Joe winces as Cassius places his hand over his nose.

"Sorry. I'm trying to be as gentle as possible." Cassius' hand glows a soft green as he begins to heal Joe.

The magic feels warm against Joe's skin. Like sunlight. "You have healing magic?"

"We both do." Cas winks at him. "Time heals all wounds, right?"

Joe pauses. He had never really thought about what his time magic could and couldn't do. He knew he could manipulate time, stop or slow it as he pleased, but outside of that, he had no idea what he was capable of. He has so much to learn.

"Of course, I'm nowhere near as talented of a healer as my wife. She's an animantist, so it's kind of her specialty."

"An animantist?" Joe raises his brows, and another thought occurs to him. "Wait, Rowena's not your wife?"

Cas grimaces and turns green. For a moment, Joe thinks he might actually vomit. "Ro is my sister. My twin actually. I'm surprised you couldn't tell."

"Oh, sorry." Joe presses his lips together and looks away. He decides to change the subject. "So, what's an animantist?"

"An animantist is someone who practices the magic of the living. They're healers, basically. Animancy is one of the nine magics. We'll be able to talk more about it once we start your lessons. Ro and I are planning it all out right now. This last quest provided a lot of information for us. We have a pretty good idea of what you all need to work on. When you return next summer, everything will be ready for you."

"Right. Thanks again for saving us." Joe still can't meet Cassius' eyes.

Cas offers him a small smile. "Not every quest and mission you go on will be a success. Just remember Ro and I will not always be here to protect you."

"I know." The memory of yesterday's attack is still fresh in Joe's mind. If not for Rowena and Cassius, they all would be dead right now.

"Stop."

The drake freezes in mid-air, its claws inches from their throats.

Everyone freezes, not sure if the threat is gone or not. The tension melts away as soon as they see two familiar faces walk up to them.

Sam nearly faints. "Oh, thank goodness!" He falls to his knees, gulping down air.

Everyone else relaxes, relieved to see Rowena and Cassius hear to rescue them.

Cassius pulls the beast to him, a green glow emanating from his hand, and flings it into the trees. A loud crash can be heard in the distance, but no sounds of pursuit rise up. They're safe, for now.

"I thought we were goners," Fred lets out a nervous chuckle.

"And you would have been if we had not shown up."

"You're lucky we were watching you."

The kids' smiles vanish when they notice Rowena and Cassius' unamused faces.

Rowena takes a deep breath, purses her lips, and glares at each kid in turn. "This should have been an easy mission for you. Instead, it turned into a disastrous failure. And you all are to blame. I have never-"

"Ro," Cassius cuts her off, "we can lecture them later. Right now, I think it's more important we get them back to Horae Manor. They need rest and a visit to the infirmary." He gestures to Joe and Arwen.

She sighs and closes her eyes. "Fair enough. But we are not done with this conversation."

Joe wasn't ready for that conversation yet. He knew he had messed up in Cealus. He already regretted most of the things he said. The anger and frustration that had been coiled in his gut had faded. Being awakened was a huge relief.

He feels different after the awakening. More alert. More alive. Colors are brighter. Sounds are sharper. Touches are… electrifying. It's almost painful. He had considered wearing sunglasses just to turn the lights on.

Magic was all around him. Joe felt connected to the world in a way he never had before. He had been reborn, and he wasn't sure how he had gotten by before this

"It's quite the sensation, isn't it?" Cas says, pulling Joe out of his thoughts. "Don't worry, the pain will fade. Footsteps will stop sounding like gunshots. Lights won't blind you. That buzz in the air however, will always be with you. You are now connected to time."

Joe nods his understanding. "Was your awakening as eventful?"

The older Warp Wizard chuckles. "No, unfortunately, Ro and I had a normal awakening. Well, as normal as a magical event like that could be. Really, our whole time as Warp and Aether wizard has been pretty uneventful."

"Think Tessa and I will be as lucky?"

"Maybe."

But Joe can tell from Cassius' tight-lipped smile that he's hiding something. He never has a chance to find out what.

Arwen limps into the infirmary. The gash on her legs isn't as bad as it originally looked. All her bones are in one piece, but the injury would leave a scar. At least she had a cool story to go with it.

"Looks like my next appointment is here." Cassius gestures for Joe to stand. "Make sure to get lots of rest. You might want to consider keeping the lights low for a bit too."

Joe heads out of the infirmary, nodding to Arwen as he passes by. Everyone had been in this weird limbo state between friendship and distrust since the fight. None of them had really spoken to each other. It wasn't a comfortable situation. It was a rocky start to their venture into the world of magic.

Unfortunately, Joe's walk back to his room isn't as quiet as he hoped. He spots the last person he wants to see right now heading in his direction.

"Hey," Tessa says. Joe can tell she's trying to smile, but she's too exhausted for it.

"Hi," Joe responds. His voice comes out hollow and sharp. It'll be a while before he can forgive her for everything that happened in Cealus and learn to trust her. He didn't care that they were supposed to be great wizard partners.

"I'd say sorry, but I don't think you'd believe me."

"Because you wouldn't mean it."

"You catch on quick, bun-" She cuts herself off. She takes a deep breath before continuing. "Look, I know it wasn't a great start to our partnership, but we're in this together 'til the end. Whatever end that may be. Like it or not, we're stuck together, but everything will be a lot easier if we can be friends. It might take some time to get there, but you have all the time in the world." This time Tessa does smile. She moves past Joe and continues her walk down the hall.

"Are all of our adventures going to be that crazy?" Joe asks without warning. Even if they did become friends, he wasn't sure he would survive any more days like yesterday.

Tessa pauses. The corners of her mouth quirk up as she looks at Joe over her shoulder. "Welcome to magic."