I've got an unnatural addiction to Central...

Seriously. I do. Nowadays I go to Central more often then blogger or Duo of Death!

(Gasps)

I don't know why I have that addiction. Its just so... cool, I guess.

Anyways, I DID tell you to comment on Mage and Wizard, did I not?

And except for Destiny Deathgem about a meeting, I GOT NONE. I am SERIOUS, guys, I need the feedback. I've freaked out on Central once and on this blog twice about it. I need the feedback majorly. Its the fans that keeps the writer going, you know what I mean? I'm also thinking about renaming Mage and Wizard to Mage and Warlock. What do you think, huh huh? Meh, I'll just post a poll about it.

Anyways, I've finished Mage and Wizard or Mage and Warlock, and now I'm posting the FULL version. One problem before I send it in: Its OVER THE WORD LIMIT!

(Hyperventalates)

Oh, sheesh! If only they could expand it JUST A LITTLE! Its 2,081 words!

(Slaps palm on forehead)

And sorry, I don't mean to rant and stuff, I really don't. On happy note, I just met a really nice girl on Wizards from Central. She's nice, and a very good writer. Her name's Jenna Rosepetal, and she writes Heart Guardians. Oh, and, Alia, you one time asked whether or not to post TMPSOA on Central. Two words:

DO IT! 


Now, I'm gonna post Mage and Wizard/Warlock again. This time, I NEED FEEDBACK. I need to know which 81 words to take out or simply to take out the last section.

Anyways.

"Come on, Tara," Marissa Stone yelled from behind the door. "You'll be late!" 

"Can't Mom," Tara Stone replied with what she hoped was a hoarse voice. "I'm sick." 

That was a lie. Tara didn't want to go to school today. Her older brother, Connor, was an expert of faking sick so today Tara was mimicking his actions. It was probably why he was dubbed "Most likely to get sick" in the Stone household. It was also probably why his grades were dropping at an increasing rate. 

Marissa opened the door to check in on her daughter. She felt Tara's forehead with her palm and shook her head. "Tara, you're not sick," She scolded. "Now get ready." Marissa exited the room, nimbly cascading down the stairs. 

Tara groaned as she unfurled the blankets and stuffed on a few clothes. "I hate tan," She grumbled as she carelessly stuffed her feet into tan and white shoes. "It's a boring color," Tara added as she slammed her pointed cap on her head. 

Tara tromped down the stairs where her mom was passing oatmeal to Jenna and Connor. Marissa looked over to Tara, who joined her siblings. "Aren't you excieted for your first day at Ravenwood?" Her mom asked Tara. 

Tara shook her head.

"Oh, don't worry Tara," Jenna Stone, a sixteen-year-old grandmaster thautamerge said. "Its really fun." 

"Yeah, you get to pwn people in a dang classroom," Connor Stone, an adept-going-on-magus necromancer said with his mouth full of food. 

"Manners, Connor," Marissa warned. 

"Sorry, Connor replied after he swallowed. "I mean, just be glad you aren't one of those noobs from Earth." 

"Maybe I do," Tara said, already scraping the bowl clean of oatmeal. 

Connor shook his head. "You don't," He said. "Those weaklings don't know magic if it was sitting on them!" 

"There are some people on Earth who can practice magic," Jenna objected. "Amanda was from Earth." Amanda was Jenna's best friend. 

"One person," Connor muttered. 

When Connor and Jenna had left the room, Marissa patted Tara on the back. "Come on, lighten up!" Her mom encouraged. "Sorcery will be fun. Your dad was one." 

"Yeah, but I can't cast spells," Tara protested. 

"Of course," Marissa assured. "You're a novice." She left. 

Tara shook her head wearily. No one would understand. 

Because Tara couldn't practice magic altogether. 

"And to the south of Minnesota we've got an unexpected storm front heading our way," The weatherman reported. "It doesn't seem as if its gonna fade for the next few days. High chance of lightning and thunder. Be prepared, guys. It looks like a big one." 

That's what Blaze heard from his TV when he got home. 

"Hey Blaze," His dad greeted. "Care to show me your report card?" 

"Sure," Blaze responded, getting a manila envelope from his backpack, handing it to his dad, Stuart

Stuart unsealed the envelope and studied Blaze's grades. Slowly a widespread smile came across his face. "Blaze, I'm truly impressed," Stewart said, looking up. "Straight As." 

