7. Practice Makes Perfect
Bella was frustrated. She wanted to start learning immediately, but Edward was insistent on letting her rest, giving her powers time to adjust to her body since it had only been less than a day since all of it had happened.
But she was like a kid who just received a new toy. You couldn't have it in your reach and not play with it. But Edward didn't budge.
"It's still your birthday. Just enjoy it, and I promise we will find some time to work on the basics this week. Plus I have still have a paper I need to write today."
"A paper? So you really still are in college?"
"Yes. I meant it when I said I've never lied to you, I just wasn't fully forthcoming about the details," Edward responded with a shrug.
"The same college as me? And you study magic?"
"Well, the same college in the sense that they are in the same location. But I take completely different classes, have different professors, even the library is different; the sixth floor is completely filled with books meant for us."
Bella was amazed. How could a whole other world exist right under her nose and she didn't have a clue. And every time she thought she was done asking questions, Edward's responses would create another set of answers she sought.
"But why have two different schools on the same campus? Doesn't that make it riskier? What if someone finds out?"
"The school was originally meant purely for magic. There are magical hotspots all over the world. Our location is close to the ocean and mountains and even a few dormant volcanos. It made it perfect for a school, but the founders didn't want to draw too much attention, so they decided to open up a non-magic school to cover it up. And to be honest, most non-magical people can't sense magic even if it was presented to them on a silver platter. But we don't really have any strict rules about sharing that we have abilities. You obviously use discretion, but I've told a few non-magical friends over the years."
"What do you study?" Bella asked genuinely interested.
"Nothing fun if you're under 21. A lot of theory and history and Latin of course. But after you turn 21, new spells, casting techniques, potion making, all the good stuff. Want to see something I'm working on?" he probed with a conspiratorial tone. Bella enthusiastically nodded.
Edward stood up and brushed the leaves off his pants. He glanced around the clearing, taking stock of what was near him. He snapped his fingers, and from all around him, sticks and twigs and small branches flew to his command and hovered in front of him. He took a few minutes to sort through the selection. He finally decided on a smaller looking branch, short in stature, but thick around the middle. Simultaneously, all the other choices were flung back into the forest.
"This should do nicely," Edward said to himself.
He bent down on one knee before Bella so she could watch. He held the branch in one hand and with the other slowly hovered back and forth over the entire piece of wood. Ever so slightly Bella began to notice it shift. The top of the branch smoothed and curved, coming to a point. The bottom rounded out. The sides of the branch started to separate from the main body and curve and move. Two dark holes burrowed out at the top of the branch. After a few more waves of his hand, the holes blinked, and the stick stood up on his palm.
Bella then realized it was a tiny wooden bird.
It opened and closed its small beak, fluttering its wispy wooden wings, each movement accompanied by tiny clicks of wood knocking against wood.
"Can I touch it?" Bella asked. Edward nodded.
She reached over with a hesitating finger and pet the top of the smooth wood that formed the bird's head. It slightly nudged her finger as if saying it enjoyed it and wanted more. She ran her finger gingerly down the length of its body. The bird's wings flittered faster in response.
"This is amazing," Bella commented in awe.
"But not quite perfect. I haven't figured out how to create subtle things like eyelids or individual feathers. I've seen some people able to create ones that could actually fly, but this little buddy is not bad if I do say so myself." Edward brought it up in front of his face. The bird rubbed affectionately against the nose of its maker.
Edward then hovered his hand above the bird and, within seconds, the bird stopped moving and regressed into its original form. He tossed the stick aside.
"When do I get to do things like that?"
Edward laughed. "Object manipulation and animation is very advanced. It's going to be a while before you're ready for that."
Bella could feel her body itching to try. It was logical to give herself time to rest, but magic wasn't logical so why should she be?
"One thing. Show me how to do something simple, and I promise I'll stop asking and wait until you tell me it's time." She was practically humming with excitement. Edward had never seen her look so enlivened. How could he say no?
"Only one, and it's going to be small." Bella nodded her head enthusiastically. Edward rose off the ground and offered a hand to Bella to help her up. "Over this way."
They walked to the edge of clearing towards a cluster of wild lupine. The plant was at the end of its life cycle. The stalks were drooping, the leaves brown and shriveled, and the blooms were withered hanging on by a thread.
