Cris finds an ad on the street to become a magical child and battle evil. After his curiosity gets the better of him he finds himself in a trial by fire as he must learn to use his new powers to battle a demon beast as well as get used to hsi new body and age.
The Lagos Magician
By CalexTheNeko
Cris ran as fast his golden furred rabbit feet could carry him as he saw the massive beast that had appeared. It let out a roar, and fired sharp spines from its back. Cris quickly jumped between spines dodging them, before landing on one mid-flight, and leaping off of it to reach a rooftop. There the young rabbit stood, dressed in a top hat, a domino mask and cape flowing in the wind. He held a black wand with a white tip in his hand which he raised as the beast flew above the feeling to catch up with him. It was a monstrous thing, something resembling a bear, but with spines running down its back, a set of horns, massive claws that were each longer than Cris’ two-foot-tall body (not counting ears) and a pair of gigantic demonic looking wings. Cris pointed his wand at the creature as he tried to figure out what to do. How had the day taken such a strange turn? Earlier today, he had been a normal human, and an adult too, instead of the eight-year-old rabbit that stood here now. He didn’t even believe in magic or giant monsters when he woke up today. And yet, here he was now.
Cris had woken up and started his day as any other, gotten dressed, headed to work, and been in for a perfectly ordinary boring day of his normal adult life. It would have continued to be a normal day for Cris had he not been preoccupied with his own thoughts on the walk back from lunch and nearly walked into a lamppost. While he successfully avoided an embarrassing collision, halting just in time before bumping into it, it did make him glance over the lamppost and noticed that there was a flier attached to it. This was not abnormal in and of itself, there were always fliers with people advertising odd jobs, music lessons or something else. This one though, was a bit on the odd side.
Become a child of magic!
The Ministry of Magical Defense is looking for talented individuals interested in joining the Magical Girl and Boy program. Due to a shortage of agents do dispatch in the field, applications are currently open to all ages. Live the daring life of a magical hero and protect your country from the hidden threats, unseen by mortal men. Be the hero your city needs.
The position includes a salary of $45,000 a year, plus $1000 bonus per evil creature defeated and includes the following benefits:
A Secret Lair with free room and board. (Note, each Secret Lair is assigned to four roommates.)
Travel the world while fighting monsters and collecting mystical artifacts.
Eternal youth so long as you choose to remain on with the program.
No experience is required. On site awakenings and training are covered by the Ministry at no cost to you. Please take a contact slip below if interested in joining the illustrious secret defenders that act as the last line of defense against evil.
“Well… Someone had fun making this.” Cris gave a slight smile, assuming the ad was a joke. It would be pretty ridiculous otherwise. Even ignoring all the nonsense about magic, there was the fact that if these were secret defenders then they wouldn’t be advertising this openly. Then there were the slips of paper at the bottom. On a normal ad these would just have a phone number to call to get in contact with the people. On these, instead there was just some intricate design with a word written in a fancy font that was nearly impossible to read through the actual design. Cris squinted at it, but couldn’t make the word out.
Cris took a quick moment to look around and make sure no one was watching him. Even if this was a joke, he had to admit it had caught his curiosity. But, the idea of anyone watching him take an interest in this childish and fake ad was a little embarrassing. Once Cris was sure no one was watching, he ripped one of the slips off the bottom and held it up closer to his face, squinting so that he could try to read the word written on it.
“Voxo Lex?” Cris spoke the words appeared to be written. It didn’t have any meaning to him, but suddenly, the bit of paper burst into purple flames. Cris let out a yelp and quickly let go, realizing a second later that the fire had not actually burnt him. The purple flame floated in the air where the piece of paper had been, then suddenly dropped to the ground, and traveled in a circle around Cris, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. After a few seconds Chris was stuck inside a wall of purple fire that was about waist high in comparison to him. He was stunned, unsure of what to do, but as he slowly regained his senses his realized the fire hadn’t burnt him. Could he simply step out of the circle without harm?
He didn’t get the chance to try.
