The New Power

(closed)

Mathias BlackCrest bore a family name that was unknown by most of the world, but feared and loathed by the few who knew its origins. Matt as he preferred was part of a long line of dark sorcerers. Man and women who had built fortunes and dark power on the backs of the rest of humanity. Mathias had been a disappointment in his father’s eyes. His power hadn’t been innate, he’d taken it in bargains and pacts with demons. Still, those who knew the world of magic feared him, knowing he’d do anything to satisfy the demons that had become his masters.

Matt was six foot one and cast an unnaturally dark shadow. If it weren’t for the mischief in his eyes and the wicked smile he so often wore. He worked out body, mind and spirit to stay alive, and though he accomplished great deeds he lived almost normally hidden in the mortal world. It was there is his small, but affluent apartment, that he slept on this stormy night he would never forget.
What should have been a sleep as peaceful as death was suddenly filled with a turbulent dream. Matt could barely put together what was happening, but he could feel the power of it. Suddenly, the flashing images cleared and he could see himself filling with a power all his own.

When he woke Matt could still feel the power the dream had shown him. It called to him and he knew he had to have it for himself. In minutes he was changed into jeans and his leather jacket that hid his deep red shirt. Minutes after that, he was downstairs on his motorcycle with his long dark brown hair whipping in the wind.

Finally done with another long day of work~ Crystal thinks to herself as she locks up the cafe and starts walking back home to her little house. At 5"5', straight hair thats so silver it looks blue, and eyes that are almost red. An hour glass curve that makes men turn heads. But she now ponders to herself after thinking all things good about herself...~Why the Hell have i never had a boy friend in my life...~ She huffs to herself remembering tomorrow she turns 24 years old.

Being greeted by her cat now. she sighs sadly that shes no longer gets bothered by her grandmother. She feeds her cat and heads of to bed.

Hours pass by in her sound deep sleep her normal adventurous dream turn dark & almost painful to be real. She feels fire race through her skin as feels like ice is freezing her from the inside out. She tries screaming herself awake. ~wwhy... why isnt there any one... some one... make it go away!~

Her room freezes over in the night. As morning creeps closer and the sun begins to rise, the pain & chill subsides.

Crystal wakes out of her nightmare to the cat meowing for his morning food. She slowly sits up. Her room is fine, but as she goes to move her body aches in places she didnt know could feel pain. Forgetting about the odd dream and more happy its her day off she prepares a basket and sets off with cat in tow to the park where she plans to spend the rest of her day making pottery to sell.

Few of the arcane would have believed Mathias used what they considered such backwards transportation as a motorcycle, but the young warlock had found it convenient. It attracted less attention and left his magic for more pragmatic uses. Matt loved riding it, especially on stormy nights like this one. Taking a sharp corner too fast the bike nearly slid out of control, but its rider didn't hesitate. The shadows of the streets rushed together into something substantial and righted the bike letting Matt continue on unhindered. Mathias wasn't stopping for anything. He could almost taste the rising power that had awoken him, it was one of the few talents he'd started his eldritch legacy with that weren't born hellfire. Mathias could sense magic in the world, not only magic that was near him, but seemingly across the world.

Whatever was awakening tonight caused a hunger he had never felt before, an unquenchable need to have it. He wondered as he blazed through the streets what could have happened to cause this sudden stir. Had some ancient treasure been unearthed, or had the bindings on some wild spirit come undone? Thunder rocked the sky as if heralding the coming power, warning the world of what Mathias BlackCrest intended to take as his own.

The storm subsided as he arrived in the town he’d felt the magic rising from, but by the time he arrived at the source he’d felt the night before the power had waned, as if it had fallen dormant. The strangest part of all was the apartment it had lead him to. What could he have felt here? Following the wisps of the prior nights event Mathias found his way to the local park.

As he explored the typical park he passed by joggers and some kids trying to feed a duck bread. He’d never been wrong before, but the warlock was beginning to suspect he must be. That is until he turned on the path and saw a young woman actually working on pottery. At first, his eye was drawn by the normal reasons, her attractive form and unusual way of spending her day at the park. As he looked however, Mathias realized it was her he was looking for, not an object to be taken, but this young woman. Still, the cravings that had woken him in the night would not dissipate.

“An artist,” he said in recognition of what she was working on as he approached, “I’ve done a little work with art. Do you mind if I ask what you’re working on?”

Crystal hums a tune as she puts her hands to work on the soft clay.
Something stops her & snaps her out of the tune. No foot steps but as she turns, her eye fallow a shadow. Her breath gets caught as she looks up at the tall man that had silently walked up to her.

