Chapter 1: Odd Happenings

Two hours later, Michiru finally was done with unpacking her bags. Letting out a happy sigh, the aqua haired girl allowed herself to sink down on the bed that had once belonged to the magician Haruka Tenoh, but now was hers, and closed her eyes for a second. The next moment, the aqua haired girl found herself lying on the ground. "Huh?" Michiru mumbled, wondering if maybe she had dozed off and had fallen out of the bed in her slumber without noticing. Slowly, she crawled into the bed again…when it suddenly jumped underneath her like a stubborn horse and threw her to the ground again. "What the heck?!" the aqua haired girl cried out, staring at the bed in anger. Which seemed to stare back at her. "Oh, come on." The aqua haired girl thought to herself. "It's a bed! It can't stare it at you!" She slowly moved closer to the bed again, but before she even had to chance to touch it, it performed a little jump, causing her to squeal and jump back. The bed started to jolt around, then it moved. Towards her. Michiru, by now seriously frightened, slowly walked backwards, away from the evil bed and over to the door. "Leave me alone, you stupid piece of furniture!" the aqua haired girl shouted. The bed reacted by performing another jump, and Michiru could swear that if it had a tongue, it would poke it out to her now. "Behave now, or I'll get the axe and turn you into firewood!" the aqua haired girl now threatened. This seemed to scare the bed, since it moved away from her again. "Good bed." Michiru spoke, feeling awfully stupid all of a sudden. She was talking to a bed, for Heaven's Sake! "I can't believe I'm doing that." The young woman mumbled to herself, scratching the back of her head. "And where am I supposed to sleep now?" she then asked out loud, though not speaking to anyone in particular. "My bed has a life of it's own…" Suddenly, the sound of moving linen could be heard, and when Michiru looked at her bed again, the blanket had been moved to the side. As if the bed wanted her to sleep right now. Slowly, Michiru moved over to it, undressed and crawled in. She pulled the blanket over herself and closed her eyes, only to hit the floor within the next second. The aqua haired girl glared at the bed – which was shaking with laughter. Literally. The bed shook, while a deep, husky voice laughed it's invisible head off. "Gotcha!" the voice now taunted, while the bed jumped again. "Haha." Michiru spoke, angered. "You think this is funny, huh? What are you, a ghost?" "Yes." The voice replied. Afterwards, everything stayed silent, and Michiru thought that maybe the ghost had gone to sleep, when suddenly the voice spoke directly into her ear: "BOO!", causing her to squeal and jump. The voice started to laugh again while the bed shook like crazy. Michiru stared at the scene wide-eyed ( O_O ), and a huge sweat drop formed on the back of her head. Sighing, the aqua haired girl decided to forget sleep for now and walked downstairs into the kitchen. She opened the hinged of her oven, knelt down in front of it and softly whispered: "Piro." The wood that had been inside the oven started to burn immediately. Michiru smiled, satisfied that the only spell she knew – and believed in – worked. "Witch!" the husky voice that had been laughing at her before suddenly spoke into her ear, causing her to jump again. "Stop that!" Michiru then yelled out. "No. Are you a witch? Cause that little fire spell isn't too great, you know." Michiru got angry; why should she let some ghost offend her. "Well then, show me if you can do better." The aqua haired girl spoke with derision in her voice, hoping that she could make the ghost leave that way. "Certainly." The voice replied instead of leaving, before it thundered: "Piros Maximos!" A huge flaming wave shot out of the oven, nearly scorching Michirus hair, then shrank back to the size it had been before. Michiru stared at her oven in fear while the voice chuckled. "Happy now?" it asked. Michiru could just nod; it took her almost five minutes until she was able to speak again. "Can you…can you teach that to me?" The ghost stayed silent, and Michiru pouted. "Come on, please!" she begged, and finally, the voice sighed. "It shouldn't be too difficult for you, since you already know the basic spell. Just try." It advised her. Michiru concentrated and softly spoke: "Piros Maximos." Nothing happened. She frowned and tried again, with the same result. "It won't work!" she complained, causing the voice to sigh again. "It's not working because you are emphasizing the words wrong. You gotta say it like this: Piros Maximos!" The fire in the oven got crazy again, then calmed down. "Good, I'll try again." Michiru mumbled, concentrating once more. She felt how the magic filled ever single nerve of her body, and when she thought that it was enough, she spoke the words once more. "Piros Maximos!"

"Umm…not bad." The voice spoke, while Michiru stared at the hole her fire spell had burnt into the ceiling with horror. "Maybe a little too much passion…" the voice now added, and if Michiru could have seen it's owner, she would have glared at him. "It's your fault! I said it like you did, and now look what happened!" she accused the voice. "It's not!" it defended itself. "I didn't burn a hole into the ceiling, and I spoke the charm twice!" Michiru sighed and apologized: "You're right. It's my own fault…I should stay away from such mighty spells." "No, no, you have talent." The voice shot back. "Talent? Me?" Michiru replied, surprised. "Most certainly. I could teach you some of the most powerful spells this world knows." The voice offered, and Michiru seemed to consider this for a while. Then, she replied: "Sounds good. But first, I want to know who you are. Tell me your name." When the voice answered, Michiru nearly fainted. "Allow me to introduce myself. You're talking to the great Wizard Haruka Tenoh."