String Chrome

	A mage always finds a way.

	Those were the words that he kept telling himself as he walked steadily through the rain runoff and liquor splattered alleyway. It was a crescent moon that night, its cursed smile looking down at all that walk the streets of the rough side of town. Rapture’s Pit was the local name for this place, but the locals also had a taste of irony for naming. No rapture is to be found here, far from, all that writhed between these depravity encrusted walls were wicked souls and demons that leashed them. Gambling, alcoholism, lusting, all were found in spades. But the one thing that netted all these together was one common string. A web of magic so foul and hexing that it begs for those who hear to indulge in all manner of sin. Something the man knew all too well.

	Normally the man would keep clear of Rapture’s Pit, but tonight brought a stroke of luck he wasn’t willing to miss. The man went by the name of Eli, and he was a mage. Not clad in a robe and wizarding hat, but wore just a long parka, working trousers, and a tattered t-shirt that deserved retirement. On his back, he carried a long hard case, sturdy enough to protect its contents from most trauma and the elements. It was heavy, but it was the weight of Eli’s tool, and having said weight there made him feel safer in this place. Out of the alley, Eli found the main street through Rapture’s Pit. A boulevard fouled by the desires of its denizens beyond saving. Bright neon signs inviting men and women to come inside and throw their money at the stage of lady luck in the vain hope she steps down and gives them a dance. Bars and clubs sat shoulder to shoulder, sharing the same intoxicated clienteles as they shambled from drink to drink. The scene is all too familiar to Eli, but he has since long lost his taste of it.

	Eli tried his best to walk his way through the crowd as its constant amorphous movement made his pace crippled. Too many people, too many bastards and skanks, and too many of which are drunk beyond reprieve. Eli knew where he needed to go, and the night was still young, so he took a break. Pulling out from the road he walked down a side street. Not as populated, not as polluted. Outside a bar coolly leaning against a wall smoking a cigarette was a woman in a tight red leather dress. Blue-skinned, bat-winged, spade tailed, with eyes with black for whites and irises’ glowing yellow. A demon, and an old acquaintance.

	‘My my,’ the demon spoke in a low sultry tone, ‘long time no see Eli. Didn’t think to see you in a place like this again.’

	Eli smirked, ‘If it wasn’t for business you wouldn’t see me. Trust me, the last thing I want is to waste time in a place so lost and damned.’ Eli then awkwardly scratched the stubble on his chin. ‘Anyway, nice to see you too Jenny.’

	Jenny smiled warmly back as she clapped her hands. ‘Even with such a cool demeanour you still can’t be rude to old friends! Oh, you are just a gem, Eli!’

	‘Even with my ideas pinning me to the other side of the fence, you know I can’t be that much of a dick to you,’ Eli replied.

	‘It’s never too late to swap back~,’ Jenny said with a flirty sway of her hips.

	Eli shook his head, ‘No dice. I found what I wanted, I’m not giving it up.’

	Jenny chuckled. ‘You were always so funny Eli. Well, back then you were funnier in a “let’s abuse our power and see what happens” sort of way. El loved that. But you being a contrast is still just as good.’

	‘That’s the reason I’m here tonight. I’m here for El.’

	Jenny raised a brow, ‘Oh~? Why might you need to see El for?’

	‘To hand in an eviction notice,’ Eli replied. ‘This place is bad enough without one mischief maker exacerbating it. This place was never near as full as it were months ago. It’s making a mess.’

	‘A mess of...?’

	Eli placed a hand over his right eye and sighed, ‘Jenny, I know you’re not dumb. A demon especially should be able to see, let alone smell, what’s wrong with this place.’

	Jenny placed a finger on her pursed lips. ‘Oh, you mean the excess of black magic.’ Jenny chuckled again as she strutted towards Eli. ‘Surely this is just a side effect of the average human and demi-human being naturally drawn to desires they crave the most? You know, there is a reason why Vegas is so popular after all.’ Jenny pushed a finger on Eli’s chest, ‘Who can’t resist a little stimulation in their dull lives?’

