Hey everyone! An early happy birth day to a friend of mine and her twin brother I hope you guys have an amazing day miss you guys everyday! (These two remind me of the Italy Bros!)

This chapter is dedicated to you guys!

This means thought or dialogue that's going on inside some ones thoughts.

New chapter yay!

Characters belong to Hidekaz Himuraya story belongs to me.

The morning ran smoothly. He had made breakfast when he heard his sisters waking up. He thought back to what happened last night in his dream… no nightmare. He was tortured, he had suffered greatly, and he had lost his heart. Somehow he was still breathing, though there was nothing there to circulate the blood around in his body so how? He placed his hand over his heart again and again was left with nothing. He was empty.

When his younger sister had hugged him, he smiled but it wasn't like before. It felt like he was forcing his lips to make a simple facial expression that in the eyes of others meant almost everything. He wanted to tell his sisters everything; he wanted them to see his scars so that he wouldn't have to lie any more. He never lied to his sisters not even when he was a child. Katyusha once told him that every lie he told was like a small part of his soul leaving his body when he used the words. The bigger the lie the more soul you lost and right know he had felt that small fragment of his soul leave when he told his sister he was fine.

He wanted his heart back because he could feel with it. Because he didn't have it he didn't feel how to explain? Happy… I guess. He couldn't feel his emotions and the ones of others. He had become numb and to him so had the world. He couldn't tell his sisters he cared for them too much; if he spoke they would be silenced forever. Nikolai had warned him and after what had happened yesterday he didn't wish to check to see if he was bluffing.

"Vanya?"

He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the small voice of his dear little sister.

"Yes Natalya."

"It's time you have to walk me to school."

Ivan nodded. He picked up her small bag and walked outside the door. He waited for her to do the same but she stayed inside.

"What is wrong?"

"You didn't hold my hand."

Ivan forced himself into a smile.

"Of course silly me, forgive me sister."

He went back and he gently took the small hand into his own and they started walking towards the small schoolhouse.

"Ivan! Vait up for the awesome me!"

Ivan stopped on his tracks and turned around to see Gilbert and his little brother running towards them. Once they reached them Gilbert flashed them a giant smile.

"Good morning Ivan and Natasha!"

"It's Natalya."

The small girl glared at the red-eyed boy in front of her, sending shivers down his spine.

"My bad Natalya."

"Gilbert this is unusual you're usually the first to arrive at the school."

"Ja I know it's just that I over slept."

Ivan nodded.

"We better keep going or else they're going to be late."

The four of them continued to walk on the pathway. Natasha and Ludwig were walking next to each other.

"I like your bow it's very pretty."

Natalya glanced at him for a split second.

"Thank you."

Ludwig's cheeks turned bright pink and he quickly looked down at the floor. Then he heard a whisper from his big brother.

"Tell her she looks pretty in that dress."

Ludwig nodded.

"You look very beautiful in that dress."

Everybody stopped dead on their track. Gilbert was trying his hardest to contain his laughter, Ludwig had realized what he said and was blushing like a madman, Natalya had some pink on her cheeks and Ivan was simply confused during this situation. Natalya looked down at the floor.

"Thank you."

She started walking dragging her older brother with her. Mean while Gilbert gave up and erupted with his obnoxious laughter causing Ludwig to give him a confused look.

"Vow brother you really vent for it this time!"

"I didn't go for anything."

Gilbert patted his head.

"Sure you keep telling yourself that."

Finally by the time the two brothers reached the school Natalya was already making her way inside while Ivan stood outside waving good-bye to his little sister. Having successfully dropped Ludwig off at school, Gilbert had the afternoon left for freedom.

"So Ivan, want have a drink?"

Ivan shrugged so Gilbert took that as a yes and dragged the tall boy with him towards the town. The arrived to a small inn near the entrance of the town. It was small but cosy, the weather had started to become colder with each day, soon it would be winter and the snow would come. Gilbert had already ordered the drinks before Ivan could even sit down.

"Gilbert I have to go so, I still have work to do."

"Don't vorry man! It's just a drink!"

As soon as the words left his mouth the waitress slammed two beers on the table.

"When you said drink I was thinking more of something like coffee or tea."

"And vhy vould you think that?"

