The Hades Test

Chapter 14 - Magic

"I can't!" I cry, exasperation soaking into my voice.

"I hate to sound like one of those cheesy inspiration posters, but there is no can't in can." he chuckles offhandedly. "Give it another go, Ad, I know you have it in you."

Nodding, I concentrate, focusing all my energy on a single thought. Knowing, believing, that it will work. I hold out my hand, taking the image in my head and transferring it into my hand. There is weight there, and I look down. Hope rises, but it is dashed when I see the mountain of sand in my hand.

"What were you trying for?" Nolan inquires from across the space. I walk to the sand box and dump the handful out.

"A sandwich." I sigh. Nolan, my teacher, gives a hearty laugh, which I promptly stop with just a fiery glare.

"What, can you blame me? You got sand from a sandwich."

"At least it's something. The sand is more than I got before." I crouch down on the edge of the sandbox, surveying the park as I do. Crisp, autumn leaves have arranged themselves at the toes of trees. A slight wind chills the air, even though the sky is a great sapphire unmarred by clouds. Almost hidden in the shadow of a great pine are a pair of children, scissoring on swings. A man pedals across a lumpy path, bypassing a woman. The dog on her leash pants while keeping pace in stride. They are all ordinary people, going about ordinary tasks in a seemingly ordinary world. Each is imperceptive of the extraordinary events unfolding around them, and I can't stop the arrow of envy that shoots my chest.

Then Nolan comes over and takes a seat beside me. He brushes his lips across mine, and I marvel, once again, at the way he becomes something more when we touch. No, there is nothing you could tell me that would make me trade this life for another.

And even though we still haven't talked about the first kiss, the one given under a haze of disco lights, it fills my mind like a balloon. Expanding it's reach, it grows, but with it are mixed feelings almost as uncoordinated as a room full of toddlers. So, instead, I just leave it, with all those tangled feelings, in the back of my mind.

"Do you want to give it another go?" Nolan questions. I shrug and rake my fingers through the sand. While the idea of performing what others can only dream of excites me, the humiliation of failure ties me back.

"I just can't understand how you find it so easy." I avoid the direct question. "You could transport us large distances after only one day, and I can't even form a sandwich."

"We've only been going at it for two days now, don't be so hard on yourself. Besides, I find transporting less challenging than manifestation." Nolan defends, rubbing my back.

"That's hardly an argument. You make it seem so simple." I scoff.

"And you make it seem so hard." He mumbles, and I sigh. "Maybe it has something to do with my situation and all. Plus, I have an unfair advantage over you." now it's his turn to avoid my gaze by playing in the sand. "It's like there is this computer in brain, feeding me information. I don't know where it's coming from, only that it works and it is unreliable." he shakes his head. "I just get this feeling every now and then that..." he trails off, looking far away over the trees.

I follow his gaze. "That what?" I push.

"That we are part of something so much bigger than this." he finishes, oddly deep and thoughtful.

"Wow, so deep." I tease, lightly tapping his shoulder. We sit in companionable silence for a stretch, just enjoying the day. I break the quiet first.

"Sometimes, I still can't believe that this is all real."

"What's real?" Nolan clarifies.

"Magic. I mean, with all that I have seen and done, you'd think that I would be more open to this stuff. But I can't find it in me to truly believe." I say. My companion, my supporter, lifts his eyes into mine.