[color=2e3192][b]Eli Reyes/Spellbound[/b][/color]

Location: South Bohan rooftops, Liberty City

Eli hovered three feet off the roof of his apartment building. That was the good news. The bad news was that he was sweating, panicking, and already drifting sideways about to crash into his neighbors laundry line. “Okay okay okay. Focus, Eli, focus,” he muttered, one hand clutching his pendant, the other clutching a composition notebook full of half legible spell notes, and smeared pastelito grease.

Below him, the streets of South Bohan buzzed with car horns, chatter, and a distant BOOM he was actively ignoring. He wasn’t ready for that kind of noise yet. Not until he could levitate without endangering himself or others.

“Levitate,” he whispered. “Stay calm. Remember what Abuela said. Intent equals outcome. Intent equals…”

A pigeon squawked past his ear. Eli shrieked. The spell snapped. He dropped like a sack of potatoes, landing hard on the gravel roof.

“Mierda…”

⸻

After a long moment of staring at the sky and contemplating quitting magic forever, his phone buzzed beside him.

[quote]Alert: Incident in Broker. Armed robbery in progress. [/quote]

Eli sat up slowly. He wasn’t ready. He could barely get off the ground without crashing. How could he possibly expect to be any help? But he remembered Lady Liberty. He remembered what she stood for. He stood up, wiped dirt off his jeans, and whispered, “Alright… I am light. I am fire. I am ready.” Then paused. “…Okay, maybe just light for now.”