"This'll be your room. The bathroom's at the end of the hall." Jakob put her bag on the bed, "I'll go order dinner."
"They deliver out here?"
"There's a pizza place in the next town. It'll hold us."
He disappeared across the hall. Maji sat on the bed and felt the air conditioner blowing against her skin. She took off her shirt and lay back against the soft bedspread. The ceiling was white with a sprayed on texture and the walls had a paisley border.
Maji could feel herself on the verge of napping. She got out of bed and wandered into the hallway. Jakob's door was open, but the room was empty. The suitcases were sitting empty on the bed. She went back into the entry way and into the living room. Jakob was typing on a computer. Maji approached quietly and moved into his line of sight.
And he just kept on typing.
Maji plopped down on the couch next to him and looked at the screen of unintelligible numbers. She couldn't keep interested in that for very long. She stretched out on the cool sofa and drifted off for a bit. For a while, the only sounds were the click click click of his typing and the tick tock tick of the clock, before the doorbell rang with such a racket that it made Maji jump.
She started to get up but Jakob had already put down his computer and headed for the door. She sighed and sat back against the couch and listened as her companion discouraged any small talk from the delivery boy and paid for their dinner.
He put the pizza on the sitting room table and went back to his laptop.
"Aren't you gonna eat?" Maji asked. It had been nearly eight hours since their breakfast.
He shook his head and kept working.
Maji took a slice of the pizza and sat down at the table. The toppings weren't her favorite and the crust was too crunchy but pizza can be like that sometimes and even when it's bad, it's still pretty good. She grabbed another slice and stopped at that. It would still be there tomorrow.
She touched Jakob's shoulder on her way to bed.
She'd promised herself a shower but it just didn't happen. She threw her clothes in a heap on the floor and climbed into bed.
The sheets were cool against her skin and the floor was filled with flowers. The lights were all off but she was not blind in the darkness. She reached up from her bed and touched the ceiling that had been far away before. She rolled over and draped her hand over the edge. She splash in the water. A sea of petals and glitter. She sat up beneath a sky of silver clouds.
'A dream?'
Maji looked down into the water. Streams of light swam beneath the surface. She reached down and the stream moved through her fingers. Lengths of liquid ribbon drifting into the horizon and weaving into the sky to twinkle with the stars.
She fell into the waters and was carried into the horizon, flying, rising into a sea of stars. She was glitter in the darkness, surrounded by light, shining. She gasped for air, suffocating.
Maji woke with sheets sticking to her skin. It was time for a shower.
She climbed off the bed and put on the baggy shirt she'd worn before. She snuck to the bathroom at the end of the hall and locked the door. She tossed her shirt to the floor and turned on the taps.
The water was lukewarm when she stepped in the shower. Maji turned the knob further and blasted herself with scalding water. When her skin was pink and heated, she dried off and went clad back to her room.
The air smelled like panicked sweat. Maji crawled under the covers to wait out the rest of the night.
The clock on the nightstand said three am three am three am. Flashing at her. Outside, wild dogs barked. She curled up again and forced herself to sleep.
***
The wind blew her into the stars.
Maji pulled her arms and legs up toward her and waited for the fall.
But the fall never came. She kept moving upwards into the darkness.
***
The phone was ringing. She'd assumed no one knew they were there. She got out of bed.
The body odor had dissipated. She retrieved her nightshirt from the bathroom. She could hear Jakob talking. It must have been an old friend. Maji opened the door to her room.
"Oh!" Jakob said, "That's her!"
Maji stopped.
"Maji!" Jakob said, "Phone's for you."
Confused, Maji took the phone. The voice on the other end was talking like they'd known each other forever. He passed his condolences on her father passing last year.
Something she hadn't told anyone in her new life.
"Do I know you?" She asked.
"Not yet."
Maji frowned.
"But I know you." He said.
She turned away from Jacob and wrapped her free arm around herself.
"Who are you?"
"You will know when you're ready."
Maji looked at Jakob. He shrugged his shoulders and looked away.
Dial tone.
"Who was that?" She asked.
"You'll find out." Jakob went back to his work.
Maji sat down on the couch and watched the numbers flashing across his screen. He probably hadn't been to sleep yet.
She got off the couch and went back to her room. She heard Jakob grunt a farewell behind her. She eased the door shut behind her. She could smell fresh laundry. The bed sheets were clean and pulled back. She was sure she hadn't left them that way.
She was too tired and the bed looked so welcome.
And finally, Maji did not dream.
***
There were flowers. She could smell them. She opened her eyes to the pale pink sky above. Blades of red grass blew around her. She sat up and looked around. Tall trees and bright orange flowers. She reached out to pick one and it burst into flames at her fingertips.
'Where am I?'
She got up and rubbed the bloody grass stains off her palms.
"You are in Astral. The training ground."
Maji spun around. She stared at the woman that appeared. Long blond hair, slim hips, perfect shapes and angles, curves in all the right places, clear blue eyes and long dark lashes. An angel in the nightmare.
"Who are you?" Maji asked.
"You'll know when you're ready." She said.
