Watch, Listen and Learn
by Birgit Staebler
The Ring Theater was silent this time of the week. Monday
was generally closed after the long and expansive weekend shows. Throughout
the day, cleaning personnel scrubbed every inch of the large hall, replaced
cracked chairs and quick-checked the light rig. In the evening hours, even
that bustling toned down and around ten p.m., there was no soul anywhere
to be seen. Tuesdays was closed until the first evening show around eight,
so there was still enough time to go over the rest. The personnel had routine.
They knew how long it took to prepare, so there was never any frantic work
or hectic chaos, even if the general appearance throughout maintenance
reminded a watcher of an ant hill.
This Monday night though, there was still activity. The
lights for the center stage were switched on, though not the glaring, almost
blinding flood lights from the show, but the normal work lights. A man
in dark pants and a white shirt under an equally dark jacket stood on the
stage, a cloak falling loosely around his tall frame. His dark hair was
accented by white stripes, three of them to be correct, all seeming to
glow in the light from above. His stance was at ease, his fingers lightly
spread, face relaxed, though faint lines of concentration could be seen
if someone looked close.
Someone was looking. A young, red-haired man was sitting
on the rail keeping the front rows separate from the stage, gray eyes pinned
to what was happening on the stage. The complete opposite to the man in
the dark clothing, he was wearing bright red, orange and yellow, accented
with dark purple, matching his bright hair.
A third person was present, a young woman, maybe in her
mid-twenties, russet hair framing a pale face with gray eyes, sparkling
with amusement. She was dressed in dark, skin-tight overall that looked
like an aerobics' class dress that hugged her curves, wearing a sleeveless
T-shirt over it that went just to her waist.
Cosmo grinned as he remembered the look Ulene had given
him when she had seen Kate for the first time. Kate Morrigan, practicing
nature mage and a bottomless source for magical research information, had
the looks that turned heads, but she usually wore turtlenecks, jeans or
baggy sweaters, so that outfit was kind of new. It was her training outfit,
she had said with a shrug, because it allowed freedom of movement. Huh,
well, hormones moved freely here as well. Cosmo grinned more. Ulene had
been steaming, demanding who she was when
Kate was out of ear-shot, and Cosmo had explained.
Ulene hadn't been convinced, not really, but Kate had
come to Cosmo's rescue and told her that it was the truth. Ulene had been
a bit embarrassed.
"Hey, I'm a one-woman kinda guy," Cosmo had told her,
kissing her.
The kiss he had gotten in response had been worth the
hassle before.
Now he watched the two senior magicians on the stage,
listening, learning. Kate had come over to celebrate Cosmo's eighteenth
birthday, even if that had been almost three months ago. Well, it had been
a turbulent time, full of pain and emotional suffering, but they had survived.
Ace had survived. Looking back at that time, Cosmo still shuddered, still
suffered, and he wished he could just erase the events. While he and everyone
else had immediately forgiven Ace, had come to grips with it all, Ace had
not been so forgiving toward himself. He had tortured his mind and soul
with what he had done to Cosmo and his friends, and Cosmo had just recently
had noticed that the older man was letting go.
Good.
Really good.
The new show had been planned and was ready to go off
like a rocket, as all of Ace's shows did, and Cosmo was especially proud
of it. There would actually be two different shows, one for the fall season,
called 'The Magic of Ice' and the spring show called 'The Magic of Fire'.
The pyrotechnics for the soon to start fire show were incredible, outright
stunning, and though the element of danger was rather high, so was the
fascination factor. Ace used as little as possible of his actual magical
powers, but some tricks involved him tapping into his 'other' resources.
Cosmo grinned.
Kate had been interested in the show and had given him
some last minute advise on how to handle nature magic, something she was
strong in. Now both were on the stage, Ace letting the magical powers flow
around him, Kate at the opposite end of the stage, doing the same. Cosmo
watched them both with high interest. While his own powers were rather
rough -- who was he kidding? They were not even slightly cultivated! --
the senior magicians had them down to an art. He had never really seen
Kate perform, so he was looking forward to the experience.
"Okay, lesson one," Kate now said. "Nature is all around
you, whether inside a closed building or in an open space. It's just as
unlimited as the Magic Force, but it's less volatile." She raised one finger
and a miniature flame danced over it. She snuffed it out with a snap. "Nature
at its most destructive is easier tamed than the Magic Force. It's defensive
and offensive in one as well."
Ace nodded, conjuring a fireball. "Basic elemental control,"
he agreed.
She smiled. "The tricky part is combining two or more
elements, controlling them, forcing them to shape to your will."
Cosmo watched with growing interest.
