Magic 3

Seconds that felt like eternities passed as Lin looked at his sculpture that had gruesomely come to life.

It approached him as Yukiko would by rubbing against his legs, and mewed for attention. Cautiously, Lin picked up the creature from under its armpits and lifted and turned it around to examine it. Everything seemed normal and there was no sign that he was able to distinguish this Yukiko from the original.

It was a bit smaller, but almost unnoticeably so.

Surprisingly Yukiko seemed confused too, turning her head and twitching her ears in all directions.

About three minutes after Yukiko came to life Lin was hit with another headache, thoughts and images flew into his head. He lowered his head and cradled it with his hands.

Once it passed Lin opened his eyes and looked at Yukiko in a new light.

"Magic…"

Lin was baffled at how he didn't see any magic being used before, because according to these memories people in the village used it almost daily, although only for chores.

Small moments that confused Lin were put together, and suddenly a lot of things made sense. Clothes drying extremely fast, fire temperatures being the perfect temperature almost instantly, and gardens that were always freshly weeded and plowed.

He felt stupid for not questioning it sooner. His time spent in the village had just been recovering from 'waking up'.

This proved to him, he was not on the Earth that he knew. Before, he guessed that it could be an earlier time period. However magic made it clear that this was a different world.

"Then, what is this place?" Yukiko nudged Lin's arm, making him acknowledge the mysterious fur ball in his arms.

Lin then started paying attention to Yukiko. Something shiny on her neck glinted in the sun and caught his eye.

Yukiko had a collar, one that Lin never recalled putting on her. Pulling the token closer to his face he squinted to read it.

On the front it read,

Yukiko, companion

A lifetime friend from another world. Desperate, you brought her into this one. Will your companionship last through this life too?

Flipping it over, more information was shown.

Bonus:

The First - When plagued by illness, Yukiko will heal you. Limits apply.

Raises agility and intellect

Nothing on that token made much sense, but Lin could guess. It seems he gets stronger with Yukiko around.

A growl erupted from Lin's stomach and the sun had started to droop in the sky. He started to feel guilty about being out for so long, considering what happened to Alvar last time.

As Lin walked back, he talked to Yukiko who rested on his shoulders.

"I dunno Yukiko, sometimes it feels like I'm me, Amd other times it's like I'm Alvar. It's so confusing."

A mew was received in response.

"Exactly, great point." Lin of course had no idea what Yukiko was saying, but it felt refreshing to talk to someone about this.

As they approached the village from a distance, Yukiko started to shake and Lin felt very tired. Yukiko dropped to the ground and the disgusting process from flesh to wood began. Bones snapping, blood condensing, it was nauseating and Lin had to look away.

When he looked back, his sculpture had shrunk to fit in the palm of his hand. It was warm, as if it had been sitting in the sun for a long time.

He picked it up, inspected it, and then put it into his pocket with a confused but accepting shrug.

Lin felt slightly tired, but could not figure out why.

As he trudged back home he waved to neighbors with a lazy smile. Once he was at his door, he opened it to find his mother cooking and his father doing patchwork on some jeans.

They noticed him immediately and hugged him, giving a mix of welcome homes and don't leave for that long agains'.

He awkwardly laughed, and melted into their embrace.

"What's for dinner?"

After their meal, while Lin was washing the dishes in a barrel of water, he brought up magic.

"Um, could you guys teach me about magic?"

His parents stopped their chores and looked up in surprise.

"I thought you said you had no interest, since…"

Mother's sentence trailed off, smoothly enough not to catch Lin's attention.

"Why would anyone not want to learn magic?! Even though I am him, I don't know what was running through Alvar's mind when he declined." Lin thought. He tried searching his memory to find out why he said no, but couldn't find any trace of it.

"Well, I guess it's better this way, but you cannot blame yourself if something happens again, okay?" Lin's father requested.

"Huh?" Lin's face contorted with confusion as he spoke. "What do you mean?"

Everyone in the house stopped with a confused silence.

"You don't remember?" His mother's eyebrow raised.

Noticing the tension in the air, Lin started to laugh it off to try and avoid any suspicion.

Before he could utter a word, Lin's mother interrupted him with a cold voice.

"I suppose that's for the best."

Lin started up another conversation to ease the mood, and quickly went to bed.

"Why is every single day here so confusing?"