The Last Apothecary

Chapter 4.

The door closed loudly behind us as we stepped onto the wet grass outside. Sure enough, some kid was stuck in the air flipping around in uncontrollable circles, screaming at the top of his lungs, as he clutched to a runaway broom and it was just as funny as I thought it'd be. Idiot.

I could hear Mr. Dekoran, who was standing only a few feet away, muttering something about how reckless some kids are, when he lifted his wooden staff, cracking it heavily on the ground. Just like that, it was like gravity was suddenly in effect for the poor guy. He pummeled to the ground at a ridiculous speed, his arms and legs flopping around helplessly, and panic surged through me as I thought he was going to die.

But, right before he hit the ground, the broom perked back up, hovering two feet above the floor even after he jumped off and crab-walked backwards several steps away from it, eyes frozen open in terror.

"Woah what did you just do?" Blyke called to Dekoran as he stood next to me. I slapped my face in frustration. Had he forgotten that we weren't supposed to be out here?

But Mr. Dekoran only gave us a sideways glance, a dull look in his gaze as if this was an average occurance, one that he was incredibly tired of. "While I have an Earth affinity, my specialty is controlling the amount of magik an object contains, and storing it elsewhere, like my staff or myself. Once I cut off his use of magik, the broom becomes nothing more than a broom, he, nothing more than a Human. But, if I put it back, right before he hits the ground, then he has no time to lose control of it again." With a sigh, he closed his tired eyes, and I watched as the orb in his staff shimmered for a moment, before losing its glow as he no doubt let the power flow back to the teen.

"Damn, that's kinda terrifying," Blyke answered. I could tell he was one of those people that the first thing that came to mind was the first thing that came out of his mouth. I had to agree with him though. That was a terrifyingly unique specialty. I'd never heard of anything like it before.

"Terrifying?" the teacher asked with a strange, thin-lipped smile. "I prefer to think of it more as... useful. That it is exactly what this weird, chaotic world needs right now. With Humans and Witches living so close, someone has to prove just how these differences work, or how similar we can be. It can make everything so much clearer."

The way he said it made him sound empty, and I got a small swirl of frustration from him, but I wasn't sure why. Empathy was great for knowing how someone felt exactly or where magik was located, but without any thoughts behind it, sometimes it was absolutely useless.

"That being said," he continued, "I thought I made it clear that your assignment involved you staying inside. You could have even worked on more advanced magik out of my sight for all I care, but you can't be out here. Especially you." He looked me dead in the eye, pointing a wrinkled hand at me decorated with a beaded black and green bracelet. "I am well aware that this is your second time taking Basics to Magic. Since you didn't pay attention last year, one would think you'd be trying to at least make it up by now. After all, there is no reason you should have failed in the first place, especially with the option of being allowed to use your specialty as you're now in highschool."

"Look Mr..." I wish I wasn't so bad with names. "Deku... I don't have a specialty...Yet!" I clarified, raising a finger in defense. I didn't want to seem totally pathetic. "So it's not like there's 'no reason I should have failed', but I do plan on passing this year, thank you." I hoped I didn't come across too rude, but at the same point, his demeanor was a bit belittling, whether I deserved it or not.

He seemed to pause for a second before giving me a strange look. "No specialty? But... aren't you Morais' son?"

I sighed, scratching at the shaved  hair on the back of my neck. "Yeah." I hated how people reacted to that. My dad was well-known for being one of the more powerful Witches in town, his knack for shrinking the size of any fire making him a hero at his job. So to have such a magikally-inept son, it always felt so embarrassing...