Chapter 8

A promise kept, and a new challenger appears.

I opened my eyes and found myself laying on Mikki’s lap. We were still in the colosseum, and I could see the bright blue sky had a reddish tint to it; it almost felt magical.

“How do you feel,” she said, looking down at me, her blonde hair cascading down her face to my face.

I stood up, my face a burning red, just like the red gem on the ring. I looked down. I still had my mother’s necklace. “I won,” I said, clinching the blue gem of my mother’s necklace.

“Something like that,” she said, smiling at me.

“You put up quite the fight,” Evara said as she walked toward us. In her hand was a small cookie she was munching on, and Nana walking right behind her as well.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” a familiar voice said. It was Teddy being carried by Esfir like a stuffed toy in her arms.

“But a deal is a deal,” he said. “It’s your victory, for now.”

“I did it!” I thought, despite not winning in a conventional way, it was still a win. I had won against a magical being. Sure, I had help, but it was still my win. I didn’t feel so helpless after all.

“But if I had known a certain witch was going to give you a pesky little thing, I would not have let my guard down,” Teddy said, looking at Evara.

“The ring,” I said, taking it off my index finger and giving it to Mikki.

“It’s Evara’s,” she said. “She told me to give it to you.”

I could see Mikki blushing, which, honestly, I didn’t blame her for it. After all, a ring is magical in more ways than one.

“Figure it will be better if the beautiful Mikki gave it to you,” Evara said, letting out a laugh.

“You two are so cute,” Nana said, touching her cheek.

“Mom!” Mikki said.

“It should count as cheating if you ask me,” Teddy said.

“Now, now,” Evara said, taking another bite of her cookie. “You didn’t expect us not to aid our boy now did you?”

She smirking at Teddy. “Besides, it wasn’t like it was a strong item. It was just a simple item with only one use,” she said, and to my surprise, the ring began to crumble. “Witches make these items to train beginner witches, but they are not that useful in the long term, and if Rey had used it too early…well, this would have ended a bit differently.”

“True, I would have noticed it and I would not have let my guard down, not that I needed to for it’s a weak item, ” Teddy said.

“So, this is your win, Rey. You used your instinct and won; you should be proud of yourself,” Evara said.

“Thanks,” I said, blushing. I was not used to getting compliments like that.

I had managed to protect the necklace, but for how long, I thought. Not being able to help myself and think about the future fights that were no doubt going to come my way, but those were thoughts for another time.

I had won, and that was good enough for now.

“So what now?” I asked.

I didn’t know if me winning against Teddy meant they would give up trying to get the necklace.

“Well, that’s up to teddy and Esfir?” Evara said, looking at them.

“Not up to me. I already tried and failed,” Teddy said.

I looked at Esfir. Her expression was cold and stoic.

“You can keep the necklace for now,” she said, looking at me, her silver colored hair and light grey eyes glowing in an almost magical way as she looked at me; it almost felt like I looking at some far away princess.

“Did witches have royalty too?” I wondered.

“I will look after it and protect it. After all, it belonged to me. “

“YOU?” I said, as I stood up, finally understanding why she had such a serious expression that day on her face when she asked me how important it was.

“I did tell you that some witch’s mementos are usually passed down from witch to witch, and that necklace is part of the Ivanov family, though if I remember correctly, it was given away as a gift to someone in the past.”

“A gesture brought on by a lie,” Esfir said, in a seriousness tone, which caught me by surprise.

I had never seen such a lively Esfir before.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“E-excuse me,” she said.

“Anyway, you can keep the necklace for now, now if you excuse us.”

Esfir got up from her seat and bowed at us.

“Until next time, kid,” Teddy said as she and Esfir disappeared like the wind.

“The Ivanov family sure has given birth to a genius only seen once in a lifetime,” Evara said as we stood in the empty coliseum.

There was a certain silence in the coliseum that brought back everything that had happened since that day when a certain teacher attacked me.

“Rey?” Mikki said, “Are you alright?”

I looked at her and smiled. “Yea, it’s just that when I think about it, everything that has happened feels so surreal.”

“Magic has that effect on people,” Nana said, smiling at me.

“You can always give the necklace and go back to your everyday life if you feel like it,” Evara said.

“And live with the memories that happened, no thanks,” I said.

“Well, there are memory-altering spells,” Evara said, looking at me.

“Master!” Nana said,

“I’m joking,” Evara said, letting out a faint grin that, for a second, I caught a certain sadness in it.

“No thanks,” I said. “I don’t what to forget about magic,“ I said, like some small kid not ready to give their favorite toy away.

“But Rey,” Evara said, looking at me, there was a certain seriousness on her face. “The longer you stay in our world, the harder it would be for a normal person like you to survive. Are you sure you’re up to that?”

They all looked at me, and I knew they meant well. I looked down at the blue gem of my mother’s necklace.

I didn’t know why or how, but I felt a certain closeness to it. Despite having forgotten about her , this necklace made me feel like her memories were still inside of me, locked away, waiting for me. Perhaps it was magic, or some instinct every kid has toward their parents, but whatever it was, I didn’t want to give it up, not without a fight.

“ I’m ready for anything and I’m not giving up my mother’s necklace” I said, with all the confidence that a sixteen year old boy could have.

They all smiled at me and nodded, perhaps understanding my resolve.

“Well, it’s been quite a day,” Evara said, getting up from her seat and stretching. “Get a good night’s rest, Rey.”

“I will,” I said, though I didn’t know if I could, considering everything that had happened.

“See you later,” Evara said, disappearing as Esfir did.

“Are we going to do that too?” I asked,

“Those kind of transportation spell are hard. Only a select few witches can do it, “ Nana said.

