The two girls walked up to the old tower, excitement building up inside them. The last time they had come they got to see the wizard perform some of his magic as he worked, it was exciting to know that once they walked through the large wooden door anything could happen. Zelda knocked on the door twice and in a few moments the door opened by itself granting them entry. Walking in it didn't tow long for the door to slam behind them causing them both to jump.
"Sorry about the door." They heard Rasmodius call. The watched as he appeared from within his library, book in hand. "There's an annoying draft in here that keeps slamming the door."
"Oh... that explains it." Abigail said scratching the back of her head.
"How are you doing Rasmodius?" Zelda asked cheerfully.
"Very well Zelda, thank you for asking." The wizard responded happily.
"We thought we'd come pay you a visit, and tell you how the Junimo are doing." Abigail said walking over to a large armchair and sitting down in it.
The two had visited Rasmodius a few times before and had realised over time that he wasn't as scary as he appeared to be, in truth he was quite relaxed and let the girls make them self at home anytime they wanted.
"Ah yes how are our mysterious friends doing?" Rasmodius asked, as he continued with his work.
"Well we've been giving them some of the things they asked for and they seem pretty happy with us." Zelda reported. "We also think they've been slowly cleaning the building."
"Really?" The wizard responded, looking up from his book for a second intrigued.
"We noticed the places has been looking less dusty recently." Zelda explained.
"Perhaps that could be simple because you two have been using the building more often."
"That's what we thought at first too but we noticed that some of the old books had been organised and a shelf had been completely rebuilt." Abigail said in response.
"Interesting, I think it's one of their ways of saying thank you." Rasmodius said as he walked across the room to a shelf, carefully collecting an assortment of strange ingredients before walking over to his large cauldron.
"They do like to give us little gifts." Zelda said. "They gave me a few special seeds to grow and they gave Abigail a fancy lure for fishing."
"Oh! Speaking of gifts." Rasmodius said putting down what he was carrying and quickly walking over to a chest. The wizard rummaged through the chest for a few seconds before he found what he was looking for. "I found out it was your birthday a week ago." He said walking over to Abigail. "Here." He said handing the purple haired girl a small ring.
The ring was gold in color with a small golden gem in the center, around the gem were tiny intricate patterns that were written in a strange language. Abigail stared curiously at the ring her hands, taking in all the subtle details.
"It's called a ring of Yoba" Rasmodius explained. "They are extremely rare and are very powerful magical charms. It will protect you when you need it."
Zelda recognized the name. Yoba was supposed to be the god of Family and Care. Very religious people often pray to Yoba for good fortune and protection for their friends and family.
"Thank you Rasmodius. You didn't have to get me anything." Abigail said a little surprised that the wizard would give her such an important gift.
"Think nothing of it my dear." He said with a smile. "I understand that you want to be an adventurer, this will certainly help you."
"This is awesome! How does it work?" Abigail asked jumping out of her chair.
"It will activate on its own, when you need it the most."
"Oh I see… Quick Zelda hit me!" Abigail said running over to her friend.
"What! Don't be an idiot Abigail I'm not going to hit you." Zelda laughed rolling her eyes.
"Just do it. Hit me!" Abigail giggled grabbing Zelda's hand and trying to force the girl to slap her.
"No! Quit it!" The blonde argued trying to wrestle herself away from her friend.
The wizard just laughed as he watched the two friends fight, Zelda was able to slip out of Abigail's grasp but the purple haired girl chased her around the room. The battle only ended with both girls out of breath, finally calling a truce and taking a seat. As Zelda caught her breath she looked up to see Rasmodius had gone back to his cauldron, mixing some of his ingredients into the strange broth.
"What are you working on?" Zelda asked curiously as she watched the liquid slowly turn different colours.
"An old friend of mine wanted some help with an infestation problem they have, I'm making a repellent that will hopefully solve their problem." Rasmodius explained. "However he wasn't sure what kind of creature it was and was only able to send a small vile of its blood. I'll have to run a few tests to see what it's greatest weakness is."
"You can find a creature's weakness just with a sample of its blood?" Zelda asked intrigued.
"Not exactly, but this way I'll be able to make more of an educated guess." The wizard said as he wrote down a few results on a piece of parchment.
"Magic sounds a lot like science, the way you test and research things."
"They are more similar than most people think. Just as it's possible for anyone to create a chemical reaction as long as they have the right formula, anyone could use a spell if they had the right instructions."
"So even I could cast a spell?"
"In theory, yes. Although I believe it would be much easier for you then it would Abigail as your magical aura is stronger than the average person."
"You said that I had a strong aura before but I didn't even know magic existed till I met you."
"Aura is something you're born with. Like a mussel it is possible to strengthen it over time, however some are just naturally gifted with powerful aura."
"I don't feel very… magical." Zelda said looking at her hands.
"If you'd like, in the future I could teach you a few spells."
"Really! That would be so cool." Zelda said excitedly.
"What? Are you going to grow super fruit to win next year's showcase?" Abigail teased.
"Are you going to the fair, Rasmodius? Zelda asked ignoring her friend.
"Yes I plan on meeting my old friend there, she comes once a year. She runs the fortune teller's booth, she's quite gifted actually."
"Fortune telling is real?" Abigail said surprised. "I thought it was all smoke and mirrors performed by con artists."
"Divination is real, however most fortune tellers are con artist." The wizard explained. "The ability to read signs and predict the future is an extremely difficult and rare ability. I my self can only see vague visions of the future, which aren't very helpful. However time isn't a set course and is constantly changing. Often when what one see's may not come to be."
"Are you going to get your fortune read, Zelda?" Abigail asked turning to her friend.
"No way." Zelda said shaking her head. "Knowing too much about your own future is a bad thing, the fun in life is not knowing what comes next."
"Wisely said." Rasmodius said smiling.
Not wanting to keep the wizard from his work the two girls said their goodbyes and started their journey back towards town. Abigail studied her new ring, captivated by it in wonder.
"The adventurer's guild will have to let me now that I have this!" Abigail said smugly.
"Don't get too cocky." Zelda said rolling her eyes "You don't know how that thing works."
"Yea, wish Ras had pack some kind of instruction manual with it." Abigail shrugged. "I'll probably test it out later."
Zelda stopped and turned around and grabbed Abigail firmly. "Now listen here." She said in a stern voice that reminded the shorter girl of her mother. "I don't want to hear that you've picked a fight with Alex's dog or thrown yourself off a cliff or done something else stupid. Rasmodius said that ring will only work when you need it too, meaning it probably won't stop you from hurting yourself. Don't depend on it, use it only as a last resort, otherwise you're gonna find yourself in a world of trouble. You understand?"
Abigail was surprised at how scary the blonde was when she wanted to be, if she had Zelda as a mother, she'd never get away with anything.
"Uh… yea ok." Abigail said timidly, abandoning all her plans to test out her gift.
"Good." Zelda said returning to her bright and cheery self before turning around and continuing on her journey. Leaving Abigail standing star struck at what had just happened.