"Thanks," Blaze said, taking a seat next to Stewart. "How were Calamity's grades?" Blaze already knew the answer. 

Stuart sighed. "Her best grade was a C+," He admitted. "A C+, two C-s, three Ds and an F-." 

Blaze shook his head. His sister was a slacker, as always. She used to be high-achieving like him. Then her friends drowned and took Calamity down with them. 

Blaze sat up straight. "Dad, can I talk to you about something?" 

"Sure." 

Blaze took a deep breath. He was sure-no, positive- that his dad wouldn't believe him, but he had to explain the situation to someone. "You know Seth?" 

Stuart nodded. "The kid who bullies you." 

"Well, I got really mad at him today at school," Blaze started. "And as we fought, the sky turned from bright blue to an indigo kind of color. Then lightning flashed and thunder was brought down." 

Stuart nodded again. "I remember. That was a big storm." 

"Yeah, but for some reason I think... I think I brought the storm." 

Tara breathed deeply as she looked down from the boat to Krokosphinx. Tara wasn't cut out to be a sorcerer. She wasn't cut out to anything. 

Tara stepped off the boat and was soon on her way to the ladder. But before she went into  the school she noticed someone out of place. She couldn't make out the eyes or the hair. She could tell it was a man, maybe around thrity? Thirty five? The man was clad completely in white and had a hood pulled over his hair. He was as solid as a statue, not moving. 

Tara's long blonde hair was getting carried away in the wind as she observed the white guy. Shrugging him off, she climbed into the Balance school, her blue eyes observing the tan walls around her. How she hated that color! 

The lesson was just an introductory kind of thing to Balance, and Tara came out relieved that she didn't embarrass herself due to not being to use magic. She knew the day would soon come, though. 

But then Tara noticed that the man in white was still there. 

All of a sudden, Tara's head was throbbing. Soon Tara gave way to unconsciousness. 

Her last thought before she knocked out was that somehow, she knew the man in white was causing this.

Outside, thunder roared.

"Man, how much worse can this possibly get?" Calamity complained at dinner, tying her red hair into a ponytail. 

Unlike Calamity, Blaze had strange purple hair. Long, too. He remained silent about the storm. 

The news turned to a section about a bank robbery. "I didn't know there were crimes in Kennington," Blaze admitted. 

Stuart nodded. "Its rare, but it happens." He said. "One time a guy in our neighborhood disappeared." 

"What was his name?" Blaze asked. 

"Kane, I think," Stuart said. "Kane Legend." 

"Kane Legend?" Calamity tried not to laugh. "Who goes by the last name Legend?" 

"Apparently Kane did," Blaze pointed out. Blaze turned back to his dad. "What happened?" 

"Kane was your average kind of guy," His dad began. "He worked as a simple garbageman. He never married, although he hung out with a woman called Iridian. Don't know what Iridian's last name was. One day Iridian goes to Kane's house. They've never been seen since. Officials have investigated the house many times. No trace of Kane or Iridian. Kane was twenty-two, Iridian twenty." 

The rest of the dinner was eaten in silence. Finally Blaze broke it. "Dad, can I have a sleepover at Ryan's house?" 

Stuart nodded. "Sure." 

Blaze took out his cell phone and called Ryan. "Hey Ryan," Blaze greeted. 

"Hey dude," Ryan said. "What's up?" 

"You think I can come over for a sleepover?" Blaze asked. 

"Hold on, lemme ask my parents," Ryan said. There was a minute-long silence when Ryan said, "Its fine. When are you gonna be over?" 

Blaze calculated the time he'd arrive. "About ten minutes," He said. 

"Great. See you then." 

"Okay, bye."

Blaze hung up and packed. As he packed, Blaze looked out the window. The storm seemed to be settling down. That's good, Blaze thought. I can walk over to Ryan's without much difficulty. 

Blaze zipped the black sports bag and slung it over his right shoulder. "See ya," He called as he exited the house. 

Not very far from his home, Blaze saw a thin and tall woman in a purple snowsuit and a purple hood with a ski mask on. 

"um, excuse me," Blaze called out to the woman. "But you may want to get out of the ski wear." 

Blaze tried to proceed to his destination when his head started to throb. Blaze tried to ignore the pain but it only increased. 

Blaze actually screamed as he fell to the gravel road, unconsciousness overcoming him. 