	‘I’ve been to Vegas,’ Eli replied as he pushed Jenny’s hand away, ‘and the reason why that place is a sty has nothing to do with black magic. Regular souls can be very proficient at making their own hells when given enough time. You know as well as I that black magic is sustained by demons making use of dirty desires. You’re not sweet talking me away Jenny. I need to see El.’

	Jenny pouted as she gave Eli a disappointed glare, ‘You’re no fun.’

	‘And you’re being no help,’ Eli snapped back. ‘Look, you know what I do. But I assure you that I have no intention of harming El. How could I?’

	Jenny eyed the case on Eli’s back. ‘Yet it looks like you’re ready for war. Honey, please don’t bullshit me.’

	‘I am a man of my word, and that is something you can take to my grave,’ Eli replied. ‘I’m just here to undo her latest bit of handiwork.’

	‘Buzzkill…,’ Jenny replied.

	‘Damn right I will be,’ Eli snapped back. ‘Assaults be damned, do you know how many people have been killed around here recently?’

	Jenny remained silent.

	‘Thirty seven. Thirty seven people have been killed here in the last three months. And that’s only the confirmed deaths if we are not counting missing persons. I know this place is the ass end of the world, but you have to concede that this is getting ridiculous!’

	Jenny stayed quiet.

	Eli sighed as he shook his head. He’s had enough and began to walk by. As he became side by side with Jenny, he stopped. ‘I know where she is, so playing me around was pointless. As a friend, I just wanted to see if you could help me settle this without having to go hard. But if you and El share the same stakes, I’ll just flip the poker table.’ He took another few step forwards before stopping again and scratched the back of his head. ‘I guess I’ll see you later. Maybe we can all share a drink once I’m done.’

	Eli began to walk off again as Jenny gave a wry smile to herself. ‘Still funny~.’

	Eli let out a groan as he walked away further down the street. So much for a break. After turning the corner and walking by an unusually done up strip club, he found his bearings. His destination was just on the other side of the main street. Luckily for Eli, crossing the road will be much easier than to walk with it. Less of a distance to slam into people. Much less an opportunity for any odd pick-pocket to strike.

	As he walked up a side street towards the main road again, he found someone waiting. In the middle of the end of the road stood a figure. Wearing a long cloak and a wide-brimmed hat so large it would make a witch blush; its face was obscured by the hat’s large rim. From its back fanned black feathered wings, tattered and gnarled befitting a fallen angel. It raised a single hand towards Eli, and with two fingers, beckoned him to come. Eli then gave a smirk as he scoffed at the taunt, before giving a middle finger in kind. The figure covered what Eli could guess was its mouth as it gave a silent chuckle. The figure turned around then jumped clear over the crowded street to the other side. Eli knew that it was who he sought for. That was El.

	Without wasting a breath, he ran back into the neon drowned street. While the passing across was shorter than passing through, he still found his share of trouble. As he tried to mind his step, Eli had the misfortune to step on the shoes of another man. A man of some wealth by his looks, and by the dolled-up woman he strolled with. Eli accidentally left a mark on the man’s white leather shoes with his old workshop boots. Dried oil and rotting rubber leave a very disgusting mark. The man looked at Eli with disdain and anger. Eli could swear he could see a vein popping on his neck.

	‘Do you have any idea how much these cost?’ the man asked.

	Eli scratched the back of his head, ‘Sorry man. Also no, I don’t really c-‘

	‘Three. Hundred. Dollars. You just ruined a pair of three hundred dollar shoes on my big night out with my babe,’ the man said as he leered at Eli.

	‘Wait you took three-hundred dollar shoes out to Rapture’s Pit? Isn’t that retarded?’

	The man then lunged at Eli and punch him in the gut. The hit made Eli drop to his feet with a heavy wet cough and a thud. The man then pulled Eli up by his hair and stared at him.

	‘What was that?’ the man asked.

	Eli coughed, ‘You’re retarded.’

	The man then punched Eli in the jaw, sending him back to the floor face first. The woman the man was with pulled at his arm.

	‘It’s just shoes, honey! There’s no need for that!’ she cried.

