The Art Of Magic

 

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Lucas

 “Long ago, before creatures, landscape, or even humans, there was but one force. Magic. The world was filled with magic, levels of which we can’t even comprehend today. Through this magic, the world created a small sprout. One that would grow to be an oak taller and wider than any city we could ever erect. The tree would serve as the source of magical energy, it would grow to create all living beings, and fill them with magic, and intelligence. This tree is known by the name Aaxiper, the only being of pure magic. It is said that the tree rests in a set spot on an island among one of our many oceans; however, the Magi who protect its sacred lands have created dozens of mirages to confuse those who wish to tamper with the tree.”

“BOOOORING!” I called from the back of the classroom. “Stevenson if  you wanna keep our attentio-“

Mister Stevenson.” Stevenson returned, raising a brow behind his rectangular glasses. 

“Kay’ then mister Stevenson, if you want to keep our attention you’ll have to make this a bit more interesting.” I smirked, placing my hands behind my head, running my fingers through my medium length curly black hair. I kicked my feet up on the desk. 

“Feet down, mister Baker.” Stevenson ordered. I rolled my eyes and dropped my feet to the ground. “Since mister Baker seems to believe he knows more about our world than I do, why don’t I allow him to finish the lesson.” 

“Please, do not do that.” A girl in the front said out loud. Her name was Sabrina Kaine, she was the headmasters daughter, and she was pretty great at using the dark magic she used. “Some Of us are actually trying to learn.” She said glancing back at me, shooting me an evil glare through her dark green eyes. She held her hazel colored hair in place as she turned her attention back to the front of the room. 

“For the recor-“

“Shut it Baker!” Everyone called in unison. I laughed and shrugged. 

“Alright then, continue mister Stevenson.” I said, sitting forward pretending I was interested. I put on a fake smile and placed my hands beneath my chin. 

“Now then.” Stevenson said. “The tree is said to be somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic, although some of our scientists have differing opinions.” A girl to my right raised her hand. “Yes, Lauren.” Stevenson said pointing to her. 

“What do you believe?” She asked. She was usually quite loud but she’d listened throughout this whole, sleep inducing, lesson. She twirled her blonde ponytail in front of her with her finger. 

“I believe, the tree will reveal itself if it wishes to be known. Until then we shouldn’t interfere.” Stevenson explained. 

“Oh for-“ I started “-it’s a tree!” I called, rubbing my dark brown eyes through my eyelids. 

“Mister Baker is there a problem?” Stevenson asked. 

“It’s just a tree! It can’t ‘make itself known’ it doesn’t have a brain or will its just. A. Tree.” I huffed. Sabrina turned to me and rose a brow. 

“It’s actually something that’s been debated for some time now among scientists. Tree’s are in fact ‘living’ technically. Typically trees wouldn’t exactly have a ‘will’ but many scientists have theorized that the Great Oak does have one, due to its immense magic flow.” She said shrugging. I rolled my eyes. 

“Indeed miss Kaine.” Stevenson said. The guy to Sabrina’s right rose his hand. “Yes, Caleb.” Stevenson said pointing to him. Caleb White could be best described as... a jackass... his family had a pretty high social standing so he was practically rich. He normally wore expensive suits to class, which was just ridiculous. His blonde combed over hair always laid perfectly over his head. I hadn’t seen his magic in use before but like many “pure” magi I’m sure it was powerful. 

“I’d like to know more about the Magi who defend the tree.” He said smiling. 

“Well... little contact has been made with them in years, but the infinite magic that flows from the tree, reverses disease, keeps them young, and protects them from a naturally caused death.” Stevenson said. “Many are hundreds of years old, but none look a day over thirty.” 

“And their magic?” Caleb asked. 

“It’s unknown for sure, but probably some form of Earth element magic.” Stevenson explained. 

“Hey, mister Stevenson!” The guy to Sabrina’s left called. “You said the tree is larger and wider than any city we could have created? How’s that even posibble?” His name was Harry, he was pretty cool. His style was pretty athletic, I knew he was great at sports, but I didn’t know if that translated to magic ability. His shorter length light brown hair was usually hidden by a baseball cap. 

“Yes, Harry the oak is said to surpass the height and width of our own New-York-New-Jersey-Connecticut region, the largest urban area in the world.” Stevenson explained. 

“And how would they even know that?” Harry asked. 

“Scientists have made many journeys out to look for the tree but there seems to be more magic at play. Small invisible portals that surround the islands, even the mirages, these portals have repelled investigators. Anyway scientists have measured the areas they keep missing and these areas seem to be at a minimum, double the size of our New-York-New-Jersey-Connecticut region.” Stevenson explained. 

“Double???” Harry yelled. Stevenson nodded. 

“Alright now I know it’s fake.” I said waving my hand. “There’s no way this tree’s that big. I mean come on...” 

“Mister Baker, I assure you the tree exists. Whether or not it is that size is purely an estimation based on research that I was using only to answer Mister Simmons’ question.” Stevenson said sternly. I rolled my eyes. Stevenson glanced at his watch. “Oh, it’s seems we have exceeded the time of class today.” He took a deep breath. “Tomorrow we will discuss more matters regarding your specific magic. You are free to return to your dorms.” We all stood up. “Except you Mister Baker.” Stevenson said as the others  exited. I huffed and walked over to his desk in the front left corner of the room. He sat down and rearranged his tie. 

“Look Steve-“ Stevenson gave me an angry look. “Mister Stevenson,” I corrected. “Sorry I was calling out today I just don’t think I need the information in this class!” I argued. Stevenson was quiet for a second before turning to his computer, tapping, and turning back to me. 

“I understand.” He said. My eyes widened.

“Sorry, you do?” I asked. Stevenson nodded. 

“You have the best scores of all of your classmates, in both academic and practical exams. Perfect scores in every exam you’ve taken, in fact.” He said. I shrugged, smirking. 

“Yeah well it’s no pro-“

“This doesn’t mean you get to slack off and impede others abilities to learn. I still have your participation grade to enter and if your attitude doesn’t fix soon I can’t promise you’ll pass.” Stevenson muttered. 

“What?? You can’t do that! I’ve been killin’ it in your class, failing me would be-“

“Something I can do with a press of a button.” Stevenson threatened. “I strongly suggest you change your attitude Baker. Go.” He said. I sighed, shouldered my backpack and left the room. My name is Lucas Baker, Best magi on this campus, best looking, and funniest also if you hadn’t already figured that out. I live and go to classes at Kaine University in New York City. I don’t have any family I’m in contact with, my father died when I was young and so my mother drank and drugged herself to death. By the age of ten I was on my own. It wasn’t until I was thirteen when I was taken in by a man named Theadore Kaine... yes the Headmaster. He brought me here to the university he had funded and built himself where I met his daughter, Sabrina and began studying to become a magi. To clear up any confusion, Magi are magic users who use their abilities to help those with weaker magic supplies, or no magic supplies at all. They’re not quite cops, but they help officers do their job often. Think of magi as civilian vigilanties that the cops don’t hate! Anyway this university has a reputation for putting out the most successful magi. Steven Jobs went here a long while back, his electricity magic is something else. One more fun fact about me, I’m sort of a huge magic nerd. Surprising right? But, yeah studying magic has sort of been my life since thirteen so I know aaaall about it. Trust me. By the time Stevenson had let class out and I had exited the building, where the class was held, it was only about one or two in the afternoon. The sun trickled light down through the Brown and orange leaves on the trees that lined the path leading away from the building. I followed it slowly smiling to myself. All things considered, life was good. It wasn’t too hot or too cold it was that spot in fall where it’s the perfect temperature, cold enough to have a jacket if you felt like one but ya didn’t really need one, leaves were all over the ground so you could step on em’ and they’d make that really satisfying crunching noise, and the smell in the air was that earthy, leafy smell with just a tiny hint of apple. The walk to my dorm was a quick one, since I lived in the center of the university which was only a ten or so minute walk from most places I went. I opened the thick wooden door that led into my building and headed up the stairs. About three floors up was my room. I opened it slowly and strode toward my bed, plopping myself face down onto it. There were two beds in the room, one on either side of the room, in between them was a joint night stand. My bed was on the left when you walked through the door. Immediately to the right when you entered the room was the bathroom. Suddenly the door to the bathroom opened. 

