"You a Wizard, or something?" I asked the man

"Or something? No, dear boy, I am most definitely a wizard." he laughed

"Uh-huh. So, how do you know I'm a wizard?"

Arthur looked at me like I just asked what color the sky was. Blue, dear boy. The sky is blue.

"Leon, is it?" he asked me

I nodded.

"How do you tell what the weather is like?"

I decided only to raise my eyebrow at him and say nothing.

"...Right, well, I can see magic. Sort of. Its mostly a sixth sense."

My facial expression didn't change.

"Um, I, it's hard to explain but, without proper training you can't use your power whenever you want. You bend to it's will when it should bend to yours."

"So, the pencil?"

"Right. You have to tell it to move. Don't worry, you won't hurts it's feelings. It's just a dead stick with a lump of graphite stuck inside."

I looked at the pencil, then back at him. The pencil, him. Part of me was screaming, no Jia! This is crazy you're crazy! What the hell are you doing? Don't trust fuzz-brows over there, because that guy is obviously completely insane! Then the other part was saying; eh, what the hell. No one lives forever, right?

Though the skeptic side of me screamed louder, I couldn't deny what I had seen myself do, and maybe the potential I had to do so much more.

'Move' I thought concentrating on the pencil

Like that, something snapped. I had no idea what, but the world changed. I could hear so much more, not bodily functions, but conversations and animals scurrying around in the main gardens. I could feel the life that surrounded me, and I was wrapped in the sweet embrace of a lazily flowing river that was infinite, eternal. I looked at the pencil, to see that it was rocking back and fourth, just like I had told it to.

I tried to smile at Arthur, but he was surrounded by a bright yellow light. I think he tried to speak to me, but I couldn't hear him. So many things at once were happening, I couldn't tell what was what. I felt a pair of strong hands grab my back, and I lost consciousness.

I woke up at the desk where the pencil had been moving before. It looked like I'd fallen asleep at the desk trying to make a pencil float. Or I had actually done it and none of the strange sensations had been just a dream.

I looked over to my hand to see one of my mother's jade rings. I went to take it off, but just as I began to slide it off of my finger, the lights started changing and I felt like I was drowning. I lost grip of the ring and it fell back to the base of my finger. The sights and feelings faded to normal.

It was most definitely not a dream.

"Jia, are you awake?" I heard my mother calling in Mandarin

"Yes mother!" I replied to her

"Oh good, I want your help setting up lunch for our guests."

"Okay. I'll be up in a second." I told her

I went to the kitchen and awaited my orders. The head cook gave me instructions to set the floral arrangements, so I grabbed a bunch of flowers and vases, and took them upstairs.

The main dining hall resembled what I would think an imperial palace's would look like. It had a few large tables and smaller tables surrounding it, for the most part, but there was only the longer table out, covered in it's ghostly white tablecloth. It was empty except for a few plates, I counted five. I set the vases in between the plates, I only needed two when I had brought three. I pulled the extensive bouquet from under my arm and started setting large bundles of flowers in them.

When I finished, I was going to take the extra crystal vase back downstairs, but I noticed something was off. The flowers, weren't as... alive as they usually were. I mean, of course they were dead, the had been for a few hours at least, but I had always had a way with plants that no matter what I did they, bouquets were works of art.

"Um, Vitalize?" I told the flowers

They had listened, but only a little.

"Vitalize!" I commanded, this time in Mandarin.

The flowers sprung up, and I nearly fainted from the new smells they emitted. They were so fragrant and bright. Maybe my talent with plants had come from this... magic thing. That dissapointed me a little since that meant fuzz-brows could probably do it too, since he was my magic teacher of sorts.

I sighed and enjoyed the smells of the flowers before I returned to the stuffy kitchen to put the extra vase back. On the way back to my room I began to wonder where the files had gone. I had yet to read mine or the Vargas sister's, and I wanted to know what any kid my age would want to know.

Who's daddy?

Maybe I could just bother mom again about it. Ask for a story about him or something. She always liked to do that, to get my mind off of the subject. It wouldn't be enough this time, a story about her giving the guy free food and then him asking her out wasn't going to be sufficient. I knew who everyone else's father was, why not my own?

"Leon?" I heard Michelle call from behind me

"Um, yes?" I was broken out of my thought bubble

"Leanne wants to see you in the garden. She says it's important."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Always the drama with that one.

"Okay."

"Okay! Follow me!"

I followed the girl up the stairs and out the back door, or the 'servants entrants' Ms. Coleman liked to call it. It was her way of making sure we knew we were property. The girl led me to the small pond that was filled with various trout where Leanne was sitting in her pink dress, picking at a flower. She had specially braided hair and was wearing her glasses I had once complemented her on.

"Leon!" she gasped

Don't act so surprised. You sent the munchkin after me, and who could resist her face?

"Hm." my greetings are so eloquent

"I'm so glad you came. I have wonderful news for you, but first..." she beckoned me closer with her finger

I walked closer, and she stood, getting uncomfortably close to me. Then she did it. The thing that had been plaguing my nightmares and had caused my constant discomfort.

She kissed me.

It wasn't to bad, actually. Her lips were soft and moist, experienced though I knew that this was her first real kiss. Her mouth navigated mine and we fit together well, but this was wrong. I hated her, I shouldn't be touching her like this.

I pulled away after what seemed like eternity. She had a dreamy but confused look on her face.

"Leon?" her voice was soft, and full of hurt

Her body was limp, she looked like she would fall if I wasn't there to support her. Her usual cocky grin was replaced with sadness and fear. This was a whole new side of the girl I'd grown up with. She had always been large and in charge, not vulnerable and... and a normal teenage girl.

"Sorry Leanne... but..."

"What? You don't like me?"

I shook my head. It was much more significant that that.

"You're thinking too small, dear girl." a masculine voice said from behind her

The tall hulking form of Master Kirkland crept out from the trees behind Leanne, she nearly screamed, but just jumped and hid behind me.

The red snake was back! It was coming from him, that bastard! I'll see him try to make the girl who's as good as my sister talk.

"Go away." I told the snake in mandarin.

It didn't listen.

"L-leon?" Leanne stuttered

I looked up at master Kirkland.

"Pull your stupid beast back. I'll talk, just don't hurt her."

"Leon!" Leanne cooed

"Can it Leanne."

"Ah, so you can see it. You must be really into that chink voodoo stuff then."

I seriously thought about taking off my mother's jade ring, that seemed to act as a barrier between me and my power.

"Leave us alone. You already provide us with minimum living standards." I put both hands behind my back, to be able to adjust my ring, only a little, so I could blast this guy into next week.

I didn't even know I could, but the anger and rage that filled my chest from his racial slur against my mother and her people told me I probably could. I slid the ring ever soooooo slightly down my finger and saw his clothes beginning to burn right off of his body.

"And I prefer the term 'herbal medicine'."

The ring slipped and fell onto the ground, and before I knew it, my head was stinging and Master Kirkland had spontaneously combusted. I fell to the ground with feelings of nausea and lack of oxygen smothering me. I tried to search for the ring, but Leanne had run off to get help and had returned too quickly.

"Leon, breathe. The most important thing is to breath, dear boy." Arthur told me

I think he was even carrying me. That was strange. Shouldn't he be helping his father?

As I tried to over analyze the situation more waves of nausea crashed over me and the stinging spread down my neck, my shoulders, my arms.

Breathe. That was all I could do. Just breathe Jia. Breathe.