"I'm trying, dammit!" Ru'ach ran ten fingers through thick, multi-colored hair. She took deep breaths and exhaled angrily as her frustration mounted. "It's not working."
"Try again. Empty your mind. Take your time. The ball will not go anywhere until you move it."
"Well, then," Ru replied, rubbing her temples, "It's not going to move for a very long time."
"No wonder the only thing moving that ball is Brownian Motion. Nothing will happen if you don't believe it will."
"I know, I know. Belief is the first step in performing the art of magic," Ru recited dryly. "I still think this is just a waste of time and energy." He chuckled quietly and shook his head. "What?!"
"You really believe that the past year has been a waste of time?" He circled her. Down on the floor, legs crossed, she began fidgeting.
Ru though for a moment, then proclaimed with confidence, "Yes."
"So, you're telling me I've wasted my time on an apprentice for a year?" His voice began getting threatening. Ru nodded, barely. "And you wouldn't mind if at this moment I stopped teaching you, sent you home and branded you a disgrace in magic?"
Ru'ach sat, frozen. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths. Her eyes flew open and the wooden croquet ball shot through the air at Armstrong's head. Half an inch from his temple it came to a dead stop. Armstrong grinned. "I knew you could do it." The ball dropped to his feet, making a loud thud as it hit the ground.
"Hey, Mom," Ru yelled passing by the tiny kitchen.
"Ru!" Her mother's voice grabbed her from behind. She stopped and turned around. "You look overly happy. This morning you said--"
"I don't care what I said this morning. I have every reason in the world to be happy. And I really need some rest before I collapse." Ru'ach hugged her mother and kissed her on the cheek.
Before she could resume the course toward her room, her mother grabbed her by the shirt. "Wow! Hold on!" Ru turned around to look at her mom. "There's a dinner party at Yapanton," the last she pronounced with a heavy Hebrew accent.
Ru smiled. "Great! I get the house to myself for the night?"
"No. You're coming with us. Nirit and Dor will be there." Ru sighed in discontent. The last thing she wanted at the moment was a party, especially if her ever-so-perfect sister planned on attending, equipped with husband. "Be ready to go at six. Wear something nice. And do something with that hair. Looks" she struggled for the right word for a moment and finally gave up. "Mag'il."
"The word, mom, is horrid. Get yourself a dictionary. I'm going to go to sleep now. I have a funny feeling I won't get much of it tonight."
Her mother gave her playful shove and Ru glared back. Getting to her room, Ru crashed on the bed immediately. When her eyes shut, they didn't open until--
"Ru," something whispered and she was lightly shaken.
She turned over. "Leave me alone, Anat. Can't a person get sleep in this house?"
"Hamessiba." The party!
"What time is it?" Ru groaned. "And for the love of magic, speak American!"
"Five thirty," Anat said.
"Shit," Ru muttered and sat up. "Okay. I'm up. Get out."
For a moment, Ru pondered letting her head hit the soft pillow and forgetting about the whole party. On second thought, it seemed like a bad idea. She got up and put on black slacks and a white shirt--as "nice" as her wardrobe got.
She spent a few more minutes in front of the mirror trying to decide what to do with her hair. Her mother was right. It was horrid. Just another reason for why she'll one day kill Sachiko and Ryoko. It'll be wonderful, they said. It'll look great, they said. She believed them. The part that grew out over the past year was okay, but the rest, more than half, was covered with badly done yellow highlights.
She grabbed a scrunchie and attempted to fix it up, failing miserably. After a few attempts, she just let it hang loosely behind her in a ponytail. Slipping her feet into a pair of shoes, she was ready to go.
Ru spent the trip attempting to meditate, and failing. Anat and her father kept chatting in Hebrew, and the rather uncomfortable seat and bad road didn't make it any better.
They came to a stop by a brick house three stories tall. Ru walked out and immediately spotted the one reason she didn't object to coming. Two Japanese girls stood by the door. One was short and chubby, black haired, wearing round glasses. The other was red headed, just below average height. They spotted her a second later and waved. She picked up her pace.
"Mahouko!" the shorter one smiled.
Ru, as a gesture of the disrespect between the two of them, rested her chin on her hand and her elbow on the short girl's shoulder and glared into her eyes. "Hi Sachiko."
Sachiko looked into red streaked grey eyes and groaned. "You do know that if you hadn't gone into the Hall of Fame for coolest eyes in Jr. High I would've poked them out already."
"I'm happy to see you, too," Ru grinned. "Hi Ryoko."
"They're going to be here," Ryoko chirped in Japanese, more hyper than her usual self. Ru looked at Sachiko, questioning.
"Reyuma, Akira, and Goukao." Their crushes-of-the-month, and the guy they've been trying to set her up with.
"Wonderful," Ru forced a smile.
"And I have something better." Ru raised a brow. Out of the pocket of the pleated black skirt, Sachiko pulled out a deck of cards.
"Are they marked?"
"No. But it doesn't matter. She," Sachiko pointed at Ryoko, "Got better."
"Well," Ru switched back to American, "We go?"
Sachiko jerked her shoulder from under Ru's elbow. "We go."
They went inside.
