Tepi threw his bag over his back, wasting no time after the bell rung to leave the classroom. His sudden activity drew the eyes of a certain few in the class. Some confused and curious, others more hostile. Tepi ignored the glares and ran out the building searching for Beau so they could get started. Beau was waiting for him in a well-to-do coat and his hair slicked back, he looked a lot smarter than usual. He was currently being flirted with by a shameless woman.

“Tepi!”

“Hi, Beau. Madame.”

“Thank you for staying with me whilst I waited. Now that he’s here I must go.” The lady said goodbye and they went their separate ways. “How was class?” Beau nudged Tepi once the lady was out of earshot.

“Alright. More importantly what’s the occasion?”

“Occasion? No, this how I always dress.”

“Really? Seems unnecessary.”

“Maybe, but I look good, no?”

“How should I know?”

“Well, I hope you like the style because we’re getting you something similar.”

“Oh. What’s wrong with these?” Tepi gestured to the tatty old clothes Beau had lent him.

“They’re old and embarrassing.”

“I’m not embarrassed.”

“I am.”

Tepi pouted but followed Beau down the hill to the main street. They arrived at Beau’s street just as Watson was arriving home from work.

“You’re early.”

“How could I miss Tepis first shopping trip.”

“Are you allowed back this early?”

“You forget, I’m the boss. I can do what I want.”

“Right…”

The trio of magicians walked into the main street.

“Tepi, activate your eyes. Tell us if you see anything unusual whilst we’re shopping.”

“Okay.”

Tepi kept an eye out, which was slightly difficult considering Beau was going completely mental with the purchasing of new clothes. Watson was familiar with his obsession with well-made clothes, Tepi, not so much.

“I don’t like it Beau, it’s too tight and the material is itchy.”

“That’s what I wear, it looks great.”

“I’d much rather wear that.”

Tepi practically threw off the suit that Beau had picked and tried on a white linen shirt and some khaki trousers.

“Much better, it’s breathable.”

“But, it’s boring.”

“I have blue hair. I can afford to be a little boring.”

“He’s got a point, Beau. Come on, we’ve been here for half an hour. Let’s get him these, that jacket and a coat for winter, she was gesturing to a smooth green jacket and a large black coat that looked way too warm for its own good.

“You’re the boss. Are you happy with that Beau?”

“Chuffed.”

“Right, let’s be on our way then, how’s the recon been going?”

“Uneventful, although I’ve own been able to take occasional glances out the window.”

“Of course. Watson’ll take you for a meander around the district. She’s actually allowed to use magic in public after all.”

Beau heaved the bag of shopping on his shoulder, he would drop it off at the orphanage before heading home. Tepi and Watson took a detour.

“Find anything yet?”

“No, just stray mana, normal mana I mean.”

“What does it look like?”

“Multi-coloured tendrils, just, floating aimlessly.”

“What do you suppose happens to it all?”

“Just keeps floating?”

“Maybe, but maybe it rejoins the cycle.”

“Cycle?”

“If there is one.”

“Ella, I see one.”

“Where?”

“By that shop, it’s moving quicker and it’s all jaggedy.”

“Alright, let’s follow it.”

They ran to catch up with the rogue mana, Eventually, they pulled up into a side road that led East. It came to a stop outside small estate agents.

“It went inside.”

“Alright, pretend you're my son, we’ll go inside and see what happened to it.”

“Okay.”

Watson took the lead opening the door to reveal a young man and older lady behind two desks. “Welcome to Roman Real Estate. How can I help you?”

Whilst Watson made up some scenario and occupied the lady with conversation, Tepi activated his eyes. The mana tendril was slowly drifting towards the back door. He followed it, slowly.

“Hey, your boy can’t go back there Ma’am.”

“Ah, I’m sorry. Stan, come back here.”

Tepi ignored them only because Watson had used a fake name which he had not realised was referring to him.

He reached the door handle and a crushing feeling of dread made him choke on his saliva. The door handle felt like it was boiling hot. Just as he had mustered up the courage to turn it, there was a hand on his shoulder.

“Kid, you’re not allowed back there.”

The young man had got up from his chair to stop the unwanted intrusion. Tepi quickly deactivated his eyes and turned, smiling to break the tension.

“I’m sorry, I was just curious.”

“That’s fine, just go back to your Mum.”

Tepi nodded and scarpered back to Watson who quickly made up an excuse to leave.

“What happened in there?”

“The mana disappeared behind that door. When I touched the door handle I got the same feeling as the one I got from Pandora’s Box.”

“So, you think something’s up?”

“Well if I go just by the feeling it gave me then yeah, but I don’t know really. I’m really not even sure what the jagged mana is.”

“Alright, well, you did a good job.”

Watson headed home, dropping Tepi off at the orphanage on her way.

--------------------------------

“What do you think?”

“About what?”

“That kid.”

“He’s just a curious kid, nothing to worry about.”

“He seemed past the age of curiosity. Well, should we let the boss know?”

“What? That a kid came into the shop and got a little too close to the door? ‘Course not.”

--------------------------------

Tepi’s arrival was met with a hug from the little ones, Daisy and Rind. They had become fully accustomed to his presence over the last couple of days and it seemed even Fila was starting to appreciate the extra help she was getting around the house. Dinner was swift, washing with Fila was something Tepi looked forward to.

“How was your day, Tepi? You were gone for longer than you should have been.”

“Oh, I went shopping with Beau.”

“So that’s what he was dropping off. What did you get?”

“Some new clothes.”

“Oh good for you, I thought it was about time. Watson got me these you see.”

She stepped back to flaunt the yellow dress she had on. She was caught off guard when Tepi stared at her a little longer than she expected.