Because Cris was abruptly no longer standing on the sidewalk by the street. Instead, he found himself standing in a dark void that seemed to extend infinitely in every direction. The only light was from the circle of purple fire that still remained around him. At least for a few seconds, then a shimmering image floating in the air appeared before it. It was a rabbit, but one that appeared to be made of translucent blue light. It floated in the air looking down at Cris and Cris got the distinct feeling he was being judged.
“You’re the oldest I’ve ever worked with, but you’ve still got that youthful spark.” The rabbit spoke up after a few seconds.
“You can talk!?” Cris looked at the rabbit in awe.
“That’s what surprises you?” The rabbit gestured around at the void they were in. “All of this is fine! But a talking rabbit?”
“No! I mean!” Cris rubbed the back of his head. “I’m starting to think I might have walked into the lamppost headfirst after all.”
“Oh, please don’t start trying to convince yourself this is a dream or some fantasy. Do you have any idea how exhausting it is to have to prove your own existence to every single person you met.” The rabbit pleaded. “My last master did that and we wasted an entire hour going in circles before he came to his senses. Can you understand my frustration? Imagine me demanding you provide proof of your existence and refusing to acknowledge it for an hour.”
“Last master?” Cris tilted his head. “What are you?”
“It’d be more polite to ask -WHO- I am.” The rabbit huffed. “But I am Lapin La’ Sorcellerie. You can just stick to Lapin, it’s easier. And I’m what you’d call a spirit familiar, specifically the familiar of the Lagos Magician. I appeared because I was the closest spirit aligned with your heart when you spoke the terms.”
“Who or what is the Lagos Magician?” Cris asked.
“You. If you want it.” Lapin replied as if it was obvious. “A warrior of magic, one who I grant the power to banish evil too.” As Lapin spoke a black wand with a white tip floated down from somewhere above and stopped directly in front of Cris’s face. “This wand is the mark of our pact. Should you claim it, I will be bound to you for as long as you choose to bear the mantle of the Lagos Magician.”
“Okay…” Cris spoke calmly but his heart was beating a thousand miles per minute. He was having some kind of impossible experience, and assuming this wasn’t a coma dream, then magic was real, there were apparently evil monsters in the world, and talking ghost rabbits who gave you powers or something. Yet, despite the minor panic attack he felt coming on he reached a hand out for the wand.
“I trust you read the ad fully and understand what you are committing to, yes?” Lapin asked. “The second you claim that wand as your own our contract is made.”
“Y-yes.” Cris replied nervously. Then he closed his hand around the wand. Suddenly, he began to change. He felt his clothes loosen on him as he shrunk drastically. Years of stress from adulthood faded from his body, as his features became rounder and softer. His pants and underwear fell down around his ankles leaving him in a baggy t-shirt that went down to about his knees. He vaguely recalled the ad promising eternal youth, and realized he had to be a kid now, maybe only eight years old. But before he had time to process any of that or even react, he suddenly found himself back on the sidewalk. The purple fire was gone, but he was still a child dressed only in a large t-shirt. “W-what?”
“We are officially bound.” Cris felt a weigh land on his head, as a far more solid looking Lapin landed atop it to rest. He wasn’t a ghost anymore. But he was still blue and unlikely to pass for a normal rabbit. “And now you can call on my power.”
“W-whoa wait a second!” Cris flailed, and nearly tripped over his own pant. “Why am I a kid? And… You’re real! And what if people see me like this! Or see you talking or…”
“Calm down.” Lapin sighed. “You act as if this is your first time encountering a magical creature before.” He paused. “Oh, I guess it is. Since you weren’t awakened till you held the wand you didn’t have the power to perceive magical creatures in your world. If you’re worried you’re going to freak everyone out with the talking rabbit, don’t. No one can see or hear me but you. Well, you or anyone else who has awakened their magical abilities. Though they might see you talking to yourself and think you crazy.”
“I… see?” Cris looked to his hand, realizing he was holding the wand. “But… I’m basically standing here in just a shirt, I feel like I’m going to get in trouble or something if someone sees me like this. Don’t think they’ll take ‘a magical rabbit did it’ as an excuse.”
