Wizards Rule

[Kanji]

((Unfortunately theres no diaper content in this chapter, I promise the next one will touch base a little better with the subject.))

Wizards Rule

Chapter 1: Apprentice

Rain lashed against the endless streets of the city, the clouds ahead casting a shadow that caused the slick pavement to glow in a myriad of colors. This of course was caused by the endless amount of power running through the city lighting every intersection and corner. Though the rain was fierce enough to warrant a ghastly cold, the people of the city went on as though the weather had no effect on their fragile bodies. Of course each would complain internally about the weather, some might even make note of it to one of the millions of circles of contacts that existed there. It was a city of a million stories, tickling a million fancies of love, violence, humor, and even magic. No one person could know all the stories, though many had spent their whole lives trying to assail the shadows to accomplish that very goal.

He of course was no different from the ant like proceeding of the millions upon the uneven crag that was the sidewalk, though in another sense he was on a whole other plane of existence. Wearing an overly large leather jacket in an attempt to avert the rain, Derrick Netter pulled down his wide brimmed hat as he limped under a heavily dripping tree. His cane clicked with a metallic cling against the pavement as he walked, and his whole body leaned forward as though he would fall at any moment. No one noticed that the man ducked with surprising agility into a convenient covered alley. Pulling a weathered note from his pocket ignored the sudden incoherent protest from the vagrant lying in his padded cardboard estate. Slowly he thanked whatever dark god might be listening that the smell of alcohol was drowned by the wafting freshness of winter’s rain. The note was a letter really, though it did not follow the strict English code of letter writing, instead resembling a shopping list with girls’ names.

From a sardonic perspective he supposed that if the police had found this note there would be an amber alert within the hour, Derrick’s bearded face plastering every free space in the bus terminals and the subway bulletin boards. His intentions were pure however; all the names that had been crossed out were merely the ones who had not met the criteria. They were still alive and well though a little dazed by the test he had administered upon them. It was a pity too; most of the girls were very cute he would have loved to have had them as his young and feisty charge. Worry also hit him as he saw that the names on the list were waning fast, he began to think that the Guild had maybe sent him the wrong set of adepts, or even that he might have to deal with a male.

Derrick gave a sidelong glace at the homeless man spitting vehement incoherent protests in his direction, seemingly measuring the situation as a whole. “You want something from me?”

As if on cue the Vagrant fell asleep, it was almost too good to be coincidence.

“Right then I suppose not.” Kneeling down Derrick pulled a small red stone dangling on a leather necklace from his pocket. “Let’s get the next test over with.”

The stone made a hollow clink against the pavement, leaving a glowing red trail as he made scratches into the ground. A seemingly insignificant instant in which fate was bent around the realm of magic, whether or not it was for better or worse was times domain. Archaic letters flowed between the catalyst stone, his wrists moving fluidly to perfect every intricate design.

In the dark alley the red text glowed brightly, legible only by a select group.

Kiara Smith.

He ducked back out of the alley, instantly matching the procession of citizens his eyes watching the crowds with a weary distance. Derrick limped for about an hour until finally he made it to his final destination, a small record store among thousands of gun and liquor stores. Upon opening the door he was nearly blasted away by the blaring rage that happened to be the forte of the so called band in the compact disc player. It was an empty sort of place, where the smell had almost gained as much age as one would expect from a library. Behind the counter was a single girl looking back at him with an obvious disdain, turning to her radio and turning down the music for the customer. Derrick noted that she had a certain charm about her though she seemingly was against the whole cute girl angle.

“Excuse me miss.” Derrick took off his hat letting his aged face be shown. “I’d like to have a word with you if you have a moment.”

“I’m sorry sir the real record store is two blocks from here, we only sell Garage Band stuff.” She said with seething emphasis on the word ‘sir.’

Derrick smiled smoothing his goatee with the flat of his hand. “Yes well I’m not here to buy music, besides you’re just watching the store until your friend comes back. You don’t even work here.”

He usually hated being so blunt with people, he would much rather play games with his words. Derrick always enjoyed wit, but usually didn’t have the drive to make jokes on a day to day basis. It was really quite sad, but his work got in the way of the trivialities that his mind had once possessed as a younger lad.

“Lovely.” She leaned against eh back wall the stud under her lip glinting angrily. “I had always hoped my stalker would be a little… Younger.”

“I assure you that is not the case miss, I’m here to judge your character as it were, it’s all a very upright process. All I have to do is get you to come and take a walk with me.” Derrick leaned on his cane looking around the store with passing interest. “I’m fairly certain that this store won’t miss you, you practically never get customers, especially on school days such as this one.”