The magical fabric tickled and seemed to tighten around
Ace as the older man gathered the power and unleashed it in the bright
fireball of magic, hurtling toward Kate. Cosmo held his breath. The magic
was not really dangerous. It would probably send her on her butt, though
Cosmo didn't think Kate would actually let it come to that.
The fireball was within two feet of the young woman when
she seemed to smile, reached out with one hand, and touched the fire. It
rippled along one delicate arm, encased her, then flowed off her body and
hovered in a small, tamed bundle in front of her.
"Not bad," she told Ace with a smile. "Not pure nature
magic, though. Looks like you let that area of magic drop."
Ace smiled as well. "Hardly."
Kate manipulated the fire, turned the magic energy around
until it was a fiery orange red, then splayed her fingers and the fireball
rocketed off toward Ace, trailing a hail of sparkling particles. Cosmo
watched in awe as the fireball grew, turned into a shape, then into a bird,
screaming at Ace.
The magician called up a shield and the attack bounced
off harmless, but it had impacted strongly. Cosmo could feel the resonance
ripple through the magic continuum.
Wow!
He was duly impressed.
Kate didn't leave the image of a strong magician and
nature magic had limits. It could never reach the Magic Force's level,
but that fireball had rocked!
Ace was impressed as well. He spread his hands, then
brought them together again, a miniature twister forming in his hands.
Cosmo grinned. Yep, they had tried that particular spell before, though
that had been tricks and light works, mixed with some nifty programming
from Cosmo. Kate lifted an eyebrow, raised her hands in front of her chest
as if she was praying, then moved them apart in a slow, deliberate gesture.
Cosmo felt the hair on his neck raise as electricity gathered in the air,
the air pressure changing, the whole room feeling like before a thunderstorm.
Wind nipped at his jacket and he gaped as Kate was encased by a twister
much larger than Ace's.
Both twisters lashed toward each other, Ace's a creation
of his magic, Kate's one of the nature magic. They touched, absorbed each
other and moved erratically around the stage. Within a fraction of a second,
the twister banked left, lashed at Ace, who instinctively wrapped the cape
around his form, and then swallowed him.
"Ace!"
The cry tore out of Cosmo's throat unbidden and he jumped
off his sitting place, eyes wide.
Kate just smiled, recalling the twister, smoothing it
out. "Don't worry. It's harmless. And he seems to remember a bit more of
Anna's teachings than I give him credit for."
Ace, still wrapped up in his cape, moved, and the cloak
fell back around his shoulders. "Thank you," he laughed sarcastically.
Kate quirked an eyebrow. "Well, you do lack in that department."
She concentrated briefly and Cosmo watched in fascination as water seemed
to flow into her open palm out of nowhere, then turned into ice, growing
into a miniature icily.
Ace grinned. "I leave it to the experts, Kate."
She huffed and closed her hand into a fist, the icicle
disappearing in a tingle of light. "You just shy away from the backlash."
Cosmo blinked. Backlash? Ace experiencing real backlash....
even now? He knew his older friend tended to suffer from killer migraines
if he overdid it, but true backlash like Cosmo's.....
"From nature magic?" he blurted.
The woman magician smiled and nodded. "Like you experience
backlash from generally trying out your magic, Ace is prone to overdo the
nature magic and feel what it means to overcast in that area."
Cosmo remembered Ace's pained expression after he had
created the bubble that had saved them from the storm in the desert that
Zoran Spring had conjured. The magician had been hard pressed to uphold
the bubble for the time they had needed to dress up in their special gear,
and when he had absorbed the electricity from the malfunctioning machine,
there had been a brief moment of weakness right after the whole episode
had been over. Back then, Cosmo had teased him about it, like he had teased
him at the circus when Ace had levitated the rigged car for so long. Today
he understood what it meant to wield that much magic.
"I don't overcast," Ace mumbled, smoothing an imaginary
wrinkle in his cape.
Cosmo and Kate exchanged knowing looks. Right! Tell me
another one!
Kate gave his arm a friendly pat. "We all have our areas
of expertise. Yours is the Magic Force, mine is nature magic. I wouldn't
want to access the Magic Force as it is, but using nature magic has its
good sides. And it's helpful for your hobbies now and then."
Ace grinned. "No argument from me. As long as you're
here, we can do some training together if you don't mind."
Kate shrugged. "Hey, anything to do something but getting
dust allergies from sorting through ancient volumes."
Cosmo snickered. Kate was a bookworm by heart. She studied
magic, knew more about it than anyone present, and she was a reference
book on legs. She was writing papers on the subject and frequently worked
for universities in Scotland, England and Germany.
"And I guess I can teach you a trick or two as well,"
she told him with an amused look.
