January 10, 2022

(Canon) Bonus Short Story of my book, The Lightning Mage, expanding upon chapter 28.

Word Count: 1,832

---

Isabella pushed the door open, and her eyes twitched.

Sitting opposite the glass partition was a familiar man, with a face so stoic and nonchalant it made her rage.

She let out a curse before slumping on the chair.

"Why the hell are you here?"

Neil did not smile; he barely even acknowledged her. His arms were crossed as if he wanted his tanned biceps to stick out as much as possible, while his head tilted to the side.

"Why can't I visit my daughter?"

Isabella snorted. That was quite a statement coming from someone who had never bothered to find her willingly all these years.

"What do you want from me?" she asked. "There's no way you're here just for me."

Neil leaned back on his chair. The wrinkles around his eyes had more than doubled since the last time she had seen him. Then again, more than a decade had passed. More than a decade where she had been stuck in prison.

"You're right," her father admitted unabashedly. "There's gonna be someone joining you in prison today. That's why I'm here."

"You say as if this place is a fun little club for people to join."

Neil ignored her snide comment and continued, "I need to get to her, but I also need her to trust me."

"And where do I come in?"

"I need you to get close to her, and introduce her to me. As a trusted source."

Isabella scrutinized her father. The tall man always had such a poker face, it was impossible for her to understand what he was thinking. Not that she was ever looking to understand a person who would put their own daughter to prison.

She averted her head. "And what do I have to gain from this?"

"Can't you just do it as a favor for your old man?"

"No."

A chuckle escaped his lips. It was the only emotion he let slip out, and it was one of sardonic amusement. Typical.

"You're still as stubborn as ever, Izzy."

"Don't call me that," she snapped. "You don't deserve to call me that."

"Sure," he said with a small smile. Then, he lowered his head and sighed. "I'm getting close, you know. That... curse. I'm getting close to a solution."

Isabella froze as her heart jumped to her throat. "W... What?"

Was that what he had been working on all this time?

"I can save both you and your mother from it. I just need your help to get to this person."

No matter how shocking the revelation of Neil's potential discovery was, Isabella was still caught off guard by the phrase 'you and your mother'. Especially the way Neil had said it. As if her mother could still be saved; as if she were still around.

She gulped. "Mom is dead."

"Temporarily."

"No." She raised her voice. "Mom is dead, Dad."

For a split second, she could see the sadness in his eyes. The emotional barrier dissolved, and she could see her father. Her dad.

Then, the barrier lifted back up again.

"Her name is Lyn Bronte," he explained. "She's a quester and a special elemental mage. A very powerful one, too. She'll be coming in today. If you want to be able to live through your adulthood, get close to her, and get her to me by the end of her stay."

He slid a name card under the partition. Grabbing it, she glanced at the name.

Neil Maska.

Private Investigator.

A fake name and a fake job.

She sighed and pocketed the card. "I'll try."

Neil nodded in approval before he stood up and walked away, without so much as another look at her.

Father of the year award definitely went to this guy.

Gritting her teeth, she left the visitation room as well.

---

"Isabellaaa," Marina drawled as Isabella strolled back to her regular table. The rest of the crew was playing cards, ignoring the chatter and brawls that were happening across the room.

"Look at you, back from a visit," Marina continued as she combed her hair through her flawlessly curled hair. "And here I thought no one would ever visit you."

Isabella rolled her eyes and settled next to the olive-skinned woman.

"There's gonna be an interesting person coming in today," she announced.

Everyone else at the table paused their card game to stare at her.

"Oh?" Marina raised a brow. "How do you know that?"

The door slammed open. Two armed guards trotted into the room, followed by a new woman.

Speak of the devil; that must be Lyn Bronte.

She was dressed in the same orange jumpsuit as everyone else, but the magic-suppressing anklet on her leg was much bigger. Neil had mentioned that she was a powerful quester, so that checked out. Her auburn hair was gathered into a messy braid, with random strands of red jutting into her porcelain skin. It was like she had given up on trying to look presentable.

Or maybe, even given up on life.

Marina snorted next to her. "White girl."

"I already find her annoying," Yelena added.

"She's pretty, though," Rainee said with a sly smile.

"Doesn't matter if she's pretty," Natasha said. "Just another white girl to add to Prissy's stupid gang."

Rainee pouted. "Nah, she's too pretty to be accepted."

"There's just not a lot of pretty people in here to choose from," Yelena pointed out.

Marina giggled. "Yeah, not when we are the prettiest."