Maji wanted to punt a mountain.
"Then what can I call you?" She asked.
"You're catching on, Sleeper." The woman said, "You may call me Trina. I will be your teacher."
'What could you possibly teach me?'
"Yet another thing you'll know when you're ready." Trina answered. Her voice was like warm honey.
This ascended nonsense was too much.
"Then why am I here now?" Maji asked, annoyed.
Trina splintered and broke apart into static sunlight.
She sat back down to the ground. The rough ground dug into her bare bottom and Maji realized she was no more dressed than the night before.
And she had fallen asleep naked.
The trees in the distance made it look like autumn but the air was hot. Maji could feel her skin already starting to heat. She got up and headed for the trees. They would at least promise shade.
The flowers burst into flame as she stepped by them, leaving a blazing path toward the woods.
Only a few feet under the canopy, she found herself surrounded by darkness. She could only feel her way around and the trees were covered in thorns.
"God damnit! What is this place?"
Small animals moved around her feet, running from her path. Maji continued until she saw shards of light coming through the trees. She made her way through the rough path of thorns and bushes to reach the clearing.
It was just like the one she'd left.
Her hands were bleeding from the thorns and covered in stains from the red grass.
Maji fell to her knees and let her hands rest open in the sunlight.
The light hurt her eyes and she lowered her head. Her knees were numb, but she stay put.
She remained with her eyes closed and her hands at her sides, waiting for Trina to return.
"You are learning, Sleeper."
Trina stood on the grass in front of Maji.
"Help me." Maji said.
"You've not been here twenty minutes." Trina said. "You need more time."
"I'm lost." Maji said. And scared, she didn't.
Trina vanished again, like a dropped call and Maji lay on her side. That woman knew where they were and how to get back. But she would make no move to help her. Rain began to fall. If she did not wake up on white satin, she would wake up in black mud.
Maji woke afraid to open her eyes. It was hot, which was not a good sign. She wept until she heard footsteps.
Trina stood above her. Trina down on Maji and motioned for her to rise.
She obeyed.
Trina looked her over. She smiled sadly and vanished again.
Maji looked back at the trees surrounding her. It was the only way she could go, but without light, it would do her little good.
She kicked a couple of fire flowers on her way into the woods. She listened to the sounds of the animals, the trees, listening for the sound of running water.
The trees were just as unwelcoming as before, all thorns and and tangled vines. She touched lighter than before and felt her way around. She heard something moving through the grass beneath her. She reached down and touched the edge of a flower. As with all the other flowers, this one burst into flame and she could see the scales of a very large snake.
The colors were different but it had the pattern of a Boa. She patted the ground for another fire flower and got a better look at the snake. The light only lasted long enough to see a dark rodent hanging from its mouth. It swallowed the rat and slithered off in search of better prey.
Maji reached up into the trees and broke off a limb. She ran the branch along the ground until it hit a fire flower and sprang to life. The plants around her were shining and black but the shapes of the leaves looked like poison oak.
'Just what I need.'
Maji moved through the brush and the trees seemed to change the deeper into the forest she walked. They were still covered in thorns but some had velvety leaves or fruit.
She picked a piece from the tree. Maybe the fruit was poisonous. She hadn't felt hungry yet. But she didn't know when she'd come across fruit again. She rubbed a smudge off the skin and took a bite.
The skin was sour, but the rest of the fruit was sweet like candy.
Some animals would be around if the fruit was good. She lowered her torch and searched around the bushes.
Perhaps not.
The bushes were filled with thorns and fire flowers. Maji gave up the search for possible meat and grabbed a few more pieces of fruit. If they were poisonous, she would know before she had to get more. She saw an opening ahead of her, tiny streaks of light were buzzing with insects.
Maji left the trees and walked along her flaming path to stretch out in the warm, red grass. Her feet were sore. The red might be the grass or might be her own blood. She was soaked with sweat and the wind cooled her off just enough.
Trina appeared in the grass beside Maji.
"Are you ready, Sleeper?" She asked.
Maji was hot and tired and her whole body ached. "Just shut up."
Silence.
"You know, you aren't that great." Maji grumbled. "You're only better off cause you've been here before."
She was working her way into a good pout when Trina reached her hand out to help her.
"You're ready." Trina said.
Maji took the hand and was pulled up to her burning feet. "What's that supposed to mean, anyway?"
"You've settled." Trina answered. "You're fully realized in the Astral Plain."
Maji fell back into the red grass. She could go to sleep just like this or possibly bleed to death. Or perhaps those fruits had been poison.
"The fruit here is sedative." Trina said.
Maji grumbled nonsense and fell asleep.
***
The air smelled less like flowers and more like dust. Relieved, Maji rolled over on the soft mattress and opened her eyes. She hadn't woken up at Jakob's safe house.
The walls were all a wooden, not white like Jakob's guest room. Outside the window, the sky was pink. Maji sat up and stretched out her legs. Her feet were covered in sores but clean.
Trina appeared with water.
"Where are we?" Maji asked.
"My cabin."
"In Astral?"
"Of course. You can't carry someone else out of Astral."
