pack up his stuff. The guy just hate history in general, ok?
"You're not joining us?" Matt asked.
"Nah, I have enough history from my dad, the old dude even ramble about it in his sleep and school starting tomorrow so I gonna enjoy my last day doing whatever I want." Hagan explained.
"I'll see you two later!" He waved them goodbye.
After Hagan left, Justin and Matt once again began their long hours of studying as Justin did his best to catch up to his peers. Since it's his last day before school year started, Matt decided to go easy on every subject. He only went briefly on all the heavy subject and focus mainly on History and emotions evolution. After 3 hours, Matt decided to call it a day. They waved goodbye after leaving the library.
While heading back to his dorm Justin encountered Hagan along with a group of student he definitely never met before right outside of the dorms building entrance. They were whispering to each other in a sort of suspicious manner, a few of them was smirking, some was throwing dark glares. Decided on not wanting to disturb whatever going with the group, Justin quietly walk pass them and entered the building but Hagan caught him.
"Hey Justin!" He called out.
Justin turned around awkwardly, putting on a smile.
"Hey man, whatsup?" He felt a few eyes fall heavily on him.
"Did the tutoring with Matt went well?" Hagan asked.
"Yeah, it was great. Matt was just telling m..."
"We're going to the woods for a walk. You in?" One of the girl Justin didn't know cut him off.
"The woods?" Justin eyes widen.
"Yeah, dude, we just found out that there is an ancient relic in the forest, the monument, right? Let's go explore!" Hagan eagerly responded.
"I don't know Hagan, it's already getting dark and you know it's forbid that freshman going into the woods unsupervised." Justin rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, nervously even…
There are 3 things Justin learned from Matt about this world during the past months:
1. Never believe everything you read out of a book
2. Magic is not free
3. Rules are made for a reason.
And out of those 3 things, Justin has already learned the third one the hard way.
"…Told you he wouldn't come…"
"…Wimp…"
"…Boring…"
"…probably just kill that Goblin out of pure dumb luck..."
"…Or maybe it's just think he was so pathetic that it just walk away..."
The other start to whisper, making fun of the boy... A huge blown to his trauma.
"Justin, you know when we become Specialist, we will have to go on mission way more dangerous than a goblin so start getting over your fear now might be a good thing. And beside what is the worst thing that can happen? Some hares attacking? Or bambi? Or maybe Tinkerbell may pop up to say hello?" Hagan persuade him. Around Justin, a few started to giggled.
‘’Hey, you always say you want to see more of Magix, well this is the chance! No book can compare to the excitement of experience right?’’ Hagan continued.
‘’Beside if the forest was that dangerous they wouldn't have build a school right next to it.’’ The final nail in the coffin.
Glancing over Hagan face, Justin can see a sly smile
"Ok, sure, let's go." Justin said with a smile as Hagan clapped in excitement. Other students also seem pretty excited. ‘’My man!!’’ Hagan exclaimed.
As they leave the campus, heading into the woods, some students were laughing, talking loudly while some other was talking about the monument, telling made up rumors and making up rumors themselves while at it. Hagan was walking in front of the group with some other guys while Justin was trailing in the back, keeping on open eyes on everyone and everything. For some reason, he couldn’t shake the anxious feeling off of his chest.
"Tough crowd huh?" A voice asked.
"What?" Justin turned to meet a chocolate skin boy, about his height with beautiful gold beads tied to his dreadlocks. They met before, in technology safety class.
"Oh yeah, kinda." Justin said
"I'm Afwerki but call me Aki, nice to meet you." Aki said, offering a hand and a warm smile.
"Nice to meet you Aki, I'm Justin." He said, shaking Aki hand. Returning that smile.
"What are you by the way?" The dark skin boy asked.
"Sorry?" Justin cocked his head curiously.
"Sorry, I mean are you a Fairy, Witch or Specialist? I'm a Witch myself." Aki explain.
"Oh, I'm a Specialist." He said.
Aki raised his eyebrow.
"A Specialist? Really?" He said in an unbelieving manner.
'What did he mean?' Justin thought.
"No offense but I know about your thing with the Firefly goblin no way could an 11 years old managed to kill a monster that size that easily bare hands. Are you sure you're not magical?"
"Believe me, if I have magic I would have known because the first spell I would have made is to forget everything about that day." Justin joke weakly.
"I know the feeling, my parents are normie so you could imagine their reactions when I first show sign of magic and set the couch on fire. They were both so scared, panic even, my dad tried to call the hospital while my mom even tried to call a priest. They were running around like headless chickens." Aki laugh at his own tell, that unforgettable experience, even he can't denied that he was so scared himself.
