Ok, this is something I've wanted to do for a while, but I didn't have the movie to look things up (like lines, scene descriptions, order of events, etc). Now that I have it, I can do this story!
This chapter's in 3rd person POV, but all the other chapters are going to be my usual 1st person from Roxanna's POV. It's hard to write it any other way. Plot follows the movie, mostly. I might change some events around if I need to.
PICTURE OF ROXANNA (grown up) IS ON MY PROFILE! Take a look at it, since I probably won't do anything to describe her personal style in the next chapter, ten years later.
Tell me what you think, and enjoy!
Update: I fixed all the typos I could catch. Sorry for not eliminating them earlier, but I was rushed while typing this up.
"I'm sorry, dear. It's not you." The man in the trench coat told the ten-year-old girl with the white-blonde hair. She looked from him to the dragon figure in her hand, confused.
"But... did I do something wrong?" The girl asked, her voice quavering.
"Of course not. Don't be upset." The man said, coming out from behind the counter to kneel beside the girl. He took the small figurine from her pale palm to set it back inside its metal box. Her fingers twitched longingly towards the box, as if to reclaim the object which, until she had touched it, filled her with wonder and hope.
The move was not unnoticed by the older man. He diverted his eyes from the girl to think. Eventually he stood and proceeded once more behind the counter, replacing the dragon's box and withdrawing another, perhaps shabbier, container from under the glass. He then came around to stand in front of the girl, whose eyes were wide and curious.
"I can sense potential in you, Roxanna Boklov." The man explained, surprising the girl with the use of her full name, "I would like you to try one more ring for me." He opened the clasp on the box to remove a silver ring. It was plated to look like overlapping scales, with a modest red gem set into it.
Roxanna Boklov took the ring, wonder and fancy once again sparkling in her eyes. Nothing happened, but this was obviously different from the Prime Merlinian's dragon ring, as it was not in the shape of a statue; not to be discouraged, she slipped it onto her right index finger. It fit well, which she took to be a positive sign.
"Go ahead." The man told her, "Try to move something."
Turning around to find something of little value, Roxanna found a small stone etched with runes sitting by itself on an ancient end table. She doubted she could break a rock, which is why she then extended her fingers towards the lone object, her hand shaking slightly.
"Clear your mind." The man instructed her from behind. Roxanna briefly closed her eyes and exhaled in a long, steady stream, allowing a black, blank nothingness to seep into her mind.
"Focus on the object's particles." The man continued. The young girl slowly opened her eyes, her pale eyelids lifting quite sluggishly; but her amber-yellow eyes were sharp. She thought of the vibrating, invisible particles in the stone, just like her father described them to her. Her father, one of the most widely known sorcerers in Russia.
"Move the stone." A voice said from somewhere very far away. In her mind Roxanna was already imagining it hovering a foot above the polished wood of the end table.
Raising her right index finger, Roxanna knew she could do it. The sunlight drifting dreamily through the dusty Arcana Cabana glinted in the red stone of her scaled ring as she thought of nothing else but lifting the particles of the rock. The gem kicked into life and glowed; and as her index finger raised higher and higher from her other outstretched fingers, the stone levitated with it. There it was, floating inexplicably a foot over the table; just as she's imagined.
It was with a grateful sigh and relaxed smile that Roxanna Boklov returned the stone to rest, barely making the slightest scuff as it touched down.
The girl turned around to look imploringly at the mysterious caretaker of the Arcana Cabana, her breaths coming more ragged and excited than previously. The man met her gaze steadily, a hand resting pensively on his chin as he regarded the ten-year-old. He came to kneel in front of her, with the hint of a smile.
"You will become a very powerful sorceress someday, Roxanna Boklov." The man told the breathless girl, "My name is Balthazar Blake, as you doubtlessly already know. I am something of a sorcerer myself, and will use my not insubstantial influence to set you up with a suitable master. In fact, I know one who owes me an outstanding debt. Let me write down his address for you."
"Thank you, sir! Thank you, Mr. Blake." The girl said, nodding frantically and smiling wide enough to show all her pearly teeth, as though words alone could not express her gratitude. She took a slip of paper from him with the address of her new master written carefully on it.
It was just before Balthazar could reply that a yellow piece of paper rushed into the Arcana Cabana through the mail slot. Roxanna's sharp eyes followed the thing as it floated on a nonexistent breeze and came to rest somewhere behind a large collection of assorted knick-knacks and whats-its. Intrigued, she hurried off to retrieve it, not noticing the dark-haired boy her age enter the store.
