Author's Note: Woo hoo, I got a review! Wonderful! If anyone else is reading this, I truly do love reviews… They're ever so motivating…


Apprentice of the Mystics

I yawned. "Try it again. Magic wall. The point is to protect yourself from magic, that's all. Don't worry about physical attacks, that's a different spell."

The kid frowned. "I'm trying… But what good is it to protect against one thing, and leave myself wide open to another kind of attack?"

I shrugged. "That's just the way it works. Get fast enough, and you might be able to cast this and some physical protection before your opponent can do anything."

He rubbed at a dark bruise on his arm. "I wish you'd teach me the physical protection spell first…"

"Nah, we're working with magic here. This is how you deal with me. Find other ways to protect yourself from Slash."

"He hits me when I do anything wrong…" he muttered.

"Then you might want to learn to do the right things faster," I suggested. "You want a tonic, for now?"

He frowned. "No."

I shrugged. "Fine, then don't complain when it hurts. Try again."

He glared at me, chanting under his breath. Weak green beams of light shot out from him, and he began to pulse with a faint green glow.

"Good! Let's try it out." I pointed at him and shot a line of flames at the child. He flinched, and his shirt got a little singed, but his barrier managed to mostly block it. "Hey, not bad!"

"That was easy," the boy said with a confident smirk.

"Oh, so you want something tough? Okay then, remember, you asked for it! How 'bout a little waltz with the wind?" He blinked in confusion and stiffened in alarm as I grinned and grabbed him, spinning him around as the wind picked up, swirling us both through the air, and blew him a kiss as I let it spin him back down. The child staggered and tried to straighten up, but he couldn't even tell which way was up.

"I… I'm… What… What did you do?" he demanded. He was barely able to get the words out."

"Just a fun little confusion spell," I assured him with a smirk. "Not so easy now, huh?" I sank down to stand on the floor in front of him.

"Nnn…" He couldn't even form a word. He tried to walk towards me, but staggered and reeled off to the side. When he tried to correct his path, he ran into the wall and crumpled to the ground.

"Aww, poor thing," I said with a laugh, walking over to him. He tried to glare at me as I smirked down condescendingly, but he couldn't seem to find me. He tried to say something again.

"What was that? Didn't quite catch it," I said with a grin, leaning down closer to him. He flailed around and grabbed my ankle by accident.

"…Shhhut… up…" he managed to get out before squeezing his eyes shut, still holding onto my ankle tightly.

"Come on, it's not that bad. Oh hold on… Wimp…" I reached down and whacked him on the head. He blinked and looked almost betrayed.

"Wh… Why did you do that?" he asked, glaring at me.

"To fix what was wrong, stupid. Get up, you're fine now."

Surprise broke over the boy's face, and he cautiously got to his feet.

"It's that simple. Most people don't think of it, though."

"I can see why…" the boy rubbed his head, still a little sore.

"Oh please, you're such a wimp, I didn't even hit you hard," I said rolling my eyes.

He frowned. "It's sore, okay? Leave me alone…"

"Hey, Flea," Slash said, walking in with a bundle tied to the end of his sword. The kid narrowed his eyes and stepped back a little as I looked up. I didn't see why he was being like that. I mean, he was a wimp with me too, but not THAT bad.

"Yeah?"

"We've got some prisoners coming in soon," Slash said, not deigning to notice the boy behind me. "Knights from Guardia. Gotta clear out the dungeons."

"Hmph, we need some new dungeons… Three cells and a basement aren't enough…"

Slash shrugged. "What do you want me to do about it? I had some imps clear out a few old bones and stuff. …And this stuff is yours to worry about." He twitched his sword, sending the dirty gray bundle flying towards me. I gracefully stepped out of the way, but it caught the boy in the arm. Slash sneered. "Stuff from your little friend's cell. You'd better find a better place for it." He laughed nastily as he walked out.

I blinked, uncomprehending, then frowned. "…Damn. I almost forgot about that…" I turned to the boy, who was still watching the door suspiciously. "Come on, pick up your stuff… And I can't believe you'd let that get so dirty! That's my cape, you know! Now it really WILL have to be burned!" I stalked out towards my room in annoyance. After a minute, my sharp ears picked up the sounds of him picking up the bundle and following me. We went all the way to the last room on the right side of the castle. "…I guess you can stay here," I said reluctantly. "Just don't get my throne messy."

He looked around quietly for a moment. "…But… isn't this… your room…?"

"Nah, not really. It's where I wait for enemies when they invade, and where I come to meet with people. My own room's above it."

"…How do you get to it?"

"I teleport. It's the only way."

"When will I learn to do that?" the boy asked.

"When you're good enough. And when I can trust you not to come bug me," I said with a smirk.

"You think I would?" he asked with a frown.

"Sure. You're a human child. Always wanna be babysat and stuff like that. You'll probably keep me up all night as it is with your crying."