"Why am I here?"
Trina examined her. "I'm not sure. I was just sent to receive you."
She put a glass of water in Maji's hand and walked out of the room.
Maji drank the glass and settled back down in the bed.
After a few hours, Trina returned. Maji hadn't been able to sleep.
"Did you sleep?"
"Not really."
Trina poured another glass of water for Maji to sip.
"You said you were going to teach me. What, exactly?"
"Magic."
Chapter 3
'I already know Magic.'
"So what do I need to do?" Maji asked.
Trina smiled. "Remember everything you've learned so far. Every spell, every ritual."
"Okay." Maji knew it all like the back of her hand. Habit, really.
"Now hold still." Trina put her hand on Maji's forehead. Her fingers were cold.
Trina shook her head, "You've never learned magic. Just imitation."
Maji was belligerent. She'd done ceremonies. She'd been a sacrifice. She'd sacrificed others. She'd worked hard and read so much. She knew Magic. She worked Magic.
Trina hummed and walked away. Maji fell back to the pillows. She closed her eyes. She was exhausted. She had to everything. Cause she'd been wrong. She'd always been wrong.
And damn that hurt.
***
When Maji woke up, Trina had pulled a chair next to the bed. A large book was sitting next to her, closed.
Maji sat up.
"We'll starting from a pretty basic place." Trina pushed her hair from her face. "What is the first thing they tell you to do when you learn magic?"
"Draw a circle."
Trina shook her head.
Maji thought about it. She didn't remember much about her first lessons. They hadn't done much. They just read for the first few months.
"I don't know. We read a lot of books. I don't remember what we did."
"You read." Trina said. "You can't learn magic from a book. It's unnatural. You have to learn it by doing it."
Maji looked over at the book sitting on the bed.
"That's an encyclopedia." Trina said, "You'll need it."
Maji wasn't eager before but she certainly warming up to it now.
"Magic itself is a little different for each person." Trina said, "I can't lead you through it."
"Activation is the first step." Trina said, "Maybe you were in danger or maybe you were subjected to magic for the first time. Either way, your magic was awakened to protect you."
Maji frowned. "I thought you said it wasn't real magic."
"Occasionally, magic will leak into a ceremony. Especially if someone like us is involved. "
"Shortly after activation, they bring themselves here for development."
Maji frowned. "So if everything I know is imitation, what is real magic?"
Trina smiled briefly. "I can't put it into words. That would over simplify it."
"Then show me."
Trina helped Maji out of bed and led her outside. The red sun beat down on her bare flesh and she wondered how Trina had managed to remain so pale. Perhaps it was the Magic.
Surely Maji would have developed sunburn by now.
'Yep, prolly the Magic.'
Trina's hair fell around her shoulders and her eyes closed. Wrinkles formed around her eyes. Gold hair turned white and white skin turned grey.
Trina opened her pale blue eyes that no longer held their shine. "Cosmetic
Magic."
"How do you do it?" Maji bounced on her heels. Oh, the things she could do with that!
"Well, it can't really be put into words..." Trina repeated, twirling a stringy white lock around her finger. "But it's mostly Will..."
Maji closed her eyes. It was just like the meditations she'd used her whole coven career.
She calmed her spirit and awakened her body. Just basic meditations. If it worked for the ceremonies she held in the coven, it would work for real Magic.
This time, it was different. Her breath started coming out slower and less steady. She swayed some, as her every muscle relaxed into the calming vibrations of her energy. She leaned into her own force, the sun no longer bothering her no longer pale skin and the heat no longer bothering her cool nature. She felt at one with the world of Astral, even if it wasn't her own world.
"It doesn't change what you 'are'." Trina chimed into Maji's meditations, "It can only show what is within you."
Maji sighed and looked for everything that was her. Her essentials. She reached out and found her arms, legs, hair, nails, and every part that was she.
Maji could feel something farther than what she'd always had. Part of her but new. She reached out to the unexplored regions. Her back stretched, muscles tightening and ripping. Her bones separated and spread. Maji cried out as the skin ripped open, blood running down her sunburnt skin. She tried to lean back, to ease the pressure, but was met with more pain as her shoulders relocated. She spread herself down on the ground, sprawled on her stomach. She felt something heavy on her back, pushing her chest into the hot, dry dirt.
All at once, Maji's body relaxed and the bloody new appendages relaxed into a better position.
***
When Maji woke, she was clean and covered in the bedspread again. The soft cotton sheets felt good against her chest and stomach, but something was wrong. Why was she on her stomach? She tried to roll over, but felt something brushing against her back.
She reached her arm back and touched what felt like feathers. She looked over her shoulder to see the wings. She felt for them as before. They twitched and moved in a numb way as if they'd fallen asleep.
"Oh, you're awake." Trina entered.
"Did it hurt you the first time?"
Trina put another pitcher of water on the bedside. Seeing the water reappear, Maji realized that in the few days she'd been there, she'd not eaten more than the sedative fruit. "Also, why am I hungry? I haven't been for days." She asked.
"You aren't a physical body. You don't need food."
"What? But I'm hungry."