TAoP Chapter 14

Lesson, Lessons and More Lessons

Clang-clang! The sound of metal hitting metal echoed through the courtyard as the sun rose higher in the sky. Penny stood on the grassy ground sweating and panting, her sword gleaming in the sunlight. Her legs and arms wobbled from the unaccustomed weight, but she was not complaining. She was eager to learn more about the sword. She watched Max on the other side to see what he would do. Max was holding his sword and shield thinking of a good strategy. He was also enjoying this since he needed the practice and didn't mind teaching. He gave a warning cry as he lounged towards the girl. Penny lifted her sword to meet his, engaging him in a mock battle.

Illiana and Jayden sat in the shade, slightly watching them, but doing their own thing. Illiana was making sure her guns were primed and ready in case of an emergency. She was also listening to the fairy, who sat on her shoulder chime away as if everyone could understand her. Jayden had his computer out, making sure that his note sent to the other warriors. Beside him was the cube he was working on back on Fantasia and the blueprints. He nearly figured out what he had to fix, but he had to work on what he was going to teach Penny.

Midnight was lying down in the grass, a little bit away from the group. He was watching the green-eyed girl like a hawk, making sure she didn't run off again. He was also making sure she didn't get too hurt; he knew the sword wouldn't her much, but they did leave a bruise of hit hard enough. The wolf twitched when Penny's leg got hit with Max's shield.

"Ouch! You didn't have to hit that hard!" Penny cried, rubbing her sore leg. It hurt worse than her shoulder yesterday.

"C'mon Penny, how are you supposed to learn if you don't get hurt once in awhile?" Max asked as he took a drink of water. He tossed Penny her canteen and they took a small break. "Besides, what happens if you're not fighting Shadows or any of the Darkness? You have to learn how to protect yourself and the Hearts."

Penny gulped down the water, thinking over what he said, "Who else would I fight id it's not the Darkness?" She sat next to Midnight and scratched under his head. He licked her hand when it came close to his muzzle.

You are learning a lot. But you should listen to what Max says, he said wisely. He had gone through another growth spurt and was now at Penny's waist. Midnight told her he was at his ideal height and size, so he started drinking the Never water today.

Penny grinned down at him as Max answered her question, "Well, considering the Hearts seem to be princess, people might want to take them. It's a weird royal family thing. Every world has a problem with it. And you have to protect them from anything."

Jasmine came into the courtyard with a bowl of fruit. Aladdin, Abu, and Iago (Penny learned his name this morning) were with her. She walked over to Penny giving her the bowl.

"Here, I figured you'd be hungry after a workout like that."

Penny automatically reached for the apples and tossed one to Midnight, "Thanks. This is just what I needed before lunch."

"Seriously, you just had breakfast. Where does it all go?" Iago called landing next to them.

"Iago! Don't be rude. She is welcome to eat as much as she likes."

After a while, Penny and Max went back to practicing. This time everyone was watching. Penny could feel Jasmine's concern and admiration as she blocked Max. She could also feel Minnie and Amelia check up on her. Since she wasn't used to people in her head, Penny got distracted and her arm was hit.

"Pay attention! An enemy can tell when you're distracted and use that against you," Max barked out as he continued to attack.

"It's not my fault! The Hearts should learn to hide their emotions better," she grunted, barely getting out of the way of the sword.

They continued to practice for an hour when Max finally called it quits. Penny slumped to the ground, exhausted and ready for this day to be over with.

"Not bad for your first time. We'll do this every day for an hour. This way, you can easily catch up with me in no time," Max announced, walking back to the palace.

She groaned as Illiana came over. She gently healed the girl's wounds as she gave her a few pointers. Jasmine also joined with a wet cloth. The princess put the cloth on the back of Penny's neck, cooling her down.

"Am I too distracting? I can easily go to the palace if I am."

"No, it has nothing with you being here. It's your thoughts and feelings, I can hear them in my head, so I immediately focus on them to make sure you are alright. It also doesn't help if you all check on me at the same time," Penny explained, stretching out her healed arms and legs. They all headed back to the palace for lunch, leaving Aladdin in the courtyard with a scowl on his face.

After a hardy lunch, Penny went back to the court yard alone for her magic lesson. Max was going to the polish and make sure their weapons were alright from the fight. He was then going to patrol the town to see if there were any more Shadows out there. Illiana had taken over the computer duties and decided to watch it in the cool room of the palace. Midnight fell asleep in the shade because of the heat. His fur was not helping him cool down and he didn't want to waste any energy.

Penny sat on the edge of the water fountain watching the small fish swim. She dipped her right hand in there, swirling it around. She wasn't really focusing on what she was doing until Jayden caught her hand.

"Watch it! You can't daydream when you do that," he frowned at her.

"Huh, what?" she looked down and found a mini whirlpool. "Oh!"

"Don't worry, I got it." Jayden waved his staff and the water settled back to being calm. "So your first lesson would have to be control." He sat next to her, putting a book between them.

"Alright, now to begin. Let's see…your magic is different than mine, so this should be interesting. Not to mention difficult, but where's the fun in that?

"Magic comes from our imagination. We visualize what we want depending on what resources we have. Take yesterday and an example: I found a water barrel at the bazaar so I used it to freeze the Shadows. I'm not a powerful elemental user so I, unfortunately, cannot create water. I can create a small fireball though, but it takes tons of my energy. It isn't powerful but it can stop the Shadows."

"But Donald managed to create a water ball," Penny pointed out.

"Yes, he is a powerful magician so he can. Plus, his main power is focused on water, but he can do other things as well. See, my powers are more for transforming arts. I can turn one object into another. I can even turn people into another person." He waved his hand over the book and it turned into a stick; a stick to a rock; a rock back to a book.