“How do I look?” Sabrina asked. Yes my roommate... Is Sabrina Kaine. I flipped over onto my back and looked at her. She was in a white dress that came down to about mid thigh. She had a black leather jacket in her hand. Her hair was tied upright and straightened instead of her usual curly brunette hair and she had obviously done her makeup. I sat up and moved to the end of the bed. 

“Where are you going?” I asked. 

“I have a date.” She said happily. I laughed. 

“No really where are ya goin’” I said again. She rolled her eyes and put a hand on her hip. 

“A date!” She said sternly. The door to our room opened quickly and Sabrina’s dad entered the room. “Daddy!” Sabrina called giving him a hug. Theadore Kaine was one hell of a man. He stood at around six foot eight, and had short, slicked back light brown hair. His skin was light, like Sabrina’s, but the man could probably bench like three hundred pounds. He wore multiple rings and keepsakes from his family and medals he’d won for the school.  I would put him at around fifty years or so. Oh come on none of you Know your parents real age. 

“Hey there Teddy!” I called.

“It’s Theadore.” He said in a deep booming voice. 

“Whatever ya say buddy. Watcha doin’ here?” I asked. 

“Well it had come to my attention that my little girl had a date tonight. I just wanted see her off.” He said placing a hand on her shoulder. He glanced down. “Is this what you’re wearing??” He asked, stepping back.

“Relax dad, I’ll cover up with the jacket.” Sabrina said displaying the leather jacket. 

“HEY!” I yelled standing up, snatching the jacket. “This is my jacket!” I yelled. She shrugged reaching for it. I pulled it closer to me.

"really??" she whined "just let me use the jacket!" Sabrina argued. "It looks really good with this!" 

"noooope this is a three hundred dollar leather jacket, it is for mens fashion, not an accessory to a girly ass dress." I said, crossing my arms. Sabrina rolled her eyes. 

"fine it's not that cold, I don't need that to walk a few feet." she said shrugging.

"woah, woah, you're walking?" Teddy asked. Sabrina nodded

"its just at that italian place right across the street." she said smiling.

"you hate Italian." I muttered.

"but he doesn't." Sabrina snapped. "alright I don't wanna be late." Sabrina said kissing Teddy on the cheek. she turned to me as she exited. "don't wait up." she smirked. Sabrina closed the door behind her. Teddy waited a second then turned to me. I spread my arms out 

"Teddyyy" I said smiling. 

"Its Theadore, and i want you to keep yourself up and wait for your sister." Teddy said turning to the door.

"wh- hey! Te- Theadore, she's a big girl, I don't think she needs her brother keeping tabs on her." I said standing up and moving toward Teddy. 

"you're right, she needs her father keeping tabs on her, and you're the best way I can do that. I am super busy tonight, so I need you to make sure she's ok." Teddy explained.

"The Hell do you think is gonna happen?" I asked.

"This boy... he doesn't have the best... track record with commitment." Teddy muttered.

"well it's not like she's askin' him to marry her, it's just a date." I returned. Teddy nodded.

"But a date... with the headmasters daughter, I don't expect you to feel the gravity of that, but a normal boy would, since he goes to this school and I will ruin him if he hurts my little girl-"

"oook crazy, time to go, yes I will keep an eye out for her." I said reaching past Teddy, opening the door, and nudging him outside. "good niiiight." I said closing and locking the door behind him. I turned back around and clapped my hands together, "alright" I muttered to myself "time to train". I walked over to the nightstand and opened the drawer on it, removing a chessboard. I placed it down and set the board up. I was about to use a technique Magi have used for centuries called, Holding, it involves using a spell and preforming a separate task, while keeping the spell going. This not only uses the small amounts of mana your body uses to preform tasks such as walking, and problem solving, but also the mana you're using to keep the spell active. By the end of the session your mana is practically depleted. its great. I smiled and rose my right hand. I took a deep breath and rotated my hand clockwise. A small portal appeared on the other side of the chess board.

"Ready Benny?" I asked, moving a pawn forward. The room was quiet then an arm extended from the portal. It was a skinny arm, colored dark brown with hints of red and dark orange scales. Benny was a demon. I could summon the use of his limbs using my Demons Hand ability. It was a fairly basic spell but it was pretty cool. we played a few rounds of chess until I started to feel the effects of holding. My eyelids grew a little heavy, my sight blurred slightly, and I had an insatiable hunger right now, but that was how holding worked. you exhaust yourself, to increase your base mana. "Alright Benny boy were all tied up, two to two... One more will settle it." I received a thumbs up from Benny. I took the first move. In about an hour and a half the game had finished. I fell backward, panting quickly. "dammit!" I roared, punching the floor. "how... how do you always win..." I grunted. Benny gave me another thumbs up. "yeah, yeah, shut up." I said twisting my hand counterclockwise, Benny retracted his arm and the portal closed. I calmed my breathing as sweat poured from my forehead. I was working the nerve to stand up as my phone chimed. I sat up quickly and grabbed it from the nightstand. i flipped it open. "christ... eight o' clock already?" I then glanced at the text i'd received. It was from Sabrina. It read can you come get me?. I took a deep breath and stood myself up. Guess the old man was right. Seems Sabrina's had date blown her off. I scoffed, that asshole. I grabbed my keys from the nightstand and headed out the door, down the steps, and out the thick wooden door, staggering the whole way to my car. This no mana thing was not gonna be ideal for driving. before i grabbed her I had to make a few stops. Teddy said he was busy tonight, odds are with some business pitch or meeting... out of his office. Stop number one. Stop two involved another much needed item. Food. I drove my car to the Headmasters building and walked to the door. I tried the door but the keypad beeped.

"son of a-" i laughed to myself and pressed the numbers 121299, Sabrina's birthday. The keypad beeped and turned green. "well. I always was the favorite child" I joked to myself under my breath. I opened the door and slid through the hallways quietly. I opened the door to the elevator and stepped in. I pressed the button for the top floor and the elevator jolted upward. It slowed, stopped, dinged, then opened. right into Teddy's office. I took a step forward and nearly collapsed. Good lord this was an awful time to be out of mana. I crept over to his desk and opened the bottom right drawer. I put my hand around the bottle of twenty three year old scotch he hides from everyone, I turned and moved over to the table across from his desk, grabbed an identical bottle and slid it into the drawer, shutting it. I turned and exited the room via elevator. when I made it to the ground floor I stepped carefully out of the doors. The last thing I wanted, was to drop this scotch. I returned to my car and made my way to the second stop. the Chinese place on campus was open til twelve in the morning and it was Sabrina's favorite place, for some reason. I took a deep breath, and exited my car. I opened the doors to the Chinese place and wobbled my way over to the counter. The woman examined me carefully. I put on a fake smile and put my left arm on the counter attempting to seem normal. 

"are you drunk?" she asked in a thick asian accent. I laughed almost too loudly, thankfully no customers were in here.