“Then transform.” Lapin spoke in an annoyed tone as if it was obvious. “Then you’ll be a magical creature too, and invisible to anyone who hasn’t awakened.”
“Um… How do I do that?” Cris looked at the wand then to Lapin.
“Ah, finally, a good question.” Lapin grinned, he floated off of Cris head to levitate in the air next to him. “Simply hold the wand up in the air, and then say my name, just the Lapin part will do, followed by the words ‘Magic Hour.’
“Like this?” Cris held the wand up. “Lapin! Magic Hour!”
The wind picked up all around Cris, and suddenly the ring of purple flames was back. They lifted into the air and formed a series of rings surrounding different parts of Cris body. The flames slowly sunk onto his body, disappearing, and leaving a coat of golden fur covering his body. He dropped in height drastically, as his legs shifted into position to be more like the hind legs of a rabbit. His ears sprung up to the length of a proper rabbit’s, his face pushed out into a muzzle, and he grew whiskers. His body remained humanoid, but was soon more rabbit shaped. The shirt Cris had been wearing vanished, and instead a cape erupted from his back, tied to his shoulders. A hat appeared in front of him, with two holes in it. By instinct Cris grabbed the top hat, pulling it on atop his head, his rabbit ears slipping through the holes. As he did, a white dominos mask appeared over his eyes.
“Whoa… Whoa what!?” Cris looked all over his boy trying to figure out what had just happened. “I’m… A rabbit?” He tried jumping, and wound up jumping a full six feet straight up. “Whoa… I can jump and-“
“And do quite a bit else.” The voice of Lapin spoke. “You’ll find you have super-rabbit agility, reflexes and acrobatic skills in addition to the fact that the wand will allow you to cast a number of spells, limited only by your imagination.”
“Lapin?” Cris looked around in confusion. The blue rabbit was gone. “Where are you?”
“Right here.” Lapin chuckled. “I guess I should explain. You need my power to transform, so my spirit is sort hanging out in your body for the ride while you remain transformed. Now then, we just need to signal the Ministry of Magical Defense to pick you up, and we can get you properly trained and… Wait… what the heck?”
Cris didn’t ask what Lapin was referring too. He himself suddenly felt an intense burst of some kind of energy. He wasn’t sure what it was. It was something that defied the normal five senses. But he knew it had come from roughly two blocks away.
“Shoot.” Lapin growled. “Afraid you’re getting a trial by fire. You felt that? Some kind of evil artifact just awoke. We need to find it and shut it down before it can hurt anyone. Just because people can’t see magical creatures doesn’t mean they can’t be hurt by them. You should have sensed it, hurry! Before something worse happens.” Lapin then paused. “Also, while transformed, refer to yourself as the Lagos Magician. Various creatures can do you serious harm if they have your true name, so always use this alias.”
“Right…” Cris nodded, not that he was sure who he was nodding to. However, he quickly ran for the location he could feel the strange energy coming from. It didn’t take long. As a rabbit kid he easily ten times as fast as he had been as a human adult. He was there in seconds. But he didn’t see an artifact.
Instead he saw a massive bear-like creatures with spines, horns and demonic wings.
“What is that!?” Cris asked.
“The something worse. The artifact has already taken a monstrous form. We’re too late to simply deactivate it. The only way now is to subdue it physically.”
“You want me to fight that!?” Cris demanded.
“Absolutely not!” Lapin shouted. “You’re not trained yet. Shutting down an artifact would have been one thing, but you can’t fight a demon beast without even the most basic of training! The Ministry will have detected it awakening. Pull back to somewhere safe and wait for another magical child to arrive.”
“Right…” Cris nodded. “But… While we’re waiting, won’t it be hurting people?”
“Yes.” Lapon spoke sternly. “And before you think about fighting it, you dying pointlessly won’t stop that. Retreat for now, and wait for help to arrive!”
“But… I can’t just let people get hurt!” Cris protested. He stepped out clearly into the street where the monster could see him. “Hey you… Ugly! Down here!”
And that was what brought him back to here. It was a good thing his new body was so agile and acrobatic or he would have wound up impaled by one of those spines instead of using them to get up to the roof.