"Ouch! That bad? What happened next?" The blonde boy asked. Was quite humorous by the story.
"It turn out, my grandmother was a witch but her bloodline skipped a generation which explain why my Dad didn't inherited magic but I did. She explained everything to my parents and just like that I was sent to Magix to study."
"Your grandma must be proud."
"Totally, she went to tell every single one of her friends and family members. That ish was wild." He laughed out loud. And so did Justin.
The two was like being sucked into a black hole as they keep talking about everything and anything. They talked about their family, their study, their interest... And since Aki was from Earth, it was even easier to talk to him, both even share an interest for NASCAR, basketball, Megan Fox and cliche enough Batman.
"Are you trying to debate that Batman bronze age uniform is better? Because you can see his nipples in that one... It's weird!" The blonde argued.
Before Aki could make his case, one of the extra student called out.
"HEY GUY, WE HERE!" The crowd all cheers as they started to spotted the ancient building in sight.
The place must be thousands of years old cause it was all cover in moss, plants and wild flowers as if nature has already reclaimed it. Part of the building was destroyed, crumble of remains scattered all over the place, everywhere there seem to be crumble up pieces of papers, some been stepped on, some been teared apart, some were half burn. It was a complete mad house. It gave everyone chill, a solid sign that they should stay out…
"This is the monument huh?" An extra said, mocking.
"Not so much of an impression for such a godly name."
"Maybe we should stay out..." A girl suggested but her opinion was quickly shut down by a lots as they start to charge inside.
"This has bad idea written all over it." The girl said as she being drag in by her friends.
"So... you coming or what!?" Hagan called out to Justin and Aki.
Inside, everyone was running around hoping to find some sort of souvenir or some prophecies. Justin, Aki and Hagan started to join the chaos. Aki was flipping through some of the books scattered carelessly on the ground, Hagan was look through the remaining scrolls of paper on one of the rotting bookcase. Mean while, upstairs, Justin start to discovered some really amazing stuff.
Inside the observatory, the room was in shade of purple and orange sunset thank to the skylight, it was also filled with astronomical equipment, broken equipment obviously. The moment Justin foot stepped into the room, he felt an entire different aura surrounding him, it was warm like the sun on his perfect 7th birthday, comforting like the orange fuzzy blanket that he would always wraps around himself every Christmas morning…and familiar like…them.
How can such an abandoned, broken down building in the middle of a dark forest remind him so much of home? What is this damn place?
The further he entered, the better it felt, the sound of the chaos happening down stairs is being drown out by whatever pulling him into the place. All the sudden, it must be his eyes playing trick on him because Justin started seeing dots of light, bright, beautiful beam of light around him. They look like tiny baby suns
The birthmark on his bicep suddenly feeling ticklish.
Even with all the strange things happening right in front of his eyes, Justin doesn't feel scared. If anything this is the calmest he had been since he got here.
"Step forward our child, let us see you more clearly... "
Justin stepped into the middle of the room as the dying sunlight shined on him, turning his soft locks of blonde hair shinning golden, it looks like a crown that fit for a king. Justin only ever felt these feelings before…when he went head to head with the beast in the forest behind his family’s house, he protected his mom and dad from that Goblin, this is an Aurora vision. It guided the boy what to do.
Everything is falling into their places…
"HELP!!!" A loud shriek came from downstairs pulled Justin out of his vision, all the lights disappeared, causing Justin’s spine to ran cold.
He quickly rushed down the stairs, panicking and what he encountered only solidify that panic.
It was a monster, a giant flaming centipede with wings to be specific and it wasn't the only one.
Everyone was either screaming or crying but then a spell was blown from a distance, straight into the monstrosity creatures face and by none other than Aki himself. While the thing was still stunted from the attack
"EVERYONE GET OUT! RUN!" Hagan shouted as loud as possible and finally the crowd start moving in various direction kinda like that scene in 'Ratatouille' when the human came into the kitchen and all the rats started running. This was exactly like that, the only difference is that this time, humans is not the apex threats.
"JUSTIN, CATCH!" Hagan called out while tossing a rustic sword to him. Justin caught the sword instantly without hesitation. Aurora is guiding him.
Now with only three person left in the crumbling building, Justin, Hagan and Aki turned their back together as the tension started to build. Do they run back with the other, risking the monsters following them back the group or do they stay and fenced off the monsters. Well, whatever it is they decided, they need to do it quick because this isn't gonna end pretty...