Claire felt as if some kind of higher force had turned her life upside-down. No, of course, she had always thought it would have been great if something supernatural had been a real thing, yet now, with actual proof of magic… She was too confused and lost.
After the first successful magical protection, the girl had attempted several more tricks from the book. Some had actually worked, others not that much - most likely, because of her own lack of concentration. Or inexperience. Or something else.
With all of those experiments, Claire had somehow stayed awake until the very morning. Lucky thing, her parents hadn't noticed, especially her mom. Ophelia would never have stood the lack of self-discipline.
However, who would be able to sleep soundly after such a world-changing discovery?
Though, the girl's body, apparently, had some other opinion. Perhaps, for the first time in her life, Claire fell asleep in the classroom, waking up only after Darci elbowed her not-that-gently.
That was odd - the Latina was more than sure that she could skip one-night sleep without any repercussions. Yet, it somehow felt as if she had spent that time lifting heavy weighted stuff. She was sore, no, drained even.
Was it because of her amateurish attempts at magic? Maybe the girl should have read the book from the very start instead of skimming through the pages, trying everything that seemed at least remotely interesting?
Well, that was her favorite approach in some studies - to skip stages and try to fill gaps intuitively. Apparently, that one wouldn't work here.
Claire couldn't wait until the classes were over and ran out of the classroom the second the last bell rang. She could swear Mary had yelled something to her, but honestly, she wasn't that interested in that. She would apologize to her best friend later - and right now, her main goal was seeing Douxie.
Don't judge a book by its cover. Its contents are way better than you can imagine.
Hadn't the young man told her that? Did he know about magic? Was he aware that despite the dumb design, the book was a legit deal?
Claire's intuition told her that the answer was yes.
But wouldn't that mean…
Yes, it had to be that one. Douxie should have been a real wizard himself. Well, at least an apprentice or something.
Then, the silly-looking book was a test from him.
If so, maybe he could provide some guidance on the matter.
The girl reached GDT Arcane Books and flung the door open in excitement. She mentally berated herself for not controlling her emotions better, hoping that Douxie would forgive her impolite behavior and…
"Would you mind not breaking the door?" a female voice asked with evident annoyance. "Jeez, young people nowadays!"
That was definitely not Douxie. Claire looked in bewilderment at a boorish middle-aged lady. That one stood right before her, her arms folded.
"Sorry, I was looking for Douxie," the girl smiled politely. That one stood right before her, her arms folded.
"Sorry, I was looking for Douxie," the girl smiled politely. She could go for a snide remark, but, well, the stranger's criticism wasn't that groundless.
"I've thought that boy had a different girlfriend not that long ago, that crazy pink-head… What a fickle kid," the lady muttered, probably louder than she expected herself, and added louder: "It's not his shift today - and honestly, find some better place for making out!"
"What? No, we're just…" Claire attempted to clear the sudden misunderstanding, but the woman had already turned her back to her and walked away.
The girl shrugged and exited the bookshop, her previous excitement diminished significantly. No, of course, she was still eager to talk to the mysterious young man, but for that, she had to find him first.
But where?
She went away slowly, trying to find out some solution. Claire wished she had asked Douxie for his number before. Well, there was no point in crying over the spilled milk. Perhaps, she could visit the next day. Hopefully, there wouldn't be that unpleasant lady there. Or…
Her gaze fell on a sign on her left, and the girl nearly smacked herself for being so slow.
Mr. Benoit's French Bistro!
How was it possible to forget that Douxie also had a job there? Hadn't she met him there first?
Claire looked around, noticing her acquaintance serving coffee to some patrons. So, he had a shift here instead.
"Hey, Claire," Douxie waved to her as soon as he had finished serving the table. The Latina wondered how he had noticed her so fast. Was that another one of magical skills? That one seemed rather neat.
However, his next question slightly disappointed the girl.
"So, what will be your order? We have some new desserts on the menu…"
Why should he have to be in his splendid waiter's mode when she would prefer a mysterious possible wizard one?
"No desserts for today," Claire started firmly. "I want to talk about the book…"
Some evident disappointment crossed the young man's expression:
"So, you didn't like it…"
"Hardly," the girl suddenly chuckled. "I actually found it useful…"
She put a subtle emphasis on the last word, hoping that Douxie would catch the implication. And judging from his eyes, he didn't miss that.
