And so, another day has arrived in the world of Amphibia. The sun was shining, the crickets were chirping. The night guards from the village were about to turn in, and the morning guards would come up to take their place. As for the Tormaks, they were resting soundly in their cave along with their human, Dyllan. But little does Dyllan know is that today is anything but an ordinary day for him.
As the sun begins to shine in Dyllan's face, he yawns himself awake. He was still sleepy from yesterday's events. But he felt strangely very comfortable from his own bed roll. As he rubbed his eyes, he realized something strange was happening. He was actually floating in mid air. No wonder he felt so relaxed.
As Dyllan snapped awake with what's happening, he instantly falls from the air and back on the ground. The small impact barely hurt Dyllan's behind, but he wasn't focused on the pain. And his bedroll cushioned his fall.
'What was that?' he thought. 'Is Tint playing a trick on me?'
He looks over to Tint who is still fast asleep, and facing away from the sun. Thinking that he wasn't behind his floating sleep, he decided to shrug it off. He decides to climb down from the cave to get himself cleaned up for the day.
He finds a hidden area near the creek to wash up privately, carrying an empty bucket with him. He puts the bucket down and removes his cloak and shirt. But just as he was about to fill the bucket with water, the bucket was already full. Dyllan started darting his eyes around, wondering if anyone was stalking him. "This isn't funny," he said to the forest. "Whoever's messing with me, stop it."
He returns to the cave after a good wash up, and finds Tint and Cronaxx awake and making breakfast. "Good morning, Dyllan," said Cronaxx. "How are you doing today?"
"I'm feeling more refreshed than before," replied Dyllan. "I started using a bucket for my shower. I find this experience unique."
"All things are unique if only done less frequently," said Cronaxx. "We're about to have springtail omelets today. Please join us."
Dyllan sits down. "Ooh, I love omelets," he said. "But, what's springtail?"
"Springtails are small insects," replied Tint. "Very common, and very nutritious."
Dyllan's eyes were suddenly shocked, and his stomach started to quiver. Now knowing this is the first time he's eating bugs. If he couldn't stomach dissecting frogs in science class, then what good is a batch of springtails going to do to him? As he watched Cronaxx flipping eggs with the little bugs flipping around, he started breathing heavily. But once he was given his dish, he looked to see that the springtails were smaller than he thought.
"Hmm, it looks crispy," he said.
"That's what makes the omelets taste so good," said Tint. He takes a bite, stuffing his mouth full of omelet.
Dyllan watched with little disgust, but how could he feel more disgusted if he feels more hungry. He was still unsure about eating his omelet as he took a piece up to his face. Tint saw his expression and thought of a trick he learned.
"Hey Dyllan," said Tint. "I've got an interesting fact for you. Much of the sensation of taste actually comes from smell. So if you breathe through your mouth instead of your nostrils, you can eat something really disgusting."
"How do you know that?" Dyllan asked.
Tint looked away and blandly explained, "I grew up with Uncle's cooking."
Cronaxx just smiled, "I just don't understand. The recipes I make are okay for me and a few other villagers."
"That's the problem Uncle," said Tint. "It's because the other villagers are almost as old as you. Time's are changing, which means recipes are changing."
Cronaxx just shrugged it off and served his omelets to his nephew and the human.
"It's okay," said Tint. "They're not even alive. These omelets are the only thing I can tolerate."
Dyllan looks back to his springtail omelet, closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and bites down into his insect filled breakfast. As he crunched down on his food, he had a familiar sensation from his mouth. One that felt soothing and calm, like back home.
"Mmm," he said. "It tastes like bacon." He swallows his piece and goes for another. The three smiled and continued eating their breakfast.
After breakfast was over, Cronaxx packed his satchel, leaving for the village to trade for more supplies. "Dyllan," he said. "Could you help us out by cleaning up the cave please? And Tint, could you go get some berries for my alchemy table?"
Dyllan was stunned. "Okay Cronaxx," he said in a monotone voice.
"Sure Uncle," said Tint in a positive voice.
"I'll be back before sundown," said Cronaxx. He takes his satchel and leaves the cave entrance.
"I'll be back in a few," said Tint. He grabs a small pouch and goes to the patch of bushes where the berries grow.
Dyllan stays in the cave looking over the condition it's in. The floors were covered with mud tracks. Fresh cobwebs are dangling from the ceiling. Even the cauldron used for potions and cooking was rusty. Dyllan groaned at the mess, not liking the aspect of cleaning other people's property. "Most of this place isn't even mine," he groaned.
