The smell of pancakes causes Owen to wake up. He rubs his eyes, as his stomach rumbles, wanting to eat. "Jeez, calm down, I'll go eat," Owen mummers sleepily.
Yawning, Owen gets up but feels a tug on his arm. He looks around and sees Alex holding onto it like a stuffed animal. Alex is asleep, softly snoring but holding onto Owen's right arm tightly. What do I do now..? Owen thinks. He couldn't just get up and forcefully leave. Yet he couldn't just stay here until Alex woke up...right?
I left my phone in my room too! Owen groans, rolling his eyes. Well, it was a spur of the moment decision anyway...
After a few minutes, Owen decides to try and get his arm free. He slowly pulls his right arm, but much to his dismay, Alex simply holds on tighter and started to stir.
Oh screw it, Owen decides. He leans back on the bed frame. That movement is when Alex's eyes opened.
Alex looks up at Owen and quickly lets go of his arm. "Whoops...thought that was my teddy bear..." Alex realizes, then pulls the covers over himself.
"Dude it's fine. After all, I did just randomly come into your room," Owen gets out of the bed.
"Is that pancakes?" Alex instantly gets up, standing next to Owen.
"Woah. That's fast," Owen jumps back a little.
"Sensei's probably making it since it's your first day here! You have to eat his pancakes! They're the best!" Alex exclaims, jumping up and down and then grabbing Owen's wrist and running downstairs.
"Alex! I didn't even brush my teeth yet!" Owen cries out in surprise.
But the blond kid didn't even stop for a minute and had the both of them down there in a second flat.
Owen blinks multiple times, his hair sticking up at random places as his eyes were wide. Alex on the other hand, looked much better than Owen did.
Ku turns to look, "Good mor-" He then bursts into laughter. Owen gained his composer and fixed himself, not looking amused. Alex joined in on the laughing after he turned around.
"Haha. Very funny," Owen rolls his eyes.
"You're no fun!" Alex laughs.
"You have to admit, I was caught off-guard and it was funny," Ku grins, turning back to pancakes.
"I think you rubbed off on Sensei, Alex," Owen sighs and takes a seat.
"That might be true," Ku shrugs, putting some pancakes in front of Owen. "Syrup and fruits are in front of you. Enjoy," he adds with a smile.
"Wow! Alex wasn't kidding, this stuff looks good," Owen looks impressed.
"Sensei, you've passed Owen's test! It must be best pancakes in the world!" Alex jokes, sitting next to Owen. The table is the island that is placed in the middle of the kitchen. So far, Ku only has three chairs there.
Owen cracks a smile, and then takes a bite. "I made you smile! I feel accomplished!" Alex smiles back.
"You should. I don't smile for no reason," Owen agrees, nodding as his face turned serious. He looks deep in thought as he chews the pancake with maple syrup and whip cream on it. Owen plays around with the fork, his green-brown eyes focused on the movement but his eyes looked like they were looking at something deeper.
Alex stares at Owen. This type of concentration and depth of thought felt new to Alex. I've seen them serious...but never this close. It's almost...hypnotizing...Alex thinks to himself, as he focuses on what Owen was doing. He looks like some form of majestic when this focused. Alex starts to wonder how Urana looks when she's focused or deep in thought.
At this point, even Alex's face turned serious with a shine of curiosity in his blue-gold eyes.
A very influential type of mage, him and Urana both. Well, they both are very intelligent. Alex seems to recognize the power of mages like that...Ava seems to acknowledge it. And Brenton...well, Brenton influences his own ideas, Ku thinks.
"This serious about pancakes? I can not imagine how serious you must be during studying or a test," Ku chuckles, breaking the serious atmosphere.
"He probably turns the whole place into a very sophisticated atmosphere," Alex pretends to be classy.
Owen laughs at Alex's attempt to make a serious face. Alex couldn't help but smile.
"Nice try buddy," Owen lets out a laugh.
"Okay, okay, not the best. I get it," Alex puts his hands up.
"Oh forget that, hurry and eat Alex. Owen, how does it taste?" Ku asks, looking hopeful at Owen.
"You don't need to look so desperate..." Owen's voice trails off. "It's really good though," he adds, being truthful.
"Yay! I have been approved!" Ku grins. Alex laughs and Owen simply face palms.
"You two do not mind going to the store with me right?" Ku asks, while decorating his pancake.
"Nope! Where are we going?" Alex questions, drinking a glass of orange juice.
"I don't mind," Owen eats more of his pancake.
"We're going to go to Malmart," Ku answers.
"Do you get a senior discount?" Owen looks up from his plate. That sends Alex and Ku laughing.
