"Uhhhh…" said Jonathan. That really looked unhealthy. "Why was I covered in red just now? What does that mean?"

"Means the array worked!" said Mr. Geiller with satisfaction. "Now let's do it for real, and I'll trigger the delay function so that the colors don't disappear too quick. What this is doing is visualizing the magic from the Infernal Abyss as it materializes and uses your body as a conduit. I'm not certain exactly what things would look like if you're getting hurt by the power, but some things that would be concerning are if the color is concentrated anywhere in your body, particularly around your organs, or if it lingers after you're done."

"This doesn't seem like a very accurate way to determine that," said Jonathan doubtfully.

Mr. Geiller shrugged. "It's what we've got, so you'll have to make do. Honestly, even the labs at the college wouldn't be much better because they'd need to create bespoke tools for investigating your magic. This should hopefully give us some information, particularly now that I've enabled the delay function. I'm thinking about bolts, so go ahead and conjure one."

Jonathan did as he was told, and this time the mirror didn't flash red and then immediately fade back to normal. Instead, red slowly began overlaying his body as a whole; it didn't seem to be concentrated in any one place, nor was it moving outward from any particular spot. After a few seconds, the red was just as dark as it had been the first time he connected to the Infernal Abyss in front of the mirror. There was a brief moment when the color concentrated on his hand, but then all of it started fading away even quicker than it showed up until Jonathan was looking at his normal self in the mirror again.

Mr. Geiller grunted. "Didn't see either of the things I was worried about. You up for one last conjuration? I want to test something."

"Sure," asid Jonathan. "I'm tired, but one more should be fine."

"Okay, then, hold up a second." Mr. Geiller walked across the room and retrieved his stool, then brought it back and set it next to Jonathan so that the top of it was visible in the mirror. "I want you to conjure the bolt on top of the stool this time."

Jonathan did so, and the only difference that he could spot compared to the previous time was that the color concentrated on top of the stool where the bolt had appeared instead of over his hand before it all faded away.

"Good, good. That's what I was hoping I'd seen. Alright, Jonathan, provisionally I don't think you're harming yourself by doing magic."

"You're sure?"

"I just said it was provisional, didn't I? We'll want to repeat this test a few times over the next couple weeks and make sure that no energy from the Infernal Abyss is building up in your body, and I have some ideas for upgrades to this array that might help compare over time so we don't have to rely on our memories. But this visualization is acting exactly how magic power is understood to work, and honestly if you were in a normal situation, you'd be dead by now. That first sandwich would have killed you."

"Wow, that's a relief." Jonathan snagged the bolt off the top of the stool and sat down. "I've been worried about that for ages, but there just wasn't anything I could do."

Mr. Geiller looked uncomfortable. "Yeah, sorry about that. I didn't think things through enough when we first met."

Jonathan stared in shock. Mr. Geiller apologized?!

"Oh, stuff it," said Mr. Geiller, and clumped off to fiddle with his arrays. "Send Abigail in here, would you? I want to show her how to use the 'chair' array so you can practice separating your Seelie Courts illusion from your actual mensus sensations."

Jonathan pushed himself up off the stool and headed for the door. "Will do." He paused in the doorway. "And Mr. Geiller? Thank you."

He left before Mr. Geiller could say anything nasty in response.

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Jonathan found Abigail in the back yard sitting near the orphanage while the rest of the kids ran around exploring or playing or something. Jonathan couldn't quite tell what was going on, but no one was screaming in pain so it was all good.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

"Hey, Abigail," he said. "Mr. Geiller wants you to come to the front classroom so he can show you how to use one of his arrays. Apparently, I have homework, and I'll need you to help me with it."

She stood up. "Okay, Jonathan."

"Oh, and good news! He doesn't think that my magic is hurting me."

Her face lit up. "Really?! That's wonderful!" She stepped up to him and hugged him. "I'm so glad."

Jonathan was taken aback for a moment, but then gingerly hugged her back. "Yeah, you and me both. You getting along with the city-folk alright?"

She stepped away. "Oh, yes. I was just feeling tired. I don't think I've fully recovered my natural magic yet."

"Sounds good. Well, you should get in there before Mr. Geiller blows a gasket."

She gave him an odd look about that but waved and went inside.

Now, what was he going to do with his free time?

…Oh, wait; crap, he still hadn't finished the dishes. Jonathan trudged back into the kitchen to face his fate.

