Chapter 19 - November 4, 2017 - Tempest I clearly heard myself screaming. The agony. The confusion. What… What had he just done? I tried to breathe through the shock. I was okay, conscious, unhurt, but there he was, standing less than five feet from me, shrouded in green flames, like the ones he used to create in front of me out of thin air. But he wasn’t the Vincent I knew. This… this was Phantom. Now I understood his ‘other’ name. I too, was cornered, afraid of the pain that the flames might cause me. I wasn’t magical by blood, only by studies, and because of that, I was not, I repeat, not immune to whatever was coming next. I had already been hit in the waist by a gust of air, but that was harmless, just shocking. Painful to a certain extent, but harmless. “What on earth…” I whispered, as I watched him whip his hand around, surrounding the two of us by another circle of flames. Then I felt something. A drop of rain. Oh, please put out the fires, I thought. But the green flames were immune to water, though they destroyed nothing. However, I had seen him smolder a piece of fabric with the same fire, and maybe, I thought, maybe he can choose what he burns. When Vincent, wait, no, Phantom, wait, no, he really is Vincent… Who is he? When he, whoever he is, looked around, I think he realized what was happening and what he had done. I hadn’t done magic in a while and I tried to understand the words he was uttering, but I could not comprehend a single bit of it. After a while, he… he just… turned away and stood by the outside wall of his house. I watched the flames die down as he weakened, both physically and mentally by the looks of it. When the fires had receded, I ran away. Home, I thought. We’re neighbors. I can get home if I try. So I ran faster. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me.