	‘Sorry babe, but I just don’t take kindly to little shits who ruin people’s possessions,’ the man said as he raised a foot for a stomp on Eli’s case. ‘Best he learns how it’s like.’ The man then stomped heel first as hard as he could muster on Eli’s case. Then there was a crack. ‘GWAAAH!’ the man screamed as he hopped holding his foot. ‘What the hell is that thing made of?! You just broke my foot!’

	Eli got back to his feet and dusted himself off, ‘Actually no, you broke your foot. All I did was eat a few punches. Now, I will repeat what I said. You’re retarded.’ He glanced at the woman who helped the man steady as he cried over his busted foot. ‘At least you’re not a jerk. Help him get out of here and go to a hospital. That is not going to heal naturally.’

	The woman nodded as she hurried the man along. Eli said to himself again, ‘A mage always finds a way.’ The man breaking his foot was the biggest stroke of luck he could have had. Making a scene in the middle of the street would have delayed him and attract the attention of local authorities. Or, well, what little there were in Rapture’s Pit. At any given moment, there were only two light riot vans with a handful of officers aboard. Definitely not enough to stop anything, but enough to say that the city is at least trying.

	Eli crossed the street and headed down the sparsely travelled side road. The road that snaked parallel on this side of the main street was grimy even for Rapture’s Pit’s standards. Therefore, the perfect location for the little niche establishments that peppered this stretch of asphalt. The street was mostly quiet and dark, with the only signs in view having regular lights and not drenched in neon. It didn’t hurt to keep eyes open on this road. After passing a pub, a bookie, a few gambling houses, and what certainly was a brothel, Eli found his destination. A bar. A bar called Deathmatch. Its front windows were tinted black by either style choice or from the grime of air pollution. Music lightly thumped and boomed from behind its brick walls. Waiting outside was a bouncer. Bald headed, wore sunglasses despite being the dead of night, and had biceps the size of melons. Eli approached the entrance to the bar before the bouncer held out an arm that acted like a barrier made of bricked flesh.

	‘Name?’ the bouncer asked.

	‘El,’ Eli replied.

	The bouncer lowered his arm, letting Eli pass. But before he opened the door inside, the bouncer put a hand on his shoulder.

	‘Funny. We had an El pop by earlier. In fact, they are currently playing downstairs. Mind telling me your actual name?’ the bouncer asked.

	‘Eli?’ he replied.

	The bouncer then tossed Eli back into the street in an instant, the wind whooshing by his ears as he was sent flying. Eli tumbled into a newspaper box with his case landing beside him. ‘Oh come on I was telling the truth that time! Not my fault we both share the same three letters in our names!’

	The bouncer cracked his knuckles as he stood on the opposite end of the street. ‘Not on the list? No entry. Go home guy.’

	Eli laughed as he rose to his feet, ‘What? Can only speak in short bursts when angry?’ He picked up his case with his right hand, holding it by the fixed handle on its side beside the latches. ‘Sorry man, I need to really speak with El. I don’t want to fight you, but if you won’t let me in I don’t have a choice.’

	The bouncer huffed as he took a martial arts stance, spacing his legs and raising his hands. With a deep inhale he closed his eyes, then with an exhale he opened them again with ferocity. The wind itself shuddered away with enough force to blow away loose newspaper and trash away from the bouncer.

	‘Of course, you have to be a monk,’ Eli said as he readied himself. In his free hand, he conjured a gauntlet of wind that encapsulated it. ‘While I am just a mage, I’m still not a pushover.’

	The bouncer vanished and appeared again in front of Eli before throwing another punch. In the split seconds he had, Eli held up his case to block the punch, and to his luck, he did. The impact left a deafening bang as the bouncer hopped back, rubbing his sore knuckles. ‘What the hell is that?’

	Eli smiled as he readied himself again, ‘A simple hard case enchanted with a reinforcement spell. Punching this thing is like trying to go through a block of steel.’ Eli then swung the case horizontally, firing out a slicing jet of wind. The bouncer blocked the slash with his arms, the wind slicing up the sleeves of his jacket to show his bare skin underneath. Eli held the case forward as if it weighs nothing. ‘Also doubles up as a catalyst for magic.’ He then dashed at the bouncer with a swipe from his case.

