Chapter 6

Training part 2

“Don’t get too comfortable,” Evara said as I dodged one of the dodge balls coming my way.

“Y-Yes, ma’am,” I said, catching my breath.

“Here comes another one,” she said, smiling at me, enjoying this more than she should.

“Ugh!” I let out as I caught it.

The training had evolved from dodging them to catching them, and even though the hit looked like it would have hurt a normal person, which I was despite floating red balls coming at me. I was still a normal teenage kid, thought I was beginning to feel different now. It was as if a part of me was still normal, yet I wasn’t at the same time. I couldn’t really explain it, but I felt different. My body felt more sturdy.

“Nice job,” Evara said, smiling at me, though it looked more like a grin, a demonic grin from a mischievous demon playing with its food.

The training I was doing with her for the past week had been hell, but I could definitely feel the improvement happening in my body. My reflexes and body felt new and improved like I could take on anyone and anything. I could even take on any witch that tried to take my necklace away from me. Okay, maybe not, but I was feeling stronger.

“We should take a break,” Evara said.

“Come sit next to me.”

“Okay,’ I said, as I walked toward her, and sat next to her.

I looked around.

“Looking for Mikki?” she asked as she saw me looking around.

“Something like that, “I said.

“I told her to sleep in today.”

“Told or commanded,” I said, chuckling, knowing how hard-headed she was at times. Even though Mikki had been with me for most of the training this past two weeks, there were times were Evara told her to stay.

“She’s definitely a strong-willed woman, which I wouldn’t expect no less of someone from the Hexa family,” she said, drinking her cup of tea.

“Family,” I said underneath my breath, touching the necklace that once belonged to my mother, my one and only family.

“How do you feel?” she said, looking at me, and despite her small stature and young appearance, she had a certain weight to her eyes that seemed wise beyond anyone I had met.

“I-I,” I said, looking at my hands, which were bruised, yet it was nothing that the healing magic or a night’s rest wouldn’t cure.

“I think I could beat him.”

I didn’t know if I was just being cocky because I had improved physically, but somehow, I felt a certain confidence I hadn’t felt quite before.

“Hmm…” she said, stroking her chin like some wise wizard. “Well, that’s good that you believe in yourself.”

She stood up from her chair and stared at the sun as it was coming into view.

“Rey,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said, swallowing my saliva, almost as if I was a young wizard expecting wise words from their teacher, which in a way, wasn’t far from the truth.

“Don’t lose sight of what you have because you’re too busy clinging to the past,” she said, giving me a faint smile, which, for a second, looked as if it was carrying a certain sadness that could drown everything it came upon.

“I won’t,” I said, not knowing if those words were for her or me. For some reason it felt like her words weren’t just for me.

“Just promise me that you won’t do anything dangerous,” she said.

“More dangerous than challenging a stuffed teddy bear to a fight,” I jokingly said.

“Rey,” she said, unamused by my joke, and for a brief second, the light from the sun made her look physically older.

“I promise,” I said.

“Good,” she said, stretching her arms and yawning. “Let’s get back to training. We need to toughen that body of yours.

“Yes, teacher,” I said, standing up and giving her a military salute.

***

The whole morning was spent with me dodging and catching red floating balls as they came toward me. The training was tough but nothing I couldn’t handle. Though I wished Mikki had been here with some healing water to make it easier. I still had the energy to finished the training.

“Well, that’s it for today,” Evara said, as she got up from her chair.

“Done so soon,” I jokingly said, as I sat down on the ground.

“Don’t want to overworked you,” she said, winking at me,

“Just make sure to get a good rest and I’ll see you later , Rey.”

“Goodbye Evara,” I said, waving as she disappeared.

I looked at the wind that was left behind from her spell.

“Man, I wish I knew magic,’ I said, as I looked at the bright blue sky.

***

“I’m so sore,” I said as I walked back home, wishing Mikki had been there for training with her healing magic water.

