Chapter 12: Together

Wess woke up feeling relaxed and refreshed. He sat up, stretched, and slid to the edge of the bed. He put his feet on the floor and said, “Good morning, Art!” Art gave him a quick salute and continued dusting. Wess had told Art, on numerous occasions, that he didn’t have to clean or dust. But Art liked to stay busy. Wess decided that he could do whatever made him happy. Wess and Nina had finished getting ready, and Wess knocked on the newly installed door. CJ opened the door, dressed and ready to go down for breakfast.

“I was about to head down,” CJ said, “but we can all go down together if you prefer.” So, CJ, Wess, and Nina Went down through CJ’s area. Wess realized that her stairs weren’t hidden behind a painting like his was. However, you could choose to exit into the room or the hall at the bottom of the stairs. Wess decided that he needed a similar spell for his door.

After breakfast, Wess, CJ, and Nina decided to go out to the garden to finish Wess’s training. Standing near the gate, CJ said, “This garden is for protection and defensive magic.”

Wess walked over and stood in front of the book. “Defend yourself,” the book said, followed by the sound of thunder as a ball of energy shot out of the book. Wess wasn’t ready for that at all. The energy ball hit him square in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

“Be careful to prepare yourself before approaching the book again,” CJ said. “The energy ball gets more powerful each time.”

Wess decided to use a shield spell. He cast the spell and held the energy shield in front of him as he approached the book. When the energy ball hit him, the shield helped soften the blow, but not much. It still knocked him back harder than before. This made Wess furious. He could feel the dark magic boiling up from inside him.

He started to see the green light. Before he knew it, however, The natural magic balanced it to become silver magic. Still enraged, Wess cast a complete body shield spell. This time when the energy ball hit the shield, it was deflected back with even more energy. The enhanced energy ball hit the podium and completely destroyed it.

As the gate opened, a new podium and book appeared. “I’ve never seen that happen before,” CJ said. “That was cool! Scary, but cool.”

They entered the garden. This section was different. Where the other gardens were beautiful and spread out, this area was like a dense jungle. The only open spot was where they were standing in front of the gate. This garden also looked dangerous. CJ told him that this garden was more than twice as big as the last garden. She explained that there were trails winding throughout the garden.

“This garden is like a maze,” CJ said. “The path is fraught with danger, and if you come to a dead-end, you will be attacked by powerful magic.”

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Wess asked. “What if I get killed?”

“You won’t be killed,” CJ said. “Seriously injured maybe, but not killed.”

“I don’t know,” Wess said, “I’m pretty sure that I’m allergic to being seriously injured.”

“Relax,” CJ said, “If you become too injured to continue, you will be healed and transported back to the beginning. If you make it through, upon exiting the maze, any injuries will be healed. Lucky for you, you don’t have to attempt it today. You get to train, study, and practice first.”

For the rest of the day, Wess learned and practiced protection and self-defense magic. Even Nina helped teach Wess some spells. Every Wessier has a particular type of magic that they are best at. It turns out that protection and concealment spells were Nina’s. After dinner, they all went back up together.

Wess and Nina decided that it would be fun for all of them to play a few hands of dominos before bed. However, the area that they usually play in was a little crowded with the addition of Nina’s room. So, they started rearranging the storage to move the table in front of Nina’s room. Wess was sliding a large set of shelves out of the way when Nina stopped and looked at him.

Did you feel that?” Nina asked. Wess and CJ just looked confused. “Move that a little further, Wess. Wess pushed it further down the wall then looked at Nina. She moved to where the large piece of furniture was and placed her hand on the wall. “It’s a concealment spell,” Nina said. “I think I can remove it.”

She put her other hand on the wall. There was a cracking sound. Suddenly, there was a door in the wall. Wess studied the door and realized that it looked like his door did when it was sealed. However, the pattern was slightly different. Somehow it seemed more feminine to him. “Try touching the symbol,” Wess said.

