Story: Middle Part 15
[[Continuity Note: Alf is having a lesson when Rock wanders in, apparently looking for his mother, Aliana... I forgot to mention somewhere, but she's not actually 29 but older, she just looks 29. Anyway, Alf is confused and determined to make amends with the boy.]]
All the way home, and all through the next day, Alf thought about what he had seen. Aliana never mentioned anything about her personal life, and it was strange to see a woman usually so happy and full of life so cold toward her own son. While Alf wanted to believe that it was completely Rock's fault and that whatever he'd done must have been awful, something told him that Rock wasn't that awful, and that what happened probably wasn't even his fault.
So when Alf saw Rock the next day after school, he stopped him.
"Wait, Rock," he called.
Rock continued walking, knowing exactly who it was.
Alf ran to catch up to him.
"If this is about yesterday," Rock spat, not making eye contact with the smaller teen. "It's none of your business."
"I wasn't going to say anything," Alf replied, surprising Rock.
"Then what do you want?"
"I sort of," Alf nervously shifted his backpack from one shoulder to the other.
Rock continued walking with no patience.
"I thought we could call a truce," Alf voiced.
Rock looked at him, then laughed in his face. "A truce? What makes you think I'd agree to something like that? I'm the one who started this, remember?"
Alf shrugged, though the effect was lost as he struggled to keep up with Rock's larger strides. "So what? Does that mean we can't finish it?"
Rock looked at Alf with malice in his eyes. "That's exactly what it means."
Alf stopped following, confused. What had he ever done that so irritated Rock? "What did I do?" he called after the older boy's retreating back.
"What did you do?" Rock repeated, turning around and coming back to stand right in front of Alf, invading his personal space and intimidating him with physical distance, or rather, the lack of. "You did everything I couldn't. Can do everything I can't."
Alf looked at him, confused.
Rock rolled his eyes and spelt it out for Alf. "I can't do magic," he whispered.
Alf's eyes widened in shock as he processed this, but Rock had walked off by that point. He'd heard about people in the magical families who weren't able to do magic. Jessica had mentioned that they were generally treated as though they were magical, even if they weren't. She'd never mentioned that there were any in her own family. She'd never mentioned that Rock was her cousin, even. Admittedly, Alf had never mentioned Rock to her either. He had been a bit of a sore point since the way he learned of his magic came up, and the way that Damien had blamed Rock for their friendship's demise.
Alf was suddenly even more determined to get down to the bottom of Rock, and he wasn't even going to let Rock stop him.
[[End Scene.]]
Story: Middle Part 14
[[Continuity Note: We had a 'touching' moment with Alf and Jessica, and now it's back to the story.]]
Alf was practicing controlling his ability to make objects levitate with a rather large block of metal that Aliana would gradually make bigger or smaller. Alf's task was to maintain it at the same height, preferably with his eyes closed. It was taking a great deal of concentration, and, seemingly confused about what to do, his body appeared to be sweating instead of some sort of magical perspiration.
"Aliana," Alf asked cautiously. She was known to increase the size of the object while he was occupied asking a question. "What's the equi-" he paused in his speech to compensate for the twenty kilos the thing had just gained "the equivalent of-" suddenly the thing shrank and he had to concentrate on keeping it from shooting to the ceiling... or worse. "of magical perspiration?"
He wasn't looking at her, so he didn't see her curious expression. "Sweat," she responded, then flicked a finger to make the object slightly larger. Alf dealt with it quite well. "Magic keeps to itself quite well. It doesn't exude out to balance you out. It just is. The body feels like it has to do something-" here she shrank the object again. "So it sweats."
She was trying to explain to Alf, much like Yoda and Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back (Alf's inner geek analogised), that the size of the object doesn't matter when applying magic to it. It's not about how big it is, it just matters that it is. So far, Alf hadn't quite been able to grasp that, causing him to spend too much of his brain and magical power focusing on the size and physical weight of it.
"Mum!" a voice called, breaking Alf's concentration and causing him to lose control of the object, as Aliana increased its size. It hurtled toward him strangely, and Alf did not duck in time. But instead of visibly scarring him for life, it simply bounced off him as though it weighed nothing. Alf looked at it, confused.
