Another few hours later, Wong led me out of the Mirror Dimension and towards the kitchen where Dan waited at the breakfast table, eating from a box of cereal and drinking a glass of what looked like apple juice. As we entered the room, he flashed me a narrowed look before he waved casually and pointed to the fridge.
"So…um…I didn't want to open the fridge because as soon as I touched the handle the whole thing started banging from the inside…I didn't know if you knew about that or not…" Dan said slowly, eyes wide as he explained what must have been a pretty amusing thing that I wish I had seen. "Do you have any milk by any chance? This cereal is kinda dry…"
Wong eyed the fridge behind him curiously and then moved to the corner of the room to a small cupboard imbedded in the wall. When he opened the small door, it looked just the way a small mini-fridge should look like. He retrieved a nearly-full gallon of milk from inside it and walked over to set it on the table for Dan who blinked in surprise at the hidden fridge.
"Thanks. Of course the fridge would actually be disguised as a cupboard. Not much else in this house makes sense." He said under his breath. I glanced to Wong who had closed the secret mini-fridge's door and opened another cabinet door to reveal a large fruit basket. He turned and brought the colorful assortment to the table and gestured at it for us to dig in.
"Strange visited a small town near the Everglades this weekend and returned with this as a gift from the people for vanquishing the demon that had been terrorizing them for several years." Wong explained lightly. I stared at him in dumbstruck silence for a moment before backing away from the bowl skeptically.
"That sounds kinda neat…how did he do that?" Dan asked, suddenly interested. He grabbed an oddly-shaped pinkish fruit from the basket and studied it carefully before tearing into it with a small knife that Wong supplied him with.
"Just knowing the process by which he was able to do it would send your mind into a state of such terror that I dare not reveal it to you." Wong said seriously. I eyed him warily and caught Dan doing the same. He looked at me and then frowned slightly before he glanced back up at Wong who had selected an unnaturally large kiwi to cut with another tiny kitchen knife.
"Are you for real?" Dan asked. Wong didn't look away from slicing into his huge kiwi before responding.
"No, I just don't want to confuse you any more than I have to." He admitted lightly, not even cracking a smile.
I scoffed and glanced at a small clock on the wall, noticing that it was already almost eight in the morning. I raised an eyebrow at the lack of sleep I'd had, but the absence of exhaustion I possessed. I figured the excitement and nervousness of learning magical spells and whatnot was responsible for my wide awake mind.
"I think I'm gonna shower off for a few before I eat, if that's okay." I said quickly, suddenly feeling a little grungy from my majority of the morning's training. Wong nodded and then gestured to where the Time Stone still rested hidden underneath my shirt.
"Make sure that never leaves your sight." He warned seriously, pointing with his mini knife in my direction. I lay my hand over the necklace and nodded with an equally serious expression on my face.
"It won't. I promise."
Several minutes later, I had finally managed to shower while keeping the Time Stone within my sight on the bathroom counter the whole time. Feeling a lot more like myself, I stepped back into my clothes and slipped the necklace back on over my head. I stopped in front of the mirror on my way out of the room and just to prove that I could, I quickly centered myself and tapped my left wrist before forcing my right hand into a defensive fist. The now-familiar golden glow flashed into view, the large mandala nearly knocking over the small towel rack that stood on the countertop.
"Woah!" I exclaimed as I reached out with my non-shielded hand to catch the miniature bronze towel rack before it could topple off the counter to the floor. I steadied the object and then stepped back a few more inches before willing the mandala away. A cocky smile forming on my face, I then decided to try another tactic Wong had taught me.
I reached forward and switched on the water faucet to a small barely – audible flow of water. I glanced at the door to my right before I carefully held out my hand and gestured lightly for the liquid to come towards me. Figuring that it would be a little harder than the small stationary books Wong had made me practice with in my training, I was almost sure I wouldn't be able to get the water to do what I wanted.
"Make myself one with the object." I murmured, repeating what Wong had taught me a few hours ago. "Or in this case…is it objects? Water is more than just one definite thing right? Or am I thinking too small like molecules or something?"
I stared carefully at the steady stream of cool water flowing from the bronze faucet, my hand still waiting eagerly about a foot away from it. I was almost ready to call it quits when I suddenly felt a few drops hit my outstretched palm. I blinked quickly and forced myself to study the motion of the water more intensely and my heartbeat started to quicken excitedly as I felt more and more drops hit my palm. Seconds later the small stream of water slowly seemed to move from its direction of flowing downward to flowing sideways into my palm.
"Yes!" I said eagerly, watching the liquid splash against my palm, scattering drops of water all over the countertop of the sink. I then flexed my fingers even further and the water splashing against my palm ceased, forming into a small, swirling bubble of liquid hovering above my palm like a globe. Excitement overwhelming me, I quickly opened the door and, careful not to take my eyes off of the softball-sized water sphere, I rushed down the hallway toward the kitchen.
"…and there were these two girls on the bus, Jillian and…um…well I didn't get her name guessed right before the whole spaceship incident went down, but I just wanted to, you know…see if they were alright…" Dan was saying to Wong as I slid into the kitchen.
"You guys, look at this!" I said, unable to contain the shrill excitement that my voice held as I watched the water globe slowly spinning in my hands. Wong and Dan both turned to look in my direction, Dan's face lighting up in awe and Wong's expression turning into slightly-impressed amusement.
"Cool!" Dan said, getting up from his place at the table and shuffling over to me to get a better look. He raised his hand to my water globe like he was going to poke it.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Wong called lightly, as he cut into yet another huge kiwi. The peels of three other ones lay in a dish on the table in front of him, signaling how many he had already eaten.
"Why not?" I asked him confusedly. I gestured with my shoulders to where I still had perfect control of the bubble hovering over my palms. "I've got it."
"Natural Elements usually tend to be most times unpredictable to control." Wong said, back to his mysterious and puzzling way of speaking. Dan, who had hesitated long enough for Wong to give his warning, turned back to stare at the large bubble of water again.
"How did you do that, man? I thought you said you weren't having any luck so far!" He said, hovering his hands an inch or so around the water. I smirked to Wong who was watching us with his arms crossed, his face a mask with amusement hiding underneath.
"Wong's taught me a few little tricks so far." I said. I took one of my hands out from underneath the water globe, the surface of it rippling from the change in balance. I watched it carefully, afraid that it would fall and spill everywhere. When it didn't, I flicked my free hand along the ball's surface, watching as the liquid erupted into mini waves. Dan laughed in disbelief, whirling around to face Wong.
"You have to show me how to do that! That's unbelievable! Look!" He turned back over his shoulder and, his excitement getting the better of him, he plunged his pointer finger straight into the bubble. My concentration seemed to stay strong enough but the water didn't. Just as I feared, as soon as Dan's hand broke the surface, the liquid ball instantly shattered, sending water splashing through my palms and down the front of both of our t-shirts. I instinctively flinched and my golden mandalas materialized. Dan's face was a mixture of shock and guilt as he slowly blinked away from the golden shields and to Wong who still stood facing us, his arms still crossed. I disbanded my mandalas and cleared my throat good-naturedly to speak up.
"I'll uh…go get the mop then, huh?"