𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 — science or magic?

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 "𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐎𝐅 the mystic arts is as old as civilization. The sorcerers of antiquity called the use of this language spells" The Ancient One began once Stephen had taken his seat beside Emilia who had swiftly found her stop atop an old cushion and tucked her legs beneath her, "But if that word offends your modern sensibilities, you can call it program. The source code that shapes reality. We harness energy drawn from other dimensions of the multiverse, to cast spells, conjure shields and weapons to make magic."

 The Ancient One, as she spoke, moved her hands before her in intricate patterns that Stephen could barely keep up with, though his eyes had widened to drink every ounce of magic in. Emilia, however, sat back with a small smile adorning her features, well aware of the spell the Ancient one was displaying.

 Amber and golden sparks alighted the three of them, circles formed and lines dribbled out of them all connecting to make a bigger picture, it was as though the Ancient One was simply reiterating her point from the previous day, you do not see the whole.

 Once the spell was complete, Emilia turned to Stephen only to see a smile of amazement on his face, his eyes weren't even blinking, staying wide as though he almost couldn't believe what was happening before him, and then, like that, the spell fizzled out into light sparks that rained down on the three of them like confetti.

 Emilia never grew tired of it, seeing the Ancient One and the other sorcerers cast spells; it was magnificent, enchanting almost. Even just the simplest of spells, even just conjuring a portal with the sling ring brought pure wonder to Emilia. She felt like a child again, not a worry in the world... Until she was finally reminded that her particular gift was not as magnificent nor kind. It didn't spark joy, it drained it.

 Stephen's gaze followed the few sparkling lights that fizzled out in the light breeze that drifted around them before shaking his head, a sigh falling from his lips. His sight was trained upon the hands resting on his knees, dialled in on the long, pink scars that would permanently stain his skin and be a constant reminder of the very night his life fell apart. He could barely sign his name, let alone create the very magic the Ancient One had displayed to him.

 "Even if my fingers could do that, my hands would just be waving in the air." Stephen spoke without a trace of arrogance in his tone, nor aggravation, just genuine intrigue, "I mean, how do I get from here to there?"

 "Emilia, tell us, how is it you obtained your PHD's?" The Ancient One questioned the young woman in the room, her tone calm and soothing, just as always.

 Stephen blinked, shock coating his form as he turned his head to the woman seated beside him, their needs just barely brushing against one another.

 Emilia, however, ignored the look and answered the question with sincerity, the very way the Ancient One wished and knew she would answer, "Studying, practice, more studying."

 And that was putting things lightly. Emilia had studied from the moment she could read and write, she devoted all of her time and energy to science... She paved the way for herself in a country that wasn't her own, a country that wasn't all too accepting of outsiders. She paved the way for herself, and other little children with eyes filled with wonder that looked and sounded different from those around them.

 "And you, Stephen? How did you get to reattach severed nerves and put a human spine back together, bone by bone?" The Ancient One called towards her newest student who seemingly had trouble tearing his eyes from Emilia.

 "Uh, study and practice... years of it." Stephen supplied stiffly, his eyes closing upon the mere realisation that he'd have to go through the very same motion, study and practice, every day, for however long it took for his hands to finally produce even the smallest of sparks.

 The Ancient One tipped her head towards the man, confirming his thoughts before raising herself to her feet. Bare feet padded along the cold wooden floor as she made her way towards the short stack of books Emilia had retrieved, the very books she had once read and mastered efficiently.

 "These books are the very basics... I asked Emilia to retrieve these for you. Read them, read them again, and within a few days, you'll join Emilia and the other students in more of a... Practical setting."

 The books were carefully placed beside Stephen, and with a short nod towards Emilia, the Ancient One left the room, her robes billowing around her bare ankles. Silence befell them as Stephen gingerly picked up one of the books, running his scarred fingers down the spine before flipping it open and frowning at its contents.

 Emilia, catching the look of utter confusion on his face, gathered the rest of his books in her arms, "Did you expect their contents to be in English? You'll find most of these are either in Tibetan, Hindi and Nepalese... Luckily for you, I can help you translate. Come on."

