Shields dropped all over the courtyard, and Stephen's dissipated along with them, gold sparks scattering into the air and fading rapidly. "Are you hurt?" He gave her a stern look.
Casey shook her head, waving her fingers at him. "No, that shield thingy held up pretty good," she said. "How did you do that?"
"You haven't taught her to shield yet?" The grumpy librarian was walking toward them, frowning fiercely at Stephen.
Stephen looked away from her, seemingly satisfied that she hadn't gotten hit by the battle spell. A woman with blue hair was talking to the three combatants and waving her hands and pointing at them in a way that made Casey glad she wasn't the one being scolded.
Casey somehow kept her smirk off her face as Stephen assumed a long-suffering expression as he turned toward Wong. "I told you, I just started training her recently."
"The shield technique seems like it would be a useful skill to start with."
"I didn't start with that,' Stephen retorted.
"I'm working on astral projection," Casey offered with a heap of feigned innocence, unsure if would get Stephen in trouble or not.
"Oh, so you decided to skip the basics. Just because that's one of your specialties does not mean it will be hers," Wong said sternly, narrowing his eyes at Stephen. "Did you even test her to see what her strengths were?"
The dark-haired sorcerer drew his shoulders back. "I'm training her, not anyone else, so I'll do it how I believe it should be done."
So that was a no, then? Casey couldn't help but be curious about that test. Was there some kind of magic that she was going to be particularly good at?
"And this is coming from the years of experience you've had with training young wielders of the mystic arts, correct?" Wong said. His words were drenched in sarcasm.
"Do you have a book on it?" Stephen shot back.
Casey stepped forward. "What'd you guys talk about?"
That made both of them stop fussing at each other and look at her in surprise.
"That's not nosy at all," Stephen said languidly, crossing his arms over his chest. "If you were excluded from the conversation, you should assume we didn't care for you to hear it."
"Yeah, but you could give me the highlights," Casey said, "Like who's Jonathan Pangborn?"
A shadow flashed over Stephen's face, and Casey suddenly didn't feel as amused as she had a moment ago. Stephen and Wong shared a glance and then Stephen shook his head at her. "No one you need to be concerned about."
"And now she's going to be overly curious," Wong said with a huff, "Have you even been around a teenager in the past few decades?"
He wasn't wrong. Now that Jonathan Pangborn had essentially been designated off-limits, Casey wanted to know more about him.
"He used to be a student here," Wong said, ignoring the look that he got from Stephen, "He's gone missing."
"Does that happen often?" she asked. That couldn't have been all they talked about or they would have let her listen to the conversation. They were keeping something from her, but she wasn't sure she wanted to know exactly what that was yet. Of course, being ignorant about all this mystical magic stuff had gotten her grandfather killed, so maybe more information would be for the best. She also needed to know more about her parents.
"No," Stephen said firmly, "And that's enough assuaging your curiosity."
"Mr. Wong?" Casey looked over at the librarian as the briefest glimpse of surprise crossed his face.
"Just Wong is fine," he said gently. "And that's really all that matters, that a former student is missing. We are looking for him, of course."
"Can I help?" she asked, "I could get out of school—"
Stephen huffed. "Ah, yes, let me just excuse my fifteen-year-old apprentice—
"Almost sixteen."
"…from school so she can help on a magical search," Stephen said, "That'll be a wonderful letter to the school."
"You could just write a doctor's note," Casey said with a smirk, "It'd be legit."
"She does have a point," Wong said in a deadpan tone.
"I think I made a mistake," Stephen said, crossing his arms over his chest, "Obviously introducing you two means that you're now going to gang up against me. How did I not see this coming." He started walking back in the direction of the library, and behind him, Casey tossed a grin at Wong, her potential future ally.
"Wow, so he doesn't know everything," Casey said.
"Don't let him fool you," Wong said, "He maybe very skilled, but there's so much he still doesn't know. For instance—"
"If you could stop undermining my authority with the kid, that'd be great, Wong," Stephen grumbled.
They walked through the ancient temple, and Casey trailed her fingers across the stone walls. It smelled cool and earthy, a lot different from the wood and paper smell of the Sanctum. "When do I get to learn battle magic?"
"I think you would do well to start teaching her," Wong said, "She should be prepared."