	The bouncer stopped the case with one hand and punched at Eli with the other. However, the punch didn’t connect. Instead, his fist hovered a centimetre away from Eli’s palm as wind pushed back against the force of the blow.

	‘How?’ the bouncer asked.

	‘Just simple wind magic,’ Eli replied.

	The bouncer then kicked Eli away, strong enough again to send him flying. This time, Eli managed to land on his feet, only to then kneel as the wind was knocked out of his lungs. ‘However,’ Eli wheezed, ‘I can’t do a full cloak without time to do so. Fuck that hurt.’

	The bouncer cracked his neck as he walked forward, ‘So you can only cover your fist. So why exactly did you think trying to fight me was a good idea?’

	Eli got back to his feet as he launched another volley of wind slashes. The bouncer walked forward as he blocked them, all the while his jacket and shirt underneath were ripped to shreds, exposing oriental crane tattoos all over his body. Once close enough, Eli swung his case again with a cowl of compressed wind forming an edge. The hit was blocked by both hands of the monk, the force causing him to wince as the jet of wind hammered him down. The force was strong enough to snap his sunglasses in two, exposing his two small narrow eyes. Once the wind ended with a final push, the bouncer staggered backwards. Eli saw an opening and lunged forward with a punch to his gut. But this was the bouncer’s plan. The bouncer then caught Eli’s arm, tugging him forward as he kicked him back again. Eli lost grip of his case as he tumbled backwards down the street before stopping on his back. He looked directly up at the light-polluted night sky with a dizzied gaze. Muffled footsteps came walking up to him as a shadowed loomed in front of him. His vision returned as the bouncer now knelt down to his side, but the footsteps continued.

	‘Real neat tricks, but I think we’re done here,’ the bouncer said as he pulled another pair of sunglasses from his trouser pocket. He coolly put them on as he kept looking down at Eli, ‘You’re not the first mage who tried to pull a smart one on me. But I’ll give you credit, you were a tough one. But you owe me a new shirt, jacket, and a pair of sunglasses.’ Another shadow crept behind the bouncer. ‘So, what do you say? You going to reimburse me or am I going to have to knock you even more senseless?’

	The extra set of footsteps stopped.

	‘He’s senseless enough, so how about I give you a taste?’

	Eli’s case hammered down on the bouncer’s head, stunning him for a moment before he fell backwards unconscious. Another figure came over Eli, this time with long red hair dangling over him. His vision focused as he made out the familiar and smiling face of Jenny. Eli groaned as he groggily got up and rubbed his head. ‘Hell of a way to make an entrance Jenny,’ he coughed, ‘didn’t think you would be the one to save my ass.’

	Jenny giggled, ‘What can I say? I can’t be a dick to old friends.’

	Eli chuckled as Jenny helped him back to his feet. Jenny handed him his case before he wore it on his back again. ‘So, what made you follow?’ Eli asked. ‘If I guessed correctly, you would have been better off letting me get smacked around by that bouncer.’

	‘But I won’t get a show out of that,’ Jenny replied with a pout. ‘Watching you and El duel it out is much more entertaining than having a bald Asian kick you around like a soccer ball.’

	Eli shrugged his shoulders, ‘You demons and your ulterior motives.’

	‘And hey, I was just in this for the ride with El,’ Jenny said. ‘While the extra power is nice if you have that much of an issue it’s best you speak it over. I’ll just be watching from the sidelines.’

	‘So, either way, you win?’ Eli asked.

	‘Naturally,’ Jenny replied. ‘But I do have a question. I know you, and what you can do. Why didn’t you just kill the guy where he stood?’

	Eli shook his head as he and Jenny began to walk back to the bar, ‘I told you, I changed. Using those dark arts is something I swore I would never do again.’

	Jenny shrugged with a sigh, ‘So much unneeded effort.’

	The two then entered the bar through the paint chipped front door. The inside of the bar was dim, mirrors behind the bar counter barely showed reflections as populated tables with chipped wooden stools covered most of the beer stained wood floor. But at the end of the building was a neon sign pointing down a staircase with the words “Devil’s Bed”. The sounds of rock came from below and boomed through the floor, the bass shaking the very cores of everyone inside. Jenny took Eli by the arm and hurried him down the stairs. It became pitch black as the sight of the brick walls disappeared and the only thing guiding them down were faint glow-in-the-dark paint that crudely marked the steps.

