Teenage Sorcerers: Prophecy Foretold

Chapter 3: Advanced Abilities

The next day came as the teens met up earlier in the afternoon, around 3:00 pm. They all decided to hang for a while until it was time to visit Lucius in the hut. They were killing the leftover hours in the playground by Andre's house, which almost never got any visitors. "What do you think Lucius is going to teach us?" Andre asked as he was leaning up against the wire fence. "Maybe actual combat skills? We don't know anything about this stuff so we can't exactly predict what we're going to learn." Sabbi responded while gently swinging on the swing. As the teens continued their discussion, a ringing sound could be heard. As the ringing continued to go off, a faint voice could be heard coming through. This kept happening until they could hear what the voice was saying: 'Bring a crate of chocolate milk and a bag of lemons'. After the message went through, the ringing stopped and the voice went away. "Did you guys hear that?" Kenneth asked as he rubbed his ears. "Yeah, it sounded like Lucius...something about lemons and chocolate milk.." Bryan replied as he got off of the slide he was sitting in. "I guess we gotta bring them to him?" Sabbi shrugged and got off the swing. The group walked over to their nearest grocery store and picked up some lemons and chocolate milk before making their way back to the woods to give Lucius what he requested. Once they made it to the hut, they knocked on the door, waiting patiently until Lucius answered. "Wonderful! My message went through!" Lucius cheered as he ushered the teens inside. "How did you do that? With the message?" Andre asked as he set the lemons and chocolate milk on the small table. "I forgot to mention to you all that I possess the ability of telepathy." Lucius smiled as he went towards the small pile of groceries. "That's so cool! But why did you want us to pick up chocolate milk and lemons?" Sabbi asked as she went to the bookshelf to look through Lucius's books. "No particular reason, I just love chocolate milk!" Lucius smiled widely as he opened the crate and drank one of the bottles. "And the lemons are for lemon water, another one of my favorite drinks!" As Lucius continued to drink bottle after bottle of chocolate milk, Sabbi went up to him while holding up a stack of several different books. "You know all of these languages?" She asked as she set the stack next to the crate of chocolate milk. One book was in English, another was in Russian, another in Spanish, and so on. "Oh yes, that's another one of my magical abilities! I can understand all languages and other forms of communication!" "Damn dude, how did you get abilities like that? Do we get to have those too with the other magical stuff?" Bryan asked as he tried to turn the box tv on. "You do, but everyone's abilities will be different. You all will get two abilities, but you'll need to train them in order to use them to their fullest extent, they won't just be given to you at max power. And you all get them at different times, so don't feel disappointed if you're the last one to receive them." Lucius reassured them as he made his way to the floor door. "Are you all ready for training? Today you'll get your own companions!" Lucius smiled. "Companions? You mean like sidekicks?" Chaz asked as she and the others followed Lucius down the ladder. "To some degree, yes." Lucius responded as he led the teens to the arena once again. Before the group could ask anymore questions, Lucius pulled out a golden whistle that was wrapped around his neck. He blew it harshly, letting out a loud yet gentle sound. After a few seconds, an aqua green smoke came out of the whistle, slowly forming into a person. Once the smoke cleared up, a zombie-like man stood before them, holding a fishing rod and dressed like a fisherman. "This is my companion, Caspian. Don't let his looks stir you away, he's actually quite friendly when he's not in combat." Lucius went over to Caspian and led him towards the group. Caspian, being 6'5, looked down at the group before giving them a crooked and broken smile along with a little wave. The group smiled and waved back before looking over at Lucius, who was making his way towards a small desk that was set at the corner of the room and picking up a large book. "This book has all the things that'll help me teach you all about your future abilities and your companions. Based on a manifesting test, we'll get to see which creature from this list will be best suited for you. And a quick heads up, they all come with their own singular ability, but they're all stuck at level one. How about we have you come up first for the manifesting test?" Lucius asked as he pointed to Kenneth. Kenneth nervously went up to Lucius before being seated on the floor. Lucius asked him to close his eyes and relax, putting himself in a mediation-like state. A burst of light came from the book's pages after Kennethn sat there for a few seconds, the light soon forming a small gargoyle with decrepit wings. Everyone stared in awe as the gargoyle quickly flew over to Kenneth, examining him before landing on his head and beginning to rest. "Looks like you've intrigued the gargoyle!" Lucius smiled as he looked through the page that had the gargoyle's information. "His ability is light manipulation! You also get to name your companion." He looked down at Kenneth, who was