TAoP Chapter 27

Mage's Fight

"Excellent. I'm glad you feel that way," Jayden's father clapped his hands.

"No! I'm against this," Jayden spun Penny to face him. "You're not ready."

"And I'm not about to give them another reason to take me back," Penny whispered. "I can do this! I Believe in myself."

They stared down each other until Jayden looked away.

"Fine but she has to eat first."

"Alright, I'll allow that. But in one hour, she should be back here," Fredrick left to warm up for the test.

Jayden nodded and dragged Penny below deck with the others following. Once in the kitchen area, he put a huge pile of every kind of food they had on a plate and placed it in front of the girl.

"Eat it."

"I can't eat all of this! I won't be able to move," Penny complained.

"Fine. Eat as much as you can," Jayden said curtly. "You asked for this. Now as mage fight is different from any other fight you have been in. no weapons are used, besides your staff, no one can help you and it ends when one person cannot use their magic anymore."

"Sounds easy enough…"

"That's what you think."

"Penny, this is serious," Max sat next to her as she ate. "If you get hurt, we can't heal you. You are on your own once the fight starts."

"I understand," Penny sighed.

Do you? This isn't a game. This seems to be really tough, Midnight said.

"Guys, I can handle this! Trust me!"

Everyone looked worried, until Illiana gave a small smile, "Right, I think you can this, Pen."

"Thanks, Illiana! Now what do you mean 'no weapons'?"

"Exactly what it means, so hand over your sword and dagger. You can only use magic," Jayden explained more clearly.

` Penny handed her weapons to Max, "What about flying?"

"Hmmm…we'll have to ask about that one."

Penny continued to eat in silence, she could sense Midnight's concern, Don't worry, I got this. I can win.

I'm not worried about that. What if you get hurt? Or your magic gets out of control again?

No worries! I can handle anything. She certainly had no idea what she got herself into.

At exactly one hour, the group went on deck, where Fredrick was waiting with Donald and Goofy. He had is staff out; it was pitch black. On the top of it was in the shape of a circle and in that circle was a black crystal.

Jayden bent down to Penny's height, "His specialty is elemental magic, but he is a strong user of all different types of magic. Be careful!"

Penny nodded. She started taking out of the beads in her hair; she didn't want the Hearts to distract her or cause them any distress.

"Are you sure you want to do this? You can still back out," Max whispered.

"I got this. I never back out," Penny put the beads in a pouch and them to Illiana. She then stepped up towards the middle of the ship.

Fredrick also moved forward as did Donald. He stood between the two of them and gave them the rules.

"Alright, this is a mage fight, which means magic only. Also you are not allowed any outside help. The first person unable to use magic, loses. There is no time limit. Any questions?" he looked between them.

"Am I allowed to fly?" Penny asked as Star peeked out of her shirt.

"Sorry, Penny. That's not part of your magic."

She nodded and pushed Star towards the others. The fairy sat on Midnight's head as he whined. Penny just smiled and gave a thumbs up.

"Okay, staffs out," Donald started the countdown.

"Wait, where is your staff?" Fredrick asked as Penny stood waiting.

"I don't have one."

"What?"

"She doesn't need one," Jayden called out.

"Ahem," Donald tried to regain their attention. "The test is about to begin. Are you ready?"

Penny grinned her cocky grin, "I was born ready!" The trio groaned behind her.

Fredrick smirked, "Such confidence."

Donald looked at the two and yelled, "Begin!"

Penny crouched down, waiting for him to make the first move since she still didn't quite understand what the point of the test was. Big mistake. The man had waved his staff and out of thin air, water rushed to Penny's feet. She gasped as the water froze, freezing her to the deck. As she struggled against the ice, Fredrick grabbed rope that was lying there about and transformed it into several arrows. They lifted into the air, the heads aimed at the poor girl. Penny panicked as he sent them flying towards her. Without thinking, she lifted her left arm, as if to block them, and waited for the pain. But it never came. Instead of pain, she felt heat. Her whole left arm was on fire, causing the arrows to burn in midair. Not only did the arrows burn, the ice turned into water again, freeing her. As she lowered her arm, it continued to burn, but she never got burnt or felt pain.