"Gotcha!" She said, finding it behind a huge stack of books. It was thick construction paper of a dull yellow with some scribbled handwriting on the inside. There was a small X written over the square beside the word "friend". Hearing Balthazar talking to someone, Roxanna peaked around the mountains of ancient valuables to see a boy with a red backpack looking nervous.
"How'd you know my name is Dave?" The boy squeaked.
"Cause I can read minds!" Balthazar said dramatically, and then added, "It's on your backpack." Roxanna giggled as Dave spun in circles, trying to see if it was true. He stopped when he heard Roxanna though, and turned to look at her.
"You're like a dog chasing its tail." She said with another giggle but a sweet look as she approached the boy, "I'm Roxanna Boklov."
"I'm Dave Stutler." He said, with his dopey grin, causing Roxanna to hide a smile behind her hand. There was something she liked about him.
"I know." She replied, taking his hand to lead him over to Balthazar, "I can read minds too."
"Come over here, you two." Balthazar called, before he noticed they were already there, "This is very special, and if it likes you, you can keep it." He told Dave as he opened the dragon ring box again. Roxanna's eyes grew wide.
"Do you really think-" Roxanna started to say, looking between the ring and the boy beside her.
"Hush, dear. Let's just see." Balthazar told the curious girl, "Go on, Dave. Take it."
"I better not." Dave replied, looking a little worried, "My teacher said I shouldn't be gone long, and she knows that I'm here…" I felt his palm start to sweat against mine.
"You're a bad liar, Dave." Balthazar said, with a hint of a smile, "That's good."
"My Daddy always tells me if he catches me in a lie, he'll put on his ring and banish me!" Roxanna said passionately to Dave, who just looked confused and a little scared. With a glance to the doors, she could see how badly he wanted to escape; but they were shutting all on their own, with a quiet click.
"Oh boy." Dave said nervously, staring at the doors. Roxanna tightened her grip on his hand to reassure him. With a quick breath, he finally reached out his hand to take the dragon statue. It sat in the palm of his hand for a moment as Balthazar and Roxanna held their breath. Then it suddenly sprang into life with a shake of its head; it crawled to the other side of his hand and laid across his index finger, the tail wrapping to fit perfectly around it. Folding its wings back along its body was the last move it made before resting once more.
"No way." Dave whispered as Roxanna looked on with a mixture of awe and jealousy playing across her pale face.
"So that's what it was supposed to do." She said to herself, "You are so lucky!"
"Lucky?" Dave repeated before Roxanna crushed him in a hug.
"I have been searching a very long time." Balthazar said, more to himself than the two ten-year-olds, as he came around from behind the counter, "And in one day, I find a sure to be promising sorceress," He said, resting a hand on Roxanna's shoulder, making her smile widely, "And a very important sorcerer." He continued, putting his other hand on Dave's shoulder, who has a look similar to Roxanna's after she found she could lift the stone from the table. Standing up straight, Balthazar fixed a more serious look on the two.
"And your first lesson begins now, with your very own Incantus. Roxanna, I'm going to call your new master to inform him that you're coming to be his apprentice, whether he likes it or not. Do not touch anything." He said the last sentence specifically to Dave, before disappearing down a flight of spiral steps.
"Can I see the ring?" Roxanna asked once Balthazar was gone. Dave held out his hand to show the curious girl, whose sharp eyes poured over every inch of the fabled ring.
"I have one too." She said, showing him her scaled ring with the red gem set into it.
"We're like Christmas." Dave laughed, noticing the clash of the red on her's to the green stone on his. Roxanna was silent though, looking maybe a little sadly at his ring.
"You really are lucky, you know." She said quietly, "You're special."
"Well, I-I think you're special too." He stuttered earnestly, taking her hand. Roxanna couldn't help but smile at the look on his face, and stood on the tips of her toes to kiss his cheek.
"Whoa." Dave said, with the same goofy smile he'd first given the girl. Raising his ring hand to his cheek, a clunking noise came from across the room.
"Did you hear that?" Roxanna asked, turning to face the room fully.
"Yeah." Dave replied shortly. The girl looked back to him, thinking.
"I think you're moving something with your ring. Move your hand again." She told him, watching for anything that moved in the room.
