SECOND THOUGHTS ARE TOO LATE

It wasn't just the showy magic in its ever changing barrel design, this pen... From the moment Mr Tegan took it out, I felt the hairs on my skin stand.

The pen was calling out to me.

This surprised me. I had never had an object call out to me before. Also, wasn't that only something that happened in Lycan tales - with objects like swords and the occasional heirloom jewellery? I couldn't explain it, but my heart was drawn immediately to it.

Was this pen calling out specifically to me or did it call out to everyone who comes into contact with it.

What was my Grandpa Alpha thinking to give such a treasure away? Did the pen not call out to him?

Also, I would like to just point out that the pens we had seen being manufactured in this workshop were NOT 80% of the original pen like Mr Tegan had said. I wouldn't even give them a 60%. Because the pen was magic like ALIVE magic.

"It's beautiful." I breathed, my hair curling at the ends from the pure pleasure of meeting it.

"Does the Alpha Princess do calligraphy?" Mr Tegan asked, "They say one can write as if with a brush with a good fountain pen."

I nodded, although it was my first time hearing it.

"If the Alpha Princess might honor our shop with a verse or two, I would be happy to lend you the pen." Mr Tegan offered.

He gestured to the walls in the private lounge. Mr Tegan was a collector of calligraphy, and I supposed he felt something written by the hand of the Alpha Princess would be worth something.

"Okay." I nodded and tried to not look too excited.

The moment I agreed to pen something, Mr Tegan got his assistant to come over with a camera. I found myself pushed over to stand in front of the wads of paper. Mr Tegan placed the pen back in its case and then placed the entire tray closer to me.

"Can I really use that?" I wondered.

"Of course, it would be an honour." Mr Tegan assured me, "This pen was a gift from your grandfather to mine, and it would be nothing short of a blessing for the Alpha Princess to use it to grace our collection."

I wondered just how aware Mr Tegan was of the magic he had collected over the years on his walls through his calligraphy alone.

{Fun.} Boo promised. This made me hesitate, but how dangerous would it be to use a pen? What harm can a pen do?

"I didn't know our Alpha Princess knew calligraphy." Delta Felicity commented.

Yeah, that was another life ago, but I glanced at the pen still in its opened case. I reached out and then hesitated again. The magic on the pen was so strong, it was like a forcefield in itself. 

"May I really?" I asked, just to be sure. Magical items of this class weren't meant to be shared. In fact, some of them (for example, my magic bow) would only work for certain bloodlines and some were bonded by magic to a single user.

Mr Tegan nodded eagerly, "Please do. As I said, would be an honor."

Okay. I gingerly picked up the pen. It was a lot lighter than it looked. Oh wait… I frowned at the pen in my hand, "It's missing a stone."

"What?" Mr Tegan looked completely flummoxed.

I turned the pen over in my hand and tried to feel for it, "There is something unusual here. Like it's unbalanced because a stone is miss…"

Just as I turned the pen over and ran the tip of my index finger down the barrel, the pen turned on its own with a click sound. I almost thought I broke it, but I reminded myself that it had turned and clicked on its own. (It wasn't me.)

I removed the part that turned, flaring as I pushed a bit of magic into it to make it work. The catch inside the pen unlocked and it opened to show its cartridge.

"Oh, I see this isn't the Princess' first time handling such a pen." Mr Tegan concluded.

Actually, it was. But it wasn't the first time I handled a new magical treasure. Magic treasures were made for magic users, so it was instinctive? The trick was to NOT think too much about how to make it work. With magic, it was always easier to just wing it.

Actually, maybe not. Maybe I was the only one who winged it. Maybe all the other magic users actually knew what they were doing and were using magic intentionally.

The moment the cartridge was exposed it became obvious that the pen was not just missing a stone… it was quite a few stones really. There were only two left, and one of them was half its original size.

"Oh dear." Mr Tegan worried, "I need new stones. Run downstairs and fetch a vial."

Mr Tegan was talking to his assistant who stopped taking photos to go, but Ben took out a tic tac box, "Will these work?"

One glance and I recognized these little stones. They were the same one from the rose plant growing at home. These stones turned out to be really useful - they were the same ones that powered my diadem, and as Alpha Gunter had taught them, could be used to create a spirit bind when flicked at whatever you needed bound.

Were these stones the standard battery for small magical artifacts? I really should thank Haku the next time I saw him for such a practical gift.

"A tic tac box, beta?" Ki asked, smiling his beautiful smile.

Ben tapped it against his palm and dispensed them like tictacs, "It works." 

Why was Ben carrying magic stones in his pocket? It better not be to spirit bind me in ghost form!

Mr Tegan was staring at the stones like he couldn't believe his eyes. When Ben handed the stones to him, he reverently received the few stones in his large cupped hands, "Such pure stones! The clarity and color!"

He looked over at his assistant, "I need a tray! And my glass!"

He had this perfectly magical pen and he was getting excited over the stones? That was like getting a super cool remote controlled gadget and excited over the batteries, right?

Apparently, not all magic stones are of the same quality. Mr Tegan simply had to examine them further. He used a tray, tweezers, a funny magnifying glass that looked like something jewellers used to look at diamonds. I wondered what he could see with it? Cut Clarity Color… I vaguely remember overhearing Lorent ladies talk about diamonds like that in my previous life. Fancy people were very particular about all sort of things, from their alcohol to their shiny stones.

Anyway, I took Ben's tic tac box of magic stones and tapped out a few more. I filled the cartridge because I didn't really have the patience to watch Mr Tegan examine the stones. I'm not sure how, but I managed to get all the parts turned back into place with all the appropriate clicks.

The pen felt heavy now, like my bow when it was "loaded" with magic. I felt quite excited to write. I even knew exactly what lines to pen! It was going to be the first line of a lycan lullaby, and an ode to my soul mate ~ <3< p>

Here's hoping that a fountain pen would really deliver the ink like a calligraphy brush. Here's hoping the skills that Lala gained were transferable. Here's hoping… Since my pen was already poised above the paper, it was kind of too late to have second thoughts. (I really should do the thinking BEFORE I picked up the pen.)

"The larger paper below can be used to test the pen first…" Mr Tegan said, but too late for that too. My pen's nib touched the paper and I wrote, "Tyger, Tyger, burning bright…"

On second thoughts, that might not have been the safest choice of verse. I just remembered, ancient lycans taught very strong magic to their little ones. Second thoughts would be very useful if they had come sooner.

On the bright side, the penmanship was beautiful.