The fact that a fight broke out in the café hardly registered with her. Anastasia was much more focused on the fact that she had climbed into a limo with someone she just met, and was currently headed to a completely unknown location. However, the thought that this might be a bad idea never crossed her mind.

Sadie sat next to her, her face dimly illuminated by the light coming from the screen of her phone. With her sunglasses removed, her face’s beauty was on full display. People sometimes said that stars didn’t look as good in person, but Sadie was one of the exceptions.

Sadie had been typing something on her phone for some time now, without looking up and saying anything. Anastasia wondered if maybe she was messaging with someone about her.

She knew that being able to use magic was something special, no doubt. Her teacher had told her that it was something that most people couldn’t use, and she grew up knowing to keep her powers a secret.

What she didn’t know was that her being able to use it was special in of itself. She had never been told anything about bloodlines or families before either. She wasn’t sure what going to Sadie’s house was going to accomplish, but she wasn’t going to start complaining.

“Sorry,” Sadie said, her attention still focused on the light in front of her. “I’m required to update my Clock Link every half an hour or so. It’s part of my contract.”

“Oh, um, no, it’s fine,” Anastasia felt her face flush. “It… must be tough being famous.”

Sadie glanced up, her eyebrow raised. “You have me there,” She burst out laughing. “I guess I really don’t have any room to complain, huh?”

“I-I didn’t mean it that way!” Anastasia’s cheeks burned. She was really messing this up. “I really think it must be tough, you know. People are always looking at you… everyone expects a lot from you, I imagine.”

“I guess so, but it’s really not so bad,” Sadie said. “I manage to have my privacy when I want it.”

“So…” Anastasia held her camera case in her lap, hugging it close to her body. “Are we getting close to your house?”

“It’s not much farther,” Sadie said. “My brother will be really interested in meeting you. Oh, and I guess I’ll have to introduce you to my family too. That could get a little complicated.”

“Umm, complicated?”

“Hmm,” Sadie sat back, crossing her arms across her chest. “I can’t really just tell them that you’re an unregistered magician,” she wrinkled her brow.

“Huh?” Anastasia tilted her head. “Why not?”

“My parents are really by the books,” Sadie sighed. “They’d report you to the association right away… and then who knows what would happen to you.”

Anastasia’s grip on her camera case grew tighter. She really didn’t have any idea what association Sadie was talking about, but the tone in which she said it didn’t sound good. “Is it… really okay? That I come to your house, I mean,” She was happy that she had met Sadie Quasar, but she couldn’t help feeling a knot in her stomach about how things were proceeding.

“We’ll have to make up a story for you,” Sadie mumbled.

“I’m… not very good at lying.”

“Don’t worry, everything should go okay,” Sadie said. “…Probably.”

“Probably?” Anastasia asked.

“Anyway, just pretend that you’re from one of the families in New York,” she said. “The Harrow family, or the Wakefield’s are fine. They’re both huge. It won’t be strange that they’ve never heard of you before. Though I guess we need to think of some reason why you’d be all the way across the country… Do you go to school?”

“University,” Anastasia said.

“You can tell them you’re here in Portland for that then. It’s perfect,” Sadie closed her eyes nodded her head. “…Probably.”

Anastasia frowned. She had always wanted to know more about magic, but never really knew where to go or who to ask. When she did research online, everything was just nonsense written by delusional teenagers. She even tried joining a Wiccan group on Clock Link, but it was obvious early on that no one there actually knew how to use any magic.

She supposed that she would just have to do what Sadie wanted her to. After all, Sadie knew a lot more about the rules magicians had to follow than she did. She only hoped that the lie wouldn’t get out of hand.

The car came to a stop and Sadie opened her door, quickly hopping out of her seat into the rain. “Come on, hurry,” Sadie said waving her hand. “Get out before Walter tries to open the door for you. He hates that.”

Once again, Anastasia had no clue what was going on, but quickly removed her seatbelt to comply. She reached for the car door, but it swung open before she could put her hand on it.

Outside, a tall slender man in black stood holding an umbrella. “Miss Sadie, I would appreciate if you didn’t try and make my duties difficult for me,” his eyes were dark, and carried a heaviness in them. The eyes of someone that did not appreciate playing around. “And who might our guest be?”