"There." Dave said, pointing to a spot on the wall that was starting to crumble. With a few more jerks of his hand, something exploded from behind the bricks to land at the children's feet.
"Whoa. What is it?" Dave asked, picking up what looked like a large nesting doll with a well-dressed man in furs and a fedora painted on one side. But before Roxanna could even guess, the doll had split in two around its middle and laid, open, once more on the ground. She screamed as all sorts of unpleasant bugs started to crawl from out of the doll.
"Roxanna, get away from it!" Dave yelled as the mass of insects start to take the form of a person. He pulled her back behind him with a worried expression.
"This isn't good." Roxanna whispered, wishing Balthazar would hurry back. Finally, the figure stabilized in the form of the man painted on the shell of the doll.
"When am I?" The man asked, glaring down at the children.
"Uh, New York City." Dave replied, standing his ground despite sounding a little afraid.
"Not where." The man snarled in his clipped British accent, "The year."
"That's really not good." Roxanna muttered, pulling Dave farther back.
"You are wasting my time." The man said as a blue stone in the top of his walking stick started to glow. Before Roxanna could tell Dave this man was a sorcerer, and probably not a nice one, the stranger was sent hurtling up towards the glass ceiling and pinned there.
"What happened to 'don't touch anything', kids?" Balthazar asked them as he entered the room, one hand held above his head in the direction of the stranger while the other had a huge, ancient looking book balanced on its palm. He proceeded to tell us not to worry, that he'd explain later, and to ask where the Grimhold was. Dave pointed to the nesting doll at his feet, assuming that's what he meant.
"Sir, look out!" Roxanna yelled as she noticed the other sorcerer sending a spell directly towards him. Balthazar was sent careening into an armoire full of antiques, and the other immediately started to fall from the ceiling.
"Dave, back here." Roxanna whispered urgently as the two sorcerers engaged in combat. She pulled him behind the counter and down to the floor, hoping they'd be safer there. The Grimhold skittered and slid across the floor as the fight intensified. Eventually it was kicked directly to Dave, who picked it up to examine a new painting on the next shell.
"Where are the halves of the first shell?" Roxanna yelled over the fight. There would be no trapping the man in the furs again without both halves.
"There's one!" Dave said, pointing to the ground between the two sorcerers. Balthazar was sword-fighting with thin air as the other man controlled the weapon from ten feet away.
"What a coward." Roxanna growled deep in her throat, moving from beside Dave to retrieve the half of the shell. A she moved, she upset a tube of some unknown, yellowing liquid which was balanced precariously on the counter above them; it tumbled to the floor and crashed against Dave's lap. He yelled in alarm and pulled Roxanna back by her hand.
"Don't go out there." He said as she noticed the stain on his pants.
"Oh no, Dave are you hurt?" She asked him over the crackling of a plasma bolt in the background.
"No, I'm fine; it's just… something. It's alright." Dave replied, not sure what it was that had soaked through his khakis, "But you can't just walk into that fight! We have to leave!"
"But what about Mr. Blake?" Roxanna asked, looking back to the fight and feeling deeply conflicted. Fires were now spreading throughout the store, engulfing the antiques and burning everything up like it was kindling.
"We have to go." Dave repeated steadily, taking her hand and crawling towards the front door, the Grimhold under his arm. The two children got as far as the threshold before feeling hateful eyes on them. Turning slowly, they saw the evil sorcerer staring them down, a wall of flames as his backdrop.
"I want that doll." He said dangerously, extending a finger tipped in fire towards them. Before Dave had to decide what choice to make, Balthazar leapt through the flames and tackled the evil sorcerer to the ground.
Taking the opportunity to scramble away, the children made another break for the door. Roxanna's arm jerked back quickly and nearly popped out of its socket, making her cry out in pain, as Dave's legs were caught by the sorcerer and were pulled back farther into Arcana Cabana.
"Dave!" Roxanna yelled, trying to pull him back to her. The evil sorcerer lost his grip on Dave's backpack as it unzipped itself. With another heave, he landed in a heap beside her and watched as some of his school papers were sucked inside a giant urn.
"Kids, leave!" They distantly heard Balthazar tell them as he and the other man started to get sucked in as well, "Leave now!" They disappeared into ash as the children followed his directions and ran into the light of day. Dave flung the Grimhold away from him as Roxanna covered her face and tried not to cry.
