Kalli couldn’t stop giggling, and it made me very self-conscious. She covered her mouth with her hand in an attempt to control herself. I’m sorry, Mel. It’s just I’ve never seen anything you weren’t naturally good at.

I sighed. It wasn’t that I wasn’t good at it. I was probably better at making a flame angel than anyone except for Kalli. She was in a league of her own. While most Pyromancers would have long moved onto more advanced spells, she’d internalized the flame hand spell and made it into something else entirely.

How come you never learned more spells?

She stuck her tongue out at no one in particular. It was probably because you summoned me before I could learn anything else. I always thought it was strange why my master chose me, a little girl from an orphanage, to teach magic to. It wasn’t like I showed a lot of potential.

I focused on calling the flame as close as possible to myself. While I was skilled at controlling the heat of the flame, it wasn’t quite a part of me like it was for Kalli. With every flare of emotion, she wielded mana like an extension of herself. I felt a burning desire to do the same.

Kalli stopped what she was doing and rubbed her chin. Why don’t you try to learn it with your natural element?

She had a point. I was so caught up in copying her that I was trying to force an element that wasn’t natural to me. Using fire required more concentration which took away from the core of the exercise. I snuffed out the fire in my soul and tried to focus on my natural element. There was always a little fire left over that made me feel toasty inside because Kalli had taken up residence. While my initial thought had been that my element was light, it was more than that. It was light in the same way that light contained every color of the spectrum. There were traces of every element buried deep within the mana that my core generated. That was why I could change it at will.

I wondered what my father’s core was like. Had I inherited my multiple elements from him? What was my Mom’s core like? Was it a pebble like the unawakened I’d seen in the past or was it something special? Being that it was my Mom, I just knew it had to be special. I closed my eyes and focused on letting it flow through me. Kalli did the same and nudged me with her mind, beckoning me to feel what she did. There was a fluid motion where mana burst out of her everywhere all at once. Little tendrils of fire danced, swaying back and forth while connected through deep roots that fed off of her core.

I followed suit and pushed. Mana burst from me in a brilliant explosion, incinerating everything around me. The garden erupted into flame and the ground below me turned to dust. I caught myself just in time and wrapped mana around myself, jumping into the void before I destroyed any more of the garden.

The void, unlike Merlin’s tower, was made up of dark stuff and universes that seemed impervious to damage. I floated there for a long time, willing my natural essence not to devour everything it came into contact with. If Kalli’s flame could stop burning, my mana could do the same. She encouraged me from within. Eventually, I managed to get the whole thing under control. It wasn’t so simple as telling fire not to be hot. I had to do the same with all of the elements. Water wasn’t allowed to be wet, wind wasn’t allowed to blow, etc. Corralling it gave me a sense of oneness with myself. I floated silently in the void with my legs crossed as my mana hummed around me like an aura.

“Trying something new today, are we?” Merlin asked.

I opened one eye to find him in the same pose, sitting cross-legged with a perfect aura of his own radiating out. He winked at me and continued. “What you’ve discovered is a form of meditation. Monks use it to refine their mana and find balance. The more practical side of the technique is that it teaches control. You’ve done well to teach yourself this. As I’m sure you’re now painfully aware, our mana is complicated. Normally it’s a bad idea to try to be everything at once. However, if you master it, you can do anything. Even rule the universe.”

I laughed nervously. “Is that something I want to do?”

“You had better,” Merlin snapped. “After my next project, I intend to retire, and you’re going to take my place.”

“What project?” I asked, hoping to get some insight into my Dad’s ambitions.

He frowned, his aura becoming unstable. He quickly pulled it back in to mask the slip. “I intend to find your mother and settle down.”

“I can help with that,” I replied. “I’m sure if you let me go back to Earth, I can-“

He cut me off. “That won’t be necessary. Your training here is of greater importance. You must be ready to take your role when the time comes. I will not be able to mollycoddle you after I…after I…find your mother.”

He was hiding something. That much was for sure. Was the mirror key to finding out what it was? Was I supposed to ask the mirror? I had so many questions and Kalli had gone silent. She was listening too, of course. I felt her. She just didn’t have anything to say. Or was she scared of Merlin? I wouldn’t blame her. I found him intimidating. He definitely wasn’t a normal Dad, not that I knew what that was.

Eventually, he stood and headed over to the sphere that was Origin. “Don’t stay in here too long, Son. This place tends to mess with your mind.”

Then he was gone, leaving me to continue the exercise. I’d managed to stop being a walking bomb but I still didn’t have the kind of control Kalli did. She guided me in my practice, offering feelings of support that helped me concentrate. You don’t have to do your whole body at once. Start with a finger, then move on to a hand.

While she could have chastised me for being overly ambitious, she was patient, saying nothing when I messed up while praising me when I made progress. I realized she likely needed to advance her training more than I did, yet here she was talking me through a beginner-level spell. Then again, I couldn’t feel Kalli in the real world while I was in the void. It was another level of separation.

