"You're a water magician."
Sebastian stared at the giant ice sculpture. Dread was rising in his stomach. He felt sick.
"My parents are going to kill me."
That was true.
After Ursula stole his mother's voice in the famous fairytale, his father learned and banned any sort of magic from the kingdom, sending everyone away. Melody had vanished when he was a kid, and his parents, instead of blaming themselves, blamed magic users, trying to get back at him.
Sebastian inhaled deeply.
Laura quit laughing, and stared at him, a mixture of emotions. "Your parents will kill you because you used magic?"
"Havfrue has banned magic. I won't be allowed to return home. I've lost everything."
Laura snickered. "Don't you think you're being a bit dramatic?"
Sebastian slid to the ground, unable to take his eyes off of the giant statue. "No, I'm not."
Laura blinked in disbelief. "I can melt it"I if that's what the issue is. They will never see it."
"That's not just it. I'm going to have to purposely fail all my classes in magic, and they will know. I am going to fail school, all because my bigoted parents hate magic."
Laura flinched, shocked by the raw honesty. "Nobody is saying that."
Sebastian turned his gaze to the brown-haired girl, who was watching him, stuck between concern and hatred. "I have to get rid of it."
"You can't. There is no getting rid of it."
"I want it gone!" He shouted.
"You can't get rid of it!" She shouted back. "The forces have marked you as a magician, it's fundamentally part of you. There is no getting rid of it."
Sebastian slammed his hands onto the ground, and the ice sculpture shattered, sending melting ice chunks everywhere.
Laura instinctively threw an arm up, covering herself and Sebastian with a border of fire. Any ice that hit it sizzled and evaporated.
"You need to calm down. Magic follows emotion. You're going to kill us."
Sebastian wanted nothing more than to scream as she crouched in front of him. He tried desperately to calm himself down, but panic was rising everywhere. He was never going to be able to go home, to face his parents.
He ran his hands through his hair, trying to calm himself. The pipes were hissing, the water following his panic.
"Hey, hey, stop." Laura grabbed his hands, clenching them in hers. "Look at me."
Sebastian moved his eyes to hers. They were brown, with gold flecks in them. Her cheeks were light pink.
"Breath in and out, counting to three."
Sebastian followed her instructions, his heart rate slowing as his breathing did.
He shook his head, realizing what was going on. He couldn't get rid of it.
"I can help you train it," Laura offered. "I have done it a couple of times before, and it's easier to control the more you practice."
Sebastian stared at her. "Train me?"
"Yes, so it doesn't have to follow emotion as much. Control, then you can hide it if that's what you want."
"What about classes? They send our grades to our parents."
She paused, thinking. "You don't have to hide it in class. It's not too hard to intercept the letters containing our grades and change or destroy them. I've been doing it since we got here."
Sebastian stopped. "Wait, you've been stopping your grades from going to your parents?"
"Yes, I don't talk to them."
Sebastian narrowed his eyes. "What? Why?"
"I just don't. That's none of your business. Do you want me to teach you or not?"
Sebastian nodded. "Yes. Teach me to control it."
"Meet me in the library at midnight."
Sebastian didn't tell anyone. Not even Tedros. He didn't want to risk anyone knowing.
The constant fear of being found lurked beneath the surface, and underneath that, what felt like a dormant monster hunted.
He paused outside the library, unsure if he should actually be doing this. He inhaled deeply, stepping in. The dimmest light echoed from a corner.
He walked through the library, wearing the school provided pyjamas. He made his way towards the light.
Laura sat, flipping rapidly through a few books. A small flame echoed in front of her, casting a calming light over the table.
Sebastian paused, watching her. She hadn't noticed his presence yet.
Maybe this was a mistake, maybe he should leave, but the magic inside him was yawning, and it wanted to be used. Train it, then it wouldn't have to be seen.
Against his better judgement, he sat.
Laura chuckled once. "I thought you weren't going to show."
Sebastian squirmed slightly. The magic was itchy.
Laura noticed this. "Okay, we should probably get a little bit of that out before I start to explain."
Sebastian stared blankly at her.
Laura sighed. "You really know nothing, don't you? Alright, when you are a magician, it is very easy to overboil your magic if you don't use it."
"What's the difference?" Sebastian asked. "Between magician, wizard, and sorcerer? And why don't you feel like you're going to overboil?"
"I don't feel like I'm going to overboil because I'm constantly using my magic, the more powerful you are, the easier it is to overboil."
"Constantly using it?"
Laura shrugged. "The castle is cold, I use it to keep me warm."
"What about magician?"
Laura flipped through the book and pointed at a diagram. "Everybody in this castle who has had their fingers unlocked can use magic, the difference with you and me is we are magicians. We draw from a different source. I'm not going to tell you what, because of your position with your parents. A magician is the novice level. If you keep training, you become a wizard, and then a sorcerer, which is the most powerful. It is very rare that you can get this high."
She pointed to a picture, turning it to Sebastian so he could see. It was a group of nine people, all dressed in flowing robes. "The council of magic. They determine what to do with magic. Recently, one of them was killed, which makes me wonder if you are meant to be one of them."
Even though Sebastian was supposed to hate magic, he couldn't help but feel calmed as he learned about it, as if a part of him was finally awake.
"Are you a member of them?"
Laura nodded. "Have been for a decade or two now," At Sebastian's look, she continued. "You don't age on Neverland."
She pointed to the empty vase on the table, where flowers were wilting from lack of water. "Fill that with water."
Sebastian raised an eyebrow.
"I can't tell you how to do it. Magic is different for everyone, but if earlier tonight was any indication, you have a forte in water. Mine is obviously fire. Try it."
Sebastian took in a deep breath and raised his hand, feeling slightly ridiculous, and gestured.
Laura bit down a laugh. He looked so silly. "Here." Laura reached across and grabbed his hand, directing his hand to the vase.
Sebastian flushed pink. She had slim fingers, and her hands were warm. She let go and he moved his finger slightly.
A second later, a soft blue light contrasted against the fire and the vase began filling with water, slowly.
"Stop," Laura said.
"It's not stopping," Sebastian responded.
The vase began overflowing.
Laura lunged across the table and grabbed his hand, cutting off the water. Water began spilling across the table. Laura waved her hand and the water hissed, vanishing into thin air.
Laura slumped back in her chair, before giggling. Sebastian stared at her like she was crazy. She was laughing, tears coming to her eyes.
After a second, Sebastian couldn't stop himself from smiling as well.