Cold. That was the first thing that registered in Alfred's mind. Then the wind and snow was pushing him from every direction. A hand suddenly grabbed his, pulling him with surprising force. Blindly, he stumbled in the direction he was towed in. Suddenly the hand was gone and he could faintly hear a few clicks above the howling wind then he was pulled forward once more.
Instead of more wind and snow on his face, Alfred was greeted with the pleasant warmth of a fire. Surprised by the sudden change in his surroundings, Alfred stepped farther in the room while he took in his surroundings. The magician was still close at hand, and he was toying with something Alfred couldn't quite see, but whatever it was, it had the magician's complete attention at the moment. They both were standing in what appeared to be a one-roomed cabin. Next to the door stood a sturdy-looking wood table with two matching chairs, one was slightly pulled out, as though someone had left in a rush. Kitty-corner to the table, a bed was pushed against the wall. Near the foot of the bed there was an oven with a lantern on it. However the lantern only gave off a little amount of light, and the oven was cold, so how was the room so warm?
Suddenly the magician dropped the object inside of his coat pocket and picked up the lantern. Alfred watched as he bent down to pour the fire inside of the small lantern inside of the oven, as though it were a liquid.
"How did you do that?!" he gasped in surprise.
The magician turned around to face Alfred and tapped the lantern with his index finger, restoring the flame. "Magic." He answered with a grin.
"Magic?" Alfred repeated in disbelief. He couldn't really be serious, could he?
"Yes, magic." He repeated calmly. "If you remember, I am a magician."
"Then why should I trust your answer? A magician isn't supposed to reveal his secrets after all." Alfred countered.
Replacing the lantern back on the oven, the magician faced Alfred, taking his hat off with a smile. "I can see that I will have to earn your trust." He replied with a slight bow, "But trust me, I love a good challenge."
"Yes you will." Alfred replied firmly.
The magician smiled and brushed a few stray strands of his blond hair from his face. Deciding to retire his hat for the night, he placed it carefully atop the table and from his vest pocket he took an old pocket watch. The watch had belonged to many magicians before him, all varying in wit and skill, but tied together by this object. As many might expect from a possession of a magician, it was far more than an antique. As well as accurately providing the time, it could enhance a magician's work, enough that some would go as far as naming it the ultimate prize. The best way to tell who possessed it at a given time was to observe the stones that decorated the watch color. They would match the eye color of whoever owned it, or look like clear glass if it had been left unclaimed.
The stones were currently a bright forest green, matching the magician's eyes perfectly as legend claimed they would. It was late, but not late enough that time would be incredibly short at the moment if he got to work right away. Before he got to the work however, he should prepare something for them to both eat. He assumed that his companion had yet to eat like himself. Since he had a time limit tonight, it looked like they would have to be satisfied with a simple meal tonight.
Alfred blinked in surprise as the magician went over to a door by the stove. Had it been there before? It must have been, he decided, everyone knows that doors don't just appear when you need them!
"Are you alright with soup?" the magician called from the new room.
Alfred snapped out of his thoughts. The new room, a simple store room, was full of boxes and cans of various shapes, sizes, and colors. The magician stood in a clearing at the center of the room, holding a soup can in his left hand.
"Sure!" he answered, "What type?"
"Regular chicken noodle, but I can find another type if you would like." He offered.
"Chicken noodle sounds good to me." Actually anything sounded good right now, Alfred felt like he was starving!
"Okay." The magician agreed with a gentle smile. Once the door to the store room closed behind him it seemed to vanish into the wall, leaving no trace that it had ever exisisted there.
"Woah!" Alfred gasped in surprise.
"Magic." The magician stated with a grin as he put a pot on the stove. "And once again I assure you that I am telling the truth."
"Sure you are." Alfred replied. He didn't know whether he should believe him or not though. He had never personally believed in magic, but he also couldn't think of any other explanation for what he had seen.
"Why don't you believe me?" the magician asked, pouring the soup into a pot.
"I don't really believe in magic. It just seems like an excuse to not tell the truth to me." He answered.
