Page 41 of Tricky Magic
Three fucking days of Ros showing up and running with her and three fucking days of getting nowhere with her magic. There was nothing left in the greenhouse for her to blow up, and she was utterly frustrated. The urge to give up was too strong.
“Fuck this!” she bellowed to the empty space. It was so loud that the glass shuddered. Her eyes threatened her with tears, but a gentle knock sounded from the door behind her. She wiped at a tear that had escaped and cautiously opened the door.
It was Elias, clad in black without a speck of dirt on him. Ellea, however, was still wearing her sweaty running clothes and had bits of dirt and concrete throughout her waves. He peeked over her shoulder and grimaced.
“I may know someone who could take care of the demo for you if that is what you’re trying to do here,” he said.
“Thanks, but I think I took care of it.” Her scowl was vicious.
“My offer still stands. If you need help with your magic, I can help you, and anytime you want us to stop, we can.”
“I don’t know you, why would I trust you to help me?”
“It’s just magic.” He laughed. “I’m not asking you to run off with me.”
His eyebrows were raised, and Ellea was so close to giving in. She was desperate for help and didn’t know which way to turn. She could ask Ros, but the thought quickly snuffed itself out. There was no way anything good would come from his help. Her shoulders dropped in defeat. More than anything, she wanted this to work, she was so tired.
“Fine,” she said exasperatedly. “But if things get weird or I don’t like what’s happening, we stop and you leave?”
“Yes, of course.” His smile was kind.
“I really don’t know anything about you,” she said, looking him up and down.
“I’m Elias,” he said with his hand on his chest. “You need help, and I’m here to help you. What more do you need to know?”
“Right… The dark and mysterious thing only works on some people, you know.”
He laughed at that.
“Really, I am only here to help,” he said with mock hurt. “I was in your shoes once, it would have been nice if someone offered help when I needed it.”
Ellea opened the door fully to let him in. If something went wrong, she could figure it out when the time came.
“So,” he said, looking around, “what is it you are trying to do?”
He openly took her in, looking at her from her muddy running shoes to her sweaty t-shirt. How could she tell him without giving too much away?
“I am trying to form an apple,” Ellea said, crossing her arms and feeling self-conscious. “I’ve been able to do small illusions but nothing solid.”
There, that wasn’t giving too much away.
“Are you going straight to the apple?” he asked. “Or forming what you know first and then attempting to make it solid?”
“I guess I’ve been going straight to making an actual apple.” Saying it out loud made her feel a bit silly. “So I started too big? But it’s just an apple.”
“Just an apple?” He looked curiously at her. “To some, an apple is so much more. To you, it is the start of something new.”
She didn’t know how to respond to that. Her mind whirled with thoughts of what he meant. Had it been too long since she’d had a normal encounter with someone? Ros only drove her mad.
“So yes, let’s start smaller.” He clapped his hands once, and Ellea jumped. He ignored it and continued further into the greenhouse. “Show me an illusion, and we will go from there.”
He gave her a warm smile. Yes, it was different talking with someone who wasn’t trying to piss you off at every turn.
So she made an illusion of an apple. That was easy, but she was still glad nothing exploded. It was in the palm of her hand, and Elias studied it. He asked her to do it over and over again, never pushing too hard and always keeping his tone warm. They only worked for a short time before the sound of Ellea’s growling stomach was loud enough to make him laugh.
“Let’s start fresh tomorrow,” he said. “I will try to make it here before you start blowing stuff up.”
“Sure. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
