Chapter 14: Talking Cat
The city was in total silence. The streets were quiet, and the sun was barely peeking out. Everyone was still sleeping; even the rooster had yet to wake up, unlike one person.
A girl with black and pink hair could be seen walking slowly through the city. Her disheveled appearance wasn't the best for walking in public, but luckily, no one saw her in that state.
Bianca yawned loudly. There were dark circles under her pink eyes, her legs felt heavy, and she had a slight stomach ache from sneaking out of the house without breakfast. She only carried a backpack and wore comfortable exercise clothes; it was the weekend, and no one else was awake. She had gotten up very early for one simple reason: to learn magic.
Thanks to her pact with Lux, he had to teach her how to use magic. This meant that Bianca would learn everything related to a power never before seen by modern society, firsthand. This excited her so much that she couldn't sleep for most of the night. Finally, she could learn magic,
a dream she had wished was real since she was a little girl.
That wasn't the only important thing.
Bianca wanted to know more about the ring she still wore on her hand. Her mother had given it to her when she was small, while telling her stories of mages and magic—fantasy worlds full of adventure that made her dream of seeing such a world.
The pact with Lux wasn't one-sided, she had to do her part and fulfill the deal. Although Bianca had agreed to help him with his miracle...
How could they achieve it?
Certainly, the boy's wish for mages and humans to coexist was very moving. In the eyes of someone just diving into this matter, it seemed noble and even worthy of support, but at the same time dangerous. According to what Lux said, people who hunted mages could appear and catch them without trouble. It was terrifying to think that those kinds of people could do it without consequences. The idea of going back home and going to sleep was quite tempting, but her parents hadn't raised someone who backed down.
Bianca slapped both of her cheeks with her hands. Although her thoughts worried her, she had to be strong. She had to prepare herself mentally for what Lux was about to teach her from now on.
—
When Lux told her they would meet at his house, Bianca thought she would find a cabin on the outskirts of the city or a haunted mansion that would terrify anyone nearby, not a simple house in the city center.
She knocked on the door and waited quietly.
Maybe it's just its appearance on the outside to avoid drawing attention, and inside it's full of things like magic books and potions with incredible effects, she thought.
The sound of a key pulled Bianca out of her thoughts. The door opened little by little, and slowly, a head of brown hair appeared before her eyes.
"Ah, you're here," Lux's voice sounded cheerful and calm. His yellow eyes looked at the disheveled girl in front of him with some happiness. "It's good to see you. Please, come in!"
Bianca accepted the invitation and stepped inside the house carefully. She was very excited; it was the first time she would enter a mage's home. Her expectations were sky-high, waiting for anything.
"It's so plain…" Bianca murmured. She expected something magical, or at least something related to magic. Her expectations were crushed when she saw it was a minimalist house inside: modern furniture, flowerpots decorating the windows, even a television in the dining room.
She had been swindled by her own mind.
"Welcome to my home!" Lux smiled, walking past his guest.
Bianca followed him through the house, stopping for a second to observe a cat at her feet. It was a cliché for a mage to have a cat as a pet, but she didn't mind. Although Bianca never had one, she always wanted to experience that bond of friendship between person and animal.
The cat had black fur and golden eyes. Its gaze was intense and seemed to judge her entire body. She remembered it; it had been with Lux the first time she met him.
"Hi, kitty! How are you?" Bianca knelt down slowly until she was at the cat's level and spoke cheerfully, trying to be likable. Cats could be unfriendly toward strangers, and she had to show him he shouldn't be afraid of her. She stretched out her hand, waiting for a reaction while maintaining a smile.
"Don't touch me, human." The cat pushed the teenager's hand away with its paw. His deep voice showed no cordiality; he was clearly not happy.
"Okay! Okay! Forgive me!" Bianca apologized as she stood up to leave. "I won't bother you again..."
Bianca stopped talking. She froze mid-step, her smile still on her face. She turned her head to look back at the cat, who was still watching her with narrowed eyes. "...What?"
Bianca didn't want to believe it. Surely she was delirious; not sleeping well and skipping breakfast were taking their toll. Maybe she was dreaming. She took one of her cheeks and pinched it hard. It hurt. Clearly, it wasn't a dream.
At this point, she could only do one thing.
Scream.
"A talking cat!" Bianca exclaimed loudly.