“Look, I’m flattered you had the guts to be my stalker, and that you find me attractive and all. But I really don’t feel like getting raped and left for dead by and old man.”

The music flooded back in a low hum as the two stared at each other, before Derrick turned away from the young girl, his cane clicking rhythmically against the linoleum floor.

“Pity.” He opened the door and sunk back into the busy city.

Kiara brushed back her red hair a little annoyed at the audacity of the old man, it seemed that whenever she was nervous her hands always went to the flaming dyed mane that she prized above any other asset of her body. As she went to turn the radio back up a seemingly random thought caught her. What if the old man had been telling the truth, perhaps he was the thing she had been vehemently searching for lately. She had forsaken her education and her job to find out why she had been having strange things happening to her lately. Nothing that was completely serious, mostly waking up in her driveway or finding items she had never bought in her apartment. Consciously she desperately tried to abandon the connection with the man to her mysterious mishaps, but her paranoia led her to believe that he was the key.

Obviously Kiara did not have much will power over her own thoughts, and found her self flying out of the shop for the man with the cane. She was instantly soaked by the rain, her black shirt becoming cold and clammy and her pleated blood red skirt drooping against her thighs with a sickly wet feeling. Something like sadness overcame her when she could not find him in the moving crowd, and she turned back toward the shop, walking dejectedly toward her self imposed doom.

“Damn… Why’d I ever send-“ Kiara bumped into something soft, stepping back reactively and looking to see what she hit.

“You missed me that much?” Derrick said with a straight face.

“Shut up. I want to know something, and your going to tell me.”

“Shouldn’t we-“

“No more talk, answer my question first damn it! Why is weird stuff happening to me? Why do I see a glow surrounding me when I look in the mirror? Why do I wake up in strange place? Why do weird books keep appearing in my house? Why do I shock people when I touch them even though I haven’t been on a shred of carpet in six years? Answer me!”

The old man stroked his goatee thoughtfully. “First answer me this. Did you ever read fantasy stories as a child?”

“Sure who hasn’t?”

“Well, to tell you the why of things you have to drop your conceptions of wizardry. And know that magic has existed around us even during these times of science. I hail from an ancient guild of Sorcerers who secretly protect the world from any magical mishaps. We exist in generations that seemingly take about two hundred years each, and unfortunately the time of change is fast arriving. The reason I am here talking to you now is because you exhibit promise in the fields of magic. I have been scouring the city for my apprentice and you just happened to be one of the ones on the list. I am sorry that odd things happen to you, but that is what happens when you unnaturally tug on the essence of magic. Of course, if I deem you unworthy of the position there is a high chance that the odd happenings will cease altogether.”

“Ok, so we pull coins out of peoples ears to save the world?”

“Not quite, those are illusions; we deal with bending the rules of reality. Displacement, summoning, just happen to be some of the abilities we have.”

Derrick noted happily that she seemed to be processing it all well enough.

“So, what is this test? Am I supposed to launch a fireball or something?” She had a devious glint in her eye at that statement.

“No, the test is already done you passed. All I needed to do was test your honesty; most girls would have spent the time ducking around the fact that I was creepy. You on the other hand had the bravery to confront me on the whole idea that I might be crazy. Of course I did take the liberty to induce your mind to seek me out after I left the store.”

“Er… Wait? You made a hypnotic suggestion?! Are you a pervert or something?”

“No dear, my mind is quite a distance from the gutter.”

“Right… I’m Kiara Smith.” She offered her hand to be shook.

“You may call me Derek Netter, welcome apprentice to the world of magic.” He took her hand and shook it in a gentleman’s fashion.

Kiara seemed on the verge of something like a smile but sneezed instead, her face becoming feverishly red.

“Yea, I was going to suggest we go back inside before I gave you that speech.”

Kiara growled to herself. “Thanks for the heads up.”

[BabyJakey]

Great story cant wait till chapter 2.

[Kanji]

Chapter 2

Complications

Somehow the old man who had entered the record store that evening had transformed from creepy to a mystery, though Kiara suspected it wouldn’t take much for any old man to become a mystery. He wasn’t at all remarkable, fitting the bill of just about everyone’s initial thoughts of an old man, which happened to be snowy white hair and a face that wrinkled whenever he talked. At the very least he was kempt, with a trimmed salt and pepper goatee framing out his deep blue eyes in a way that told of countless wisdom. He also wore clothing that was kempt as well, a long black leather jacket, black slacks and leather shoes and a wide brimmed black hat that was now under his right arm in a gentleman’s fashion.

