Bad Magic Day
A Rayek Songfic
by: Yuuki Miyaka
Amber eyes peered up at Savah in exasperation. "I can't *do* it, Savah! It's just too heavy!" Long, slender fingers raked through ebony locks of hair, pushing them back out of his way as Rayek stared at the cup in front of him. Savah smiled gently.
"You can do it, Rayek," she replied affectionately. "I know you can. You must simply continue practicing. And we both know that you never give up without a fight. How else could you have helped to feed us for so long?" she asked. He shrugged, grinning lopsidedly. "Now close your eyes, speak the rhyme, and focus on what you're saying."
"But the rhyme is stupid!" he complained, grateful that Savah allowed him to practice with her privately, rather than before an audience. Even Ahdri was ushered out most of the time, ostensibly because she distracted him. And she did, but that wasn't the true reason she was always asked to leave. The true reason was simply that he felt foolish repeating the rhyme over and over in front of her. In front of anyone, really.
"Do it, Rayek." Savah's tone brooked no argument, and he nodded with a sigh.
"All right, Mother of Memory." He took a deep breath, doing as Savah asked as he focussed on the cup.
"Clear the mind, center in.
Feel the power deep within.
Clear the mind of fear and doubt.
Feel the power reaching out.
Wrap the power 'round the cup.
Feel the power lifting . . ."
He cursed softly as they heard the sound of shattering pottery. When he opened his eyes, he frowned at the offending pieces of broken cup before looking up at Savah. She was completely solemn, but there was a glint in her eyes he didn't like. "It didn't work!" he complained, and she nodded.
"Try it again, Rayek. And this time, open your eyes and watch what you're doing."
"Yes, Savah," he sighed.
"Clear the mind, center in.
Feel the power deep within.
Clear the mind of fear and doubt.
Feel the power reaching out.
Wrap the power 'round the cup.
Feel the power lifting up.
Lifting up with hands unseen,
Moving as within a . . ."
He moved the cup perhaps two feet before it fell. But this time, when it went, it crashed just behind Savah's cat, whose sleek fur stood on end in surprise. He KNEW Savah was laughing at him, but when he turned to her, she merely sat watching him in silence. She opened her mouth after a moment, and he held his breath, wondering what she would be more angry about. "Mind the cat, Rayek," was her only comment however, and he groaned softly, looking at the third cup she'd set out.
"Clear the mind, center in.
Feel the power deep within.
Clear the mind of fear and doubt.
Feel the power reaching out.
Wrap the power 'round the cup.
Feel the power lifting up.
Lifting up with hands unseen,
Moving as within a dream.
Dream of movement, dream of air.
Moving things from here to there.
There the object here the force
Moving . . ."
He paused often during this recitation, afraid of what might happen to the cup. But he got it halfway across the room, and was beginning to feel very confident before it wavered and went down. Immediately, he dropped his head into his hands, half-dismayed at the dismal failure he was turning out to be and half-disgusted at the amount of mess he was making. He HATED cleaning up after these sessions. "Savah," he moaned loudly, glaring at the pottery. "That made it WORSE!"
Savah merely shook her head. "We're running out of cups," she observed in that elegant tone of hers, and Rayek knew what she was referring to. When they ran out of cups, the practice was over. It would be a wonderful thing but for one small problem. It was he, and not her, that must then go to Destrah and request more cups be made. Destrah's annoyance of the way he treated her clay pieces always made such visits miserable.
"Clear the mind, center in.
Feel the power deep within.
Clear the mind of fear and doubt.
Feel the power reaching out.
Wrap the power 'round the cup.
Feel the power lifting up.
Lifting up with hands unseen,
Moving as within a dream.
Dream of movement, dream of air.
Moving things from here to there.
There the object here the force
Tap the power at its source.
Let the magic bear the load
And . . ."
The final cup shattered loudly, and Rayek could take no more. He grabbed up a large piece of the first cup, hurling it across the room to the opposite wall where it impacted with an impressive display. He continued the rhyme as he did so, changing the words to what he WISHED would happen to the stupid cups. "Turn it to a bloody toad!"
Savah covered her face with her hands, moaning softly, "Oh, not again . . ."