“I’m home, Nana, Mikki,” I said as I opened the door.

“Good morning,” Nana said, greeting me.

“You look beat,” Mikki said, coming down the stairs dressed in her school uniform.

“You should see the other guy,” I jokingly said.

“Does he smell as bad as you, too?” Mikki asked, pinching her nose.

“Do I,” I said, sniffing my scent. “Guess I do.”

“I prepared the shower for you,” Nana said, smiling at me and petting my head, making me feel like some little kid that was back from playing with the neighborhood kids.

“I can’t wait,” I said, rushing to the bathroom, anticipating the cool embrace of a nice shower.

“Please act your age!”

I could hear Mikki’s words from behind me, but I was too focused on getting to the bathroom to banter back.

“AH! So much better,” I said, feeling refreshed and brand new as I got in the shower. My body was beginning to look stronger and I felt stronger. I felt like I could really take on Teddy. I didn’t feel as weak as I had been that day. And for a moment, I let myself get washed away by the cool embraced of the water, but of course I couldn’t rest here all day.

“How was it?” I heard Mikki’s voice form outside the bathroom door.

“Refreshing,” I said.

“The training, not the shower,” she said, no doubt rolling her eyes at me.

“It was much tougher than the other days, especially without healing magic water, but nothing I couldn’t handle.”

“Did you guys talk about anything while I was gone,” she asked, arriving at what I figured she wanted to know.

“Not really,” I said as I finished washing all the dirt and sweat from my new and improved body, and getting ready for school.

I opened the door, feeling refresh and clean.

“Well, she did give me advice.”

“Well, hopefully you listen to her since you don’t seem to listen to us..”

“I listen,” I said.

“Most of the time,” I whispered underneath my breath.

“Anyway, just hurry up. We have school to go to, don’t forget,” she said, walking away from the me and heading toward the kitchen.

“She’s really too serious sometimes ,” I said, chuckling.

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“Hey wait for me,” I said, as I walked behind her.

***

“You have outdone yourself again,” I said, taking in the smell from the delicious food that Nana had prepared, she really did have top class chef skills. Which made me wonder if that was her magic power. But I figured I should not ask, it seemed kid of rude to me.

“Thanks for the food,” I said as I sat down, ready to stuff my face.

“Wow! You must have been really hungry,” Nana said, touching her cheek and smiling.

“Slow down. It’s not going away,” Mikki said.

“S-sorry,” I said, gulping down my bite.

“How was training?” Nana asked.

“It was tough, but I can handle it,” I said, flexing my arm to show her the results of my training.

“Well, that’s good, don’t overwork yourself, okay. ”

“I won’t.”

I ate as much as I could, finding it interesting that I was beginning to get a bigger appetite now. All this training was really creating a big appetite in me as well as strengthening my body. I wonder if perhaps magic was at play, but I figure I let it be, I was not going to question this new me .

“Slow down, the food is not going anywhere,” Mikki said, looking at me.

“Sorry,” I said with a mouthful of food.

“Thanks for the food mom,” Mikki said, getting up from her seat.

“You’re welcome dear,” she said, smiling at us.

“Bye, Nana,” I said, waving goodbye at her with a mouthful, as I walked behind Mikki.

“Have a good day at school, you two,” she said, waving goodbye.

The walk to school was filled with chit-chat from school and how I was falling behind on my studies and homework. The usual stuff with Mikki and her worrying too much about things I thought were unimportant, considering the world we found ourselves in was filled with talking teddy bears. Which I was sure that was only the beginning, which made school look useless to me.

“Are you paying attention,” she said, raising an eyebrow, not happy with me.

“Sorry,” I said, giving her a half-assed smile.

“Are you worried?” she asked, her expression changing from annoyance to worry.

“About school? Nah. I could always go to summer school,” I said jokingly.

“Not that,” she said, crossing her arms.

“Oh, you mean the stuffed toy,” I said, chuckling.