Anastasia looked up, still glued to her seat. She tried to smile, but the man’s questioning gaze made her feel like he had seen through her fake persona before she could even introduce herself.

Sadie jumped into the limo from her open door and landed across Anastasia’s lap. If it wasn’t for her camera case’s strap, it would have it been flung out onto the ground.

“This is Anastasia Harrow,” Sadie looked up at the man with a grin. “From New York,” she flipped around that she was on her back, staring up. “Anastasia, this is Walter. The head butler with a stick up his…”

“Miss Sadie,” Walter said. “The master and madam have been waiting for your arrival. Why is it that you haven’t been answering your phone, may I ask?”

Although she wasn’t being addressed, the man’s tone caused Anastasia to sit up straight.

“I’ve been busy,” Sadie kicked her legs. “Were mommy and daddy worried about me?” She seemed to be making an over exaggerated effort to sound cute, and it obviously wasn’t working to soften the butler up.

“The master is quite upset,” Walter said. “And I do not think bringing an uninvited guest is going to make the situation any better.”

“Oh please,” Sadie said, climbing over Anastasia so that she stood face to face with Walter. “Daddy can’t stay mad at me and you know it.”

Walter stared back at her blankly. “Shall we go inside?”

“Let’s go, Ana,” Sadie said, smiling confidently.

Anastasia supposed shortening her name that way wasn’t particularly strange, but hearing Sadie say it caught her off guard, causing her to hesitate. There weren’t many that called her that. Specifically, it was the nickname her parents had used for her. When they passed away, Pietro started calling her that too.

“Do not worry, Miss Harrow,” Walter said. “I have called another butler to escort you.”

As if on cue, another man in black stepped up to the car door, umbrella ready. This one seemed about 10 years younger, and considerably friendlier, with a smile on his face. “Please, come with me,” he said, extending his hand to her.

She really didn’t need the help up, but she felt it would be rude to refuse. “Um, thank you,” She placed her hand in his, and stepped out of the limousine.

“Right this way,” he said, and moved to catch up with Sadie and Walter, who had already made it to the front door of the house.

Anastasia put her hand over her mouth to keep herself from gasping. She had been so concerned with Sadie that she hadn’t been paying attention to what was around her. It was dark, but she could see that the courtyard around her was gigantic, surrounded by well-kept hedges and a lush garden. In the center was a large fountain, which was surrounded by lights around its perimeter.

The house itself was huge, standing at least three stories. Likely, it alone cost in the millions of dollars. The whole estate must have cost an amount Anastasia couldn’t even begin to imagine. She knew Sadie was wealthy, but it was obvious that her family had money long before her rise to fame on Clock Link.

However, with the brisk pace of the man next to her, she didn’t have time to stand around and admire any of it. They walked through the doorway, and into the warmth of the mansion.

“I see you’ve finally made your way home,” a voice greeted them. In front of them was a woman in her forties, standing a distance from them at the bottom of a massive staircase. “I had the butlers out searching for you, you know,” she looked quite refined, and her soft features contrasted with the firm tone of her voice.

“Mommy!” Sadie yelled.

“And who have you brought with you?” The woman moved her eyes to Anastasia.

Anastasia felt a chill run down her spine. “I’m… Anastasia,” she said. “Um, Anastasia… Harrow.”

“From New York,” Sadie piped in. “She’s my friend.”

“F-Friend?” Anastasia whispered to herself.

“I see,” The woman smiled. “Well welcome to the Truesdale house, Miss Harrow. I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure. I’m Sadie’s mother, Isabella.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Anastasia said, trying to keep eye contact to avoid appearing suspicious. On the contrary, the effort she was putting into doing so was probably making her look even more out of place.

“I’m afraid that my daughter failed to mention that you would be visiting us today. I would have prepared something if I had known we were going to have company.”

“Oh, n-n-no,” Anastasia stammered. Not only was she being forced to lie, Sadie had turned her into a major inconvenience for everyone within fifty feet of her. “I’m so sorry… for coming over unannounced.”

“It’s quite alright,” Isabella said. “And what brings you here to Portland?”

“School,” Sadie said, moving from the entryway and over to the stairs.

“I-I’ve been at university here for four years now,” Anastasia said. “It’s been quite some time… since I’ve, um… been in New York.”

“Okay, okay, Ana and I are going upstairs now,” Sadie smiled, motioning at Anastasia with her hand.

