The paper in my hands was wet, almost as if it really had been soaked. Well, soaked was too strong of a word. More like it had been misted.

Kelia sighed. “It looks like it was put next to a glass of lukewarm water.”

“Hey! I tried at least.”

“Yeah, clearly.”

“So his affinity is Devant.” Hana chimed in.

“Is that the water path?”

“Yea, Devant is the water path of the Devaint domain,” Hana said matter-of-factly.

“Is that a good affinity to have?”

Hana looked to Kelia and she shrugged her shoulders. “It is what it is.”

“Well that's not very reassuring.”

“Nothing in magic is,” she responded.

Fair enough. I thought about the paper in my hands. Water. Was I really connected to water? I had never been a great swimmer nor particularly fond of the ocean. Sure, it was cool to see on our vacations to Florida but it wasn’t like I had this great big desire to sail the seven seas or anything. I tried to think of traumatic incidents related to water, in case it had something to do with that but nothing came to mind.

“So what do we do next?” I asked. The sun had already settled down so I couldn’t imagine we had any big plans for training.

“This was primarily to inform me about what sorts of tools and training equipment I needed. Tomorrow, I will gather it all together so we can really begin the process. Until then, continue your work on this.”

She withdrew the kendan and tossed it into my hands.

“Wow, I haven’t seen one of those since I was a kid!” Hana exclaimed, leaning forward to get a better look.

Kelia started to pack up her things. “I’m in the room over. Call me if you need anything.” She departed right after, leaving Hana and I. There were two separated beds but that didn’t stop Hana from constructing a room divider between our beds. I was more amazed that she had been able to fit it into her luggage than anything else.

I turned my attention to the object in my hand. How was I supposed to work this thing? I figured that emulating what I just did during the affinity test was as good as any idea.

I concentrated, taking deep soothing breaths, working myself into a state of tranquility. This time it was almost like opening a door, an entryway to a kingdom of power. I heard a gust of air and then I felt the aura settle over my body, magic flowing through my body.

It was like a rush of adrenaline, like I had taken one too many Red Bulls. Even then, though, it was nothing like the power I had felt with Giaos in me. At the time, I didn’t realize it, didn’t even notice it, but the intensity, the magnitude of magic she had at her disposal made my own seem like a speck of dust. In a way, it was like watching a tsunami devastate a city, nature reasserting her dominance with a show of strength and ferocity that can never be matched by humans.

I did my best to channel it into my hand again, concentrating hard. Power welled in my hand and I focused on making the rune glow. Seconds turned into minutes as nothing happened.

Really, nothing happened. “Didn’t she say this thing was supposed to glow when I channeled into it?” I asked Hana.

“She was on the other side of the room now, curtain drawn. “Yeah but it’s tricky at first. You’ll get the hang of it. Just practice everyday.”

“Thanks.” I mumbled. I thought Giaos had promised me more power than this. I knew what was possible, just how strong I could be seeing Giaos in action. Yet I was going to have to practice on this wooden toy?

I spent at least another hour playing around with it, doing my damndest to get the stupid runes to glow but I didn’t have any luck. It tired me out quickly enough and before I knew it had climbed into bed and was passing out.

That night I dreamed of a loss of control, a car careening off a cliff, a mother unable to control her violent husband, a child being punished for no wrong committed by him. At the end, there was a single vision of home, my home on Earth.

♠

Kelia had woken us up. It was still rather early in the morning, enough that the sun was just peeking over the horizon but Kelia said we had a lot to get done. Hana and I both rolled out of bed with mumbles and grumbles. We got ready for the day, taking turns showering.

Soon, we were downstairs and eating in their small cafe. Kelia had apparently already eaten so it was just Hana and I. She had a bowl of oats mixed with berries and I had some eggs with bacon and toast, something that was surprisingly familiar in a world as strange as this one.

“Do you miss home?” She asked me in between slow bites of her food.

The grogginess was slowly lifting but it still took a moment to process the question. “Yeah, I think so.” I pushed some of the eggs around my plate with my fork.

“What do you miss about it?”

“A lot.” I sighed. “I mean, it was really familiar, ya know? All this adventuring stuff, this being stuck in the middle of things that are far, far larger than me? I never did anything like it. I stuck to myself, never had very many friends. But the ones I did make were really close. I miss them an awful lot.” I looked up from the plate and locked eyes with her.

“Do you miss your parents?”

I paused. “I had a… complicated relationship with them. We weren’t really all that interested in each other after some bad things happened.” I didn’t tell her about my brother. Not because it was too traumatic or anything but because I couldn’t stand the insincere “I’m so sorry” that always accompanied it, like I was old enough to have more than a few scattered memories, like I really cared about him. I don’t know, maybe I did but still, it was frustrating to deal with.

She nodded like she understood, choosing not to pursue this particular topic. I responded with my own question back to her.

“I haven’t really seen you with your dad, not even sending him a note or anything. You not close with your parents either?”

“Only my dad’s around now and no, we aren’t really close. I secretly think he always wanted a boy,” she said with a laugh that didn’t reach her face. So we were both outcasts in our families. It’s weird how I could tell but I guess those in our boat just have a tendency to see it in each other’s eyes.

I decided to change the topic, mostly because talking about topics still felt too intimate to really share. “Who is Kelia?”

“What do you mean?” She took another bite of her oats.

“Like who is she? She’s pretty mysterious, no?”

Hana chewed on her food and pondered the question. “I met her when I was young. She was a really talented mage. People thought she was going to become the next Zeckmas, rise through the ranks and get to the top but she never ended up doing it. I think it was because she lost her family and she moved to the countryside.”

“What happened to her family?”

“I don’t know and I can’t imagine anyone, like, really knows. All we can say is that it was a horrible thing. I feel so bad for her.”

That explained her really tough exterior, at least in part. It did sound thoroughly horrible and I felt a deep pang of sympathy.

Just as I was finishing up my food, Kelia entered the breakfast room.

“Ready to go?” She asked, in her gruff way.

Hana and I both nodded and then we were off.

Kelia explained that we needed to start in the library and look through the archives to find Latem’s house, whoever he was. The library, of course, reminded me quite a bit of the previous day’s events.

The monster, its perversely large jaw, found its way into my head, dripping saliva to the floor. Kelia hadn’t commented on it and Giaos had seemed troubled by it. Too many questions, not enough information. At least today would be a start on fixing that.

We all combed through the archives together, struggling to find a first name in a sea of people. It was tedious work, especially when I was constantly afraid that I had missed his name. Everything was ordered chronologically by purchasing date, meaning that I couldn’t just look for the Ls.

Hana stumbled across his name first. She had already written down the address by the time I came over to her table, her book closed and pushed to the side.

“There it is. 5511 South Netherfield Loop. We got it.” Her smile was beaming.