Lost At Sea (Rough Draft)

Part 10

Charles burst into the front door, hurried into the back and called out for the young teen, he found the protagonist in the back garden inspecting the herbal plants Charles used on wounds and colds all the time. The young teen was absent mindedly tracing the veins of the green leaves thriving in the small glass garden when he heard the frantic voice of Charles yelling his name and then burst outside, they locked eyes, the protagonist smiled at first but it fell when they saw the concern  in the doctor's eyes. "Hey Charlie ... uh what's wrong are you okay?" but the older male didn't respond at first, was taken back when he ran over and pulled the young teen into a bear hug, lifting the protagonist off the ground. The young teen shrieked at the sudden embrace, giggled as Charles picked him off the ground, patting his back to let him go before he squeezed the air out of him, that seemed to snap the doctor out of his personal thoughts and quickly but also gently placed the protagonist back on the ground, sheepishly and apologized. The young teen poked Charles in the chest teasingly and inquired what the sudden outburst, that's when he sat down on a random chair and confessed that he should have realized sooner what those wounds on the protagonist's back came from, and his face fell with the reminder of surviving on that pirate ship. Charles seemed to think that it was his fault the young teen had gotten the wounds on his back, so the protagonist had to convince the doctor that it was never his fault and that the only reason he got those lashings was because he made the choice to help the less fortunate crewmates, which made Charles snort through his tears and chuckles. The doctor decided now was as good a time as any to check the young teens bandages, the two left the green house and to the check room, the protagonist hopped up on the cot and gingerly lifted the shirt off while the older male got the medical supplies ready. As Charles changed the wrappings, the younger teen started telling the older male about how free wielding the magic was, like how he used the amulet to fly with his own wings. Then with an innocent segway, Charles brought up the burnt down ship down at the pier while simultaneously observing the male young teen's reaction to the terrible event, and wasn't at all surprised when the protagonist smirked for a split second before the mask fell back into place. When the light haired teen reacted all innocent, Charles rolled his eyes knowingly and tested the waters by telling the teen boy how he would always tend to the crewmates and that so many locala felt that his ship being burned down was a strike of karma; that the terrible human being of a pirate captain got what was coming to him. And with that, Charles was all done with the bandages, he patted the young teens shoulder before he padded back to the store room to put back the supplies, allowing the protagonist to redress and think about what the doctor said about people actually being happy with him burning down the cargo ship. He was snapped out of his thoughts when the amulet around his neck began to pulse, the power thrumming in his veins, the young teen was led out of the shop by an invisible guide and padded onto the cobblestone road, Charles only noticed when the doorbell alerted him that the protagonist left with no word with where he was going. Without a second thought, Charles ran after the young teen into the bustling street filled with vendors and customers, which made it harder for the young doctor to find his younger brother, he yelled over their heads but to no avail, the protagonist was lost in the crowd, all alone. In a daze, the young teen stumbled through the maze of people when suddenly he came to a sudden stop, his eyes turned clear and blinked owlishly around his surroundings until the protagonist spotted a sign that had a familiar symbol painted on it. Like a moth to a flame, he padded into the strange shop that didn't seem to have any customers and browsed the strange, unfamiliar artifacts with curious eyes, not at all aware of several tiny little eyes watching his every move. The further the teen wandered into the stuffed space, the tingling sensation heightened to the point of being uncomfortable, he started scratching the back of his neck. At the very back of the shop, tucked away into secrecy, he found a small desk, tidy and no sign of dust, unlike the rest of the room. It was completely out of place which tickled his curious bone so the protagonist snooped through the desk, looking for anything interesting but jumped back when a black tabby cat jumped from out of nowhere and landed in front of him on the desk. The teen stepped back, wairy of the feline with narrowed green yellow eyes when out of nowhere the cat was enveloped in a cloud of smoke before reappearing as a beautiful black haired young woman, dressed in a puffy black and white dress. He stood there gawking at the beautiful girl, face flushed bright red, after a couple moments, he shook the shock off and stuttered out questions, which made the girl giggle. The protagonist became defensive and demanded to know who she was, she toned down the giggling, bowed deeply and formally introduced herself as the one and only Penelope and she is at his service, followed by a coy smile. She stood up and peered at the protagonist and pondered out loud why he was so surprised at the sight of magic when he could do magic himself, which completely startled him. He asked how she knew about his past with magic, she simply pointed at the glowing amulet under his plain tunic with a knowing smile that both comforted and bothered the young teen. The warm sunlight streaming through the window glinted on the purple pink jewel resting on her left pointing finger, catching the protagonist's attention, when he reached out to it through his magic he could feel something akin to his own, like she had her own version of his amulet. He was too timid to ask about her own source of magic, so she took the first step with confidence and offered the information upfront, that Penelope had inherited the ring from her mother, and then her mother before her, and that she's been practicing magic all her life.