"David Stutler!" An older lady yelled before Dave started to expound upon her all that had went on in Arcana Cabana.
"No, don't go in there!" Dave tried to tell her as the lady, probably the teacher he'd talked about earlier, entered the store. Roxanna found herself following them as Dave dragged her up the steps. To her amazement, the store was exactly as it was before all that madness happened, with the exception of Balthazar. Where was the urn? Where had all the fire gone? How had everything just went back to normal?
"You really shouldn't tell stories. Let's go." The lady said huffily, pushing Dave ahead of her. Roxanna followed along again, too afraid to let go of her new friend. At the moment, keeping direct contact with Dave seemed to be a matter of life and death, "And who are you?" Roxanna didn't have time to answer the angry woman before the other children gathered around the steps took notice of her as well.
"Ooh, David's got a girlfriend." Someone called, making all the other students whisper to each other.
"Look, he's so excited a girl likes a geek like him that he peed his pants!" A more mean-spirited child yelled, causing everyone else to laugh cruelly. Roxanna couldn't concentrate enough to understand what was happening, but the taunting laughter was enough to make her lose control and start crying.
"Hey, leave her alone!" Dave tried to shout, pulling Roxanna closer to him, but he sounded weak and upset himself from the teasing he'd received.
"Where are your parents? Are they inside?" The lady asked Roxanna softly, ignoring her students. The mention of Arcana Cabana just made her cry harder.
"R-R-Russia." She choked out, not thinking to tell the woman about her escorts in the hotel at the end of the block waiting for her to return if she turned out not to be the Prime Merlinian, which she certainly wasn't.
The lady must have thought her to be alone in the city, or simply lost, by not knowing this certain information Roxanna was too upset to mention; so she let Roxanna walk with the group until they found a police station not far away from where their bus was parked.
"You'll be safe here, dear, but you have to let go of David now. He has to get back to school." She told the crying girl, who just looked confused.
"But-" She started, before having her hand removed from Dave's by his teacher, "No!" She screeched, not emotionally stable enough to be parted yet. There was something about Dave Stutler, the Prime Merlinian, which made her want to stay with him. It was some strange sixth sense she felt deep in her subconscious. She felt strong hands grip her shoulders as a police officer steered her inside.
"Don't worry, Roxanna. I'll find you, and we'll practice magic together!" Dave called as he was shuttled onto the school bus, "I promise." He yelled out the window as she disappeared inside the building, ignoring the laughs and disturbed looks from his peers.
Roxanna had sat patiently in the cold, hard chair for several hours while the detective behind the desk in front of her tried to find where her parents were. Well that was a useless endeavor, as Roxanna already knew where they were, and that any normal humans would have a hard time indeed to locate a sorcerer such as her father; he kept her mother, her older brother Yurick, and, before she came here, Roxanna herself very much a secret from the normal world. She had grown up only around her family and other sorcerers and sorceresses. When her father had heard rumors milling around the magic community about the famous, powerful Balthazar Blake conducting a search for the Prime Merlinian, he had sent Roxanna to New York City with a host of escorts to be tested.
However, on arrival she was warned to come alone to Arcana Cabana for her test by Mr. Blake. He had apparently grown wary of strangers in his many years of hardships, and agreed to see Roxanna only on this condition. Not about to make the long trip for nothing, Roxanna's escorts rented a room in a hotel at the end of the block. If she returned by three in the afternoon, she would fly back to Russia with her escorts, and probably to the disappointment of her father. If she missed this appointment, it would be understood that she was the Prime Merlinian and had begun her apprenticeship under Balthazar.
Well, Roxanna had missed her three o'clock deadline by several hours now, but for a reason very different than what her escorts would tell her surely ecstatic father. She could just imagine his pride… and how quickly it would fade if she returned now to tell him otherwise. No, she would train under this new master Mr. Blake had set up for her, and return home only when she was as strong as she could be. Maybe her father would be less offended by her failure if he saw how hard she had worked to become great.
The slip of paper containing her master's address was burning a hole in her pocket now. She finally found her chance to sneak away when the detective fruitlessly trying to locate any of her relatives left to take a phone call up front. Passing through several doors, and ducking low to avoid detection, Roxanna soon found herself out in an alley. Thankfully she had a map of the city, and, after finding her current location on it as well as the address to her master's training warehouse, she was off to prove herself.