May felt that she didn’t belong in this world. In this world, people used magic. It wasn’t like she couldn’t use magic, it was just that she couldn’t control hers.
Magic comes in all different forms. People sometimes used magic to do household chores, and sometimes they would use it to battle. There are also infinite types of magic.
May was in middle school, sixth grade. She had good grades, and even made it into advanced math and advanced writing. But her peers often made fun of her. Ideally, at that age, people would be very good at controlling their magic already.
Her magic was known as “Time.” Nobody had seen this type of magic in centuries, and they believed it to be “mysterious and powerful.” May did not feel mysterious or powerful. She felt normal, and that was fine by her.
People with “Time” were supposed to control the time of objects, and sometimes even people if they were experienced enough. May could do none of these. The most she had done was rewind the time of a piece of paper.
Years later, her magic control improved a bit. She was in eighth grade. It was around that time that odd things started happening to her. May would get odd messages in her room every Sunday, urging her to go to meet these people at a certain place, at a certain time.
Finally, May snapped. She decided that she would go so the notes would stop coming. The note said to meet near the market. She went. When she arrived, people were waiting for her there. A young lady with baggy clothes and a hood started speaking. “Hello, May. We’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. You may be unfamiliar with our goals right now, I will explain. We put people in your city because of their damaged genes. A long time ago, people tried to get rid of the bad genes in humans. But they have discovered, if you take away someone’s aggression, you take away their will to live, or their ability to assert themselves. Take away someone’s selfishness and you take away their self-preservation. Your city is by far most successful experiment in restoring those broken genes.”
“How do you know my name? What else do you know about me? And how do you know all this information?”
“We have cameras everywhere. We can monitor your every move if we want to. And, we will.”
“Okay then. I’m just going to assume that there aren’t any cameras in my bathroom. What do you want me to do, exactly? I’m just a person with broken genes, as you say.”
“You are confused. You are the only one in this city with perfect genes. Everyone else is broken. You are perfect. And I want you to come with me. I’ll show you what’s outside your world. We need you, and your magic. Something terrible is happening out there, and you must rewind it.”
“So, here’s the problem, I can’t really control my magic. I can’t rewind the actions of a person, or their thoughts. I can’t revive a building or ANYTHING. So, I’m afraid you’ll have to find someone else to fix your problems.”
May turned and walked away, but before she could take a step, she was frozen in place. The lady that was talking to her made a few ice crystals wrap around her, essentially trapping her in a cage. The lady said, “if you won’t cooperate, we will make you. You have no say in this.” After that, everything became blurry and distant. May thought, “Is there toxin in this ice or something?” before everything went black.
When May woke up again, she was sitting in a unfamiliar room with blinding lights. She got up and looked out the windows. What she saw nearly made her scream. Disgusting monsters that resembled people were attacking innocents. “So this is what I’m supposed to fix, huh?” she thought. It seemed impossible. “Might as well give rewinding something small a try first.”
She channeled some of her energy into a broken vase on the ground. It hovered in the air for a few moments, and then fixed itself. May was terrified, surprised, and exited. She could control her magic! She went around the room zapping whatever she saw.
The lady, who was known as Mary, came in. “You probably didn’t know this, but all ‘Time’ magicians need to be injected with this serum to gain their power. I apologize for the disgraceful way you were taken in. I will train you personally, until you can repair this city. Come.”
Every day, May trained until she had to literally drag herself up the stairs and into bed. It was horrible. Her daily routine was basically: wake up, eat breakfast, train, eat lunch, train, eat dinner, take notes, and go to bed.
This kind of life continued for years, until May could practically fix anything. Finally, they told her to fix what had been destroyed. The lady and the group she was leading gave her an orb-like object so they could transfer their energy to her.
May stood in the midst of people panicking and monsters attacking. She thought, “I’ve been suffering for years. I’ll just do this, and I’ll get to go home. I’ll get to see my family again. This is nothing to be afraid of. I’ll just start with rewinding the time of these monsters.”
She went into all the systems of those monsters and changed the age of their physical and mental existence. They were turned into little bugs so small that she could squish with her shoes.
“Now, the hard part. I have to revive these buildings.” she thought. May closed her eyes, and gathered all her energy onto her fingertips, and let her magic out. She was halfway done with the buildings when dark spots started to appear in her vision and her legs became wobbly.
But then, the orb started glowing and energy filled every corner of her again. Soon enough, she was done with the city. But even though the buildings and appearance of the city could be repaired, the minds of people could not be altered, and the dead could not be brought back.
