Apprentice of the Mystics


A couple of days later, I remembered the kid again. I hadn't heard him crying yet, but maybe that was just the thickness of the walls. I wondered if anyone had bothered to feed it yet. In any case, it could be fun to toy with the human. So I fixed myself a couple sandwiches and some chips, got a glass of water, and headed down to the dungeons for a different kind of temptation than I normally offer. I floated over to his cell and peered in. He sat in the corner, brooding and trying not to shiver. My cape had been shoved through the bars.

"Not chilly, are you?" I smirked as I sat back in the air, my lunch floating beside me. His head jerked up to glare at me, the movement not quite masking a shiver. I glanced at my crumpled cape on the ground. "Not too smart either, obviously."

"Shut up," the boy muttered resentfully. "I'll not take handouts from a cretin like you!"

I laughed incredulously. "Handouts? You were touching it. You think I'd want it after that? The only thing worse than the stench of a human is the stench of a human child."

"All of you stink. You live in this stinking pit of a castle, with rotting corpses and filthy creatures running amok through it… How do you expect this place not to stink?" he retorted angrily.

"Well aren't you an educated little brat! All those big words…" I smirked condescendingly. The child's glare intensified. I took a bite of my sandwich. "Have you been fed lately?

"No, and I wouldn't eat anything you fools tried to give me."

I shrugged. "Nobody's forcing anything down your throat. Obviously." I sipped my water and took a potato chip. "Mmm…" I watched him to see if he would break down and ask for something. He didn't crack. The kid was either admirably brave or damnably stupid. Not that there was always a difference.

"I won't do your bidding. You had better let me go," the brat threatened after a moment. I swallowed my mouthful of sandwich and licked my lips.

"Mmm… Well you'll either do it, or you'll die. Not much of a choice. I suggest doing what we say, it'll save you some trouble."

"Never," he growled.

"Suit yourself, then. I hope you like pain!" I said cheerfully.

"…Just what do you expect of me, anyway?" he asked angrily after a moment.

I shrugged. "Some kind of magic at our disposal, I guess. Ozzie seems to think you can do something."

The boy smirked bitterly. "Well you're wrong. You picked the wrong person to kidnap if it's magic you're after. I don't have any. My sister got it all. …And you're not touching her!" He glared fiercely.

"Hm, we'll see about that… But you're what we've got. So you're what we'll use." I took another big bite of sandwich, finishing off the first one.

"Hmph, with YOUR feeble grasp of magic, I guess even I would be an improvement," he said with a smirk.

I frowned. "Shut up, brat. Who do you think you're talking to?"

He shrugged. "Some floozy who begs at the feet of her overgrown imp-master."

I stood, drawing myself up to my full height. "I am the magician Flea, and general of the Mystic Army. Far too good to be speaking to a human like you."

The boy got up angrily too. "I am Prince Janus of the Kingdom of Zeal, and you would do well to remember that, filthy commoner!"

I nearly tore down the bars in my rage. How dare he speak to me that way? But I forced myself to calm down. No sense in letting him win by getting me riled up. "Well princey, you're even denser than most. I'm also a guy."

He blinked, caught off-guard for a moment. Then his glare was back. "You hardly look like a man in THAT." He looked over my clothing critically.

"Male, female, what's the difference?" I grinned, and winked at him. "…Power is beauty, and I've got the power."

He gave me a weird look. "You are… strange."

I was about to shoot back a witty comeback, but Ozzie chose that moment to waddle over.

"Mweeheehee… Taking care of your kid, Flea?"

I narrowed my eyes. "It's not MINE. You're the one who brought it here. I was just having some fun with it."

"Oh no, you're mistaken," Ozzie said, taking great pleasure in this. "We're interested in his magic, and guess who our magician is!" He chuckled gleefully. Janus looked like he couldn't decide if he was disgusted or amused.

"No. No way. I hate kids. I hate humans. You've gotta be kidding me. No." I shook my head adamantly, but Ozzie just nodded, grinning.

"I guess you'll have to learn to deal with it, then. Because it's your new apprentice as long as it can learn from you."

I stared at him, speechless for once. How could he do this to me? What did I do? I'd been good lately; I'd fulfilled all my tasks and obeyed every order. I didn't deserve this!

"Wait!" I called desperately as Ozzie turned to leave. "If… you think he'll be staying long enough to be called an apprentice, shouldn't he learn a little more? I mean…" I searched wildly for a way to get him off my hands for a while. "…Slash should teach him how to fight too! And you could…" …Well, there wasn't much Ozzie could teach him, that he'd be willing to divulge to a human outsider.

"And make him any kind of threat? Where's your head, Flea?" Ozzie shook his head. "IF you can make him useful at all, we'll see what we can do about his loyalties. If not…" He shrugged his wide shoulders. "…No loss for us." He vanished, back to his own chambers.

"…No loss for YOU, maybe!" I shouted after him, stamping my foot. "What about me? I have to waste all that time on this worthless little human brat!" I whirled to glare at the child, who was glaring back defensively.

"You! What magic do you know?"

"I told you, idiot! None!"

"You're the idiot, then. Look, I don't want to do this. So you're going to learn damn fast, or you're gonna make it hella clear right off that you can't do anything. Got it? And if you wanna live, I'd suggest the first option!"

The boy glared resentfully. I wondered if he had any expressions. "I TOLD you I can't! Are you deaf?"

"Yeah, well much as I'd like to just throw you to the ogres or something fun like that, I can't. SOME of us have a better sense of responsibility than that. And I don't want to be punished for not even trying to do my job."

"So what, now you're going to put me in halfway acceptable accommodations?" the boy asked.

I laughed. "Silly princey, of course not! This is just fine for you until we get some more prisoners. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. …But I guess I'll have to feed you once in a while…" I made a face and grudgingly turned my second sandwich sideways, passing it through the bars to him. I shouldn't eat so much anyway, it wasn't good for my figure.

The boy stared at me distrustfully. "…Oh please, I was gonna eat this myself. I wouldn't poison it."

"…What is in it?" he asked after a few seconds.

"Ham, turkey, salami, cheese, banana peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and mayonnaise!" I announced gleefully. "It's really good.

"…I do not know what half of that is…" he said uncertainly. "I am not THAT hungry…" But his stomach betrayed him with a growl.

"Sounds like you are, though!" I laughed. "You can pick off the stuff you don't like, and eat it when you get hungry enough not to care."

He hesitated, his stubbornness warring with his hunger. Then his arm snaked out to grab the sandwich from me. He immediately backed away, keeping his eyes on me.

"Holding it won't help you much," I said with a smirk.

"Shut up, cretin… I'll eat when I'm ready. I'm not here for your amusement!" he hissed.

"I've got news for you, princey. Yes you are. And you'd better keep amusing me, if you want to keep eating."

"Don't call me that!"

"You seem to think you have some control here. Sorry, that's not the case. I'll call you what I want."

"I hate you…"

"That's good."