Magic Madness™️

Chapter Eight: You Have To Start Somewhere

Word Count: 1,576

    "Alright, Elijah. You can do this, I know you can. We're going to run the same tests, and this time, we're not going to freak out, if you turn invisible. Actually, I would like to get you to turn invisible, again, so that I know it was you that did it. I won't know you actually have the power of invisibility unless I can get some consistent results. I'm rather sure I know how to make you visible again, if I read yesterday's situation correctly, so you don't have a thing to worry about," Joan told Eli, who was standing in the same place as he had been the day before.
    "Don't waste time sugar-coating this. I'm not going to like it no matter what, so I'd like to just get this over with," Elijah replied. Joan rolled his eyes, but otherwise tried his very best not to look annoyed.
   
    "Alright, then," Joan nodded, "Close your eyes. Let's try this again."
    Elijah closed his eyes, albeit reluctantly, and held his hands out.

    He managed to dodge a few of the pebbles, but he couldn't manage to catch any of them. When he heard the signal to open his eyes again, he was very relieved to see that he was still very much visible. (A very miniscule subsect of his brain whispered that he wished it had worked, but he chose to ignore it.)

    "Well, that didn't work. I guess we'll have to up the ante," Joan said simply, crouching for a moment until he found and picked up a much larger rock. He raised his arm to throw it, and Elijah immediately raised his arms to cover his face, ducking, and turning completely invisible.

    Joan's eyebrows raised, dropping the rock carelessly.
    "I wasn't actually going to throw it, I hope you know that. You and the others use sarcasm so often, I thought I had caught on. I suppose I still need some practice. I'm...sorry."

    Elijah sighed deeply, giving up as he sat down in the grass. This had happened before, so it wasn't as much of a shock, but it was still so different and odd and Elijah didn't like it at all. It was so much to process in such a short amount of time.

    "Elijah? You still there?" Joan asked, softly.
    "Unfortunately, yeah." Elijah mumbled, knees tucked up to his chest.
    "Elijah, believe it or not, this is good," Joan tried to convince him, "Invisibility is rare, and it could be extremely useful. You just have to learn how to control it. You have to be able to turn invisible and visible on command, but in order to get there, you have to work with the training I'm giving you."
    "Okay, well maybe I don't want to! Maybe I don't want to control it. Maybe I just want to go home. Maybe I hate being here. Maybe you guys keep treating me like I'm stupid, and it makes me feel like you don't actually care," Elijah said, though it sounded less angry than sad.
    "You're not stupid, Elijah, and I know it. You know it. If you were stupid, I wouldn't bother trying to train you. If you were beyond hope, I wouldn't waste my time trying to help you get a grip and get your power under control."
    "I am beyond hope, Joan! I'm normal! Hear me? Freaking normal. I'm a normal kid with normal goals and a normal life and no 'superpowers' of any kind. I don't have the power of invisibility, and I never have. None of this is real. I'm in a video game for God's sake! This isn't possible. Nobody, no person, has superpowers, including me. I'm not special," Elijah's voice increased volume as he went on, standing up and slowly stepping back.
    "Elijah, if no person has superpowers, then what does that make me?" Joan aked, holding his arms out, vulnerable. Elijah rolled his eyes.
    "That makes you a combination of zero one one one zero one zero zero or however programming goes. You're not real. This isn't real. So stop trying to convince me that it is. Go kidnap someone that wants this kind of responsibility," Elijah said accusingly, turning his back and slowly walking away.

    He felt a pebble hit the middle of his back. He stopped.

    "Are you serious?!"
    "There you are," Joan mumbled, continuing to throw tiny pebbles in his direction. If Joan could see where the pebbles were bouncing off of something, he could locate Elijah.

    And that's how Joan ended up dragging Elijah, by the ear, back to the middle of the field.
   