“You really shouldn’t call him that, “ she said, in a lecture-like voice .

“He obviously doesn’t like it.”

“I guess you’re right,” I said, not wanting to get in trouble with Mikki. “It’s a joke, that’s all.”

“Well, just be careful,” she said. “Magic beings have a certain pride that is quite fragile at times.”

“Magical beings,” I repeated her words. “Is that what he is?” I asked, eager to know more about her world, as it was slowly becoming my world too.

“Well, what other word would you give to a talking teddy bear, “ she said, which surprised me since Mikki wasn’t one to make jokes. “But Rey,” she said, stopping in front of me. “Promise me you’ll think about your safety first no matter what.”

I looked at her and smiled. “I promise,” I said, thinking about my promise with Evara and wondering if this was what being in a family felt like. Not that I didn’t consider Mikki and Nana my family, but now it felt more real considering I knew their secret.

“Good,” she said, pleased with my answer. “We better get going; I don’t want to be late for school.”

‘Yes, ma’am,” I said, and as we were about to continue our school commute.

A figure appeared before us.

“Well, this is a surprise,” I said, looking at Esfir standing in front of us.

image [https://i.imgur.com/okGLrzK.jpg]

“Where’s the stuffed…” I stopped myself, remembering Mikki’s words. “Teddy,” I said, not referring to him as a stuffed toy.

“He’s not with me,” Esfir said.

I looked at her, trying to examine if she was lying, but her expression and personality weren’t one to lie. Granted, I hadn’t known her that long, but she didn’t strike me as someone that would lie. She was way too serious in her expressions to lie. She almost reminded me of Mikki with how serious she was. That I did wonder if perhaps that was a wish trait of theirs.

“How can we help you?” Mikki asked, looking at her as serious as ever.

“Don’t worry, Miss Hexa,” she said. “I came not to fight but to ask Rey a simple question.”

“Me?” I asked, wondering what she could ask me. But I had a feeling I already knew what she was going to ask. “Is it about the necklace?”

“Rey,” Esfir said, looking at me. It almost felt like I was stuck in some cold tundra and frozen in place. Her voice and expression were stoic, almost stone-like yet there was a certain coldness to her that felt like I was looking at an ice statue.

“Y-Yea,” I said, swallowing my saliva. Despite being two years younger than us, she had a certain aura that demanded respect, as if I was standing before royalty. Which, if I was honest, she very well could have been for all I knew.

“How important is that necklace to you?” she asked, her words coming toward me like icicles, making sure I couldn’t escape.

“I-I--”

I looked at the blue gem glistening by the sun’s light. Looking at my most prized procession.

“If your answer is not acceptable to me,” she continued, it almost felt like she was testing me, and there was nothing I could do. “I will personally take the necklace away from you.”

The air around us felt heavy and cold, as if we were inside a refrigerator that had been turned on.

“Is she that confident in her magic,” I thought, I mean, Mikki, from what I had seen, which granted wasn’t a lot , but from what I had seen , was no pushover.

Mikki got in front of me, and despite not having any magic sense, I could feel a certain pressure trying to swallow me.

“What about Teddy’s fight?” I asked, clearing my throat.

“Teddy’s whims are of no concern to me,” she said, and for the first time, I could sense who was really in charge. She had a commanding tone that I did not expect from someone with her appearance.

“Esfir,” Mikki said, she looked like she was prepare to fight all out. I looked around us and saw people passing us by, unaware of what was about to happen in front of them. A fight with two witches was something I had witness once, and it was one sided. What would a fight be between two witches that were no push overs be like. I had to think about the safety of the people around us.

“M-Mikki,” I said, touching her shoulder.

“Rey..” she said, looking at me, I could tell that she was ready to fight for me to the end, which I was very thankful for, but this was my fight, not hers.

I cleared my throat, ready to address her with the respect she commanded.

“I don’t know if my answer would be to your liking, but I don’t care,” I said, clenching my fist, making sure my body didn’t betray me.