"Casperan, stop flirting with patrons and do your work already!" some guy yelled from the sidelines in annoyance.
"Sorry! Give me a second!" Douxie cried back and turned to the Latina: "Claire, can you come to Arcane Books tomorrow? Of course, if you want…"
"Sure," Claire nodded with a smile.
"Great, see you then," the young man saluted and ran away.
The girl watched him thoughtfully. Was it her ticket to the world full of secrets?
Some stray thought on the back of her mind kept buzzing about forgetting something important. The Latina took out her phone, checking for the time. Apparently, Mary had called her several times, and there were two messages. One from Mary as well, and the other…
From Eli Pepperjack?
No, of course, Eli had her number as they used to be partners in some joint projects, but Claire could swear it was the first time when the bespectacled boy used it.
Out of curiosity, she opened that one first.
Ms. Janeth wants to strangle you.
Ok, that one sounded random, cryptic, and creepy. What could it even mean? Had Eli switched his attention to conspiracy theories or something?
Or maybe he had sent it by mistake - Claire was more than sure she had done nothing to deserve Ms. Janeth's wrath.
With a shrug, she proceeded to the second message.
I've known that you took the school play seriously, but two leads eloping together is too much… Nevermind, Mama Mary gives you two her blessing 3 3 3
The puzzle pieces finally clicked as Claire stared at the screen in horror. Oh yeah, there should have been another rehearsal today, yet she somehow managed to forget about it entirely!
Of course, Ms. Janeth had been furious. And judging from Mary's message, Jim had been absent as well, which only had added more fuel to fire. Not to mention that at least one person jumped to the conclusion that both lead actors had been skipping together!
That was a legit disaster.
The Latina wondered if any damage control was possible at this point. She could imagine Ms. Janeth's rage and felt sorry for anyone who had to deal with that (most likely, Eli had been the one delegated to calm her down).
Besides… Claire had always believed that theatre was her biggest passion. Well, probably, music was around the same level, but that one would never make her forget about a rehearsal. Magic though…
Somehow it felt so endearing, so enticing, so hers. It was as if it provided the girl with so-much desired freedom.
Claire could only act in the school play if her grades didn't slip.
She could only listen to music she liked if it didn't harm the public image.
With magic, there weren't any ifs or compromises. That was her secret, her way to fly freely.
Jim watched Gnome Chompsky enjoying his new life in the dollhouse with a weird expression. Any other time Toby would have asked about his odd mood. However, right now, he had a good idea about what exactly caused it.
"Say, Tobes, am I dumb for not following the Trollhunter's rules?" the lanky teen asked after some silence.
"Well, I don't think Blinky meant that when he told you to forget about human instincts," Toby responded carefully. The troll scholar had definitely hit a sore spot unknowingly, despite all the good intentions.
"I know," Jim nodded with a sigh. "He's actually concerned about my well-being and survival chances. And I can get the reasoning behind his advice. Rule number one is good enough, and I can accept number three to some extent, despite it being, well, not that noble. But always finish the fight?"
His friend looked at him with some sympathy. They had that conversation already, but the Trollhunter was still against killing. Toby wondered if he had any right to give advice - last time, he had confessed that he hadn't been a stranger to killing, yet accidental kill was nowhere close to the conscious one. Now he could understand Jim's reluctance better.
"Will you be alright with that re-match, Jimbo?"
Yes, the lanky teen had some actual training at the moment, but there were still some things to consider. A part of Toby was eager to run up to Douxie and beg him for some kind of magical cheat.
Draal was still a massive and experienced warrior troll. Yes, they could hope that his overconfidence would be his downfall, but wasn't that basically grasping at straws?
"Well, that one is just a spar," Jim shrugged. "No killing there. Though I hope to be able to put up a good fight this time…"
Toby barely managed to hide the sigh of relief. Apparently, Jim's mental state was way better than before - perhaps, he got used to everything already…
"Sooo… No eloping?" Mary drawled, the disappointment evident in her tone.
"For the hundredth time, Mare, no," Claire groaned, wondering why her friend was so dead-set on that wild assumption of hers.
"What a waste," the Asian girl clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Just imagine - leads playing Romeo and Juliet become closer for a better play chemistry, fall in love - and decide to put a twist to the classic tragedy with running away!"