As the crew, and everyone else in the room, talked about the newcomer, Isabella watched as Prissy the Tiger marched up to Lyn. The two of them struck up a conversation. It was amicable; there was no fight, no argument, no angry glares. Then, Lyn followed Prissy as she walked back to her little clique in the corner.

It turned out that Lyn was accepted into Prissy's group.

"Won't you look at that?" Marina crooned. "The Tiger found a new cub to groom."

The rest of the gang scoffed at the comment and went back to playing cards. The regular commotion slowly returned to the room as well.

Isabella bit the inside of her cheeks as she considered her options. From that bit of interaction, Prissy seemed to like Lyn. But Prissy was a woman who was easily pissed off—very, very easily pissed off.

If she could say something and get Prissy mad at Lyn, the newcomer would have no way of surviving the rest of her stay.

That would be when Isabella would swoop in to help; offering help when one was at their lowest was the easiest way to gain someone's trust.

---

A few weeks later...

Lyn was alone after roll call.

She sat in the corner, pressing the towel onto her bleeding lips, while everyone else avoided her like the plague. After all, somebody who pissed off Prissy the Tiger wasn't the best person to hang around with.

Isabella could not help but sigh. Over the weeks, she had tried to talk to Lyn on a few occasions. Lyn was... friendly. Too friendly. And too trusting. It was almost too easy setting her up as someone who wanted to overthrow Prissy's position as the leader of her gang. Some whispers here and there, a few prodding to make Lyn talk about her questing career, her magical prowess, her lightning ability, and ta-da: Lyn was now Prissy's arch-nemesis.

It was so easy that it hurt Isabella's heart. This woman was too easy to read and too much of a dumbass.

Sighing, she plopped down in front of Lyn and tossed her an ice pack.

The pair of emerald eyes darted towards her, warily, shamefully.

"Thanks, again," Lyn whispered as she replaced the towel with the ice pack.

"No problem." Isabella shrugged, taking her towel away. "So, what are you in for, by the way?"

A frown tugged on Lyn's brows. "Why do you want to know?" Her voice had turned softer, duller. More exhausted, more distrusting.

Isabella had to suppress another sigh. She had never thought how difficult it was to watch someone spiral like that. Resting her head on her hand, she said, "Just curious how someone like you ends up in prison, that's all. You're too..." —Innocent? Pure? Sweet?— "good."

Lyn lowered her head. "I'm not."

"Whatever. You're not like the rest of us and you know it."

Lyn glanced at her, before looking away again. "I pissed off the QA."

Oh? The Quester's Association? Isabella raised her eyebrows. "Well, that's not a good thing to do as a quester, isn't it?"

"Not at all. What about you?"

"Oh, I killed my mother."

Lyn almost dropped the ice pack in shock. "What?"

Isabella chuckled. Lyn's reaction was as predictable as ever.

"C- Can I ask why?" Lyn asked.

"Nope. So what did you do to piss off the QA?"

"Well, I'm not gonna be the only one answering questions," Lyn said flatly.

Oh good, so she was not a complete idiot after all. Isabella let out another chuckle. "I didn't actually kill my mother," she admitted, the inside of her mouth turning more bitter at every word. "She has... a generational curse. Cursed to die by her twenties."

Lyn blinked. She looked like a million questions had just flooded through her tiny brain.

"Generational..." she repeated, blood draining from her face.

A pang of sadness hit Isabella. "Yep, generational," she said softly. "I'm the same. I'll die by my twenties too. Oh, don't look at me like that. I don't care; it doesn't matter. I've already accepted that I'd die in here. Who else do I have to live for anyway? No one is really waiting for me outside."

"I am," Lyn said immediately.

The two of them stared at each other in silence, before Lyn spoke again, flustered. "I'm- I'm sorry. I know we just met and everything. But I mean it. You're a good person, Isabella."

Isabella smiled in response. A decade in prison, and the only person who had ever expressed their hope in her release was a woman she was trying to trick.

"Thank you, Lyn."

Once again, silence fell between them.

"The QA wanted me to capture the woman I'm in love with," Lyn whispered after a while. "I didn't want to do that, so that's why I'm in here."

"Huh." That reason made Isabella's heart flutter, for some reason. She gulped and forced out a smile. "You're such a loving creature. No wonder you're dumb like that."

"I'm not dumb."

"Right."

"I mean, I am a college graduate..."

"Mmhm, college has indeed lowered their standards too much."

"Whatever," Lyn grumbled. "But I mean it, by the way. I mean it when I say I'll be waiting for you to get out... and live."

Isabella could not bring herself to say anything. Putting her hand into her pocket, she caressed the name card her father gave her.

Well then, don't mind me betraying you to help myself live on, Lyn.