 Emilia left him no choice, her arms were tangled around his books, and the scuffed boots that climbed up her shins had already carried her out the corridor, leaving the man to scramble to his feet and chase after her in an attempt to not be left behind.

 They had a small conversation, primarily with Stephen asking simple questions about the Kamar-Taj and its history, followed by Emilia answering with all of the information she'd gathered from the Ancient One. She was a scientist, yes, but history fascinated her. Knowing of what came before them was intriguing, and knowing that she had once been contributing towards their future filled her with glee.

 They passed by students perched on wooden benches, they passed by Mordo who was sparring with a partner that had replaced Emilia, until Emilia finally turned the corner towards her spot of the courtyard.

 Well, it wasn't quite her spot, per se, but Emilia was known to enjoy her own company. She could be sarcastic and loud, but ultimately Emilia enjoyed sitting down beneath the large willow tree that created a curtain of branches and read the books Wong had offered to her.

 Without stopping, Emilia trudged forward, ducking beneath the willow branches that spewed from the trunk like a fountain, and finally, when she was shrouded in the shade the tree offered, small peeks of sunlight glittering through the gaps, Emilia dropped herself to the ground and spread the books around her.

 Stephen took a second or two to follow her, eyeing the tree as though it were a portal the Ancient One had conjured before finally ducking through, huffing and puffing as the slim branches smacked at his face.

 "Is the tree necessary?" The former surgeon grumbled as he settled beside the woman who stared up at him with amusement.

 Emilia shrugged as she let out a small breath of a laugh at the sight of the towering man grumbling over the tree, "Yes, if you want me to translate for you, that is."

 "How do you know how to translate this?" Stephen muttered as he stared down at the book that had symbols and pictures smeared across the pages in fading black ink.

 "I've been here for quite some time now Stephen, the Ancient One helped me learn quite a lot."

 "Is she always so..." Stephen trailed off, almost biting his tongue to stop himself from insulting the very person who had agreed to heal him, who had agreed to give him a home despite his ignorance and arrogance that he'd displayed upon his arrival.

 "...So? So what? Direct? Yes, she's blunt and likes to get the point across."

 "Oh, I can tell."

 Emilia hummed lightly as she picked up one of the books and flicked to the page that spoke of the history of sorcery, a good place to start for Stephen to begin to understand the magic and spells, rather than learn to procure them immediately, "I should hope so, that was the whole point of throwing you into that LSD trip as you so eloquently called it."

 This elicited a genuine chuckle out of the man beside her who had taken to leaning against the tree whilst peering over her shoulder at the pages, "To 'open my mind'"

 Emilia turned to face him, all traces of laughter had evaporated, "Yes. To open your mind, to teach you, to make you understand that there is more out there than the things you know. I meant what I said last night, forget everything you know."

 "That's — That's not as simple as you make it sound. Forget everything I know? Forget everything I've worked for? The Ancient One said you had PHD's, you've grown with facts, how'd you forget everything you knew?"

 "I'm a doctor too, not medical, but I earned the title nonetheless. I was a scientist, a physicist, and when I came here..." A small breath tumbled from her lips as she handed the book to Stephen and pulled her robe sleeves over her hands, "When I came here I too didn't want to believe in magic. Magic over facts and science? The very thing I had dedicated myself to? But I was desperate, and letting go and learning more has been the best thing I've ever done."

 The words that came from her came easily. They were the utmost truth. She had never truly forgotten everything she had done with her life before the Kamar-Taj; she was still a woman of science who wished that one day she'd be able to find herself back in a lab. But her life at the Kamar-Taj was... Peaceful. Learning to master the sling-ring had been so enlightening, so fun.

 Sure, the frustration of her own abilities tormented her every single second, and the nights she spent reliving the past horrors she committed was rough and pulled her deep beneath the waves that threatened to swallow her whole... But all of that would have happened anyway.

 The Kamar-Taj was solace. It was a place of acceptance; people accepted Emilia, she just didn't accept herself. She was learning, albeit slowly, but she was learning.