The man in white looked around Krokosphinx. When he was sure that there were no witnesses, he activated a BlueTooth in his ear. Normally technology like this brought to Wizard City, Krokotopia, Marleybone, Mooshu, Grizzlehiem, Dragonspyre or Celestia would automatically run out of service. But his power as a Mage allowed him to use it. 

"Do you have the Earth boy?" The man in white questioned. "The one called Blaze?" 

"I do," His comrade answered. "I trust you have Tara?" 

The man in white nodded. "Affirmative," He cleared. "Go to the spiral chamber that lies in my former home at Kennington. Bring Blaze to Nightside. Both Tara and Blaze must realize what they have to do there." 

"Why Nightside?" His associate asked, her voice questioning. "And are you sure that they can carry out the task? They're both only twelve years old." 

"As for your first question," The man in white said. "Almost no one knows of Nightside. For your second question, I'm sure they can. Their potentials are almost limitless. In Nightside, they will be given their task: to defeat my old apprentice." 

Blaze opened his eyes. 

He rose from the ground and brushed his T-shirt and jeans off. He found his sports bag laying not too far from him. As he grabbed it, Blaze took notice of his surroundings. Blaze was in a black, dreary and gloomy place. There was a tower to his left and a building to his right and they were both made of black bricks and looked as if they had fallen from the sky. There was a skull insignia on both of them. 

What Blaze saw next gave him a shock. It appeared to be a decaying tree- with eyes and a mouth. Blaze barely stiffled a scream. The tree noticed him and smiled. "Hello," The tree said. "I am Mortis. What's your name?" 

"I-I'm Bl-b-Blaze," He stuttered. Then Blaze spotted someone. "Who's she?" 

Mortis had barely noticed her. A girl wearing strange tan and white robes, boots and a pointed cap was lying on the ground She had long blonde hair. She stirred, moaning. The girl stood up, rubbing her head. "Where am I?" 

"You tell me," Blaze responded. 

The girl jumped, startled. "Who're you?" She asked. 

"Blaze. You?" 

"Tara. Tara Stone." 

Tara looked around, then approached the building. "The Death School," Tara breathed. 

"Huh?" Blaze asked. 

"The Death School," Tara repeated. "Torn from the Ravenwood Cycle. And here it is." 

"Ravenwood?" 

Tara turned around immediately, studied him, then "Oh"ed. "You're from Earth, aren't you?" 

"You make it sound otherworldly." 

"It is." 

"Welcome to Nightside," A new voice interrupted.

Tara and Blaze were startled. Tara reconized the man in white while Blaze saw the woman in purple. 

"YOU!" Both of them cried at the same time. 

"Take it easy, guys," The woman in purple said. They heard an Spanish accent. "Trust us." 

"Why should we?" Tara challenged. 

"We'll tell you who we are and why you are here," The man in white said. He took off his hood to reveal short frizzy white hair and green eyes. His next words shocked Blaze. 

"My name is Kane," The man in white said. "Kane Legend." 

"You're the guy who disappeared!" Blaze realized. 

The woman in purple nodded. "Indeed we are," She said. Then she took off the ski mast to reveal brown skin, pink hair and purple eyes. "Iridian Dragonblood, at your service," 

"Now Kane and Iridian," Tara pressed. "I want some answers." 

Kane looked from Tara to Blaze then switched. "You two, you two alone, have the combined strength to defeat my old apprentice before he gets out of control." 

Tara laughed. "Okay, now I'm actually relieved  that my powers as a Wizard are useless." 

"As a Wizard, yes," Kane agreed. "But as a mage, false." Kane then turned to Blaze. "And you, my friend, are a Warlock." 

"Mage, Warlock, Wizard, aren't they all the same thing?" Blaze asked. 

Iridian shook her head. "Wizards use spells that make things pop out of nowhere. Mages draw the four elements, Water, Fire, Air and Earth, to their advantage. Warlocks are more similar to Wizards then Mages, but they tend to use charms and potions more often then spells. Kane is a Mage, I here am a Warlock. How we knocked you out? Knockout Charms. Warlock specialty." 

"Tara," Kane said. "Wizards go through a process called Awakening to use magic. It normally happens at birth. For some reason, you weren't. But I know someone who can Awaken you." 

Silence. "Will you Awaken me if I agree to go through with this?" She broke. 

Kane nodded. "Certainly." He turned to Blaze. "You?" 

"Magic? Charms? Dude, I'm so in."