The boy straightened up, glaring at me. "For your information, I do not need to be babysat. I would much prefer to be alone. And I do not cry."

"Hm, we'll see about that. …And you won't be COMPLETELY alone. The rats will keep you company!" I said gleefully.

"…Rats…?" he asked uncertainly.

"Big ones. Not to mention the lesser Mystics. But they might not bother you… too much!"

He crossed his arms defensively. "…They'd better not…" He frowned at me. "…And you'd better not snore like Ozzie does!"

I blinked and burst out laughing. "You can hear him in the dungeons?"

"Yes," he confirmed resentfully. "It's nearly impossible to get any sleep at all…"

"Ha, you're right about that!" I agreed, grinning. "But don't worry, I don't snore. So you'll just have the rats to worry about!"

"Hmph… I hate rats," the boy muttered. "Alfador would always keep them away…"

"Alfador? Who's that, your brother?" I asked, mildly interested.

"…My cat."

"Oh! I like cats. Too bad Ozzie and Slash hate them so much."

"Did you have one too… before you came here?" he asked, almost cautiously.

I blinked. "…Before? No. I didn't have anywhere to keep a cat."

He shivered slightly and untied the bundle, laying out my dirty old cape and taking out some dishes, his knife, and the decrepit old scythe he had found. "…Where did you live before?"

I shrugged, hopping up to perch on the top of my throne. "Wherever I wanted to. Usually in the mountain caves."

"…With your family?" The boy shook out the cape and wrapped it around himself, coming closer.

"Nah. I don't have any family. Never knew them. Some humans raised me when I was really little, but as soon as I could leave, I did."

"…Do you miss them…?"

"Nope. The people who raised me were old and nearsighted; they thought I was a human child. Stupid. Everyone else in their village could see I wasn't, though, and they hated me for it. As I hated them," I said calmly. I hadn't really thought about this in a long time.

"…My mother treated everyone horribly. All the other Enlightened ones were snobs. The Earthbound ones were filthy. …But I miss my sister. And my cat. They were the best friends I had…" He hesitated, then climbed up on the throne and curled up, looking up at me. "And now… I have nothing…"

"Hm. I'm the opposite. I've got allies now, and a real place to live. I wouldn't want to go back."

"…Allies… but not friends?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Not really. Definitely not Ozzie. Maybe Slash… sometimes. When he's not being a jerk."

The boy frowned. "…I hate Slash…"

"So you've told me. I doubt he cares. But you respect him, don't you?"

"…I guess… a little. As a swordsman," he admitted reluctantly.

"That's all that really matters. But come on, what's your deal with Slash? He's pretty mean sometimes, but is it all that bad?"

He glared at me. "I hate him! He does nothing but criticize me, even when I do everything he wants me to, perfectly! And he's unnecessarily rude and mean to me!"

"Well, you are a human. We don't especially like you guys, as a rule," I commented.

He frowned, looking just slightly upset. "…At least you tell me when I'm doing something right…"

I shrugged. "Well like I said, he's a jerk. But you've gotta deal with it, and keep trying. He doesn't just hand out praise."

"Neither do you…" he mumbled a little resentfully.

"You really think I'm that much better than him?" I paused, then grinned. "Well naturally, I am. But listen, we've both got our own ways of doing things. You may not like it, but you still have to put up with it. That's just life."

The boy sighed. "I know…"

"Yeah, yeah… Now comb your hair! If you're going to stay in here, you'd better take good care of yourself!" I ordered him. He blinked up at me, and slowly began combing his fingers through his hair. "Oh come on, that's not good enough. You really need a comb… Hold on, I'll be right back." I disappeared, and reappeared in a minute holding a spare comb of mine. "Here. Sit up, I'm not sure I trust you to do it well enough on your own."

The boy glowered at me and sat up, his eyes beginning to droop a bit. "I'm not helpless…"

"Right, if you say so," I agreed nonchalantly, hopping down to one of the chair's arms. I crouched there and started to comb out the boy's blue hair. "You've gotta wash this more often… It might actually look nice if you kept it clean and neat."

"You keep me busy enough with everything else, I don't have time to spend – OW! – hours on my appearance like you! Stop pulling it!"

"Keep your head still and I won't have to." I held his head in one hand and the comb in the other, starting at the bottom of his hair and working up as gently as I could. He jerked and squirmed at first, but after a while he calmed down a bit. He even leaned into my hand. What a strange human… I thought to myself as he began to lean more and more into me that maybe I should just watch one of his lessons with Slash, to see how it was going. I was sure he was just being a wimp again, but it wouldn't hurt to see what was happening. He yawned and sighed, his head dropping to the armrest as I finished combing. I watched him for a moment, then smoothed his soft blue hair down a bit. Weird little kid… I'd just check up on things with Slash later. This was my apprentice, after all. I had to keep an eye on him.