“One moment,” the older butler spoke up. “I must collect Miss Harrow’s things.”

Anastasia looked down at her camera case slung over her chest. She supposed it made sense that a family like this wouldn’t want someone with a camera wandering around. She slipped it off along with her jacket and placed them into Walter’s hands.

“I will also need to take your cell phone.”

“Oh, of course,” she supposed that was essentially a camera too. Even worse, someone with a phone would be capable of outing their secrets immediately if they were to upload them online. She reached into her pocket, placing the phone in the hand of the younger man.

“Excuse us,” the two men bowed and made their way out of the entrance and to the left, disappearing behind a corner. With the head butler gone, Anastasia felt like she could breathe again.

“Alright, let’s go,” Sadie ran back to the entryway, grabbing Anastasia’s hand. If Anastasia could somehow prove that her hand had touched Sadie’s, she could probably sell it online for a lot of money. Wait, what was she thinking? Being in a place so luxurious was making her head spin.

As they moved to the staircase, her mother spoke again. “Your father should be out of his study soon.”

“Daddy can wait,” Sadie said. “First, I need to see Gregory. Oh, and my adorable little sister too, of course,” With that, she hurried up the stairs with Anastasia in tow.

Turning right at the top of the staircase, they started their way down a long hallway. The carpet was Persian with an intricate design, and the air was fragrant and warm. Anastasia assumed mansions would feel cold and empty, but this one was cozy and inviting. Even the hallways felt like a place she could curl up and fall asleep in.

“Good job back there,” Sadie laughed. “Your first introductions are the only thing you need to worry about. Oh, and make sure to avoid the topic of magic at all costs. No offense, but you won’t really be able to fake that.”

Anastasia didn’t need to be warned to know to be cautious. Although she could do a little, she really couldn’t explain how she did it. If her inexperience came out, the fact that she was from some big magician family in New York would start to seem more and more unlikely.

“What are you doing here?”

A girl with dark hair that extended just beyond her shoulders stood in front of them. She was petite, but was probably high school age. Both her facial expression and tone of voice carried hostility. Likely, she wasn’t even attempting to mask it.

“Celeste, it’s so good to see you,” Sadie threw her arms out, welcoming an embrace. “You sure are getting cute. Do you have a boyfriend now?”

The girl didn’t budge, crossing her arms and scowling. “Will you stop it already?”

Sadie let her arms fall to her sides, her smile fading a little. “This is my little sister, Celeste,” she said. “Celeste, this is my friend Anastasia.”

Celeste had already opened a door next to her. Without looking back and them, she walked inside and closed the door.

Sadie let out a sigh, and her energetic attitude seemed to leave her body along with her breath. Something must have happened between the two of them, but Anastasia felt that it wasn’t her place to ask.

Sadie took a deep breath and her energy returned to her. “Okay, moving along!” She grabbed Anastasia by the hand again, and they started back down the hallway. “My brother is a really interesting magician,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “If someone’s going to teach you about magic, you won’t find someone better than Gregory.”

“And it’s okay to tell him the truth about me?” Anastasia asked.

“Totally,” Sadie said. “He’s like me in that he doesn’t like to follow all of the association’s little rules.”

“I heard you mention it before,” Anastasia said. “But what exactly is… ‘the association’?”

“The Magic Association,” Sadie said. “Sorry, I keep forgetting that you really don’t know any of this stuff. We just called it ‘the association’ for short.”

“So… they just work to keep magic a secret then?”

“Well yeah, but they also work as a go-between magicians and the government,” Sadie said. “We have our own law system too and stuff.”

“Wait,” Anastasia stopped walking, causing Sadie to almost stumble. “You’re telling me the government knows about magic? Like, the United States Government, government!?”

“Uh, yeah,” Sadie laughed. “Of course they do. Don’t tell me you thought the government didn’t have secrets.”

“W-Well, I guess I was just surprised,” Anastasia blushed. “So how long has the… association been around?”

“Well they claim that it started sometime during the 1100s, but its current form didn’t really exist until after the Salem Witch Trials,” Sadie said, taking Anastasia by the hand again. 

"Salem, Oregon!?"

"Massachusetts, I think."

"Oh."

“Anyway, I’m just giving you the textbook version. Gregory is better at explaining all this junk. He’s been asked to explain magic stuff to CIA guys before," Sadie looked back and smiled. "Cool, huh?”