"n- uh- no of course not." I said happily. "I just... I just need All of the... Spicy chicken dinners you've got back there." i said reading the menu slowly. Sabrina went wild for this chicken it was good don't get me wrong, but she lost it for spicy foods. The woman nodded and started to type something on a screen. I reached my hand over and placed it on hers. "Sorry, I fear what you heard was give me a lot of spicy chicken dinners, But I said, and I truly mean this... ALL of the spicy chicken dinners you have." I said firmly. The woman nodded slowly and removed her hand from mine. She tapped a few more things then turned to me. 

"two hundred-seventy three dollars" she said slowly as a man brought five huge bags to the counter. I tossed a huge wad of cash on the counter, grabbed the bags and took off. I quickly tossed the food in the car and tore out of the parking lot. I drove for a little under five minutes before i reached the restaurant Sabrina was at. I hadn't realized it was raining so now i was probably gonna get hit. I pulled the car up to the curb where Sabrina stood, soaking wet. She narrowed her eyes at me.

"you look like shit." I said rolling the window down. 

"really?? thats how you're gonna great me?" she yelled. i rolled my eyes.

"youre right." I said. "wow sis you look beautiful with your running makeup, messy, wet hair, and soaking wet and torn up dress that I can totally see through." I said smiling "better?" Sabrina blushed and hurried into the car.

"asshole." she muttered. 

"well you're the idiot who wore a white dress on a rainy . night." I rolled my eyes. I gave her my leather jacket. she rose a brow at me. "you need it more than I do." I said. 

"do I smell-"

"an amazing big brother?" I said cutting her off. "that you do." I smiled driving the car forward.

"I hope not because you smell like a sweaty mess." Sabrina said narrowing her eyes. "I meant the food." she said smiling excitedly.

"your favorite." I said gesturing to the back. she rummaged around then pulled out the scotch. 

"Hey uh..." she said holding it up. I glanced over and gave her a smile. "where did you get this?" she asked. 

"Our good friend Teddy." I said happily. 

"you stole from dad??" Sabrina yelled, hitting me, nearly killing us.

"hey! hey! hey!" I yelled. "driving!" I pulled into our spot in the parking lot in front of our building. "now. were going inside, eating, drinking, and not telling your dad I stole his good scotch." I said opening the door. Sabrina followed me up to the room. we opened and closed the door. i put the food on the nightstand and the scotch next to it as i plopped onto my bed. 

"I need to change." Sabrina said tossing me my jacket, she moved into the bathroom. I inhaled deeply and yawned.

"so what happened?" I asked quietly.

"he stood me up, I guess." Sabrina called back.

"why?" i asked, reaching for the scotch. The door opened and Sabrina walked to her bed. she had dressed in a long, baggy t-shirt and dark green shorts. she put two paper cups down on the nightstand. I popped the scotch open and filled both cups.

"hell if I know." Sabrina said with a shrug. "not like he called or anything." she took a long drink from her cup. she I nodded slowly putting my empty cup on the nightstand.

"well... I'm sorry it went so shitty for you." I said slowly pouring a second cup, and grabbing a chinese container. Sabrina gabbed a container and started eating. 

"its fine." she laughed. "I don't like italian anyway." I smiled finishing my second cup. "I just... I just wonder why he didn't come, or even call." Sabrina muttered, pushing her chicken around the container. I took a deep breath. 

"Maybe... Maybe it's got something to do with your dad. I mean messing up with the headmasters daughter is academic suicide. Dude makes one false move, and then what? you're expelled or somethin'" I said between bites of chicken. I swallowed then pointed to her with my fork. "plus... Teddy's a scary guy. dudes built like a freight train and has like... an unhealthy obsession with keeping you safe." I laughed. Sabrina giggled at the joke and sighed. 

"I don't know if it's him though. I mean it could've very well been me. I'm not the coolest person in the world and I know I can be a bit of a goody goody bu-" 

"stop." I said raising my hand. "You’re fine how you are!” I argued. Sabrina laughed. 

“He didn’t think so.” Sabrina said laughing. I grabbed the bottle of scotch and drank straight from the bottle.

“Well, he’s an idiot.” I said coughing as I put the empty glass bottle on the nightstand. I flopped back onto my bed and yawned. “I’m... uh... a little tired.”

“And drunk?”

“And drunk.” I said closing my eyes slowly.

“Night.” Sabrina smiled, she flicked the lights off. 

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Sabrina

 As my eyes pried themselves open, the sun peeked through the curtains that were supposed to block the sun. I groaned and sat up on my bed. I didn’t have class until ten and it was... woah! Nine thirty. I rubbed my eyes and assessed the mess Luke had made last night. I sighed and stood up. Thankfully our floor was carpet, otherwise my feet would be freezing. It was surprisingly cold out today. I shivered and walked over to the closet and opened it. I stared at the clothes that were hanging by the hangers, then reached in and pulled some things out. I laid them out on the bed. 

"shut up, I'm trying to sleep." Luke muttered shifting in his bed. 

"morning sunshine." I joked, Luke groaned and wrapped a pillow around his head. 

"you're sooo loud... my head..." Luke groaned. "How much of that scotch did I drink last night..." he muttered. I picked up the empty glass bottle and examined. I turned it upside down.

"uuuuh all of it?" I laughed. 

"that explains it..." he groaned sitting up. His hair stood up in every direction, yeah it wasn't often neat, but today it was extra wild. 

"Lets go. were gonna be late." I said changing into jeans, and a long maroon sweater. 

"I think I'm gonna sk-"

"nope. Come on." I grabbed his arm and pulled him up. "If I'm going, you're going." I said. "Get up and change." I said helping him to his feet. "you reek man." I said coughing. He waved me away and walked into the bathroom, starting the shower. "make it quick its already...." I glanced at the clock in our room. "Nine thirty five." I sighed and sat down on the my bed. I grabbed my phone and flipping it open, looked for any messages I had, or hadn’t received. "Quiet night..." I muttered shutting the phone, no messages. In a few minutes Luke exited the shower. He walked over to his closet, pulling out khakis and a blue flannel. he put on a white undershirt, then the flannel. He glanced back at me. 

"no peeking." he said laughing. I rolled my eyes and looked away. When Luke was done he turned to me. 

"lets go." he said, grabbing his backpack. I stood up and followed him out of the room. When we exited the dorm building I immediately shivered the temperature had to be below freezing. Luke yawned and pressed a hand to his temple.

"Jesus, did i really drink that much?" Luke muttered. I nodded, smiling. 

"at one point you straight up just drank out of the bottle." I joked. Luke shook his head, as he opened the door to the building where our classroom was. He motioned for me to go in. It was a quiet day on campus. very few people were out and moving around outside, and the lobby to this building was barren. We made our way up the stairs to our right. When we reached the top we followed a long hallway then turned right into the open doorway, and into the classroom. Everyone was already in their seats. Luke took his seat behind me and dropped his head into his hands.

"long night?" Lauren asked smiling at him. 

"shut up... my head is killing me." Luke snapped to Lauren, rubbing his temples. 

"What happened to him?" Caleb asked.

"long story." I muttered. 

"hey... hey Harry!" Luke whisper yelled. Harry turned around to face him. "were probably doing a practical exam today where we fight someone else. fight me?" he asked. Harry's face stayed blank.

"Sounds good." he returned to Luke, turning back around. Harry was never really one for emotion. It was hard to even tell when he was trying to convey a feeling. I laughed and turned back to face the front. 

"hey." Caleb whispered to me. I turned to him. "what say you and I match up today?" he said winking. I took a deep breath. It was a tempting offer. Id love nothing more than to squash him into the ground, but I also hated any kind of interaction with the guy. 

"I think I'm already paired up with Lauren." I said loudly hoping Lauren would hear it. 

"Roger that." she called up to me. I  breathed a sigh of relief.