~Do you mind if I ask what you’re working on?” ~Were the only words she heard.

"Oh.. um.. Im just working on some pottery.. The clay im working on now needs to be part of a sake set some one had paid me to make. But.." Her words drift off as she looks back at was is supposed to be the vase look more like a long bowl. She sighs under her breath & puts her hands back on the "bowl".

"Its only the 2nd time i will make a sake set so... its.. ~grumbles~ Its being a brat thats what it is." A thought of the man comes to mind and she was surprised he didnt shreek or curse from the odd red of her eyes like most men do. ~phh.. just give it 3 seconds and he'll being running like the others~ Her mind random and wonders she almost forgets the most hottest man alive shes ever seen is standing there over her shoulder and for first time, some one is watching her work.

An odd feeling came over, feeling of feeling proud of what she did. The only other who had ever made her feel she was worth her salt was her grandmother. but now shes been gone for 4 years now. she would be more happy that it was her birthday. Only problem was, its also her grandmothers death day.

Her cat goes up to the man & sniffs his shoe. ~oh, no... dont hiss.. please dont attack this guy... cat if you do anything you dont get fish for a week...~ screams the thoughts in her head but to her udder shock, the cat purrs & rubs his body againts his leg.

"um... ok.. He is never, has never been nice to any man thats ever neared me.."

Mathias chuckled and knelt down to pet the cat purring at his feet. Cats were probably his favorite animal. “Cats like me. Call it one of my few real talents,” he joked. He hadn’t expected this. When he probed he could feel her power waiting calmly below the surface and it wasn’t something he would be able to just take from her. She was something special. If he wanted it he needed her, and force was not something that could help with that.

Mathias finished scratching the affectionate cat behind the ear and looked up at the young beauty. “My name’s Matt. I know it might seem out of the blue, but I might only be in town a couple of days. Would you like to go out to get some lunch later?” As he spoke he looked at her eyes and wondered who she really was.

She smiled and was truly happy for a first time for what he said. She got lost in his eyes and the way he spoke. Almost old worldly. Not in the words but the voice, one thing she has always a weakness to.

"Its.. nice to meet you Matt. my name is Crystal and the cat is Garfield." Her hand reaches up to shake his but pull back before the clay could get over his clean hands. "Lunch sounds very good actually... i did forget to bring some with me when i came out.. But i should clean up a little. I do have clay all over me." She smiles and then laughs as she looks up to him. Now that he was closer her heart stutter more.

She didnt know why it would do that, only time it ever did was in a dream or nightmares that she had grown up with.

She begins to pack up her things & stands to walk back to her place. "Um. if you like i could cook something up... its kinda a talent i have to make good food." the words stutter out of her lips and wonders how stupid her voice probably sounded to him as they did to her own ears that were now burning and still have sense that odd dream she had waken from.

“It’s been a long time since someone cooked for me, that would be wonderful,” he told her smiling. The plans were already forming in his mind. Specific lies laid out just so and he wouldn’t have to coerce her.

While walking back to her apartment they chatted about her pottery. So often, art was an important part of powerful magic, so Mathias had dabbled in painting and pottery before himself, but he had no real talent for it. Still, it gave him the experience to talk with her about it. As they walked he casually took an inventory of Crystal. The first thing he noticed were her red eyes, they weren’t a typical sign of the arcane, but they were exotically beautiful. The more he thought about it, the more Mathias realized Crystal might be more than just another source of power to him.

When Crystal open the door to her apartment the warlock had to stop himself from frowning. While it certainly was not a dump, it was all wrong. Even without the mysterious power welling up inside of her, Crystal deserved more than what she had. “This must be a nice place to call home,” Mathias lied politely.

Crystal walks over to the small little living room to set down her things by a empty wall space with a shelf unit that had other craft tools and looked to be home made clay in a variety of colors. She then takes a few steps to the kitchen & wash's her arms & hands before she makes some green tea. "Its all ive really known. Its small but its better then paying for a larger place ill hardly be in. When i lost my mom and dad at birth, my grandma was the only living relative and so this was her place. She taught me everything about life and art. You can say because of her i learned that whatever i work with my hands ill have a good and happy life." Her voice had a small quiver as she glances down at her hands & has a yearning look onto her face.

