Fallen Age: Golden Age sparks 1.5

Claire hated the rest of the day. Every second she expected… something to happen. Every poster, every comment… And she could hear and see so much and somehow, she could understand better. It was like her eyes had been opened.

And for some reason she kept having urges. The school, this place, was wrong…

Purge it with golden sunfire, bring righteousness back to the people…

Claire shook her head. But finally, school was over, as Tommy walked by, his little band of thralls following along with him, talking and laughing and backbiting anyone who seemed to get too close to him…

"Hiee!" Kyoko said, bouncing up and taking her place between her and Michael and putting her arms around both of them. "You're my best friends!" she said.

"Kyoko, we've barely talked," Michael said.

Kyoko pouted. "But you have secrets…" She smirked. "Yesterday, Claire was just a hedgemage, barely understanding her books, hardly able to see, and today she can see. I wanna know why."

"Um…"

"And do you want to know that a Fomori is? What the Wyrm is? Why you should be very careful who you talk with at this school?" Suddenly, her voice grew serious. "Come, and I will tell you. Ignorance is no shield… as Tommy found out."

"Tommy? What's wrong—"

"Shh!" Kyoko cut Michael off. "Some words should not be spoken where all ears can hear them!" she glanced around at the students walking to their cars. "Come, you can drive me to the park. I think the time has come to speak!"

Claire looked at Michael and he shrugged.

It didn't take long before they were at the park, stopping on the way to get a meal. Kyoko was very particular.

"You are what you eat, and that is bad if you are eating devils."

It was early enough that the gangs weren't out, and it was safe. Not like dusk or night, when smart people stayed in.

They sat down, and Claire took a sip of her water, and then stared at Kyoko. "What's a formori?"

"Your grandmother told you of evil spirits, I expect."

"Never make a deal, never summon them, never…"

"Ah, but how many people know that? And they do not always have to make a deal." Kyoko said, and her face was unamused. "Poor little Tommy. I talked to him, but the thing that came to him in his dreams was sweeter than me. It told him of beautiful girls, kneeling at his feet, how he could take and never worry about giving, how he never would be rejected… And so he listened… And it took everything. And so Tommy is no longer Tommy. Just little shreds., a false mask over a demon's face."

"What do we do?"

"Kill him."

"WHAT?" Michael and Claire burst out.

"It is a mercy compared to what he will become. Fomori serve the Wyrm."

"I've read some legends…"

"Not enough," Kyoko said, tossing a fry at Claire. "You can say its name without paling, you do not know enough. The Wyrm does not exist to kill, but to corrupt, to make you wish for death."

"And you?" Claire asked. "I saw that. You have tails!"

"Two tails, I'm but a youth." She sighed. "We do not often talk to those who are not kin. Secrecy is our safety, and not just from the Wyrm. But you… Destiny has touched you and—" She blinked. Michael had been flipping a coin, and as she spoke, it came down… and landed on its edge, staying there. "That is a trick."

"I…" Michael shook his head, and then flipped another coin, and it also landed on its edge. "What the hell?"

"Oh, I can see that you two will be fun. But I have told you secrets, now you must tell me!"

Claire nodded. There was something… Trustworthy about Kyoko. Claire remembered how she'd been clever, sarcastic but… Never cruel.

So she told her, about Michael, about the… light. About how even Grandma didn't know what had happened.

"Hist…" the girl said. "I have never heard of such things, and I know much. But magic… Magic for mortals is a weak and thready thing, often failing. If you can cast it… Show me!"

"Here?"

"Behind wards and walls, some might wonder, but here in an open park… who would care? Show me! Show me light!"

Claire looked around, cupped her hand, and said the words. But nothing happened. Just a little flicker… then she felt the wellspring within her, and closed her eyes, and suddenly the words, the memories were diamond clear. She raised her hands, said a single word, and a gleaming star appeared in them.

"Ah… You two can be useful."

"Doing what?"

"Principal Meuller… Nice man, normal man… but all things got worse when he came. Tommy was just a human before he came, yes?"

"What, you're going to say he's a monster?"

"Oh yes, yes!" Kyoko said. "A monster worse than many… Gaia's enemies, they make mockeries, and mockery breeds of those who defended her. Mueller is one. He is… Yeren."

Claire shivered at the disgust in Kyoko's voice. "But…why haven't you done anything?"

"Done anything, and let him know?" Kyoko giggled. "Do I look like I have an army? I am just Kyoko. Why would a creature of the Wyrm come here? You have never met a Yeren, but they prefer the halls of power, to corrupt great men into great monsters. But here… A little school in a little town? I was curious. I wanted to learn—if I moved too soon, he might have killed me or just left. But now… Now I now enough."

"What do you know?"

"The spirits, the school, it is worse. There is something in the basement. I could not get to it, but we can, yes?"

"Wait—Our principal is a monster, there's something in the basement, and you want us to help you?" Claire asked.

"Not all are lost, not yet. But they will be," Kyoko said. "And I will give you another payment. I know elders. Help me with this, and I will find out what it was that harmed Michael!"

"Your promise?" Claire said.

"Claire…"

"What if it happens again!" Claire shook her head. "What do you want us to do."

'Why, hold a door for little old Kyoko!" the girl said. "And look and listen for security guards. The Yeren has a home across town, he will not be there, and I will find out what he guards."

"What then?" Michael asked.

"Oh. We may have to burn the school down."

Michael looked at Claire. Claire looked at Kyoko. "I don't think anything down there is worth burning the school down over."

Several hours later, as a fucking huge white ape tried to rip her head off, screaming obscenities in the voice of her principal, Claire decided that some things were worth burning the school down over.