Chapter 18 Arturo

"Well… I… I can always… You know what? I don't have to take this. I will not be made fun of in my own house. I'm going up to my room! For real this time!"

The living plushie and I watched Melodia snatch her bag and head upstairs. We waited a few more seconds until we heard the sound of a door slamming shut.

"So we both knew she was listening in on us right?" I smirked as the plushie did the same.

"Of course we did. By the way, do you have any interest in becoming a magi yourself?" My brain crashed at his words. "Normally fifteen would be too old to become a magi, but you have a bit more magic then someone your age would normally have. You won't ever reach the level of power that your sister has, but you could still learn a few tricks."

"What?" It was the only thing I could say. I was just now keeping up with the idea of my sister having magic, the idea of having it myself was a bit too much. I could use magic, I could learn spells like my sister…

My eyes widened as a stray though cut thought everything else in my mind.

"Is this a bribe? Teach me a bit of magic so I'll be okay with Melodia fighting those dolls?" I felt the shame eat away at me. Not only had it taken way too long to figure it out, it had almost worked too.

"I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a part of it, but there's more to it than that," the plushie walked up to me across the table, "I was created to pass on the power of the stars and the art of gravity magic to the one I choose to protect the seal. But seeing magic turn into something so rare and spoken of only as fiction hurts in a way I never would have expected. Teaching at least one more magi would set my mind at ease."

"Also it's a bribe."

"Yes but could you do me a favor and focus on the first part?" I almost coughed out a laugh. At least this thing was honest.

"Maybe, but mind letting me ask some other questions?" I folded my arms down on the table and leaned my head on them.

"Ask away. It's my job to answer them."

"So I get that your only option for the powers were kids like my sister, but what about reaching out to the military or something?" All I got was a weird flat look.

"Doll's don't have blood or organs, they're just shells filled with black goo that can only sort of feel pain. The only way to take them down is to do enough damage that they fall apart," he closed his eyes and grit his teeth, "with that in mind, and also adding what I said about the seal being damaged by collateral damage, try imagining how a battle between a modern military and a doll would go."

I blinked and pictured it in my mind. Well if the only way to take down a doll was to do damage to the body, that meant guns were out. If they couldn't use guns than the next best thing would be bombs…

Oh.

"Thank you for not turning my home into bombed out warzone," from what I knew of the U.S. Military, I couldn't see it going any other way.

"Don't worry about it," he chuckled as I thought of another question.

"There is something else bothering me though. Why all girls?"

"Honestly?" He laughed, "Complete coincidence. We all chose the wielders on our own and I only realized they were all girls afterwards. In fact, if I had been able to ask Melodia to take the powers like I wanted, and she said no, my back up would have been a boy living somewhat close by."

Well that might have been awkward for him," I couldn't help but imagine a young boy ending up on a team with three other girls. Kids Melodia's age were still young enough for it to be a big deal for them.

Not that my sister had any kind of trouble with boys her age…

Well she did, but they were the same ones she had with girls her age.

"I guess I only have one last question," there was no other way to look at this. Pickati had been forced into a corner and had done the best he could do. And as much as I wanted to, I couldn't be mad at that. But I had to know one more thing. I had to know the stakes. "What happens if my sister stays out of all of this and the dolls win and break the seal? And I want specifics, not generic 'great harm to the world' garbage."

"Well for starters the entire metro area is gone. Obliterated in an instant. And that's just the initial blast. After the spirit gets out the real damage will come with the storm. Imagine a hurricane of minor destruction spirits in an ever growing spiral, destroying everything they touch. By the end of the day, the wave would have become large enough to take out most of Cuba and a good chunk of the south east."

Well… that was a lot worse then what I would have expected.

"And then what would happen, once it gets that big?" Somehow, I had the feeling that this thing wouldn't just stop after a while.

"The worst case scenario. At that point, the spirit would attract the attention of something able to take it down. The aftermath is better left unsaid."

And there it was. If this thing got out, everything and everyone I'd ever known would be gone… just like that.