Kiara couldn’t help but identify him with all her childhood memories, despite her vehement attempts to persuade her mind otherwise. She had never much cared for her past, especially the fact that at times she made strange things happen. It was always as if she was some kind of mutant, alone and dejected by circumstances. There had been times when she had even hurt people that she had loved because of all the strange things happening around her. In that light, it was really no wonder that Kiara sank into the obscurity of punk rock and black lipstick. It wasn’t even the unexplained events that always set her in a foul mood when she thought about it, rather her own helplessness to have ever changed it.

“Alright Netter, before I pursuit this further I want to see some of this ‘magic’ of yours.” She sneered sitting on the counter so she could look down on the old man.

Derek stroked his beard thoughtfully for a moment. “Alright, I suppose I could show you something.”

Leaning his cane against the counter the old man leaned down to his haunches and took up a small dead leaf that had most likely blown into the store from outside earlier in the day. As he stood up again he was already focusing his will, his concentration flaring around him like a bright aura. Turning to Kiara revealed that she could indeed see the weavings of the essence considering that her mouth was agape. After a few moments the leaf began to regain life, brown washing away from the bright green that was common in spring days. Soon the essence faded however and the leaf withered slowly back to the brown that it had been originally floating out of the old wizards fingers to the linoleum floor below.

“Well? Do you believe me now? Or should I do some other inane first level trick?”

Kiara gaped for a moment more before pulling a few red locks out of her eyes to encompass the whole situation. “H-How did you do that?”

“Magic.” Derek answered wryly.

She sniffed again, feeling a fever coming on. “Alright, lets get this over with… I’m starting to feel crummy.”

Derek grabbed his cane once more and wobbled over to the girl grabbing her hand. “Take a deep breath.”

“What for?” Kiara sniffed, doing so after a small sneeze.

In an instant everything became blurred, moving in a chaotic stir of motion, she was aware that she had suddenly been ripped from her seat on the counter. After that one moment passed she felt her body somewhere else completely, the blur quickly becoming a marbled entryway of a manor. It was much like the ball room one would expect in fairy tales, a crystalline chandelier hanging from the roof above and two regal staircases curving downward toward each other. Though the room was pristinely kempt, it was not lit, and held a sort of eerie emptiness about it that set the mind flaring with dark thoughts of Victorian murders.

Of course Kiara would have enjoyed the elegant moodiness of it all had she not felt so ill. Dropping to her hands and knees the red head began to vomit, her ears ringing with the sickening plops of hot liquid coming from her mouth. She was pretty sure that last weeks dinner was part of the mix, though the thought was too far for her to actually grasp onto. Between her regurgitations she felt her hair being pulled back from her face, obviously a desperate gesture from the old man who watched with a certain distaste.

After quite a while Kiara sat on her hands and knees gasping, sweat trickling down various lines in her face. She felt weak, but above that was the burning throughout her body making her feel even worse about the whole ordeal. With a final gasp she rolled on her back with the faint realization that her skirt had flipped up and her shirt was pulled up exposing her abdomen. Derek’s hand instantly went across her forehead, his eyes drawn with worry as he checked her temperature.

“You have fever.” Derek stated flatly.

“Thanks Einst-“

Before she was seized by her unconsciousness, she remembered seeing the chandelier above Derek sway slightly. She also remembered hoping that it would fall on her, crushing her instantly. Kiara supposed that the days when she wished for a quick death were soon to be over; Derek had come and in a short time, answered many of her quandaries.

Just who am I anyway…

The banging behind the door grew louder with each passing moment. “Miss Smith, get your butt out of that room right now and go take a shower, all the other children are already eating breakfast!”

“Just go away you hag…” Kiara pulled her pillow over her head to block the noise.

“That’s no way to speak to me young lady!” The door began to loosen.

The unfortunate design flaw of the door to the girls dorm was that after a while it would open up with enough struggle, even when locked. It was partially due to the bad design of ergonomics over functionality that the time period had exuded when the house was built, and also due to countless eras of girls leaning on the door to eaves drop on any conversation they could hear. So it wasn’t long before the child services woman got in, hovering over Kiara’s bed with her hands placed angrily at her hips.

She wasn’t cruel by nature though she did seem so at the time, she was however rather concerned with the various rules that had been placed in the household. It had been her displeasure to let the three legged dog sleep on old blankets just outside the girls dorm. In fact she had almost forbade it completely, and would have done so had it not been for Freya, who promised that the dog would not cause any trouble.

“Young lady.” Her voice trailed in that ‘I’m disappointed in you’ fashion.

“I’m not hungry.” Kiara declared rather loudly.

It really wasn’t hard to figure out why little Kiara was so hesitant to get out of the bed, all of the workers had known from day one. So there was really no surprise from either of them when the worker swiftly pulled back the sheets leaving the girl lying in her own puddle of urine. Slowly Kiara rolled off the bed and angrily went about her daily task of disrobing completely and rolling up her wet clothing with the equally wet sheets then taking a shower while the worker went about doing the laundry.

