(A/N: This is kind of important. I'm trying to decide if I should continue writing this story or start a new one. The new one would be a follow up to this one. Raeger the Wizard is kind of silly but is supposed to have some serious moments, whereas this new story would be mostly serious, focusing more on adventure/action/relationships, especially Raeger and Annie. I would be grateful if you could tell me which one you'd prefer I focus on!)

Chapter Fourteen: The Wizard's Apprentice

Knock, knock.

Annie rolled over in her sleep, hardly noticing the pitter-patter knocking on her door.

A few minutes later, there came an astonishing crash from outside and Annie was brought out of her slumber.

She ran to the door and flung it open to see Melanie standing there.

"What in the world was that noise?" Annie asked the little girl.

"S- Sorry! I was waiting for you to answer the door and… I noticed all your animals had been left outside… so I tried herding them in but they were really angry… so one of your cows came charging at me and, um..." Melanie finished her tale there.

Annie looked out over her farm and was mortified to see the chaos.

"I need to spend more time on farm work," she murmured to herself. She'd spent all night studying magic with Raeger and had been too tired to put her animals back inside.

"Annie, I came by today because I wanted to know if you were better. You know, since you were so quiet before," Melanie explained.

"Oh. Yes, I'm fine. No need to worry!" Annie said enthusiastically.

"Good! In that case, do you want to play a game today?" Melanie asked.

"I think I'm going to be too busy today," Annie replied, looking around her farm.

"I understand. There's still one thing I want to know, so can I talk to you while you work?" Melanie requested and Annie accepted.

Annie started off by calming her animals down and herding them indoors. After that, she started fixing up all the fences that had been broken by the rampaging cow.

While she did this, Melanie asked her, "What was it that upset you and made you so quiet anyway?"

Annie was startled by the question and stopped working abruptly. She tried to think of a lie and settled on replying with, "I was really worried about something but it's all sorted out now."

"But what was it? Did it have something to do with a certain person?" Melanie asked.

Annie was slow to respond again. Eventually, she murmured, "Yes."

"Are you in love with this person?!" Melanie asked, sure she had come to the right conclusion.

"NO!" Annie immediately replied. Melanie wasn't fooled.

"It's okay, Annie! Your secret's safe with me!" Melanie said. She stopped a moment and questioned, "Hang on a second, if the matter's been resolved, does that mean that you're dating them now?"

"No, I'm not dating anyone! I'm not in love with anyone!" Annie shouted, unconvincingly.

"Who is it, who is it, who is it?" Melanie asked.

"There's nobody, I swear," Annie cried.

Unfortunately, there was no convincing Melanie. She left Annie's farm that day, completely sure of her discovery. Annie only hoped nothing bad would come of it.

Later that day, Annie went by Raeger's restaurant for another class. Raeger mostly tutored Annie on Wednesdays when he didn't have any work to do.

Today, Raeger was showing Annie several kinds of herbs. Some she was familiar with and others she was not. She was astounded after Raeger had shown her them all.

"I can't believe all these herbs have magical qualities! I would never have guessed," she spoke in awe.

"What are you talking about? This is a cooking class," Raeger replied.

"What? But… you should have told me that earlier," Annie grumbled.

Raeger laughed, showing that he had clearly intended to trick Annie all along.

At the end of this lesson, Raeger said, "Would you like to do something else for me, Apprentice?"

"Hmm? Yes, sir!" Annie answered obediently.

Raeger ruffled her hair condescendingly and continued, "In that case, there's a purple flower growing out in the wilderness. Go find it, Apprentice! And with it, we shall cast a spell to mess with Elise!"

Annie nodded her head and set off. She ran out of the restaurant and along the street but was stopped by Angela.

"Annie, you look exhausted! I suggest you head to the clinic at once," Angela advised.

Annie realised then that she did feel tired, but she replied, "That's okay. I'll just go ask Raeger to cook me something to eat."

"I really think you should let Marian check up on you. Even if Raeger uses magic in his food," Angela whispered.

Annie thought about it for a moment and then accepted Angela's advice.

"Okay, I'll stop by the clinic. But before I do, I want to ask you something. What do you think about all the 'people who know Raeger's a wizard' getting together a few days from now?" Annie suggested.

"Oh, um, yes, that would be great," Angela murmured, trying to hide her smile.

"I'll go to the clinic and then head around, telling the others about the get together!" Annie said and set off once more.