“It looks lovely.” He said, looking her in the eyes. She blushed an almost unnoticeable blush and replied.

“Thanks, I’m sure your new clothes look great too.”

“Well, I don’t know too much about it but Ella chose mine as well.” She paused mid-scrub and pondered.

“Next time you go you should bring me.” Tepi could not think of a better idea.

“Sure, but there is only so much you can do to help this.” He pulled a funny face which summoned a giggle from the girl. She swiped the hair from his face.

“You’re right. It’s a lost cause.”

Tepi looked distraught which caused her to laugh again, this time louder.

“What’s your school like?” Tepi inquired.

“Same old boring school, nothing magic about it unfortunately. Oh not to say that I don’t appreciate it.”

“I know, don’t worry” Tepi smiled. His life had taken a sharp and significant turn thanks to Beau. If he had not been taught so much from his late mother he would not have been able to cope with it all. Of that he was sure.

He woke up early and threw on his new clothes, eager to get a head start on breakfast so that Fila could take a little break. He began with eggs, enough for all 5 of them. He then threw some bread into the pan to crisp it up. Finally, he placed the fruit bowl in the centre of the table, as he did so Fila came downstairs. She was mid-yawn and stretch, revealing part of her stomach.

“You shouldn’t look so obviously at a lady’s tummy.”

“Lady? What lady?”

“You coward.”

He grinned.

“Eggs?”

“Oh, you’ve made it all already?”

“Yeah, go wake up the others.”

“Alright. Can you get Daisy, I’ll get Jackon and Rind.”

“Sure.”

“Daisy, up you get.” The child took her sweet time but after much negotiation managed to secure a spot in Tepi’s arms. They met Fila in the hallway.

“You’re spoiling her.”

“Before I knew it I had agreed to everything.”

“Yeah, it’s like that at the start. Then you see her little devil wings a little clearer every day.” Fila giggled, tickling Daisy making her flail about.

The orphans and Jackson each took a seat around the table and tucked into Tepi’s breakfast. He left the building feeling great thanks to all the compliments and the delightful atmosphere. His brief walk with Fila was even more satisfying, she even locked her arm with his at one point, it was still cold in February after all.

He strolled into his classroom full of spark. Made his way to his desk greeting Marianne and Mark on the way.

Before he could engage in any meaningful conversation, Mrs Saunders walked in and silenced the room with a swift wave of her arm.

The class started, the content of the lesson was relatively easy, Tepi was thoroughly caught up with what he had missed thanks to Beau’s extra lessons. He was studying general knowledge on his own and whilst his Mother had taught him a lot, he was still a little behind the standards of the rest of the class. Except in maths, which he was excelling at.

The class concluded and Tepi cleaned up his parchment. His bag was also thanks to Beau who had let him borrow one of his old ones.

Marianne got up to leave quickly, her friend Jessica following closely behind. Mark was also out the room before Beau had finished packing. He had not noticed this fact, he was taking his time.

“Hey, Gyppo.”

Tepi’s eyebrows creased. “You don’t belong here, poor boy.”

He ignored them, finished packing his bag and left the room. He was stopped by a conspiring student at the door.

“Where are you going gypsy boy.”

“Home.”

“Sure, you can go back to your pigsty. But, never come back. This place doesn’t need things like you stinking up the hallways.” The boy spat at Tepi’s feet.

“No can do.”

“Really? Well, that’s fine as well.”

Before he realised it Tepi had been slapped on the side of his head. It was not long before 2 other kids joined and Tepi was left a crumpled mess on the floor. After 30 seconds Tepi came round. His face and stomach hurt but other that he was fine. He had managed to summon some small shields when possible but without wanting to hurt the aggressors it was difficult.

‘Should have seen that coming.’ He thought to himself. He was well aware of racist aristocrats but had not expected them to be so open about it. He shrugged off the pain and made his way home, making sure to activate his eyes, scouting for jagged mana but also to recover his own. It was starting to become natural for him to manipulate the mana inside his body. To the point where he was starting to feel the mana as it seeped through his body to his eyes.

He opened the door to the orphanage, Fila was not back yet and neither was Rind who was attending a primary school, Daisy was sitting on Jackson’s lap trying to read a book.

“Afternoon Jackson.”

“Good afternoon Tepi, how was your day?”

“It was great, I learned a lot.”

“Knowledge is power, Tepi. Don’t you forget it.”

“I shan’t. Hey Daisy!”

The girl jumped off the old man's lap and hugged Tepi. “Hi Tep” She had managed to shorten his already short name. He laughed.

“Alright, go back to reading, I’m going to take a bath.”

“Oh, you can’t, we have no water.”

“How come?”

“Well, no one’s pumped it up, Tepi.”

“Right, I’ll get to it then.”

Tepi made his way down to the basement, relieving himself of his shirt as it was the intention to wear it the next day. He also knew he would be working up a sweat by doing this.

“Thanks, Tepi!” He heard from the main room. He found the pump and the tank and began pumping. All the way until the other 2 residents arrived home.

Rind went straight to make some puzzles with Daisy. Fila asked after Tepi. After finding out he was pumping she hurried downstairs.

“Hey Tepi.” She said before realising he was shirtless. She was embarrassed but continued looking. He was still quite skinny but all the training was starting to form muscles. After examining him for an inappropriate amount of time she noticed bruising and a black eye.

“What happened Tepi?” She exclaimed, rushing towards him and clutching his head in her hands, ignoring the sweat that laced his brow.

“Just some goons at school. It doesn’t hurt.”

“How dare they. You should tell the teacher or Watson.”

“Nah, they’ll get bored eventually, I’m sure.”

Fila looked at him worryingly.

“You should have seen that coming, idiot.”

He smiled.

“I know.”