"Then how would you explain the door appearing and then disappearing again?" He could have just let it drop, it wasn't a big deal if he didn't believe in magic, a lot of people didn't actually, but he was curious as to how his companion would answer the question.
Alfred thought before replying. "I don't know, but I'm sure there has to be some explanation for it."
The green-eyed man laughed softly at his stubbornness. "I provided you with the answer, but you can decide whether or not to believe it."
There was a short silence while the other let these words sink in. "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink…" he mumbled. With a sigh he sat down in one of the chairs at the table, watching as the magician heated the soup on the stove, stirring it every now and then.
Eventually his mind started to wander, lost in the unique world of his thoughts. He went back over all that had happened today, how had a shopping trip brought him here, t an unknown cabin with a blizzard raging outside? How long would he be gone? A day? A year? Even longer? How long would it be before his family noticed his absence? He had moved not too long ago, so it was unlikely anyone would notice for awhile. As far as he knew his parents could never hear about what had occurred today. They could just assume he was busy or ignoring their calls, and who knows what could happen by the time they realize he was gone! What was the magician going to do anyway? He seemed polite, but he had taken him to an isolated cabin… Alfred was tempted to ask the magician how they had gotten here in the first place, in town it had been late summer, and now there was a blizzard! But he already knew what the answer would be. Magic. It seemed like it was his answer for everything.
"Dinner is ready." The magician announced, snapping Alfred back to reality.
"Thank you." Alfred replied as a bowl of soup was placed before him. He tried to not flinch at the unusual smell…and was soup supposed to be that color?!
The magician calmly sat in the other chair and tucked into his own meal, cooling the soup on his spoon carefully before bringing it to his mouth. For a few minutes they ate in silence, the magician calmly and Alfred wondering how deep the bowl could honestly be.
"Do you have any questions?" he asked. "I know that you must be confused."
Alfred sent up a silent prayer of thanks for the excuse to stop eating for awhile. "Yeah, I am." he admitted, trying to decide where to start. "Um, how did we get here so quickly? And don't say magic."
The other laughed before responding. "I teleported us."
"Teleported us?! How?!"
"I'm not allowed to say how, you forbid me from doing so."
"Magic?" Alfred sighed.
"Bingo." The other blond answered smoothly.
"Is your magic the answer to everything?" he asked in annoyance.
"No, magic can only answer so much. Is there anything else you would like to know?"
"Where are we?"
"This is just a stop before we start our trip tomorrow." The magician answered casually.
"That doesn't answer my question…"
"If you want a map location I'm afraid I can't provide you with one."
"Why not?!" Alfred asked with slight panic. Is this guy gonna kill me and hide my body where no one can find it?! Oh my god I'm too young to die!
"This area isn't on a map, no one but I knows that this island exists."
Ohmygodohmygodohmygod…! "Island?" Alfred asked. Weren't islands supposed to be tropical, not an iceberg?
"Yes, an island. The closest answer I can give you as to where you could find us on a map would be Northwest Canada."
"…Canada?" I haven't even heard of this place! It really is the middle of nowhere!
"An island near Canada. We aren't 'officially' in Canada." He stated calmly.
"Why Canada?" Please not so he can murder me…!
"What do you mean?"
"If you can teleport you could have taken us anywhere, so why here?"
The magician thought carefully before replying, "It's a nice place to rest, and I cannot go anywhere I please. Even magic has its limits. And as I mentioned earlier, this is only temporary, we move out tomorrow."
"Where are we going then?"
The magician smiled. "Almost anywhere we want."
"...where are some of the places you can't go?"
"I can get anywhere one way or another; however it would be very unwise to do so. For example, if I were to trespass on another magician's land they would likely not take kindly to my presence."
Alfred nodded to show that he understood. "That makes sense."
"Next question?"
"…what are you going to do with me?" The question had been on his mind from the start, and his heart rate sped up slightly as he waited for the answer.
"As promised, you will be accompanying me on an adventure."
"What kind of adventure?"
"One that will change your life forever."