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Author's Note:

None

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Chapter 67:
Practice Makes Perfect

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"Okay, one more time…"

Luigi held his training wand in his hand. He pointed it at the small rock in front of him.

"Reformabit…"

He waited for something to happen but to his dismay, he got nothing.

'Nothing happened'

"No duh," He mumbled a bit frustrated.

He had spent the last hour or so practicing his spells. Unfortunately for him, he hasn't been having much luck getting them to work. And with his test coming up soon, he was running out of time.

'Relax, Mr. Over Achiever,' Mr. L said. 'You're stressing out about this too much; rest for a bit and try again later,'

Luigi sighed. "Maybe you're right,"

'I know I am,'

He quickly added. "For once,"

'Hey, don't hate,'

Luigi smiled. He walked over to his drawer and pull out his journal. With a pen in hand, he returned to the sitting area and began writing. After about ten minutes, he heard the door opening. Looking up, he saw Wendy entering inside.

"Hi, Orabelle,"

"Hey Luigi,"

She sounded tired which caught his attention. He closed his journal and stood up from the couch. "Hard day at work?"

"You could say that," She stretched. "Making a web show is harder than I thought,"

"Well, if you want it to be good then you have to work hard on it." He said placing a small kiss on her forehead.

It's been almost three weeks since Wendy and Morton have started making their web show. From what he heard from his wife, everything was coming along steadily.

"Yeah, I guess done," She said, flopping down on the bed. "Although, I can't wait until we're actually done. Right now, I'm tired."

"Alright then," Luigi nodded, "I have to get back to practicing anyways,"

Wendy rolled onto her stomach. "Still having problem?"

"Yeah," He said as he picked up his wand. "I've been practicing for a long time but I can't seem to get them right."

"What kind of spells are they?"

"A healing spell, a levitation spell, and a transformation spell,"

"Oh that… I know those ones,"

Luigi blinked. "You do?"

"Yup, Kammy taught us those kind of spells when we were younger, especially the transformation one. Remember when you first met us; we turned the Mushroom Kings into animals and plants."

He nodded. "Yes, I remember,"

"Well, the spell we used on them was a bit more powerful, but basically the same thing."

"Mind showing me a demonstration?"

"Alright," She shrugged.

She jumped off the bed and walked over to her vanity stand. She opened the drawer and pulled out her specter.

"It's been a while since I used this but I like to keep it around just in case…" She said as she walked over. "Okay, what do you use to practice on?"

"This rock," He pointed.

"Ah, perfect," She took it and placed it on the coffee table. "Okay, well…from what I learned your spells work best when the mind, body, and soul are in sync with each other. The wand is just a tool used to concentrate the magic better into a single point; it is really the caster that holds the power within. At least, that's what Kammy told me,"

Luigi nodded, indicating that he was listening. He does recall Kammy mentioning something like that before.

"I think the main key to casting spells is to have confidence." She explained. "If you have faith in yourself, then the spell will always work…well, maybe not always but at least you'll get something out of it. For example…"

Taking a step back, she pointed her scepter right at the rock. "Reformabit,"

The gem on her scepter and the rock glowed. Seconds later, the rock was now a diamond.

"See,"

Luigi nodded. "Yeah, I think I get it now,"

He stood up from the bed and pulled out the training wand from before. Wendy stepped aside as she let him have a try. With a poise look, he pointed his wand and repeated the word,

"Reformabit,"

This time he got a small light appearing at the end of his wand but other than that, he got nothing else. He frowned, wondering what else he was doing wrong.

"Try to keep a clear head," Wendy suggested. "That tends to be the problem sometimes,"

He nodded. Taking a deep breath, he tried to clear his head.

'Okay, I have to focus,'

'Yeah Luigi focus,' said Mr. L 'Get all those dirty thoughts out of your mind,'

'L…I don't have any dirty thoughts,'

'Oh…it's just me then,'

Luigi mentally rolled his eyes and try to keep his head cleared. Once he was sure, he tried performing the spell once more.

"Reformabit,"

This time, his efforts were rewarded. Both the wand and diamond glowed. When it dimmed the diamond rock was now a diamond ring.

"You did it!" Wendy cheered.

Luigi blinked; surprise at first before a smile creep up his face.

"I did it,"

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~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~

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Pompey groaned painfully as she slowly walked back to her quarters. She has been training for weeks and yet it still feels like she was just getting started. Her training section had been long and brutal; Kamella had shown no mercy towards her. Every muscle in her body ached – all she wanted to do now was fall on her bed and sleep.

Her room was just around the corner when she nearly walked into someone. Taking a small step back, she glanced up to see it was the mistress of the castle. Lady Clawdia stood where she was, her yellow eyes shining brightly with an unreadable expression on her face. With Kamella's advice firmly planted in her memory bank, Pompey wisely bowed to her.

"My apologies, Lady Clawdia,"

"Hmph, you should be," Clawdia said; her voice suddenly harsh and cold.

Pompey scoffed but it went unseen as Clawdia simply stroll pass her. Pompey stood up and glared behind the blonde koopa's shell as she proceeded down the hall.

'Well, rude much?' she thought. 'I guess the whole being nice thing was just an act'

She has seen and talked to Clawdia several of times since their first meeting. During those encounters, the Lady Koopa was always kind to her, bringing her drinks during training and offering words of encouragement. If Pompey didn't know any better, she'll say Clawdia acted as if she was her mother. Now, she acted like a cold-hearted Koopa.

Snorting, she continued her way to her room. She paused in front of her door as something just came to her mind.

'Wait… weren't her eyes blue from before?'

She turned back around but the larger female koopa had already disappeared. She frowned but then shrugged it off as she entered inside.

'I guess I was just imagining things,'

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Ending Note:

I'm working on making these chapters longer, around 2000-4000 words long. That way the wait between them will be more worth it and we can move the story along faster.

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Review Please :)

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