Magic is fun, this universe is complex but flawed and hard to write for.

Am I the only one who realized Nick has no real friends, just people watching over and manipulating him?


Markos was walking by his various patients' rooms in the hospital he volunteered at when he heard a word that drew his attention unlike any other.

"You got any manga?" It was a boy, and the voice sounded slightly familar. Curious he walked towards the voice, only to shiver as he felt a wave of repressed pain coming off of the room and patience within it.

"Manga? What's that?" He heard a girl say, her voice was definitely familiar... and he knew it was Kody, a new girl at Saint Richard's, the school he went to. She was a stunning beauty and was really nice, so she stood out. She was in most of his AP classes, so he remembered her well enough.

"Japanese comic books. I'm addicted to them."

"No, sorry again. I do have some Batman and Spider-Man if you're interested?"

"That'd be great. You got any science fiction or fantasy?" The boy asked.

"We have a couple of Dune books."

"Now that I could definitely go for."

"I'll be right back." And the girl popped out of the room, and he saw her.

"Hi, Kody." The girl jumped, then turned to him with a smile.

"Your Markos, right?"

"Yeah, who's in there? The voice is familar but I can't pinpoint it."

"Oh, Nick Gautier."

Eyes wide, he smiled. "The kid who fought that moron Stone? I got to see him." He popped into Nick's room and was kind of stunned to see how handsome Nick was despite his mummy look. "Hey, Nick. I hear you want some manga,"

The boy frowned. "Who are you?"

"Oh, yeah, I came to school like a day or so before Kody did. We are in most of the same classes, but they never introduced me. My name is Markos Schmidt" What he didn't say was that he cast a spell to be ignored, a notice me not spell since he had no interest in being bullied by that brute Stone and his cabal of morons. "Anyway, I heard you like manga, literally I just heard you say it. I volunteer here too. Since you fought that goon Stone, I am feeling generous. I have a bunch at home for you and can get you some from the library if you'd like."

"Here you go," Kody said, popping back in with a stack of comics and books. "I'd take him up on the offer, Nick, you won't last long on this. Most patients complain about boredom."

Nick smiled. "Bless you." Then he turned to Markos. "Sure, and it's nice to meet you, Markos."

"Any time." She stepped back from the bed. "Well, I better get going. I still have to make my rounds and visit other patients. I promised Mrs. O'Malley that I'd play rummy with her today."

Wow, that was really sweet of her. "Okay. Thanks so much for stopping in and for the books." She inclined her head to him.

"Take care."

"You too."

Markos stayed. "I can chat for like an hour if you'd like. I start my rounds earlier then she did today. I don't mind visiting."

"Why?"

"Why not, you seem nice enough and you fought Stone, You can't be a bad person if you were willing to beat his ass. I've seen him attack like fifteen people in the last few days you've been gone..." Again, what he did not say was that he cursed Stone with impotence and unbearable horniness. "To be honest I have no friends at Saint Richards, I am a poor kid who passed that stupid test with a perfect score. They made me take it twice, saying I had to be cheating."

Nick laughed. "They did that to me too. You got to be pretty smart to do so well."

"I do try."

"So... where you from?"

"New York, Upstate New York. I left for... well, to get away from my family." What he didn't say was the he magiced his way out, manipulating the judge with Silk Speech to emancipate himself and move away. It was the best choice he had made since learning magic. "My blood relatives were crap, this was for the best."

"I can relate, my dad is... well not very good to be blunt." A wave of pain made Markos shiver though he hid it well, Nick was full of pain, so much it was literally leaking out of him. "I like your necklace, what is it?"

Markos smiled, grabbing his amber necklace. "It's a talisman, I bought it an occult shop. No I am not into the occult in a literal sense, I just think it's interesting so I bought it."

Nick smiled. "I could never get away with that, my mom and I are Catholic, she's freak out."

"Just lie then, she doesn't need to know what she is not capable of understanding. I personally hold no religion, in fact I think it's kind of wrong to force religion on kids, when they cannot make their own choices so they model after their parents blindly."

"Hey, that's not-"

"Did you have any say in your faith?"

"No, but-"

"Did you ask for it?"

"Not but-"

With each word, Nick oozed more pain, so much so that it was kind of hard to focus. "Then I am right but enough of that. Do you need a review on the classwork you've missed or do you want to chat about Manga?"

Nick sighed. "Manga for now, but we can talk about school work later... I am so not looking forward to having to play catch up."

"Yeah, I imagine so... hey I'll be right back. I need to use the restroom, Can I use yours?" Nick nodded and so Markos moved into his bathroom, closing the door and pulling out from his bag his grimoire. "Okay, this kid needs a serious blessing, he is in a lot of pain and it's getting distracting... " He whispered. "I think a simple blessing should help..." Pulling a charm bag from his tote, he squeezed it. Focusing on the magic within himself, he chanted low. "'Liga et amplexu, Mundum invisibilis Tactus sanans." The magic in the charm bag burned a searing purple before fading into magical dust only a magical being could see. It flew out of the bathroom and out to Nick, who he heard let out a long, almost sleepy sigh as the magic took instant effect. It would not last more than a few hours, but it would soothe his pain, help him sleep and actually help him to heal... which was really why Markos was even in the hospital, people to play with his magic on. He healed, soothed and helped as many people as he could, making a difference and really increasing his magical skills.

It was really something.

Walking out of the bathroom, after faking washing his hands, he sat back near Nick. "So... if we are going to talk about Manga, we got to talk about Naruto. I am a huge fan. I adore Orochimaru, I love evil geniuses."

Nick gaped. "Noway, I am more of a Jiraiya guy."


Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.

This was a joy to write.

Love, your Ninja Overlord,

Mika.