He takes out the Tormak's broom, a mop, a small bucket, a rag, and a feather duster and looks across the cave once again. He starts to mop the floors, only to realize he's now spreading the mud all over the floor. "Ugh! I have to sweep up the dirt first?!"
He pouts on the cave wall with a frustrating attitude. "I never thought I'd have to clean up in this world! Especially a cave of all places," he complained. "This is going to take all day." As he pushed his head against the wall, Lerrad's Staff started to glow. Then, the broom falls down on its own. Dyllan groans, then slowly gets back up to reach for it. Then out of nowhere, the broom handle just jumped into his hand.
Dyllan was stunned, "Woah, how did that happen?" He looks to his hands, seeing a small glowing red aura coming from them. Dyllan could not believe his own eyes. "Am.. am I doing this?"
He looks to the potions rack for something small. An empty vial of some kind. He points to the rack and the magic aura knocks the vials over, causing them to roll to the floor. Dyllan catches them as he raises a palm out. The vials stopped in mid air and Dyllan lowered his hand, causing the vials to crash on the ground.
He looks to his hands, and started to smile with glee. "Wow, I can do magic?!" While his back was turned, the Staff of Lerrad glowed brighter. He looks over to the mop and bucket, then gets an idea. "Hmm, Maybe this could help me out with cleaning up the cave."
He points to the cleaning supplies, causing the red aura to appear out of his hands. "Here it goes." The mop struggles to maintain proper balance, so Dyllan waved his finger like a musical conductor. The mop swings to the beat and kicks the bucket with its toes. The bucket comes to life in response and follows the mop outside to gather some water.
Dyllan smiles with excitement. "Oh man! The girls are never going to believe this!" he cheered. He makes a dramatic spin and points to the broom. Causing it to wake up and start sweeping up the dirt across the cave. Dyllan makes another dramatic spin and points to the feather duster, causing it to float to the ceiling and brush off the cobwebs.
With more flicks of his wrists, he got all the cleaning supplies to work on cleaning the cave. With a feeling of relief, Dyllan took this time to go outside for a bit. As he left with his backpack on, the staff started glowing again, causing the cleaning supplies to move much faster.
At the patch of berry bushes, Tint was picking out the last of the berries for his uncle. As he made his way back, he saw something hopping across the bushes. It looked like a stick, which didn't sit well with him. He thought someone was about to play a trick on him.
He jumped out, surprising the stick and wrestled it down to the ground. "Ha!" Tint cried. "Got…you?" He got up to realize that he was actually wrestling his cave's mop. Then, the bucket arrives, filled with water. It splashes Tint to make him let go of the mop. Tint gets back up and brushes off the water. "What is going on here?" he asked. The mop and bucket just march past Tint and make their way back to the cave. Tint followed them shortly after.
As he followed the mop and bucket, he found Dyllan sitting under a tree nearby. He was napping after sketching in his black book he packed. Tint found it strange that Dyllan would be outside.
"Hey Dyllan, wake up," he said. The human jolts awake, hearing Tint's voice.
"Oh, hey Tint," he said. "Did you get the berries?" He stretched his limbs out as he yawned.
"Dyllan, what's going on?" Tint asked. "I just saw our mop and bucket just walking around on their own."
Dyllan then snapped wide awake, knowing that his magic trick somehow got the salamander's attention.
"Uh, um… yeah that is weird," he said. He rubs his arm out of fear, and starts to sweat like crazy. Dyllan was anything else, other than a good liar. Tint squinted his eyes and stared at the human.
"Dyllan," said Tint. "Look me in the eye. Do you know something I don't?" He kept his look stern and focused. "Because I know I'm not doing this."
Dyllan tried to look into his eyes. But every time he did, his eyes would quickly look away. Sometimes, he would cross them or roll them to look the other way. He even tried to keep his lying grin hidden, only to squeal and squeak. He couldn't take it any more.
"Okay, I know!" he confessed. "I casted a spell on the cleaning supplies in hopes of cleaning the cave for me."
Tint gasped, "You casted a spell!? How long ago was that?"
"I don't know, maybe an hour or two?" replied Dyllan. Then, that's when they heard a plate cracking up the cave.
When they got inside, they could see the cleaning tools still cleaning the cave. But this results in them making a much bigger mess than before. Dyllan grew scared and confused, but reached out at the tools at work. "I command you to stop!"
