Finding Home

Chapter 20 - A Day Off pt. 2

"A month," he answered. "She's never held it that long before though. The longest was a few seconds."

I laughed in delight. I had never met someone who advanced as quickly as I have when it comes to magic before. She was also self-taught, like I was. Kola was matching my progress and I had never been more excited. "When is the soonest we can meet?" I asked.

"Don't you need to prepare?" he asked in confusion.

I waved my hand dismissively. "I will work through the night."

He seemed surprised. "Why do that when we can begin later?"

I grinned. "Kola will be an amazing sorceress. The best this universe has ever seen. Especially if she begins her training now."

"Even better than Hecate?" he asked, his eyes wide.

"Hecate will pale in comparison to your sister," I declared. "She is brilliant already, and she will have the protogenos of sorcery as a mentor."

He grinned. "She will have a good life, then." He paused and thought carefully. "She can start tomorrow. It is a weekend, so we don't need to worry about school. The caretakers won't question it if I just say I got a job and was given permission to being her along," he said.

"Let's make it happen, then. If you want a job, I can get you one. That way you will not be lying," I promised. "I can convince Perseus to give you a job. What do you like to do?"

"You're serious?" he asked.

"Of course," I said. "Perseus has agreed to make a private training area for us, and promised to do anything to help. What would you like to do?"

He smiled slyly. "Yes, I'm sure you could get him to do anything." I sent him a pointed look and he grinned before thinking for a moment. "I'll take whatever he gives me," he decided.

I nodded. "Alright. I will call you with the details tonight."

We talked for a while longer. He told me more about Kola. Her personality. What she likes and dislikes. Her hobbies. He loved talking about her. I could hear the pride in his voice as he spoke about her. She helped everyone she could and always included people. She loved to practice magic and read, but hated school. She kept trying to get Nolan to withdraw her and homeschool her because the teachers were too restricting but he didn't have the time or authority to do that. She liked to write short stories, but never let him read them. She loved drawing as well. She was a talented singer and musician. She wrote and composed her own songs, but also loved to do covers.

I asked about him and he hesitantly told me about himself. He didn't get much time to himself, as he was always caring for Kola and the other children. He loved spending time with her, of course, but he admitted that some time to himself would be nice. He loved puzzles and any kind of strategy or logic game. I quickly learned that he was smart. Way smarter than he let on. He was also very talented. Having grown up taking care of children, he taught himself to cook, sew, and take care of sick kids. He was athletic, but didn't like sports. He didn't ever get the chance to date or really discover what he liked to do because of the responsibilities that were piled on him at a young age.

Eventually, he had to go back to class and I wandered around until I found Perseus. He was conversing with a young boy, who I assumed was Ray. When Ray spotted me, he waved and spoke in heavily accented English. "Hello. My name is Raymond. What is yours?"

Perseus smiled proudly as I answered. "Hello Raymond. My name is Loki. I am a friend of Perseus."

He looked confused and Perseus translated for him. Raymond smiled at me and nodded. "I say bye now," he said before running off.