"Because it's nearly eight in the morning."

Gilbert let out another one of his laughs.

"It's never too early for beer! So drink up, I von't let you leave until you do!"

Ivan sighed and picked up the beer.

"See there is nothing wrong with beer in the morning!"

He took a sip from his beer he glanced at Ivan and nearly chucked on his drink. Ivan slammed the glass on the table it was now empty.

"There all done, I can leave whenever I want to."

"Geez man you're no fun!"

Ivan sighed.

"So Gilbert did you want to talk about something?"

Gilbert took a huge chug of his beer and slammed the glass down on the table before wiping off the foam with his sleeve.

"Of course that's why I took you here."

"So…"

"Vhat?"

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Well you're not you."

Ivan was silent. Was it that obvious? Did his sisters know? Well he lost his heart he doesn't have the same emotions. He can't feel anymore.

"What are you talking about? I'm me."

"You're not the same. The Ivan I knew had this smile everyday but today, I saw that it vas forced. Did something happen to you?"

Ivan forced the small smile on his face, the one he always wore before hopefully he couldn't see through this one. He had to be careful he had to make sure that his smile looked real.
"No nothing is wrong I have no idea what you are talking about."

Gilbert stared at him right in the eyes, searching for something anything. He was looking for any sign of a lie or something different. He noticed that his eyes had lost the small shine they had to them but it was probably because he was tired. He had always worked hard to keep his sisters happy. He had once tried to farm on the vast ground but his efforts were fruitless just like the ground.

Tired? Maybe… yeah that had to be it. He was just tired. Nothing wrong with him. Nothing to worry about. Right? I mean like he was his friend they knew each other since they were kids, they told each other everything. Yeah tired that had to be it.

"Vell if anything happened you can tell me anything I know how to keep my mouth shut vhen I have to. You know that right?"

Ivan suddenly found his empty glass so much more interesting than returning his friend's gaze.

"Ivan…"

Gilbert placed his hand on Ivan's shoulder. When he felt the pressure on his shoulder he flinched remembering what had happened to him in his dream.

"Ivan vhat hap-"

Ivan quickly stood up and walked to the door.

"I'm sorry I have to go now."

Then he ran away from the door leaving a stunned and confused Gilbert behind. Ivan?

He continued to run until he made it back to his house. He ran inside and slammed the door shut. He checked if Gilbert had followed him and relaxed when he saw that the pathway was empty. He sat down on the floor with his back leaning on the door. He placed his hands over his face and he closed his eyes.

He had just lied to his best friend. He lied to his face and he told him he was okay. He had lied to his best friend and there was no coming back from that, you can't take by a lie even if it's to protect the people closest to you.

"Don't worry about him. He's perfectly fine since you didn't spill your secret."

Ivan's eyes snapped open and he removed to his hand from his face and saw Nikolai's face just centimetres from his.

"You know I was willing to bet that you were going to run along and tell your little friend what happened but turns out that you're smarter than that. Congratulations you aren't a complete idiot."

"What do you want?"

Ivan's voice had changed, it wasn't gentle nor was it kind. It had changed it was cold as ice and he glared at the man in front of him. Nikolai chuckled.

"I see that it is starting to change you."

"Change what?"

"Can't you see for yourself? Well if you aren't stupid you must be blind! Take a look in the mirror and you'll see very clearly what I mean. Despite you're best efforts or lies you will never become that person you are know."

There was silence and Ivan's face fell. He was right and he knew it, Gilbert saw right through him and his sisters would probably do the same.

"You want to know why you can't go back?"

Ivan looked away and Nikolai chuckled.

"It's because the heart you have now is made of ice."

Nikolai poked the place where he now had a scar. He knew he had taken his heart but never knew he had another, especially one made of ice.

"What do you mean?"

The man stood up.

"You think I'm going to tell you? After all I can see in your mind you want me gone but you know you still need me. You need mw to teach you how to lie and deceive in order for you to keep your poor sisters away from harm. Really noble of you I must say there is not that many people with that quality."

"Quality?"

Ivan stood up.

"That's not a quality! Anybody would do anything to keep their family safe!"

Nikolai let out another chuckle.

