Nothing At All

3.4

"Fucking pardon?" It wasn't until after I said it that I regretted swearing in front of sweet old people, but it couldn't be helped. I was expecting some shitty fountain of youth story, not Twilight: Romania Edition. It was so unbelievable it almost made perfect sense.

Andrei sighed and looked at his wife. With a tiny frown, he scolded her. "Don't be so up front about it. I was going to try to ease her into the subject."

"I don't need to be eased into it, just tell me what is going on. That's the only thing I want: an explanation." I pleadingly placed my hand on top of Adela's and gave Andrei the most depressed look I could muster.

"I don't know how much we should be telling you," he mumbled. Glancing over his shoulder, he seemed to realize the tray of food was still there. "But before we say anything, you must eat. Mircalla said how much you were throwing up."

I pried my hands out of Adela's tight grip and took the tray as he handed it to me. On it was a bowl of some kind of broth, a plate of baked potatoes, and an assortment of green and dirt-colored vegetables.

My stomach churned as I looked at the food. Flashbacks of vomiting in the woods haunted me. "I don't think my stomach will be able to handle this. I still feel kind of nauseous."

"Don't worry," Adela reassured me, "I made it myself. It's a beef stew that will help calm an upside-down stomach."

I eyed the bowl and poked it with my fork. For all I know the 'beef' could be whatever Adela thought felt like cow meat in the kitchen.

Andrei noticed my nervousness and gave me a wink. "Don't worry, I watched her the whole time."

"I may be blind and old," she huffed, "but that doesn't mean I'm stupid." I didn't know whether she was directing that comment at me or Andrei.

The two sat in silence as I ate, with Adela still staring at the wall and Andrei watching me with an eager smile. He didn't seem used to being around strangers, so I was trying to give him a break for making me uncomfortable.

When I had eaten all that my stomach could handle, Andrei took the tray and set it on the floor. I waited eagerly for him to start explaining things, but he took his sweet time. I fidgeted with my hands while he got settled in.

Even Adela got impatient. "Well, what are you waiting for? You know the story better than I do."

"I am just deciding where to start, you old coot." He sighed and looked at me. "Did Mircalla tell you about her grandfather?"

"Only that he joined a club, made a bracelet, and then disappeared."

Andrei folded his hands in his lap and looked at the space above my head. "The Order was formed in the 1300's by a group of powerful wielders who wanted to find ways to increase and improve their magic skills. It was neither good nor evil; it was simply people coming together to learn the ways of magic. Mircalla's grandfather, Darius, joined the Order when he was around fifty and his family had been in power for a long time. Back then, the Mihai family ruled a considerable chunk of land in the Transylvanian mountain region, and magic was common in the bloodline. Darius stayed with the Order for over a decade before he started finding cracks in the organization. What had once started out as elite group of scholars dedicated to learning had devolved into a bunch of power-hungry leeches. Now, all of this happened before either Adela or I were alive, so most of our information has come from Mircalla.

"I don't know how much you know about magic, but the way it works is that wielders are born with a certain amount of power in their body and the more magic they use, the more exhausted and drained they become. Mircalla is not the strongest one out there, so much of her magical experience comes from reading the old books. Putting you into a sleep when she found you caused her to become nauseous. A powerful wielder, like her grandfather, could have cast the same spell without batting an eyelash. However, no matter how powerful someone is, there are certain spells and rituals that are too powerful to be used without killing the caster. Resurrection and time travel are two of things.