The Brightest Star

Chapter 6 - Cloning

(Kára's POV):
The week of lessons went by fairly well, there was not much I could do to improve Loki's style of magic, although there was one spell I offered a suggestion to strengthen it. But on the other hand, I had not yet failed a task that Loki had set for me. He did not seem to be warming up to me at all, however I was not going to give up on him. I continuously proved to be a match to him in magic, if not slightly more advanced.

"Teleportation, are you serious? I have been using teleportation as my main source of transportation for hundreds of years," I scoffed as I rolled my eyes, something that I had picked up from him after having spent a total of three lessons with him.

"Then prove it, I will not ask you to go far as you cannot actually teleport onto or off of the property, however I would ask you to teleport to other side of the room to prove your capability," Loki explained, sitting back in one of the chairs and resting his feet up on the table.

"Your mother cannot trust you not to teleport away, I was not aware you were such a flight risk," I commented, crossing my arms.

"Naturally, there is always the possibility that I will get thrown into a cell so why would I chose to stay here unless I had to?"

"What did you do to be imprisoned in your own home?" I finally asked, sitting down atop the table and looking down at him.

"Are you trying to tell me that you have not heard the stories?" He inquired, raising his eyebrow. He then nudged me with his foot, "stop delaying and prove to me that you can teleport."

"Very well, excuse me for trying to learn more about the person I have to deal with everyday," I replied, my voice dripping with sarcasm before teleporting to the other side of the room. "Are you satisfied now?"

"Yes, it is relieving to know that you can do simple teleportation, I was half expecting you to fail at such a simple task," he commented getting up from his seat and smoothing out his clothes. "Now what do you ask of me?"

I teleported back to his side and stole the seat he had just left, "let me see your skill at cloning."

He scoffed, "you should just ask my brother about that, my clones never stop fooling him."

"Prove it then," I ordered, leaning forward on the table.

He split his body into three and I had to admit, I was impressed by the quality. Cloning was one of the more difficult things to achieve, especially if each clone was doing something different. Oftentimes clones would appear slightly transparent or else have a green glow about them, but his appeared solid. Although I certainly knew that you could not judge a clone by how it appears.

I got up from the seat and walked up to one of the clones, inspecting it at a closer distance. Loki caused the clone to roll his eyes, causing a small smirk to play at the corners of my lips. I placed my hand on the clone's arm, causing my hand to sweep right through the illusion. The green of Loki's magic shown bright around the hole I created with my touch, the illusion rebuilding itself. As I watched this, I sighed in disappointment.

"An impressive clone, but can you not make ones that are solid?" I questioned, turning back to Loki who caused the two clones to disappear.

"Of course, isn't every magician capable of creating a solid clone of themselves?" He asked sarcastically, confusing me with his lack of belief that solid clones were possible.

"I am being serious, Loki, a solid clone can be a powerful tool and if you cannot create one I would be happy to teach you, after all that is why I am here."

His brow furrowed, "you are not joking, you can actually do that?"

(Loki's POV):
"Well yes, of course," Kára replied, aggravating me slightly with her ability to do something that I could not. She then split herself into two and stepped her clone towards me, placing her hand on my shoulder.

My eyes widened when I felt her touch, half expecting her hand to go right through me. However, it remained solid and I marveled at it. I took her hand in mine and ran my fingers down the skin, shocked at how realistic the clone was.

"Come here," I instructed Kára, wanting to compare the clone directly to the original. She did as I asked and I took her hand as well, comparing hers to her clone's. The likeness was remarkable and I had never known a person to be capable of creating a solid clone.

"I cannot believe this, a solid clone was said to be impossible to make," I breathed, my eyes flickering from the clone to Kára.

"Then perhaps it was a good thing that I was not trained by books and instead by my mother who thought that anything was possible. I will admit, it does require a lot of energy until you can get used to it. Shall we begin practice?" Kára asked as her clone disappeared into thin air and she removed her hand from mine. "Now the basic concept of a solidified clone is the same, it is a similar transition from creating a translucent clone to one that appears solid, but requires a bit more energy."

Wanting to prove that I was as talented as she, I immediately attempted what she was describing. My clone appeared, but I could tell at once that I had failed and a simple wave of a hand would cause it to disappear. Shaking my head, I destroyed the clone and tried again, putting a bit more energy into it.

"Wait, Loki, you have to sensible with this or else you will pass out from exhaustion. Do not try to make the entire clone solid on your first try, focus on just one body part. Here, try to make you hand solid," Kára instructed and I did as she suggested, already feeling the affects of my overhasty attempts to show her up.

My clone lifted its hand and placed it in hers, but it went right through. I created another clone and tried again and this time the hand rested comfortably in hers, but it was too much for me to hold and I had to let it disappear. I stumbled back a bit before catching my balance, slightly dizzy with exhaustion.

"Loki, are you all right?" I heard Kára call out, but her voice sounded distant.

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(A/N): Ok so I may have rushed into this part but I was just overly excited to have them get closer and couldn't help myself. I hope you enjoy!