Arc 0: Chapter 5 - Maverick Authority

author /ˈɔːθə/

the writer of a book, article, play, etc.

Authority. Such magnificent power was beyond human capabilities, it bore only the epitome of facade in fantasy; yet in this town that oozed melancholy in place of mystery, it persisted. Much like its name, it revolved around Authors, but not the ones you would know by name — certainly not of the normal kind — for these authors knew far too much and kept themselves in secrecy to the grander world. Wizards, they’d be called by some, practitioners of witchcraft and the like; a concept that would be more comprehensible than whatever the authors truly were. They knew not witchcraft nor wizardry, but simply the knowledge and fantasy of imagination.

It was the mystical art of words and the outlet of imagination into reality. Brandishing their pens and their quills, and through the use of writing on mere air, authors were able to conjure whatever their mind hid in that small corner of innocence and fantasy. If one desired to wield their favorite fictional weapon, then with Authority, it would easily come true, though it required precision and skill. This power was chaotic in nature; it offered as much freedom as one desired, and so there were limitations. One had to master it if they ever-so pleased to become an author.

And so come Flynn and Erina, two authors of varying nature; yet still alike all the same. The authors were divided into classes, each with their own skill in which they specialized and dedicated all their studies to — and then, there were some who possessed skills unique only to them.

Flynn was but a simple novelist, one that could create fictional scenarios out of nothing to aid him. For a novelist summoning an army of undead would be nothing more than a triviality — assuming the writing aligned within comprehension. On the other hand, Erina, just a youth who barely hit her twenties, was a maverick.

“That man was robbing the store! I did a public service.” She scoffed, burying herself further within the passenger seat.

Both Flynn and her were now in his car, which still managed to keep itself together even after the blast that had occurred, and it posed no problem to Flynn as he could easily fix it with Authority later. The problem, however, lied with the little lady coughing up a storm beside him.

“A tad excessive, wouldn’t you say so? I’m sure those car owners will accept your generosity with utmost care. Oh, and leaving shattered windows is quite the public service.” Flynn said. Still trying to comprehend Erina’s actions and line of thinking, he rubbed his forehead before letting out a deep sigh. By no means was her desire to stop the robbery wrong, although given different circumstances she wouldn’t have bothered to stop it at all at one point, it was the method by which she did that worried Flynn greatly. Not only did she cause a great commotion and potentially exposed her supernatural nature to bystanders who knew nothing of it, but she also had no direct control over this chaotic, destructive power. “You’re washing your arms first thing when we get to the office. And get rid of those bandages!”

“What?!” She retorted, “Who are you to boss me around?!!”

“Your boss…!” he said after being stung by a bit of irritation.

Unlike authors, even of the magical kind, mavericks were a little bit of a special case. They valued the perspective of one’s self, their power focused on the betterment of themselves, more specifically, how they could enhance their own physical prowess to unimaginable degrees. If one were to simplify it, they were “brutes” of Authority. That said, they weren’t so mindless in their techniques, they couldn’t be. After all, their techniques were the hardest there is to master as it required them to be very detailed with their creations, they needed to understand the functions of their own bodies above all.

For Erina Nightingale, the reckless hothead, to be capable of such ability seemed absurd, and her abuse of it made it all the more evident.

「Can’t deny she’s smart though.」

Still in the silent car, Flynn sat thinking of Erina and her technique. He thought about how effective her bandages method was. Mavericks tend to write with precision so to do that in the heat of battle seemed almost impossible and remained to be one of the reasons why there weren’t that many of them.

Authors weren’t brawlers who would strike up a fight whenever they went, but when they happened to be in one, especially with outworldly beings, they needed to be prepared.

Erina, however, took that concept and flipped it over its head. She used her special bandages around her arms to suppress her power and have it at the ready whenever she needed instead of writing it all in the heat of the moment. Yet it still proved to be a fatal flaw.

Flynn glanced at her for a moment. Arms crossed, she had her head turned in the other direction and looked at the window, as if she was rejecting all reasons to speak. It brought a smile to Flynn’s face, who could not help but chuckle at the situation in spite of his earlier remarks.

“Just don’t do that again,” he said, trying to keep a firm front. He turned the keys and started up the car, “You’re under my watch, now. Try to behave yourself a little.”

“Sure…” She answered almost immediately with a dull tone.

Her gaze still plastered to the window, she wouldn’t move an inch. There was no doubt that she was mad. But she also felt an ache in her heart, she was sad. Deep down, she believed that Flynn had every right to scold her. She was way past the age of adolescence, yet continued to act like a teenager who didn’t know better about consequences. It was no wonder why she was still in school, she believed.

Erina loathed herself.

All of a sudden, a box dropped onto her lap, startling her for a moment. She eyed it with surprise. It was a paper blue box with various emblems of sweets plastered on top of it and from the sides. This was none other than a box of Taku Puffs.

“Huuuh?! W-Why?” Erina was puzzled. She would have very well devoured the box almost immediately yet she couldn’t bring herself to till she understood why. “Why the hell… so after all that, you're just rewarding me with what I wanted? What kind of teacher are you?”

Flynn rubbed the back of his head. For a man with a few years till he hit his fourities, he still didn’t know how to hide his embarrassment. “No. But you’re old enough to know when you’ve done wrong. Unless of course, you adhere to the ways of our dear friend, Pavlov,” he chuckled, “Besides, I can’t handle the sound of your stomach growling.”

“Hey!” Erina snarled before slowly softening her expression, “Thanks!”

Oddly enough, despite her prudish nature and gruff appearance, she seemed to have a rather sweet and childish side to her; the kind that would leave one with a smile whenever they looked at her when she showed it — even if that side was partially the reason a store had blown up almost beyond measure.

「This kid’s going to be the end of me.」

Flynn smiled as he drove off to the distance. It was time for the office.