"Ha I wish," Ku grins widely. "Looks like Alex is already rubbing off on you," he adds with a laugh.
"I'm such a great influence aren't I, Sensei?" Alex laughs.
"Well I do feel better after laughing a bit," Owen muses.
"Yay!" Alex smiles and gives Owen a hug.
"Dude...you're suffocating me," Owen chokes out. Apologizing, Alex let's go of the hug and turns to eat his pancakes.
"What exactly is the purpose of going to Malmart?" Owen asks, finishing up the last pieces of his breakfast.
"You will see," is all Ku answers with.
--
After finishing breakfast, and brushing their teeth and getting out of their pajamas, they all reach Malmart.
Alex and Owen nagged Ku, questioning why he needed to come here. Yet the Sensei never even said a word. Ku walks past all the clothing and shoes and house appliances and food sections, completely ignoring their questions. Which only made the two teens more confused.
"Oh! I bet there's a secret entrance to go somewhere or something like that," Alex guesses.
"Tch. I doubt it would be in such a pubic place like this," Owen shakes his head.
"But that means that no one would suspect it here! Huh, huh," Alex nudges Owen.
"Not a bad point...it would be pretty risky though," Owen shrugs.
Ku then turns into the toy section. There were rows of teddy bears and other stuffed animals and toys.
"The toy section?" Alex and Owen question at the same time.
"I am so glad they have it here...okay Alex, go ahead and choose a bear that you want," Ku points to the rows in front of him.
"Wait what?" Owen questions, looking confused.
"I used to have a teddy bear..." Alex's voice trails off as his smile turns into a sad one. Not knowing how else to comfort his friend, Owen holds his hand reassuringly.
"I want you to feel better...it seems a teddy bear might do just the trick," Ku smiles kindly in their direction. Grinning, Alex practically jumps towards all the bears and starts to pick them up one by one.
"I don't mean to judge...but isn't he a bit too old for a teddy bear..?" Owen says in a low voice.
"I suppose. But if it will help him be less scared then I am all up for it," Ku shrugs. "Is there anything you have or want that helps you be less scared?" He then asks, looking at the dark-haired teen.
Owen shrugs, thinking for a moment. "Nothing comes to mind...there's just this one book that I have. Jamil used to read it to me all the time when we were younger," Owen pauses, debating if he wanted to share the next part. "Uh...Urana caught me reading it one time...then she starting reading it to me. I was pretty confused at that point," Owen lets out a nervous laughter.
"You were caught off-guard no? You did not think Urana would turn around and start making you feel better. You thought she would make fun of you huh?" Ku guesses.
"Haha, pretty much," Owen smiles for a second. "Is Alex...talking to the teddy bears..?" Owen looks over at the blond teen with an eyebrow raised.
"I...guess so..." Ku debates, not sure if this was just some habit or if he needed to intervene. Alex is holding up two bears, his mouth moving as if he was talking to them.
"Well I guess it's not so strange. He probably only had a bear to talk to back then," Owen bites his lip.
"You have a good point..." Ku's voice trails off.
Alex puts one down then comes back towards them. Carrying a teddy bear with light brown fur, jet black eyes and a golden bow tie to compliment the fur color. "Can I have this one?" Alex asks, lifting it up so that it was closer to Ku's face.
"Of course Alex! You have a very nice taste in teddy bears. This one is so cute!" Ku gushes over the teddy bear. He takes it into his own hands and hugs it.
I think I got stuck with a grandpa who's also a kid...Owen facepalms.
"I'm glad you like it," Alex smiles, looking proud of himself.
--
After buying the bear, the trio head towards Ku's silver car. A voice saying hello makes them all turn their head.
"Sasha, hey," Owen waves back at the black-haired teen.
"Hey Owen, Alex. What brings you guys to Malmart?" Sasha asks, a look of curiosity on her face.
"I got a teddy bear!" Alex holds it up proudly.
"Aw, it's so cute!" Sasha grins, rubbing the bear's head.
"Right? I love it sooooo much!" Alex smiles widely, hugging the bear close.
"What did you name it again?" Owen asks, signaling to Sensei that this would take just a few minutes.
"I named this one...Rocky Jr," Alex fixes the bow tie.
"That's a nice name. Oh! I've gotta go, see ya both at school tomorrow!" Sasha waves then runs off.
"Bleh, school," Alex sticks out his tongue and gets into the car. Owen sits in the front seat.
"How do you expect to get a job without school?" Owen asks.
"Aw c'mon, what's the point if you don't complain a little?" Alex grins. That got Owen thinking. He's got a point with that, Owen thinks.
"Buckle up! We shall grab some ice cream before your training," Ku starts the engine and drives.