Kalli, can you feel yourself outside of here?

She blinked. I don’t know how I knew she blinked, since she didn’t have a body. Yes, and no. You see, everything you experience here will pass to me when you return to reality. Similarly, everything I experience when I'm cut off will come to you. Remember, a piece of you is with her just like I’m with you.

But what if you get in trouble?

Kalli giggled. You’re forgetting how the void works. Less than a second will pass while you’re in here. That’s why you never realized you were apart. I always realize it because I feel all of the time you spend in here in an instant when you come out.

Why didn’t you say anything?

I was shocked that she kept such an important thing to herself. She smiled. It wasn’t important. Besides, I’m just happy that I’m not alone anymore.

I knew exactly how she felt.

Do you think we can take our relationship to a sixth level? That way even this won’t be able to keep us apart.

Kalli grinned. You can always take me with you.

Good point.

I chose that moment to head back to the tower. After gaining enough control to not destroy anything, there was little benefit to staying in the void. I went over to Origin and focused on the tower where Merlin had already repaired the damage to the garden that I made. I dropped lightly to the ground and contacted Kalli.

I’m back.

She sighed. I know. I was with you in there. Remember.

I couldn’t help but laugh.

No fair! Your inner me didn’t tell me anything.

She shot a feeling of warmth through the connection. Well, you were only gone for about a second. Your inner me already told you that.

This is getting confusing.

Kalli laughed. I know.

“Take me to the library,” I announced as I walked with Marcelle and Ulli after my morning workout.

“Sure,” Marcelle replied. “The tower has several well-stocked repositories. If they’re anything specific you’d like to research.”

“Yes,” I replied, hoping to surprise Kalli. “I’d like to look through some spell books.”

Of course, Kalli already knew. Marcelle led me down quite a few floors. “The books on magic are actually on the lower levels. Tower maidens that make it up this high are usually interested in fiction rather than practical application.”

“Yeah, romance novels,” Ulli said, making a face.

Marcelle gave her a knowing look. “Yes, some of the more popular novels are more than a little risqué.”

The library was on the twentieth floor. It consisted of old tomes with thick leather binding. I plucked one from the shelf and asked, “Are any of these available online?”

Ulli laughed. “See! I’m not the only one that thinks this is a little old-fashioned.”

Marcelle rolled her eyes. “The bound volumes here in the tower are first editions. They were transcribed by great scholars of old and contain magic.”

Mrs. Hodgins would love that. Scholars who are more ancient than she is.

Kalli scowled at my joke. She’s fifty-four. She isn’t that old.

I’d never thought about her exact age but I must have known. Kalli knew, after all. It only took me a few minutes to find books on elemental magic. A bright red one stuck out.

Fire Magic for Beginners

Meanwhile, back at Lavender’s house…

A great puff of steam erupted from a large machine. It looked like one of the first computers ever made. Massive boxed components lined the walls, filled with humming machinery attached to an even larger machine in the middle of the room by thick rubber tubes. Everything made noise. Some of it grinding while others beeped.

Shara tapped a small hose that fed into the machine. A tiny flask dripped a small red liquid that she knew was her last sample of Kalli’s blood. “If this fails, we’re out of luck.”

“It won’t fail,” Zofia announced. “It will do something, and that in itself is a success.”

Joe nodded, running a hand over the machine. His eyes fogged over as though he was seeing something that none of the others could. “It’s working. So long as that’s really Kalli’s blood, It will work.”

Lavender sat in a chair next to a door. It was a special door in the middle of the room and it wasn’t attached to anything. Anyone who knew Lavender knew how her doors worked. While it currently did nothing, once she applied an enchanted doorknob it would open to some far-off place.

Wendy sat next to Lavender, sipping meticulously prepared tea. She’d offered some to the others, but only Lavender and Joe accepted. Zofia refused to drink anything if she didn’t know where it came from. Shara said she wasn’t thirsty.

Suddenly, the machine let out a satisfying, “Ding!”

“Did it work?” Wendy asked, leaning forward in anticipation.

“Of course it worked,” Zofia scoffed.

“I can see it,” Joe added, sliding open a tray and gingerly touching a shining red doorknob. “Whether or not we succeeded, my creation did its job.”

“Our creation,” Zofia corrected.

“You just programmed it,” Joe replied with a scowl.

“It’s not a competition,” Wendy said, offering her boyfriend a sympathetic smile.

Shara laughed. “Of course it is.”

Surprisingly, Lavender laughed too. “There’s nothing wrong with a little healthy competition. That’s what makes all of you so spectacular. Now, are you ready to be reunited with your friends?”

“Yes!” They all screamed in unison.

“Very well,” Lavender grinned, pointing to the door. “Who wants to do the honors?”

Wendy stood up, taking the door knob from Joe. “I might as well do something useful.”

She took the knob over to the door and placed it in front of the hole. Like magic, it slipped into place with a click. Wendy took a deep breath while everyone gathered behind her and slowly eased the door open.