"Guess I'll take him." A girl in the back said, we all turned backward quickly. “who the hell are you!?" Luke yelled nearly falling out of his chair. She was sitting to his left, I don't know how he didn't see her before. She stood up slowly. she was dressed in a black shirt, with a red jacket on. she wore jeans and a red beanie. She walked to the front of the room and moved her red hair to the back of her head and took a deep breath.

"hello there." she said cheerfully. "My names April Warner." she said, "I'm a transfer student form California." The classroom silence was broken by Luke

"Well I'm the best Magi on campus s-" everyone shot Luke a glare.

"not even close, mutt." Caleb grunted. Luke stood up quickly. 

"oh you wanna test that theory now??" Luke called, a smoky ash formed around his wrists. Caleb stood up and pointed his left hand forward. a golden circle of light appeared around his forearm.

"Wait!" April yelled, rushing to Luke. she grabbed his hand and examined his wrist. "you use fire magic too??" she asked excitedly. Luke's eyes widened, then he got a smug look on his face. 

"yeah well, ya know its more of a variant of fire." Luke said. "my parents used dark and fire magic... so I..." Luke pointed his left hand to the side and twisted it clockwise, a small portal appeared. "awake yet Benny?" he called. a small, skinny demon hand exited the portal and waved. "... use Underworld magic." Luke said gesturing to his demon friend. April rushed over the the arm, and grabbed it. 

"whoaaah..." she muttered examining it. "... Ive never seen anything like this before..." She muttered. Luke pulled April backward. “Benny doesn't like being touched for too long..." He said. Benny gave a thumbs down. 

"you have a relationship with him??" April asked loudly. 

"Benny?" Luke asked. "we got a relationship?" Benny gave a thumbs up. "Awesome. Thanks buddy." Luke said twisting his wrist counter clockwise. Benny waved then returned his arm as the circle closed. 

"Alright sit down." Stevenson called entering the room. He turned to see Luke and April near Lukes desk. "Oh, I see you've all met the transfer. Excellent that saves a few minutes we can use to examine your abilities further." Stevenson said placing a briefcase on the his desk. "Ok I've signed us out some time in the gym, so let's get started immediately." He said gesturing to the door, we all filed out of the classroom and made a left, entering the stairwell that led to the basement, where the gym was. When we reached the bottom of the stairs, Mr. Stevenson typed a passcode into the keypad on the right of a metal door. It beeped and he opened the door. The gym was a huge arena with a floor covered in soft padding around the arena was seating. Mr. Stevenson turned to us and smiled. 

"so." he said clapping his hands. "who's going first." It was quiet for a moment then Caleb stepped forward. "alright Mister White, who will you be fighting?" Caleb turned to me and pointed. 

"Sabrina." he said smirking. I rolled my eyes and stepped forward.

"didn't know you were so eager to lose." I joked. Caleb laughed and stepped into the arena.

"alright class, go on, take a seat." Mr. Stevenson said gesturing to the stands. They all moved off to take a seat and I stepped into the arena, cracking my knuckles. When Caleb reached the other side he turned to face me. 

"ready?" he asked. I nodded.

"Ladies first." I teased gesturing to him. 

"very well." He muttered, he rose his hand in the air. A small golden light wrapped around his elbow, then moved up his arm, covering it in a golden shimmer. I narrowed my eyes as the circle completed its movement. Caleb winked at me then shot his arm downward, toward me. I rose a brow as silence fell over the stadium. I glanced around looking for the attack, then I saw dozens of golden twinkles. My eyes widened. Quickly I put my left hand on my hip, and slid it backward. As I slid it backward a pitch black katana formed at my hip. I gripped its handle with my right hand and bolted forward. Along with elements of magic there were different classes of magic as well. Conjuration, the creation of items using your magic, Distortion, which involves molding the world around you using your magic, Regeneration, healing or restoring items, Mysticism, which allows the user to copy magic used by other Magi, and Alchemy, which was more scientific and involves brewing potions with your magic. I had used Dark conjuration magic to create this sword. The Severance Blade, is a spell that had been passed down throughout my family. Its a katana made of negative energy, and if it contacts a magical spell, not A physical spell, it completely severs the mana supply, that’s making it. As I closed in a golden light flashed toward my face, I quickly dipped my head to the left, as a golden arrow flew passed my face, nicking my cheek. dozens of other golden arrows plummeted from the sky, toward me. I slid to the left avoiding two, slid beneath one as it came close to my head, I then quickly pushed against the floor, leaping over three arrows as they stuck into the ground beneath me. Another arrow arched toward my face. I gripped the handle of my blade. with my left thumb I pushed on the blade guard, and swiftly swiped the blade across my body, slicing the arrow in half. I brought the blade to my right side as I charged Caleb. As I reached him I sliced across my body at him. Caleb's eyes widened as he quickly shoved his left hand forward, it illuminated gold and a large metal shield appeared in front of him, blocking my blade. That was a physical, defensive spell, called Shield of Aegis It was great for blocking physical attacks but magical spells typically broke the shield. Caleb stumbled backward falling onto his back, the shield disappeared and I stepped forward. Caleb attempted to get up, but I quickly jabbed my katana forward, the point lightly tapped his throat. 

"woohooo!!" Luke yelled from the stands. "NO MERCYYY!" He yelled. 

"Quiet baker." Mr. Stevenson ordered. "allow the fight to proceed." I narrowed my eyes. Then I noticed Caleb's right hand turn slightly. my eyes widened and I quickly turned, swiping my blade. It hit against something metal, causing a high-pitched ring. I gulped as I examined the spell Caleb had created. It was a conjuration spell... but he hadn't conjured a weapon, he'd conjured a golden spartan warrior. Caleb stood up. 

"Hahaha!" he laughed loudly. "Check mate!" 

"aw thats bullshit Stevenson!" Luke called. "She's outnumbered!" Mr. Stevenson narrowed his eyes. 

"Have more faith in your sister..." He said. I nodded to myself. I sort of needed that right now, being outnumbered wasn't ideal, but I could manage. The Spartan had heavy golden armor covering his right shoulder and parts of his chest. A large golden helmet with a bright red plume rested on its head, its face was shaded by the mask. I narrowed my eyes examining it for weak points. 

“Kind of a cheap move...” I muttered to Caleb. “Ganging up on a girl like this...” I could practically hear him gritting his teeth. I smiled to myself as a large, black circle appeared beneath my feet. Caleb pointed quickly, and the spartan jabbed forward with its spear. As it reached me a cloud of smoke exploded from the circle, consuming the area Caleb, The spartan, and I were in. “Let’s see how you like it!” I called, the smoke faded away and a dozen... me’s stood surrounding them. The doppelgänger technique was a Dark Distortion spell that many dark magic users had tried to master. I obviously hadn’t yet, given that I could only manage around twelve at a time for only about a minute and a half. An experienced Doppelgänger spell would have multiple doubles that could sustain multiple hits of damage. I couldn’t give him time to attack, because my doubles would dissipate on impact. I took off toward the spartan, the others followed. The spartan rose its spear, readying to attack, but as it did all twelve of us swiped forward, cutting through the creature. It roared in agony, and exploded in a blinding light. I stood up slowly, sheathing the blade, my doubles disappeared. 

“Impressive...” Caleb muttered, panting.

“Tired?” I teased. I was probably more tired, the spells he’d used, except the spartan, required less constant mana and more small bursts. Both spells I had used have been eating my mana the whole fight. As novice Magi, our mana reserves hadn’t fully developed meaning we could only use small amounts of spells for a small amount of time before we exhausted ourselves. I only knew those two spells and I would venture to guess, the three Caleb showed me were his only spells. 

