Life has been a dark place for me since my accident. That is, up until about two weeks ago when they saved me, gave me a home, made me laugh...made me feel whole. I'm not saying I've forgotten. I will never forget her face and the look in her eyes. But, I've learned, slowly, that even if I were to seek vengeance, I wouldn't achieve anything. Not because I'm still a baby, though that certainly is a reason. It is because in this world that I've come to there are forces both seen and unseen that eclipse everything I've come to know in my entire, albeit short, life.

Little by little, I've learned of the miracles they call magic. I was completely oblivious to the magical nature of things like candles that lit themselves, doors that opened on their own, and a brush of warm air in a closed room until I finally settled down and relaxed. And by then, magic was the only thing my mind thought about.

The first thing that I wanted to learn was to speak. I wanted to tell them how much I appreciated them. How much they meant to me.

Over the course of two weeks, I learned a lot. I was taught the alphabet, which by the way is really difficult. I don't know about you, but when you've never spoken a language besides from pheromones and growls, learning an 81 character alphabet isn't easy. I suspect for those who had learned a language before, it wouldn't be easy either. After that, I was taught some basic words like food, stupid, Adolf (they always laugh when I say his name, and Adolf get angry), Loki, and Accalia. I tried to say the other names, but it was too difficult. The only reason I could say Accalia was because I spent a week to solely learn her name.

Those were the only things I was taught directly, but if my past life taught me anything, it was to keep sniffing until you're satisfied. So I did exactly that, or in this case, I listened.

Patience was not my strong suit, but you learn to adapt when you have no other options. So I waited and listened to every conversation I could. I knew I would eventually glean something that would put me in the right direction.

Harou, Ptolemy, and Loki were out hunting for food, while I was stuck at home unable to leave a room without Accalia grabbing me and placing me down in the center of the room.

I was a fully able wolf who could walk around on my own! I could even do it for a few hours before I got tired. I was so angry, but I couldn't work up the anger to be mad at Accalia, so instead, I stared daggers at Adolf to express my anger.

"Mom! Artemis is staring at me again!" Adolf whined to Accalia. I turned around to look at Accalia with big eyes and started crying.

"A-doof yell me," of course I wouldn't actually cry from this. Adolf was just so easy to tease, I couldn't help it. I walked to Accalia and started sniffling. This was my master plan. If I made it so that whenever I was in the same room as Adolf, and I started to cry, Accalia would move me out of the room. And then I would be free to roam around as I please. You might ask why I chose Adolf. Well, the answer is simple. For two reasons, he was the youngest and easiest to get a reaction out of, and most importantly, it was payback for leaving me in the cave and him always teasing me.

Even though I've only lived with them for a couple of weeks I've had to learn a few things in order to survive. The most important is that when Accalia is angry, I mean actually angry, she doesn't yell or even talk much, she just stares at you with these eyes. They convey everything with a single look.

Accalia was almost at that point, but more out of annoyance than anger I think. She snapped her head pack from the sink and yelled, "If you can't be in the same room as Artemis, then you'll be in separate rooms until you learn to be nice to her." My master plan was almost complete! Soon, I would be free. FREE! "Adolf, go to your room and stay there until you learn to be nice to Artemis."

Drats!

I always got some weird feeling in my gut whenever I saw someone read a book, or when I tried to myself. Like if you were to see a bear wearing a clown costume, it just doesn't fit. Whatever.

As much as I wanted to learn about this thing they call magic, they very rarely talked about it. One of the few times I actually saw magic being performed, I was too busy laughing at Adolf to learn anything.

It started when he came from outside, shivering from the cold. Apparently it was too cold for him, though I think he was just being a wimp. At first, the air around him just warmed up a little, but soon the entire house was boiling hot.

The whole house was in chaos, but I could only focus on his face as he laughed pridefully, "Hahaha! I can do magic! I'm such a genius!"

I vaguely remember seeing Accalia and Harou rushing over to Adolf, first out of fright, but then, once they realized he wasn't in danger, to scold him for almost burning the house down. Everyone was mildly afraid or angry. Except me.

"HAHAHA!" I laughed at Adolf who looked so proud. I guess he didn't feel it yet because the air was still singed and everyone else was either too focused on putting out the small fires around the house or didn't feel like spoiling the surprise.

But, after my outburst, everyone started chuckling, even Accalia.

"What are you laughing about?!" Adolf started to steam. It was kinda cute.

I was kind enough to be the first to tell him. "A-doof is bald," I said in my baby voice, still struggling with words.

My cute voice only exacerbated the situation as Ptolemy start to roll around on the ground doing... something. Adolf looked down at himself to find himself completely naked and without any fur. If I didn't know any better, I would say he was half tomato; he was so embarrassed. He tried to cover himself with his paws, but it was impossible.

I wanted to voice all my thoughts, but not many words were known to me so I went with the simplest I could think of, "A-doof, warm tomato!"

In retrospect, it wasn't such a bad thing for either me or Adolf that I laughed at him. He got less of a scolding and I got my first ever magic lesson. But he was mad at me for the rest of the day.

Accalia took the lead in teaching Adolf magic. It made sense because she was the only one I've ever seen do actual magic. Sure, everyone, even me, had floating tools that moved around them and did what they wanted, but that didn't seem like real magic. It was like sleight of hand or misdirection, it seemed impossible, but you knew there was a trick to it. The tools weren't something personal, it wasn't a feat wholly accomplished by you. On the other hand, magic was something mystical and seemed impossible and by all means and knowledge of physics, it should be. Yet, I've lived in this world for months and every time I've seen magic, I can feel tingles run up my spine, my vision narrows and all I can think of for the rest of the day is magic.

