Shake, Rattle and Burn (Spirit Ember)

From Radiant Heart MUSH

Shake, Rattle and Burn (Spirit Ember)
Date of Cutscene: 25 September 2024
Location: Tokyo
Synopsis: In the early morning of 25 September 2024, something shakes the Mahou of Tokyo awake. But for one person, it means so much more.
Cast of Characters: Catra
Tinyplot: Spirit Ember

It was 3 AM in Tokyo, and the city lay in a tranquil slumber of a late summer's warmth, embraced by the soft glow of streetlights casting gentle halos on the pavement. The distant hum of night the faint whispers of cicadas and the occasional rustle of leaves---seemed to cradle the world in a serene silence. Yet for the magical inhabitants of Tokyo and its surroundings, sleep was a fleeting luxury, one that would soon be shattered.

A faint tremor pulsed through the earth, barely perceptible, like the heartbeat of the city itself. To ordinary citizens, it was a mere footfall of the night, easily dismissed. But for those attuned to magic, the ground beneath them stirred with a vibrant life of its own. Eyes fluttered open in bedrooms, dormitories, and atop rooftops, hearts racing in sync with the sudden dissonance that rippled through the magical energy usually flowing beneath the metropolis. It was as if the very fabric of reality had momentarily frayed, sending a shiver of foreboding through their veins.

At Radiant Heart Academy, the pulse of magic resonated like a call to arms. Students were pulled from their dreams visions swirling in their minds, leaving them disoriented yet driven by an unshakable compulsion. Wordlessly, they rose, instinctively drawn to the courtyard, their senses heightened by an energy that thrummed in the air, electric with anticipation. The night felt alive, as if the city itself held its breath, teetering on the edge of an unseen precipice.

As they congregated beneath the expansive canopy of stars, the tremor subsided, leaving behind a suffocating stillness that felt almost unnatural. Tension crackled in the air like static electricity, thick enough to taste. Then, as if choreographed by an unseen force, their gazes turned eastward.

There, rising ominously over the distant silhouette of Mount Fuji, a black cloud began to swirl. It twisted and churned like a malevolent spirit, unnatural in its presence. Laced with veins of crimson light, it glowed faintly against the dark sky, resembling embers flickering to life in the night. The mahou could feel it deep in their bones; a storm not of wind or rain, but something far more sinister, a harbinger of chaos that threatened to engulf them.

The hour was late, yet the true night had just begun, thick with foreboding.

And within this tension laden moment, one individual drifted into a dream not of tremors, but of erupting into flames, a fierce and consuming fire that beckoned with a siren call, promising both power and peril. But for the rest? As quickly as the storm began, it dissapated. And left far more questions than answers.