"Rock, I've told you not to interrupt me while I'm with a student," Aliana reprimanded.
Rock? Alf looked toward the door where his high school nemesis was looking at him with a similar expression.
"I didn't know. I didn't realise you were tutoring Sprout," Rock said, letting the distaste slip through his words.
Aliana gave her son a stern glare, reminding Alf that he would not like to have that woman as his mother. "If you'd come home for dinner more often you would know."
"Can I talk to you?" Rock asked, the most polite Alf had ever seen him.
"I'm busy at the moment," Aliana huffed. "You can't make demands upon people's time when you don't give them anything in return."
Alf had the uncomfortable feeling that he'd walked into something quite huge, and it definitely wasn't somewhere he wanted to be.
"It's important," Rock stated, looking at Alf as though wishing he would go away. Alf was wishing he could go away. The only thing keeping him there was Aliana's death glare that promised fates worse than death were he to leave.
"And so is Alf's training."
Rock looked upon Alf with the worst look Alf had ever seen on his face. One of total heartbroken despair. And Alf wondered what it was that had led the family members to that point. He turned on his heel immediately, and quickly strode away.
"Now where were we?" Aliana asked, though she wasn't expecting a reply. Someone may even have called it a rhetorical question.
Alf's mind was no longer on it. Dimly remembering that he was meant to be lifting the object, he hoisted it up, remembering that it was actually lighter than a feather.
Aliana looked at Alf's face. "I think that's enough of that." She then pulled a bowling ball from somewhere, she picked it up, then threw it at Alf. "Catch."
Automatically, Alf felt his hands lift, but they were restrained by some unseen force. He didn't have time to ponder that, though because there was a bowling ball headed for his face.
And then there wasn't a bowling ball headed for his face. He had managed to stop it in mid flight, despite its velocity and apparent mass.
"Lesson learned," Aliana smiled triumphantly, and let go of Alf's wrists. "You can go for today."
Alf only nodded gladly and walked off.
[[End scene.]]
Story: Middle Part 13
[[Continuity Note: What follows is filler, to show what happens after Alf has his first magical lesson, and to document the deepening of his relationship with Jessica, and to further highlight the separation between Alf and Damien.]]
After that first lesson, Alf found using his magical orb (which he'd secretly nicknamed Fla... Alf backwards) a great help. It told him that the information that it carried had been derived from the Aldus family library, and that it magically updated when someone added a book, or note to the library. When Alf had asked about the different voices it carried, it stated that the voice was portrayed by the author of whoever had written the text. Of course Alf then went on to ask about whose voice it carried otherwise, and it was Aliana's, though Alf had already guessed that.
He was so absorbed in what it told him that he found himself staying up long past his bedtime just listening to it, and asking it questions. It was through experimentation that he discovered that it could also record anything he said, though he had to be careful with that function as he discovered no way to delete what he'd recorded, so if anyone asked it what Alf had said that time it would be sure to repeat it in Alf's tone of voice. He discovered that not everything it said was in fact fact, as some of the tomes in the Aldus family library were magical novels, written by a devoted legion of authors throughout the ages.
He discovered that it also kept note of the last questions that it was asked, and also that he had no idea how to delete that, either. He didn't particularly want some sensitive questions like "Is anyone reading my mind right now?" to be discoverable by anyone who happened upon the orb. It was times like these that he wished the orb came with instructions. Finally he had the thought to ask the orb about deleting things... and it gladly told him how. It would be a long time before Alf stopped inwardly kicking himself for not asking it what to do in the first place.
The orb was his new best friend. He liked it even better than Google. He was sure to not actually say this out loud as he didn't want his computer, or Google itself to hear him say it. He was certain that there were a multitude of technical things that the orb did not know that Google would... he was certain because he'd tried asking it about processor speeds and the answer was only a "Would you like to insert a new article on 'processor speeds'?" where 'processor speeds' had been played back to him in the voice he'd asked the question in.
