Nicholas Flammels son,
London England,
Alchemy shoppe,
1659, Summer.
He bent over his table, sweating as he translated the words from ancient text into modern script. He blinked, and his fathers demon scratched a line on the paper, grinning as he awaited the expected gasp of horror. Instead, the child kept working, using the line as part of his translation. The glow told the demon all he needed to know- he'd messed up big time. If those two papers came into contact with each other... He attempted to knock over the inc, but a cross stopped him from doing that. He tried touching the Flammel child, but was unable to- so he was pure in this moment. He attempted to Touch the paper, but the magic was too strong.
This was bad, and now... Secrets that weren't meant to be shared with humans would be shown. Humans- especially this one- wouldn't wait to try out this spell, wouldn't listen to the warnings. He panicked, and he knew what he had to do. He flew straight up, attempting to reach not heaven, but its gates. He must've been sneaky or confusing enough, because he arrived there easily. And he warned the angels, panicked the entire time. He was so scared, he didn't even notice the mufflers they wore before they chopped him in half. And so, Nicholas' son cast the spell, and Heaven became suddenly empty- Hell finding the same problem. All over the world, Unicorns vanished, vampires turned to ash, and witches and wizards were suddenly ordinary people with useless knowledge. Every active or 'awake' magic vanished, leaving the world dead for a generation. Then the next generation of humans came, and- though most were normal humans- some of the children displayed... abnormal abilities. Some could glow, others could talk to animals, and some could feel how the water and wind currents were shaped, allowing them to easily pilot ships- and the most powerful of these people were the children who could create fire.
Only flickering sparks at first; with practice, an entire handful of flames. They were also immune to fire touching their skin- they could not be touched by heat. Few people had magic, even fewer could achieve this effect- so they were quickly pressed into military service. Many wars were fought, and these magic children died left and right, most abandoning their homes to hide in Switzerland for refuge. People sent in spies and abducted the innocent children during the night, leaving them to mostly suffer and return to duty. A few escaped, and they hid more perfectly, faking lives and faking pasts that weren't theirs, many went to America, and this is were many stayed.
The Americas became known as a haven for those seeking to live away from war, a 'second switzerland'. This became devastatingly true when the great grandchildren of those magical children- most with magic of their own- were the target of a forced draft to protect their country and her allies. America trained them, then sent them in like every other soldier- Their side won. With the right to practice magic without public retribution, many children grew up using their magic openly- they knew what they could do, and they made certain their friends and commanders knew. Human flash grenades, perfect airstrikes, enemy foodstuffs being specifically targeted and attacked by insects and animals. It wasn't common, but it drastically turned the tide in America's favor.
America won, and then she took her children home. They were hailed as war heroes and considered America's saviors- It all went downhill from there. After a while, America set in motion, the 'mages relocation act', labeling all magic users as mages and ordering them to change their homes. Some were sent off to spain, others Europe, still others France and south america- every allied country suddenly had an influx of magical population, and this led to the small magics being all over the globe- orphans grew up not knowing their magical parents, children were stolen from the cradle and raised in other countries- no one was safe anymore, and they were soon spread across the globe.
No new wars broke out, only skirmishes here and there, but people became scared as they saw other nations had mages of their own. Wars cooled, and fear became the common drink of nations. Everyone was scared of attacking anyone else- until a decade ago when a single piece of paper ruined the century long peace. The 'declaration of mutual magical purging'. Before war, every mage in each country wanting to fight would be gathered and then publicly murdered, with the other country allowed to send in their own teams to double check for the truthfulness of these actions.
Mages went into hiding again after the first mage purge, with friends, family, and even people they'd never met before offering to help them reach safety- either in switzerland or America. Many chose America, and most of the rest tried to reach Switzerland, but a few hundred terrified souls tried to make it to Australia- thinking that perhaps no one would search for them there. All three plans worked, and suddenly you had three countries out of every country in the world that had magic. America tried to negotiate the declaration into non-existence, while switzerland became the most powerful neutral nation to ever exist. Australia didn't know what to do with it's new mage population, so it just sort of left them alone- ignoring them unless they were attacked. It took five years to undo what that single document had done, and people had conflicting views on the subject. The two extremes were the view condemning those nations- France and Austria- For having done such an inhumane thing- the other extreme being that the document should've been glorified and used in every nation on earth. Most were somewhere in between.
Today is five years after the destruction of the 'Declaration of mutual mage purging', and things have settled somewhat. No one is yet ready to return to their homelands, frightened that this is a trick to lure them safely back to the slaughterhouse. No Nation is prepared to push them either, and so they wait, watching as the mages begin to form lives right were they are. What truly shocks the world are the two traits that seem to come with magic in a child- loyalty and fear. It is rare to see a mage criminal, as every mage is constantly terrified of anyone who isn't a mage themselves. The fear weakens by their preteen years to a simple discomfort, but they are always wary, and fear is hard for them to overcome without either trauma or exposure to people who aren't mages. The more they've been around normal humans, the easier the fear can be dealt with.
Greater than their fear, though, is their loyalty. They were willing to fight a war because they were loyal to their country- they were willing to leave their lives and go to a place they'd never been with people they didn't know to hope for a strangers mercy because of their loyalty to their family. They would kill for those they are loyal to, they would die for them. These traits make mages seem almost like rabbits during a war- loyal defenders, but ones that are terrified the entire time and long to run away. During peace that image fades as they grow used to the people around them. The son of Nicholas Flammel is among them somewhere, hiding somehow. He remains alive thanks to his philosophers stone, and people long ago gave up trying to find him.
Mages that can feel the magic around them have recently sensed something, a pull of magic leaving the surface and sinking down towards the planets core. They say that it is growing there, that the magic feeds itself and grows stronger by the minute. eventually, that energy will explode outwards and cover the planet- hopefully kickstarting magic on the planet. This terrifies most, and many attempts are being made to find Arthur Flammel, the last living descendant of the son of Nicholas Flammel. He was always reclusive, and now seems to have gone into hiding to avoid the publicity. People are scared and want the magic of the earth to be caught in the philosophers stone once again- even if that means making a second stone and losing the mages forever.
People are scared, and it is during this time of panic and unrest that a few mages were born that had more magic than before. Though limited to the same basic abilities- sensing magic ,fire, light, sensing the air and water, and animal communication- they are much more powerful, and they seem to be able to display abilities that the others of their kind can't. Can they save the world?
What do you guys think? :3)
YOU ARE READING
Dead Zone
General FictionNicholas Flammel died, leaving all of his alchemical work behind for his son. When his son misread an ingredient in Nicholas' spell to create the Philosophers stone, The spell worked, and he was ecstatic. Then he hid. Now it is the modern day, peop...