"I'm getting there," Stephen said to both of them, not even looking over his shoulder. "All in good time. And I decide when it's a good time."
"Yep, I think you're neglecting my training for your own studying, and that's cool," Casey said flippantly, "You do you."
"That's not…you just started training," Stephen said, "And I'm training you exactly the way I think you should be trained."
"Maybe we should discuss that process more, since you've never trained anyone," Wong said, unamused. "Starting with astral projection. Ridiculous."
"Actually, could we discuss my parents?" Casey cut in. She took a few steps forward, passing Stephen and turning on her heel. She walked backwards in front of him so she could look up and meet his eyes. "You still haven't told me all that much about them."
Stephen looked over the top of her head. "I never met them. I just know of them."
"But you know about them," she pressed, "I deserve to know."
"It's a complicated topic."
"It's my family." Casey stopped, meaning to force Stephen into stopping as well. He avoided it by neatly sidestepping her and their conversation. "You can't just keep ignoring me!"
And yet he continued to do so as he walked away from her.
Wong stopped beside her and glanced down at her with something that might have been empathy. "He's a difficult person, but he means well."
"Can you tell me about them?" Casey asked, hopeful that she had found a new ally.
Wong sighed. "I did not know them very well, but we met. They were great at what they did, and I know they left to care for you, not long after you were born. This life doesn't mesh well with having a child." There was no way she could miss the pointed look he tossed at Stephen. She wasn't a child, not really. It wasn't like she was some little kid he had to keep an eye on all the time.
She had been the reason her parents went off the magical grid. How involved had they been before that with saving the world from magic danger? "Can you tell me more?"
"I will visit soon, and we can talk about them then," Wong said, "I'll bring some books."
"But-"
"Soon."
"Great…" Now they had put it on hold, and she had no way of getting more information.
Wong nodded in the direction that Stephen had went. "Let's follow him."
Casey grudgingly did just that. Her skin felt tight with irritation as she stormed down the path that led to the library. The door was already opened when they reached it, and Wong gestured for her to go in first.
Inside the library, it was a little dim, and the smell of books and paper was overwhelming. There was also an herbal scent, like different kinds of tea, all laced with something that smelled comforting and warm, if that was possible. She wasn't a big reader, but sometimes she found books that she liked. Most of the time, she was too busy with sports or hanging out with her friends, both of which had taken a backseat to figuring out life without her Gramps.
Stephen had disappeared, and she didn't feel like tracking him down. She wandered into the stacks and ran her finger over one of the books. It surprised her by jumping against her touch.
"It can sense your skill," Wong said. He was at a nearby table, grabbing a couple of books.
"I don't have any yet," Casey said. Unless you counted being able to do a short-term astral projection.
"Then it senses your potential," Wong said. He walked over to her and held out three books. She took the first one.
"The Book of Sayings?" She glanced at the other two. "Art of Artifacts and The Gift of One?"
"Just a few books to get you started." He dropped the last two into her arms.
Casey sighed. "Do I need a card?"
"He knows where to find you if they're overdue." Stephen appeared at the end of the shelf, his own set of books hovering at his elbow. Nice spell. Maybe one day he would actually get around to teaching her something like that. "Let's go, Casey."
She frowned. Had Stephen eaten? He must have had breakfast/dinner with Wong or something… But she didn't care if he ate or not. Still… "Did you eat? Because we don't have anything at the Sanctum except leftovers and maybe some Cheez-Its."
"We no longer have Cheez-Its." Stephen said it calmly even though he was definitely the culprit who had eaten all the snacks. "And yes, I ate. Thanks for your concern."
"I just didn't want you to eat the Cheez-Its, but I guess it's too late for that," Casey said.
"You don't need all of those books," Wong told Stephen, narrowing his eyes at the large stack.
"I think I do," Stephen said, "Come on, Casey, let's go before he calls the library police."
"I think he is the library police," Casey said, though she did follow him as he headed down the aisle and into a room in the back. There were multiple doors, and one had the symbol for the Sanctum on it. New transportation method? "We'll see you soon?" she asked, looking back at Wong.
"I have to get the books back somehow," Wong said, but he didn't sound like he hated the idea. "Don't damage them."
Stephen smirked. "Or he'll damage you."