"You'll need to get close to the plant," Edward directed. Bella knelt on her knees. "Don't be discouraged if nothing happens your first time. It takes a little bit of practice to get the hang of it. Okay, place your hands around one of the blooms." She choose a small one towards the outer edges of the plant and carefully placed her hands around it. "Now focus on it, picture the flower alive in your mind, full and new. Eliminate everything else. It is just you and this bloom." Bella honed her thoughts. She was concentrating so hard so felt like she could hear the thumping of the water meekly pumping through the veins in the plant. "Now repeat after me: folliculos germinaret."
"Folliculos germinaret," Bella commanded with confidence and purpose. As she spoke the last syllable, she could feel the magic burst from her body out through her finger tips. The petals immediately begin to transition in color from a dark brown to light purple becoming full and supple again. But the magic didn't stop there. It raced through the plant, each leaf turning back time to a healthy green, the stalks becoming long and strong again. Although she only meant to change one flower, in seconds the entire plant was alive and thriving, with at least twenty blooms reaching three feet off the ground.
Bella stood up and dusted the dirt off her knees with a smile as she appraised her work. The magic thrummed happily in her blood.
"Wow," Edward exclaimed, "that was great for your first time out of the gate, but remind me to add control on our list of things to work on."
With the sun starting to dip below the tree line, they both decided it was time leave. They began to walk towards the entrance of the clearing back towards the cars.
"Edward?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you. If you weren't here, I'm not sure what I would be doing, or how I would be handling all of this."
"Something tells me, you would've pushed through somehow. Either way, I'm glad I'm here to help. You're welcome."
They were about to leave the clearing and onto the path when Bella said:
"Hey I don't think I asked, what family are you descended from?"
Edward's eyes alit with glee. He curled a single hand into a fist and brought it up to his mouth. He blew once into his hand and then started shaking it. A small plume of smoke rose from his closed fingers. He opened his palm and a tiny flame was burning in the center, and suddenly, almost violently, the flame lashed out like a whip, wrapping around Edward's wrist and then covering his body with snake-like fiery veins. Bella took a step back as he turned the intensity up and the fire consumed his entire body. He was a glorious living inferno. But with a quick snap of his fingers, the fire disappeared without a trace of smoke or singed material.
Bella blinked a few times, letting her eyes readjust after the blinding light. "You could've just said fire."
"Yeah, but where's the fun in that!"
By the time Bella got home, night had already fallen. The rest of the group was picking up take out for a movie marathon of Bella's favorites to finish up Bella's birthday. She was grateful for the few minutes of quiet to help gather her thoughts. It had definitely been the most interesting birthday by far.
She strolled into her bedroom and closed the door. She walked up to her mother's grimoire on the edge of her bed and rested a single hand on it. The magic purred in contentment. It was so strange to feel it so foreign inside her yet also familiar and right.
Everything was different now. There was a new sheen to her life; a vibrancy she had never felt before. She was excited for the potential the future held, excited to learn, excited to venture into this new realm. And Bella realized, to be more than ordinary was something she didn't need, but always wanted.
Before climbing into bed to take a quick nap, Bella glanced at the quote on her wall.
"It's kind of fun to do the impossible"
And thought to herself, 'you have no idea, Walt'.
Trying to fall back into the rhythm of her life was like trying to stuff an air mattress back into its original packaging, impossible. How could she be expected to go to class, talk to her friends, be normal when the weight of a huge secret was upon her shoulders. Magic was real, and Bella could wield it.
Magic was the undertone to every thought. Sitting in class and learning about differential equations, Bella was sure there must be a spell to do the math for you. When her coffee started to grow cold, she was sure magic could find a way to keep it interminably warm. Even flipping on a light switch seemed like a chore when she knew with the right words, it could be done with magic.
The week dragged on at a tortuous pace, but it all seemed worth it when her phone chirped with a text message Friday morning.
E: Think you're ready for a little practice today?
B: Absolutely!
E: 12 at the spot
A few hours later Bella walked into the clearing, her anticipation and excitement palpable. Edward was seated at a wooden table in the center of the clearing with a chair across from him, empty and waiting for her.
"Where do we start? More plants or do we move on to something else?" Bella babbled eagerly as she took a seat.
"Hello to you too. My day is going well, thank you for asking," Edward folded his hands patiently in front of him.