Magic comes in all different forms. People sometimes used magic to do household chores, and sometimes they would use it to battle. There are also infinite types of magic.
May was in middle school, sixth grade. She had good grades, and even made it into advanced math and advanced writing. But her peers often made fun of her. Ideally, at that age, people would be very good at controlling their magic already.
Her magic was known as “Time.” Nobody had seen this type of magic in centuries, and they believed it to be “mysterious and powerful.” May did not feel mysterious or powerful. She felt normal, and that was fine by her.
People with “Time” were supposed to control the time of objects, and sometimes even people if they were experienced enough. May could do none of these. The most she had done was rewind the time of a piece of paper.
Years later, her magic control improved a bit. She was in eighth grade. It was around that time that odd things started happening to her. May would get odd messages in her room every Sunday, urging her to go to meet these people at a certain place, at a certain time.
Finally, May snapped. She decided that she would go so the notes would stop coming. The note said to meet near the market. She went. When she arrived, people were waiting for her there. A young lady with baggy clothes and a hood started speaking. “Hello, May. We’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. You may be unfamiliar with our goals right now, I will explain. We put people in your city because of their damaged genes. A long time ago, people tried to get rid of the bad genes in humans. But they have discovered, if you take away someone’s aggression, you take away their will to live, or their ability to assert themselves. Take away someone’s selfishness and you take away their self-preservation. Your city is by far most successful experiment in restoring those broken genes.”
“How do you know my name? What else do you know about me? And how do you know all this information?”
“We have cameras everywhere. We can monitor your every move if we want to. And, we will.”
“Okay then. I’m just going to assume that there aren’t any cameras in my bathroom. What do you want me to do, exactly? I’m just a person with broken genes, as you say.”
“You are confused. You are the only one in this city with perfect genes. Everyone else is broken. You are perfect. And I want you to come with me. I’ll show you what’s outside your world. We need you, and your magic. Something terrible is happening out there, and you must rewind it.”
“So, here’s the problem, I can’t really control my magic. I can’t rewind the actions of a person, or their thoughts. I can’t revive a building or ANYTHING. So, I’m afraid you’ll have to find someone else to fix your problems.”
May turned and walked away, but before she could take a step, she was frozen in place. The lady that was talking to her made a few ice crystals wrap around her, essentially trapping her in a cage. The lady said, “if you won’t cooperate, we will make you. You have no say in this.” After that, everything became blurry and distant. May thought, “Is there toxin in this ice or something?” before everything went black.
When May woke up again, she was sitting in a unfamiliar room with blinding lights. She got up and looked out the windows. What she saw nearly made her scream. Disgusting monsters that resembled people were attacking innocents. “So this is what I’m supposed to fix, huh?” she thought. It seemed impossible. “Might as well give rewinding something small a try first.”
She channeled some of her energy into a broken vase on the ground. It hovered in the air for a few moments, and then fixed itself. May was terrified, surprised, and exited. She could control her magic! She went around the room zapping whatever she saw.
The lady, who was known as Mary, came in. “You probably didn’t know this, but all ‘Time’ magicians need to be injected with this serum to gain their power. I apologize for the disgraceful way you were taken in. I will train you personally, until you can repair this city. Come.”
Every day, May trained until she had to literally drag herself up the stairs and into bed. It was horrible. Her daily routine was basically: wake up, eat breakfast, train, eat lunch, train, eat dinner, take notes, and go to bed.
This kind of life continued for years, until May could practically fix anything. Finally, they told her to fix what had been destroyed. The lady and the group she was leading gave her an orb-like object so they could transfer their energy to her.
May stood in the midst of people panicking and monsters attacking. She thought, “I’ve been suffering for years. I’ll just do this, and I’ll get to go home. I’ll get to see my family again. This is nothing to be afraid of. I’ll just start with rewinding the time of these monsters.”
She went into all the systems of those monsters and changed the age of their physical and mental existence. They were turned into little bugs so small that she could squish with her shoes.
“Now, the hard part. I have to revive these buildings.” she thought. May closed her eyes, and gathered all her energy onto her fingertips, and let her magic out. She was halfway done with the buildings when dark spots started to appear in her vision and her legs became wobbly.
But then, the orb started glowing and energy filled every corner of her again. Soon enough, she was done with the city. But even though the buildings and appearance of the city could be repaired, the minds of people could not be altered, and the dead could not be brought back.
