Chapter Three: Explanation
Carmen took a deep breath and began to explain. "I'm not from London. I'm just using that as a cover up because my accent is British. I'm from a place called Lilanazar."
Two-Bit's nose wrinkled as his face twisted in confusion. "Lilanazar?" he repeated in confusion. "What the hell kind of name is—?" He stopped at the sight of Carmen's face. She leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow at him.
Two-Bit sighed and put up his hands in surrender. "Alright, sorry. No more interruptions." Carmen uncrossed her arms.
"Like I was saying," she continued. "I was born in Lilanazar. You won't find it on any map. It's uncharted…" she hesitated. "Magically sealed to anyone except anyone who wasn't born there."
Two-Bit opened his mouth, then shut it. Carmen couldn't stop a small smile from flittering across her lips for a split second. "Yeah. It's magic. It was created by a gang of wizards in the mid-1300's. Merlin was their ringleader."
Carmen couldn't help but grin when Two-Bit's jaw dropped. "Merlin?" he sputtered, forgetting his promise. "Yeah, Merlin. Shut up," Carmen added. Two-Bit did as he was told.
"When I was born, I was restless and wouldn't stop crying. And in Lilanazar, a child's midwife is the child's fairy godmother. Lucky me, I got stuck with Twyla," Carmen said bitterly.
"Who's Twyla?" Two-Bit said. Carmen scowled at him. "One more word out of you and I'll duck tape your mouth shut," she threatened. Two-Bit made a zipping motion across his lips and fell silent.
"Twyla is the worst fairy godmother on the planet," Carmen said, rolling her eyes. "I wouldn't stop crying, and Twyla made me obedient." She stopped talking, and Two-Bit stared at her.
"She…made you obedient?" he repeated. "Yeah. She thought she was doing me a favor," Carmen said, rolling her eyes again. "It's a curse. I have to do anything anyone says. I can't help it." She finished with a murderous look in her eyes.
"So…why can't Twyla take back the curse?" Two-Bit asked. Carmen's gaze met his, and he was surprised to see sorrow and anger mingling in her eyes.
"She was caught," Carmen said with contempt. "She's not an authorized fairy godmother. So the magical fuzz caught her and snapped her wand. And only the caster of a spell can reverse it," she ended bitterly.
Two-Bit stared at her. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to have to do what everyone said. "So…why are you here?"
Carmen's eyes changed, now blazing with hate. "I'm here because of my father," she said coldly, not meeting Two-Bit's eye.
"And I'm supposed to read your mind?" Two-Bit demanded. Carmen looked at him, and took a deep, shuddering breath, seeming to calm down.
"Well, my father was a wizard. An expert in astronomy. He worked only at nighttime on his spells, and he slept during the day. We hardly ever saw him, so he never found out that I was cursed. Until just a few months ago…" she trailed off, looking distant. Two-Bit gave her three seconds before he cleared his throat loudly.
"Huh? Oh. Well, a few months ago, he finally figured it out. He started keeping me up all night for his spells…they're evil spells, Two-Bit. Pure evil. They cause destruction and kill people," she said, looking haunted and frightened.
"What kind of spells?" Two-Bit asked, fascinated. He wasn't sure if this was true, but it certainly explained why Carmen did, quite literally, what she was always told.
"Well, ever wonder about the Great Chicago Fire, or the influenza epidemic, or of Atlantis sinking into the sea?" Two-Bit nodded. "Well, that was my dad. And his coworkers, wizards like him."
"So, why are you here now?" Two-Bit wanted to know.
"As soon as my mother found out, we left. We traveled from place to place in the mortal world, but he found us every time. We've always managed to lose him, but he gets more powerful every time. We hope we're safe here, but we can never be sure."
Two-Bit's jaw dropped. I must be dreaming, he thought. "So," he said, struggling to take this in. "How have you managed to lose him each time?"
For the first time, Carmen actually grinned. "My mother's a sorceress. She's been training me to become one too. I'm her apprentice," she said with satisfaction.
Two-Bit grinned too. "Really? You're a witch?" Carmen scowled at him. "Not witch. I'm not a cranky old crone with a broomstick. I'm a sorceress."
Two-Bit was confused. "What's the difference?" he demanded. Carmen sighed.
"It's…complicated. Witches, like I said, are hags in pointy hats on broomsticks. Enchantresses are more…sparkly. They're dazzlers. Wizards are not all bad, just some night crawlers like my father," she said, brown eyes darkening.
"But most wizards are good, like Merlin. Wizardry is like math. Lots of diagrams, a lot of gibberish terms that could just as easily be replaced with normal English, and geometry. Sorcerers and sorceresses work with sky magic, and the abstract mind. The sun, the moon, the wind, memory reading, dream scoping."
Two-Bit nodded, reeling from all the information. "So…" he ventured. "What can you do so far?" He was eager to see some real magic.