“C-Cool…”

They reached the end of the hallway, standing in front of a dark wooden door. Sadie moved like she was going to knock, but then grabbed the doorknob instead and flung it open.

“I’m hoooooome!”

A handsome blonde man in his late twenties turned in his chair to face them. He wore glasses, and was sitting at a desk that was piled with thick books and scattered notes. “Well, what do we have here?”

Sadie slammed the door behind them. “Gregory, you won’t believe what I found,” she said, pointing over at Anastasia, unable to contain her excitement.

Forget being an inconvenience, now she felt like Sadie had turned her into an exhibit at the zoo. “Hello,” she tried to sound friendly. “I’m Anastasia.”

“We lied and told mom and Walter that she’s a Harrow, but get this,” Sadie said, putting one hand next to her mouth like she was whispering. “She can use magic. And she says that she wasn’t born into a magician’s family.”

Gregory’s eyes slightly widened for a moment. “And I assume we’re not talking about Abnormals, are we?”

“Of course not,” Sadie crossed her arms. “Those weirdos don’t have anything to do with magic. Duh.”

“The government seems to think that they do,” Gregory smiled. “So I don’t like to rule anything out.”

“Abnormals?” Anastasia asked.

“I brought her here because I knew you would want to check her out,” Sadie said.

“I… I want you to teach me more about magic,” Anastasia said. She had been going with the flow up until this point. Now it was her time to assert herself.

The reason she followed Sadie to her house wasn’t just because she was famous, but because of her genuine interest in learning more about the powers she possessed. “I guess I’m something… special, but I really don’t think I’ll be able to be much help to you.”

“I apologize on behalf of my sister,” Gregory said. “It seems she’s gotten a little carried away and has forgotten how to properly treat a guest.”

Sadie looked over to Anastasia, back to Gregory, and then over to Anastasia again. “You’re right. I’m sorry, Ana. I’ve been pulling you all over without even thinking about how you must be feeling,” Sadie said. “I was just so excited after you used magic tonight… that I met a magician who wasn’t so caught up in rules and traditions. When I found out that you weren’t from a bloodline… I went a little overboard, I guess.”

Anastasia could feel her heart racing through her chest. “Oh, no, it’s okay! Please don’t feel bad,” she said. “To be honest, I think I went a little overboard too… Getting to meet someone famous and all.”

“Forget about all that,” Sadie said waving her hand in the air. “Just think of me as a friend. You’re over at my house, remember?”

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Anastasia smiled. It was going to be difficult accepting that a pop star was calling her a friend, but she made an effort not to get star struck again.

“Now why don’t you both take a seat,” Gregory motioned toward some chairs in the corner. “There’s a lot to talk about.”

The two of them moved the chairs to the center of the room and sat down. “Okay,” Sadie said. “I’m going to leave most of the explaining to you.” She removed her pea coat, hung it on the back of her chair, and pulled out her phone. “I gotta update my status before my manager gets on my case.”

“Anastasia, would you like some tea?” Gregory asked.

“Oh, if it isn’t too much trouble,” she said. Looking around the room, there didn’t seem to be anything to make tea in. She supposed he would probably call one of the butlers to bring it up to them. She only hoped it wouldn’t be the scary one.

“Wonderful,” he opened one of the drawers in the desk behind him, pulling out an oval shaped glass pot. Next, he reached into another drawer, pulling out a handful of tea leaves, which he then placed inside the container. “Just one moment.”

He got up, moving to the end of the long desk, and moved a large stack of papers to the floor, unearthing a small sink. He turned on the faucet, filling the glass oval with water.

“For a second there, I almost thought you were going to make the tea with magic,” Anastasia laughed.

He looked over at her with a smile and snapped his fingers. “I am.”

Anastasia jumped back, almost falling out of her chair. “W-What is that?”

A blue lizard the size of a small dog floated above Gregory’s hand. Its wings didn’t seem big enough for its body, and it was flapping them frantically to keep itself in the air. “This is Lem,” he said. “My familiar.”

“Lem!” Sadie suddenly cried out. “Come here you cutie!”

The creature flew through the air much faster than Anastasia expected, and it landed on Sadie’s lap.

“I missed you, yes I did!” Sadie said petting it wildly. It responded with high pitched squeals, like a guinea pig, and seemed to be enjoying the attention.