"You've made me wait a week and now you're trying to stall with pleasantries!"
"Now, now, Bella. Without civility, we are all just savages."
"Edward…" Bella playfully warned.
"Okay," Edward responded raising both of his hands up in surrender, "we start with the basics. Every person is taught that there are four components to keep in mind when using magic. The first is intent."
A small flame appeared in the middle of the table.
"You must be able to picture exactly what you want to happen. Magic is wild and yearns to be free. If your intent is not crystal clear and your focus is elsewhere, the magic can use that distraction and easily do the opposite of what you want. The second is precision."
The flame disappeared and reappeared over and over in multiple spots on the table.
"You must be precise in your use of magic. The location of where you cast, where the spell will hit, your use of Latin, hand techniques, all of it has to marked by exactness and accuracy."
The flame stopped moving around and once again appeared in the middle of the table.
"Next, intensity."
The flame started growing in size, not in girth but in length, so a swirling column of fire began reaching higher and higher.
"Even the smallest spells, with too much intensity can turn deadly. You must understand your magic enough and what you want to accomplish so you can gauge the right amount of force and potency to put behind it."
The column of fire was now way past the height of their heads. Bella could feel the heat radiating from it. It was beginning to get warm enough that she would have to push her seat back soon. Tiny tendrils of fire began lashing out from the top of the column before being swallowed again. With every second, the fire grew larger and unruly.
"Last and most importantly, control."
Making the first discernable move, Edward brought his hand out and hovered it before the fire. In response to his silent command, the tower of fire shrunk, the heat lessened, and it returned back to the manageable flickering flame.
"I've seen grown men fall prey to their magic because they lacked the control to rein it in. Always remember you are the master of your magic, not the other way around."
Bella nodded, trying to absorb every word.
"And though not exactly an orthodox basic skill, I think there is one more important component. Style."
Edward waved his fingers in a quick fanning motion before the flame. The fire transformed into an array of color, a bright neon blue building from the bottom of the flame, brilliant reds and oranges bursting from the top, and sparks of yellow flying out of the sides.
Bella was simultaneously impressed and also wanted to roll her eyes.
With the snap of Edward's fingers, the flame was extinguished entirely.
"While some of these come natural, in order to properly use them together it requires constant practice. Like any other skill, your ability to use magic must be honed and sharpened. Not just training on any one component, but using all of them at once so when you cast, it comes as second nature."
"Intent, precision, intensity, control. Got it," Bella repeated back.
"And?" Edward insisted.
"Seriously?"
"100%," Edward replied with a dead face.
Bella visibly rolled her eyes this time.
"Style," she responded with reluctance. But it made no difference to Edward as he burst out in a proud smile. "Alright," Bella interjected before he could make a comment, "so which one do we tackle first? Do we choose an element and focus on the basics with it?"
"Whoa, hold your horses, my protégé. In the magic world, you're equivalent to a newborn who is trying to run. We have to teach you how to flip over before we even think about crawling, walking, and then running. So our lesson for today is…"
Edward pulled a small colorful book out of literal thin air and placed it in front of Bella on the table.
The cover of the book was filled with images that looked like someone went crazy with Microsoft Word wordart; an apple, a book, a crayon, a hat, and in giant letters across the front, the book read ' "Of all the Gaul" Latin for Kids'.
"You've got to be kidding me," Bella glanced disdainfully at the offending book.
"Wipe that look off your face. If you want to learn how to do anything, you can't avoid knowing the language. So get ready, because we are going to master the alphabet today," Edward said with excitement as he clapped his hands together.
And in one of the weirdest lessons she's ever had as an adult, Bella learned the Latin alphabet. They moved through it quickly and began going over basic words and phrases.
"Opus bonum instructus!" Edward exclaimed after Bella successfully, if hesitantly, read through a long basic paragraph in Latin.
Bella rested against the back of her chair, straightening out her spine that had been hunched over the book for the past hour. It's not as easy as it seemed to decide to want to pick up a new language.
"Well I think you've done enough for today. And here is your homework," Edward again conjured the piece of paper from the air with a twist of his wrist.
"And you want me to translate?" She asked as she looked over a solid paragraph of Latin written on the page.
"Exactly, and be prepared to read the translation the next time we meet."