	But as they reached the basement floor, weak blue light illuminated the bar’s underworld. Strewn about were ragged leather sofas with wooden tables laid in front for patrons to lay their drinks. But out in the far end of the basement was a stage. On that stage were a drummer and bassist that worked for the bar, providing back up to those who want to take the stage. But taking the lead that night was a woman. In an open cloak to show a short skirt and goat legs, her massive hat bobbed with her head as she played her guitar. Despite not being connected to an amp, the instrument still managed to produce sound as if it were powered. Her tattered black wings rested on her back why she played haunting yet powerful chords on her white guitar. With one last exaggerated strum for showmanship, her song was done, and the audience went wild with accolades.

	‘Nice to see she hasn’t got sloppy,’ Eli said with crossed arms before starting to walk up towards the stage.

	Jenny grabbed his arm, ‘What do you think you’re doing?’

	‘Getting straight to the point,’ Eli replied as he pulled free his arm.

	As he walked up the centre to the stage, the bar patrons looked at the stranger with dubious eyes. But from under the brim of her massive hat, Eli could make out a smiling mouth.

	‘Long time no see, El,’ Eli said as he stopped at the foot of the stage.

	El giggled, ‘Long time indeed. What has it been, three years?’

	‘Yeah, three years, three months, and four days,’ Eli replied.

	‘Shame you didn’t come a day earlier. Would have made it three for three,’ El said. ‘So, what can I do for my old friend, Warlock Eli Casker?’

	‘Not a warlock anymore, just a mage,’ Eli said as he took the case off from his back. ‘I hung up my bag of dirty tricks to take on a more fulfilling path.’

	‘What’s more fulfilling than living a life in blissful excess?’ El asked as she cocked her head.

	‘Living a life with purpose,’ Eli said as he stood the case up and released its latches. The case opened to show a black electric guitar snuggly kept in a red velvet interior. ‘Sex, drugs, and rock may do some fine but I found more. My calling, ironically enough, is cleaning up messes caused by those from the dark that get a tad too greedy. And today, your little game with people’s sins gets its last round of cards.’

	The smile on El’s face flattened. ‘So, you intend to stop me?’

	‘Sorry girl, but you’re making a sinkhole out of an already unpleasant pothole. Can’t have you making the situation worse and swallow more poor idiots in.’ Eli said as he picked up his guitar and put on his strap. ‘But don’t worry, I’m not looking to hurt you. Just want to knock down your tower of cards.’

	‘That makes one of us,’ El said as she stepped to the side, allowing a place for Eli to stand.

	Jenny looked to El in a nervous sweat, ‘You’re just kidding, right El? He’s still our friend.’

	Eli and El said nothing as both took their spots on the stage. The bassist and drummer looked to each other in confusion as the two guitarists waited.

	‘So, uh, what do you want us to do?’ the scylla drummer asked.

	The salamander bassist swayed from side to side, ‘So you two doing a duel or...?’

	‘Allegro. Keep to the theme of progressive metal that we’ve been doing tonight. I’ll make this quick, then we can get back to the proper show,’ El replied.

	‘Progressive? I thought you liked death metal,’ Eli asked.

	El chuckled, ‘I don’t want to end the world tonight. Besides, progressive is fine too. Will start at your go, Kayla.’

	The drummer struck her sticks three times before she started to hammer a beat out of her drums. The tempo was strong, powerful, yet smoothly rolling. The bassist jumped in providing another layer of trackable beat. Then El began. A simple rolling melody that struck low on the scale. Eli could tell she was just testing the waters, to which Eli was willing to meet. With a flick of his pick, his guitar as well began to produce sound. Both his and El’s guitars were forged the same way, using a Cursed Hang Man’s Mahogany to form their bodies. These woods were special as they contained the screams of hanged men since they couldn’t cry when hanging. Demonic by nature, but become fantastic conduits for pure magic, hence normally used for staves and wands. But the wood can be used for other methodologies of magic casting, and Eli and El made true instruments from it. Eli’s fingers flew to keep in theme and tandem with El. Together the two made a sweet duet of rock that captivated the audience, but neither was done yet. El stepped up the pace, tone going mid-range and the strumming becoming more intense. From her fingertips on the frets flew streaks of black fire that contrasted against the white of her guitar. At the same time, flashes of white lightning flew from Eli’s fingers.