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After lunch and a brief time under the collection array, Abigail was feeling up to finishing the last two remaining contracts, so Jonathan's existence was now supported by everyone in the orphanage. That afternoon, all eight kids continued to explore and play in the yard and then moved their games and exploration into the main building as the sun started to set. Jonathan conjured a few pillows between lunch and dinner, and after dinner everyone went to bed worn out.

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Jonathan was dead asleep that night when something jolted him awake. A shadow was looming over him, and he briefly flailed, almost falling out of bed. "Oh sh—wait, Yanni? Is that you?"

"Yes," said Yanni quietly. He was little more than a slightly solid bit of darkness in the almost pitch-black room.

Jonathan felt him pat at the bed, and then his small hand found Jonathan's and he grabbed it. "I need to go to the bathroom, but…" He trailed off.

Jonathan could guess. It was crazy dark here in the orphanage, especially compared to his old life in the city. There was always at least a little light there, but here there were no streetlamps, no electric lights from the neighbors, and no light switches to make navigating the orphanage easier. Plus, the bathrooms were down on the first floor.

How was he going to get the two of them safely downstairs? He was pretty sure the lamp that Abigail had been using in the attic didn't have a working catalyst anymore, although come to think of it a lamp…maybe it was time to do some experimenting.

"Let's go out in the hall," Jonathan whispered, not wanting to wake up Abigail. Still holding hands, the two carefully made their way from bed to bed, until they reached the hall.

Of course, it was even darker out there. Jonathan was honestly impressed that Yanni had made it all the way from the room across the way. Although come to think…wasn't that room full of his peers and friends? Why didn't he loom over one of their beds?

Well, whatever. Jonathan crouched down so his head was about even with Yanni's. "Can you do something for me Yanni? I need you to think about how badly you want something that will light up the hallway for us, okay?"

"I will do that," Yanni whispered back.

Jonathan enlivened his magic, and Yanni's smoke appeared in the darkness before him. He curled his free hand in preparation, and then took a breath. Guess it was time to see if his work with Mr. Geiller had paid any dividends. He connected to the Infernal Abyss, but as the smoke sucked into his chest, he pushed back against the power of the Abyss, trying to picture exactly what he wanted. He got the sense that…he could do it, but not more than once. Weird, this object wasn't that much larger than other things he'd created; maybe the mass had something to do with it?

Or maybe it was because this was something that had never existed in this world before now. Jonathan let the magic flow and was glad he was crouched down because the pain and sweep of exhaustion almost caused him to fall over. His free hand reflexively clenched, and the feeling of textured metal that hadn't been there a moment ago met his fingers. He felt along it, and sure enough, there was the rubber button.

"Cover your eyes, okay? This might be bright." Jonathan pressed the button, and the metal flashlight in his hands lit the hallway up.

Yanni flinched away at first, but then stared at the flashlight. "What is that?" he asked, full volume. Apparently, he'd forgotten the need to be quiet.

"Shh," hushed Jonathan. "The other kids are sleeping, remember? This is called a flashlight. When you press the button here—" he let go of Yanni's hand to point "—it turns the light on or off."

Yanni was staring at the flashlight in fascination. "Do you want to hold it?" asked Jonathan, and Yanni nodded so fast it looked like his head was liable to fly off. Jonathan grinned. "Okay, here you go. Keep it pointed at the gr—maybe two hands!" He quickly grabbed the flashlight to steady it, and Yanni grabbed it with his other hand, looking sheepish. "Keep it pointed at the ground, okay? Now let's get you to the bathroom."

After showing Yanni how to rest the flashlight on its base and lean it against the side of a stall to roughly illuminate the room, Jonathan waited in the hall in the dark while Yanni used the bathroom. When the little boy emerged the two of them headed back upstairs.

Outside the bedrooms, Jonathan had Yanni press the button to turn the flashlight off and placed it on the floor near the door to the room where Yanni and the other kids were sleeping. "I'll leave this here, okay? If you need to use the bathroom again, you'll know where to find it."

"Thank you, Jonathan," said Yanni solemnly, and went to bed.

He was a good kid. But boy, Jonathan really hoped the flashlight kept Yanni from looming over him anymore. That really freaked him out.

He'd have to give some thought to the implications of being able to summon tools from his own reality into this one the next day.