Into the Unknown

Chapter 4, Part I: The Torch

"Clarence come down here, we have a TL-IMD!" Laura called upstairs. The group migrated to the living room, adorned by an armchair, two couches, and a coffee table with a vase on it. The vase held golden flowers, so golden they can be mistaken for the precious mineral itself. Laura laid Vincent on the couch. Then a scrawny man with circular glasses and a book in his hand flew down the stairs.

"TL-IMD?" said Clarence, he opened the book and it flipped to the page he needed. He quickly read it and looked up. "Put the Æthereos on the point of origin." Clarence's eyes glowed red and he waved his hand over Vincent, his color began to return. "His left hand, that's where it's coldest."

"Æthereos? Like, the magical healing waters of the Æther realm, Æthereos? Now how'd you manage to get your hands on the L?" asked Harvey.

"Æthereos? TL-IMD? What is this mom?" asked Sarah, she looked at her mother as if she were a complete stranger.

"We'll explain later dear, but for now we have to focus on Vincent." said Lauren, she lifted her hand and shimmering water floated out of golden flowers. It positioned itself under Laura's hand, which she then placed above Vincent's left hand and the water was absorbed. His body returned to normal, as if he were only asleep "We have some time before he wakes up, so I guess I'll start explaining." She walked over to the armchair and sat down. Clarence stood beside the chair and motioned for the rest of them to take a seat.

The four cramped onto the second couch and an awkward silence fell over the room. Sarah was the first to break the silence, she looked down at her lap and said, "So, what was all that?"

"Well, your father and I run an emergency magician's hospital of sorts, after many visits to the Æther dimension we finally managed to find the legendary Æthereos Camilia, a flower which creates healing water called Æthereos."

"What's the Æther dimension, and I never see you travel out of the neighborhood, much less our dimension!"

"The Æther dimension is a mystical world close to our own, it's atmosphere is very close to our own Earth. That's why it's considered the easiest dimension to traverse, but make no mistake, it still makes climbing Everest seem like a walk in the park. As for the time, going to the Æther became so usual that it kinda became our job." She chuckled and combed her hair with her hand. "It's funny actually we-"

Laura's rant was stopped short when a gust of wind blew around the room. Sarah stood up, her eyes glowing teal. "How can you talk like that. How can you talk as if it's no big thing. How can you keep this from me? Your own daughter! The gust turned stronger and the lights started to flicker."

"Now honey, calm down." said Clarence he was motioning a down-girl.

"Calm down?! CALM DOWN?!" yelled Sarah, her eyes glowed even brighter and pictures flew off the wall and shattered on the floor. She whipped her hands down and the room was engulfed in what seemed to be a mini-tornado.

Then the storm suddenly stopped and everybody lowered their arms to find Vincent holding Sarah's shoulder. "Sarah, I know you're mad about this, but you've gotta understand: Our parents did this to protect us." said Vincent in a calming voice. He looked over at his dad. Laura and Clarence looked at him with utter bewilderment, the same face Barry had when Vincent woke up from his sleep spell. And their faces told it all <He shouldn't be awake...>

"Vincent..." said Sarah, her eyes flickered out. The lights turned back on. "I'm sorry, that was... overzealous." She put her hand on her head and slumped towards the couch.

"Sarah!" cried Caleb, he caught her and sat her gently on the couch, "Are you okay!?"

"I'm fine. Just a bit... winded." Sarah replied.

"Using to much magic as a rookie will give you varying effects of a kind of magic nausea called Magic Deficiency." said Clarence, "That's why Mr.Hero over here fainted, he used too much magic at once." Clarence pointed his thumb at Vincent. "TL-IMD, it's an acronym we use to quickly access the situation. Type Light- Ice Magic Deficiency."

"Sarah, you can't hate your parents for trying to protect you, that's just what they do. Besides, if that man comes back then we gotta be ready, so let's learn about magic instead of cursing it." said Vincent.

"Man? What man?" asked Laura.

"Oh you should have seen it!" Caleb's face lit up and he described the experience with a nerd-like fanatism. "He was shooting fireballs left and right! Then, when he shot a thunderbolt, Vincent waved his hands and a huge ice wall appeared out of nowhere!" He waved his hands to mimic the man and Vincent as he explained their experience.

"Fire and thunder? Who would-" Laura stopped herself short and put on a grave face, "Merrick."

"You mean my dad?" said Caleb. Everyone turned their heads towards Caleb, and the adults looked at him with faces of utmost suprise.

Laura was the first to react, "Wai-wai-wait. Merrick is your dad?" she asked Caleb as she pointed at him. He nodded yes back, confused. She looked at all the adults and they nodded in agreement. "We need to talk to Mira."

"Mom?"

"Yeah, you live close right?"

"Mmhm it's only, like, 3 blocks away."

The group walked up to Caleb's house and before he could even ring the doorbell, the door opened and a blond haired women flashed a relieved smile. She wore a golden shirt underneath a white wool cardigan. "Caleb you're home!" she rushed down and hugged him tight. After she was finished she looked up to see the pack.

Caleb quickly turned around to introduce everybody, but was met with a myriad of glowing eyes. "Woah what's going on?" he said.

"I turned off the filter." said Mira.

"The... Filter?"

"Harvey of the High Seas, Barry the Last Dark Master, Laura the Æther Angel, and Clarence the Calming Flame. These people would not be accompanying you if you had not learned of the world of magic. So I took the filter off your eyes. It was just something that blocked magic from entering your eyes. What you are seeing before you is an effect of being the Light Lord."

"Dark Master? Light Lord? What is all this mom?"

"Mira, we need to talk. About your husband." said Laura.

Mira's smile flinched for an instant. "My husband? You know I'm divorced." said Mira.
"Mira, why didn't you tell us? About Merrick?" said Barry
Mira's smile quickly turned into a concerned frownShe turned around and waved her hand at the house. The entrance rippled and changed its image. At first you could see through the door a staircase forward and the living room to the left. But now it changed to a hallway made of what looked like clouds and gold. Mira walked into the hallway to heaven and gestured everyone to follow. Once they were through the hallway they were met with the sight of a grand room with a large circular sofa in the center and a great chandelier above that seemed to light up the whole room evenly. "Everybody take a seat." said Mira. Once everybody sat down on the couch Mira took a seat in the middle, looked at everyone, then started. "So you kids wanna learn magic huh? Then I guess I have to start with the origin of magic itself: The Torch."