"I think you're getting a little too much enjoyment out of this teaching thing." Bella folded the paper up and slipped it into her pocked.
"Can't deny I love a little power. And maybe my student wouldn't be opposed to coming to class one day dressed like a school girl, maybe some ponytails, a cute little skirt, a…"
"Only in your dreams, Cullen," Bella interrupted, shutting down his fantasy immediately.
"Can't blame a guy for trying," he responded with a shrug.
The minute Bella got home, she rushed past the girls, giving halfhearted greetings, before locking herself in her room to begin the translation homework.
She pulled out the piece of paper with the Latin. Very slowly, she went through the process of reading it out loud, to practice the sounds and intonations of the Latin, and then word for word, translate it. She was immediately happy when she was able to pick out a few words after her lesson with Edward and knew what they meant.
Magister est optimus. Pulchrior ille est, et genus. Praeceptor meus dominus meus. Ipse est enim principem populi magicae. Sum felix esse discipulum. Servire volunt praeceptorem meum. Faciet mihi magna.
When she finally started getting a feel for what the paragraph was about she couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"Cheeky bastard," she murmured out loud.
She completed the rest of the translation, wrote down the English equivalent, spoke the Latin paragraph aloud one more time, before putting it away again. She sat on the edge of her bed, still charged from her first lesson with Edward. He seemed so powerful and in control when he was conducting his magic. She could feel her own magic prod her as she thought of the afternoon. It couldn't hurt to try something small, right?
She glanced around her room, as if making sure Edward wasn't hiding in the corner. She scooted to the edge of her bed and picked out the small lamp on her desk as a target.
Bella flexed her fingers back and forth.
Intent, precision, intensity, control. Intent, precision, intensity, control. Bella replayed over and over as a mantra in her head.
She pointed a single finger from her right hand at the lamp. She focused on the lamp, on the bulb. She pictured the electricity running up from the socket, through the wiring, and into the filament. In her mind she focused on lighting the bulb.
Intent, precision, intensity, control.
"Lux," Bella commanded.
She felt the magic flow from the tips of her fingers and seconds later, the lamp turned on. Bella whooped in excitement. But then she noticed the light kept increasing in brightness. She watched as the bulb shined with a blinding brilliance. It was too bright to stare at directly. She could feel the tiny object radiate an immense growing heat until it shattered, the glass flying everywhere.
"Shit!" Bella yelled as she turned her head away protecting herself from the glass.
Footsteps were pounding and then Angela was knocking at Bella's locked door.
"Bella? Are you alright? Everything okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine, just broke something."
Bella surveyed the room, seeing the shards of glass sparkling from every direction. If she didn't fully believe him before, she did now. Bella definitely needed way more training before trying magic on her own. Sadly, she began the tedious task of cleaning up her mess.
A few days later, Bella met up with Edward for her second lesson.
"Ready for round two?" Edward asked Bella as she walked into the clearing.
"Yes, where do we start today?"
"With your homework. Did you do the translation?"
Bella handed over the piece of paper with the English translation on it.
"Oh no. I believe I said you were to read the translation out loud."
Bella knew she could whine and try to talk her way out of it, but something told her, he was going to force her to read. She cleared her throat and as fast as she could, Bella read the English translation.
"My teacher is the best. He is handsome and kind. My teacher is my master. He is the ruler of magic. I'm lucky to be his student. I want to serve my teacher. He will make me great."
Edward could barely contain his laughter as he tried to put on his 'teacher' face.
"Great job! Now on to the lesson."
Bella and Edward took a seat at the table with the Latin book. She started learning nouns and verbs. And to Bella's surprise, she was beginning to pick up on the Latin very quickly. Even Edward was amazed at how much she could recall.
After a solid hour of Latin work, Bella bent her spine backwards over her seat. She could hear the little pops and cracks as she stretched out her body.
Edward tried to continue along with the lesson in the book, but Bella interrupted him by cracking the knuckles on one hand. He tried again and she cracked the knuckles on her other hand.
"I feel like you're trying to tell me something…" Edward commented.
"Not at all," Bella said while using the chair to help twist her back from left to right, "I just feel so sore from sitting in this chair for so long," she feigned innocence, eliciting a crack from her neck.
"Okay, okay, we can practice something, just stop doing that. It freaks me out."