"Well not everybody. You see people lack that certain courage that you posses that is so easy for you to use. You see keeping secrets are a burden. The bigger the secret the heavier it is and your secret is heavier than any other. Many people in your situation didn't even last an hour. You see this is how I know who to choose to be my apprentice. You see you need guts for the job you need courage and you have to be strong, very strong. I can tell you're strong not the strength from the muscle no, you have the type of strength that lives in the mind you see you are a tough on to break. Many other people have the tendency to snap before I am done with them. Many try to run away but we all know that's not going to work. So they take he easy way out."

"Easy way out?"

"Now don't act so innocent you know what it is. But just to reboot your memory it means-"

He traced his thumb over his neck.

"-Death. They would rather die to live like this. Very pitiful in fact, many prefer to slit their throats, it does the job nice and fast but the aftermath is very messy. So others go for the rope. It's very simple you only need a rope and somewhere to hang it from. It may take a little more time but hey it still kills you. To bad it might be a horrific sight for the rest of the family but that doesn't concern me. Many prefer to just jump into the void. Who knows if it took a second or an hour to die but at least it could be reported as an accident. Nobody would know the real intentions right?"

"How…how would you let them kill themselves? You are no magician you're a monster! Who only cares about himself and nobody else! Stay away from an my family!"

Nikolai laughed. But his laugh wasn't high pitched and he didn't sound like a maniac. His laugh was deep and it sent shivers through Ivan' s spine. When the laughter seized Nikolai stared right at Ivan.

"Why would I do that? It would meaning leaving the only person strong enough to be my apprentice and I don't like loosing my tools."

"Tool?"

"Yes tool, you're just a pawn in a much bigger game. But I can't us you as a weak pawn, I'll need to make you stronger more powerful until you'll strong enough to take out every piece on the board. You see I still need you and believe it or not, you still need me."

"Wai-"
"As much as I would like to stay here and chat about what I have planned for you, you have to go. Arthur is waiting for you. You have your first lesson correct?"

Ivan nodded.

"Then you better start heading that way."

"But my chores I still have to do them."

"I'll take care of that, I need you to learn magic not be a stupid farmer boy."

Ivan was about to walk out the door.

"Wait! You have to bring your book."

Out of thin air the book landed in his hands, the cover was different and it was titled Simple Spells.

"What did you do to it?"

"Changed it to its original form. If you learn everything in here you may learn how to do this trick."

Nikolai pushed his out of the house and into the small dirt pathway.

"Hurry up. Unlike you people don't like to be kept waiting."

The door was slammed in his face before he could say another word. He didn't entirely trust Nikolai in his house because of what happened. He didn't even know what he was going to do in there but right now he had no choice but to do what he was told. He walked to the small town and re walked yesterday's path until he finally reached the magic shop. He knocked on the door before he opened it and walked inside. The room was just like yesterday.

The plants were there and so were the countless pixies that popped out of their hiding spaces once they saw him walk in. many of them flew down to say hello or to try to make him sneeze again, he laughed forgetting all that had happened to him just hours ago.

"Ah there you are Ivan! I was just wondering when you were coming."

Arthur was standing next to a plant, which he was busy watering. He smiled at Ivan who tried his best to put on a normal smile, which Arthur seemed to buy for he said nothing about it.

"Sorry I came so late Gilbert dragged me off to an inn before I could go home to do my chores."

"Gilbert?"

"He's my best friend we've known each other since we were kids."

"Hmm… well since you're already here let's start with the lesson! But first…"

Arthur chanted something under his breath nothing happened but Ivan felt a small breeze pass by.

"There all done we can finally start. Come here don't worry all I did was put a protective spell on the shop so nobody would notice."

"Okay."

Ivan nodded and walked up to Arthur and he noticed that there were some circles on the floor and in the middle was an even bigger circle. The circles were adorned with different symbols, which looked like they could mean words, but for Ivan, they were unreadable. Arthur spread his hands over the circles and a green fire started to trace them and the symbols soon the floor was glowing a dim green light.

"What are those?"

"These are spell circles. Each circle is a different spell, when you step into a circle you will learn the spell and how to control it. I will be helping you form the inner circle."

Ivan raised his hand to ask a question.

"Yes, Ivan."

"Can I step in the inner circle?"

"No that place is just for me."