"Ask them!"
"No, you!"
"Why me?!"
"Because."
"Why not her?!"
"Because she doesn't want to."
"Well, neither do I."
"Your problem."
"Let's just go all three of us together, okay?"
"But--"
Reyuma looked back at them, "Ask us what?"
"Well, we were--"
"We sorta thought--"
"Ugh. Chickens," Ru muttered. "We were going to challenge you to a friendly game of poker. If you're up for it."
He looked at Akira and Goukao who nodded. "We're up for it. But where? I'm not sure the A-D-U-L-T-S would appreciate a bunch of fifteen year olds playing poker in the middle of a party."
Ryoko held up a key. "Upstairs."
"Well, let's go."
They filed upstairs, making sure they weren't noticed.
"So," Ru'ach dropped down on an orange bean bag in the tackily furnished room, "What do we bet on?"
"I thought you said friendly game," Akira mumbled.
Sachiko chuckled. "Friendly doesn't mean no stakes."
"We could play for money," Goukao suggested.
"I'm broke," Ryoko spat out.
"Me too," said Reyuma.
"Well, what do we play for?"
Ru'ach grinned. Everyone looked at her, and at the same moment, everyone in the room realized what she was thinking.
Sachiko and Ryoko laughed, probably thinking they were too good to lose. They guys began fidgeting nervously. "Wusses," Ru muttered. "Knew you wouldn't be up to it."
"Don't you think playing for clothes is a bit too much?"
She thought about it for a moment. A very short moment. "No."
"You know what?" Sachiko rose to her feet. "Why don't you think about it for a bit. If you decide to chicken out then, we'll let you go without too much humiliation."
"What do we do until then?"
"Mahouko, why don't you do the telekinesis thing. Pick one of us up or something."
She shrugged. "I can't. You're too heavy." Her eyes searched the room. "I think the most I could pick up is that," she pointed to a dictionary. It was a large book, five inches thick.
"What are you? A damned psychic?" Goukao grunted.
"No," she replied, trying to concentrate.
The book lifted a few inches off the ground and hovered there for a few seconds. It began floating round jerkily, barely balanced.
"That's all? Impressive. My breath has been taken away. Be still me beating heart," Goukao snorted. The book made its way toward him. He eyed it carelessly. Exactly a minute after the book began to levitate, gravity caught its hold, sending the book straight down. On Goukao's foot.
The three girls broke into laughter loud enough to cover up Goukao's yelps. "Real funny," he managed through his teeth. "Real fuckin' funny."
"We thought so," Ru replied innocently.
"Are you okay?" Ryoko asked as the laughter died out.
"I'll be fine."
"So," Ru said, still chuckling, "Ready to decide?"
"Hmmm..." Reyuma examined them. "I'm not quite sure I'd like to see any of you naked. You're too skinny, and too pale," he pointed at Ru. "And you," at Sachiko, "A little too chubby." Ru and Sachiko exchanged glances and shrugged. They've heard it before. "But you," Reyuma's eyes froze on Ryoko. "Okay. You're on."
"Three of a kind."
"I'm gone."
"Me too."
"Same here."
"Flush. Beat that."
"Full house."
"Ugh! How does she do it every time?"
"They're cheating!"
"How?"
"She's looking into our heads!"
"I'm a mage, not a psychic."
"You're cheating with that damn magic, then."
"So how come the magician hasn't won once?"
"Sorry, boys. Another one for us." Three pairs of pants came off and three girls grinned.
"This whole teams idea was stupid. They," he pointed at Ru and Sachiko, "Would have been topless by now."
"You suggested it," Ru'ach replied. "Deal with it."
"Okay," Reyuma asked with less than little enthusiasm, "Should I deal?"
"We're in," Sachiko proclaimed.
Akira shrugged. "I guess."
"This sucks," Goukao repeated for the hundredth time.
Picking up the cards Reyuma tossed her, Ru looked down at a flush. While the others picked up cards, folded, and bet, she eyed the wallet hanging out of a pocket. "Mahouko. Mahouko? Ru!" She jumped, muttering something in Hebrew.
"Can we please keep this to Japanese so that we can all understand?"
"Sorry."
"Show 'em of fold 'em."
She put the cards down face up. "Flush." Akira and Reyuma folded. Sachiko looked between Goukao and Ryoko. Ru used the moment of silence and concentrated. The wallet hovered less than an inch above the floor and flew straight into her hand. She put it in her pocked and returned to the game.
She looked at the three guys all in their boxers. Goukao was beginning to sweat. He took a deep breath and let it out. "Full house," he said triumphantly.
Ryoko sighed. "Too bad." Sachiko reached for the buttons on her vest. Ryoko put the cards down on the table. "Royal flush."
Reyuma and Akira groaned. "Great," Reyuma muttered. "I lose my shorts to her."
"Come on, now, boys," Ru said as innocently as she could muster. "Don't be shy." The three guys stood, hesitant. They put their hands inside the elastics holding up the shorts, ready to pull them down.
"Ru'ach Kadur-Esh!" Ru turned to look at the very upset face of her father. "Ma holech po?!"
"Nothing's going on, Dad," she said as soon as her brain made the switch back to American.
