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Chapter 1 of Tales of Woe

Psijius, 1930's

Welcome to Shadow Cove, a small town in the deep south of Texas, along the Gulf of Mexico. The town has one roads leading in and out, and technology hasn't exactly reached us. We're trapped in the eighteen hundreds with the exception of leaded gasoline, pickup trucks, and the emancipation proclamation. Sure, we know about these fancy light bulbs and such, but we don't need that. The population is somewhere between twenty and thirty people, but that only adds to Shadow Cove's seclusion from society, and it doesn't help that no map acknowledges our existence.

But what's it matter? We like our privacy in Shadow Cove. We like not having to lock the doors at night. We like not having to worry about power shortages. We like not having to hide our extensive use of magic. That's right, the entire town uses magic like there's no tomorrow, and for all we know, there might not be.

The town is simple, one long road that shouldn't even be there, and twenty three houses stemming off of it. We didn't usually work with last names here, simply because everybody knew everybody, but also because our last names degraded our knowledge and usage of magic. Naming a child Psijius Smith isn't exactly the most logical thing one can do.

There's no religion in this town, no faith in inexistent gods or other deities, just knowledge of what is and isn't, and realizing that sometimes, what isn't, is, and sometimes what always is, just isn't.

My family was large, and extensive. Mother had birthed eleven hyenas into the world, and she didn't love a single one of them. Until he_came along. _He was perfect. He was beloved by all. He wasn't as cruel as the others. He wasn't as weak as the others. He wasn't as much of a failure as the others. He... was named Cipher.

My life was great until he showed up. My parents didn't notice me, my brothers weren't harassing me every other minute, and my sisters, well, they still didn't bother me, but I knew if they came out, they would. Then he showed up. Cipher was a true natural. He had a puppy when he was a little boy, got ran over by dad. Cipher immediately started crying, and I felt bad. So I brought it back to life, it wasn't difficult, it'd only died thirty seconds beforehand, it was fine. Cipher loved that I'd done that for him, but everybody else got mad at me, everybody else freaked out because I brought something back to life and gave it to my baby brother.

Later, when he was six and I was nine, I tried to explain to him that he can't just feast on food all the time. First off, he listened, he understood. Second, our parents gave him my dinner because I'd done that. Third, my brothers shoved me in a ditch the following morning because I was being mean to Cipher.

More events happened, and I hit a point where I loathed him and everyone else. I avoided him, gathered as much food as I could, locked myself in my room, and mastered duplication. Weeks later, Cipher figured out how to unlock doors, and came in, asking where I'd been and why I locked the door and why I wouldn't play with him. I told him I didn't like being bullied by our siblings. He didn't even understand the meaning of the word "bullied".

And then it happened. I came face to face with death. It was a gorgeous day in Shadow Cove, the bees milled about the flowers, the sky was a bright, vibrant blue, and I was caring water to my in-progress hide away. I'd begun construction on a home, not connected to any roads, not affiliated with anything, and well out of the way of everything.

I was half way there when Cipher, now eight, came out of nowhere and began pestering me, "Psij, Psij! What're you doing?"

God, what now?! "Carrying water."

"Why?"

"Because I need water for something."

"What?"

"None of your damn business, Ciph."

"Hey! You swore! You're not supposed to swear, only grown-ups can do that!"

"My god, Ciph, go away."

"Why aren't you just using magic to carry the bucket?"

"Because I want strength, now go away."

"But magic is your strength!" He held out his hands and used magic to take hold of the bucket. He spun it in the air, letting centrifugal force hold the water in place.

"Well maybe there'll come a time when I can't use magic!" I jumped for the bucket, but he just raised it higher in the air.

"Why wouldn't you be able to use magic? It's easy!"

I glared at him, "... Maybe someone'll do this." I held out my hand, and focused on his insignificance. His worthlessness. All my hatred was fueled into this, and he squealed in pain as the magic slowly drained from his body. The bucket dropped with a thud and a splash, but I continued to torture him until I was hit hard in the back of the head and knocked to the ground by something.

I rolled over and saw Solarus, glaring at me, "Psij! How dare you hurt Ciph like that!"

"I-"

"Ciph, come on, let's get back at him!"

Cipher bounced back from my curse instantly, and jumped in the air in excitement, "Yeah!"

"Okay, first we gotta pin him down." I started to get up as Cipher ran to me and kneed me in the chest as he put all his weight onto me.

"Good! Now you just need to do one thing. Put your hand on his forehead..." Cipher laid his small hand on my forehead. He was still smiling. I tried to speak, but found my jaw wouldn't move. Probably Solarus' doing.

"Now just remember, all you have to do, is focus. Think about how he hurt you, and hurt him back." Cipher's wide eyes narrowed, and yet the innocence didn't seem to leave his face. I felt my chest clench up, not because there was ninety pounds on it, but because his spell was taking hold.

Solarus realized Cipher wasn't doing jack shit, "Stronger!" I stopped breathing, I couldn't control my own breath. I lost hearing, then smell, than sight. My mouth started to taste like blood, and then I drifted off, as if falling asleep, but more painfully.

I awoke to find myself in a wooden box, and kept hearing thudding sounds above me. I tried to push at the top and bottom, even the sides, but found they didn't open. I realized where I was, and punched my hand into the wood with what little magical force I could muster. It was enough, and it blasted the coffin's lid straight up out of the ground. I climbed out of the hole as dirt was still being shoveled onto me. Once out, I saw a shovel, working on its own, and no one was here.

No one had come to my funeral, my burial. No one cared about me enough to miss me when I died. I felt sick inside, and threw the lid back into the hole. Let them believe I'm dead. I wasn't going back to that place. I ran. I bolted. I got as far away as I could. I got tired about half a mile down the road from Shadow's Cove, but found a small hole to hide in. I just barely fit, and curled up in the cold hollow as night took hold...