Finding Home

Chapter 20 - A Day Off pt. 2

Perseus rolled his eyes and turned to me. "So," he said, "what did you want to talk about?"

I bit my lip as I said, "I have a request."

His face lit up, as though I had just given him great news. He must have seen my confusion, because he quickly explained. "Loki, you've been here for a year, and you have yet to actually request something of me. I'm happy that you are comfortable enough to ask me for something."

I looked away in embarrassment. "Oh," I mumbled.

"Anyway, what do you need?" he asked.

I took a deep breath to build up the courage to ask. "I would like to take on an apprentice," I said.

"Nolan?" he asked. "I noticed you gave him a communicator."

"No. His younger sister, Kola," I corrected.

"Sure," he agreed easily. "Do you want to have her over at the palace? I can set up a private area for you."

"Really?" I said timidly. "You would do that for me?"

"Of course," he said. "Why are you so surprised by that?"

"You agreed so easily," I mumbled. "I didn't even expect you to say yes."

"Loki, when have I ever denied you anything you have asked for?" he asked.

I combed through each moment I had spent with him, sure that there was at least one time in the past year. I was surprised to find none. He had never told me I couldn't do anything or denied me anything. "Never," I said.

He nodded and said, "And I never will. You deserve more than I could ever give you. No matter what you ask, I will do my best to give it to you."

I blinked in surprise. No one had ever said that to me before. Sure, my brother and mother loved me, but they never said anything like that. "You really mean that?"

He moved to stand right in front of me, once again tilting my head up to face him. He had to do that a lot because I had a difficult time ignoring all the teachings from my childhood. "I do," he said. He sounded so sincere that it was impossible to doubt his statement.

I smiled at him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he said, smiling back. "Come on, it's their recess and I promised Ray that I would help him learn Latin and English."

"Oh!" I exclaimed, rushing towards the door. "I promised Kola I would watch her magic."

He chuckled as he followed behind me at a much slower pace. I called Nolan to ask where they were and he gave me directions. When I got there, I ended the call and walked over with a smile. "Hi Kola!" I greeted. "Sorry I'm late. Can you show me your magic now?"

She squealed happily and nodded. She dragged me over to a deserted section of the yard. She focused and her eyes glowed golden. She levitated off the ground slightly before falling back down and breathing heavily.

My eyes were wide as I stared at her. I quickly hid my surprise and smiled at her. "That was amazing Kola!" I praised. "What else can you do?"

She showed me the few other things she had learned and I praised her after each one. When she had run off to play with her friends again, I turned to Nolan with wide eyes. "Nolan, we need to start those lessons sooner," I said.

"Is something wrong?" he asked worriedly. "Is she okay?"

"Is she okay?" I repeated. "Nolan, she is more than okay. She is brilliant! How long has she been working on levitation?"