Speaking of new best friends, Alf and Jessica were on much better terms these days. He'd grown to tolerate her useless off topic natterings, and she'd grown to well, acknowledge that he existed. Their relationship was rather strange, they would sit together at lunch times, then Alf would begin a conversation. By the time Jessica got her opening to speak, she'd begin talking about something only related to what Alf stated in the mysterious workings of her mind. Alf wondered if it was because she was so unused to having normal conversations with people her age. Even her multitude of cousins didn't seem to be able to understand what went on in her mind.
The curiousness of their conversation really increased when Alf took his turn. He'd continue on the first topic, almost as though Jessica had not spoken, but seemed to be taking into account the various things she'd said that weren't related. In that, the two of them were a perfect match. They seemed to understand each other, despite whatever words they were actually saying.
"Do you think the Nintendo Wii is really going to be better than the PlayStation 3?" Alf asked Jessica.
She looked back at him a moment. "Well, the last time my cousin Gabriela went apple picking with her mother, the grower let her take home some apple seeds. Of course she planted them in our backyard and the trees are still growing. So we don't know if they're red apples or green apples."
"Yeah, I see what you're saying. I guess we aren't going to know until next year when the PS3 comes out. Until them I'm still going to get the best use out of my PS2."
"Yeah," Jessica agreed. "I like using Granny Smiths when I make apple pies, but some people like using red ones better, even though they're kind of sweet. They like that you can just eat the red ones as well, so it's not as specialised. But I really like eating Granny Smiths raw anyway, even if they are kind of sour. Don't you reckon they taste just as good?"
But before Alf could continue expounding upon the benefits of purchasing new PS2 games when PS3 versions would be coming out soon, he noticed Damien seemingly coming towards them. His dialogue died upon his lips as he wondered if his ex-best friend was finally going to apologise to him.
Jessica, decided not to intrude upon his moment, idly opening a notebook and beginning to scratch idly in the corner.
Alf looked at him with a small amount of regret. As much as he wanted his best friend back, it probably wasn't right of him to have one who didn't know anything about magic at all, now. And he had Jessica, even if she was a rather spacey girl. At least she was intelligent, and funny even though most of the time she didn't know that she was being funny. Not to mention Damien had been truly evil to him, calling him a liar, and then telling the entire school that he was one. It wasn't something Alf could forgive at the moment, even if the rumours had died down and all they really gossiped about was whether Hannah Frost had lost her virginity like she had claimed in the girls' bathroom one morning.
Damien looked up and saw him looking at him. He seemed to stop himself from taking a step further, then walked away.
Alf looked down in regret. Maybe his ex-best friend hadn't wanted to apologise after all. He put the headphones of his mp3 player on, then drowned himself in the haunted tones of Evanescence.
Jessica sat beside him, wishing there was some way to make it better.
[[End scene.]]
Story: Middle Part 12
[[Continuity Note: Alf is about to start magic training and is introducing us to his teacher.]]
and that therefore, she was younger than him. Despite what Mr Aldus had intended, it merely had them speculating about his own age. Them being the wider magical community within Sydney that mostly consisted of the Aldus family, with only a few more beyond that.
"Now," Aliana began on their first lesson. "I suppose you think these are going to be terribly boring lessons about magical history and all that stuff that isn't fun about when not to use your powers, and how not to use your powers."
Alf had one of those feelings as though the other person was reading his mind. He had almost resolved to wearing a foil hat like Foaly in the Artemis Fowl books. But he supposed that as well as making him look stupid, it would also not work and perhaps he'd be guarding against nothing. He really wished people would stop trying to read his mind. It's not as though anything particularly interesting went on in it.
As though sensing that her pupil was gone for the time being, Aliana sat patiently for a minute before clicking, causing a gigantic thunderclap to sound in the room. It shook Alf from his thoughts for the time being. "Sorry," he apologised.
"Now, Alf, paying attention is a very important skill to have, especially when you've completed your training and want to join the rest of magical society."
"What exactly do magical people do?"
"Oh, general overseeing of the populus. These days they mostly look after themselves, besides you know, global warming and global warring. You'll have the adults like me who teach people. Take my husband, he's basically given up magic and just become a dentist. Then there's my brother who basically watches Antarctica. I don't suppose it sounds very fascinating to you, either, which is why I always had the suspicion that he does something else with his time. Karen and her sisters are kind of nursemaids. Karen's official, non-magical occupation is as a midwife and she's proud to say that no baby has ever died on her watch. So really, there's a number of different things you could do."