	As the music picked up in intensity, the stage and even the room began to disappear to Eli and El as the stared each other down. The dark of the basement gave way to a surrounding grey light, from which Eli could see his target. El stood upon a spider’s web of black, flashes of red fire flared down threads towards El, passing along power to her. Eli then started his attack. With each note, he aimed bolts of lightning to attack at the web. But each bolt was met with a plate of fire that swallowed the bolt. It was a power struggle between a man and the weight of countless sin. Then El made her attack. Arrows of black flame shot towards Eli, curving out and inward in arcs from all angles. Eli was forced to play defensively and learned that El was serious by what she said. She was not going to let her power source be taken away.

	Bolts of lightning struck the arrows down, but while power could be matched cunning couldn’t. A few arrows circled around Eli while he was distracted, flying behind him and striking his back. The hits felt like spears of pure heat punching through him, the spots of impact burning holes through the back of his parka. Despite the pain, Eli didn’t fumble with his fingers. With a pained grunt and sweat beading from his face, he continued to stare down El and kept playing. With El’s onslaught continuing, and with more hits dotting him, Eli felt that his time playing catch-up has passed. He needed one opening, just one. So, he hedged his bets and made his gamble. He needed to upstage her. As he allowed himself to play back track to her solo, he found his chance to but in and force her to take the back seat. Then he found his momentum.

	He took his lead with melody fast and heavy, leaving no chance for El to take back her limelight. With the music now in his favour, he tried his counter-attack. With more opportunity to attack, he turned his defence into offence. Bolts went from blocking arrows to attacking the web once again, and now wounding the black thread. El bit her lip in frustration as she tried to attack back, keeping up and preventing most of the bolts to strike. But Eli didn’t need most, he only needed a few. With many bolts that successfully struck, crackles of white static crept along the webbing. But as Eli made headway, El refused to let him ahead for long. Eli made a mistake of allowing a gap in his performance, to which El took advantage of and took the lead again. Despite her eyes being obscured, Eli could feel the intensity of them, to which he replied in kind. Keeping with the fast tempo, El sought to bring this performance to an end. To which she brought in her last trick. A solo of unbelievable speed. It was a beautiful song of crying metal chords that made her hands on both the frets and between the pickups move at ludicrous speed. Her hands burst into black flame as the grey surroundings became stormy with shadow clouds. The fires effortlessly blocked the oncoming bolts as a ball of inferno gathered above El. As her solo worked towards climax, the inferno grew to become a black sun. Eli looked at this oncoming oblivion with a cold stare as he continued his best to keep up and stave off any arrows of fire. But his hand itself grew fatigued once El finished her solo. She smiled, ‘I’m sorry it had to end like this.’ She gave one last strum of her guitar as the moon of flames flew towards Eli.

	‘Yeah,’ Eli said as he clenched a fist with his hand, ‘me too.’

	Eli began to play again, starting at a slower tempo and slowly picked up. The white static on the webbing jumped more and more until arcs of lightning began to jump from strand to strand. The black on the web turned to white as the flares of red flame transformed to lightning that jumped to Eli. With each bolt that hit him, the more power he felt. While El fed off the dark desires of the people of Rapture’s Pit, Eli used and purified the magic of the night to something else. Something pure and primal. It was enjoyment. While the night was wicked, he couldn’t argue that people were having fun. And while that fact is concrete, the one thing he wants is to make sure that those who want to enjoy the night are safe. With that, he stole the energy for himself and absorbed it to produce a massive rotating white seal, dotted in magical phrases of power. As Eli began to reach the height of his solo, the spell sprung to action as ivory thunder boomed from his fingers. From the seal burst forth a massive white blade of crackling light that penetrated the ball of fire. The collision happened for a long second before the blade proved victorious, splitting the ball in two and destroying them.

