Seeking Magical Enlightenment (Part 3)

When our grandfather clock chimed at 7 am, we met up for our usual Wednesday morning discussion about magic in the "rat lab" as Elisa puts it. Sure, I had erased all evidence of my barbaric - I mean thoughtful experiments, but mother was still scrunching her nose at all the rat filled jars lining the walls.

"God, why do we have to do this right after breakfast? Honestly, if it wasn't for the fact that you guys were conducting research on those darn things instead of psychotically conducting human experiments on bastards like our Baron, then I would have washed all the guts, blood, and -"

Elisa held up a hand, "HHmmmmM, nope, sTop….." She took a gulp, "Mom, just continue about the wa-water..."

Rapping her fingers against the oak table, mother averted her eyes to the bucket in front of us. With a flick of a wrist, a spout of water jumped out and formed a circle. "As I said before, just like your light magic, you can't command the magic to automatically do what it is told. You actually have to understand the branch of magic you are trying to control. For water, you might first think 'oh, the water flows like a river' or 'it is boundless like the sea,' but what use are those thoughts if you don't even understand mana? You must feel the mana flowing around and within you."

She then closed her eyes and, with her free hand, made what seemed like two sporadic finger movements that caused the water to suddenly split in two. "How do we feel the mana flow? After all the explanations you have given me about light magic having to do with activating the life force of the patient to heal them, it gave me the idea that you are completely ignoring how your own body and thoughts are manipulating this event. Moreover, you three are not paying attention to see if you feel any power flowing through you as you are 'commanding' a patient's life force to fix their bodies."

With a plop, the water returned to the bucket. "Now, you should all envision yourselves healing a random cut on a patient's arm. Just go step by step through your normal thought process but I want you all to close your eyes. You need to 'feel' them healing, not see them healing."

"Pff, I got this," my father remarked as we all shut our eyes. Elisa and I had already tried this method before a couple of times, but feeling this 'mana' proved to be elusive. Like, if there ever was a time when I felt something magical, it was when we went out wolf hunting. Man, thank god that darn wolf was killed before it ripped me open like New Year's dinner. But that thing still bit me, making my whole spirit feel as if it was fighting to live, to survive. I bled, I fell, but, most of all, my spirit yelled. I gritted my teeth, refusing to go gentle into that good night. Then, I felt a warm light in my chest. It glowed bright and, following my spirit's silent screams, moved to my belly as I passed out.

It wasn't until a minute later when I woke up to a yelping wolf and Elisa screaming bloody murder. Hunger, pangs of it, racked my belly as I - no! my belly!

Startled, I opened my eyes, slightly gasping and grabbing my shirt. There, everything was there. I'm still in the rat lab. I'm still next to my 20 year old younger sis. Everything… is fine…. screw that memory.

At least my belly healed due to that bright light in time. But... how did I manage to call upon this 'light' in the first place?

Breathing in slowly, I saw my mother gazing at me causing her to tilt her head towards my father. His brow was furrowed under his long brown hair as he slowly performed small hand swipes repeatedly. He seemed to be repeating the same motions he normally carried out in the hospital. But shouldn't father have mastered this 'mana' already if he's been wielding light magic for the last 25 years now? What if it isn't in how we are moving our hands but how, when I survived that life and death wolf encounter, I summoned a ball of light? Maybe if I focus on -

"Wait!"

A small splash was heard, jerking me out of my seat. "For pete's sake Elisa! Can you just -"

"HA! I think I - "

A small spout started to unsteadily wiggle itself out of the bucket.

"YES! I - I think I -"

PLOP

Water jumped out of the bucket as Elisa lost control of the spout, to which my mother just whisked upwards while eyeing me. "Aldric, you good?"

"Pff," I batted my hand as my fear was replaced by realization. "Did - Elisa - how?!"

Excited, Elisa's red hair flew as she turned to face me, "you just have to -."

"Wait!" I held up my hand, "Don't tell me! Give me one more minute!"

Shutting my eyes, I … ugh, I focused on that harrowing memory again, trying to recreate the same glowing light. Suppressing the trembling in my hands, I let the emotions slowly overcome me again until - there! Light sparked in my chest and for a brief moment I felt it. My soul. I knew exactly what it was, thank god to those poor rats. Somehow, someway, my soul and this new light sphere were connected.

Is this mana?

Is my soul in control?

Maybe, just like how I move my hands, maybe magic is a part of me as well. But it comes from a spiritual realm instead.

