Dedicated to @MyLostLove
Why was it that everything suddenly seemed worse when we saw our mum? Maybe it's because we knew she didn't deserve it. Maybe it's because we'd known her for so long. Either way, she was in the coma disease that had been all around the news. Laura and Timothy were a bit shocked, but not as much as us. We were horrified.
'I'm sorry.' said Laura, breaking the silence.
Tina spun around, tears running down her face. 'You see? This is exactly why I'm ditching this life. If we'd stopped earlier, then maybe she'd still be here. Smiling and laughing and embarrassing us to no end, but not this. Nothing like this.'.
Timothy looked around uneasily. 'Maybe I should go. It's getting awkward.'.
'No.' one of us ordered. At the time, I didn't even realize it was me talking. 'You know something, don't you? You're going to tell me. If there's anyway to stop the coma, you will tell me.'.
Laura answered on his behalf. 'What we know won't help anyone. Please understand.'.
'Timothy sighed. 'Might as well say. Arex did this. It's one of his calling cards, if you'll pardon the analogy.'.
'Oh, sure. Go right ahead and compare my mum to a piece of paper.' Christina said, with barely contained anger.
'Don't mind if I do. Anyway, that's why it's been happening. It only ever effects people who've been in the same place as Arex at the same time. Which means...' Timothy started matter-of-factly.
'He's been here.' I finished.
'Please understand this. We can't do anything until Arex is destroyed.' Laura explained. 'Without him, the curse simply ceases to work.'.
'I'm staying out of this.' Christina told us, then ran out, leaving me with Laura and Timothy.
'We'll try and teach you what we can. It's the best we can do.' Laura said, breaking the silence again.
'Like.... A magical theory lesson? It sounds dumb.'. What? Can you blame me for being in a bad mood?
'Yeah. It always does.' Timothy stated. 'You gonna do it or not?'.
I shrugged. 'What else do I have to lose?'.
My father. My sister. My friends, magic and non-magic. People who I barely knew, but had heard of somehow. And, most importantly, my life. Because if I lost that, I lost everything else. Not exactly a good thing.
My father, as it turned out, had left before me that day, and had no idea we had disappeared to un-kidnap (is that even a word) Christina and fight a myltling, or whatever they were called. He didn't even know about what had happened to mum, until he got home. By the end of it all, I think no one in the house hadn't been crying at some point. Which is why I probably thought it was a perfect time to start the lessons.
'Right!' Laura started, pointing at the whiteboard. 'We will be covering theory of magic. Lesson one: How magic can be summoned.'.
'Firstly, some rules.' Timothy continued. 'We won't be teaching you how to fight. I don't want to create some fighting machine.'.
'Secondly,' Laura replied, 'What we teach you cannot be shared. We haven't got a teachers permit yet.'.
'And finally,' they finished, in perfect synchronization, 'Don't be a smart-alec. We know more then you. Remember that.'.
I attempted to look interested. This was going to be sooooo much fun.
'Magic can be summoned in multiple ways.' Laura stated, and started writing on the board. 'It can be stolen, summoned from people, summoned from nature, taken from emotions or from power on the inside. Are you writing this down?'.
I looked up. 'Mentally, yes. Physically, no. I don't have a note-pad.'.
'Never mind. Forget it.' Timothy said, waving his hand. 'Stolen magic can be stolen in two ways. One is for shapeshifters only. When they take on someone's appearance, they can sometimes take on their magic as well. The second one is known as leeching. Leeching is when someone steals others magic by use of a spell. It's mainly frowned upon, as it's always black magic. Always.'.
I smiled, trying to look like I understand what they were talking about.
He turned to Laura. 'She has no idea what we're talking about.'.
Laura sighed. 'Whatever. Sophia, try summoning a bone.'.
Wait. What? 'A bone?' I asked.
She stared at me. 'You're a necromancer, aren't you?'.
'Yeah. Not a puppy dog.' I answered. Then the bone appeared in my hand.
'How did you summon it?' Timothy asked.
'Er...' I had no idea. 'From the inside?' I guessed.
'Probably. It was either that or your strong emotions currently. And if it was that, then it probably would have been an entire skeleton.'.
Timothy groaned. 'You both realize how creepy this is, right?'.
And then he droned on. Honestly? Wasn't learning magic supposed to be fun? Apparently not, at least not for little old me.