[A Few Days Later]
"Hey man, it's nice to see you again." Cyrus said to the gravestone that marked the site of Freddy's grave.
It was the young 'tree magic' user's first time coming here ever since that day he left to go train with Elaine and her crew, and the guy really wanted to come see his friend to tell him the good news. Unlike the last time that he was here, it was actually bright and sunny outside. And although it was still cold, way too cold for him to feel comfortable, Cyrus decided to interpret this as a positive sign.
Three days had passed since the raid on Iznana, and things were finally starting to feel somewhat normal around the station. All of Hannah's cronies were currently waiting to get transported to another location, the clean-up had gone well, and everyone was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief now that their enemies would no longer be an issue for them. Well, mostly…
Shortly after the fighting was over and done with, Mikayla was found dead in the back of the truck that was supposed to be transporting her to the site of her interrogation. Something that had confused practically everyone to no end. The only thing they had to go on was the fact that the curly-haired brunette had some weird bite mark on the side of her neck, just like that one 'water magic' user that they captured a few months ago. And, of course, Chief Chandler was pissed about it since they lost such a valuable captive before they had the chance to question her.
Of course, Cyrus already knew what the deal was, and he couldn't say that he wasn't expecting this outcome. Elaine had sent Duncan out to get rid of one of her loose ends to avoid any further trouble for them. But at the end of the day, Cyrus couldn't find it in himself to care all that much.
Aaron was still alive, though. For now, at least. So it was only a matter of time before the station got whatever information they wanted out of him. And knowing Chief Chandler and Vice-Captain Stillwater, they were going to make sure to take their time with him.
The young man then knelt down and placed his hand on his friend's gravestone.
Cyrus still found it hard to believe that the 'dark magic' user was gone. And a part of him was still hoping that he would just show up at the station one of these days and act as if everything was completely fine. He knew better, though. No amount of wishful thinking would be able to bring him back. But at the very least, Cyrus was able to avenge his death. The woman who had directly caused his death was now dead and gone herself. And she'll never be able to harm anyone like that again.
In spite of all that, Cyrus was glad that he could finally put this whole mess behind him. He had accomplished what he set out to do and completed his mission exactly the way that he wanted to.
"I'm still not done, though." The freckle-faced teen then said as he delicately rubbed the top of the stone. There was still one more thing that needed to be taken care of before he truly found some closure. And that something was a certain dread-headed woman and her band of criminals.
In truth, he had no clue how exactly he was going to deal with Elaine, but Cyrus was sure that he would be able to find something soon to bring her down. But until then, he still needed to get back what was taken from him. After that, the woman who was really behind this whole debacle could be put behind bars.
Cyrus then stood up before taking a moment to snuggle himself up inside of his thick winter coat. He still detested the cold, just like before. And to be honest, he doubted that he would ever enjoy the sensation again in his entire life. He had managed to hold his nerve against Hannah, but now that she was gone, the ghost of her actions still lingered on his body. Ghosts that he might not be able to shake for a long time.
"I'll see you later, man." Cyrus said politely to the gravestone before turning on his heels and walking away. He certainly would be back here in the future, but now it was time for him to get some rest and prepare for what was about to happen next.
After all, there was still one final job that he needed to accomplish.
-(o)-
[Moore Residence, Charlotte, North Carolina]
"So…all of those criminals are gone for good?" Cynthia Moore asked her son after taking a sip of her wine.
"Yup!" Cyrus said casually while cutting up his steak.
Right after leaving the cemetery, Cyrus went directly to his parents' house to enjoy a nice family lunch. It was the first time he had seen the two of them in a while, so he thought that it was a good idea to catch up with them to see how they were doing. Plus, his father had made "surf n' turf" today, and there was no way that he was going to miss out on that if he had anything to say about it.
"Well, that's a relief." The redhead woman sighed in response. "I'm glad that the people who did that to you are finally going to be put behind bars."
"How does that work anyway?" Darius Moore then looked to his son. "I remember you telling me that the country's laws concerning sorcerers were a bit weird, but they have to hold a trial for them, right?"
Cyrus took a second to swallow his food before replying. "Yeah, pretty much. Sorcerers are still entitled to a lawyer and a fair trial. But since everything that we do is directly under federal jurisdiction, all court cases are handled by one of the DPA's regional magistrates. The closest one that we have is somewhere near Chattanooga. So, all of those Iznana goons are going to be sent there after they're done being interrogated."