“The battle has ended.” Stevenson called. 

“Sir I can kee-“ Mr. Stevenson cut me off. 

“No need to exhaust yourselves, I’ve gathered the information I need.” He said. I turned to Caleb and nodded, acknowledging that he had at least posed a small challenge for me. We headed up to the stands. 

“Whooo I’m amped now! Let’s go Harry!” Luke called standing up. Harry stood up quietly. He rolled the sleeves of his hoodie up, and rearanged his red hat before taking to the field. Luke rushed down and leaped onto He field. 

“He’s gonna tire himself out before he can even fight.” Lauren giggled. I laughed and nodded. He’d always been so energetic but nothing  makes him more excited then watching someone else fight. 

“Can we start Stevenson??” Luke yelled, ashy smoke began pouring off of his body.

“Whenever you’re ready.” Mr. Stevenson said gesturing for them to begin.

“Alright Harry! Here I come!” Luke roared, he rose both hands and turned them clockwise. Two portals appeared on either side of Harry’s head. “Let him have it Benny!” Luke called. Benny’s fists extended from the portals throwing punch after punch. Harry effortlessly dodged each one, barely leaning back, but escaping every blow. He then took a deep breath and rose a fist. He opened his hand, then clenched it quickly. A metal coating expanded from his hand, turning his skin to a shiny metal. Harry used Metal magic, A combination of what I would assume to be Earth and Lightning. This spell was something new he’d developed on his own. I’d seen very few magic users apply the element onto their own body. I sat forward, intrigued. Benny threw out another punch, colliding with his metal target, there was a loud *clang* we all winced, as Benny shook his hand and retreated back through the portal, forcing it shut. 

“Oh come on now!” Luke yelled. “You’re gonna take a little damage, then just cower back into your portal?? Ya big baby.” He crossed his arms. Luke then turned his attention to Harry, who had begun walking slowly toward Luke. “Heyyyy buddy...” Luke smiled as Harry stood about two feet away from him. Harry cocked his fist back, and let it fly toward Luke’s face. Quickly Luke snapped. A portal opened and a chain shot out of it wrapping around Harry’s right wrist. Harry looked up and examined the chain. A second portal opened to Luke’s left. He reached in and grabbed the chain, pulling on it. This was a defensive ability Luke had learned a while back. Satans Shackles  Summoned chains from the underworld and allowed Luke to catch his enemies. Harry struggled against the chains. “Oh come on Harry you’re never gonna break fre-“ Luke was cut off by the metal of the chains groaning. The weight of Harry was pulling the chain links apart. “Holy shit man.” Luke muttered. Luke quickly put all his weight into the chain he was holding, leaned back, then released the chain, it fired back into his portal and popped out he other side whipping Harry in the back, he stumbled forward. Luke cocked his right arm back. He was about to use Satans Blow a physical attack that borrowed satans fist. Luke’s fist enlarged into a red, fiery demon hand, a shroud of smoke blasted out from behind his elbow as he drove the fist forward, contacting with Harry’s face.

“Pfft. Not like a physical attack would hurt him.” Caleb scoffed. “Did that buffoon not see his demon couldn’t damage him?” 

“Look!” Lauren squealed standing up and pointing. The metal that covered Harry’s face had melted away, his face was back to normal, but metal still covered his body. 

“The heat from the fist must’ve melted the metal as it contacted Harry.” April muttered. 

“Whoooo!” Luke yelled shaking his demon hand. “That stung a little.” He laughed. “Why not just cover back up big guy?” Luke asked gesturing to Harry’s face. Then he smirked. “Uh oooh... someone overestimated his mana controlll.” Luke teased. Harry gritted his teeth and threw a punch with his left hand, Luke’s demon hand, caught the punch. Luke twisted Harry’s wrist, Harry fell to a knee, writhing in pain as metal melted from his fist. 

“That’s quite enough Baker.” Mr. Stevenson called. Luke sighed, his hand returned to normal and he pulled Harry up. 

“You good?” Luke asked. Harry nodded before returning to his seat. Luke looked up in the stands and made eye contact with Caleb. “Still want some of this, glow stick!?” He called extending his arms outward. 

“How does he still have so much energy??” Lauren asked. 

“Luke’s great at mana control for some reason.” I answered shrugging. 

“He’s incredible.” April marveled. 

“Weeeeell.” I muttered as Luke made his way to the stands. 

“Stevenson, next time I’m fighting you.” Luke said stretching. 

“If we did that I would kill you.” Mr. Stevenson muttered jotting something down on a clip board. 

“Aaaalright.” Luke said sitting down on my right. 

“And lastly.” Mr. Stevenson called. April shot up quickly. 

“Let’s do this!” She called excitedly. 

“Yeah come on!” Lauren called from her spot down on the field. April looked down at where Lauren had been sitting, confused. 

“She uses lightning magic.” I said smiling. “Good luuuck.” April smiled and made her way down to the field. 

“Ok girls.” Mr. Stevenson said. “Whenever you’re ready.” Lauren smirked, her heels crackled with electricity, and she bolted forward. April rose a hand. It burst into flames, and she slammed it to the ground. A large circle of fire wrapped around April. Lauren came to a screeching halt just outside the flames. Slowly, the circle expanded outward. Lauren’s eyes widened as she stepped backward. The fire continued outward. 

“Alright then...” Lauren muttered. She glanced around and turned to her right. Electricity bursted from her feet as she took off toward the wall. Suddenly she changed direction, upward. She ran her way up the wall, and kicked off the wall. She flew over the wall of fire as it expanded to the edge of the arena. April looked up and smiled. She snapped, and a flame appeared at the tip of her pointer finger. She turned her hand into a finger gun and pointed upward. She pushed her thumb forward and a flame fired from finger. Lauren winced as the flame clipped the side of her arm. She grunted and hurdled toward the ground. She fell at April’s feet. April put her right foot on Lauren’s back and pointed the finger gun toward her.

“Game over.” April whispered. 

“Very good ladies.” Mr. Stevenson said as he jotted down the results and Lauren and April made their way back to us. “Alright. Thank you all for your time.” Mr. Stevenson started. “I know we do this from time to time just for fun, but this time it was a bit more serious.” I rose a brow. “In a few weeks you all will participate in your ‘graduation cermonial battle’ as it were.” Mr. Stevenson explained. 

“What does that mean?” I asked. 

“It means that other schools who are also going through graduation at the same time will be facing off against each of you, the winner will be awarded a Magi certification. This training excersize was meant for me to gauge your abilities so I can tailor future training accordingly.” I nodded, understanding. “I know you all celebrate after training days, so I apologize for setting a heavy tone, but it’s more important that you know.” Luke put a hand on Mr. Stevenson’s shoulder. 

“No worries Stevenson, were your students so it’s impossible for us to lose in this...”

“Graduation ceremony?” I finished. 

“Yeah that.” Luke said pointing to me. Mr. Stevenson laughed. 

“I hope that to be true, but you six aren’t the only powerful student Magi. Other schools have top students as well, some with magic you’ve never seen.” Mr. Stevenson said quietly. 

“We’ll do fine.” Harry said crossing his arms. Mr. Stevenson nodded.

“I hope so. Let’s return to class.” Mr. Stevenson turned to the door, and led us out. I was quiet on the walk back, I was still feeling the effects of my battle. I yawned. 

“Hey!” April called catching up to me. I turned to her. 

“Hey.” I responded. 

“Soooo Luke...” she muttered. “You guys live together?”

“Well. Yeah but it’s not like... it’s no- we’re siblings.” I finally said. April laughed. 

“You guys don’t look or act very similar.” I laughed nervously.

