Comic:Flux

From CGWiki

Flux
Artist:	Deborah Erenberg
Writer:	Deborah Erenberg
Characters:	http://flux.comicgenesis.com/cast.htm
Updates:	Mon-Wed-Fri
Began:	August 30, 2004
Ended:
Art style:	Comic book
Rating:	Mature
Website	Website

Plot

In 3022, a war that resulted in a magical apocalypse left the earth in a jumbled ruin of times and places, effectively decimating the timeline and any governments therein. A massively reduced population taken out of history and structure struggled to find a place for itself, which led to the formation of small communities relying on violent defenses. Small governments rose and fell in rapid succession until a group of 30th century Freemasons managed to seize control and form a small empire, led by a sorceror taking on the name Julius Caesar. 48 years after the devastating event, there is a fairly solid government in place, organizing schooling, trade, and maintaining some level of peace between the communities. There is also a young, teenaged girl named Mia. Mia lives with her family in a farming community, and she is part of the local gang that protects the area.

• Prologue
  • Julius Caesar comes to Mia's home in search of a magical artifact he has discovered in their vicinity. When he finds it, he declares her parents are traitors and has them killed by the creature he has summoned out of the artifact. In retaliation, Mia murders Caesar, only to be faced with a very angry creature calling itself a genie named Kylie. In return for her life, Mia agrees to travel with Kylie to find her a new sorceror to get her to her home dimension, protecting the genie from anyone seeking to control it.
• Chapter 1: This is Not Where I End

A couple of years has passed since the time of the prologue, and Mia and Kylie finally run into a sorceror, who catches them by surprise. He captures both of them. When Mia wakes up she finds herself in his rooms, where he reveals that he is Caesar's son, August. Mia has no idea where he is keeping Kylie or what he intends to do with her.

• Chapter 2: Dragons
  • Mia escapes his rooms only to discover she is in a floating castle hovering over a massive field with no place to hide. August makes it clear he has no plans for her to leave, and sets her up with a room of her own, in which she promptly begins to have nightmares. She is awoken by Alexiel, who has been appointed by August to keep watch of Mia. They begin to hang out together as Mia tries to gain her trust.
• Chapter 3: Familiarity
  • The nightmares continue, and August starts to look increasingly unwell whenever he appears in her room. In addition to that, various people are hinting that she is not quite what she assumes she is. Just when August reveals that he believes she isn't exactly human, he is possessed by a demon he has been channeling to gain knowledge. The demon, Bel, attacks Mia, as convinced of what she is as August had been. Mia retaliates and, when that fails, runs, trying to retrieve the sword that August had taken from her when he captured her. Bel is stalled in his chase by Alexiel and her brother. When he has dealt with them, he returns to his pursuit and declares that he is going to kill Kylie.
• Chapter 4: Loss
  • Chapter 4 begins with a dream that Mia had immediately before waking up in August's rooms after he captured her. It reveals her conflicted feelings over the idea of abandoning Kylie to August, even though their entire goal had been to get Kylie to a sorceror. In current time, Mia finds her sword but Bel gets to her just before she can reach it. He puts her to sleep and she wakes up in a strange place with Kylie, who gives her some irritatingly cryptic information. It is unclear if Mia is dreaming or if Kylie has brought her to this place, but Mia finds reality shifting again, this time to a chained up Kylie with a severely altered appearance and a very smug looking Bel. Once he has made sure that Mia is in no condition to stop him, Bel admits that he has a long history with Kylie. He taunts the genie before killing her with Mia's sword, an enchanted sword that is so connected to Mia that she can feel everything that happens to it. Although just killed, Kylie's voice speaks to Mia, telling her that she is giving her a gift. Mia opens her eyes to find she is holding her sword, which is now spontaneously burning. At Kylie's voice's prodding, Mia manages to get herself up and kill August, who has just regained control of his body after Bel has exerted himself too much.
• Chapter 5: City of Roses
  • Mia finally leaves the castle, only to find herself in the City of Roses, a place she has been to before. She seeks out Cocohuay, who treats her injuries and reapplies Mia's missing tattoos. Mia also reunites with her former allies, a gang called the Spaniards, led by the libidinous Tai. Many people refer to her by the name of Caracal with no explanation.

Still suffering the loss of Kylie and fairly certain she has gone insane, Mia wanders the streets, gets drunk, and talks with what may or may not be Kylie's ghost. She meets Jack this way, a mysterious man who can see Kylie but says nothing about it. The next evening she encounters him again and gets suspicious he is following her. He promises to answer her questions if she visits him the next night.

• Chapter 6: Fugue States
  • Mia joins the Spaniards for a simple heist, where they run into their enemies, a fellow gang known as the Church. Mia's mere presence threatens them off, still with no explanation. She leaves quickly to deal with Jack, who reveals that he is a god. Specifically, a malevolent Egyptian god that went by the name of Denwen. He also admits that he has not only seen Kylie's ghost, but used to know her in the old days. Mia finally gets to break down, relieved that it turns out she isn't crazy. Jack convinces her to stay the night.
• Chapter 7: Younger Days
  • Jack relates the story of when he gave Kylie her fire attributes, back in ancient Egypt. It explains many more things than Mia expects, including the marks seen on Kylie's skin in "Loss" and some of the history between Kylie and Bel. Jack realizes that Bel was the one that killed Kylie and asks Mia about it. Unable to handle it, Mia runs away from him, putting back up her cold exterior to deal with Theus, previously seen to lead the Church.
• Chapter 8: Repercussions Pt.1
  • The Royal Guard corner Mia and give her a note from Alexiel that states Mia is going to be tracked so she can be made use of in the future. Later, Mia gets drunk with Theus and Tai. Tai kisses her, prompting Kylie to finally speak up again, this time with jealousy. Later, Tai overhears Mia talking to Kylie about Alexiel and the fact that Mia is a familiar.

The next day, passing by Jack's place, she is properly introduced to the flamboyant Yves, who has been staying with Jack. He tells her more about Jack, and Kylie tells her Yves is a wizard. She continues on to meet with Tai and Coco, where the first rumors of Viper are mentioned. Tai has a fight with a couple of the Royal Guard delivering orders on a gang activity crackdown, then accuses Mia of not only covering up information about it, but working with them. Mia angrily storms off, but promises she is going to help find Viper. She goes back to Jack's place and meets up with Helen, who reveals Jack's more carnivorous side. Disturbed, Mia heads up anyway.

• Chapter 9: Repercussions Pt.2
  • Mia gives Jack her own personal summary of the events surrounding Kylie's death, and Jack responds by giving Kylie's spirit enough power to be seen by Mia, revealing that what is left of her actually resides in Mia's sword. Jack leaves them alone and Mia and Kylie continue on to the School, Viper's last known location. Mia goes in disguise, trying to get placed in whatever program Viper is in, only to find out he is in Human Appropriations. Nonetheless she decides to continue on to find him, and Jack decides to come with her, disguised as a small flying lizard.
• Chapter 10: First Impressions