Kiara awoke with a start, her body inclining to a sitting position in the grand four poster bed with deep red sheets. She wasn’t disoriented, though she really did not know where she was at that point in time having passed out in the grand hall of Derek’s house. Rain became sheets of water as it smashed against the large window in the dark room. It was the kind of window that actually protruded from the frame of the house leaving a ledge where one could sit and stare out into the yard of the house from. As well the rest of the room was just about what Kiara had expected from the wizard, a grand oak armoire sat at the opposite a very gothic vanity with black iron wrought against the glass to resemble the branches of a tree.

Digging away all the sleep in her eyes before pulling away the covers, Kiara spied that she was dressed slightly differently than she had came in. He clothes had been replaced by a rather long night shirt, and thick cloth socks had been placed on her feet. Climbing off the huge bed she began to feel a weight between her legs, upon inspection she found that she was wearing a wet overnight adult diaper to which she frowned. She didn’t have long to contemplate the reasons for her imprisonment in the absorbent garment however, as both Derek and a plump maid came into the room.

“I see you’ve decided to wake up.” Derek held the flat of his palm to her forehead. “And your fever has gone down exponentially as well. Very good.”

“Erm, Derek how long was I sick?”

Derek looked up in speculation. “If I recall it was nearly four days, though I might be off because I spent something of a day reading in my library.”

Kiara blushed. “Oh… No wonder then. I was wondering if you were just into some perverted fetish or something. I guess I was wrong though.”

“Ah yes, do not fret, I haven’t even been changing you personally. Instead Miss Francesca here has been doing it for me. I figured that it would be ungentlemanly for me to gaze upon your more vulnerable form without your express permission to do so.” Derek explained taking a rather ornate chair from the corner of the room and sitting on it.

“Yea that would be you wouldn’t it, prude to the last breath.”

Derek chuckled. “I suppose you’ll never be happy Kiara, I seem to recall that earlier you were calling me a perverted old man.”

“That’s me, unhappy.” Kiara hid the truth of that statement with a smile.

“Anyway Kiara, I have decided that you should rest in bed for at least one more day before we begin our training. I need you to stay in bed the whole time, so I’m going to have Miss Francesca change you one last time. Do not get distraught, this is the last diaper I expect you to wear; it’s just a precaution.”

Kiara thought for a moment, she had an aversion to anyone seeing her naked, but on the other hand she had been very sick days before. Derek’s concerns were not only well grounded, but logically sound as well. There was really no telling how weak or strong she was and a good days rest would lower any risks that might pop up if she were to be active. Finally she agreed to his demand and climbed back onto the bed pulling up her shirt revealing the heavily sodden diaper. Derek being the perfect gentleman left the room, his cane clicking down the hall as he did so.

Though she was embarrassed by the whole ordeal, Kiara had to admit that the maid did do a fair job of keeping her calm. The process wasn’t necessarily slow and comforting, but it wasn’t surgical either. The woman seemed to be not only an expert of changing others diapers, but also reading her charges emotions and acting accordingly. As the diaper came up tightly through her legs and against her heavily powdered crotch, Kiara realized that she had barely made any fuss to the woman. The tapes went up and her long night shirt went down, and after making sure the young red headed girl was comfortable the maid left the room.

Derek’s cane made no sound as he walked through the dark corridor, his eyes focused on the light at the end of the hall. His mind was buzzing with information, mostly pertaining to his newest apprentice. However he waved it all off as unimportant at the moment as he plunged into the light, emerging in a crystal chamber at the base of a round lake. Standing on ledges above him were other men, clothed in thick black robes with their faces covered by porcelain masks. All of them stared down at him, reading him with all of their vast abilities before they chose to spoke. Of course Derek was doing the same, but he could never fully judge the character of his elders, he was only a pupil considered to their endless skill.

“You have found her then?” One of the men suddenly asked.

“Yes.” Derek stroked his beard. “Her name is Kiara Smith, and though she is wild, she contains an infinite amount of promise.”

“Then continue with the plan.” The way it was said gave an impression of aggravation.

“Yes Council…”

[Kanji]

Chapter 3

“Oh my head…” Kiara held her forehead as she got up, pushing one hand to block the suns rays from her eyes. “Stupid rain… Had to go away.”

“I hear tale it comes again some other day.” Derek’s voice drifted gently through the air.

