Chapter Twenty-Three.

(Colt)

This is the fourth day in a row that they've had a specialist talk with me. I've been back a week, and don't feel comfortable releasing Tyler from the perception field. What if they freak out? Dad's a really powerful magician, I can sense that in him. I think he knows I know magic, too, because of the way he looks at me.

That, and I heard him and Mom arguing. Mom insists that I just know magic is real, and that I haven't awakened my Mana yet, but he told her that he's pretty sure I know magic, that he can sense fire in my Mana.

The psychologist's office has several shelves of books along two walls, his desk in front of one, a couple of filing cabinets behind it. The wall with the door has a couch against it, along with a a table covered in knickknacks and a box of tissues. His chairs are super comfortable, and the floor is covered with a high-traffic carpet.

They still think it's all in my head, and I'm starting to, too. What if they're right? What if I'm just imagining Tyler? I know I'm putting a perception filter on him, but maybe that's how I'm explaining it to myself? I can prove he's real by removing it.

But then, there will be problems. They'll know I was in another world, and they'll probably want to keep me from going back. They'll want to separate me and Tyler. So I have to keep him in it.

I have to admit, a lot of what happened was just insane. That whole battle was unreal. There's no way I could've done magic like that. They're probably right, I probably did just make it all up, to shield myself.

But what was I shielding myself from? I can't remember what they think really happened at all. I overheard them talking, and they said that I'm probably suppressing my real memories. Suppress, sort of like I'm doing to my Mana and Aura.

"What's Tyler doing right now?" The shrink asks.

I look over at Tyler, who's currently sucking on one of the suckers he grabbed in the lobby.

"He's sucking on a sucker," I look at the therapist. "He's sitting on the other chair, swinging his feet."

"How is he dressed?" The therapist asks.

We're my size, so I lent Tyler some of my clothes. Mom took me shopping the day after I got back, to buy me some clothes, since I'd outgrown all of them. I grew a few inches and gained a lot of weight – all muscle – while I was gone.

In the other world? Someone's prisoner? Magical test subject? Whatever was going on. My Mana is far, far larger than it should be. Maybe the experiment was to enable people to have massive Mana Pools?

I shake that thought from my head. No. It did happen. I trained myself in magic, and compete against Tyler. He's real, and he's right here.

"He's dressed in swim trunks and flip-flops."

"And his shirt?"

"You're assuming he's wearing one."

"He's not?"

"He wants to go swimming," I say. "So, he's dressed for that. He does have on sunglasses."

"What color are his swim trunks?"

"Well, they're technically mine," I say. "They're black with purple stripes on them. Mom said that she didn't like them, but she grudgingly accepted that those were the ones I wanted, and so let me get them."

"Can you describe his body to me?" The shrink asks, and I raise an eyebrow. "You said that he's shirtless. Describe his body. Does he have any scars? How developed is he? Does-"

"What are you, a pedo?" I ask. "That's kind of disturbing, for you to be asking questions like that."

"Yeah," Tyler says. "That kind of creeped me out."

"You creeped him out, too," I say. "You creeped me out. We're done, here."

I stand up and leave, holding the door open for Tyler, then make my way down the hall and into the lobby, where Mom is waiting.

"You still have twenty minutes," she says.

"He creeped me out," I tell her. "I don't want to come back."

"Colton," she stands and steps towards me. "I know you don't want to see a psychologist, but-"

"He asked me to describe Tyler's body," I say. "Just because I said Tyler's wearing swim trunks and flip-flops, because he wants to go swimming. He wanted me to describe his build, and his body, and it just creeped me out. It creeped both of us out."

"Yeah," she says. "That is a little disturbing. I'll see who else you can see. We will not be seeing him again."

"Thanks," I say.

"So you want to go swimming?" She asks.

"Me?" I ask.

"You said Tyler was wearing swim trunks, because he wanted to go," she says. "You were wanting to go?"

"No," I shake my head. "Though I will so Tyler can. He's never been swimming before."

"He hasn't?"

"He grew up on a frost-covered mountain," I explain. "No ponds or anything for him to swim in. Once he left, he was focused on getting to Loritar, so he could try the Towers. Then, we became friends and started training together, to see who could get to the top the quickest, and didn't look for any pools to go swimming in. Neither of us knew how to swim, but since we have a pool at home, Tyler said he wants to go swimming."

"That's right," she says. "You never did swim, before."

I wasn't allowed in the pool.

"Tyler wants to play in the pool, though," I say. "So I'll be happy just relaxing outside."

Mom nods, then takes us home, and Tyler and I go out back. He steps out of the flip-flops, then jumps into the pool. Mom doesn't seem to react to his splash, nor him messing about. It's as if she's not even noticing the water moving. My field only affects him directly, not stuff he does. She should notice the splashing.

Is it really just in my head? Is he really just in my head? That would explain why she can't see him splashing about. But I'm sure he's real, and not a figment of my imagination.

I think.

Mom brings me out some lemonade and a small plate with crackers, meat, and cheese, and I snack on those while watching Tyler. I want to go swimming, too, but I'm scared I'll start drowning. He seems to be doing alight, but that's probably because he's an ice magician, and ice stems from water.

Of course, him being a hallucination would also explain it. Hallucinations can't actually drown, so why bother pretending like they can?

