Magic Madness™️

Chapter Seven: Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind

Word Count: 1,317

    Most people would be absolutely elated to find out they have superpowers.
    Elijah Matthews was not most people.

    "Joan, I don't want to do this. What if something actually happens?" Elijah asked, breaths coming short.
    "That's the point. Hopefully, something will happen. It's unlikely that you'll have the same powers as Alejandro, but it's still important to test it out," Joan said knowingly, "Now, for the last time, close your eyes."
    Elijah closed them, but only out of fear of what would happen if he didn't.
    "I don't want to do this." he repeated, arms up in front of his face defensively.
    "I know." Joan said tiredly, making sure that Elijah's eyes were closed before silently walking away. He was somewhere a few yards away from Elijah when he threw the first small stone. Unlike Alejandro, Elijah didn't catch it. He didn't even know what direction it was coming from, having not heard where Joan had walked to. The stone hit his arm.
    "Ow," Elijah said, though he didn't flinch. Another stone hit his arm, harder, this time. That time, Elijah did flinch, rubbing his arm where he was hit.
    "Ow! Alright, very funny. Can I open my eyes yet?" Elijah asked, sighing as his arms flopped lamely at his sides. He tried to make his unwillingness as obvious as he could.
    "No." Joan said shortly, walking a few yards to his right. The next stone hit somewhere around his left shoulderblade.
    "Okay, what the hell? We've clearly established I don't have any sort of super-reflexes, stop throwing rocks at me," Elijah complained. He didn't get an answer.
    "Are you even still there? Say something so I know you didn't just leave me here with my eyes closed to make me look stupid." Elijah tested. Silence. He opened his eyes, fully expecting Joan to be gone.

    Not only did he see Joan, but he saw a stone flying directly toward his face (a very small stone, a pebble, that couldn't possibly cause any lasting damage, but would still be quite startling to open your eyes to).
    On instinct, Elijah ducked and made an undignified shrieking sort of sound.
    When he stood back up and looked at Joan, Joan no longer looked smug. He looked...pitious. Empathetic, maybe.
    "Oh, you poor thing..." Joan mumbled. Elijah squinted at Joan, shoulders tensing.
    " 'The hell is that supposed to mean?" he asked defensively. Joan's lips were pressed into a thin line, and he held his breath like he was going to use it to say something, but didn't know what.
    "Um...look at your hands. And don't freak out." Joan instructed.
    "What's wrong with my hands? My hands are just-...fine..." Elijah trailed off, looking down at his hands. Well, technically, he wasn't looking at his hands. He couldn't look at his hands. He supposed that was the problem. They were gone. As was the rest of him. He could feel his hands shaking.

+10 EXP

    "Joan. Joan. What the hell. What did you do to me. Un-do it." Elijah said shakily. Joan shook his head.
    "Un-do it!" Elijah screamed, waving his hands in front of his face. He couldn't see them.
    "I can't! It's not me. That's you making yourself-"
    "Invisible. Freaking invisible." Elijah interrupted, shaking his head.
    "It happened when you saw the rock coming at you, I'm sure it happened on some sort of survival instinct. That means it should wear off in a matter of time-" Joan tried to assure him.
    "A matter of how much time?" Elijah demanded.
    "I don't know! It's your power, not mine," Joan replied, "Just calm down. If you turn invisible when you feel threatened, maybe you should work on taking a deep breath and not being threatened by everything in this realm. You're clearly very easily intimidated, and it doesn't help that your mind is in panic mode."
    "I'm not easily intimidated! And I'm not in 'panic mode,' " Elijah protested, wringing his hands just to make sure they were actually still there.
    "Listen to yourself! Elijah, take a breath. You can follow me back to my house, and I'll see what I can do to make you visible again," Joan offered, trying to keep as calm as possible. Elijah nodded, realized Joan couldn't see him, and mumbled a meek "Yeah, okay".

    Turns out, feeling invisible, being invisible, was far less fun than sci-fi and superheroes made it seem. Even when nobody was looking at him, Elijah felt like he might as well not be there. Joan was trying to talk to him on the way back to his house, but the conversation was dry, and Elijah could just tell that the only reason Joan was even trying was because he felt guilty.

    Elijah hated when people did things for him out of pity.

    It took them a little while to finally get to Joan's house, and Elijah was incredibly relieved, when they did.
    And yet, he didn't want to go in.
    But he did, following Joan closely.

    "Welcome back! How'd it go?" Evalyn asked from her place in the kitchen, as soon as she heard the door opened. When she got no answer, she sat up, on her knees (from where she was crouching, rooting through one of their lower cabinets) and peered over the counter, at the doorway.
    "Where is he?" she asked, frowning. Amber's eyes flicked up from her book, before they widened, considerably. She set her book down very slowly, standing up even slower. She looked at Joan, pointing at Elijah. Joan nodded.

    Elijah, needless to say, was confused. Even more so, when Amber walked (slowly, as if trying not to startle him) toward him and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. The look on her face was something just short of disbelief.
    The look on Elijah's face was something of shock, astonishment, fear, and curiosity, all bundled into one (not that anyone could see it right now).

    "Kid? Is that you?" Amber asked, in a low, quiet voice.
    "Uh...yeah." Elijah replied sheepishly.

    Evalyn ran out from the kitchen at the sound of Elijah's voice.
    "So you are here! What happened to you?" Evalyn asked, concern clear in her voice, eyebrows knitted together and one hand to her chest.

    Alex tripped out of the guest room, as if he had been shoved. Evalyn looked relaxed, in comparison.
    "Did something happen?" He asked, looking around the room for Elijah.
    Elijah was nowhere to be seen.
    "What happened to him?" Alex asked, rushing out of the hallway and tripping his way into the main room.
    "Nothing. He's right here." Amber clapped Elijah on the shoulder. Alex looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
    "Yeah, okay, sure. Where is he really?" Alex asked, again.
    "I'm...right here." Elijah sighed sheepishly, arms folded over his chest.

    The look on Alex's face could have been mistaken for someone who feared for their life. He looked deeply terrified.
    "Elijah?" Alex asked, pushing past Amber to put both of his hands on Elijah's shoulders. Sure enough, he was there, solid, and real.
    "Oh my god, you're okay." He breathed in relief, wrapping Elijah in a hug. Though he couldn't see him, he could feel Elijah's arms wrap around him, too.
    "Yeah, no, I'm fine." Elijah laughed breathily, "but why all the hugs? You went from like one hug a year to like three times in a day. Should I be asking if you're okay?"
    "No. I'm great." Alex chuckled, taking a step back and letting Elijah go. His eyes lit up.
    "Oh, hey! You're back." He commented, slipping his hands into his pockets.
    "I am?!" Elijah asked, looking down at his hands. He could actually see them!
    "I am!" He exclaimed, sighing loudly in relief as he slumped back against the wall.

    +10 EXP

    "So...I guess we'll just finish your first training tomorrow, then," Joan said.

    Elijah groaned.