The Wizard leaned against his cane in the doorway, stroking his salt and pepper beard in deep thought. Sitting up and letting the thick red comforter drape off her, Kiara stretched and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She was wet, but she had done it purposely, she would have rather faced a wet diaper than the gut wrenching pain of spending a day in bed without relieving herself. The fifth day of rest had really helped a lot, she didn’t feel sick or worn at all; in fact she was ready to face whatever the day might throw in her direction. Without really thinking about it, she ran her hands through her red hair and threw aside her sheets, swinging her bare legs over the side of the bed. To her surprise her feet didn’t even touch the floor, Kiara wasn’t exactly tall, but she had never seen a bed that had been tall enough to have her feet dangle in the air.

“Pity that, I rather enjoy the rains company. It has so much to talk about.”

Derek chuckled. “If only you knew the extent of it.”

“Ah right, the grand magical scheme. Spirits talking to us, huge fireballs and what not, raising the dead to do our bidding.” Kiara jumped off the bed pulling down her shirt so that the diaper didn’t completely show.

“You do seem to talk about fire a lot Miss Smith, I’m starting to notice a bit of a pattern.” Derek stepped into the room, the metal tip of his cane clicking hollowly against the high ceiling.

Kiara shrugged before pulling down her shirt again. “Yea well what can I say? I’m destructive.”

“Well hopefully we can harness some of that destructive energy into something constructive today. You’re a gifted young woman Miss Smith, you’ve been given a gift, and I want to remind you that we are here to use that gift for the protection of the various magical energies that inhabit the world.” Derek finally sat down on the ledge of the window, both hands resting on his cane. “Today we begin you’re training young lady. I’m telling you now, it will not be easy.”

“Feh… Yes father.” Kiara mocked. “Now if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to get a shower before I go get all sweaty from training. Something about spending five days in diapers annoys me just a little.”

“Very well.” Derek nodded. “There’s a bathroom just down the hall. Also, in the cabinets of this room you’ll find some clothing that I believe will fit your particular style.”

“What are they magic cabinets that read my mind or something?”

“No, I went out and purchased some clothing for you yesterday. I hope you don’t mind that I gathered your size from your old clothing.” Derek said frankly.

Kiara actually blushed, she could have easily pawned off what she had said as a joke, but somehow she had meant it. The fact that the old man had gone to the trouble of making sure she had clothing also made her feel just a bit childish.

“Erm… No I don’t mind Derek… Just ah… Don’t let me catch you in my clothing again you pervert.” She regained composure.

Derek chuckled again pushing himself up. “When you’re ready, come down to the dining room.”

Kiara nodded and took a towel that had been placed on the bedside table, waltzing out into the dim hallway of the mansion. Unlike her room which was designed for comfort, the hallways had a foreboding air about them. Deep green carpets lined the floor with identical oak doors lining the walls. In places the royal blue wallpaper had begun to peel, though it could only be seen by the ornate lamps that protruded out of the walls like sickly vines. More and more Kiara liked the mansion for its tendency to inspire morbid thoughts. As she strolled she began to imagine all the murders of noble young lasses that could have taken place.

Before she bumped into someone she had started to imagine a grand masked ball, and a blonde haired virgin being pinned against the wall by some black haired noble, afraid to scream, afraid to breathe. Of course, the bump jostled her back to reality and she stumbled back landing square on her bottom. Heat rose up in her body as she shot to her feet to stare her assailant in the eyes.

“Hey! Watch where you’re going!” Kiara shoved the rusty blonde boy back a few steps.

“Whoa now sheila, don’t be spewin’ now, I mean you weren’t quite watching your way now were you? Had me gob smacked really… No worries though sheila, it’s early an all.” He pushed back his wet hair, having apparently just come from the shower. “No need to take an ear bashing from some ankle biter in a nappy.”

“Nappy… What? Look ‘Bloke’ I didn’t understand a word you just said. Speak English please, everyone else does.” Kiara pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Americans right… Bloody great.” He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Look sheila… My name is Curt, you can’t just go around and yell at me when you were at fault too. As I said though, no worries, I’m not about to argue with a kid in a diaper.”

Kiara opened and closed her mouth as if to say something but just pushed past him before turning. “I… I don’t wear these all the time!”

Curt shrugged, working on the buttons of his shirt which apparently had only been buttoned half way. “Aint knocking it sheila.”

She was about to say something else, but suddenly decided against it, lowering her brow as she stormed down the hallway. Kiara wished at the very least that her lovely and inspirational image of a Victorian murder scene hadn’t been ruined by some Australian idiot who was more content with buttoning up his shirt than watching where he was going. As she closed and locked the door to the bathroom however she let her diaper drop with a sickly plop to the floor before completely disrobing and running the tap of the bath.

Throwing away the wet diaper, Kiara took a moment to lean against the counter and stare at her self in the mirror. “Magic huh… I didn’t know Australians had the capacity to do magic. Well of course I wouldn’t, I mean, I didn’t even know it existed till five days ago… Five days that I didn’t even get to experience.”

