The Soup Master

Chapter 6

 Slowly, back at Deva's apartment, a strange, white mist began to materialize. It seemed to first appear in the form of a ribbon of silvery haze, before wrapping around itself, almost like a boa constrictor wraps around its victims. As it did, two figures began to slowly emerge from this strange cloud, until Deva and Malec both materialized, and the strange fog vanished.

Shortly after materializing into the room, Malec stumbled and had to catch himself on the nearby love seat. He was still somewhat in shock over what had just happened. Seeing this, Deva swiftly got up, and hurried over to him, dropping her bag on the floor. She grabbed his arm, closer to the shoulder, and looked around the room for a chair close-by. Not seeing one, she sighed and made a swish-and-flicking motion with her index finger on her left hand. A small trail of the same silvery fog leapt from the tip of her finger and hit the floor, where a chair seemed to materialize, releasing small wisps of silver steam from its sides as it did. The trail of silvery-air seemed to wrap its way around the chair, before vanishing after it completed a single revolution. Quickly, Deva helped Malec into the new chair, which was a rather simple, plush armchair.

"I know this is all a lot to take in, and I wish I had told you sooner, but..." Deva began, trying to break it to Malec easily.

Malec let out a bark of laughter, before turning to Deva, slowly regaining his composure. "I hate to say it Deva, but that is by far the biggest understatement that I have heard recently." He looked around the room, realizing where they were at last. "Where exactly are we?"

"This is my apartment," Deva explained. Flicking her finger at the bag she had dropped, another whisp of silver-energy hit the bag, and following the movement of her hand, gently lifted her purse and set it down on the usual table by the door. She winced as she realized that Malec was still unaccustomed to seeing her use magic, and only realized this after he jumped in his seat again. "I never brought you here before, I know, but you never gave me any reason to, until now."

"I don't see why I should have," Malec replied, lowering his voice, trying to calm himself down as he looked around the apartment. "Most of the time we've been working together I was teaching you about potions, amulets, or otherwise. Usually, we were at my place, since that is where I keep most of my important materials."

"Fair enough. And, based on your current expression, which I presume is one of forced-calm, you have quite the number of questions to ask me?" Deva continued. She slowly sat down on the loveseat opposite her small television, trying to keep her composure. After all, Malec was one of the most gifted magiks she had ever met, so she did not intend to upset him.

"Who wouldn't have loads of questions to ask after witnessing something like what I did mere moments ago?" Malec exclaimed, before visibly calming himself. "I want to know who you really are. After all, I did just see you do magic. And not just the simple potion-work that I knew you could do before. You have a distinct element, just like every other magik in existence. I saw it with how your powers manifested in their physical form. I don't know if you know this, but every magik's powers manifests in some way that represents the element that they were born with. You've seen my power move like water, or seen me locatransfer with a veritable explosion of water vapor. Yours looks like the element air."

Deva nodded and held up her palm. As she did, she rolled back her sleeve, to reveal the formation of the strange infinity-sign gauntlets that most air and water elementalists produced. It was part of the manifestation of the element for them, which they could choose to hide with a bit of concentration. However, the more they channeled a particular element, the more that these mystical gauntlets would forcibly appear. A small whirlwind was materializing in her palm, constructed of the same silver mist that she had used to locatransfer Malec and herself to her apartment. "You're right. My element is air. But, I'm surprised that you haven't asked me what trade or talent of magic I have."