Alf nodded, hoping that he'd end up being the sort of magic user of leisure that Dr Aldus was.
"Now, the history of magic is not all that important except as a learning tool so that we know what not to do. But today, I'm going to start you learning about magic. What is magic? What's it made of? They're probably questions you've thought, especially since you seem like the sort of kid that spends a lot of time looking through a microscope."
Alf was indignant. "I'm not that sort of kid. I like a good game of footy as much as the next bloke."
"Sure, sure. I was just saying. You have thought about that, haven't you?"
"Well, yes. But that's just because I'm an incredibly curious person."
"Of course," Aliana nodded. "Right." Using a finger, she beckoned to an unseen object, which landed in her hands moments later. "This is your teaching orb," she said, holding it up. It was a small blue sphere, about the size of a golf ball. "Catch," she said, throwing it at him.
And though Alf was eager to prove that he was as athletic as the non-geeky boy, he missed. Luckily it bounced harmlessly on the ground, despite the fact that it seemed like the sort of thing that would break.
"Be careful with that," Aliana commanded with a stern look on her face. Behind her oversized glasses, Alf felt that she was actually laughing at him.
"So what does it do?" Alf asked, rotating the globe slowly between his fingers, peering at it as though a specimen under a microscope that he claimed to have never used before.
"Well, it has two main functionalities. You can either ask it a question, like 'What's the date of the next full moon?'." She looked at Alf, as though encouraging him to try it out.
"When's the next full moon?" Alf paraphrased. It didn't glow briefly, but then an eerie voice spoke,
"The fifth day of the month of December." Alf looked at it wonderingly.
"Or you can ask it to go into encyclopaedia mode, and then it will just tell you things. For example, ask it to tell you about the witches' hand in World War II."
"Tell me what witches had to do with World War II," Alf paraphrased.
The orb began to speak in a slightly less robotic voice. The voice this time came out more full of character, and sounded quite a bit more female than male like the previous voice. "The role of female magic users, or more colloquially, witches in the second world war as defined by the non-magic users is one that is quite varied and complex. While no female magic user, or indeed, a single male magic user, participated in the active warfare as had been dictated by the current magical council, female magic users did play a large role. Haephesta Sigbjörnsson, the magical council spokesperson was the first to notice that the centre of the conflict arose from the suspicious intent of the German leader Adolf Hitler-"
"Pause," Aliana commanded after taking the ball from Alf.
"It's like Wikipedia for magical people," Alf commented.
Not quite sure what Wikipedia was, Aliana chose to ignore that comment. "So you see, Alf, you can pause it like so. Repeat." And the globe began again
"Haephesta Sigbjörnsson, the magical council spokesperson..."
"If you want it to go back farther than a sentence, you'll have to say Rewind, and Stop when you hear it come to the appropriate place. It's very much like a tape recorder."
"You can use all the same terms you'd use for one as well. Fast forward, louder, softer, slow down. I based the design on a CD player and some nons' learning tapes."
"Where does the information come from?" Alf asked.
"Why don't you ask it?" Aliana suggested, offering the ball back to Alf. "So that will be your homework for the week. Familiarise yourself with the globe, and specifically ask it about magic. I'm expecting you to be able to tell me what magic is, what it's made of, and what its primary purpose is by this time next Tuesday. And make sure that you don't let anyone else get a hold of it. No nons, anyway. I guess your parents are all right, but no one else. I haven't yet managed to work out how to key it to a specific magical person, or even magic itself so it will play for anyone. And we don't want nons finding out about us just yet. Not until at least the next council meeting, anyway."
"Do you really think they're going to vote for assimilation?" Alf asked.
Aliana shrugged. "It makes no difference to me. I don't remember the last time I spoke to a non."
"They might turn up at the house, though. It will be fairly obvious that this is the magical epicentre of this part of Sydney."
"Well, that's a question of what's to come in the future," Aliana stated. "And I don't like to delve too far into that." She winced slightly, as though having experienced the cons of seeing too far into the future.
"Thanks Aliana," Alf said as he left to find Jessica before he went home.
[[End scene.]]