"Uh-oh...." Cosmo mumbled. "You must be really suicidal."
They left the Ring Theater, Cosmo taking off to see if
Ulene was still at the Arcade.
* * *
"You look much better, Ace." Kate looked at him over the
rim of her glass, then sipped at the red-colored liquid.
Ace met her serious gaze, knowing fully well what she
was talking about. Not long ago he had gone to Whitewater Springs, hiding
from the world and from himself. Kate had left him alone as much as she
dared, silently offering to be an open ear if he needed to talk, but it
had taken Mona to get him to spill out his pain. Kate was a good friend,
had been more in the past, but she couldn't understand.
At least that was what Ace had told himself over and
over again when visiting her. He knew she would have listened, maybe offered
some advice, but he had been afraid.
"I am better," he now answered softly.
The room around them was filled with soft music, not
too loud to be intruding, and the lights were slightly dimmed. The murmur
of conversation drifted through the music, sometimes laughter, and a TV
was on, showing the sports channel. 'The Times' was a small bar compared
to the others, but it was homely and Ace didn't have to worry about running
into some of his friends, who preferred the DNA club. He came here when
he wanted to have a drink by himself or with company he didn't want to
be disturbed with.
Kate studied his features. "But you still hold back,
Ace."
He stared at her. "No," the magician finally protested.
"Ace, I'm a magician as well. I can feel the powers,
especially the Magic Force. It usually rubs along the edge of my perception
in a way that makes me want to shy away from it. Today, you didn't use
your potential. I've seen you use nature magic. You can wield it very well.
This...." She made a little gesture. "It was laughable."
"You said it yourself: I didn't train it too well." He
played with a peanut shell. "I concentrated on the Magic Force."
Kate sighed deeply. "Why do you lie to yourself as well?"
Ace glared, but the younger woman held the angry expression
with barely a twitch.
"I didn't hold back," Ace insisted.
"I told you that you look much better, yes. But you haven't
released all the demons yet. I know you have come to grips with most of
what happened, but if you deny yourself your full potential.... how do
you want to teach Cosmo? How do you want to tame what's burning inside?"
She placed a hand on her chest.
Ace evaded her knowing gaze, the gray eyes both a reminder
of the magic inside her, as well as the eyes of his apprentice boring into
his, demanding the same answer to a silently voiced question. He studied
the alcoholic contents of his glass.
"What if I hurt someone again?" he finally asked, voice
soft.
Kate interlaced her fingers, gazing at the folded digits,
then raised her eyes to meet his suddenly very vulnerable expression. She
was glad they had a booth to themselves. It assured privacy.
"There is no guarantee. There never is. You know it,
I know it. Every magician is aware of it. You hurt yourself through overcasting
or reckless conjuring of spells. You hurt those you love by just being
what you are. You can hurt innocents because they get in the way. Magic
is powerful, Ace. No one knows it better than you. You are one of the most
powerful mages I've ever met. The Magic Force is something you use with
ease. Because of this ease, backlashes like the one you experienced are
even worse."
"It wasn't a backlash....!" he hissed.
She smiled dimly. "Call it what you want, my friend.
It hurt you because you had developed the idea that you are invincible."
Ace started to protest, but she raised one hand, stilling the words. "I'm
not saying you are overconfident, but you have been on a steady upwards
drift. You had little mishaps, you have limits, but nothing serious went
ever wrong with the magic. You control it, you shape it, you watch out
that you do not hurt either friend or foe. What happened now, it shattered
this perception. Ace, you have to accept two things: you are only human,
and magic has a way of telling you that it is more than a tame pet."
He shook his head, dropping his eyes. "This isn't about
broken furniture. I hurt my best friends, Kate. I nearly killed Blackjack
and his lieutenants. Yes, I've gotten over the.... well, the 'situation'.
But whenever I call upon the magic, I can feel its power, the sheer energy...
the destruction it can cause. I feel its rage... and I'm afraid."
"You were afraid before. When you first discovered what
you could do. When you did it again to save Derek. When you released the
full Magic Force for the very first time."
He nodded slowly. "I was terrified."
"But you swallowed the fear, you battled it, you won.
Ace, trust in yourself."
He sighed explosively and let a finger play over the
lip of the glass. "Trust... How can I trust myself with this power, with
my full power, ever again? A change to my brain chemistry and 'bang'!"
He made a curt gesture. "I'm off the deep end, ready to kill....."
"It was an artificial change. Ace, magicians shape their
own lives. What they do in the end, how they behave, is up to them. You
never did any of your magic with ill intent. The Ace born with this magic
and taught the use of the Magic Force is what shapes the power. Not some
altered state of mind. Nothing can last where magic is concerned, except
when it was there from the start. Look at magicians gone rogue. I studied
them. I know how it basically works. You are in control, Ace. You. Not
some altered part of you."