“What are you doing!?” Lapin demanded. “Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“No but…” Cris kept his wand pointed at the monster. “Look do we have time to argue right now! Just tell me how to use this!”
“You… You’re a real idiot you know that?” Lapin sighed. “But I guess it’s too late now. The Lagos Magician has many of the same powers as a stage magician. The big difference being yours are real and not a cheap illusion. How you use these powers and what you can accomplish with them is limited only by your imagination.”
“Right… Um… Stage magicians here goes nothing…” Cris steadied his wand. “PRESTO!” He shouted and a flock of white doves erupted from the wand, flying into the beast’s face. It let out a roar, and flew backwards trying to get the annoying creatures away from him.
“Doves?” Lapin asked.
“I panicked! It was the first thing I thought of!” Cris explained. “But… Now I have an idea of how it works.” He waved the wand in a circle above his head. “Now you see me.” He gestured the wand at the bear monster. “Now you don’t.” He vanished in an instant, reappearing atop the bears back, between its spines. He quickly grabbed one to hang on.
“Do you have a plan!?” Lapin demanded. “Because this doesn’t feel like a good idea!”
“It can’t attack us if we’re on its back!” Cris explained. “And-“ At this point, the spine he was hanging onto, launched from the monster’s back, flying off into the air, nearly dislodging Cris. Several other spines launched as well, and for a moment the beast’s back was bare except for its rough fur. Then, new spines began to grow in, popping up all over its back in an instnat, like spikes trying to impale Cris.
“You were saying?” Lapin screamed as Cris dodged left and right.
“Okay, maybe this was a bad idea but…” He looked across the monster’s body and spied its head. “But plan B.” He ran and leaped, avoiding the new spines coming in as he attempted to reach the creature’s head. Once standing atop his he pointed the wand back down at it. “This might get a bit ugly, but it’s the best I can think of. Time to saw a man in half… Or in this case, a winged bear thing. Abra Kadabra!” He pointed the wand, and suddenly wooden restraints appeared around the monster’s neck. It let out a roar and reached up one of its claws to swipe at Cris.
Cris leaped as high into the air as he could, flipping as he did until he was facing down at the bear. He pointed his wand again, and suddenly a massive guillotine dropped from the sky, slamming down onto the bears’ neck.
And suddenly there was a poof of smoke, and the bear was gone. Instead, there was a small statue of a bear that fell to the Earth.
“Oh thank goodness… I don’t think I could have handled it if its head popped off and it started bleeding and stuff.” Cris gave a sigh of relief.
“Relax later! Break the statue now before it becomes active again! As long as the statue is whole it can be revived.”
“R-right!” Cris landed on the ground, only partially surprised that he was unhurt by the fall. He was superhuman… Erm super-rabbit after all. He bound over to where the statue was and slammed a paw down on it shattering it.
“Trial by fire indeed, but at least it’s over.” Lapin gave a weary sigh. “You can change back anytime by saying the phrase, Lapin, Strike Midnight.”
“I see…” Cris looked over himself. “It okay if I stay transformed a little longer, until we meet the people from the ministry at least?”
“I guess?” Lapin replied. “I’m bound to you, so even when we’re not merged it’s not as if I can travel far.”
“Good.” Cris nodded eagerly. “Cause, I don’t really have any clothes that will fit me as a human kid yet. Think I’m gonna need to do some shopping.” He paused. “Also, being a rabbit is a lot more fun than being a human.”
“I won’t dispute that fact.” Lapin chuckled. “Though we can’t stay merged forever even if you wanted. If you’re ever unconscious, rather it be from being knocked out in a fight or just going to sleep we automatically split.”
“Good to know…” Cris sat down on the sidewalk. “So… While we wait for these Ministry people to arrive, what else should I know?”
“I suppose this is as good a time as any to cover the basics.” Lapin sounded quite happy to be turned to for advice. “Now… Where shall we begin… You won, but that was sloppy, but listen to me and you’ll be a true hero in no time.”
“Right!” Cris nodded as he listened to his spirit animal’s lecture and awaited the people who would be facilitating his new life as a magical hero.
The End