***

I lay in my bed thinking about the fight with Teddy and the future fights that would undoubtedly come my way, remembering the pain that Teddy’s punches brought. Was I going to be strong enough to take even stronger hits like those? I brushed any doubt I had aside; I needed to be strong no matter what, I wasn’t going to give up her necklace. I began to doze off, and for the first time in a long while, I dreamed of the same woman I had dream of. Perhaps it was my mother, but whoever it was, they felt warm. In the dream I found myself walking some street holding her hand. And even though her face looked at times blurry, I could still see her smile. The dream was comforting until night came, and I found myself covered in blood and a woman lying next to me. And those same red eyes looking at me. I felt cold, scare, and hopeless. I wanted to run, wanted to hide but I couldn’t. I stood still as those red eyes came toward us.

‘MOM! NO!” I awoke, my hand reaching toward the ceiling as if I was trying to stop whatever bad thing from happening in my dreams.

I leaned forward and wonder if that dream I had, had anything to do with my memories that seemed to have been lost. I had many questions running in my mind, but no answers. I wanted to ask Nana but I figured it was a bad idea. Heck , I didn’t know if that was even a real memory or just my overly imagination. I hated not knowing. I hated that I had forgotten her. I hated not knowing what had happened to her, all I knew was that I lost her.

“There’s no point in trying to break my head trying to decipher a puzzle whose pieces are missing,” I told myself , letting out a sigh. I looked at the time, it was seven in the morning, I had to get ready for school.

“Rey, wake up-” Mikki said, entering my room and finding me all dressed up and ready for school.

“Don’t be too surprised,” I said, chuckling at her surprised expression.

“I guess all you needed was to get beaten up by a stuffed toy to straighten you out,” Mikki said, letting out a faint smile.

“I wouldn’t go that far,“ I said. “I just thought it was about time I took a little control of things.”

“Just don’t go changing too much,“ Mikki said.

“I won’t,” I said smiling at her.

***

“Have a good day at school,” Ms. Hexa said, waving goodbye from the kitchen of our two story house , which had been my home for the past eight years. It had been a happy life, which I hoped would last as long as it could. That dream still lingering in my mind.

“Is everything alright,” Mikki said, looking at me,

“Yea, it’s nothing,” I said smiling at her.

And as Mikki and I were heading out the house, I was surprised to find Esfir standing outside, waiting for us.

“Well, this is a surprise,” I said.

“ Does Teddy want another round?”

“Watch it, kid.” Teddy’s voice said, coming from her backpack that hanged on her back.

“Not quite,” Esfir said. “As I said before, you can keep the necklace, but I’m going to protect it, after all, it belongs to me.”

I looked down at the blue necklace that hung from my neck. The necklace that belonged to my mother, and not only to her but also to Esfir. And I was sure it was just as important to her as it was to me.

“Fair enough,” I said,

“Let’s get going. We don’t want to be late,” Mikki said.

The walk to school was awkward at times, considering it had always been just Mikki and me, but now Esfir had joined us.

As we arrived at school , I couldn’t help but notice all the stares of the guys coming my way like daggers. No doubt envious of me for walking with two beautiful girls by my side. But honestly, if they knew half of it, would they want to be in my situation? On second thought, perhaps they would, I thought, laughing.

“I have school representative duties this morning, so I’ll see you later,” Mikki said as she left for her classroom president duties.

“Shall we,” Esfir said as the two of us walked to the classroom that was once my most dreaded class to go too.

“H-Hello, students,” our homeroom teacher, Mr. Normal said as he walked inside the classroom,

“Today, we have a new student joining our class, so I want you all to be n-nice, okay?”

“As long as it’s not a witch,“ I thought, letting out a faint chuckle. “It’s fine by me.”

“Everyone, meet Alizon Celeste.”

All the guys stared at her right away as she entered the classroom. And honestly, who could blame them. Hey! I am a teenage boy, after all, and I can help but stare at a pretty girl from time to time. But something about her felt different.

She had long dark purple hair, and a body no one in school could rival. She had her student jacket hanging from her shoulders like some mob boss or delinquent, making her stand out. And she was barefoot which I found extremely odd.

image [https://i.imgur.com/EqU67xZ.jpg]

“Wow! what a beauty,” the boys all said.

“My name is Alizon Celeste, and my three sizes are a secret, ” she said, winking .

Her expression was almost the opposite of Mikki and Esfir, where they were serious, she was more, I guess, playful and flirty , like a leader of some mafia group or an idol.

“Do you have a boyfriend? “ a boy said, getting the annoyance of the girls in the classroom thrown at him, not amused by the boys' display of their teenage attitudes.

“That’s not an a-appropriate question.” Mr. Normal said.

She looked at the classroom. Her light pink color eyes, which were very pretty , contacts perhaps?

“No, but I have my eye on a person man,” she said, smirking.

I looked at Esfir and saw an expression of apprehension on her face.

“Don’t tell me?” I said.

“You must be Rey.” I looked up and saw Alizon standing in front of my desk.

I could hear nothing but hollering from the classroom, no doubt surprised by her walking toward me just as much as I was.

And in that moment, I was glad Mikki wasn’t in the classroom.

“Y-yea,” I said.

Was she another witch that had come for my necklace? Of course, she was, what other reason did a beautiful girl have for coming my way?

“You’re cute,” she said, biting her lip, as she leaned closed to me, and, to everyone’s surprise, and mine especially, our lips met.

And all I could hear was the classroom erupt in an uproar and the classroom door opening with such force, that I hoped it was not a certain person.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how my life of magic started and my problems with love began…..but don’t worry my story is just beginning on both fronts.