Silence fell between them, Kate keeping her eyes on the
dark-haired man. Ace thoughtfully studied the wooden table top. He traced
a pattern with one bare finger. The gloves weren't part of his attire tonight.
"How do I get control back?" he finally asked.
She smiled. "You always had control, Ace. You never lost
it. You are just afraid. Go past the barrier, use what you have, don't
hold back."
"What if I can't?"
Kate held the gray gaze. "You can. Never doubt it. You
trained hard for what you have. You can't just lose this within a day or
two."
Ace sighed deeply.
"If you want to, I'll be there if you want to try. Ace,
the Magic Force and you are one. It is yours to command, not the other
way around. Use it. Don't hesitate."
He briefly squeezed his eyes shut, then exhaled slowly.
"Not tonight," he mumbled.
"No, not tonight. Whenever you are ready."
He smiled wryly. "How long do you intend to stay here?"
* * *
The railyard was silent and abandoned. No one came here
but the people who lived in the blue and white bullet train that had its
residence among the wildly growing trees and bushes, and the old housings
for the trains. The canal ran close by, a steady, calming stream of steel
gray water.
Ace stood a few feet away from the train, gazing at the
concrete and steel and plaster that represented the old rail yard. Magic
whispered through the air around him, tickling his senses, tempting him
to use it, but he didn't reach out. Not yet.
Cosmo sat on the steps of the open door into the Magic
Express, mind shielded, though reluctantly, against what was to come. Kate
had simply asked him to shield so he wouldn't be affected, and he had complied,
not arguing. This was the final step Ace had to take and he wanted to make
it easier for him. At least one step easier.
Kate was next to Ace, keeping two feet of distance, watching
him. "Ace, you okay?" she asked softly.
He nodded mutely. His eyes briefly fixed on her, then
he inhaled deeply, exhaling in a sigh. Magic began to gather, invisible
but tangible by both watchers present. It crackled around him without a
sound, enveloped him, hugged his body. The cape moved first gently, then
with more force as the powers gathered. Ace was building up the magic around
him, going through the steps he had taught Cosmo as well, reeling in one
tendril after another. Weaving a blanket of pure energy.
Cosmo chewed on his lower lip, his shield holding, his
mind at ease with the magic currently yielding to Ace's touch, He knew
it would most likely become a bit too much for him the moment the Magic
Force was unleashed, but he was willing to suffer it. This was for Ace.
The last time the magician had called upon his strongest magic was when
he had tortured Cosmo with it, but that was the past. History. Over.
"Magic force," Ace said softly, "reveal the power within!"
The transformation from Ace Cooper into the Magician
came as suddenly as it always did. Light encase him, the cloak changed,
becoming a magical representation of his powers, just like the gray costume.
Cosmo clenched his teeth, hissing softly as the searing force brushed over
him, taunting, licking, teasing. It disappeared into a background hum almost
immediately, a pulsing power point inside his mind. Kate had winced away
as well. She was affected by the Magic Force through the simple fact that
she was a nature mage. She had once told Cosmo it was like sandpaper on
skin.
Ace stood like routed to the spot, breathing hard, eyes
clenched shut, hands curled into fists.
"Ace?" Kate asked.
Cosmo got up from his watcher's position and jogged over
to his friend. "Dude? You okay?"
Ace felt okay to him. The warm presence in his soul was
unchanged, bright with the magic and the very life Ace radiated.
"I'm okay," the older man whispered all of a sudden.
"It worked." He opened his eyes, a smile starting on his lips. "It worked!"
he breathed, amazed.
Kate smiled smugly. "I could say 'I told ya so', but
that's beneath me." She chuckled.
Ace's smile grew, relief mixing into the simple joy he
felt. "Thank you."
She shrugged. "Hey, nothing to thank me for."
Cosmo grinned like an idiot at his friend. "Welcome back,
bro!"
"It's good to be back for real, Cosmo. So good."
"Took ya long enough," Cosmo declared playfully.
Ace snorted. He fingered the fabric of the cape, letting
it run over his hand, then slowly, carefully called the Magic Force, gently
wrapping it as a glowing ball of energy around one hand. Kate watched silently,
as did Cosmo. She glanced at him and he smiled, radiant and relieved, and
she just nodded.
The magical fire died down and Ace took a deep breath.
There had been no problems calling upon his magic. It had been just as
always. No change.....
He was back.
He was himself.
And he mentally closed the door on what had happened
throughout those few days.