Chapter 6: The Struggle

That night, Wess had trouble sleeping. He felt too distracted. Every time he tried, a sense of hopelessness would overcome him. When Wess did find sleep, he was haunted by nightmares. He couldn’t get last night’s dream out of his head. Was this just a dream, or was it a vision of what the future will be? What he was most afraid of wasn’t that he might become that, but it was the idea that he may want to be like that. Part of his mind was telling him that it was better than the life he had. No more beatings, no more running, and most of all, no more caring. He would be powerful and able to impress CJ with his magic.

However, the rest of his brain reminded him of how he would hurt CJ, how he would be a monster, and That it would make him worse than Richard, and the head of the group home, Freddy. The devil was on one shoulder, and the angel was on the other. The only problem was that it was becoming increasingly harder to tell the difference between the angel and the devil. When he was finally able to clear his mind and get some rest, it was almost morning. He decided to get up and practice those spells.

Now, what spell was that? He thought. Oh yah, a fabrication spell. He decided to try something small. Maybe the bench was too big. I always wanted some fancy stationery, he thought. He formed the spell in his head and cast it. Nothing! He reread the spell, recited it in his head, then released it. Something started to appear! It’s..., a bench. It was the tiniest bench that he had ever seen. It looked like a toy bench. What am I going to do with that? He thought. He pushed it to the side and went to use the restrooms. When he came back, Art was sitting on the bench.

“You like the bench? Wess asked. Art shook his head up and down. “Okay, you can have it.”

Art stood up and levitated the bench to the back of the desk near his bed. “Can you show me how to do that? Wess asked. While nodding his head, Art levitated a book in front of Wess. He looked at the book, The Theory of Levitation. This wasn’t a spellbook. It was a textbook to learn how to do the spell. Wess started reading.

In the practical application of levitating an object, one might think that the idea is to make an object lighter. They would be wrong! The first step in levitation is to clear your mind. Then, before you even think about lifting, you concentrate on the space above the object. Once you have that down, you may cast your spell.

How does that make sense?. There has to be an explanation, Wess thought as He scanned down through the book. Frequently asked questions, there it is. For the answer, it directed him to the back of the book for an explanation. He flipped to the back of the book and scanned down until he found what he was looking for, and then he read.

By concentrating on the space above the object, you can lift it from above. This creates an energy void over the object, allowing you to lift heavier objects with less force.

Now it makes sense. Now all I need to do is learn how to cast the actual spell, Wess thought. He went back and continued reading. By the time he had finished with the book, it was time for breakfast. Losing sleep, however, was starting to catch up with him. He was thinking about telling CJ that he was sick so that he could go back to sleep, but he didn’t want to upset her. Sensing his dilemma, Art cast a rejuvenation spell on him.

“Thank you, Art,” Wess said. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Until that moment, Wess didn’t know that a paperman could blush. He left his room and joined CJ at breakfast. After breakfast, they went straight out to the garden. Not wanting to experience another fart spell, CJ opened the gate this time. They walk over to the fountain, and CJ opens her bag. She pulls out a ring, A small candle, And a rubber ball and places them on the edge of the fountain. Then she made a chair and sat down.

“What are those for?” Wess asked.

“We’re moving on to object summoning.” she waved her hand, and all three objects disappeared. “All three are somewhere in the garden. Now summon them back. Just visualize the object you want and use the spell.”

Wess decided to try summoning the ring. It was the smallest object, so it had to be the easiest to call. He tried to visualize the ring. Visualize what you want, he thought. It was hard to concentrate on the ring while casting the spell. It just kept slipping from his mind. Then he noticed that CJ’s chair seemed to be slowly creeping towards him. He immediately stopped the magic and blushed. CJ smiled, but she acted as if she hadn’t noticed. He tried again.

This time he concentrated on the candle and summoned it. It never got to him. What happened? He thought. He looked at CJ, and she pointed toward the fountain. There, on the edge of the fountain, was the candle. He tried again, visualizing the candle. The next thing he knew, he was holding the ball.

“Very good,” CJ said.

“I was trying to summon the candle.”

“Well, it’s better than yesterday.”

“Complete and utter failure is better than yesterday,” he said in exasperation.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” she said. “This phase is just to find out where you’re at. Didn’t you wonder why I wasn’t giving you any instructions?”

“No, I just thought that was the way you taught.”

“It’s part of it. Evaluate, teach, reevaluate,” CJ said. “If I’m to teach you, I need to know what to teach you.”

“That makes sense, I guess.”

“Of course, it does!”

“So, what do we do next?” He asked.

“Evaluate,” she said. “You know the spells, you know how to cast them, but it seems like you have some kind of mental block. I’m not sure how much more I can teach you until it’s been addressed. But I think that most of it is self-confidence. You can’t cast a spell and hope it will work. You have to know that it will work! Visualize what you’re trying to do and know that it will happen.”

“But nothing good ever happens. How can I believe that this will be any different?” Wess asked.

“You can already do magic,” she said. “You’re a genius with languages. You didn’t just discover the secret of magic symbols; you successfully used them. You created Art, and he’s not just an object that has been animated. He’s a living being. No wessier alive today can do any of that. That sort of makes you the greatest Wessier alive.”

“I don’t know if I would go that far,” he said. “I can’t even hold my own in a fight with a non-magic user. What do I need to do now?”

“Start by making a bench here, and remember, it’s not so much about the spell as the end product. Know that it will work.”

He visualized the bench. I know it will work, he said to himself. He was starting to believe. The bench appeared, but it disappeared and reappeared in the fountain just before it had become solid. Wess was disappointed, but at least he got a full bench this time. It was a marble bench that perfectly matched the fountain.

“That’s good,” she said. “Now, you can practice levitating. Move the bench here.”

“I’ll try.”

“Don’t try,” she said, “just do it!”

Just do it, he thought. This time, instead of worrying about how to do the spell better, he decided to concentrate on where he wanted the bench. Then, focusing on the space above the bench, he cast the spell and switched his attention back to where he wanted it. It worked! The bench rose, floated to the right spot, and gently settled into its place.

“Perfect,” CJ said. “Let’s end here. We have school tomorrow.”

“Don’t remind me,” Wess said.

CJ summoned all of the items one at a time and put them back into her bag. They exited the garden together and went back to the mansion to have lunch. After lunch, they went to their rooms. Wess was still disappointed. He was starting to get the hang of it, but it wasn’t enough. Wess did like that CJ said he could be the greatest Wessier in the world if he could only believe it. I just need to get rid of this curse. Then maybe I could be the greatest Wessier in all of history. That gives me an idea, he thought.

If this curse came from evil magic, then maybe I should talk to Bobby about it. He served demons before, so he’s bound to know something about dark magic and evil curses. Now, how do I find him? I don’t even know where he goes when he’s not with us. Wait, what am I thinking? He thought. He’s my servant. Why should I have to look for him?

“Bobby!” Wess called. A few seconds later, Bobby appeared.

“You called?” He said.

“Yes,” Wess said. “I have questions.”

“I will do my best to answer your questions, Master Wess.”

“You used to work for demons, so you should know about dark magic and curses, right?”

“Yes, Master Wess. But you don’t want to use dark magic blindly. It’s dangerous to use that kind of magic if you don’t know what you are doing.”