She kept babbling like a enamored bird until steam began to obscure her image. Finally turning away from the foggy mirror, Kiara grudgingly stepped under the shower head and let the water caress her dirty skin. Five days of filth washed away from her, renewing her in the hot water as she began to preen. Without even realizing it, Kiara started to reach a state of euphoria, a mindless void of joy. She usually hated showers, much rather preferring to do something more constructive like listen to music. However after five days of laying still she was finding that the hot water was just a little more than therapeutic.

Regretfully however, Kiara had to get out of the shower grabbing the towel she had brought with her and rigorously drying her hair before wrapping it tightly around her body. After a moment to brush her hair, she stepped back out into the hallway and made her way back into her room without any unexpected hindrances.

“Now lets see what pink and frilly things the old man got me…” Kiara mused to herself as she pulled out one of the cabinet drawers.

What greeted her was not pink and frilly however, but mostly black and gothic, stuff that she would normally wear. Most importantly her favorite clothing accessory ever greeted her, arm warmers, enough to last her a life time. For a moment Kiara considered just spending the rest of the day playing dress up when she remembered that she had to go down to the dining room. Lowering her brow she considered the clothes for a moment and chose what appealed to her most, a band tee shirt, black zipper pants, and a pair of purple arm warmers with meaningless buckles.

After dressing, the red head emerged from her room and looked up and down the hall. “Great… He didn’t even tell me where the freaking dining room was. Where’s that damn Australian when I need him!?”

“Curt?” A voice said from behind her. “Probably stuffing his face with breakfast, most of us think he’s got an empty stomach.”

Kiara turned to a black haired girl with square framed glasses and auburn hair. “And who might you be?”

“Its impolite to ask someone’s name before introducing yourself.” She walked past Kiara.

“Where?! Nebraska? God, its two thousand five, you’d think that just maybe the human race had gotten past the idea that we can all be happy go lucky polite beings.” Kiara found herself walking in stride with the girl.

“Oh you’re Netter’s Apprentice aren’t you? I had heard that you might be a little crass…”

Kiara sighed. “I’m Kiara Smith.”

“Penny.”

“Great, now can you tell me where the dining room is? I’d like to get this day over with before the rest of you tell me off in one form or another.” Kiara sighed.

“I’m heading there now. Just keep following me.”

“Right then.”

They walked in silence, emerging from the hallway to the grand entrance that she had teleported into on her first day. However it was currently bustling with maids’ running back and forth with various baskets and other implements of housework. As well the occasional non-uniformed person pushed by, most of which carried books or had an important air about them. Kiara was only slightly depressed by the activity; she had wished to enjoy the empty entryway when she wasn’t prone to vomiting.

They descended and walked across the marbled floor themselves, pushing through wide double doors into a large sunlit room. It really wasn’t much of a dining room at the moment, the floor was all but empty, with one long table in the middle strewn with a buffet of food. There weren’t even any chairs or dishes to speak of, all the food was portable.

Amidst the small crowd of people, Derek stood talking to man with thick rimmed glasses, every once in a while he would tap his cane against the floor. After grabbing an apple, Kiara made her way through the crowd and approached him.

“Ah, and here she is!” Derek exclaimed as Kiara moved within listening distance. “Miss Smith this is my colleague Robert Thomas. Robert this is young Kiara Smith, my lovely new apprentice.”

Robert chuckled and waved to Kiara. “Hello Kiara, I hear you made quite a mess of the entry hall.”

“Just making my mark sir, I tend to do it to all places I suddenly teleport too. At least that’s the current trend.”

Chuckling again the black haired man turned back to Derek. “Oh you were right; she’s quite the lively one.”

“Yes, it seems the Council considered me fortunate enough to give me an Apprentice who can think for herself. I’ve seen quite a few apprentices who have to be taught to think before they can even start a cantrip.”

“Hopefully I do not have to raise up an apprentice like that.” Robert nodded regretfully.

“Ah you’ve still got quite some time Robert my friend. A good hundred years before you’ve even have to consider a replacement.”

“Don’t get me wrong guys, but I think I was supposed to be getting to a lesson or something. I mean, I’d absolutely love to listen to you regale each other with stories all morning, but not really.” Kiara took a deliberate bite of her apple.

“You’re right Kiara, sorry. I just get so worked up sometimes, Derek is always entertaining to talk to, you got a good master.” Robert smirked and turned to leave.

Robert put a hand on his shoulder. “Oh, don’t forget Robert, tonight we’ve got to go talk to Phedra and her crew.”

“Phedra… What is it this time?”

“Not sure.”