Claire looked at her in bewilderment. What kind of imagination should one have to start thinking in that direction?
"I'm not that close to Jim to start with," the Latina clarified.
"Worrying for his mental state, being interested in his past - are you sure?" Mary attacked back with a smug grin. "You cannot fool my budding romance detector… Besides, I think you'll look cute together."
Claire wished she could throw something at her friend to make her stop all of that weird talk. Not to mention that they didn't have that discussion in private. No, Mary simply had to bring it up amid the school trip to the museum.
The Latina was too conscious of all the peers around, especially Jim. Luckily, her play partner was more interested in whispering to his best friend.
Speaking about Jim, Claire felt that she owed an apology to him. After all, she had been at least briefly annoyed with him skipping rehearsals. Hadn't she tried to be supportive at first? Backing on her own word would be really low.
Besides, yesterday's situation had proved to her that some events may have led to deliberate skipping. What if Jim also had something he put higher in his list of priorities?
The girl's mind unwittingly trailed to her mother. Ophelia was a workaholic and tended to put her carrier above everything else at times. Of course, Claire loved her mom greatly - she just wished the woman wouldn't be that selfishly focused on one thing.
Once upon a time, the Latina had sworn not to become like that, yet… Wouldn't her own obsession with the play's success be the same kind of thing?
She thanked whatever higher forces had led her to the mysterious bookstore as all the following events helped her reconsider many things.
The museum curator - Ms. Nomura - was seemingly overexcited about pottery. No, of course, there was nothing wrong with having some passion, but someone had to tell the woman in question that hers was an ultimate borefest. Even Mr. Strickler was aware of that, stopping her right amid her spiel.
Personally, Claire would rather listen about the swords, scandal, and sorcery part of the history - in the end, the past was clearly full of the first two. No, without any doubt, sorcery wasn't just a fantasy as well.
The teens scattered the second their teacher allowed them. Claire hung behind everyone for a second as her eyes accidentally met with Ms. Nomura's. Initially, she thought of the museum curator as an eccentric yet pleasant person, but now…
The Latina could swear she had seen some unkind gleam in those green eyes, and her sixth sense went highwire at once. That woman - there was something off with her, something… Evil? Inhuman?
Ok, that was too odd, even knowing that all the wizardry was pretty much real. Perhaps, that discovery had made Claire too paranoid so that she was willing to see the supernatural in everything.
Ms. Nomura was simply annoyed that the younger generation had no interest in more refined stuff. Nothing more. Well, maybe she was also too eager to give Mr. Strickler an earful for encouraging kids to ignore serious stuff.
The girl sighed and stepped inside, walking around the museum aimlessly. She hoped to stumble upon Mary or Darci or some other good acquaintance.
Or, maybe it could be a perfect time to talk to Jim about…
'Eloping…' an inner voice suggested in Mary's typical tone. Claire mentally smacked herself for thinking in that dumb direction. It was the last time she listened to the Asian girl's bizarre ideas.
No, her actual goal would be a proper friendly conversation. Perhaps, Jim would explain his reason for missing some rehearsals. Besides, what was the point in a school play where two leads had too much unresolved stuff between them?
The Latina stopped before a display with an ancient dress. To be honest, she wasn't a huge fan of long skirts, preferring pants or jeans in everyday life, yet at times the girl wasn't against a fancy dress.
Like the one right before her - it was simply gorgeous. Claire could imagine it being fitting for Juliet perfectly. Well, the problem was that the play's budget was tight, so expecting anything decent-looking would be too much.
Perhaps, it would be way more plausible to meet a fairy godmother to provide her with an appropriate dress or…
Wait, the magic existed, so perhaps, there could be a spell for changing an outfit, because why not? Maybe she should have asked Douxie about that one later.
"Hey," a familiar voice called her from the right. The girl turned, coming face-to-face with Steve Palchuk. To be honest, Claire had mixed feelings about that guy - his bullying tendencies and inflated ago were rather annoying, besides, the last time they had talked, the Latina had ended with a nasty bruise. However, everyone deserved a second chance - even seemingly irredeemable jerks. Perhaps, that fight had been a valuable life lesson for Steve, and he had actually rethought his priorities.
Or not.