"Interesting…" The dark-skinned man nodded.
Of course, Darius Moore would be curious about whatever legal proceedings might be involved when it came to sorcerers and their powers. The man was a judge after all. But the fact that their country's super-secret magical agency still somewhat abided by normal laws did reassure him a bit. That being said, this new revelation did make him want to look into how all that worked. But he doubted that he would ever be able to gain access to that kind of stuff.
"Oh, yeah…." Cyrus then cut a glance toward his father. "That reminds me. I've been meaning to ask you this for a while, but why exactly have you been so cool about me being a sorcerer? Mom damn near had a heart attack when I first showed you guys my powers, but you acted like you couldn't be bothered with it."
Darius briefly paused as he pondered over how exactly he should answer this question. But after a few seconds of consideration, he simply gave the 'tree magic' user an indifferent shrug and told him what he wanted to know. "It's because you're not the first sorcerer that I've met?"
"What?" Cynthia quirked an eyebrow upon hearing that. This was news to her.
"Seriously?"
"Yeah." The man nodded. "It was a pretty long time ago, but I actually had a run-in with some sorcerers right before I decided to go to college. The whole situation was pretty weird, so I never brought it up since you two might've thought that I sounded crazy. But after seeing you get your powers, a lot of things started to make sense."
"What happened?" Cyrus was now genuinely curious to hear what his father had to say. Even if he himself interacted with other sorcerers on a daily basis on account of his job, he knew that encountering one of his kind just out and about was a rarity. So the idea that his father had met some before he was even born was strange to say the least.
Darius rubbed his chin in thought as he tried to recall the events of that day. It was quite a long time, so the details were still a bit hazy to him. "Well, let's see…"
-(o)-
[Gastonia, North Carolina, 29 Years Ago]
Pain.
That was the only thing that was able to register in Darius Moore's mind while staring up at the cloudy sky above him as raindrops fell on his face in rapid succession. He may not have been the smartest guy in the world, but he didn't need to be to know that his leg was broken. And with the way things had played out, it looked like he wasn't going to be walking anytime soon.
The dark-skinned youth then turned his head to the right to see what was left of his beat-up old car, which was currently flipped over with the front half sticking out of the water.
"I knew I should've stayed my ass in the house." He then said to himself as he tried to fight back the headache that was pulsating throughout his skull.
The young man could barely even remember what happened before everything went to shit. One minute, he was driving over a bridge on his way to hang out with his buddies. The next, he was pulling himself out of his car after somehow skidding off the road before flying through the barrier and landing in the water.
By the grace of God, he was somehow able to maintain his consciousness enough to get himself to safety. But that was probably the only good thing about the situation.
Even from where he was currently lying, Darius could see the river's waterline steadily rising, thanks to the downpour that had been going on for the last couple of hours. And the fact that he was stuck on top of a wet rock with no immediate way to pull himself up to higher ground didn't exactly bode well for him.
"I need to get outta here…." He then said to himself as he attempted to lift his body up off of the stone surface, only to immediately fall back down after a jolt of pain shot up through his body. "Fuck man."
This wasn't good, this wasn't good at all. He needed to get to safety before the water overtook him. Based on what he could see, he only had a few minutes until this part of the river was completely underwater. Which meant that he didn't have a lot of time before he ended up drowning. And it wasn't like he would be able to swim to safety with the state that his leg was now in.
"Help!" Darius weakly shouted, only to clear his throat before mustering up as much energy as he could to do it again. "Help! Someone help me! Please!"
This went on for the better part of two minutes before the young man started to panic. The water was now up to his feet. And the sight of his blood mixed in with the dirty river water did nothing to alleviate his newfound anxiety. It was only a matter of time before he would be fully submerged.
"Please! Someone help me!"
"Well, shit! You look like you're having a bad day!" A voice suddenly said from him.
The dark-skinned youth tilted his head upward, relieved to hear something other than his own raspy voice. But the second his semi-blurry vision began to focus, he couldn't help but pause at the sight before him.