Lux appeared. Upon arriving, he saw an amusing scene: Bianca standing on a chair and the cat staring at her.
"Todd, don't scare Bianca," Lux asked the cat.
"I told the human not to touch my fur and she got scared," Todd replied with annoyance and boredom. "It's not my fault I'm so intimidating."
"Even so, you don't have to be such a grump," the boy reproached.
"What a nuisance," Todd muttered under his breath.
Bianca was still on her chair, watching the conversation in confusion. A person and a cat were chatting as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
"Apologize and introduce yourself politely," Lux told the black cat.
Todd let out a sigh and turned toward Bianca. "I'm sorry. My name is Todd. A pleasure." His listless tone reflected his attitude toward his owner's request.
Bianca could only nod. But the atmosphere shifted. A peculiar sound echoed through the house. The noise of Bianca's stomach took over the room. The girl's face turned red, and her awkward smile showed her embarrassment.
Without a doubt, the day had started poorly.
—
Bianca didn't expect to end up having breakfast at someone else's house, but Lux insisted so much that she finally accepted the offer. With a full stomach and a clear mind, Bianca looked carefully at the dining room. It was very modern for what she expected from a mage's home. There were no magic books or spell potions; the only thing that fit her definition of fantasy was a witch's hat hanging on a rack—not forgetting a certain feline eating his own breakfast on the other side of the table.
She couldn't take her eyes off this small talking creature. Is this what I expected today? Probably not.
She sighed, trying to think of a way to fix the first impression she had made. She had a feeling that, over time, her relationship with Todd wouldn't improve. Sighing internally, she looked around the room again. Although she had inspected it from top to bottom, she didn't find any photos of the family who lived there. This seemed strange to her, but she didn't want to ask; she feared the answer might involve some tragedy or bad experience that had marked the brown-haired boy.
"Bianca, are you ready for your first magic class?" Lux said, his soft voice interrupting her thoughts.
"Uh, yes," she replied.
The moment of truth had arrived. She had prepared all morning for this.
Bianca followed him along with Todd. The determination she felt slowly began to replace her confusion. She thought they would go to the entrance to go somewhere else to practice, but she was surprised when they simply walked through the house to a door at the end of the hallway.
"This is it," Lux mentioned, his yellow eyes reflecting an exciting glow.
The young mage turned the knob, opening the door. Bianca peeked through to look at the other side, her jaw nearly hitting the floor.
On the other side of the door, there wasn't a room. A landscape of trees with a light blue sky filled the place. The grass looked natural, the flowers were very colorful, and there was a small lake with crystal-clear water.
Only one thought crossed her mind.
What just happened?!
—
An independent world, also known as a pocket dimension, according to stories, is a limited artificial space capable of reflecting reality or being molded according to the creator's wishes. It is usually linked to a specific object or place. These spaces allow for the storage of valuable objects, providing refuge, or even transporting oneself to different parts of the world.
Bianca stepped onto the grass, saw the ripples in the lake, and touched the lush trees full of life. Everything was real. It was amazing; just moments ago she was in the center of a metropolis, and now she was in a forest thanks to a door that joined both locations. A smile appeared on the girl's lips. Her head moved from side to side; thinking that one day she would learn to do that made her happy. The possibilities of using such magic were exciting.
Lux smiled seeing her face full of happiness. For him, it was fun to see how Bianca's reactions changed every moment. Todd, on the other hand, ignored it and lay down under a tree that provided shade near the lake.
"Is this where you'll teach me to do magic?" the pink-eyed teenager asked the yellow-eyed boy, receiving a nod.
"Before we begin, I must make something clear: you are a human. You don't have magic like I do; you depend on an object," Lux clarified, his voice calm and his eyes on Bianca's hand. "From what you told me, when you fought the other day, you felt a tingling and a glow came out of your ring and surrounded your whole body."
"A mage normally feels a tingling in the chest that passes to our hands." He pulled a wand from his pocket and pointed it at a tree. "That tingling can become a burn if we use too much magic. This way, we can know how much strength we are using."
The tip of Lux's wand began to glow with a green light. A small breeze moved the leaves of the tree. Gradually, a gust of wind appeared. It was so strong that Bianca couldn't see what was happening. "...And depending on the spell we want, the amount of magic we use, the complexity of the spell itself, and the quality of practice, the effect will be different."