“Having this necklace with me,”

I looked at her, gripping my necklace tightly, ensuring it wouldn’t leave my body.

“I don’t know how important it is to you witches or to your family or know anything about the magic that is inside of it. All I know is that it belonged to my mother, and having it makes me feel that I won’t forget her memory, which is the most painful thing I could do for her. And at nights, when I can’t sleep, I look at it and for a brief second I could feel her next to me, telling me everything is going to be alright. This may be just a necklace with imbued magic, but to me, it is my world. To me, it’s my mother’s presence next to a kid that didn’t get a chance to be with her.”

I stood firm in front of her. I was sure I sounded like one big cliché to her, but I didn’t care. It was the truth, my truth.

Esfir looked at me, and for a brief moment, I could see her stoic expression betray her for a second.

“Very well,” she said, the heaviness around us disappearing. “Thank you for your answer.”

She bowed before us, which caught me by surprise.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to do that,” I said, flailing my hands as if I was some peasant whose existence was being regarded as much more by a king.

“And Rey,” she said, looking at me. Her grey eyes had a certain warmness that she hadn’t shown since I first met her. “I wish you good luck in your fight with Teddy.”

I blinked for a second, and she was gone, but the silent that remained took hold of us for a few seconds, almost as if both were admiring her.

“She’s strong,” Mikki finally said, breaking the silence.

“I know,” I said.

Despite not knowing Magic, I could tell that Esfir was a witch not to be messed with. And if I thought Teddy was scary, which if I was honest, he was scary. I mean he was a talking teddy bear with three very sharp claws on each paw. Esfir was on another level, I could tell.

She was person I did not want to mess with, magic or no magic.

“Let’s get going. We still have school to go to.”

“Oh right, school,” I said, realizing where we were headed.

***

“Phew, we made it just in time,” I said as I looked at the school gates as they were beginning to close.

Some of the other students were squeezing through the gate. I couldn’t help but remember the other day when they were turned into mindless savages by the witch that was hiding in the school.

“We made it just in time before they closed the gates,” Mikki said, adjusting herself.

“I wonder if that witch is looking at us hiding in the school ,” I said, looking at the school building.

“I can’t sense any magical power in the school besides Esfir, but nonetheless, just be on the lookout.”

I nodded.

Hopefully the witch wouldn’t involve any innocent people like last time, but I had a feeling that was just wishful thinking on my part. Thinking about that day I almost go eaten.

“If any magic is used inside the school that is not from me, I’ll know since I put a protective spell on the school.”

“You did?” I blurted out , and noticing the stares of the remaining students that were arriving at the school.

Mikki let out a faint chuckle. “I did it this weekend while you were training. I figured I could use my time wisely and take any unwanted stress off your mind.”

“That’s so like you,” I thought. She always looked after me. Which I was grateful for. “That’s a relief,” I said, grabbing my necklace tightly. “Now, the other students won’t get hurt or involved in my problem.”

“Our problem,” she said, smiling at me.

“You’re right,” I said, smiling at her. I wasn’t alone in this.

“Let’s get going. We have school to attend too.”

She smiled at me, she truly was one of the most precious person in my life.

“Yay, school,” I said sarcastically as we walked to our first-period class, which honestly was not so bad considering a certain homeroom teacher was no longer at the school.

As we both enter the classroom, I notice that Esfir was already here, sitting next to my desk.

“Don’t worry,” Mikki said, as she went to her seat.

The whole class period, I would glance at Esfir since she was sitting next to me. Her face was stoic, and her grey eyes had the same icy look that she always had. The softness she had shown this morning was gone. But what caught my attention was her book bag, which was Teddy, her talking, walking teddy bear. I would glance at it, waiting for it to come alive at any moment and try to devour me.

“Mr. Rey, please focus on your work instead of the pretty girl next to you.”

“Sorry,” I said, underneath my breath, my cheeks turning red.

The whole class exploded in laughter. I could feel my face catching on fire.