"Ice cream!" Alex exclaims. "Is the best!"
"I agree," Owen says.
--
"Once you reach a certain point on your magic level, you meet your 'guardian', or 'spirit animal'. You all are far from reaching that point but I have no doubt you can reach it soon. Right now, you guys are basically at the level of an elementary school kid with magic. That is not bad considering you have not grown up with magic. But with The Eliminators showing up, you need to increase that level higher-which is already the goal-but even faster than we have been so far," Ku explains, pacing in front of the teens.
They are all lined up with their arms crossed or looking serious.
"We need to try something I do not do with mages your age but we do not really have a choice. This is practicing a simple power 'show-off' that most mages do instead of fighting to prove that they are stronger. Amy and I will demonstrate," Ku turns to face the red-head adult.
They both glare at each other, a wave of silver emitting from Ku and a wave of green from Amy. They two waves met but don't mix, instead they push each other back.
The high level of magic energy surprised the teens. Never experiencing it themselves, the feeling captivated by them. It was a strange yet beautiful feeling. Ku's magic giving off a very powerful feeling while Amy's a very competitive feeling.
Ku looks as if he was just meditating, while Amy looked as if she was struggling to keep up. Sweat pours down from Amy's hands. Then Amy pushes her hands forward, causing the green wave to go forward. Ku smiles, then raises his hand and sends Amy flying backwards.
Everyone burst out laughing, unable to contain it inside them.
"You better stop laughing right now 'cause you wouldn't even be able to handle that," Amy pouts, coming back while rubbing her back.
"Ow, couldn't you go just a little softer this time?" Amy stretches.
Ku chuckles, remembering his other students. "You will never learn that way," he says.
"Screw learning, that hurt," Amy whines with a smile, then sits down.
"So we gotta learn how to do that?" Brenton asks, pointing to the both of them.
"Well, not necessarily...but you should be able to do that if you want to visit the Magic World," Ku answers, tapping his chin.
"Let us try it out. Start off with trying to project your magic. If you are a show-off then I would assume it would be easier to do," as soon as the last word left his mouth, Brenton, Owen and Urana immediately had a wave of red, green and blue up. "Well then-ahem-show-offs," Ku fake-coughs with a laugh.
"Hey! I'm just good at learning," Owen defends himself.
"Can't help being good learners," Urana adds.
"Haha, I'm just a pretty good show-off," Brenton shrugs with a smile.
"Sensei! I can't do it!" Alex cries out. His face scrunched up and his fists tight. He looks as if he was trying so hard, but failed.
"Me neither! It's hard," Ava sighs in defeat. She relaxes her arms and takes a deep breath.
"Hmm, try thinking of it as giving out the magic energy as telling a joke or giving people laughter," Ku says. Giving them a knowing look.
Grinning at each other, Alex and Ava emit a gold and silver wave, competing against the red, green and blue.
"Well will ya look at that, you all got it," Amy smiles.
"Sensei, could you explain this place again? I'm not sure if I got the whole-" Ava moves her hands around-"magic space thing."
"Of course, it sounds strange I am sure. Magic space....it is a space that a mage can create when they are able to. Pretty much meaning, they need to be pretty strong since this space is literally in the middle of nowhere. It does not belong anywhere. I linked this place with the tree house so that is feels as if you are not going anywhere.
Also...a mage's magic space is linked with themselves. That is why you guys have to say a spell in order to leave if you are not telling me. I have cleared out this space for training. If you were to wander you would get into-basically-my mind. It is very sensitive to the mage who created it..." Ku looks at his staff, a sad shine in his mud brown eyes.
"That is why trying to leave without doing it properly could result in you hurting yourselves or hurting me. It is a strange thing really..." Ku shrugs, he turns to look at his students.
"Let is practice that a few more times then that will be it," the elderly man adds with a smile.
--
Owen wipes the sweat off of his face as he sits on the sidewalk right outside of Sen-Wait, his-house now as well. It felt strange to Owen to call this place his house. Yet it didn't feel so strange to call it his home. This is some weird feeling, Owen concludes in his mind.
"Hey dude," Urana pats his shoulder then sits down next to him. Her light blue towel around her neck. All of them got one after a while of training.
"Hey," Owen absently-mindly says back.
"You know it's only been a day of you being here and you've started to become more like yourself again," Urana notices, staring off in the distance. Owen looks at her, raising an eyebrow.
"What makes you say that?" Owen questions, turning his gaze to his hands.
"Well...you're the kind of person who likes to show off his skill every now and then but then never admitting it. You like competing with me even though neither of us will admit that haha," Urana laughs.