    "Listen to me, Elijah. You're in danger, if you think you can wait out the rest of the game. You were chosen for a reason. You have powers for a reason. You are smart, you are powerful, you have potential, and you are, in a sense, a 'chosen one'. Now accept that you're special, and snap out of the mindset that this isn't real. Because it is very real, and I don't want you to wait until you get hurt, to find that out." Joan said, in such a way that it made Elijah confused. The way Joan had said it made Elijah feel like he was being reprimanded, but the actual words that came out of his mouth sparked the smallest amount of hope in Elijah's chest.
    Eli squinted skeptically.
    "Fine," he decided, after a moment, "I'll train. But just so you know, I don't want to do this. At all."
    "Believe me, I know," Joan groaned, finally letting Elijah go. He took several steps back, folding his arms.

    "I know how to make you invisible, now, but the trick is to learn how to make you visible, again. Being invisible is useless, if the others and I don't know where you are. Now, I've got an idea of how to do it, but if I'm correct, you have to do it by yourself. I can help make you invisible, but it's up to you to make yourself visible, again," Joan thought aloud. Elijah raised an eyebrow, folding his arms over his chest.
    "Think of something that makes you feel safe," Joan stated simply, "Think of home. Think of any siblings or pets or friends you might have, back on Earth."
    Elijah thought, for a moment. Though he vocalized his ideas of how 'stupid' he believed this to be to Joan, he actually closed his eyes and tried to focus. He fidgeted with his hands as he thought of his house. His dog, Benny, laying on his bed. All three of his cats, on the stupid cat post he had gotten them three years ago that took up a quarter of his tiny room. His friends at school. The creek by Alex's house.
    "There we go," Joan said encouragingly, though quietly.
    The normal trees that surrounded the tiny park, by his apartment complex. The much bigger park, by Alex's house. Alex's room, with their gaming chairs. The abandoned video game controllers, lying on the floor...
    "Elijah, focus. You almost had it, for a second, but I'm losing you again. Just breathe," Joan instructed.
    Elijah took a few deep breaths, and covered his face with both hands.
    Alex's room, with their gaming chairs. All of the posters of Alex's favorite shows and classic rock bands. Alex's permanently unmade bed, with all of their board and card games crammed underneath it. The stain on the rug, by the door, from when Alex had come upstairs with drinks in hand, and Elijah had jumped out at him with his Halloween mask on.
    Elijah laughed quietly behind his hands.
    "And he's back!" Joan announced happily.
    "I am?" Elijah asked, genuinely shocked. He took his hands away from his face, wiggling his fingers in front of his eyes to double check. He could see them, clear as day.
    "I guess so," Joan nodded.
    "So what do I do, now?" Elijah asked, hands dropping to his sides.
    "We do that again."

    "Alex! Alex! You would not believe-" Elijah came tumbling into Joan's house, nearly tripping down the stairs. Alex came out from the guest room, looking excited and mildly alarmed.
    "What won't I believe?" He asked, one hand lingering on the doorframe.
    "I turned invisible on command, and then I turned visible again, on command! Three times!" Elijah said rapidly, "I hate having the responsibility of superpowers, but it does feel...kinda cool to be able to do that."
    Alex patted his back. Elijah was out of breath, from running all the way from the field to the house. Joan, who walked calmly the whole way, was well behind Elijah and had yet to arrive.
    "That's super cool, man. I get it. I hate all the pressure to get my powers 'refined', or whatever, but I caught a glass almost before I dropped it, this morning, so that was awesome," Alejandro agreed.

    Amber and Evalyn watched this exchange from the kitchen, with smiles on their faces.
    "Should we tell them that we're still here? I feel like we're invading," Evalyn whispered jokingly, as Elijah and Alejandro launched into animated conversation.
    "Nah. This is perfect blackmail material. Look. He's smiling," Amber pointed to Elijah. She was being sarcastic, of course, but it actually was nice to see Elijah not moping about like a lost puppy. Evalyn sniggered, hitting Amber lightly on the shoulder, as she passed her to get to a cabinet.