“Well... were not related by blood.” I started. “His parents died when he was ten  so my dad took him in. He’s lived with us here ever since.” I explained. 

“And your dad... he’s the headmaster correct?” April asked. I nodded. 

“Why don’t you come to the party tonight?” I said. “It would probably do ya some good to socialize with the rest of the class instead of just me and Luke.” I said. 

“Party?” She asked.

“Well, as Mr. Stevenson said after practical exams, like this one everyone comes over to me and Luke’s dorm and we celebrate, it’s just a little tradition we have.” I explained. April smiled. 

“Sure, sounds like fun.” She said. 

“Alright, six o’clock.” I said pointing to her. April nodded as we entered the classroom, and grabbed our things. 

“Ok class. Have a good weekend and I’ll see you on Monday.” Mr. Stevenson waves to us as he exited the room. 

“Let’s go.” I said walking over to Luke’s desk. 

“Woah someone’s in a rush.” He joked. “What’s up with you.” 

“We still have to clean up from last night. And we should probably dissinfect your side of the room first too...” I said smiling. Luke rolled his eyes and stood up. 

“See you guys ‘round six.” He announced waving. We exited the room and made our way downstairs then outside. 

“The transfer seem a little off to you?” I asked. Luke turned to me and rose a brow. 

“What? No she seemed nice.” He said. 

“That’s just because she has a weird obsession with your magic.” I returned.

“It’s not weird, my Magic’s awesome.”

“Wow.”

“You think it’s not?” 

“I mean, it’s ok.” I said shrugging. Luke narrowed his eyes at me. “I don’t know she just seems off.” I said. 

“You’re just jealous of how she used her magic.” Luke teased. “I mean she played Lauren like a fiddle.” 

“It wasn’t that impressive.” I rolled my eyes. Luke rose a brow. 

“Plus she might take your place for hottest girl in our class.” Luke joked. 

“Aw you think I’m hot, I’m flattered!” I returned, punching his arm. Luke opened the door and we walked into the dorm building. We made our way up the stairs and into our room. 

“Wow this place really is a shit show.” Luke muttered. Empty Chinese containers littered the floor. I breathed in and coughed. 

“This whole place smells like someone dumped scotch into a Chinese restaurants dumpster...” I gagged. Luke laughed starting to pick some of the garbage up. “... and Harry.” I said quietly. Luke turned to me. “... it seemed like you went a little far today...” I muttered. 

“What do you mean??”

“You almost broke his hand Luke!” I yelled. He rolled his eyes at me. 

“We were fighting I wanted to win!” He argued.

“Luke he’s like your best friend!”

“Which is why I can’t let him slack off on training Sabrina!”

“Oh come on you know how you get when you fight.”

“What’s that supposed to mean??”

“You’re not always in control!!” I yelled. Luke stopped and stared at me. Our dorm fell silent. “Luke I’m-“ Luke rose his hand, cutting me off.

“Let’s just clean. We’ve only got a few hours...” Luke said turning away from me. I took a deep breath. Luke was a good guy, he really was But whenever he fought he often forgot where the line was. I’d seen it before when we trained, and a few times Mr. Stevenson had to step in. I don’t think Luke had murderous tendencies he just jumped into everything a hundred percent, often without thinking. I felt bad for bringing something like that up now this close to graduation, and on the day where we’re supposed to be celebrating... but he needed to hear it. 

“All done over here.” Luke said sitting back on his bed. What?? He was done already? I wasn’t even done and my side was far less messy. I turned to him, putting a hand on my hip. 

“You can’t just throw Benny all your trash.” I said. 

“Why not?? He loves left over food garbage!” Luke argued. “He eats the paper and everything.” I cocked my head. 

“Does he really eat garbage.” I asked, Luke nodded. 

“He’s like a goat and it’s amazing.” Luke said crossing his arms. I laughed, at least He got over criticism easily. I turned around and finished cleaning my side of the room. As Luke moved to the kitchen. It was a small section to the left of the room, it only had a tiny stove top, microwave, and refrigerator. “What should I make for tonight?” Luke asked. I turned to him. Yes, Luke cooked most of our meals, I’ve tried to cook in the past but I am definitely not a chef. “If you say anything Chinese I will throw up.” He said clutching his stomach. I laughed and shook my head. 

“We don’t need anything big.” I said. 

“Alright I’m goin with pizzas.” Luke said reaching for the flour. 

“Kay’ that’s the opposite of what I said.” I said sarcastically. 

“Exactly.” Luke teased, winking at me. I rolled my eyes. 

“Don’t make them too big.” I huffed...

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Harry

 Hey there. Names Harry. I’m sure you’ve already heard about most of my features, but I’m also positive Luke did a terrible job explaining me. So let me recap. My name is Harry Simmons, I’m about six foot five, and very athletic, not in a the body builder, weight lifter way, I’ve got more of a runners build, tall and lanky. I have short brown hair, and dark brown eyes. Since I was little I’ve been able to use metal magic a variant of earth magic, fused with electricity. My father is an earth user, my mother, you guessed it, electricity. I play pitcher for Kaine Unicersity’s baseball team more importantly though, my family is one of the only rich families with a variant child. I’m not a pure magi like Caleb or Sabrina, both of their parents used the same type of magic, so they ended up with amplified dark and light magic abilities. Variants are the offspring of two magi who commanded different magic elements. Variants abilities are more diverse, but often fall short of a pure magi’s abilities, power wise. My father built a company called CleanPower Inc, a company that creates generators using “clean power” at least that’s how they advertise it, but the machines they use to make the generators cause way more issues than just using a regular generator would. I don’t live on campus, I live about twenty minutes away in fact in my father’s mansion. I sat alone in the back of a limousine, driven by one of my dads paid cheufers. I glanced out the window of the vehicle watching Kaine University fly by. I wanted nothing more than to live there with the others than this god forsaken mansion. The ride was dead silent, like always until we reached the mansion. The house had five stories, the outside of the house was made of brick and the bush and trees that were on the front lawn were all groomed to perfection. The limousine parked outside the door on the circular driveway that was in front of mansion. I quickly opened the door, beating the cheufer to it. I quickly ran up the steps to the double doors and opened them slowly. 

“Good evening Master Harry.” A maid said bowing to me as I entered. 

“Come on, Cynthia it’s just Harry.” I said patting her shoulder as I stepped passed her. The main foyer was a very large circular room with stairs going up on either side of the room. A large golden chandelier hung from the ceiling. I inhaled deeply and stepped forward, my tennis shoes  squeaked on the marble floor as I moved to the stairs. When I reached about halfway up the doors opened again. 

“Good afternoon Master Lance.” Cynthia said giving a bow. I turned my head to see my father walk to the center of the foyer and glance up at me. 

“Home early?” He asked.

“No this is normal time for me...” I said rubbing the back of my neck.

“Ah, well go get yourself settled in, your mother is making lunch.” Lance said. I nodded and hurried up to my room. I threw my bag into the corner of my room, and flopped onto my bed. I stared up at the ceiling and yawned. My room was way larger than it needed to be. I had a king sized bed in the right hand corner, two large dressers on the left side of my room and a 72” flatscreen tv on the wall across from my bed. I sat up and flipped it on as I took my shoes off. The news turned on and a man began speaking. 

“It’s been years since we had a breakthrough but we think we’re onto something.” A man in a white lab coat explained. “We haven’t been  able to breach the areas protected by the teleporting magic in the past we’ve just been teleported to the other side of what we suspect to be the tree.” He said. “Up until now.” He finished. I rose a brow and looked up. The camera cut to alive footage of a crew aboard a ship. They stood on the deck as a sea breeze wafted past them. “The man you’re seeing in the middle is our best hope at unlocking the oaks mysteries.” The scientist said over the live footage. I turned my attention to the man in the middle. He was a tall man, probably around six foot seven. He seemed pretty atbletic. He was in a  long, white trench coat that flowed down to his calves. His medium lengthed black hair stayed hidden by a black fedora type hat. I couldn’t quite get a look at his face. Before I heard someone call from downstairs. 

