“Can you TRY and pay a little more attention?” I stifled a sigh as I looked around the bank, the expression of boredom clearly written on my face. “We are doing this for your sake, dear.”
“My sake, right…” The bank rep seemed oblivious to our discussion, either intentionally or otherwise as he happily worked on the loan paperwork. “And you’re not getting anything out of this, right, Mom?”
“That’s not the point, Xavier.” No, that was EXACTLY the point. I just didn’t want to start a fight in a public place like this. “All you’ve been doing lately is playing that stupid Final Furry game or whatever it’s called…”
“It’s called Realms of Fantasy, and it IS important.” This sigh didn’t get stifled as I shook my head; there was no point is trying to explain to her why I’d been investing so much time in it lately. She wouldn’t understand, or believe me even if I tried to explain the details.
Still, maybe she was right. I did need to focus on some more normal aspects of life, even if the Old Lady(How I often refer to my mother) was overblowing how bad everything was going for me. Financially and relationship wise, this was the best things had been for me in a while. Just because I hated social environments and interactions didn’t mean I could avoid them forever. This was good practice for the, “real world”.
That didn’t make it any less boring, though. Talking about interest rates and credit scores for half an hour was almost enough to send me into a coma. While the bank rep continued to fill out the paperwork, I pulled out my phone. The Old Lady wanted me to turn it off entirely, but I’d merely kept it on silent. I was desperate for anything entertaining, and apparently I’d missed a few alerts. Clash of Battles had something for me, a couple of e-mails came through, and…
…Wait. What? HERE? NOW?!
“Hey, listen, this has been great and all, but I think we should get going!” The other adults in the room gave me a strange look at my sudden, nervous outburst. “In fact, everybody should leave! Right now!”
“What? Xavier, what are you talking about?” the Old Lady seemed rightfully confused as I quickly glanced around the rest of the bank. Not too many people here, a full evacuation isn’t completely out of the question...
“Free lunch! On me!” I announced, getting a mixed of surprised and confused glances. With their attention on me, I don’t think any of them noticed the purplish cloud that had just begun to form on the ceiling. Shit, that was forming fast! “Let’s go. NOW!”
“Xavier, why are you acting so crazy?” The Old Lady’s attention was focused solely on me and not the gathering clouds that were snaking across the ceiling at a rapid pace. A few people were making their way toward the exit, whether either for free food or to get away from the crazy guy I couldn’t tell.
“Because…REASONS!” My attention was drawn back toward the bank employee who’d been helping us when he suddenly yelped in pain. Apparently he’d be trying to call someone(the police? Security?) during my rant, only to get a loud pitch whining sound from the receiver. Phone’s are always the first thing to go…
“EVERYONE OUT! NOW!” No time to be pleasant anymore; I could already see the claws of something starting to emerge from the growing cloud. I grabbed the employee who’d been helping us and half dragged, half carried out toward the exit. The one or two people who hadn’t already scared off by my actions had started to notice the strange cloud and we’re rapidly following everyone else out.
O.K; looks like everyone’s out now. A rough shove got the last employee through the doors just as the cloud started to crawl down the walls. Now I can... wait; why do I feel like I’m forgetting someone?...
“Mom?!” Her gaze was locked on the emerging clouds as much as her feet were locked to the floor. I charged back toward her, but it was too late. The exit was now shrouded in the purplish mist; she was sealed in.
“X-Xavier? What…What is this?” I responded by slamming the door to the office she was in closed.
“Stay in there! Lock the door, and barricade it if you can. They usually don’t come after civilians in a Breach, but better safe than sorry.” Crap, this was about to get weird…
“A Breach? What the hell is a Breach?!...And why is your phone floating?!”
“It’s a Breach. Monsters are breaking through the barriers between worlds.” More clawed hands were rapidly coming through, some of them clutching crude weapons. I tried to ignore them as my finger glided across the phone in an intricate pattern. In response, the screen started to glow with a bright golden light.
“They’ll be contained in here for a certain amount of time, but once that’s up they’ll be free to go wherever they please. Some of them just bring claws and weapons, but if there’s anything with magic… well, cops aren’t prepared for magic.” The Old Lady had stopped asking questions, though I couldn’t tell if it was just the shock of the whole situation or the fact that my phone was expanding in front of me, growing steadily larger. “Luckily, that same magic can also be used against them, at least by those who’ve been Called.”
I heard her yelling something about what being Called meant, but I had no more time to explain. The portal was large enough now for me to step through. I cast a glance back at the Old Lady one last time.
“Just… don’t freak out, O.K?” With those final words, I stepped through the portal, emerging out the other side a second later with a couple of little changes.
My clothes had been replaced with a largely black robe, with various potions and pouches hanging from a belt around my waist.
Oh, and I had a jet black metal staff on my back topped with a crescent moon.
And I had a blonde cat tail. And matching fur covered ears that looked distinctly feline. And while my eyes had stayed blue, the pupils now were slited like a cats.
And I was a woman.
…You know, little changes.
I pulled back the hood of my robe to glance back at the Old Lady, shock and confusion clear as day on her face. Her mouth moved as if she were trying to say something, but no words were coming out.
“It’s still me, Old Lady.” I reassured her, although hearing that coming in a softer, much more feminine tone than usual didn’t seem to do anything to comfort her. “I’ll explain later!”
No more time to waste. I watched lightning bolts dancing between my fingers as magic flowed into my body. The creatures, goblins judging by the green skin and small size, had fallen through the darker clouds above and were now running about the bank, so far ignoring the mage in their midst. I smiled and clenched my fist closed before drawing my staff off my back. The crescent moon started to glow with a pale white light as I focused my power through it.
“Alright. Time to go to work.”