"Sorry if you got caught up in that little tiff between Lake and I…"
Yep, apparently, he got a nerve to call that incident a little tiff when it was a full-fledged fight. Claire frowned, missing the end of the phrase entirely. She only got some bits like 'joining' and 'another side'. Most likely, that wasn't anything important, just Steve being, well, Steve.
Though, at least, he had some decency to say sorry, even if it wasn't the right way to do that. Well, perhaps, it would be difficult for a jerk to walk a righteous road, and he was trying to start somewhere.
The girl accepted his apology with a sigh and added:
"Just don't be like that in the future. Seriously. Everyone will like you more."
She could swear Steve lost some of his smugness momentarily, staring at her with genuine disbelief as if she stated that the Sun went around Earth or something like that.
Was it so difficult for him to comprehend something that simple?
Claire turned back to examining the dress, hoping that the jock would get tired of hanging around her and go somewhere else.
She could swear Steve was doing some kind of pantomime behind her back. Sometimes the girl simply failed to understand how the brains of some of her peers functioned.
Luckily, someone appeared just in time to give the local bully a hint about something else (cave ladies?). Claire wondered if she had misheard but decided not to question the gift horse. She turned around once more to thank her savior - only to see Jim's plump friend making an awkward attempt to retreat.
And of course, Jim himself turned to be around as well - definitely flustered and probably not sure how to approach the Latina. Not that she expected anything else after her own aloof behavior.
"Hey," the girl greeted him first. Some part of her wished she could produce the same smug excuse as Steve. To pretend that everything hadn't been a big deal, just a mishap midway.
Jim smiled awkwardly and blurted, as his gaze kept scanning surroundings:
"That's a nice dress. It would be great to have something like that in the school play…"
Somehow, he had thrown them both a perfect thread to start a conversation.
"I know, right? With our school budget, I'll end up doing the balcony scene in my bathrobe," a joke unwittingly left her lips. It was always so easy to talk to Jim, even if everything might have started so awkwardly.
"Hey, if anyone could pull it off, it'd be you," the teen smiled. "You're the only one on stage who looks like they know what they're doing."
That one was sincere praise, not some empty compliment like those she tended to get daily.
"Well, maybe you can help me with costume seeing that you somehow managed to make a realistic-looking suit of armor," Claire teased. "Would you leave the rest of the cast to struggle to play in inappropriate rags?"
"Well, that's…" Jim chuckled nervously, obviously taking the request seriously.
"I'm joking," the girl nudged him gently, feeling the tremendous relief that the ice between them had finally broken.
"I wanted to apologize," she added after some silence.
"For what?" her play partner seemed genuinely confused.
"For being a jerk, I guess," Claire shrugged and continued without allowing him to protest: "I mean, I pretty much avoided you, judged you for skipping rehearsals, and never tried to listen to your side of the story. That's being a jerk in my book."
Jim shook his head:
"It's not your fault for being frustrated because I've actually screwed a lot there. Even though I know how much this play means for you and other guys. Especially for you - you shine on stage. It's like you truly belong there… Your calling, I would say."
"I wonder about that one," the Latina smiled wistfully.
"Excuse me?"
Obviously, that statement sounded baffling to the lanky teen. Claire didn't even know why she had brought that up.
"If you asked me some days ago, I would tell you theatre was my calling, but now? I've just discovered something amazing, something otherworldly - and it feels like it might be my real calling," she continued wondering if Jim could understand. "But it's also too much to chew…"
"I know that feeling," her play partner nodded. "The world becoming so much bigger out of nowhere…"
Claire stared at him in disbelief. Wait, hadn't he mentioned picking up something new as well in addition to the school play?
Jim had also visited GDT Arcane Books. At least twice as far as she knew.
What if?
Could he also have discovered some talent for magic? Could that one be that mysterious new hobby of his that required compromising with his principles?
No way.
She had to ask.
To know for sure if they both had entered the same world.
And…
Jim's friend seemingly jumped out of nowhere, elbowing his friend and whispering something to him. The lanky teen was slightly annoyed at first, but his expression quickly turned into a determined one once he heard a hushed explanation.
Claire wondered what exactly had happened to cause that scene.
There were seriously too many mysteries around.