“Master Harry. Your father wants you for lunch.” Cynthia called. I rolled my eyes, and clicked my tv off. I stood up, stretched and opened the door to my room. I took a left out of my room, and hurried down the stairs. From the foyer I walked through the doors that sat beneath the second floor and between the staircases. Through the doorway was the kitchen. Multiple large refrigerators and freezers stood to the right side along with large ovens and a stove top. To the left was the table. This table was short when we ate just us the table sat about six people, when we extended it for company it could seat double that amount. Lance sat at the head of the table, and my mother sat across from me. My mother had a pretty quiet personality she wouldn’t usually speak her mind which could be a good thing, but it was mostly a bad thing. She was only about five foot eight and had long dirty blond hair. She didn’t go out much except to buy groceries and occasionally dinner with friends or double dates with Lance. 

“So.” My father muttered between bites of his chicken. “How are your studies?” That’s all my father ever talked about ‘be a scientist like your old man’ or ‘be a business man and get rich like I did’ 

“Good.” I said quietly. Lance swallowed his bite of food and waited for more, when he realized I was finished he took another bite. 

“And baseball?” He asked. 

“First in the state.” I muttered, pushing my food around the plate. 

“Excellent.” Lance said. He pointed his fork toward me “ya know” he swallowed, “I remember my college years! Always practicing for the football team, I was the starting quarter back ya know” of course we knew you told this story twenty four seven. “And one night, before our big game me and the team got so plastered-“

“You all woke up with headaches, naked in the girls locker room.” I finished. “Yes I know.” Lance nodded and glanced down at his plate. 

“Good meal Lynn.” He said to my mother.

“Thank you!” She said cheerfully. “Harry, sweetie, you’re not touching yours.” She said. 

“What’s the matter ya don’t like it?” Lance asked. I looked up at him, then turned to my mom. 

“It’s excellent, I’m just going out in a little bit and I’m not sure of they’ll have food there.” I said. 

“Well that’s ok!” My mom said standing up and walking over to a pantry. She opened it and grabbed a plastic container, and set it by me “whatever you don’t want you can put in here and if they don’t have food you can just eat when you get home.” My mother said. 

“Oh don’t coddle the boy!” Lance yelled. “If he’s not hungry don’t feed him. If he doesn’t want your food he doesn’t get it.” 

“It’s not that-“ I started

“You’re probably going to hang out with that filthy mutt again.” Lance said rolling his eyes. The room was silent. I stood up quietly and moved out of the kitchen, not breaking eye contact with Lance. As I exited the kitchen I turned left, entering another doorway which Led to a laundry room, I opened the door on the other side of that and entered Lances garage. He had dozens of expensive cars lined up but at the far right end of the garage was his prized possesion, his 1300cc Hayabusa. A motorcycle made by Suzuki. It was a fire engine red color with white detailing on it. The tire rims were a dark red. I walked over to it. He always leaves the keys in the ignition for whatever reason so taking this would be simple. I got on, put on the black helmet that sat on it, and pressed a button on the key that opened the garage doors. I turned on the bike and revved it’s engine. Before taking off I flipped my phone open. I scrolled to Luke’s name and texted him to meet me at the batting cages on campus. I flipped the phone shit, rose the kickstand and twisted the throttle, speeding out of the garage...


I pulled up to the gates of Kaine University at around four in the afternoon, two hours before I was supposed to be at Luke’s. The guard peeked his head out of the kiosk he was manning and rose a brow.  I cocked my head. Oh right! I took the helmet off, revealing my face, and holding up my school ID. He waved me through. I put the helmet on and drove onto campus. The batting cages were about five minutes into campus on the right. I rode for a little while amazed at how great riding a motorcycle was, I’d stolen his bikes and vehicles before but it was surprisingly easy to pick up a new bike. The only problem was I had been in too much of a rush to remember a jacket, the air was cutting through my bicep and forearm. The short sleeve t-shirt wasn’t cuttin it for me. I arrived at the cages at about 4:06 and stepped off the bike. Luke was sitting on one of the benches just outside one of the cages. 

“Whaaaat!” He called rushing over to me. “Did you steal your dad’s bike??” He yelled. I nodded. “Why??” He yelled. 

“He pissed me off.” I said flatly, walking over to the cage. I grabbed a bat off the wall to the right of the cage and entered the settings for the baseballs. I clicked ‘enter’ then stepped inside the cage. 

“So what happened this time?” Luke asked leaning up against the cage. I was quiet for a moment. 

“Uh- Nothing.” I said, a ball fired out of the chute. I cocked the bat back and swung it, the ball cracked against the wooden bat and flew passed the chute. 

“Seventy- two” Luke said. Referring to the speed at which I had hit the ball. I cracked my neck. “Is he still. Ya know...” Luke started. 

“Yeah. He’s still taking them.” I returned. A while back Lance had surgery done to his back. He got opioids for the pain and... he never put em’ down. Another ball fired toward me. I wound up the bat and released it smashing the ball passed where the other had landed. 

“Eighty- three” Luke said. “How’s your mom?” 

“She’s ok... I guess.” I responded. 

“Does she know?”

“Probably not.” *crack*

“Eighty-four”

“You know what he called you before I came.”

“Me?”

“A mutt.” *crack*

“Eighty.... well maybe he’s wound up from work?”

“Doubtful, but I’m a variant too...” *crack*

“Ninety... so it was like he was calling you one too...” 

“It’s whatever, it’s nothing new.” I muttered. Another ball fired toward me. I inhaled deeply and swung the bat with everything I had grunting loudly. The bat collided with the ball and snapped in half. Wood chips scattered across the floor and the top of the bat fell to the floor. I breathed heavily turning to Luke, who’s eyes were wider than a dinner plate. I dropped the bottom half of the bag and exited the cage. “I can’t stand it anymore.” I said sitting next to Luke. “I- I thought I could just power through the pain and keep living as the only variant disaster in my family, and take his shit... but I can’t.” Luke put his hand on my shoulder. 

“Being a variants not so bad. We’ve got badass abilities! No one else I know can turn themselves metal, no one else I know can summon a demon. You gotta stop thinking like you’ve got a disadvantage in life! It’s that kind of thinking that makes you act like you do.” Luke said. “Embrace the cards you’ve been dealt, and use them!” There was a long pause then Luke clapped his hands together. “Alright. We should go to the dorm, no point in you goin home, just to come back on that sweet ass bike. Plus I’m certain at this point Sabrina’s finished cleaning her side of our room off and she’s gonna try to tamper with the food I’ve got baking.” He muttered. “And you do NOT want that.” We both laughed and got on my bike. The ride to Luke’s dorm was a short two minutes. We got off the bike and headed into the building through a thick wooden door. We walked up the steps to about the third floor then walked through a hallway until Luke opened the door. 

“Wow this place is emaculate.” I muttered. Luke smiled and nodded. 

“Welcome back to casè de Lucas!” He said spreading his arms. Sabrina stepped out of the bathroom with a spray bottle of chemicals. *ahem* she grunted. “And I guess Sabrina too.” Luke shrugged. “Always gotta ruin my fun.” He groaned, walking into the kitchen. “I do most of the cooking, and... lounging, ya know the fun, cool stuff, and Sabrina does most of the boring cleaning and... what studying?” I turned to Sabrina, we both laughed. 