There, floating in the air directly above him, was another person. A man, a young man, probably not that much older than him. One with an admittedly handsome face, dark skin, shoulder-length dreadlocks, a solid build, and a black eyepatch covering his left eye. The guy was wearing a green rain jacket and some baggy jeans, along with some expensive-looking basketball shoes. And he seemed to have some strange aura about him that Darius couldn't quite put into words.
"I thought my wife was hearing things when we first pulled over. But I guess that she was right after all." The mystery man said with a casual smile.
"Are you a figment of my imagination?" Those were the first words out of Darius's mouth. The young man was absolutely certain that he was seeing things. Probably due to the amount of blood that he had already lost. After all, what else could explain what he was currently looking at?
"I don't think so." The dreadhead replied while still keeping that smile on his face. "I'm pretty sure that I'm a real person. If not, then that raises a bunch of weird questions that I don't want to think about."
"Y-you…you're flying. Are you some kind of superhero or something?"
The man waved his hand off to the side. "Oh, definitely not! Those things only exist in comics."
Darius had no clue what to say to that. Hell, he had no clue whether or not what he was seeing was actually even real or not. Either way, he was glad that this guy had shown up when he did. He needed to get out of the water, fast.
"Who are you?"
"The name's Eugene!" The now identified man replied. "Don't worry about my last name, though. I don't think it'll be a good idea to tell you that."
Okay, that wasn't weird at all. But hey, this whole situation wasn't exactly normal to begin with. "Please, help me!"
"Sure thing, buddy!" Eugene, if that was even his real name, said happily. "But before that, you have to promise me one thing in return."
"W-what?"
"You have to make sure that you don't tell anybody about what I'm about to do. If you can't do that, then I'm going to have to leave you here."
Darius had no reason to refuse such a simple offer. "Deal! Just get me out of here!"
"Dope!"
Darius then watched as Eugene snapped his fingers before he felt a gust of wind sweep past his body. What followed after that was truly something amazing.
A tornado, a literal tornado, of wind suddenly appeared directly under him before lifting him up out of the still rising water. It wasn't a massive one, but it was more than strong enough to get him into the air. But even that was too much for his mind to comprehend.
'What in the world? What is this guy?'
Before the dark-skinned youth could formulate his next thought, Eugene flew over to him and scooped his arms underneath his body. The fact that they were currently levitating in the air was not lost on Darius in the slightest, but he was too happy to finally be out of the water to really care all that much at the moment.
"Alright, let's get you over to Joanna! She's pretty good with all this first-aid stuff!"
"C-cool!"
The two proceeded to make their way back up the bridge, and once they were there, Darius immediately caught sight of another person standing at the edge of the barrier. A woman this time, a pretty one with olive skin and long black hair tied into a thick braid that hung over her left shoulder. She was dressed in a baggy red tracksuit with a black rain jacket thrown over the top of it. But what really caught Darius's attention was the baby carrier that was strapped to her chest.
"Eugene, who is that?!" The woman spoke in a weird accent that Darius couldn't identify.
"The guy who was screaming for help just a second ago." Eugene replied. "It looks like he slid off the road and got into a wreck. He broke his leg, something gnarly. Can you take a look at him?"
"Sure, bring him over here!"
Eugene did as he was told and brought Darius down to where the woman and child were. He then opened the back of the couple's expensive-looking SUV and placed the young man in the back. Darius recognized this car from all of those magazine catalogues that his father kept lying around the house. The thing was worth more than an arm and a leg. Whoever these people were, they clearly had money.
"Alright, let's see what's wrong with you." Joanna then said while taking a look at the young man's leg. "It's definitely broken, but it's not too bad. You probably won't be able to walk well for a few weeks, though."
"Awesome…" The dark-skinned teen said semi-sarcastically.
Suddenly, the baby decided to make its presence known. "Gah!"
"Hay, mierda!" The woman then said in what he assumed to be Spanish. "Eugene, come get Elaine! I can't work with her in the way like this."
"Yeah, yeah, I gotcha!"
The dread-headed man then walked up next to the door and secured the child from his wife. In that time, Darius was able to notice that the kid, a little girl, was probably around one year old, if that. She had thick, curly black hair, just like every other mixed kid he had ever seen, and she had the same pale-green eyes as her mother.
The child gave Darius a cute little wave as her father strapped her baby carrier onto his chest, and the young man couldn't help but wave back out of politeness.