“We never are with her…” Robert sighed. “Alright, just call me when we’ve got to leave.”

After Robert had left, Derek finally turned back to Kiara looking her up and down with an appreciative gaze. At first she wasn’t quite sure why he was looking at her that way, but finally Kiara figured that it must have been the clothing he had bought her.

“Have much trouble getting around?” Derek asked finally.

“No, I love having to ask for directions, I only got the opportunity because a certain geezer forgot to tell me where the dining room was.”

“Ah very good then, perhaps I’ll conveniently forget to tell you where everywhere else in the mansion is, so I can give you the joy of asking for directions again. Or I could give you the tour.” Derek smirked.

“I think I’d prefer the latter.” Kiara smirked as well.

“Off we go then, try to keep up.”

Kiara snorted. “Oh trust me; it’ll be like keeping up with a cripple.”

[Kanji]

Chapter 4:

Training

The outside of the Mansion was as grand as the inside, large trees along the fence line obscuring the city skyline slightly. It was a house tucked into the mountains around New York, a sanctuary from the rigors of city life. Paths from the large double doors in front of the mansion two paths circled around the house meandering through lush gardens. Fortunately the back of house was just as lush in plant life as the sides and front, both paths leading down into a small valley of Greek inspired sculptures paved with deep red brick.

In the morning shadows the remnants of rain lingered, resisting their inevitable evaporation. As well under the leaves of the undisturbed oak trees droplets of water sparkled in the sunlight refusing to let go of their perch. Kiara stretched out, throwing her arms up in the air and taking a deep breath as she took the last step into the sunken courtyard, turning back to Derek and smiling. It seemed that she had visibly calmed down a bit since coming to the mansion; she certainly wasn’t as plagued with self doubt knowing that the answers would come easy so long as she stayed in Derek’s service.

“This will be a good place.” Derek made his way down the last step.

“Good place for what?”

“Why to start you off as my apprentice of course.” Derek explained.

“I thought I already was.” Kiara frowned.

“Well technically yes, you are my apprentice, but at the same time you’re not ready exactly to be my apprentice. You see you know nothing of magic other than what I’ve shown you, so you’ll of course require a bit of training.”

Kiara couldn’t help but smirk at the thought. “Great I’ve become a Jedi, where’s my light saber?”

Derek laughed. “Trust me young Miss Smith, you will not even need it once you are full and ready to become my apprentice.”

“Alright!” Kiara exclaimed moving to the middle of the courtyard. “Get with the fireball making already.”

“Hold on, it would be best to explain exactly what Magic is before we go and try to make anything at all.” Derek approached the center of the court. “Remember when I picked up that leaf and brought life back to it?”

He motioned to all the trees around him for example, at his beckon the wind seemed to pick up causing the wind and trees to sway in a gentle dance and the leaves to rustle enthusiastically. As he put his hand down atop his other supporting his cane he the wind died down again.

“All your pre-concieved notions about magic, what you’ve seen in movies, what you’ve read in books, do not even begin to amount to the dedication needed to understand what magic truly is. In short even wizards have trouble fully understanding what it is other than that it’s a force that makes the world what it is today.” Derek went on stoically. “The way we usually manipulate it is not by creating something out of thin air, or even bending the rules of something that already exists. It is possible to do it that way, but it usually leaves us strained, and could possibly kill us if we were to use it in excess.”

“So… No fireballs?” Kiara pouted.

“Well, no fireballs without an extremely compelling reason.” Derek laughed. “Anyway back to the leaf. How do you think I did that? How was it that I brought life back to something that had been dead for a long while?”

Her first inclination was to say magic had done it, but that wasn’t an explanation at all. It forced her to think and make up some kind of theory. “Did you infuse the leaf with your own life? Make it part of you?”

“Not quite, that would have made the leaf part of me as well, and I would have gagged and probably choked not needing air anymore.” Derek mused. “No, the way I did it is knowing that everything has a memory, the air has memory of being wind, the water memory of being rain and so on and so forth. That leaf that I picked up was once a living leaf attached to a tree, I just stimulated that very memory and made it emulate it.”

“That’s…” Kiara stood there for a moment.

“Amazing?”

“Weird. So the most common way of using magic is emulating a memory that something has? Wouldn’t that limit its uses?”

Derek nodded. “Fortunately enough Miss Smith, there is enough memory in everything around us for us to use magic in various every day situations. The only real limit on what we can do, is right here.” He tapped his forehead.

“Thanks Elmo, with a little imagination anything is possible...” Kiara grumbled. “So where does that leave me? What do I have to do to activate this power?”

“Simple enough.” Derek said moving slowly to one of the staircases and sitting down. “It’s a bit dark in this area, however air is always moving, and always reflecting light. I want you to entice those memories Kiara, make them light up for you.”