"Colton," Mom sits down next to me while Tyler's resting in the other pool chair. The fact that she went to the one that he's not in is proof he exists. The perception barrier makes them not perceive him, but they won't walk into him or sit on him or stuff. "I know you've only been back a week, but what do you say to returning to school tomorrow? Your tests showed you're able to resume classes normally."

Yeah… they tested me the other day, to see how much I'd have to make up, and found that I'm actually ahead…

When you all but abandon a kid, and one of the few things he has access to is books, he tends to read. A lot. And I did. So I got a fair bit ahead of my classmates. They could actually move me a grade head.

I look over at Tyler, who seems to have fallen asleep, and then shrug.

"I guess," I say.

I'm still not sure if I'm going crazy or not. I look back at Mom.

"You don't see him on that chair?" I ask, and she looks over to it.

"No, Colton," she looks sad. "I don't."

She should. I removed my perception filter. I pulled it off of him. He still has access to the System, so he can handle himself.

If I removed it, and she still can't see him…

Then he really is in my head, isn't he?

"I'm going up to my room," I stand up and leave, making my way to my room and sitting on my bed.

Once I'm there, my body starts shaking, and I can't hold back the tears. It really was all in my head. Something else happened to me. Were they right, about why I'm hallucinating him? How long did I know him, before it happened?

The next thing I'm aware of, my light is off, I'm lying down, my shoes pulled off, my blanket pulled over me.

Can't locate him.

I bolt upright, looking around. That was… a voice in my head. It sounded like a kid's. Now I'm not just seeing things, I'm hearing voices.

I wait to see if another voice says something, but it doesn't. I slide off my bed and check the time. It's dinnertime. Where's Tyler?

"Yo," a voice says, and I look over to find him sitting in a corner on my floor. So he's still around. How do I get rid of a hallucination? "I guess your range extends a bit further – I fell asleep outside, and when I woke up, you were sleeping in here?"

Maybe…

"Did you tuck me in?" I ask.

"No," he shakes his head. "Your mom did, I think. You were like that when I came in here."

"Can you go away?"

"Colt?"

"I know you're just a hallucination," I say. "So go away."

"Seriously?" He looks incredulous. "After everything we went through together, you're going to start believing what they're saying? You know they can't see me because of your perception filter, and-"

"I removed it."

He stares at me.

"I removed it, and Mom still couldn't see you," I say. "You're not real, you're just a hallucination. Go away, Tyler."

"Colt-"

"GO AWAY!"

I pick up the nearest object and throw it at him as hard as I can, and he moved out of the way, the object hitting the wall behind him and putting a crack in it. He looked stunned, and ready to cry, but I've already been crying.

Tyler isn't real, even though I thought he was. He's just a hallucination, and that means that everything I think happened, all of the fun I think I had, wasn't real.

Tyler stares at me, then leaves, and I sit back down on my bed and start crying again. The next thing I know, Mom is sitting down beside me, pulling me into a hug.

"It's going to be okay, Colt," she says. "Everything is going to be alright."

"It really is all in my head, isn't it?" I ask. "I really did go crazy, wherever I was, didn't I?"

"It's okay, Colton," she holds me close. "We'll get through this together, okay?"

"I heard you and the doctor talking," I try to calm myself down. "How much of that was real?"

"When?" She asks.

"When Dr. Michaels said I have a higher magic potential than any of you."

Mom is silent.

"Magic is real, isn't it?" I ask. "I didn't imagine him saying that, did I? I really can do magic, can't I?"

"Yes," she answers. "It's real. I'm not sure how much of what you think you can do, you can actually do, but if you'd like to try it, why don't you start with something small?"

I nod, holding my hand up and focusing, a bolt of pure fire forming in the air above my hand, roughly eight inches in length, and just barely thicker than a pencil.

"Fire Magic," Mom smiles as I hold the spell for a few moments. "And on the level of an expert."

"He was trying to make magic weapons, wasn't he?" I ask, and she raises an eyebrow. I release the spell. "Whoever kidnapped me. He was trying to make magic weapons, wasn't he? That's why my Mana is so much higher than the rest of yours? And my control over fire… it's not normal, either, is it?"

"I can't sense your Mana," Mom says. "So I can't tell-" I stop suppressing my Mana, and she stops talking for several long moments. "The only Mana Pool I've ever sensed that's larger than that would be your grandfather's, and he's the most powerful weapon in the world."

"He couldn't leave, could he?" I ask. "Grandpa, I mean. He had to stay behind, and probably died, to get me out of there. If they were making magical weapons, then they could kill him, couldn't they?"

"I don't know," she pulls me in for another hug, putting a hand on my head. "He could be recovering from the fight, though the fact that he hasn't contacted us is concerning. Until we can confirm what happened, we'll only assume he's missing. Let's go down for dinner, why don't we?"

"I'm not very hungry," I pull away from her. "I think I'm just going to go back to sleep."

I crawl back under the blankets, and she leaves. A little while later, she brings me a plate with some sandwiches, and a cup with some water, setting them on my bedside table.

"I know you're not hungry," she says softly. "But you should still eat, okay?"

Why should I? Grandpa probably died, just to save me. Why did they have to bother? I would have probably died soon, anyway. I'm not worth it.