*Hecate*

"And this," I said pointing to the squiggly line with a dot on either side of it, "means water."

"Why the hell do I have to learn these?" Hatchet complained. "And why're they here?"

"Mr. Grumpy Pants wanted to learn about stuff too, so he's gonna watch."

"I'm just bored," Jacin yelled from the porch.

Sure he was.

"Can we just get on with the magic-y part of the lesson? This is boring."

I shrugged. "Fine. But don't blame me when you accidentally pour your magic into a glyph that clearly says explosive and blow a whole in the east coast Mabey the west coast depending on where we are. Maybe even the center."

"Hecate."

"Right." I stood up, brushing the dirt off my rump and pointing at the little pond of water. "Remember how I told you there were plenty of types of magic?"

"All based on pure magic, I know. You told me like four minutes ago."

I nodded proudly. "Since I have a hard time believing someone at your level can combust water, we'll start with that. Now, what I want you to do is hold your-"

"Why can't I just start with pure magic?"

I whacked on him the back of the head. "No interruptions! Pure magic is the hardest to control. If you try using pure magic without understanding magic you might-"

"Blow a whole in America. I got it."

"Well, I was gonna say zap yourself out of existence and maybe make a small black whole, but that works too." I cleared my throat. "Now back to what I was saying. I want you to hold both of your hands out to the water. Close your eyes and imagine a single ball of water coming out of the pond. Uh, Quin, you might wanna stand back. Combustion and all that."

He nodded, backing up all the way to the porch.

I turned back to Hatchet and gave him a nod.

He held his hands up to the water and closed his eyes. For a second, nothing happened. Then I felt it. The air was thick with moisture. The little pond began to ripple with small waves. A ball, maybe five feet in diameter rose a few feet from the water and hung there.

I could see Hatchet skin twitching with the new magic moving around inside of him. Sweat was beading from his forehead, signaling that he was almost at his limit.

"Enough," I told him. "Put it down."

His body relaxed and the water fell. I swiped my hand across my forehead to see the humidity that collected in the air. I couldn't help but smirk.

"What did you feel?" I asked.

"Like...my body was somewhere else but here at the same time. Not my body. It was like I was somewhere else but here at the same time. It felt...different."

His magic was strong.

*Hatchet*

My eyesight was flickering in and out. I could barely feel my knees and was fighting to keep myself upright. It was so hot. I could feel something coursing through me that I could only assume was magic.

Before I could stop myself, my knees buckled underneath me and I was going down.

Something, no someone caught me.

"You okay there?" Jacin's voice asked.

Was he the one holding me upright? I think it was his arm that I was leaning into.

"Sorry," I mumbled, trying to push myself up. "I'm fine."

My eyes were still flickering and sweat was still beading at my forehead. I couldn't tell the difference between up and down but I knew that if he let go, I was going down. Maybe if it was Heather of Hecate or any girl I would indulge myself and let them keep me standing, but...

"Oh no you're not," he replied, wrapping one hand under my arm. "You can't walk without hurting yourself. Is he done, your Majesty?"

There was no reply, but when he started walking me forward, I assumed she gave some kind of okay. At least he had the decency to let me walk by myself and not carry me or something embarrassing.

"What happened to him?" I heard Heather asked. "He looks like you just dug him out of a grave."

"First time using magic," Jacin explained. "It happens. I'm taking him up to his room."

And we were moving again. Or at least attempting to. My body wasn't moving like I wanted it to. Eventually, I gave in and let him carry me up the stairs. Only up the stairs. When we hit the second floor I made him put me down.

My room was the first one on the left.

Jacin dropped me on the bed.

"Sorry," I said again. "You had to carry me around."

"I don't mind. I'll be right back."

He came back a few minutes later with a bottle of water. Surprisingly enough the water didn't revolt me and I drank it easily.

My vision was clearing up a bit and I was starting to cool down.

"Why don't you or Hecate hate me?" I finally asked. "I mean, I used to be a Black Hand."

He let out a long laugh. "I don't think it's in her Majesty's blood to hate. I don't even think she knows what that feels like. She's kinda a 'love for all humanity' kind of person."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Even in prison she was talking to the soldiers. I was at her trial and she tried to make nice with the judge. In her file they wrote down that she put on a fake smile and tried to sway the officers."

"Put on a fake nice?" He half said half laughed. "I thought yo- sorry- they were more official. Used bigger vocabulary and stuff."

"Shut up. I couldn't think of the exact wording." I took another sip of the water, rubbing the last of the flickering out of my eyes. "And what about you? Why don't you hate me?"

"A few reasons. Mostly cause you haven't done anything to make me hate you. And cause I like you."

I laughed at that. "Yeah, I'm a likeable person."

"That's not what I meant."

"What did you mean?"

My arm was still covering my eyes, but I heard him walking over. I felt him grab onto my wrist and move my hand and smelt the motor oil on him as he came closer.

The I felt his lips, gently touch my own for a quick second before they moved away.

My eyes shot open. I saw his face, only a few inches from my own looking at me with a sly smirk.

"That's what I meant."

"But you- I- We... Um. I just met you less than a week ago."

"If that's the only complaint you have then I might stand a chance. Besides, haven't you ever heard of love at first sight?"

"There's no way. It's not real. You can't like me, you're a-"

"A guy?"

"A stranger."

He laughed again. "I'll prove it."

I immediately covered my mouth, backing away from him.

"Not like that. I won't do that again until I know you want me to. Anyways, I'll be back in a few with food."

He left again and I moved my hands to rest them on my knees.

Was it bad that I wasn't completely disgusted?

-Authors Note-

Two updated in one day! Yay! Sorry if this chapter seems a bit rushed and short but I'm not really sure how to approach Jacin's crush on Hatchet.

Any advice?