Kiara grumbled again. “You didn’t answer my question! How!?”

Derek just smiled. “You told me all the things that happened to you when we first met, weird books, shocking people, and waking up in weird places. Tell me Miss Smith? Had you been to the places you woke up in before? Have you ever been able to explain when you shocked someone? Did you ever wonder what books the previous owner of your bookcase read?”

Kiara thought for a moment, all the questions could be answered simply. “Yes, but what does that have to do with anything old man?”

“Usually when I find new apprentices they usually do things that involve their own body, like you they would inexplicably shock people, or wake up in weird places. Your own bodies memory puts you back in that place as your subconscious grips on to a memory. However in your case you also caused that bookcase to remember titles it had held in the past, it was most likely an illusion in that case, but still rather potent.” Derek mused.

“Derek! Tell me how the hell to do this!” Kiara was ready to smack him upside the head.

“You already know how, its all connected to thought, you expend your energy into a thought. That opens you up to be able to communicate through your mind to the desired entity, and you conscript it to do what you want.” Derek tapped his can once and the shadowed court lit up for a brief moment before settling back down into the cool darkness. “Of course, you need be careful with how you communicate; air in particular is very excitable. Much like a wild horse it enjoys running about.”

Kiara pinched the bridge of her nose and turned away from Derek. “Fine… You’re making no sense, but then again, what does these days?”

She stood awkwardly for a long time trying to expend energy into the thought of making the air reflect light, unsure of just how it all was supposed to work. Of course, it didn’t help that her mentor was so cryptic about it; he didn’t instruct her on how she was supposed to expend that energy into thought. As far as Kiara could tell, thought was a universal constant; even in sleep the brain was working without the need of energy to sustain it. It was making her just a bit angry that she wasn’t able to do what she wanted. As time slowly passed her emotion led her into darker places, until finally she was clenching her fists and gritting her teeth.

“Argh!” Kiara threw her arms up. “Stupid air! What the hell do I need to do to make you talk to me! Its been nearly an hour!”

Whee! She makes us move! Yes she does, maybe she’ll wave her long things around more… Hey flame head! Make your long things wave so we can move more, whee!

Kiara heard the voice clearly from all around her and dropped her arms, casting her gaze from side to side. Hearing voices wasn’t exactly a good sign. “Um… Flame head?”

“Cute name… They’re very mischievous… Keep talking Miss Smith.” Derek couldn’t help but chuckle.

Flame head, with a head like fire! Look at the color, so bright. We can make it move, want us to make it move like fire?

“No… Actually I want to ask something else. Its kind of dark here, think you could brighten things up?” Kiara asked.

Derek stood up suddenly. “No wait!”

Bright bright! Like the sun! We’ll shimmer for Flame Head!

As they said that the area started to brighten up exponentially, at first it was pretty, matching the daylight that drenched the other areas of the yard. However they quickly started brightening more, actually shimmering with heat. Kiara had to throw her hands over her eyes as she felt her skin start to heat up as the air excitedly did what she requested. Derek was having a hard time focusing as he himself talked to the air, begging them to disregard his apprentice’s words. After moments of negotiation he was able to make them settle down, the courtyard slowly settling back to shadows, remnants of heat still stuck to their skin. For a long while they stood in silence, Kiara awkwardly pulling at the hem of her shirt afraid to turn back to her mentor.

Derek’s hand found its way to her shoulder. “They are very excitable… All elements are really, they like to please us for one reason or another. But they can go to far really fast, so we have to be very careful what we say.”

“I didn’t know.” Kiara said as she turned sullenly back to him.

“No harm done Kiara, don’t worry when I cast my first spell I nearly tore the house down with an earthquake. I’m certainly glad that you did better than I did at preserving the mansion.” He smiled reassuringly. “On the bright side, no pun intended, you did almost create your fireball.”

Kiara rubbed her hands together. “And I will succeed one day.”

“Not today however, we will resume training later. For now I’ve got some work for you to do, so we’ll be off to the library to get you some books to study up on. While you are reading I’ve got some rather important business to take care of.” Derek explained as they made their way out of the courtyard.

“Phedra? Who is she by the way?” Kiara asked.

“Yes her… She’s a benevolent fairy who oversees the acquisition of human bicuspids for study. Quite the scientist actually, her research on humans has advanced modern medical technology quite a bit.” He sighed. “Pity she had to call us in to keep her research secret though, had a leak of information quite a while back that we had to cover up for.”

“No shit…” Kiara whistled. “The tooth fairy!?”

Derek laughed. “Indeed.

[lil_deanna]

clapps my hands happily, "Pwease wite more"