"Okay you're just describing me," Owen points out.
"Jeez be patient! Let me finish. Today, you showed off and tried to do more than usual. Like, taking out the targets that were obviously meant for Alex, Ava and Brenton. We both competed in that too, so I'm proven guilty on that account as well," Urana explains.
"So what's wrong with that?" Owen questions, his gaze challenging Urana. In turn, Urana gazes back.
"There's nothing wrong with that," Urana smiles and nudges him playfully.
"I was gonna say...we can fight right now if you think it's wrong," Owen nudges her back.
They laugh for a moment then look off into the distance.
"You know...I'm glad you're starting to become more like yourself. Getting comfortable with everyone...I really missed you," Urana says in a soft voice. Owen silently nods as a light breeze blows by. That sentence was the next best thing to hear in Owen's opinion.
They both turn around and see Ava with her hands towards them, the place where the breeze came from. "C'mon you two, we've gotta go," Ava grins, congratulating herself on distracting them.
"An A for the creativity," Owen says as he gets up.
"And an A for not letting us know you were there," Urana adds.
"Straight A's! Now that's what I'm talking about!" Ava puts her fist in the air as she walks towards Sensei's car. Owen and Urana follow, smiling at the cheerful teen.
---
"So let me get this straight: you guys all have pretty sad backstories but have like no love life, which is more likely for teens your age than it is to have something genuinely terrible in your life," Amy spins in her chair.
They're all standing in the office next to the gym, where Amy-Ms. Burns's-office is. Amy just wanted to confirm that all five of them don't have any sort of experience of love. But then again, they are teens, yet at this age people have dated at least once. Well, at least have some sort of love-life. But as far as she could tell, these five had nothing of the sort.
The five of them nod, leaning at random spots throughout the office.
"Well that's a surprise, to be honest when I first saw Brenton I thought he'd be the kind of dude who flirts with everyone," Amy chuckles.
"Same here, he just has that sort of personality," Owen agrees.
"Like I know he doesn't but I low-key thought he did," Ava adds.
"It's the vibe he gives off sometimes," Alex nods.
"Yet he doesn't which isn't bad," Urana finishes.
"Why does everyone think that? Like honestly, I will only flirt with people that I actually want to date," Brenton throws his hands up in defeat. "I give up on you guys," he groans and face palms.
They all laugh, Brenton's facial expressions the most entertaining part of teasing him.
"Don't you kids have somewhere to be? Like study hall?" Amy turns herself to face them.
"Naw, this is more fun," Brenton waves his hand dismissively.
"We all finished our work. We thought it would be nice to visit you," Alex says.
"It would only be fair since you have to deal with all those kids," Ava adds.
"Besides, you're much more better than those other teachers," Urana points out.
"You're pretty interesting and can actually teach," Owen agrees.
"Aw thanks but being a teacher here means that I have to enforce the rules, besides, as soon as you guys pass the doors the bell will ring," Amy brings up.
Sighing and groaning, they all get their bags and head out. Sure enough the bell rings and they rush out.
Going towards the woods, they check their things and make sure they weren't being followed by anyone that might be The Eliminators.
They walk through the deserted field between the woods and the neighborhoods. Owen and Urana explaining whatever was on the homework they were having trouble with.
Urana, Brenton and Ava were in front, walking backwards and talking with Alex and Owen walking forwards.
"Have you guys seen Sasha's latest stunt?" Brenton asks, pulling it up on his phone.
"That's how she'll break bones but that's the reason why she's a gymnast and does diving," Urana comments as she watches the video of Sasha jumping from the edge of something and doing fancy tricks before landing on her feet.
"Why else do you think she hasn't broken anything yet?" Owen laughs.
"I'm just saying," Urana laughs back.
"I wish I could do stuff like that!" Ava pouts.
"You can hit home runs as easily as running level one parkour!" Alex stares at her in disbelief.
"You can do that too you know," Ava reminds him. "It's our speciality."
But Alex didn't reply, instead he stands frozen, his hands shaking as the color from his face drains. Next to him, Owen looked as if he was going to break down.
"Guys? What's wrong?" Ava questions, waving a hand in front of them. Worry taking over her.
"You guys look pale...are you two sick?" Brenton checks their foreheads.
"Alex, Owen, are you okay?" Urana asks, looking worried.
"Miss me Alex?"
"I'm sure my Owen remembered to finish all of his lessons."
The three of them turn around and their eyes widen at the realization. They didn't know they were the mothers of Alex and Owen, but their reactions alone were enough to tell.
There standing in front of the teens, were the mothers of Alex and Owen. A dark aura surrounding them as their hands glows a dark color.