“I’m an idiot,” I told myself. I was so distracted by what happened this morning that I wasn’t paying attention to where I was. I looked at Miki, and she nodded her head in disappointment, no doubt.

“Sorry,” I mouthed at her.

The rest of the day went by without any weird or strange occurrences, except for the occasional temper tantrum thrown by Dave trying to get the better of me. I loved the expression of his confusion when I bested him in gym class. The training I was doing was truly paying off. I felt stronger than a normal person.

I just hoped it would pay off against teddy. I had complete trust in Evara’s training, but I couldn’t help but feel that I was a little over my head. But other than that, there was no strange magic happening, which was a relief.

The school day ended without any suspicious things. Though I would glance at the students and faculty trying to decipher if they were friend or foe, which probably wasn’t a good idea since they would look at me weirdly. But I needed to find the witch that was hiding in the school, for the safety of everyone at school.

I was kind of relief when the school bell rang, since that meant students were not going to be in danger of the evil witch’s grasp, recalling the gym accident.

“Mikki,” I thought wondering if she had any luck, considering she probably was more adapt at finding magical things, remembering the both instances of me being in danger and how she came to my rescue.

“How were your classes, “Mikki asked as we met up at the school gate.

“They were fun, especially gym class,” I said, smiling at her.

“You didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, did you?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

“ Out of the ordinary, what do you mean? I’m just an ordinary human.” I said blinking at her.

“Rey,” she said, letting a sigh. “You really are a kid sometimes.”

“Anyway, were you able to detect anything out of the ordinary in the witch department?” I asked.

“Not really, everything seemed ordinary, I even went to the gym at lunchtime, but there was no trace of any magic.”

“Do you think she left?” I asked, knowing the answer to it.

“I doubt it,” she said.

“Good afternoon, Rey and Ms. Hexa,” Esfir said, bowing before us as she greeted us as we were walking out of the school gate and toward our home.

”You can just call me Mikki,” Mikki said.

“Hey, pipsqueak,” I heard a soft cute-like voice.

“Teddy,” I thought,

“Is nice to meet you again, stuffed…” I bit my tongue, stopping myself.

“Let’s cut the chitchat. I’m’ here to give you this, Esfir darling would you be so kind,” Teddy said.

Esfir walked toward us, and it that moment she looked like a small girl carrying her favorite stuffed toy in her hands.

“Here, take it,” Teddy said.

I looked at Esfir as she extended her hand toward us. On her palm was a golden key.

“What is it?” I asked as I grabbed it.

“The young misses next to you can explain it, see you tomorrow, kid,” Teddy said, laughing.

“Have a good day, Rey, Mikki” Esfir said, bowing before us before she left. She truly was very respectful, which made me wonder why the talking teddy bear she was carrying was so rude.

“What is it?” I asked Mikki.

“It’s a dimensional key,” she said, taking the key. “It opens a portal to a place created by the owner. It’s the first time I’ve seen one.”

***

When we arrived home, the first thing we did was show the key to Evara who was sitting in her usual spot.

Evara looked at the key and bit it.

“Yup, it’s real gold,” she said, laughing. “I’m guessing Teddy gave it to you guys.”

“Yes, “ I said as I sat down on one of the couches that was in the living room.

“I’m sure Mikki has told you what it’s called.”

“She did. It’s a dimensional key, and It transports you to a dimension made by the owner of the key.”

Evara extended her hand and pretended to open a door, but nothing happened. “It only opens once the owner opens the gate from his part,” she said, handing the key back to me. “Get a good rest for tomorrow the big date awaits us,” she said, smiling at me.

“What about school?” I asked.

“I’m sure missing a day won’t be too bad,” Nana said, touching her cheek and smiling at us.

“I guess so,” I said, feeling like a kid whose parents allowed them to miss school for a day off, to spend time with them, but instead of spending time with my parents, I had a date with a six foot tall talking teddy bear.