Carmen shrugged. "Not much. I'm still learning." Two-Bit heard her voice very faintly. But…her lips hadn't moved. Yet he had still heard her voice. His jaw dropped. "Can you read my mind?" he exclaimed, almost fearfully.
Carmen shook her head. "Not yet," she said normally. "But I have to get rid of this curse somehow, before my father finds me," she finished, looking hunted and scared.
"What did he want you to do?" Two-Bit said without thinking. Carmen took a deep breath and just shook her head. Then she looked him in the eye fiercely, saying, "If you order me to tell you, I'll kill you." She looked like she meant it.
Two-Bit asked instead, "Why did you tell me all this?"
"You told me to," Carmen said simply. Two-Bit blinked at her. "W-what?" he stuttered.
"You told me to. You said, 'Tell me what's going on.' So I had to," she said with a shrug. Two-Bit stared, embarrassed. "Oh," he said.
"But," Carmen said thoughtfully, "Maybe you can help me." Two-Bit's head snapped up to snarl at her. "Help you!"
"Well, if you don't want to, I can't do anything about it," Carmen said quietly. Two-Bit heard the note of obvious envy in her voice and felt bad for her. "But…what am I supposed to do?" he asked.
"I don't know. I have a couple of books on wizardry…maybe you could teach yourself to be a wizard," Carmen suggested. Two-Bit laughed. "Me? A wizard? I'm human, not one of those weirdoes born in…what is it?"
"Lilanazar. But like I said, wizardry is more math than anything else. Trust me. If you want, I'll make you a wizard, but you have to promise to help me in return."
Two-Bit thought it over. Hmmm…I can be a wizard and pull a rabbit out of a hat, and help a hot blonde chick and maybe get her to fall head over heels for me. "I'll do it," he said firmly.
Carmen grinned. Two-Bit didn't realize she was listening to his thoughts. Poor fool. Oh well. At least she would be free. "Alright then. Do you want me to make you a wizard now, or later?"
Two-Bit was dumbstruck. "Huh?" he said stupidly. "To be a wizard, you do need a bit of magic. Since you weren't born with it, I'll have to give you some of mine," Carmen explained. Two-Bit grinned his famous grin.
"Okay," he said happily. He was like a kid in a candy shop. Or, rather, like himself in any shop, famous shoplifter that he was.
Carmen said, "Give me your hand," holding out her own, and she closed her eyes, instructing Two-Bit to do the same.
Two-Bit could feel a tingling sensation that started in his fingertips but spread all through the rest of his body, even to the tips of his greasy hair. He saw a flash of blinding light even with his eyes closed and he felt Carmen dropping his hand. "You can open your eyes now."
Two-Bit opened his eyes. Carmen was regarding him concernedly. "Feel any different?" she asked. "No, not really," Two-Bit said truthfully. "Good," she said relieved. She pulled from behind her back two thick paperback books. She hadn't been holding them a second ago.
"These are some basic wizardry manuals. Study a bit each night, practice a bit, but don't spread your magic to outside the room you're working in. that can cause serious trouble. The Salem witch trials started because some nitwit wasn't careful enough."
Two-Bit looked at the books, pained. "Do I have to read them?" Carmen put one hand over her eyes. "Did you just totally tune out what I just said?"
"Sorry. Say it one more time." Carmen did automatically. "It," she said. Two-Bit scowled. "I meant, say that last paragraph once more," he said. The words were barely out of his mouth when she did.
"Stop giving me orders, please," Carmen implored with a pained look. "I hate following them."
Two-Bit shrugged. "I don't generally give orders," he said. "Don't get much of a chance to. Who listens to greasers anyway? You pull a switchblade on somebody once and it's all over." Carmen had to smile at that one, even though it wasn't that funny.
"Where'd you get these anyway?" Two-Bit asked. "My mother stole them from my father just before we left Lilanazar. She said it's best to 'know thine enemy,'" Carmen said, her eyes lighting up mischievously.
Two-Bit laughed, shaking his head. Man, this girl was a piece of work.
"C'mon, let's go home," Two-Bit said. Carmen started to walk automatically in step with him. "It's a good thing we're neighbors," she commented. Two-Bit then realized what he had done. "Sorry. Don't follow my orders unless you want to," he said. Carmen relaxed.
And so, with that, the sorceress-in-training and wizard-in-training walked home together, parting at their own homes, vowing to see each other the next day.
Two-Bit flopped on his bed as soon as he could and opened the first book, entitled "Beginner's Wizardry." He started to read, really read, and try to learn, for the first time in his life.
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Two-Bit a wizard? What has Carmen done? Two-Bit's a good person, but I shudder to think of the results of him with magical powers and his crazy sense of humor.
Review for the next chapter, coming soon. Ah, god, school is taking up all of my time. Luckily I finished it quick today. REVIEW.