To be honest, Douxie was slightly surprised that his hunch about Claire had turned out to be the real deal. The girl, apparently, had at least a minimum magic aptitude. Well, for the modern world, even that would be a rarity. The young man had heard from more skilled master wizards that for whatever reason, magic had been deteriorating for centuries. Perhaps, in some more generations, there wouldn't be any new witches or sorcerers anymore.
Well, Merlin's apprentice preferred to stay more optimistic about the future. Perhaps, there had been other reasons for the diminishing numbers of new magic users born. Or maybe it hadn't gone down to start with - just the old generation going in hiding resulted in fewer students taken. Douxie could imagine a good chunk of people living a regular life without discovering their talent.
Magic prolonged its users' lives - but only when used and nurtured. So a lot of seeds simply withered without giving any fruit.
The young man sighed, wiping the dust from some books. Today it was his shift in the bookshop, and he waited for Claire to appear.
She would have come in any case - the day before Douxie had seen her excitement. But… What would he do after her arrival? Of course, giving some more pointers would be a must, but what else?
Could he actually become the Latina's master? His knowledge would be fitting for that. His status, on the other hand, wouldn't.
The wizard-in-training was happy that Archie was out at the moment - he was sure that the familiar would have given him another lecture otherwise.
The door creaked, breaking his thoughts, and Claire peeked inside carefully.
"Hey, Claire," Douxie waved to her. "Come in!"
"No grumpy lady?" she inquired.
"Not her shift," the young man confirmed, feeling some pity for the girl. That woman was a recent addition to the staff and actually had nothing to do with magic, so the vast majority of regulars connected to the supernatural world had troubles dealing with her.
And Claire just happened to belong to that lady's least liked category of people.
The Latina went inside with some hesitation. Douxie wondered if the atmosphere of the place influenced her actions.
"Would you mind me placing some magical locks at the entrance?" he asked, hoping that it wouldn't scare his new friend.
Well, luckily, Claire's reaction was the exact opposite - she looked like a child anticipating Christmas.
"Will you show me some advanced magic?" she asked, her eyes gleaming.
"Well, not that advanced," the wizard-in-training confessed. That one was surprisingly simple - it had been one of the first lessons his master taught him.
Anyway, the girl still watched his actions as if it was some kind of miracle.
"Wow," she gasped, seeing the door being sealed. "That's more impressive than those runes that prevent people from entering…"
"So, you tried that one?" Douxie chuckled. "Not enough privacy?"
"I wouldn't say that," Claire shifted on her feet uncomfortably. "It just seemed curious enough…"
So, apparently, she had missed an important chapter or two in the book. After all, that was one of the first things anyone should have learned.
"Claire, magic heavily depends on its caster's intent. You actually need to want something to happen. Someone not being able to enter, becoming invisible to everyone, or inflicting some harm - it doesn't matter which spell you chose, it won't work without will behind it," the wizard-in-training explained with a sigh. "Let me guess - you tried some other stuff too, but there were some failures?"
The Latina nodded.
"I still cannot get it, though. I wanted to cast some magic all the time," she wrinkled her eyebrow.
"Ok, let's have some demonstration," Douxie shrugged. Perhaps, the actual practice would be a better approach. As long as there was no attack or fire-summoning magic, the bookshop should have been alright.
"See the door over there? That's my room," he pointed out. "Try to use that trick that you used at home and keep me out of it."
No, of course, Claire could possibly succeed, but the young man was more than sure that her magic wouldn't work. She still hadn't fully grasped the 'intent behind magic' concept.
The girl obeyed, taking out the magic book from her bag and spending some time scribbling on the doorframe.
"Done!" she called to Douxie after finishing and double-checking.
"Good," the wizard-in-training approached her and entered his room without any troubles. The runes hadn't flashed at all.
"Weird," the Latina stared at them in disbelief. "Those definitely worked before… Have I made a mistake?"
The young man stopped her before she started comparing her handwork with the runes in the book:
"Those are correct. The problem is that you didn't actually want to keep me from entering. One, I'm a friendly figure. Two, this is my room. Of course, you subconsciously felt it would be mean to put such barrier, and as a result, the runes became just fancy symbols."
"Oh," Claire uttered as the realization hit her. "So that's why… But wouldn't it make magic rather limited?"
"No," Douxie shook his head. "With practice, you learn to put intent in any spell, ward, or barrier subconsciously. It's actually not that difficult."