Nina touched the symbol. It started to glow and burst into flames just like Wess’s did. When the mark was gone, this door also opened. Nina walked in first. Wess tried to follow her in, but he couldn’t. There was a thick, white fog that prevented him from entering. A moment later, the fog disappeared, and Nina came back to the door.

“You can come in now,” Nina said, “You might want to see this. I saw it as soon as I blew out the fog candle.” Wess Followed her to the other side of the room. It was an enormous spell book like his, except it said Nina on the front cover instead of Weston. This book also wasn’t locked, and it wasn’t dark like Wess’s book. Nina opened the front cover. It was blank! Nina flipped through the book, and all of the pages were blank.

Nina tried a reveal spell, but it didn’t work. “Now, what?” Nina asked. Everyone else was just as stumped as she was. Nina was about to give up and walk away when she had a flash of memory. Was that a past life memory? There was one way to find out.

Copying the memory, Nina flipped the book over, top to bottom. Her name appeared on that side of the book. She opened the book again, and the pages were no longer blank. “This is her, I mean, my spell book. But, why would Nina Have her laboratory here? I thought that this was Weston’s mansion, and no other Wessier lived here before him.” She closed the book and looked at Wess.

“Bobby!” Wess called. A moment later, Bobby walked into the room. “What’s going on here? You know about Nina, and you said that you worked for her before. I want the whole story. And I don’t want to have to decipher Some cryptic riddle.”

“Mistress Nina, “He said, “I must apologize for not being forthright with you from the beginning. Master Weston swore me to secrecy. However, Master Weston and Master Wess Are technically the same, so it wouldn’t be considered a breach of confidence.”

“Then tell me the whole story,” Wess said. “Starting with who Nina was and how was she connected to Weston.”

“Nina was a powerful Wessier only surpassed by Wessillious himself,” Bobby said. Hearing of Weston’s prodigious deeds, Nina sought him out to ask him to teach her. He accepted and taught her many wondrous things. Somewhere along the way, the two fell in love and pledged the bond of matrimony.”

“Wait!” CJ said. “Nina was Weston’s wife?”

“That’s what I said,” Bobby said. “They even traveled to the mythical forest together. You probably already guessed, but Nina died first.”

“How,” Nina asked. “I mean, what did she die from?”

“Dark Wessiers broke in and killed her,” Bobby said. “There were too many for her to handle by herself. And they were protected by some kind of powerful magic. By the time Weston got there, it was too late. Consumed by rage, Weston performed an inferno spell so powerful, it’s said that it scorched the gates of hell. Of course, it damaged his soul further, leading to his early demise.”

“Is that why he ran out of time?” Wess asked.

“Officially, yes,” Bobby said, “but in reality, he already had it figured out. He no longer wanted to live that life, so he set everything up, locked up the labs, then waited to die. That way, his next incarnation could find it. You remember that green stone I gave you?” looking at Nina.

“Yes,” she said, “I have it right here. She pulled out the stone and showed him.

Bobby walked over to the book and opened it. As if the book were alive, its pages started turning on their own. They stopped halfway through the book. “Try placing the stone on the book.”

She took the stone to the book and placed it in the middle where the pages meet. Suddenly, the book closed. Suddenly, the book closed. It closed utterly flat as if nothing was inside. The book started to glow and floated off of the podium. The glow from the book seemed to be pulsating. After flashing a few times, the book slammed onto the platform and opened. The green stone turned silver with jade green vines just like the one that Wess had. And it was now sitting on the book with a chain on it. she took it and slipped it around her neck The book was now silver. Nina touched the pages, and the silver started spreading up her arm. When she was fully engulfed in silver, it seemed to absorb into her skin. Then she was back to normal. Wess ran to Nina to make sure she was okay. A bolt of static jumped between them just before Wess touched her. Their energies balanced each other and made them feel even closer.

Nina was now a silver Wessier like Wess. They felt like the parents of a kind of new magic. Now that their energies were connected, they felt closer than ever. It was getting late, so they decided to call it a night. They each went to their own rooms to change and go to bed.