Letting the light fade out, I let the same feeling ring throughout my soul. With each trial, it got easier and easier as I came to feel a certain flow of energy emanating from this blank space in my chest. Brighter and brighter, this imaginary yellow light glowed until I decided to try to direct it towards my -

"It's been a minute Aldric, you got -"

"UrggghHH, shhh!"

Darkness.

"I almost had it!"

The light had extinguished.

Muttering under my breath, I repeated the process until my hands could feel the energy coursing through them.

Opening my eyes, I stared unblinkingly at the tranquil water. 'Boundless as the sea'... that's what mother said. But if magic is energy, then…

Plop

Plip.

Plop.

One, two, three droplets jumped up and hit the water's surface sequentially, guided by this 'spiritual energy' that had somehow begun to synergize with the water in front of me.

What if I -

"Ho - How did you - ?"

"Ap Pa pA pA Pa Pa. Silence - please."

Jerking a small strand of energy upwards, a small spout shot out. Standing perfectly still, it glistened in the candle light.

"Hehehe." The spout flew up, forming a triangle, a square, a circle. I even made it fly around Elisa's head.

"You were saying?"

But Elisa's eyes kept darting between my hands and the water now reflecting her olive colored face.

"How - How are you moving the water without moving any part of your body?! Aren't you controlling the energy flowing through your body with something?" Peeking under the table, she continued, "is it your feet?"

"Yes, how are you doing that?!" My mother asked, now also pulling out her own strand of water and fiddling with it. "I can feel the slightest disturbances of energy when I flick my hands as so, so with time I learned what movements work against or along with this energy to make the water flow smoothly."

"No... i'm just controlling this energy inside of me with my soul."

"Energy inside of you? Soul?" My mother arked an eyebrow.

"Yesss - wait, you guys can't feel it?"

Their brows furrowed as they shook their heads all the while my father was now intently listening in on the conversation.

"Hmm, well, it was actually what I was going to talk about next. You know how I mentioned creating soul bonds with the rats yesterday? I could feel my whole being shake with the rat's emotions, hence I'm calling this part of me my 'soul'. As for controlling the energy inside of me, my soul is somehow able to summon energy from here," I patted my chest. "As for how it's creating this energy, I have no idea."

"Hmmm, sooull," my mother rolled over the word. "And how exactly do you call upon your soul?"

My face scrunched up a bit as I lifted a finger, "well… if you don't mind, I can show you. I just have to… connect to you."

My finger tip started to glow with a white ghost like energy, causing my mother's head to slightly rear back. "Yes, well, I suppose that's -"

"Umm, can I go first Aldric?" Elisa replied with her hand raised.

"Ha," I scratched the back of my head. "This process is gonna be a little weird. I guess, if you really want to."

"Alright." Closing her eyes, she placed her hands on her chest while taking in a deep breath. "I'm… ready."

Nodding, I summoned the white spectral cord to connect both of us and then -

"WooAhh!"

Anticipation, doubt, a slight urge to vomit, and a chiseled face of Jonathan flooded into my mind. There was so much information passing through that I was overwhelmed before I could even close the floodgates between our minds. However, another mental prod from Jonathan's face surrounded by pleasant dreamy excitement followed by -

"Oh god NO!" I yelled, closing the mental floodgates while grabbing my head with my free hand. "Who the hell is Jonathan?!"

"EEE!"

Anxiety pierced through our mental connection as I glanced at the now heavily blushing ginger.

"No, nO, NO!" Erratically, her hands tried cutting the spectral cord connecting both of us. "Stop - stop iT! Stop reading my mind!"

Like hell I want any piece of your mind! Good god, for heaven's sake!

Focus. I need to focus.

And then realization hit me. Why is my sister dreaming of - oh ugHH,

No!

She's my darn sister, a 20 year old 'innocent' ginger who can't be having these - thoughts - about some random bum without my consent! Who's gonna put that idiot in his place? I can't have him -

"Aldric!"

A wave of outrage broke down my mental barrier, letting me feel the full fury as Elisa drilled her eyes into my skull.

"HMMMM," I grunted, sealing the torrent of emotions, only allowing specific thoughts to pass through. Elisa's eyes began to twitch at this, as if I had purposely wanted to venture into the depths of her mind.

Never again.

"Don't - don't - think - to - much. You're breaking - my mental thought - ba-barrier," I wheezed.

A few seconds later, the barrage subsided and, after calming myself down for a good minute, I started re-performing my water magic steps. I let my feelings pass through to her as I went through the motions of summoning the ball of light and making a spout rise out of the water. I didn't even need to move the energy to my hands now, but could keep it in the same pit in my chest while molding it or moving it according to the motions I wanted the water to make.