"I see," the girl smiled. "Any other pointers for a total novice, Teach?"
"Teach?" the young man raised his eyebrows. No, that one certainly had a nice ring to that but did that mean the Latina had started to view him as her master?
He was most likely overthinking. Wasn't that nickname just a one-time thing?
"Have you practiced sensing magic?" Douxie asked. That one was also one of the basic skills, and every magic user could do that to some extent. Quite often, it was of great help when it came to avoiding traps or hostile creatures. Merlin's apprentice knew it better than anyone else.
"No," Claire confessed. "But isn't that one, you know, inborn talent?"
So, she hadn't skipped that chapter. The young man was already at a loss with her selective studies method.
"You're right aptitude for that one varies from person to person," he responded, trailing back to everyone he knew. Merlin was above average, for example, while Douxie and Zoe both were average. Then, there had been Morgana, whose sensing talent had been outstanding to the point of being among the strongest recorded.
"Some only feel things being off, some can detect wards and barriers," he continued. "And there are geniuses who can tell apart people using their essence - you cannot fool those with disguises or invisibility…"
In the end, the wizard-in-training couldn't help mentioning his fellow student. Morgana's talent had worked perfectly with her shadowmancy. Or had it been a part of the art of shadows? Douxie had never known that one for sure - Merlin had prohibited him even to read on that topic.
"That's amazing," Claire drawled in awe. Of course, she had no idea about the young man's past, so she hadn't noticed his concealed sadness.
Morgana still remained a sore spot for him.
"So what about your own aptitude?" Douxie asked, shaking off his unpleasant memories. "Have you noticed something being odd or off?"
"Well, this place certainly feels… mysterious," Claire responded after giving it some thought. "And other than it…"
The girl tried to remember anything that had felt weird. No, of course, she had had that kind of feeling before but had always shrugged it off as dumb paranoia or wild imagination. So was it so unexpected to forget about such accidents at once?
Wait, no. There had been a recent occurrence with Ms. Nomura.
"I sense something dark in the museum's curator," she confessed, wondering if Douxie could have a better idea about that one. "Or maybe not dark… It just felt dangerous, as if my sixth sense told me to stay away from her…"
The young man frowned:
"Honestly, that could mean anything… She could be a witch. Or simply a hostile person…"
Or an inhuman creature, taking the shape of another kind.
Douxie added the last one mentally - right now, he didn't plan to drag a fledgling witch into the world of supernatural. No, that one was simply too dangerous. He was already concerned about Jim and Toby, so adding to that list wasn't an option.
Besides, all the situation regarding trolls wasn't Claire's problem, so he had no right to drag her into that. Somehow, the young man started to understand why Merlin had kept him away from the war nine centuries ago. Was that the responsibility of a master towards their apprentice?
"Well, you probably won't be able to tell without meeting Ms. Nomura," the girl nodded.
Luckily, she wasn't dead-set on discovering the true nature of that person. Douxie made a mental note to check the museum curator later. Who knew she could have been connected to the secret clash between humanity and trolls.
"Wait, I wanted to ask you about someone else too," she suddenly added hastily. "You should know him, he came here…"
The young man raised his eyebrows in confusion. Well, many locals came to GDT Arcane Books out of curiosity, so he could imagine one of Claire's acquaintances being among those.
"I don't ask every customer for their name," he smiled.
"No, I believe you know him," the girl stated boldly, feeling some unexplained confidence. "I think he's like me - he mentioned picking up something new recently."
Ok, that was officially confusing. Douxie tried to remember if any magic user had visited lately, but honestly, there had been only Zoe.
"His name is James Lake Jr.," the Latina clarified.
"Jim?"
Oh, fuzzbuckets!
The young man wondered if he could find any way to get out after basically confirming that he knew Jim. Of course, Claire had misinterpreted some things, but was it that unexpected for someone who had no idea about the existence of trolls?
"So he's like me," the girl took Douxie's exclamation as a confirmation of her suspicions.
"It's not my secret, so I cannot talk about it," the young man responded hastily, realizing too late that his attempt at damage control resulted in digging his own grave. Why couldn't he say that Jim was among the regulars at the Benoit's or something? Now Claire believed that the lanky teen was a wizard too!