Penny gasped, picking up the book to see if it is different, but it was a plain old book. Nothing special about it at all.

"You can do this to people?"

"In some worlds, humans do not occupy the worlds, so we would have to blend in with everyone else. It helps if a group member could do this, but it isn't required.

"Now to continue, all magic has a price to pay. It costs energy to create even the simplest spell. That's why we will practice for a little bit each day so we can get stronger. I still practice for about an hour a day so that my powers can grow and be able to protect the group. Today, however, I just want to see what you can do and I'll see what I should teach you," Jayden concluded, looking excited.

"Er, well, yesterday I froze a Shadow that had me pinned down, but there was no water near me. Also, I think I burned the apple vender when he caught me," Penny pondered looking at the water.

"You burned him and froze an enemy? Interesting, remember what Master Yensid said? You accepted two elemental magicks, one in each hand. You must be able to only use one certain magic depending on which hand you use," he thought for awhile and looked at the fountain. "Could you try to create another whirlpool, but this time with your left hand?"

"But I don't even know how I did it in the first place."

"Please try."

Penny looked at the water and put in her left hand in. She let her mind wonder as she swirled her hand around. She was completely gone until Jayden tried to grab her arm, but it was too hot.

"Ouch! Penny, stop! I think I know what you can do!"

Penny blinked and looked in the water expecting to see a whirlpool. Instead, there were bubbles coming up from the bottom and Jayden cradling his hand.

"What happened?" she asked as she reached for his hand, but he flinched back. Hurt, Penny backed away.

"You boiled the water. My theory was right. Since it was your left hand that accepted the fire, you can only use fire attacks and magic with that hand. It's amazing really. I've never heard or read anything like it." Jayden looked at his hand. It was bright red and it stung like crazy. "I'll have Illiana look at this. We're going to have to remember to only grab your right hand until you can control the fire."

"Why couldn't I feel the heat?" Penny felt bad for hurting, but she stayed where she was.

"My guess it because is because it is your magic. Plus it's from inside you and your hand accepted it making you immune to your own magic. Or maybe it's because your right side is water and they balance you out. You are quite the puzzle Penny."

He sat there thinking as Illiana came outside with the computer, "Jay, we got a message. Someone's coming…what happened?" she grabbed his hand to examine it.

"Oh it's nothing. Just an experiment and I miscalculated what would happen. You know, the usual things," Jayden explained as Illiana healed him.

"If I'd known I was going to heal this many times a day, I would've practiced more."

"It's fine, you're a wonderful healer," he smiled at Illiana, who slightly reddened. He seemed to remember Penny, because he glanced at her and said, "We are finished with lessons for the day. I have to see how to teach you."

Penny nodded and headed back to the palace with Midnight. Star had finally found them and joined as they passed a room. The girl sulked as they wondered the hallways, not really noticing where they were going.

Midnight whined, It will be fine. He said he was alright. Plus Illiana was healing him.

I still shouldn't have burned him. What happens I burn a Heart or you? These powers are the worst!

They continued to walk in silence, until they heard a voice arguing with someone. They looked at each other a cautiously walked the rest of the way. The voice was in front of a very impressive door with a large lock on the handle.

"Okay, monkey, all you have to so is unlock the door and we can have some of the treasure," Iago tried to reason to Abu. They both stood in front of the door, looking at it, so they didn't see Penny or Midnight. Star flew in Penny's shirt to hide.

The monkey chattered, clearly not liking the idea. Penny learned that she couldn't understand what he was saying.

Do you think it has to do with language? Like he doesn't talk like the birds back home and you? She asked Midnight.

It might. Or with familiarity? Since you are used to my presence and those of the animals on your island could have to do with it, Midnight thought.

"Hey! What are you two doing her? This place is restricted!" Iago shouted when he finally spotted them.

"Oh, we were just passing by," Penny answered casually. "If this place is restricted, then why are you here?"

"Ah, well, you see, someone has to keep the treasure room safe."

"And you think that taking it will keep it safe? Besides, how would you open it anyway? It's locked."

"My friend Abu here can unlock any door with his trusty tools." Iago put his wing around Abu as if they were close friends. Abu grumbled and shook it off.

"You can pick locks?" Penny thought about it. It seemed to be a handy skill to learn. She grinned mischievously causing Midnight to be alarmed.

What are you thinking?

Oh, nothing! Just might be a neat trick to learn.

She knelt down to Abu, "Do you think you could teach me? This could come in handy someday."

Abu looked shocked, but he agreed.

Two hours of yet another lesson and Iago trying to translate what Abu was saying, Penny was ready for some dinner. The lock picking were great since she was a fast learner. She learned how to pick doors, chains, and sort of lock that they happened to find. All she needed now was her own set of picks, but she didn't know where to get them. Midnight and Star strongly disapproved the idea, but Penny wouldn't listen to them. She was willing to learn everything she can if it would help protect the Hearts.

As they walked, Penny could sense Jasmine looking for her, so immediately turned down into the next hallway to meet up with her. The palace was more confusing than the castle, so any help was welcome. She spotted the princess and waves.

"Hey Jasmine, is dinner ready? I'm starving!" Penny crowed.

"I'm sorry, Penny, but it seems like you guys are going," Jasmine said sadly.

"What? Already? But we just got here."

"I know, but the other warriors arrived. That's where the other three are, I came to find you."

Penny's shoulders dropped, "Okay, I guess it's time to go."

Jasmine put her hand on the girl's right shoulder, "Don't worry. We can always talk. Not to mention you are always welcomed here."

"Thanks. I'm sure the others would be happy to hear that."

Jasmine smiled, "We are supposed to meet them in the throne room."