Fredrick's eyes were wide with shock as he watched her. "Wild magic," he whispered. His eyes hardened as he thought of another plan, but Penny didn't give him the chance.

She waved her right arm this time and the water around them sprang to the air and stayed suspended that way. It created a circle around them. Using her imagination, she created a bubble of rushing water around them so nothing can get in or out.

"There, now you can't transform anything," Penny staggered a bit. Already, her stomach growled for food. Damn. Already used too much!

Then pull back. There's no shame in only using a little bit at a time, Midnight advised.

No! I will win!

"It seems you have used a bit too much," Fredrick observed.

Penny laughed a bit, "Trust me, this ain't nothing."

"Indeed. I wonder what else you can do." He his hands together, as if he was cupping something and a little flame of fire popped out of nowhere. He held it in his hands for awhile, thinking.

Penny stared at it. The fire wasn't normal. The very top part of the flame was white and the bottom half was blue. But that's not what surprised her the most; it was him tossing it into the water causing it to steam. She covered her eyes to protect them.

When she opened them again, she didn't see the ship or the man she was fighting. No, what she saw was her island. The water washed over her feet as she stared in amazement. Was it all a dream? Where are Max, Illiana, and Jayden? Midnight? The Hearts?

As she stood there, the Lost Boys came out of the forest, running towards her. They were laughing and, clearly, playing a game. Penny stared as Nibs came up to her and slapped her arm.

"Tag! You're it, Penny! Bet you can't catch all of us!" he yelled as they all ran back into the forest.

Penny soon forgot about everything as she ran after them, laughing and jumping like she used to. She raced them through the trees and splashed in the Lagoon. She couldn't remember what she was supposed to be doing and why.

As she was swimming underwater, a sharp pain came to her arms, legs and face. She went to the surface and found small scratches, and more appearing as she watched. She stood there in shock, but soon something scratched her side. She fell back clutching her side as she looked up.

Right above her was none other than Hook. His sword glistened in the sun which was aimed right at her throat. He smirked as he advanced towards her, his hook ready to strike. Penny crawled backwards, groping for her dagger, but finding nothing. She resigned to her fate when something tugged in the back of her mind. She ignored it, but it was persistent until a voice was shouting in her mind.

Wake up Penny! It's a trap! Snap out of it! Midnight howled.

What? Midnight?

Penny blinked and tried to focus on Midnight. Soon, the island, Hook, the Lost Boys disappeared and Jayden's father came into view, holding his staff above her, ready to deliver the final blow.

She shook her head and pushed her right arm in front of her, causing water to, finally, come out and blast him away from her.

"Argh!" he yelled as he hit the mast, his staff clattered away from him. "Impossible! How did you break out of that illusion?" he asked, but paled in fear.

Penny's eyes had gone completely green as she walked over to him. He scrambled for his staff, but fire exploded from the ground, blocking him. She didn't even have to move her hand in order to create the ring of fire around them.

Fredrick shrank back as she got closer.

"How dare you use that to show me my home! Using my memories to make me vulnerable! You will pay!" she lifted her left arm to punch him, but her arm was on fire.

"Penny stop!" Max grabbed her around the middle to stop her. He grunted as the fire burned him but he held on. Jayden stepped in front of her.

"Snap out of it Penny! It's only a test! You proved yourself!"

Penny stared at him and her eyes slowly turned back to normal. Her body slumped in Max's arms as she fell asleep.

Max carried her to the hammocks with Midnight as the others talked.

"That girl is dangerous! She lost control. Wild magic can do that!" Fredrick said as he stood there, healing himself.

"She was fine until you did the illusion spell," Jayden fought back. "She won, didn't she? He couldn't use his magic."

"Well, he did lose his staff. But she lost control when she got angry. That cannot be ignored," Donald thought.

"But fine otherwise, right?" Illiana said hopefully.

Donald didn't answer. Instead he only said, "When you come back to Fantasia, we will talk more about it."

"No. Now," Jayden said stubbornly.

His teacher sighed, "Fine." He went on to explain what he thought.