The Japanese kettle squeals and snaps her out of her thoughts. She takes a sake' set she had made long ago & fills the vase with the tea & brings the tray with also two tea cups to the half pint coffee table to serve. She pours the tea & Crystal hands it up to Matt as she offers him to sit on some pillows, as a chair. "Here you are." She makes a small smile as she tries not to blush. "You,.. could pretty much say that everything here was made by my grandmother or me. Go ahead and drink up and ill clean up into some fresh clothes before i cook something up. You can take a look around and make yourself at home." She walks to her room & locks the door behind her as she hops into the shower. Leaving her guest to explore on his own.

Mathias took the opportunity to try to find out what he was really dealing with. There was a deep power in her, that much was clear, but the nature of it still eluded him. The warlock made a cursory investigation of the apartment careful not to move anything out of place. As he explored he remembered what Crystal had said about her and her grandmother having made a lot of what was there and part of an explanation became clear.

The BlackCrest family wasn’t the only blood line that was inherently magical. For whatever reason arcane power often passed on from father to son and mother to daughter. Mathias began seeing patterns and symbols in a lot of the homemade furnishings in the apartment. The quilt on the bed in her room had many of the common sigils used in protective wards. The designs on some of the plates in the kitchen implied spells of good health even if all of the magic was long since gone from them. Other patterns were obviously arcane, but had no apparent use or function. The grandmother had known about their power.

Still, even if she was part of a lost family of witches or sorceresses that wouldn’t account for the level of primal might he’d felt last night. This girl was something special. With that thought, Matt went to the bathroom door and nearly silently chanted. Drawing on the powers of sight that were genuinely his, he saw past the door and watched the silhouette of his host finishing up in the shower behind the curtain. She was certainly something special.

Letting the magic fade Mathias went back to the living room and sat down. He drank a sip of the tea and noticed Garfield, her cat, was staring at him from his perch on the window sill. Very little about this girl made sense, but so far nothing to suggest she wouldn’t be his. He listened as Crystal came out of the bathroom and got finished getting herself ready, but when she came out the warlock acted startled. When he saw the quizzical look on her face he answered her unasked question.

“I was just lost in thought.”

She gives a smile in her now very light blue deep-V tee and long black jeans. "Is there anything that you dont like to eat or cant that i should know about?"
Crystal goes through the little food she has and is glad she had gotten that great sell on noodles few days back.

Makes some more tea then puts a pan on the stove & begins to boil the water. As the water heats up so do her ears, again. ~i have better not be getting that fever that has been going around at work. This is not good...~ She thinks to herself as she ads in the ramen and takes out some veg's.

Working with little Crystal set about making a surprisingly appealing meal. A sort of chicken pasta with carrots and zucchini was set in front of him. It seemed simple, but it was something Mathias could appreciate. As she set the plates in front of them he felt a ripple of something beneath the reality’s surface, but it disappeared. When he focused back on Crystal though, something seemed off.

Putting his hand on her wrist a voice of genuine concern came from him, “All you feeling alright, Crystal?”

Crystal hears Matt say something... Or did he ask for something..? She wasnt sure what is was but her body started to burn. She look at his hand over her hand. The touch almost seemed to back off the burn & freezing deep inside her helped calm it. She lazily puts her other hand to her forehead & glances at the table saw had forgotten the drinks. "Im.... um.. oh.. ya, i .. we need drinks..."

She stands but turns to be the wrong move. Crystals sight becomes hazy and her finger tips started to burn like fire. She stares at them and there were tiny sparks flying out of them. Her heart began to race at the sight as the little sparks grew the most beautiful tiny flowers she had ever seen in her life as the sparks hit the floor. Crystal then slowly turns to Matt as she begins to weep.

"Its.. too hot.... im.. I.." Her mind such a haze as the "fever" rises higher the only word that could come to mind was whispering "..help~..." Her voice sounded too far away to her burning ears as her sight slips into darkness and she starts to free fall to the floor below.

It was as if a sudden heat wave had arrived at Crystal’s kitchen table. Powerful magic struggled within her trying to escape, a spring of primal power that threatened to tear her apart. As she fell Mathias cushioned her with a simple spell before she could hit the ground.

In an instant he was by her side. Crystal’s fingers were creating a beautiful and fitting bed of flowers around her, but Matt snatched her wrist anyway. He couldn’t understand it, but he could feel what pulsed inside of her as he clasped her hand between his. He could feel her power starting to curl up inside of him, but it was raw and felt almost impossible to channel. How she was enduring it Mathias couldn’t understand, because he knew that eye opening fraction of its influence that was seeping into him was almost more than he could handle, and yet … it seemed meant for him somehow.