Accalia wanted absolute privacy to teach Adolf, but I guess I didn't count. She made all the other boys move out of the house for the rest of the day.

"Adolf, magic is not a game. If you want to be taught by me, I won't be your mother anymore, I will be your teacher and you, my student. And if you are my student, you will listen to my rules, instructions, and teachings like they are a holy message from Lupeniuos herself, ok?" She spoke without any warmth.

I listened to her and savored every word. When I looked over to Adolf, he was completely transformed. His usual pride and arrogance were gone, replaced by two greedy black holes, a mouth ready to drool, yet still respectable enough that it wasn't rude.

'So, disgusting. Ugh. How can he look so greedy and calm at the same time,' I thought, absentmindedly wiping my mouth of some liquid and returning my gaze to Accalia, too hungry to ponder about Adolf's face any longer.

"First rule: Until I say otherwise, no using magic without my supervision.

Second rule: Magic is an art form. You, my student, will not disgrace this art form by being anything less than the best.

Third rule: As long as I'm alive and your teacher, you're not the best.

Fourth rule: When you make art, it is an unbiased extension of yourself, what magic does, is because of you; it is not inherently bad or good, only the user is.

Fifth rule: Magic is art, not only must you be the best, it must be the best. You are a reflection of each other; when you are angry and emotional, it will be angry and emotional.

(Sixth rule: these rules are most definitely going to be changed in some way or another as the story goes on because I'm making these on the fly and based on Accalia's personality.)"

I thought I've come to know a lot about everyone around me, especially Accalia, but I was blindsided by this abrupt change. Before, all I saw was the strict, but loving mother. A woman to respect and a mother-figure to love. Now she was a teacher. She expected absolute perfection and nothing less.

"The first lesson: Draw ice," she said simply.

I immediately felt depressed. 'How was I supposed to draw if I couldn't use a pen?' I thought.

Instead of sulking, I just focused more to make up for not being able to participate.

A smirk slipped onto Adolf's face and I could practically read his mind, 'Simple.'

He reached for a pen, but before he could touch it, it disappeared. He looked extremely shocked and looked around for the pen. His eyes found purchase in Accalia's paw. (These are magic, wolf shaped pens controlled by magic wolves. What's Anatomy? DEAL WITH IT!)

Confused, but determined, Adolf reached for another pen, but it too disappeared. This time, he looked straight at Accalia who had a smile on her face that said, 'Well, get on with it', as if she didn't block him from writing.

"Mom-"

"You will call me, Mrs. Acallia, Mr. Adolf," Accalia said strictly.

Adolf was a little hesitant, but did as told, "M- Mrs. Acallia, why are you taking the pens from me?"

She smiled in return and said, "I said to draw ice. I did not say 'Pick up a pen.'"

I was really confused. I wanted to follow along with the lesson, but if this continued, no one would learn.

Adolf opened his mouth, but then closed it, realizing the pointlessness of arguing. He then opened his mouth again, but Accalia stopped him. "I guess I have to give you a second hint. You don't need anything but what you already have," she said cryptically.

My disappointment turned to hope. If what he already had was enough to draw, then I could too. 'What is it that we both have?' I asked myself. We both have fur, eyes, feet, a stomach, a brain, nails, and a lot of other things in common, but I got the feeling, she wasn't talking about those. Maybe I could use nails to draw in something like the wood, but if Ptolemy or Loki learned any magic from her, then the house would have some evidence of it. Though that's assuming that either of them learned from her. Again I got the feeling she was talking about something different. I began to think about what we three had in common that the other three did not. I've seen them both perform magic.

'I think biting frost is magic?' I started to think about it, but flashes of my nightmare came back and I shoved the thought deep down.

'So, if I'm ignoring 'that', what do the other three have in common?' I asked myself a question again. I've seen them use the tools, but I've never seen them actually use magic before. 'Is that it? Magic? I have to use magic to draw?'

Rather abruptly, I was pulled out of my mental monologue by Adolf when he asked, "Do you mean I have to use..." I could hear myself thinking, 'Yes. Yes. You're almost there. Just say magic and we can get on with it.'

"my imagination?" He said.

I was boiling inside, 'Why can't you just say something smart for once! The answer is obviously magic!'

"Yes," I heard Accalia say and my mental rant stopped abruptly.

'I was wrong? More importantly, Adolf was right?!'

"Now that you have realized this, I have to ask you to put down your fence. Pictures are really blurry, even if you are trying to project them" Accalia spoke to Adolf and both of them acted like this was perfectly normal.

"Ok, when you draw it, use whatever method you want, but try not to add words, it'll give me a headache," she added.

I ignored the fact that Adolf was right about having to imagine and more importantly, Accalia was going to look at them, instead, I started to imagine ice myself. I started with the image of... 'that'.

Just when I started, Accalia's head snapped towards me with narrowed eyes. When she saw me and we locked eyes, I tilted my head.

She walked toward me, very angry.

"Bad Artemis! NO ICE! NO ICE!" She said to me very angrily.

She picked me up by my neck, walked out of the room, and placed me in the crib they made not so long ago. It was really weird. It was always calming and warm. After they built it, I never had those nightmares again, so I was happy with it. Though I couldn't stay awake long after being in it, it was a cheap price to pay if it meant those nightmares would never come back.

Before I fell asleep I could hear Accalia say, "Oh Artemis, how long can we keep this up?"