pondering on a name for his new companion. "Xile!" Kenneth called out, causing the gargoyle to become alert and get off of Kenneth's head. "Alright, we'll put it in the book so it's permanent." Lucius took out a pen from his pocket and wrote down the gargoyle's new name. Lucius then called up Bryan, asking him to do the same thing he had Kennethn do. After he did so, a large demon-like ghost came out of the book, his entire figure completely red and possessing darkness manipulation. As the ghost quickly became accustomed to Bryan, he decided to name him Mephisto. Lucius did the same thing to everyone else in the group: Sabbi getting a tall and slender tree-like creature with a tattered nightgown and a cracked porcelain doll head, Chaz getting a tall skeleton man wearing a black cloak with long sleeves, and Andre getting a ghost like figure similar to Bryan's but smaller and completely white. Lucius wrote down the names for everyone's companions and explained to the group each of their companions' abilities. Sabbi named her companion Acqualina, her having the ability of astral projection. Chaz named hers Wilyam, possessing telekinesis. And Andre named his Tempest, him having the ability to manipulate thunderstorms. Lucius told the group to go home and collect items that held significance to them and that they'll have on them at all times so they can use it as an embodiment source for their companions to reside. The group climbed up the ladder and were about to leave the hut before hearing loud yet tiny thuds of water coming from outside. They peeked through the door after opening it a crack, seeing now a severe rainstorm coming towards their area. "Shit, now what do we do?" Andre sighed as he closed the door. "You all can stay here until the storm clears up if you'd like." Lucius offered as he got up from the ladder and closed the floor door. "That would probably be for the best, it looks pretty bad out there..." Bryan pointed out as the rain began to increase. "Wonderful! I'll make dinner for all of us!" Lucius cheered as he rushed over to his small kitchen corner. The teens took their same spots in the living room area, talking amongst themselves while drinking some of the chocolate milk they brought earlier. "Don't you guys think there's something more to this?" Sabbi asked, causing everyone to think for a moment. "Maybe...but what exactly do you mean by something more?" Bryan asked as he finished his chocolate milk. "Like...I know Lucius said this whole thing is about trying to restore the Crystal Calamity, but don't you think that us getting abilities and now companions is a bit much? If we're really only going to be restoring this crystal thing, then why do we need to learn all this extra shit? Do we really need all of this for a single task?" "You're right, that is a lot for a single task." Lucius spoke, suddenly appearing behind Sabbi, causing her to jump a bit. "But that's only because this isn't for just a single task, it's much more than restoring the Crystal Calamity. I didn't mention this yet because I didn't want to put pressure on you all, but there's other groups out there just like you guys, but they all have different intentions. There's one group in particular that'll be the biggest obstacle for us, run by a woman named Blanche, but she and her group are trying to do the opposite of what we're training to do. They want to destroy the remainder of the Crystal Calamity, but nobody knows exactly why. There were rumors going around about them doing it so nobody could possess mythical abilities and plan to kill off anyone else who had already gained these powers so they could be the only group that not only had these special powers but to take all the powers left in the world." Lucius explained while handing everyone each a paper plate. "Wait, so there's a psycho lady and her killer group who are not only going after the Crystal Calamity but technically plan on killing us along with other mythical users?" Chaz asked as Lucius went over to the small stove and pulled out a tray from the oven. "I'm afraid so...I'm sorry for not telling you all this sooner, I just didn't want you all to worry or feel pressured when training. After all, I'm already putting so much onto you guys, I thought telling you this could ruin your progress." "I mean, we already agreed to do this combat stuff while still having the chance of dying if we didn't restore the Crystal Calamity, so I'm not sure how this is any different." Sabbi pointed out as Lucius placed a serving of lasagna onto her paper plate. Lucius continued to explain the situation while serving the lasagna he made to the rest of the teens. "You don't have to worry though, especially once you gain control of your abilities. Once I finish training you guys, you'll be unstoppable!" "Not with this loser on our team." Bryan lightly smacked Kenneth's arm while poking fun at him. "Now Bryan, I know as friends you all like to poke fun at each other, but this isn't the best time to be doing that. We must take this matter seriously, and I trust that you all will achieve greatness in this mission." Lucius praised them as he set the tray of the remaining lasagna on the stove before serving himself a piece. "We'll be fine, we can kick anyone's ass just as we are, imagine how we'll be with mythic powers!" Sabbi smiled as she stuffed her face with the lasagna. "Well, not everyone here