A/N: There's going to be a quick explanation for anyone who was confused about the title of the series in this chapter. Thanks for tuning in for another installment. :)

The Arcana Cabana was not meant to be lived in. It had been built as a store with attics of storage space above it. If Balthazar had been an individual with social aspirations, or aspirations of any sort of life at all, then he would have done the sensible thing and rented an apartment a few blocks away.

However, Balthazar had not been a social creature. So he had converted one of the attic storage rooms into something like a bedroom. It had a bed, trunk, mirror, and a bookcase in it. That was all. Balthazar had grown up in the austere Middle Ages and he'd grown up poor. There wasn't much decoration to be had in their cottage for reasons of economy.

Even when he had gone to Merlin's his master had preferred an ascetic lifestyle. Hence the only change in dwellings was the addition of a feather bed and rushes. He hadn't liked the tapestries and Merlin had been understanding enough not to force the issue. Balthazar had actually preferred the cold.

Somehow he doubted that the boy sitting next to him in his car would feel the same. It shouldn't be too much of a problem though. The Arcana Cabana did in fact have a heating system for the cold New York winters. And Dave could have the room that Balthazar had made up in the attic. Balthazar had gotten used to using the broken down couch in the basement anywhere. He slept best when uncomfortable.

He gave another glance at his new apprentice. Somewhere after the first hour he had fallen asleep. At first he had idly started tracing designs on the window with his finger. Balthazar had sharply told him that that left marks. He had left off after that and started to stare aimlessly out the window.

Despite his recent ordeal with Horvath he was in surprisingly good shape. Children, especially ones as small as he was, tended not to be so resilient. And not only was Dave young he was small for his age. Then he had the look of a child who tried to be small. Everything about him wanted to be lost in the background.

To anyone with magic a different story would be told. There was a glimmer about him, a break in the regular aura. Balthazar wasn't sure how to describe it. It was like unspent potential, like something was getting ready to come out. No matter how much Dave tried to mask himself he was going to stand out. He'd have to make sure that he knew that.

How would he react to being told that though? He had no idea. Balthazar was uncomfortably aware that he knew next to nothing about his new apprentice. Sure, Becky had told him much, but he had had few words with the boy in question. Overall it didn't seem like the best start to an apprenticeship.

At the same time Dave was quiet. He hadn't tried to engage in conversation with Balthazar past the necessary. On some level he could tell Dave was still in awe of him and magic. He was leaving his home and was probably thinking about what he'd left behind. Having been there himself Balthazar had no wish to interrupt him.

Balthazar was learning things about his habits just the same. Dave had nervous habits of fiddling with his coat and picking at his fingernails. He was also used to a certain level of discomfort. Balthazar had been driving for five hours straight, at midnight, stopping only once to get breakfast/dinner at a fast food restaurant.

Dave had wanted the Super Happy Fun Meal but had been disappointed by the toy that had come with it. It was some sort of action figure, probably from a new movie that was coming out and destined for Box Office catastrophe. Balthazar could tell by the strange mewing noise he made when he took it out of the wrapping. For being as quiet as he was Dave certainly had a myriad of strange noises he could make.

Yet, when Balthazar had told him he could exchange the toy at the counter Dave had shook his head. He had said no more about it, nor even made a noise. It was peculiar. Balthazar was a little worried about Dave's strange habits. If not for the ring that rested on his finger Balthazar wouldn't have thought he was his Master's heir at all. There it sparkled though, and Balthazar knew that he would just have to have faith.

Because he was taking a back road there was next to no traffic. That meant that he didn't have to focus solely on driving. As it tended to do in so many situations Balthazar's mind began to wander. Having an apprentice would change things. He'd have to find a training room and, obviously, clean the dust out of the guest room. The cleaning could be done magically; he trusted himself enough with cleaning spells to be able to do that.

He wondered where on earth you could secretly teach magic in New York City. Considering that he had met a few sorcerers there he knew that there were places. All he had to do was find one. It was probably easier said than done. He'd have Dave studying the Incantus until then. Some good basic study would build a decent groundwork.

Then there was the matter of keeping his new apprentice secret. If he ran into Horvath again he would wonder why Balthazar was keeping the boy with him. Horvath was clever and he would figure things out. So he couldn't run out and find him. The Grimhold was in his pocket though, so he saw no immediate need to chase his adversary.

Merlinians finding him could be just as dangerous as Morganians finding him too. Too many of them wouldn't understand the need for secrecy. Some people might also fall into Morganian hands and inadvertently spill. So the less people who knew that the Prime Merlinian had shown himself the better.

This included Dave. Balthazar had known from the minute that he had begun searching that the boy couldn't know who he was when he found him. At best it would give him a swollen head and make him impossible to teach. At worse Dave would be crushed and frightened by the idea of all that responsibility.

He was just a child after all; not the sorcerer that Balthazar needed him to be. Oh yes, he glimmered but the glimmer was just potential. Balthazar racked his brains to try and figure out what it was like. An appropriate metaphor was needed for both his and Dave's future understanding.

It came to him in a rush. To kill time he had once taken a few astronomy classes, and they supplied one. One day he would be the Prime Merlinian, he would be a star. Not yet though. At the moment he was like a nebula, gathering mass and dust in the vacuum of space. With some tutoring he could be a protostar, and go through the stellar evolution of a high density star. He could only hope at the end he would go supernova instead of turn into a black hole.

Until then Dave would have to keep a low profile. That meant that he would have to be homeschooled, which was fine by Balthazar. He had taken enough classes to be a teacher himself, and this way sorcery could be integrated. Again he looked over at Dave. He had his work cut out for him. No time like the present to get started though.