	El flinched and hid into her hat as the blade approached. But as it came close to El, it split apart into myriad daggers that whizzed by her. The blades tore her web to shreds, leaving nothing behind that could conduit her power. Once nothing of the web remained, Eli finished his solo. The basement came back into reality, and the audience was left stunned. Not by the man with burned holes magically appearing on his back, but how masterful the performance was. Then, a sofa of patrons broke out into cheer, and the others followed. The whole basement roared in applause as it was the greatest show of their lives, while Eli was fighting for his.

	Jenny ran up to the stage and hugged Eli, ‘You’re safe! By the nine circles, thank goodness you’re safe.’

	Eli dropped his pick and allowed his guitar to hang freely from its strap. He gave a long and loud gasp of relief as all feeling left his hands. ‘Remind me to think up of better ways to gamble away my life.’ Jenny laughed merrily at Eli’s expense.

	On the other side of the stage, El stood motionlessly. Disbelief swamped her as she still hasn’t registered she lost. And on top of that, Eli didn’t attack her at all while she fought her hardest. She took off her hat, revealing her goat-like curling horns that sprouted from her shot black hair and her green eyes. She walked up to Eli with a weakened stride. ‘Why?’ she asked. ‘Why did you not harm me after I was so keen on harming you?’

	Eli laughed, ‘What part of “changed man” do you not get? Besides, you’re an old friend. There is no way I can harm an old friend as I am now.’

	El gave a light giggle. ‘You had the strength to pull that victory out from under me, to steal my very source of power. Yet all you did was just as you said. You just stopped it. If only you were still a warlock Eli, you would have been a master of shadows the world has never seen.’

	‘Eliza. My old witchy baphomet friend. While flattering, I have no interest in becoming such a thing,’ Eli said as he placed a numb hand on El’s shoulder. ‘My purpose is to just right wrongs. Now, for the sake of others. Please don’t ever pull a stunt like this again. You caused some irreparable damage. Besides, if you want to get stronger, just study. We did that when we were younger, and I did it again when I left for a few years. We both have talent, just make sure you’re not taking shortcuts nurturing it.’

	El laughed, ‘Even if my interests are opposite to yours?’

	‘Just don’t get innocent people hurt again,’ Eli said. ‘What you do in private is of no concern of mine.’ Eli started to feel the sense of touch come back to his hands. He picked up his pick and took his guitar back into its case.

	‘Leaving so soon?’ Jenny asked.

	Eli waved a hand. ‘My job was to just stop the cause of the Rapture’s Pit’s decline. Safe to say I just did that, so I’m heading off home. My hands and everything kill.’

	Jenny and El chuckled as the bar patrons gave applause as Eli walked down the aisle and back to the stairs. Once up and out of the bar, he took the long way back towards the centre of town. The last thing he wants is to be near when that bouncer wakes up. As the scenery of cityscape turned from villainous grime to normal city blocks, a strong sense of satisfaction warmed him. As he strolled by himself, he could hear another person following him. He stopped and turned around to see a familiar face. It was El.

	Eli chuckled to himself as he kicked a flattened can in the street. ‘Any particular reason to why you are following me?’

	El took a deep breath, ‘I want you to teach me.’

	Eli looked at her with a raised brow, ‘Excuse me?’

	‘I want you to teach me what you learned,’ she replied. ‘I want to know what made you strong enough to one-up me. You could never do that back when we're both working together. I need to know how you did it now.’

	‘And if I refuse?’

	El bashfully looked away, ‘Disappointed would be a way to describe how I feel.’

	‘Sure, why not.’

	‘Look I know what you said about being cha-Wait what?’

	‘I said fine. I’ll teach you what I know.’

	‘Really? Why?’

	Eli laughed, ‘I mean by what I say. I can’t be a dick to friends.’

	El’s face lit up with delight as she ran to Eli’s side. Without skipping a beat, El began to pepper Eli with questions about his studies, to which El was happy to tell. Cause in Eli’s mind, if he taught her what he’s learned, maybe he won’t be out as the lone mage anymore. He was sure that would be the case.

	After all, a mage always finds a way.