Through the turbulent rush he was getting, Mathias slowed his breath and began to concentrate. He reached out to her body with his mind and tried to spread the calm he was working towards. Her mystic self did not want to be quieted, he could feel it, but slowly the heat of the room dissipated and the magic settled.

“It’s alright, I’m here,” he told her as smoothly as possible. Her power astounded him, Crystal was meant for him.

Crystal could feel pain, heat & ice run through her body. She was scared but the old worldly voice she heard out of the dark pain made her feel safe once more. She didnt understand what was happening but with who ever he was she would be safe with this man.

The pain finally wavered and she could breath once more. She slowly opens her eyes and her face turns a deep red as blushs from looking up at Matt as he is only inchs from her face. Crystal pries her eyes away and takes a look around her and plucked one of the flowers. "I... made these..." It was a statement. "What... What is going on with me...?" She looked back to Matt. Eye to eye. Her gaze felt trapped as if looking into the wolf himself but was not scared. She didnt understand any of it.

Her pain was gone but her heart still beat too fast for her chest but it was only when she looked at Matt. In his arms she felt content and at peace. She felt a slight darkness or something move in him but she did not want to flee from it.

Matt hugged her trying to be as comforting as possible. “You have a gift almost as beautiful as you,” he told her gently. “There are more things in heaven and earth than you ever dreamed, Crystal, but I will show them to you and help you understand.”

Mathias knew she was confused, but that only served him. She had no one to go to for answers, but him and all of those answers would point to one thing. She needed him. He moved back some so he could look Crystal straight in the eyes. “I know this is overwhelming, but it’s real. Magic is real. The magic inside of you is just awakening, but I can help you nurture it and learn to control it. I can help you if you want it.”

Crystal looks to him and tries to give a smile. She was very confused. Part of her wanted to scream but the child side still in her was exited. She clutched her hands onto Matt's shirt over his chest. She did not look back up at him but had nuzzled her face into his chest deeper for the warmth of him helped more then he could ever know. That was part she was confused about the most.

With a small voice.. "Please... teach me.. Help me control what ever is inside of me." Her hands & body seemed to shake as she breathed. Crystal looked back at the flowers around them. "I have done this.. Only once before. I was a child and i woken up on a night of a full moon and there were these flowers all around my bed. I thought it only a dream..."

She started to wonder who her guest really was now. Before only an attraction she didnt understand but now. She wanted to curl up like her cat & just be held by him for all her days. That was the only thing that scared her but she wanted it badly. Looking back up at him eye too eye she asks with out letting her gaze shift to is now very close lips. "Who.. Are you..?"

He stroked her hair gently. “My real name is Mathias BlackCrest,” he told her, “I’m sorry I wasn’t more honest, but I didn’t know this would happen. I’m a mage, Crystal. I felt drawn to you, but I had no idea something like this would happen. I think I was meant to find you.” Mathias leaned in slowly and kissed her. It was a short gentle kiss. Her soft lips made him want more, much more, but he didn’t want to scare her.

“You’re not alone anymore.”

Crystals head felt like it was blank only for that small kiss. She had just had her first kiss. Her cat meows at her for the fish he was promised earlier in the day. she looks up to Matt and her face blushs. She didnt feel alone any more.

She started to feel warm once more but at least there was no pain this time around. "Its very nice to meet you Mathias.. Or better if i call you Matt?" She snuggle closer to him. Drawn into what ever was inside of him but there was a dark shadow over his heart and she wish she could find out what it was. But she was starting to burn. All she wanted to do at that moment was lie down on her bed. Crystal looked up to Matt and hoped one of his powers was to mind read for she didnt want to move from the flowers and feel the need to feed her now staring cat. But most of all she wanted to lie with him... She wanted.. no.. Needed to lay with Mathias.

“Matt is fine,” he told her as he helped her up. He led Crystal into her bedroom, holding her hand as they went. He wasn’t sure if the event had left her weak or if she just didn’t want to be without his touch, but Mathias wasn’t going to argue it. They stopped at the edge of her bed standing very close to one another.

“You should probably rest after what just happened,” he told her, but neither of them moved. “I’m sure you’re tired …,” he started again, but trailed off. Neither of them wanted to rest and he knew it. It was hard to say who moved first, but suddenly they were embracing, kissing passionately. Mathias began exploring the curves of her body with his hands as his lips moved down onto her neck. Unexpectedly, right now, more than any power she held, he just wanted her.

