TO HELL AND BACK

CHAPTER 2: JEALOUSY

Ten-year-old Xavion sat with his brows scrunched up as he glared at the sapling resting upon his desk. Fifth grade was the designated age for the students to start learning their magical abilities in depth. Each specie was known for having simple powers like agility, strength, immortality, the basics. Though everyone also had their individualistic magic that was unique to them. It typically wasn't discovered until their late teenage years and there was no telling what abilities they'd have in advance.

The first lesson was on florakinesis—the power to control plants. It was a mostly harmless activity which was safe for the young children to experiment with.

"I don't understand how to do this," Cyfrin whispered to Xavion. Their seats had been assigned next to each other for a month and Cyfrin took that as a sign that the two were friends, despite Xavion's wishes.

"Shut up, I'm trying to focus," Xavion grumbled, staring hard at the plant on his desk.

Cyfrin groaned before turning the girl next to him. "Lisa, do you get how to do this?"

She scowled at him. "My name is Zisa. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"Oops. I suffer from short-term memory loss," Cyfrin said with a shrug. "Now can you explain? I've been staring at this stupid plant for ten minutes and it hasn't even budged!"

"Maybe if you stopped talking for two frickin' seconds I'd be able to figure it out," she hissed, glaring daggers at Cyfrin who was entertained her irritation.

"Well maybe if you had half a brain you'd know how to!" he sassed back, trying to annoy her more out of boredom.

"You don't know how to do it either!" Zisa scoffed as she angrily crossed her arms.

"You don't know how to do it either," Cyfrin mimicked in an overly high-pitched voice.

Xavion stared at the sapling intensely. The point was to grow it into a small tree and the thought seemed easy enough. He was determined to finish the lesson first to show off his powers but the task turned out to be more difficult than he had anticipated. Anger boiled in his veins as nothing happened, Cyfrin and Zisa's bickering just pissing him off even more.

"Could you both just shut the hell up!" he suddenly shouted, cutting them both off and grabbing the entire room's attention.

"Xavion!" Mrs Uriel scolded the young demon with a disapproving look on her face.

Xavion clenched his fists but didn't say anything. No matter how badly he wanted to explode, he couldn't. Not when they'd call father and tell on him. The last thing he wanted to do was disappoint Lucifer. He turned back to the sapling, muttering empty threats under his breath.

Cyfrin began to repeatedly poke Xavion's shoulder. "Are you mad at me? I'm sorry if you are," he said with a sad pout.

Xavion glared at him from the corner of his eye, slapping Cyfrin's hand away. "Touch me again and you die."

Zisa burst into hysterical laughter when Cyfrin's face paled. Neither of them would be surprised if Xavion went through with his threat. It was typical behavior for him.

Xavion took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut. The class was still talking amongst themselves, but this time he wasn't listening. All he felt was himself and the sapling. His hands raised until they were hovering over it. They began to slightly shake as he transferred his power into the plant.

More leaves sprouted from the stem which grew a few inches taller until it was the size of a basketball. His eyes wrenched open, a wide smile growing on his face as he realized he really did it. It was his first time using his magic and the power flowing through him was exhilarating.