Stephen was running for his life, disappointed in himself for not following the rules a toddler could understand; that strangers were dangerous.

“I’m going to try to kill you, so basically, yes…”

Yea, that was probably a red flag. Thankfully, the study was massive, so getting a little distance wasn’t a problem. The real problem was the floor began shaking. At Sebastian's feet, an archaic-looking circle of orange light pulsed across the ground. Every so often, a spark would shoot off and the floor would shake. Sebastian's eyes were shut tight as he grinned wildly. Columns of rock shot out of the ground, spreading outward and creating a maze within the massive room.

“Yes! Run!" Sebastian shouted with rapture, "Your body is pounding, pulsating, quivering with energy right now. Let’s see how it comes out of you…”

Stephen wanted to barf. He really, really wasn’t enjoying his first training session. That is if this life-or-death ordeal could count as training. Stephen looked at his hands, half-hoping his abilities would wake up in the nick of time.

Stephen ran behind one column. This is exactly what his mom warned him about as a child. Instead of a van, Stephen had gone straight to the lair.

The column Stephen hid behind grew arms. They were long, vine-like arms the twisted in front of Stephen’s face and gave him a thumbs-up.

“Excellent! Stay right there, I’ll make this quick…” Sebastian’s voice was disturbing, almost a groan.

Stephen ducked as the vines turned to spears and plunged into the column.

“You need a girlfriend,” Stephen called out, "Actually, that’d be an awful fate for her, so maybe not.”

“I had one, actually,” Sebastian’s voice was closer, to the right. A column in front of Stephen split in three and took on Sebastian’s form. Their arms branched out into tridents, then shot towards Stephen.

Diving to the ground, Stephen desperately wished his magic would kick in. If it was one of those just before the hero dies moments, he was sure his heart would give out before the powers kicked in.

“Really? What, did she fail this test of yours and die?” Stephen scrambled to his feet and ran in the other direction.

“She left me, we had ‘different paths’ to follow. She was very sweet, you see. Awfully considerate.”

“She knew you were nuts!”

“She’s dead now. It was a troll, not me.”

“Bullsh-“

The ground beneath Stephen melted into mud, sucking Stephen in and covering his mouth. He couldn’t move, his arms and legs were stuck, held down by what had become concrete.

“Hush now, you gave it a good shot.”

Sebastian knelt in front of Stephen. The columns sank back to the ground, their arms slithering back into the stone. Sebastian’s eyes were cold, bloodthirsty.

“Hmm,” Sebastian hummed, “Your abilities are still dormant.”

“Mhm mph!” Stephen tried to shout, but his mouth was still covered.

“My mother’s quite active and healthy, thank you.”

Stephen looked puzzled, that wasn’t what he was trying to say at all.

Sebastian nodded, knowingly, “I speak gagged, don’t be too shocked.”

Stephen rolled his eyes.

“It is odd, however. If there’s enough magical potential in someone, their powers usually awaken in dire situations. Not always the most important situations, mind you, so there’ve been some unfortunate accidents in the past…”

Stephen didn’t understand the last part, but his throat grew dry. Did he not have potential, after all? His parents were magicians, too, weren’t they? They were powerful enough to be useful to a king, after all.

Sebastian stood, sighing, “Guess not. Either you don’t have magic in you, or it’s been sealed away tight.”

Sebastian raised his hand, Stephen was pushed back to the surface, where he sat dejectedly. The court mage knelt to look Stephen in the eyes. He held out his hand,

“No hard feelings?”