The tools stop to look at Dyllan, then a rag jumps on to his face. The tools resume their assigned duties.
"Oh no," said Dyllan, "Oh no no no no no no. Cronaxx isn't going to like this." He was completely overwhelmed with the power he only discovered a few moments ago.
Tint get up to Dyllan's face "Not only that," he said. "If Cronaxx finds out about this, he's going to think I performed magic! He's going to ground me for even more moons than I could count!"
Tint watches Dyllan growing anxious again, causing the brooms and mops to perform faster. He tries his best to calm him down. "Hey, look at me," he said. "We're going to fix this."
Dyllan glances at Tint and shakes his head in panic. "What do we do? What do we do? What do we do?"
Tint grabs him by his uniform shirt and gets in his face. "First thing you gotta do is calm down," he said. He takes a deep breath, with Dyllan following his instructions shortly after. As Dyllan calmed down, so did the brooms and mops.
"Now," he said. "Tell me how this started."
Dyllan shows his hands glowing faint red. At the same time, the staff glowed, but due to all the cleaning tools running around, they didn't notice. "I saw my hands glowing and I pointed at the mop to start cleaning."
"Okay, I may know a spell on how to stop this," said Tint. He gets in his magic performing stance. He brushes the floor with his feet, and his fingertips glow bright yellow. He points to the air, then spins them around like a clock. "Pickeery clockieery!" And with that, time was rewinded.
"Drat!" said Tint. "It wasn't long enough."
"Did you just rewind time?" Dyllan asked.
"Only for a few seconds," said Tint. He brings out one of Cronaxx's books on time spells. He finds another page that explains how to stop time altogether. But, it comes with a catch. "This should come in handy," said Tint.
He gets back into position and positions his hands in opposite directions. "DialsSay TimesGay!" Then out of nowhere, everything and everyone has frozen in time, except for Tint. But, he started hopping on one leg, hence the catch written in the spell book. He took the time hopping around, gathering all the cleaning tools and pulling them outside the cave. But as he slid down, his other leg touched the ground, and the spell was over.
The cleaning tools were determined to go back up to the cave. They pulled Tint back up, but Tint wasn't going to let them back in so easily. He pulled and pulled with all his might. But his hopping gave him a cramp on his charley horse.
The cleaning tools were about to return into the cave, which led Dyllan to make a drastic measure. He finds the salamanders' woodcutter's ax for the firewood, and prepares for the tools to come in. The mop, the broom, the dish rag, the feather duster, were all met with a swing, a chop until there was nothing but splinters, fibers, and feathers.
The human sighed in relief, and Tint looked over to him. The two suddenly started laughing at what they just witnessed. Never before have they witnessed something they never thought would be possible.
"That was so awesome," said Tint.
"I know right," said Dyllan. "That felt really good. I jabbed from my left. Then I swung from the right. Then I-"
"No, not that," said Tint. "You! In general! You were performing magic! How did you do that?!"
As the two began to wonder, behind them, the splinters, fibers, and feathers were slowly rising. And every splinter turned into a fresh new broom, mop, and feather duster. Every piece of fabric turned into a washcloth, and towel rag. Their copies loomed over them, casting shadows, blocking the cave.
The two look behind them slowly, realizing what Dyllan had done. "I kicked the hornet's nest," he said.
Then, all the mops, brooms, rags, towels, and feather dusters were all over the place making more of a mess than before. As the brooms swept, furniture was knocked all over. The mops were making the floor so slippery that Tint and Dyllan couldn't stand up properly. The feather dusters were dusting the ceiling so much, that dust came pouring down on them. And the rags and towels were wiping dishes so hard, they started cracking.
With the dust in their eyes, they couldn't see or fight back against the enchanted items. It got so bad they could only ride the brooms and mops as they tossed them back and forth across the cave. Dyllan knew this was his fault so he decided to apologize.
"I'm sorry Tint," he said. "I should've done my chores properly. Now I got you caught up in this mess, and it's all my fault."
"It's okay Dyllan," said Tint. "As a matter of fact, this is wizard lesson 101: Don't start something you can't finish."
"You got that right."
The two were shocked to see that the voice from the entrance of the cave turned out to be Cronaxx. He returned from the village with the supplies, and got in his magic stance. He waved his hands in the air, causing the cleaning tools to suddenly stop. He waved his hands again, causing them to return to normal, then again reverting the cave back to the way it was before he left.