"Alright, mucho mejor!" Joanna then said, before taking the first aid kit out from the SUV's hidden compartment and using it to splint and wrap up the young man's leg.
This went on for a good two minutes before the young man finally mustered up the courage to ask the woman a question. All of this was way too weird for him. And he couldn't just sit back and not get some sort of explanation.
"Who are you people?" Darius then asked the woman out of genuine curiosity. It was clear to him that they weren't normal people.
Joanna looked up at him before responding. "Just some good Samaritans."
"Good Samaratins that can fly and have orange eyes?" He shot back.
"Yes." The woman said with a slight smile. "Since you're injured, I'll cut you some slack. We're not exactly what you would call normal people. But it's best if you don't think about it too hard."
"Yeah…okay, I get it."
In no time at all, Darius's leg was sufficiently patched up, and all of the bleeding had been stopped. And once she was satisfied with her work, Joanna used the couple's cellphone to call an ambulance out to their location.
The fact that they even had an actual working cellphone only furthered the idea Darius had about the two of them being rich. Very few people were running around with one of those things, and they cost well over a thousand dollars for the newest models.
By the time the ambulance showed up, Darius was quickly hoisted into the back by the attending paramedics. The nearest hospital wasn't too far away, so he should be able to get some help for his injury pretty soon.
"Have a fun trip!" Eugene said to Darius with a casual wave. "I hope you feel better soon!"
"Thank you." The young man nodded back. "You guys really saved my skin."
"Don't mention it! Just focus on getting back on your feet!"
"Yeah, alright."
With that, the doors to the ambulance shut, and Darius was on his way to the hospital. The couple was kind enough to let him use their phone to call his parents to let them know what happened, and they were now on their way to see their injured son.
As the two sorcerers watched the vehicle drive off into the distance, they couldn't help but wonder if the guy would keep good and his word and avoid telling anyone about what he saw today. Granted, they had a few ways to make sure that he didn't run his mouth off to any of the local tabloids. But they preferred to believe that he would simply be grateful enough not to open his mouth to the wrong people.
"What?" Eugene gave his wife a perplexed look after seeing the weird smile that she was giving him.
"Nothing." Joanna said with a slight chuckle. "It's just not like you to go out of your way to help someone in need. I'm surprised you even went down there to check after I said that I thought I heard someone screaming."
Eugene took a second to look down at their daughter. He then gave the little girl a loving smile before directing his gaze back to his wife. "Well, I'm a dad now, so I have to set a good example for our child. Plus, getting stabbed in the head really makes a guy want to turn over a new leaf."
The 'earth magic' user gave the man another smile before leaning forward and planting a kiss on his lips. "Come on, we need to hurry up and get back on the road. If we're late to your sister's birthday party, your parents are going to tear us a new one."
"Yeah, good point." The 'wind magic' user nodded his head before the two jumped back into their SUV and made their way to their destination.
-(o)-
"I only found out who those people were a few years later. I saw a photo of Ezekiel MacNamara and his family on one of those bougie magazines covers while I was out getting lunch with my coworkers and immediately recognized who Eugene was. You can imagine my surprise when I saw his face for the first time in over five years." Darius then said after he finished telling the story to his wife and son.
"So you met the twins' father all the way back then?" Cyrus said while failing to hide his shock.
"Small world, isn't it?" The man replied with a slight grin.
"And why have you never bothered to tell me this story before?" Cynthia questioned her husband.
"Would you have believed me if I told you?"
"Good point."
"Well…" Cyrus then said with a laugh. "I'll have to remember to thank Commissioner MacNamara whenever I see him. If it wasn't for him, I guess I never would've been born."
"Yeah, I probably would've drowned in that river if he hadn't come to save my ass. Still sad about the car, though. My father gave it to me for my birthday. It was a piece of junk, but it had a lot of sentimental value."
The Moore family then went back to their meal and continued to chat about how their lives were going. Cyrus really enjoyed being able to do something like this, especially after everything he had been through. It was nice to enjoy some quality time with his family without having to worry himself over all of the drama that was surrounding his life at the moment. And he certainly wasn't going to take any of this for granted anytime soon.
Little did the young 'tree magic' user know that his life was going to take one hell of a turn in the coming days. One that was going to have many far-reaching effects for the entire world for the foreseeable future.