“Is that a dragon!?” Anastasia blurted out.

“He sure is,” Sadie said. “And he’s a sweetie, too!” She moved her hand up to its head, scratching it. “Don’t be too surprised. You know, all of the butlers in this house are familiars too.”

Anastasia sat dumbfounded.

“Now, before I begin I would like to ask for you to tell me a little about yourself,” Gregory motioned with his hand, causing Lem to perk up and take flight. He landed on the desk, sniffing around the pot that contained the tea leaves.

“I… don’t mind,” Anastasia said. “What would you like to know?”

Gregory extended his index finger behind him, and the tea pot levitated off the table. Lem scurried underneath it, and let out a small stream of flames upward from his mouth. “Nothing too personal,” he said. “I’d just like to hear about where… and if possible, how, you learned magic.”

“Okay, I don’t mind explaining,” Anastasia took a deep breath. “I started learning when I was around ten, and I was taught for about a year or so.”

Gregory turned to his desk, directing the floating pot back to its surface. He put a lid on the top of it, and turned back to face her.

“My parents worked for a woman that owned a small real-estate agency,” she said. “Her name was Deanna Shore, but I always just called her ‘Miss’. My parents met each other while working for her. I knew her from birth, essentially.”

“The tea should be ready,” Gregory said. He turned around, pulling three cups from the desk. He motioned with his finger again, and the pot lifted into the air, pouring out its contents. He held out two of the cups to them.

Sadie hopped up, taking them both. “Here ya go,” she said, handing Anastasia one of them. “Drink it while it’s hot.”

The tea smelled sweet and floral. She took a sip, and the warmth from it spread throughout her body. “This is delicious,” she said. “I’m kind of at a loss for words. I’ve never tasted anything like it.”

“I’m glad you like it,” Gregory said. “Sorry for the interruption. Please continue.”

“Hmm, where was I?” Anastasia said holding her teacup under her nose. “Oh that’s right, my parents didn’t really have the money to send me to daycare, so I ended up just coming to work with them every day.”

She took another sip of the tea. Once again, she was taken by how unique the flavor was. She wanted to ask about the kind of leaves he used, but with both Sadie and Gregory staring at her, she figured she should just continue with the story.

“Anyway, things were always like that. My parents would go out to show people houses, and I would stay behind at the office with Miss. She always seemed busy on the computer or going through stacks of files as big as I was, but if I asked, she never failed to make time to play with me. She spoiled me a little, I guess.”

“And this was the woman that taught you?” Sadie gulped down the last of her tea, and was motioning for Gregory to refill it. Either he didn’t notice, or he ignored her.

“Yes,” Anastasia said. “When I was old enough to go to school, I would always come to the office when it ended. During summer, I spent pretty much every day there,” she looked down, staring into the light orange tea, with a smile on her face.

“It was a summer day when she told me she wanted to show me something. That’s when she showed me magic for the first time,” Anastasia stretched out her legs. As fuzzy as some of it was, her memories with Miss were some of the ones she held closest to her heart. “She used it to lift up some of the furniture.”

“I don’t remember everything she told me,” she went on. “But I remember her saying that she didn’t have anyone else to pass it on to, and asked me if I would be her student.”

“I see,” Gregory exhaled from his nose. “And you’re absolutely positive that neither of your parents were magicians?”

“I’m sure,” Anastasia said. “Miss even told me that herself. She said that she didn’t associate with magicians anymore.”

“And where is Deanna Shore now?”

“When I was in middle school, my parents and Miss were driving home from a Christmas party. It was dark and raining and they lost control of the car. None of them made it,” Anastasia looked down at the cup in her lap. “She’s dead.”

Sadie looked up from her cellphone, placing her hand onto Anastasia’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Gregory said. “I had no intention of bringing up past trauma.”

“It’s okay,” Anastasia forced a smile. “That was a long time ago.”

“I’ll need to do some investigating later to verify your parents weren’t in the association registry, but I believe you, Anastasia,” Gregory said. “My philosophy is that there is always an exception to every rule.”

“Thank you for sharing that,” Sadie said.

“I guess I still haven’t explained how I was taught,” Anastasia said. “Sorry, it can be hard to stop me once I get going.”

“We can save the rest for another day,” Gregory said. “I do believe that it’s our turn to supply you with some answers.”