Well I guess I had a few aunts, uncles, and cousins out of range back in Peru, but a good chunk of the family would be gone. And if this thing started moving either north or west, that was even more of the family gone. There was no way I could risk that happening.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Fine… you win," I got out of the table and stretched my legs. "I won't interfere or try to stop the doll fights. I would say that Melodia still needs to tell Mom and Dad but…" I imagined my father learning about the dolls and what his reaction would be.

I suppressed a shiver before shaking my head to clear it of the image. I had already seen my father in a hospital bed once, I had no desire to see it again.

"Your sister already explained why your father was best left unaware. You have my thanks for being so understanding about this," Pickati flew off the table to float next to me. "By the way, the offer to teach you magic still stands if you have any interest."

"I thought that was a bribe," I smirked.

"Not much of a bribe if I'm not willing to hold my end of the deal. Besides, I wasn't lying when I said…" We both paused at the sound Melodia calling out for us from the second floor.

I raced up the stairs, Pickati flying right behind me. I opened the door to her room… and did everything in my power to keep from laughing.

"It's not funny!" She yelled as she performed an endless somersault in the air. Pickati arrived behind me and had to hold back a laugh too. "Could one of you chuckleheads help me?"

"I got you," I carefully approached her with my hands out. "Is it okay to just catch you?"

"Do it!" I reached my hands out and ended up grabbing her by the ankles. "Great, now set me down on the ground."

"Are you alright?" I laid her down on the bed instead. She hovered over it for a second before gravity took over again and she fell down.

"Yeah I'm fine," she grumbled as she got to her feet, "the spell I cast on myself before starting kept me safe… Why are you looking at me like that?"

Oh, guess I must have been staring at her this whole time. I hadn't even noticed.

"I guess… it just hit me that you're doing real magic. Like, actual magic…" I turned to Pickati who was looking at the whole scene with a hint of amusement. "How soon can you start teaching me?"

"We can start tomorrow," I fought back a smile that almost took up my entire face as I got to my feet. "Melodia and I can bring you to our specific training spot."

"You're going to love it. It's perfect for learning magic without worrying about damaging anything or getting caught," I was almost blinded by how bright her eyes got talking about this place.

"I'm looking forward to it," I glanced over at the white fox still looking at us. "Actually, Melodia, could you help with some stuff downstairs? Oh and Pickati, my mom and dad should be getting home soon, you better stay up here."

"I hear you loud and clear," he nodded before landing on Melodia's desk. A second later, he changed to look more plush-like. Neat trick, but not one that I was planning on asking him to teach me.

"Okay so, what did you want to do?" My sister asked once we were finally downstairs. I wordlessly gestured towards the kitchen. I reached under the counter and pulled out some paper towels and cleaning spray. I handed her the spray while holding onto the paper.

We'd done this enough times to fall into our standard rhythm. She would spray and I would wipe. It kept our kitchen clean so that our parents didn't need to worry about it, and it left us free to talk about whatever we wanted. Or in this case, whatever I wanted.

"Are you okay?" I broke the silence, Melodia stopping mid-squeeze.

"What do you mean?" She looked up from the counter as I started wiping it down.

"This whole doll thing, are you okay?" We both stopped and set things down on the counter. "Pickati already told me what happens if you lose the fight, so I won't try and stop you, but how are you doing?"

"I don't know," she placed both hands on the counter as she looked at the wall with a weirdly empty look on her face, "like… part of me understands that I should be freaking out about it. That I should be afraid that I'm always fighting for my life, but I'm not."

She paused for a while and I was about to ask her something else when she started talking again.

"Actually, I think I like fighting the dolls. Learning magic is fun and fighting the dolls gives me a chance to show off the way my powers have grown and what I've learned," she broke out into a big smile, "plus, I'm this close to learning how to fly. There's no way that I'm going to stop before reaching that."

"I guess that's a good point," I couldn't help but copy the smile on her face as we went back to cleaning the kitchen a little before our parents came home.

Knowing that my sister had no problems with fighting monsters on a weekly basis was not what I had been expecting when I had brought her downstairs. I guess it was still better than the other option.

But somehow knowing that my sister was throwing herself into weekly fights to the death didn't help me sleep that night. Even if she was okay with it.

Maybe especially if she was okay with it.