Bella stood up in triumph, ready to actually apply some of the stuff she was learning.
Edward led her over to an area at the edge of the clearing. It wasn't covered with moss or plant life like the other areas, but just dirt.
"You know the Latin word for earth. I want you to use your powers and create a small one foot by one foot hole. You will command the soil, but you must use intent, precision, intensity, and control to make it mirror what you want it to do. Give it a try."
Bella stared at the ground. She imagined every piece of soil, dead leaf, tiny rock. She could picture the earth in her mind. She held out her hand and with confidence.
"Terra," her voice echoed in the space.
The dirt vibrated in place, a few pieces jumped aside at her command, but other than that not much movement.
"It's not just seeing what you want to happen, but it's also feeling it. Earth is your element. Feel it through your body, your feet rooted on the ground, your mind connected to its spirit, your magic controlling it," Edward coached.
She dug her shoes into the ground a little more and took a deep calming breath.
"Terra," she commanded again.
Immediately the ground responded. A small pile of dirt leapt into the air and collected itself in a messy pile nearby the hole. It wasn't quite the size she wanted, but it was a good start. The magic in her rumbled with contentment.
"That's great, but now work on refinement. Try making a perfectly shaped hole with the right dimensions."
Bella tried again with a new hole. It was a much better attempt this time, but still needed work.
"Good, now let's aim for another…twenty five holes, hmm?"
Bella eyed Edward with a bit of reluctance, but didn't comment as she set off on her task. Edward walked back to the clearing cleaning up the table and chairs, sending them back to whatever place he conjured them from. After some time later, he came back to appraise her work.
Bella was proud of herself. The last ten holes looked perfect and identical. It also looked like an army of gophers had ravaged the forest.
Edward walked around, and looked at each hole carefully.
"Not bad." He measured one hole with his foot and compared it to the one next to it. "Not bad at all. Now fill them all back in," he finished with a smile.
"All of them?" Bella asked as she surveyed her twenty seven holes.
"Yes! We don't want some poor unsuspecting animal to fall in! And the goal here is to make it seem as if it was never disturbed."
About another twenty minutes later, after having to unfill and refill holes at Edward's discretion, Bella finally finished with her lesson.
She felt slightly exerted, but overall was content. The magic growled happily inside, excited to finally be put to some use, albeit not very productive use, but use nonetheless.
"Good work, my student," then Edward's voice dropped to a low, slow cadence, "make hole, fill hole, make hole, fill hole."
Recognition suddenly struck Bella.
"Oh my god, did you just Mr. Miyagi me?!"
"Possibly," he responded slyly, "But being Miyagi'ed is not a bad thing, after all, Daniel did win the tournament." Edward finished sagely as he clasped his hands behind his back and walked away from Bella as if he were a wise old master.
He walked far enough away that he didn't hear Bella whisper "Terra". A small ball of dirt flew through the air and hit Edward in the back of the head.
Edward slowly pivoted to face Bella, mock outrage pinned on his face.
"You are walking on thin ice, Miss Swan," he drawled. Bella laughed as he tried shaking out all the pieces of dirt trapped in his hair on the walk back to the cars.
About halfway to the cars, Bella's phone buzzed with a text.
Jessica: Where you at? House dinner tonight at the guys' place. See you there?
"Grand plans for the evening?" Edward asked.
"Nothing special, just dinner with the group. Would you like to join?"
"That's okay. I'm meeting my own group tonight."
Edward had now started airing out his shirt to free the trapped pieces of dirt that fell down it.
"Group? I didn't know you had a group."
"As much as I enjoy spending time with you, which is a lot in case you were wondering," he grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze, "I also have friends."
Edward was going to pull his hand away, but Bella laced her fingers through his, keeping it there.
"I'm just surprised. You've never mentioned other friends before. And now, as I say that out loud, I realize I sound a bit self-centric."
"No one would blame you after having the big M bomb dropped on you. And well my friends are more of the magical variety. As much as I wanted you to meet them, I wasn't going ask until you were ready for all of this."
"Well, I think I'm more than ready now. And I think it would be nice to meet some of your friends.
"What about now? Join us for dinner? I don't think your group will mind if I steal you away for a few extra hours."
Bella thought about it and agreed. She texted Jessica that she wasn't going to make it for dinner and put her phone away.
"Let's do it."