“Right,” Sadie said. “Go ahead, ask him anything you want.”

“I’m not even sure where to start,” Anastasia glanced down in her lap again. “How about this tea? What is it made from?”

“I think this is the perfect place to start,” Gregory said, leaning forward in his chair. “To start things off, I’d like you to lift the tea pot in the air for me.”

It was little unexpected, but something as small as that wasn’t going to be a problem for her. She focused her eyes on the glass pot, and then pointed her arm toward it. Like before, she felt a force shoot through her arm.

Lem looked up from his nap, but returned to it after confirming that it was just the pot levitating.

“Very good,” Gregory said, clapping his hands. “Now can you tell me how you did that?”

Anastasia slowly exhaled, easing the pot back onto the table. “I just focus on it,” she said. “And I think about the way I want it to go.”

“I see,” Gregory said. “Your teacher didn’t get to a point with you that she could talk to you about the gate then.”

“The… gate?”

“This will serve as our first lesson,” Gregory said with a smile. “The gate is the source of our magic power.”

Anastasia was getting used to not knowing what the people around her were talking about. She asked about the flavor of tea, and now she was being told about a gate instead. She decided to just keep her mouth shut and hope things would make sense if she listened long enough.

“The gate is not a place you visit with your body… It is a place you visit with your mind,” Gregory said, finally beginning to drink his tea. “It is a place that exists as a sort of shared consciousness for magicians. No matter who you are, the gate is said to present itself in the same way.”

“I’m not exactly sure what you mean,” Anastasia said. “But I’ve never had to visit any gate in order to do magic.”

“You’ve been there,” Gregory said. “You just haven’t yet reached a point where you can see it clearly.”

“Huh…”

“You’ll have to just trust me on this one,” Gregory let out a small laugh. “Everyone starts off not being able to see it at first.”

“I’m sorry,” Anastasia said. She realized that she might be coming off as rude. “I wasn’t trying to question what you’re saying. I’m just trying to wrap my head around it.”

“It’s absolutely fine,” Gregory said. “The gate is a fundamental part of magic, but not one that is easily grasped over the course of a single night. In any case, all magic is a product of this gate. All one has to do is send some of their mana into it.”

“Into the gate?”

“Yes,” Gregory finished his tea and set it on the desk behind him. “Think of your mana as your voice,” he pointed at his throat. “You use it to call out to what lies beyond the gate. The more the mana, the louder the voice, the farther it will reach. What emerges is the answer to that call. That’s the magic.”

“I… think I understand,” Anastasia said. Her teacher hadn’t told her much, but she was at least aware of the existence of mana itself.

“Don’t worry, it will all begin to make sense when you experience it for yourself,” he said. “When you lift something up or move it around, you’re calling the wind out from behind the gate. It also possible to pull other things like fire and water, of course.”

Anastasia supposed it made sense. When she put effort into lifting something, her hair would always blow around. The thought that she had been summoning some kind of mystical wind had never crossed her mind.

“If you study hard enough, you’ll be able to do things like summoning,” He pointed at Lem.

She felt a smile form on her face. The idea of an adorable pet dragon was almost too much to bear.

“You could even try your hand at enchanting.”

“Enchanting?” Anastasia asked.

“Putting magic, something from beyond the gate, into something in our world,” Gregory said. “A basic idea is something like putting fire into a sword, making cuts into burns.”

“I think I get it,” she said. “They have that kind of stuff in video games.”

“Enchanting is dangerous,” Sadie said. “It’s really not the kind of thing you should be trying. Why are you even bringing that up?”

“I suppose my sister is right,” Gregory said.

“What makes it so dangerous?” Anastasia asked.

“When you put magic into something from our world, you lose the power to manipulate it. In other words, the burning sword you created could be used to impale you. It doesn’t take a magician to wield.”

Anastasia winced.

“The things that we call are not permanent however,” he continued. “Everything requires mana, the magic energy that exists within all magicians. If the flow of mana stops, the magic can no longer exist in our world. Even enchanted items can’t stay that way forever.”

“I see.”

“Did you wonder why I used the faucet for our tea, rather than generate the water myself?” Gregory asked.

“I didn’t think about it,” Anastasia said. They were finally talking about the tea. “But if it’s possible to make water, then it is strange now that you mention it.”