can kick ass normally..." Chaz spoke while glancing over at the male teens. This had them all protesting and going against what Chaz said, causing an argument to erupt, but mostly filled with jokes and playful teasing. Lucius watched all of this happen while standing by the stove, eating his food. Even though he's only known the teens for a short period of time, he already felt a close connection with them, almost seeing them as like his own children rather than his students. After everyone finished eating, Lucius took the paper plates and threw them away. Despite being in the hut for the past hour and a half, the rainstorm remained ongoing, even getting a bit worse. As the group remained in their spots, Lucius went over to them and offered an idea. "How about you all get comfortable with your new companions? I can summon them from the book for you so you all can form a connection with them!" The teens quickly agreed and followed Lucius back down the ladder. Lucius summoned all five of the creatures and had them go to their masters. "Wilyam can kick your companions ass!" Chaz grinned at Bryan, trying to entice him into challenging her to a battle. "You can think whatever you wanna think, your opinions don't mean shit." Bryan remarked as he turned his attention back to Mephist. Lucius went back upstairs to clean up his hut, so he wasn't aware of what was going on between the teens. "Your companion is shit! And I can prove it right now!" Chaz smirked as she turned to Wilyam. "Wilyam, fight Bryan's companion!" she ordered, only for Wilyam to stare down at her without saying or doing anything. "What are you waiting for? Do something!" Chaz commanded, but still received no response. "Did you forget that we need to build a relationship with our companions first?" Sabbi looked over at her. "Besides, we shouldn't be using our powers or companions against each other. I know you and Bryan don't like each other, but we're a team now, so you two need to put aside your bullshit and at least try to work together." Bryan and Chaz remained silent before going back to spending time with their companions. By the time Lucius came back, the teens managed to be decently acquainted with their companions. "It'll take a little while longer for your companions to get closer to you, but after some time, they'll get used to you being in charge." Lucius informed them as he reverted the creatures back into his book. "I also noticed that the rainstorm is starting to die down, so it should be safe for you guys to go back home." The teens went back upstairs with Lucius and waved goodbye to him as they left the hut. Despite the rain going away, there was still a strong wind left behind. The group tried their best to keep warm and make their way back home, getting easily annoyed by the wind. Bryan was in the back of the group, being the most annoyed by the harsh wind. As Bryan put his hand up to block the wind from his face, he froze when he realized that the wind suddenly stopped around him. He looked around and could see the wind was still blowing, but now the wind was circling around him instead of hitting him directly. "Guys, what the hell is going on..?" Bryan called out to the rest of the group, making them stop in their tracks and turn to him. They all were stuck in their spots, all having slight mixed reactions to what Bryan was doing. Kennethn was more terrified of what was going on, while the rest watched in amazement. "Holy shit, dude! This has to be one of your abilities!" Sabbi rushed over to him and watched as Bryan slowly moved his arm around, causing the wind to follow his movements. As Sabbi and Andre began to watch Bryan control more of the wind, Chaz rushed back to the hut to tell Lucius what was going on. Lucius quickly followed Chaz to where the others were, watching Bryan perform his wind tricks in excitement. "This is remarkable! The first person to develop their ability and it's an ultra rare type!" "Ultra rare?" Chaz looked up at Lucius in confusion. "Oh yes, another thing I forgot to mention is that the abilities have rarities to them. In Bryan's case, he now has aerokinesis, an ultra rare ability that lets him control the wind." "There's going to be a lot of stuff you're going to forget to tell us, isn't there?" Chaz crossed her arms at him. "I suppose so, my memory isn't what it used to be." Lucius gave out a chuckle as he shrugged and made his way towards Bryan. "Be careful with this ability, Bryan. Remember, don't use these powers for bad intentions, we need to harness these abilities to do good." "Of course, that's the whole point of us agreeing to do all this sorcery stuff with you!" Bryan looked over at him as he soon let go of the wind, letting it have control of itself once again. Lucius smiled and wished them well once again before heading back into his hut. The group of teens continued talking about Bryan's new ability, still in shock on how he was the first to get his. By the time they all got home, it was 10 pm and the street lights were brighter than usual, but nobody seemed to notice or care. As the group were saying their goodbyes, they all felt something strange going on, a dark aura filling the air around them. They looked around, thinking someone was watching them, but they saw nothing. They tried to ignore the feeling of eeriness, not once noticing something emerging from the woods that they had just left.