Justin's body lay on the ground, convulsing. Alex watched him die as he looked up with pleading eyes. Then the fire in them died out and was replaced by death's clout. Alex's own eyes welled with tears as she came to face all her fears.
She inflated her cheeks with air, and then blew out. She looked at the jungle around her, buzzing slightly with insect life. It was damp, hot and oppressive.
"Mcreeri timereeri" she said. Time rewound itself back to just before she had killed Justin; she was still holding her sword over him.
"Now forfeit and I show you the mercy that you didn't show Max."
Justin looked up at her, confused. "Why did you do that?"
"To prove that I could. Now forfeit, or I do it again, and again. Was dying pleasant?"
"Undying was worse. OK, OK, I'll forfeit. Forisfacio."
A sparkle of energy left Justin's body and drained into Alex's. His magical power, now given up to his sister. It crackled with arcane energy, and she felt extremely powerful. She knelt down next to Justin.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Stay still, it'll hurt less," she said, placing her hands on his chest. She closed her eyes and concentrated on channeling healing energy into him. His wounds closed shut, bruises healed and breaks mended. Then she stood up and extended a hand, which Justin took, and let himself be helped up by her.
"Thanks," he said.
"I'm still not sure I should have done that. You killed Max. I ought to leave you here!" Alex inhaled sharply and paused for a second. "On the other hand, I'm not sure what the rules say I need to do. I'm going to take you to dad."
She grabbed Justin's arm and they blinked away.
It was somber in the Russo household. Theresa barely spoke, and when she did it was always in a strained, stressed voice and often in Spanish. Neither of them expected it when the doorbell rang. Jerry walked over and opened the door to find his two eldest children standing there.
"Justin! Alex!" he said in a low but clearly surprised voice. "Come in."
"Dad I - " Justin began, before even walking in.
"- had to kill Max?" Jerry finished for him. "I saw on the crystal ball... it's an unfortunate consequence of The Competition." He was still clearly trying to deal with it, but certainly didn't blame Justin.
Alex and Justin walked in and sat down on their couch, sighing. Theresa came from downstairs and saw them.
"Alex!" she cried, seeing her and running down the steps. Alex stood up and let her mother hug her. "I'm so glad you're OK!" she said, almost crying.
After the embrace, she glanced at Justin, and sighed, then went back upstairs, on the brink of tears.
"Your mother still hasn't really forgiven you for killing Max," Jerry explained, sadly.
"But he was trying to kill me!" Justin protested.
"I know. I hope she sees that. Max died a long time ago. The person you killed was not him. I don't know who it was, but I know what. He was a Sorcerer."
"What's a Sorcerer?" Alex said, curious despite the gloomy circumstances.
"There are three different kinds of magic users," Jerry explained. "Wizards, like you and me – well, like I used to be, you know – Sorcerers, and Mortal Ritualists. Wizards are born with an innate knack for magic. Although it still requires training and practice, they are skilled and magic is easy for them. Mortal Ritualists, on the other hand, are merely mortals who study magic. They can eventually learn rather complicated rituals that have subtle, but far-reaching effects." He paused here.
"What about Sorcerers?" Alex pressed.
"Sorcerers are the most powerful entities in the magic world. They are not Wizards, even though they resemble extremely powerful ones. Sorcerers tap directly into the energy of the universe, and their powers can not be taken away in the same way that you can drain a wizard. Their magic tends not to be subtle at all."
"If they're so powerful, how did I defeat Max?" Justin asked.
"I don't know... a fluke, I suppose. Mostly it was Max being overconfident, a common trait in Sorcerers. I wish I had known earlier, I could have prepared him for such power. But I don't think even he knew until recently."
"I certainly didn't expect it," Alex said, her meek voice barely coming through.
"None of us did," Jerry said, shaking his head slowly. He cleared his throat.
"But there are more practical matters to attend to. Alex has won the Competition, this much is apparent. And I'm glad she gave Justin a reprieve," Jerry continued, looking at Justin. "But I have to ask Justin what he intends to do now."
Justin sighed and shrugged. "I thought I would go to college, majoring in Business Administration, and help you run the Sub Station."
Jerry nodded. "Good, good. That's a very responsible plan, and I'll be glad to have you. Though, it may be difficult for your mother to take."
"That's a good point. Well, maybe I'll live somewhere else for a while... I dunno though, this is all so much to take in."
"I know son, I know. I'll try to talk to your mother tonight. I think I can convince her that what happened was necessary. But tell me, Justin...do you miss magic?"
He paused, and considered it for a bit.
"I would have thought that I wouldn't miss it," Justin began. "I thought I prepared myself for a life without it, such that if I lost, as is the case, I would be ready. I thought that I might miss it, a bit, after living without it a while. Nostalgia, mostly.
"But I was wrong," the young ex-wizard continued. "I already miss it. It's like a vitality, an energy, has escaped me. I feel a void welling up inside me, threatening to consume my comparatively mortal will and destroy me. I don't know how mortals live without it!"
"Don't worry, the feelings you're having now are more akin to a drug withdrawal than a lack of magic. Although the feeling of emptiness never entirely goes away, it becomes bearable, although some former wizards tend to over-eat to try and fill it. It helps a bit, I suppose," Jerry said, smiling and patting his beer belly. "But there is another option. You can study Ritualism. Although you never regain the same feeling of power, you can emulate it for a time while you're casting spells. I do caution you concerning this - it makes magic even more like a drug, and you can become addicted to it."
Jerry turned to Alex, and saw that there were tears running down her cheeks. As she cried silently, neither Justin nor Jerry had noticed until now, and neither of them had seen her cry very often before. She wasn't prone to bouts of sadness and in fact, she rarely ever even got upset.
"Alex? Are you going to be OK?" Jerry said as he laid a gentle yet firm hand on her shoulder.
"I...it's just... it's happening so fast! Max is dead, mom hates Justin, Justin isn't a wizard. What am I going to do now anyway, huh? I mean, we had all these plans for if we lost the competition, but I don't know what to do now!"
Jerry gave a low, dry chuckle. "Alex honey, you're still barely 17 years old! You planned on college, right?"
Alex sniffed. "Mm-hmm."
"Well you can still do that. You're still our daughter, too. It's not like we're going to push you out in the cold."
Alex put her arms around her father, and though she was still crying, she was also clearly at least somewhat reassured.