“If I had made the tea with summoned water, we wouldn’t have been able to truly enjoy it,” he said. “Drinking water from the gate will not alleviate you of thirst, nor will it supply any nutrients to your body. It’s a shame really. We would be able to solve problems like world hunger otherwise.”

“Why is that?” Anastasia asked. “Isn’t it water?”

“The water from beyond the gate is not water, but rather the idea of what water is. It’s a force that takes on the appearance and qualities of water,” Gregory said. “But it isn’t water. No matter how much your drink, you will never feel satisfied. You would only accomplish in draining your mana.”

Listening to Gregory, Anastasia had begun to think of magic as something with endless possibilities. However, it was apparent that even magic had its limits. Why had Miss kept this information from her? Did she feel like her child mind wouldn’t have been able to understand?

“To answer your original question, the tea was infused with flowers that exist beyond the gate,” he said. “The flavor exists as long as I put mana into it. For all intents and purposes, you have been drinking nothing but hot water.”

Anastasia’s mouth dropped. She had wanted to ask where he bought the tea leaves, but now that was out of the question.

“In any case, you’ll be able to call all sorts of things from the gate as you gain more experience,” He snapped his fingers. Lem jumped up from his nap, flying over to Gregory and landing on his legs.

“Wow,” Anastasia sighed. “Even knowing that magic existed, I had no idea just how much there was. I never would have thought things like dragons were real.”

“It’s interesting that you say that.”

“This is actually what he specializes in,” Sadie said, looking up from her phone. “Save it for later, Gregory. We don’t have all night, you know.”

For the first time, Gregory looked somewhat annoyed. “I suppose we can save that talk for another day,” he cleared his throat, regaining his composure. “I will however say this: I do not believe in things like dragons.”

Anastasia squinted. There was a dragon sitting right on his lap and he was trying to tell her that it wasn’t real?

Gregory continued before she could say anything. “Anastasia, you’re quite lucky you came to our home today rather than tomorrow,” he said. “As glad as I am to meet you, Sadie was quite reckless in bringing you here.”

“Stop it, old man,” Sadie said. “You sound like dad.”

“I’m sure you’re both aware of what happened in the city today,” Gregory said, his tone becoming serious.

“I’m aware,” Sadie said, setting her teacup on the ground. “So someone from the association is coming here, then?”

Anastasia remembered hearing about something happening downtown, but she hadn’t been paying much attention to the news. “There was a murder… and… a traffic jam, or something?”

“No,” Gregory said. “The downtown area actually stopped moving. Apparently, everything seemed to stop in time for close to 8 minutes.”

“You don’t mean… magic, do you?”

“It can’t be,” Sadie stood up, adjusting her clothes. “Magic can’t do something like that, Anastasia. Everyone that froze has no memory of it even happening, right? Even if you could somehow use the wind to stop everything from moving, it’s not like people wouldn’t be aware of what was happening around them.”

“So what was it then?” Anastasia asked.

“Honestly, no one has any idea,” Gregory said. “Although it flies in the face of what we know about magic, the association doesn’t seem to be taking any chances. An investigator will be coming to visit us in the morning.”

Anastasia’s heart sank. Gregory hadn’t been kidding when he said that she was lucky. If she had come to the house and met an investigator from the magicians association, she doubted that she would have been able to convince them she was a member of some family in New York.

Gregory picked up Lem from his lap, moving him back to the desk, and stood up. “We should get downstairs,” he said. “Dinner should be ready soon.”

“It is getting late. I should probably get going,” Anastasia said. “Thank you both so much for today.”

“You’re staying for dinner,” Sadie said, grabbing her by the arm. “It really shouldn’t be too hard for the butlers to set one extra place at the table.”

“Sadie, we can’t inconvenience our guest any more than we already have,” Gregory said. “It would be best if Anastasia is far from father’s mind when the investigator arrives.”

Sadie frowned.

“Thank you for the invitation though,” Anastasia said, trying to cheer her up.

Gregory moved across the room to the door, but paused before opening it. “Anastasia, about what happened downtown,” he said. “You shouldn’t rule out magic.”

“What?” Sadie scoffed. “She totally should rule out magic. Magic can’t do something like that.”

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my 20 years of study, it’s that there is always an exception to every rule,” he opened the door, turning back to look at them.

“Always.”