He glances down at his human and nephew in disappointment. "What were you thinking?!" he shouted.
Dyllan wanted to step up "Cronaxx, I can explain-"
Cronaxx held his hand high, stopping Dyllan. "Tint, of all the rogue spells you did, while my back was turned, this is the worst!" This shocked Dyllan right away. His attention was directly at Tint, and Tint knew he would look directly at him.
"But Cronaxx-"
"Dyllan, please," said Cronaxx. "I understand that you're loyal to him, and I understand that. But actions must have consequences! Tint Tormak, for using magic behind my back, you are beyond-"
"Cronaxx! I did this!" shouted Dyllan. Dyllan was at the end of his ropes. He wasn't going to let Tint take the fall because of him. "This is my fault," he said. "I used magic to bring the brooms and mops to life."
Cronaxx stopped in his tracks when Dyllan shouted what he didn't think was possible. Of all the times he could remember when Tint got into trouble, never in his life would he hear that this time Tint wasn't at fault.
"How did you do that?" he asked.
"I don't know," he said. Then, Cronaxx looks behind Dyllan to see Lerrad's Staff glowing. Dyllan and Tint turn around to see what Cronaxx sees. As Dyllan reached out to the staff, a red aura appears in his hand and magically brings the staff to him, making Dyllan shocked. As they connected, a small gust of wind blew in the cave, signifying the Staff's calling to its master.
"I don't believe it," said Cronaxx. "The Staff of Lerrad has given you magic abilities."
"I have never seen anything like this," said Tint. "A strange creature from another world, actually performing magic."
"This is truly remarkable," said Cronaxx. Then out of nowhere, a beam of magic shot out of the staff and took down a stalactite. This made the trio jump and Dyllan drop the staff from his hand and hide in his bed roll.
"This can't be happening," he said. "This can't be happening. I can't believe this! I don't want to believe this! Wake me up! Wake me up!"
"Dyllan, it's okay," said Tint. "Any other creature would give anything to have powers like that."
"But these powers are too strong!" cried Dyllan. He started rocking back and forth out of fear. "They almost got us killed by living brooms! I can't control them. I don't know what to do. I don't want to hurt anyone."
"And you won't," said Cronaxx. "Because we're going to help you." Dyllan stood in shock.
"As a human with no magical abilities, you have just possessed a very powerful artifact that could cause catastrophe if not handled properly. But, with the proper training, and the right skills, you could have what it takes to be a great wizard. And if we're lucky, that staff could be the key to help you get back home."
Dyllan couldn't believe his ears. He could easily have the power to magically transport himself back home. And all it would take is a wave of Lerrad's Staff. But after what just happened, he realized that Cronaxx was right. He needed to learn all the basics steps to become a powerful wizard. And all that starts with the surprising offer of becoming a wizard's apprentice. He climbs out of his bed roll and picks up the staff in his hand.
"Are you ready, my second student?"
Who would've thought that a human like Dyllan Loyalitat could be under the influence of something so powerful, he was willing to use it to sort things out. Back home, he always felt like he was hiding away from the realities of life. But now, he has a chance to make himself something more. One who could be loyal and proud. One who could be the best Loyalitat the world has ever seen.
He turns to Cronaxx and he smiles with slight determination. "Alright. Let's do it." was all he said.
Cronaxx and Tint smiled. "Good," said Cronaxx. "Now, for your first order of business. You are to clean up this entire cave properly. From top to bottom, and without using magic."
Dyllan grabbed the mop the old fashioned way and saluted to his new teacher. "Yes, sir!" He takes the bucket and makes his way to the creek, just as the sun was about to set.
"Well Tint," said Cronaxx. "Looks like I owe you an apology."
"It's okay," said Tint. "I didn't believe it as much myself."
"Guess you've got a new classmate by your side," said Cronaxx.
"Perhaps," said Tint, smiling. "Or, I may have gotten a new friend. He looked as ambitious as I was when I started my training. And besides, showing him what I know about magic made me feel like I may have what it takes to be a teacher someday."
"Someday," said Cronaxx. "Just not right away. Until then, leave the teaching to me, Mr Know-It-All."
The two smiled and chuckled as the sun was halfway setting over the horizon. Shortly after, Dyllan climbs back up to the cave. He turns around to look at the sunset with new found hope. Because he knew that as of today, his life was changing. "Look out Amphibia," he said. "There's a new wizard coming to town." He goes back into the cave and begins mopping up his mess.