Young Writers Society

Robin thought for a moment.

"What's your world like?" she finally asked. That was a good start - it was definitely different than her own, and it would probably give her an idea for what else they could talk about.


"They are very uncommon where I come from," he said. He glanced over in Soul's direction, trying to decide how much he could say without revealing the truth. "Humans rarely can use it because of the toll it takes on them and their souls, but Soul is able to heal without any harm."

The last question made him falter.

"...They were never a fan of my...magic," he finally said. He didn't explain any more - how the two who had always been there for him had left, how their support had been the only thing keeping him from getting kicked out, and how they had ripped his wings and said that he could never get them back.

He could never fly again.

Jaron smiled sheepishly. "I don't really know how I can describe a world?" he said. "I haven't seen too much of my world, honestly. Is there anything on my world that isn't on yours?"



"Is it a little on-the-nose to ask if Soul is a soul?" Tristan said. "It's weird that not everyone can use magic, but I guess that's other worlds for you. Also, what kind of magic do you use, and why didn't they like it? I'm fine with pretty much all magic."

"You, actually," Robin said. "Not you you, but people like you. Most of the people on Earth look like me - even the ones who don't usually find ways to."

She thought for a second.

"...Also like me," she added.


"We all have souls," Janos said. Soul, if he understood the story right, had been given his name by Zogin when they were much younger - she had believed he hadn't had one because he was a robot, and thought it was somehow creative. "Soul just has...a special one."

He held out a hand.

"I used darkness magic," he said. He summoned a little orb of darkness into his hand, letting it twist and turn while keeping its original shape. He rarely used it when they were among others. Darkness was something that seemed to be universally disliked. "It was considered bad for our public image."

"What if there's a lot of foxes and hounds and other species pretending to be human?" Jaron said. "Because we can take on those forms if we want. I'm, not sure why they'd want to hide, but maybe they're not on good terms with humans? That can happen."

Kendrik nodded his head in agreement.



Tristan focused on the sphere of darkness. "I, uh, can see that," he said slowly, then frowned. "How'd you learn how to do that, anyways? There's only one person in my world who could've used that, and it sounds like it's heading for us? Maybe we can fight fire with fire."

Robin mulled it over.

"There might be," she said. "I haven't done too much reaping before, and that's usually how us reapers find out what's out there - either by reaping souls or being very confused by not recognizing what certain souls look like. I don't think there's anyone like that, but I could be wrong."


"I was born with it," he said. He ignored the comment about how Tristan could agree with the consensus on his magic - it wasn't anything new. As it was, only Magestorrow felt partially comfortable about it due to having darkness magic of his own, and Soul felt less afraid than most thanks to Magestorrow's magic as well.

The fox scratched his head, staining even more of it blue. "That's weird," he said. "Sure, there's a lot of humans out there, but also plenty who aren't. I think nonhumans are the majority, actually. You've got to have seen foxes before, right? Are they a species on your world?"



"Everyone's born with magic," Tristan said, crossing his arms. He knew he was being a little rude, and he'd regret that later, but he wasn't exactly in the best mindset. And Janos liked being a little too vague. "Is it something I can learn?"

Robin nodded.

"They are," she confirmed. "They're just not like you. They're smaller, and they walk on four legs instead of two."


Janos shook his head.

"Where I'm from, people are born with a specific type of magic," he said. "Some of it is elemental, while other people rely more on spellcasting. My magic is elemental - my soul is only designed to use it, just as Soul's soul can only heal. It's not something that can be learned."

Jaron huffed. "I can take that form," he said. "So they've got to have other forms too. It just doesn't make sense otherwise."



"That's weird," Tristan said. "Lots of people get stuck with one kind of magic, but that's only because they practice it a lot. You either get really good at one, or kinda meh at a bunch. I like that, even though I don't really know any magic myself. And souls aren't a thing on my world, so that probably helps."

Robin shook her head.

"They don't," she said. "They just look like that. There are people who can shapeshift into them, but they don't look like you and can do a lot of forms. I could technically make myself look like a fox, too, if I wanted to."


"Interesting," Janos said. He folded his arms - not in an angry way, but because he needed something to do with them. "It's hard to imagine a place where souls don't dictate how life is lived."

"Hm, I don't get it," Jaron said, shaking his head just enough to get his point across without smacking Kendrik. "But I don't think I'm going to, so what else is different with my world?"



"And it's kinda hard to imagine a place where souls do control people's lives," Tristan said. He frowned. "I don't want to take shots at other people's worlds, but not having souls sounds better? Like, your magic could help out with the fight we're waiting for, but, on your world, you're stuck with the one kind of magic people don't like. And it just sounds like magic divides people on your world, instead of equalizing everyone."

Robin thought it over.

"Well, that's the obvious thing," she said. "But we don't have airships like yours, either - we have planes instead."


Janos was silent for a moment.

"Magic like mine can be a...beautiful thing," he said. "It's just difficult to find someone who appreciates it. Most magic is like that. Souls have divided my world - for better or for worse - but it's difficult to imagine a world where magic doesn't work the same way that mine does."

Staring out the window at the airship in question, the fox tilted his head. "Yeah, that's a bit bigger and fancier of an airship than we can really make them," he said, smiling sheepishly as he glanced back at Robin. "In my defense, I'm not sure I was consciously aware I was making it? The principle's kind of the same, though - just a bunch of metal underneath a big airbag, powered by magic. Maybe we can use something other than magic in the future, because they always require a ton of mages to work right, and that's way too inefficient and dangerous."



"Same with your world," Tristan said, nodding.

Well, Arlais had mostly been convinced. Janos was perhaps a little too fond of his magic, given it'd gotten him in trouble, but she could sympathize with him. He seemed kind of sad and lonely more than anything else, especially given what had motivated him to try to kidnap Soul.

"Janos?" Arlais said, looking up at him, "Do you think you can make amends with Soul and Zogin? They seem like nice people; I think they'd understand why you did what you did."

"Magic's not a well known thing in my world, so our flying stuff is powered by good old technology," Robin said. "I have no idea how - I've never really been into aviation. But we can get massive metal vehicles up in the air and fly them, so I'd say that's a plus."


He almost immediately shook his head.

"Soul might forgive me, someday, but Zogin never will."

In her eyes, he had made Soul into a monster.

Jaron shifted towards Robin and leaned forward, eyes widening. "Technology?" he said quickly. "What kind of technology? Can you give me a general idea? If it's not magic, and if it can get things up in the air, knowing anything about it would be a huge help."



"Why?" Arlais said. "Kidnapping someone wasn't exactly a smart idea - no offense, but I don't think your friends liked you all that much, no matter what you did to win their approval - but you had your reasons. And Zogin can be really stubborn, but can she hold a grudge for that long?"

Tristan started to whistle. Ah, right. Aegeas. Arlais winced. "Okay, maybe she can," she said. "But I feel like there's more to that story? Did you scare Soul so much that it's why he doesn't like water, and he wears that armor all the time?"

Robin shook her head.

"I can't," she said. "I don't know a thing about planes. I know what they look like and that they have engines, but I don't know how it actually flies."


There was more to the story, but Janos wasn't sure how much he could tell without jeopardizing Soul's secret. He cast a glance in the direction of his two traveling companions; unsurprisingly, it was only Soul who noticed. Soul turned away as soon as they had made eye contact, but he knew that Soul had seen him watching him.

"I had nothing to do with his fears," he finally. "He had those before I met him."