 Stephen studied her face, trembling hands still resting upon the crumpled pages of the book that rested upon his robe covered lap. Emilia looked so deep in thought, a mixture of contentment and trouble twisted her features. One second her eyes would be soft, the green a bundle of warm leaves that would suddenly twist into a dark forest nobody dared to enter.

 "Last night..." Came Stephen's scratching voice, a deep grumble that echoed from his chest, "You said you came here to be fixed?"

 She knew the question would come eventually; Stephen was far too curious and filled with questions to let such a thought go. Not only that, he believed himself to be broken, of course he'd wish to find somebody to relate to.

 Emilia shifted on the ground as she thought to herself for a short moment; he'd find out eventually, that she couldn't control her rather unique abilities. No matter how hard she tried, everyone within the Kamar-Taj knew of the power at her fingertips; be it from the loud crashes of objects shattering in moments of her abilities taking on a mind of their own, to watching from afar as the Ancient One offered her guidance and wisdom upon the training grounds.

 A light sigh fell from her lips, "I have abilities myself, Stephen. They aren't quite like what the Ancient One demonstrated earlier; they're more... Destructive, unruly. I came here so that I didn't hurt people with them." her brows furrowed together as a frown tugged the corners of her lips down, "I needed — I need help controlling them."

 Stephen stayed silent despite the questions that lingered on his tongue once again. The woman before him had shown nothing but kindness to him, if not a little sarcasm, but she had never greeted him with such a sombre, defeated tone. The phrase 'I came here so I didn't hurt people' grabbed his attention; the desperation that had laced her words... The look of utter shame that clouded her eyes made him think that perhaps... Perhaps such hurt had already happened.

 To Emilia's fortune, he spoke no more of the matter, a simple hum left his mouth as he turned his eyes back to the stack of books before a shaking hand reached out to grab the slimmest of the bunch.

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 It had only taken Stephen a short while to make his way through each of the basic books that Emilia had presented to him; much like herself, Stephen was capable of taking information in as quickly as his eyes scanned over the words.

 The two had spent much of their time together, from Emilia doing her best to teach Stephen everything she herself knew, to translating the harder books for the man. They were... a pair to say the least; both incredibly headstrong and stubborn, but the former surgeon had done his best to at least try to be less of an ass, especially once Emilia had tossed a smaller book at his head.

 They had argued; for Stephen still wasn't allowing himself to truly understand, appreciate and learn the ways of the Kamar-Taj but eventually, the man settled into silence and bit his tongue at the scathing look Emilia had thrown his way; he didn't want to lose his teacher and be thrown with another.

 Emilia, for the most part, quelled her bubbling rage at the stubborn man who refused to acknowledge any kind of belief or teaching other than his own. She spoke again and again of the history of the Kamar-Taj as though she were teaching a child, she was patient... Or at least as patient as she could be.

 Emilia had certainly jumped from her seat upon the ground and walked away without a word, leaving the newest student to fumble with his books and stumble over his ego before he finally mustered the courage and quelled his arrogance enough to approach the woman and apologise.

 The many apologies were accepted and were often followed with threats to toss another, heftier, book at his glaringly large forehead as Emilia had once so aptly described it in the midst of a squabble.

 In all honesty, Emilia did feel bad for the man; not that she'd voice it for he seemed to be the type of person who wished to suffer in silence without an ounce of sympathy or pity directed towards him. She knew how it felt for life to do a complete one-eighty, to go from facts and science with a bright future ahead to nothing but a broken person at the doorstep to a place of magic and mystery. It was difficult to accept and get used to, but they'd be all the better for it... Eventually.

 And so, for the time being, Emilia was more than happy to stay silent and teach the man all that she could, before they'd both inevitably find themselves side by side as the Ancient One, and Mordo taught further mystic arts to those ready and willing to learn.

 Only time would tell if Stephen would last and persevere within the Kamar-Taj, and the very same went for Emilia, for if her own power couldn't be controlled, how could she possibly stay any longer?

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16-07-2021