Ivan lowered his hand and looked down at the floor in embarrassment.

"You can go to the this circle right here. This will be your first spell."

Ivan walked to the circle that Arthur was pointing at. Once he stepped inside the green fire turned a white-blue, the rest of the fire disappeared. Ivan felt a small weight on his hand and he quickly discovered that it was the pixie that sat on his nose.

"Okay, this is the Circle of Levitation. Here you will learn how to levitate things or make them fly or grab them with no hands, however you like to call it."

"So I'll be able to learn how you gave me the book last time?"

"That's right. So first things first."

Arthur appeared a white feather out of nowhere but Ivan suspected that it was up his sleeve the whole time.

"To make it levitate you must focus on the feather and think of how light it is and how you can lift it. Closing your eyes help."

Ivan nodded. He closed his eyes and he pictured the feather in his head. He saw it lift off from Arthur's hand and he saw it rise to the roof. He imagined how light the feather would feel in it soared through the sky. He opened his eyes hoping that it would be floating but he found it resting on Arthur's palm.

"Sorry, I couldn't do it."

"No Ivan you can do it. Let's try one more time but differently."

Ivan nodded.

"The second time you can do it but with an emotion."

"Emotion?"

"Yes you see, you can channel that emotion to make the magic. It helps to extend you are arm and then you can channel the emotion through your arm and into your finger tip and then it will reach the feather and lift it up."

"I don't think I can do it."

"You can never do magic in the first try, you have to keep on trying over and over again until you get it. It takes time and it's hard work but it'll be worth it."

Ivan nodded this time understanding the task a little more.

"An emotion right?"

"Yes just focus on that one emotion. The strongest are Anger, Love and Fear, choosing one of those will do the trick. The stringer the emotion the stronger the magic; a memory might trigger the magic."

Ivan closed his eyes and focused. He started with anger; he was angry with his father for hurting them, for forgetting them, for not protecting them. He remembered his face, his voice, he hated him hated him with every fibber of his body. He felt something warm travel through his arm and it stayed on the tip of his fingers. He kept focusing on his father and what happened at their small house north of here.

"Ivan please open your eyes."

Ivan did what he was told, once he opened his eyes he yelped in surprise, he tried to back off but he stepped on his scarf and he slid off the floor and he landed on his back.

"How is that even possible?"
He rubbed his head and he stared at the room.

"Congratulations you found your emotion."

He looked at Arthur who was floating above the ground upside down. He looked around the room and noticed that most of the furniture was floating just inches off the ground.

"Please put me down."

"How do I do that?"

"Just shut down the memory, think about something else."

The first thought that pooped into his head was the one of a delicious pile of blini. He hasn't eaten any of those in such a long time it was almost unfair. A loud bang cut his thoughts as he looked down at Arthur who was now laying face first in the ground. Arthur groaned but he stood up and dusted himself.

"Bloody wanker luckily the furniture landed safely. Anyway you found a strong enough emotion but that one is too strong. You saw what you did, an emotion that strong is hard to control so we need to find something else."

Arthur picked up the feather from the ground and placed it on his palm.

"Try again, this time less emotion. Focus only on the feather, open your eyes; it might help to center the energy. You don't need to close them since you can already know how to summon an emotion."

Eyes forward, his focus was on the feather, he took a deep breath and he thought about his sisters and how they were always with him. How Katyusha was always there ever since he was a baby she took care of him and Natalya when they were little. He thought about Natalya and how she never wanted to leave his side, it was adorable.

He had to take care of them, both of them. They were all he had left and he wasn't planning on loosing them any time soon.

"But you will loose them."

He heard a sinister whisper in his head.

"No, I'll protect them, I'll have to die first if it means some one will hurt them."

"So noble of you but we both know what's going to happen if you don't succeed in doing this simple task."

Ivan's eyes widened.

"That's right you'll be worthless to me and do you know what I'll do?"

Ivan saw the picture of Nikolai grinning in his mind.

"That's right I'll kill every one you love."

He felt a cold felling pass through his arm and it stayed on his fingers causing him to get goose bumps. He saw the small fragile feather lift off from the palm of Arthurs hand and it flew up until it reached the roof.

"Congratulations."

Please review! Thank you for reading!

Sorry for the late update!