“And somehow he gets higher grades than me.” Sabrina muttered smiling to me and moving back into the bathroom. 

“Come on in here.” Luke called to me. I stepped into the kitchen where my jaw just about dropped. He had about five pizza dough circles spread out around the kitchen and bowls of toppings “what do ya think!” Luke said gesturing to the pizza dough. 

“You made all this?” I muttered. 

“Didn’t know ol’ Lucas had a back for baking, huh?” He said triumphantly slinging a kitchen rag over his shoulder. “Anyway, were all makin pizzas tonigh!” He said. Sabrina entered the room and rose a brow.

“Hey genius there’s only five dough circles.” Sabrina muttered.

“Hey genius” Luke started, mocking Sabrina “there’s only five students... aaaand the transfer...” He impression died down.

“Aaaaand the transfer.” Sabrina said nodding. 

“That’s ok! That’s ok.... we’ll uh... she can share mine!” I said shrugging. 

“You’re gonna let someone else touch your food??” I asked loudly. Luke turned to me and laughed. 

“W-well... she doesn’t have to make a pizza...” He muttered. 

“So you’re gonna make the poor girl starve while we all eat pizza?” Sabrina asked raising a brow. 

“Dammit! you’re right...” Luke whined. Sabrina moved to her bed and sat down on it, she opened and glanced at her phone. 

“Lauren said she’s picking up Caleb and April on the way.” She said looking up. 

“Ugh... does Caleb have to come??” Luke complained. 

“Unfortunately.” Sabrina returned. I glanced around and noticed their tv sitting on top of one of the counters. I walked over and flipped it on. 

“Oh yeah, you can change that.” Luke said. “I was watching the news earlier but if you wanted to watch something else that’s fine.”

“No no.” I said. “I saw it earlier too! The guy who can get scientists past the teleportation barrier!” I called. 

“Yeah!!” Luke said turning his attention your he tv. “The dude looks serious.” Luke said. 

“What are you dorks talking about?” Sabrina asked moving into the kitchen. 

“This guy can apparently get scientists past the teleportation field!” Luke called. 

“Ew, he looks creepy.” She muttered. 

“He looks awesome!” Luke called. I laughed. 

“What do you think his magic is?” I asked. Luke our his hand to his chin. 

“I don’t know of any magic that can break a barrier like that... probably a variant.” Luke said. 

“Hey! Dummy!” Sabrina said flicking Luke’s forehead. “Dark magic can usually negate some sort of magic.” Sabrina said. 

“Oh... right.” Luke muttered. “Well... that didn’t get us anywhere. Maybe he’s a pure Magi who uses dark...” 

“You think we know him?” I asked. 

“Pfft yeah right.” Luke responsed. “I don’t think anyone I know is this badass.” Luke said. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Luke rose a brow and walked to the door. He opened it. “Oh, hey.” He said “you guys are early...” Luke looked at his watch. “Like REALLY early.” Lauren, April, and Caleb walked in. 

“Well we would have been a bit later but I left a little earlier to get them and pick these up.” Lauren said displaying three cases of beer. 

“Appreciate it.” Sabrina said stepping out intro the main room, she waved the others in. 

“Whatcha watchin’” Lauren asked moving up to see the TV 

“Remember when Mr. Stevenson was talking about the tree and how we can’t get to it. Apparently this guy can.” I explained gesturing to the tv. 

“Pffft no way.” Caleb said. “The Magi that guard the tree are like a thousand years old I’m sure their magic is more powerful then a guy in a fedora.

“Alright, takin’ bets!” Luke called slamming a five dollar bill on the table. “Five bucks sayin’ he can break the barrier.

“Five he can.” Sabrina said. 

“Ditto.” I spoke up. 

“Well...” Caleb said. “TEN says he can’t.” He crosses his arms. 

“Eh... five says he can’t.” Lauren said. 

“Five he can’t.” April said. We all turned to the tv. 

“The barrier is measured to be right in front of the boat at this location.” A newscaster spoke over the video of the crew reaching an empty area on the ocean. The man stepped out to the bow of the boat. He stood on the edge and rose a hand. 

“Lazy fooooorm.” Caleb mumbled sing songingly. The man formed a fist and cocked his arm back.

“Woah... wait, wait, wait...” I muttered.

“Holy Shit He’s gonna punch it!!” Luke called looking at me excitedly. His arm illuminated an orange color. Suddenly a wind whipped up, flapping his trench coat around wildly, the Sea became choppy. The crew on board gripped the railings tightly. The man smirked then a loud explosion fired off from behind his elbow, His arm exploded forward like a piston, it contacted something then recoiled backward. There was silence. 

“Ha! See.” Caleb said. “Pay u-“ suddenly a crack formed in front of the man. Orange cracks continued to form around the initial crack, outlining some sort of invisible dome. Then there was a deffening explosion blaring through the tv my eyes widened as the power shut off, along with the tv. The room grew dead silent, no one could see each other. 

“Soooo who won?” Luke whispered....


“Ok, ok, ok” Sabrina muttered pacing around. 

“Hey Sabrina calm it down a little.” Luke muttered putting his left hand on her shoulder. Benny’s arm poked out next to him, holding a flame, to light up the room. 

“Ok, so let’s think rationally here...” Lauren muttered. 

“Holy shit were all gonna die!” Caleb yelled. 

“Yup, that’s the opposite of what I said!” Lauren yelled in protest, smacking Caleb in the back of his head. “Was his spell THAT powerful??” Lauren asked. 

“Well let’s see...” Luke muttered. “What could have caused the power outage...” 

“Can a shockwave from a spell do that?” Lauren asked. 

“I-it’s possible...” Luke responded scratching his chin. “... but not likely I recognize that spell and even a spell as insane as that... the magical energy only travels a max distance of around a thousand miles, and that’s being generous. Near South America, where the newscaster said they were along the Atlantic... that’s anywhere from 3000 to 5000 miles away from us...” Luke said quietly. 

“So what?” Sabrina asked. 

“So this was a set up...” I said quietly. Luke nodded and smirked at me.

“Someone was watching this and thought to disguise the power outage as a shockwave from that rare spell...” Luke explained 

“So he or she thought people wouldn’t know the ins and outs of it...” I said. 

“Exactly.” Luke responded, snapping. 

“What’s going on here.” Sabrina muttered. 

“Quiet little sis, the adults are talking.” Luke teased, turning to me. 

“Harry, the generators how long until they’re supplying power?” Luke asked. 

“Uhhh it depends... I think the school has water powered generators, so if someone turned them on as soon as the power went out, like... eleven minutes until they bring the power on.” I said. 

“Excellent.” Luke said. “Let’s assume whoever did this accounted for that. They’re after something that they think they can get within five minutes.” Luke said.

“Well any important documents are in the headmasters building, but that’s ten minutes in from the outside, coming from any direction, not enough time to get in and out...” Sabrina said I nodded. 

“Maybe what this person needs is in the headmasters building but he just needs to get in...” Lauren muttered. 

“But then how would they get out without being noticed??” Caleb asked. 

“Holy Shit.” Luke muttered. “It might be a student! They know about everything in the school! They know what time your dad’s out of his office, five o’clock, they know how long the generators are active for, and they know the layout of the campus.”

“We should hurry to dad’s place.” Sabrina said, Luke nodded and we all exited the dorm room and made a break for the headmasters building. When we arrived at the door we stopped. 

“When we open this... it becomes real...” Luke muttered. “... whoever’s In There is going to probably fight back, and if that’s the case we’re all gonna need to be ready.” He said. 

“Yeah yeah open the door!” Caleb said grabbing the handle and rushing inside. Luke shook his head. 

“Ok then.... let’s catch ourselves a criminal”


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