"You didn't lock the door?!" Sachiko scolded Ryoko.
"Bo'ii," he grabbed her arm and yanked her way out of the room. "You will not speak to me in any foreign languages, young lady," he roared.
Ru gave her brain a few seconds to change from American to Hebrew. As soon as she was thinking in the same direction as her father she replied, "I'm sorry."
"And what was that?!"
"A game. It started out as nothing. We never meant it to go that far."
"Why can't you be anything like your sisters?"
"Because I don't want to!"
"Nirit has a good family. Anat has a good job waiting for her. But you have to keep insisting on that stupid magic of yours." Ru just stood there, trying to stay calm. "This is as far as I'm willing to let this go. I've had it with you! One more screw-up like this, and I don't care how much your mother cries, you are no longer living under my roof."
"Um, Cale?"
The figure meditating cross-legged on a small carpet rose to its feet and chuckled. "Cale, what are all these boxes doing here?"
"I'm moving," he replied with no hesitation, stretching to loosen several kinks in his legs.
"What?! When? Why? What am I supposed to do?"
"Selfish as always," he chuckled. "I don't know what you're supposed to do, only what I have to do."
"But why?"
"Because the people here do not appreciate having magic practitioners around. I can sense it." He tapped his index finger on his temple twice to remind her of his mild psionics. "They don't like them. Enough to hurt them. Besides, I am truly surprised the more orthodox of your family's community haven't tried to get me to move earlier."
"So you're just gonna leave?"
"I don't have much choice."
"Where are you going to go?"
"I don't know," he replied. "South, I suppose." Ru'ach was silent. "I'm not going until tomorrow. If you like, we do have time for one final lesson," she nodded.
Life sucked. Life was horrible. She was a loser. She couldn't do anything right. She was no good in Karate, she was no good in writing, and she was no good in magic. Cross-legged on the floor, she did her best to set fire to the small piece of wood sitting on the metal pan. This new spell was not so easy, or maybe it was because her mind was so troubled.
Her final lesson with Cale had been more intense and demanding than all the others. He seemed insistant that she learn this spell before he left, as though there would be some need for it. She couldn't think why that would be, and the newness of the spell made her efforts seem futile.
"It's hopeless," she sobbed, as pent up anger rose in her chest. There was a muffled poomf which caused her to look up from the pan. As she did, she saw the book shelf in front of her burst into flames. "No!" she jumped to her feet trying to rescue as many books as she could from the miniature inferno. The heat made her skin burn and the smoke made her eyes water. She dumped the pile of books by the door and stopped before heading back to grab more. "Shit!"
Ru stood frozen in front of the blazing wall. "Aba!" a scream came from behind.
"Anat! Shut up! Dad's gonna kill me!"
Ru closed her eyes and just stood there, helpless as things caught on fire. Strong hands grabbed her from behind and yanked her out of the way, pushing her towards the stairs. Descending to the living room, she heard people yelling. Moments later, the frantic activity around her subsided.
"Ru'ach," someone whispered in her ear and shook her lightly. "Ru'ach." She was afraid to open her eyes. "Ru, it's okay. They put it out."
Ru threw her arms around her mother and opened her eyes. As soon as she could think coherently, she asked, "Where's dad?"
"He's in your room. He's not too happy."
"Wonderful." Ru broke away from her mother's warm embrace and went in to face her doom.
The walls were black, the remains of the bookshelf piled up in the corner. Her father was standing, his back to the door. "Ru," he said, not even raising his voice, "Take any of your stuff you haven't destroyed. Be out of here by midnight." With that he left, not sparing her a look.
She wanted to cry, but couldn't. Silently, she gathered all the uncharred garments she could find in her closet: Two shirts, overalls and black slacks. She grabbed at the slacks when something fell out of the pocket. Goukao's wallet. She shoved it back into the pocket and shrugged.
She took a few other things from around the house, and at five 'till midnight she closed the door behind her.
"Cale!" The mage put down his bags halfway down the trail leading out of the tiny house. He looked at the out of breath teenager, backpack on one shoulder. "Can you take me, too?"
"What about--"
"I'm through with this place. Can you take me with you?"
"Well," he thought for a moment, "I always said I'd teach you how to line phase someday." For the first time since the party, she smiled.
I know I probably should have said something about this before. I just wasn't feeling comfortable. It's not anything you did. It's just... I don't know. Call it itchy feet. Something. I just can't stay.
It's been really great wandering around with you. You were probably the greatest teacher I ever had. If we ever run into each other again, maybe I'll have the guts, or satisfaction from travelling alone, or whatever it is I need.
Sorry about this. I'm only taking what I need to survive. I know the bike was expensive, but I chipped in to buy it, too. I'll see you someday.
Ru.
Ru dropped the messily written note, grabbed her bag, the knapsack she filled with things that were not lawfully hers, and Armstrong's beloved staff. She went out and climbed onto the hovercycle. "Okay, I can do this." She started it and drifted forward slowly. Metal clashed and she was drifting in place. "He put a lock on it. Go fig."
After an hour's work the lock was broken. Ru climbed back on the bike and headed south.