She wasnt sure when or how it started. Crystal's hands move around Matt's neck. Her chest came flat to his and her gut began to churn and tweak in a way that made her yearn for more. When Matt moved down to her neck her legs gave out and she clung to him tightly.

She want sure where the sound came from but she heard little mews in the air and wasnt sure if it was her or her cat. No cat in sight she heard them again. She was moaning, she never moaned before. Were moans supposed to sound like mews? She wasnt sure about anything after his hands moved over her body. Her mind blanked out. All she had was feeling his warmth over her, and she loved it!

Matt leaned in and began nibbling on Crystal’s ear. As he did he focused hard through the haze of lust. For a moment a small gust entered the room and promptly died as the warlock wove his magic without any incantations. Crystal’s top began to unweave itself leaving an opening down the front of both her V-neck top and bra and then carried them off of her.

“I want you so badly,” he whispered in her ear. Then he guided her onto the bed and straddled her looking down at her beautiful and now exposed chest. Leaning in he teasingly gave a single lick to one of her nipples.

“I’m sure you’ve had lots of men before me,” he told her as he took a gentle grip in her silvery blue hair, “No one like me before though.” It wasn’t a boast, but a promise. He dove down again and began caressing her breasts with kisses, then licks, and then gentle sucking at her nipples. Matt had grown accustomed to some rougher passion and although he held back so she wouldn’t be frightened all of the raw passion and lust was still there.

Crystal didn't know when but now she was on her back. She sees her chest bare and blushs. She feels too hot inside as Matt used his mouth on her. She wasn't sure why but she never wanted him to stop.

~I’m sure you’ve had lots of men before me,~
It took a moment for the words to hit. Crystal springs up & moved away from him. The top of her head suddenly burning as anger rises. Her eyes turn more red as felt oddly hurt as the words he said finally hit. Seeing the confusion on Mathias face made her feel more hurt.

She spits out & shuts her eyes tightly as she loudly says the confession that she has always kept."Ive Never Been with a man~! You took my first kiss and now you say and amuse.... iii.. Ive had mmmany??? IN MY BED??" She felt confused inside. As she spoke and after, her head burned more but felt about to burst. The most odd and scary thing was she was hissing as she spoke. Crystal was hissing like her cat, a cat that was still not in sight. She falls onto her side with her hands on top of her head as two lumps start to form.

Mathias backed off, surprised at how angry she’d become so suddenly. He forgot the life he’d led wasn’t led by everyone and hadn’t meant to upset her, but now that he had Mathias found himself watching as another facet of Crystal’s power revealed itself. Black feline ears peeked out from beneath her silver hair, though at the moment they were back flat in anger. He’d seen transformations happen in people of great power, but usually they were much more subtle.

He knew she was angry, but the warlock decided to risk affection hoping to calm her a bit. Even as she stared him down Matt reached out and put his hand on the side of her face. As he spoke he ran his hand down her neck. “I haven’t lived a perfect life,” he admitted, “and with how beautiful you were I assumed that … I assumed you’ve lived a life like mine instead of something better. I’m sorry Crystal.” His words had been completely genuine. He hadn’t meant to hurt her.

Crystal sat there on her bed just waiting for the burning to subside. Soon as Matt lays his hand on her face the burning fled away. She opened her eyes to look at him. "what do you meen by that..?" She was very confused by what he had said. In the moment of her confusion, crystal felt somthing move on her head. She turns her gaze to the mirror in the bathroom and slowly stands. "Why are those there..?" She play's with her cat ears & moves them. She feels heat behind her and turns into Matt's arms. She sees the confusion on his face and then takes a hand to brush them with gentle fingers. Her legs get weak on her and she lets out a soft moan as he touchs them. Her thoughts scatter and only for a moment she forgot what she asked. "What... Do you meen by your life..? Ive grown up around plenty of men but non of them asked me out. Because of my eyes some men run and screem or others just walk away. Your the first to not run. Why?" crystal gives breathly littles sighs as she tries not to fall.

“I come from a long line of magic users, Crystal. The BlackCrest family is known for being practitioners of the dark arts. Growing up that was the only life I knew. I saw the wonders of magic every day, I saw the horrors of what my parents did every night. I learned to see the beauty behind what our eyes see, it’s my talent. Your eyes are beautiful to me.”

As Matt continued he took Crystal into his arms again and reached up to gentle scratch her new cat ears. “I lived a very different life before I broke away from my family. My family darkened my soul and I paid dearly when I broke away from them, but I learned from them. I learned how to see the truly beautiful.”