The wind left the area. Bianca opened her eyes, surprised by what had happened. Half of the tree had disappeared.
The teenager walked toward his apprentice. "The wand serves to better control the aim of the spells. But today, you will only focus on feeling the magic flow through your body." His smile reassured the girl.
"And how do I do that?" Bianca asked. It was easy to say, but achieving something you're just starting to understand is complicated.
"Just imagine a muscle tensing and then relaxing; it will help you a lot," Lux explained before moving out of Bianca's sight.
She prepared herself. She thought about the boy's words: tense and relax a muscle, feel a tingling, and carry it through the body. It was easy to say.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't feel anything. it was difficult to try to achieve it consciously if you didn't know exactly how it happened. Her body tensed, her hands clenched, and she closed her eyes tightly, beginning to tremble. She raised her hand slowly; maybe some body movement would activate the reaction she sought.
She looked at her left hand. The ring did not react. She was disappointed by the result.
"Don't worry, you're learning. It's normal not to get it at the start," she heard Lux's voice consoling her from a distance. "Try once more. I know you can." His cheerful tone was contagious; it wouldn't hurt to keep trying.
Todd clicked his tongue watching the scene from afar. It was embarrassing and pathetic at the same time. While Bianca tried to learn, Lux would encourage her without hesitation. Todd snorted with anger. Lux had always been like that.
A few hours ago.
"I refuse. It's a bad idea," Todd said growling.
"Please, just a few magic lessons," Lux pleaded. The young mage was trying to get his cat to allow him to teach magic to a human.
How could a human do magic? The answer was never.
To Todd, humans were evil by nature. Unlike mages who understood that their gifts served something more than destruction, humans were selfish and greedy, taking pleasure in the tragedy of others.
"Humans are cruel, and you want to teach one to use magic? Are you stupid?" The feline continued to refuse. He had known about Lux's dream for a long time, it was childish and unrealistic. If he continued like this, his owner would end up dying. He had to do something.
"Bianca is not a bad person. She has what it takes to achieve our dream," Lux explained cheerfully. His excitement was very prominent.
"How do you know she won't use magic against you? Why do you insist so much on her?" Todd asked directly, tired of Lux's way of thinking.
"It's just a hunch," the boy said simply.
Those words resonated in Todd's head. A memory came to his mind a woman with pink hair and yellow eyes, an angelic smile, and a sweet voice.
Please, protect Lux for me.
Todd sighed at that bitter memory, feeling annoyed again. But just this once, he was going to give Lux the benefit of the doubt.
Back to the present.
Bianca began to feel frustrated. Her breathing was irregular. Attempt after attempt, and she wasn't succeeding. She did everything possible to feel the magic, but her body wouldn't react.
What was the secret?
She looked at her ring with sadness.
Why isn't it working?
Did the battery run out?
Is it broken? Did I break it?
These were very discouraging scenarios, but not as much as others.
Am I not cut out for this?
Am I pathetic?
She narrowed her eyes and clenched her teeth, looking at the ground with helplessness.
The first time she managed to do it was during a moment of danger; she was fighting for her life and didn't want to perish. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes completely to remember something that might help.
Bianca could only think of one person: her mother. Her voice scolding her, her laughter when they played at being powerful sorceresses... she remembered the warmth of those moments very well. She could feel that same warmth flowing through her body from her hands to her feet. It was nostalgic.
A sound pulled her out of her thoughts.
Bianca, puzzled, opened her eyes and looked toward where the sound came from. She saw Lux smiling and clapping happily.
"Well done!" he said excitedly. Bianca didn't understand.
Without her realizing it, a small glow began to emanate from the ring, slowly spreading over her entire body. Her eyes shone intensely.
Bianca was surprised; she had done it! She felt like she might faint from the emotion. The golden glow disappeared. She was breathing heavily, her legs were shaking, and she wanted to collapse onto the grass with a tired smile.
Lux looked at his apprentice with happiness and quickly approached the girl as she was about to fall face-first onto the ground.
On the other hand, Todd couldn't believe it. The human had done it. Even if only for a short time, she had succeeded in her first class. The only thing he could think of was the boy's words from that morning.
A hunch?
Maybe Lux wasn't as wrong as he thought.
The End.
I was thinking of publishing the history on another plataform.