by EJ Wozniak
Janis stayed quiet. He seemed to turn away when Lumen looked at him.
“Op-whats?” Lumen asked.
“Operres. People that practice magic. She transformed Janis into a cat. Rough breakup, I’m afraid,” Allister said as he shook his head.
Janis looked at his feet. He seemed saddened.
“So he used to be like you? He can move the air and water and all of that like you? Why don’t you just change him back?”
Janis spoke up.
“Don’t be silly. Mastering one of the elements is extremely difficult, let alone all of them. I have mastered the element of air. Allister isn’t like most of us. He has mastered them all, and has mastered each one better than most of us. There are very few people like him. We call people like him Omnis. Very few left in this world, very rare,” Janis stated with a defeated tone.
Lumen looked at Allister and then back to Janis.
“Why don’t you just change back to a human?”
“Magic is a rare and lost art, not many practice it anymore. We can talk about that more later.”
Janis spoke with an accent that Lumen was more familiar with.
“There is much to learn, Lu. We can go over more at another time once the others arrive. Now, enjoy your pockets. Try the wetchop, very tender and tasty.”
Lumen suddenly felt his blood boil. He was angry, confused.
“How can I relax? This doesn’t make any sense. How can this be real? I’m supposed to be crazy. The doctors diagnosed me as a skitzo.” Lumen’s face turned red.
“We have seen that before. Doctors and others in the world aren’t sure how to diagnose people like you. They need to label everyone to explain why they are different from themselves.”
Lumen got even angrier and was almost yelling.
“Why wouldn’t you tell me earlier, then? I have been bullied and called crazy for a long time now! Why not tell me earlier to prevent all of that? I’ve been down my whole life when none of it was true.” Lumen was even redder now. The room seemed to get colder. Lumen looked around to see if a door was open.
“It is not that simple. The time had to be right. We wanted you to figure it out on your own. Times are different now. You have been close to figuring it out, only to stop yourself from finishing what you started. Very unlike you to not complete something, but we understood why,” Allister said.
Lumen was fuming.
“No. No. I don’t believe it. I have just lost it. I must have. I need to get out of here. I need to see my mom. I need to take my medicine. I’ll never lie again about taking a pill. Please let me out of here. Get me out of my head.”
Lumen was on the verge of tears. He looked around to find a way out. A door was near and he scurried to it, opened it, and found snow all about. He started to run. The snow was really coming down, and Lumen had difficulty running. He saw some lights get bright for a moment, and Janis stepped through. Things began to get dark. Lumen suddenly felt the energy drain from his body, and he fell into the snow. His eyes began closing shut when he saw Allister and Janis standing over him. They were saying something to each other but he couldn’t hear it. He closed his eyes fully. Lumen passed out.
* * *
Lumen opened his eyes to find himself in his bedroom, still wearing his clothes from the dance. He looked outside and saw the sun high in the sky. He must have slept in much later than usual. He had a dull headache. He rubbed his temples with his index fingers and suddenly remembered what had happened last night.
“How did I get here?” he said aloud to himself.
He thought he must have been out all night and about how worried his mom must have been.
Lumen threw his blanket off and hurried into the kitchen. His mom was sitting at the table, Wrigley lying next to her, chewing on a toy.
“Hi, honey! How was the dance last night? I heard you had a good time!”
Lumen thought she seemed overly chipper for him not coming home when he was supposed to.
“Uh, yeah it was fun I guess . . .”
Lumen was very confused. He thought this might be some sort of trick.
“It looked like you must have danced your butt off! You could hardly walk when you got home! Good thing Alec was here. He helped you to your bed. Such a good friend he is! He told me all about Sofia and how you and she danced the night away. Why didn’t you tell me you liked this girl?” Alice exclaimed.
Lumen was even more confused now.
“Alec told you what? Who drove us home?”
“Alec said the dance was going to go past 10:30. He told me you two rode with one of his friends. Why don’t you remember? Did you drink last night? Not only are you underage but you are sick, young man! And the medication, it probably doesn’t mix well, oh my goodness . . .”
Lumen didn’t really pay attention to the question. He tried desperately to remember what happened last night.
“Was I dreaming last night?” Lumen muttered to himself.
“That explains why you could hardly walk last night!”
Lumen sighed.
“Mom! I didn’t do anything illegal last night, I promise. Just a long night, I guess.”
Alice opened her mouth to say something else, but relaxed in her seat after a moment.
“I need to talk to Alec. I’ll be back later.”
Lumen ran to the door, still wearing his dress clothes and all.
“Lumen. I was talking to you. Get back here,” Alice said sternly.
“Sorry, mom, something came up. I need to talk to Alec. Bye.”
“LUMEN!” Alice yelled this time.
Lumen stopped just short of closing the door and walked back in.
“What?”
“Alec is here. He is sleeping on the couch. Now come tell me about your night until he wakes up, and we can all grab some breakfast.”
Lumen wasn’t paying attention to his mom, distracted by the previous night’s activities and an unusual amount of lights in his house.
“Alec, wake up.”
“Lumen, let the boy sleep. He is probably tired from carrying you around.”
Lumen didn’t listen. He went over to Alec and shoved him a little. Alec woke up immediately.
“What, dude? Can you shut the blinds, so bright . . .” Alec grunted.
“Wake up, I need to talk to you.”
Alice chimed in from the kitchen.
“Lumen, leave him alone. It can wait.”
“Alec, c’mon.”
Alec rolled over slowly and rubbed his eyes for what seemed like an eternity to Lumen. He finally sat up.
“Can I get some water please?” Alec asked.
“Oh, of course dear!” Alice hurried into the kitchen to grab a glass of water.
Lumen looked at Alec intently. He sat down on the edge of the couch, on the armrest.
“Hey, listen to me. What happened last night? How did I get here?” Lumen snapped his fingers a few times.
“What are you talking about? We took a car, and I helped you walk in.”
Alice handed Alec the glass of water.
“I’ll let you boys talk about last night!” Alice seemed happy again.
Lumen was still staring at Alec, waiting for answers.
“What? Can you stop staring at me? You’re creeping me out,” Alec said as he squinted back at Lumen.
“Tell me what happened. Where did you find me after the dance?”
“Well, I couldn’t find you at the dance.”
“What do you mean?” Lumen asked abrasively.
“I was dancing with that girl, pretty awesome might I add, and I looked around and didn’t see you. Then I saw that Blake and all of his buddies were also gone. I figured that meant they were looking for you. Or already had you. I walked out of the dance and into the bathroom and found Blake and his friends standing around. They had a bag of some feathers, or something like that, and a fire extinguisher. I thought they already caught you, but they said they hadn’t seen you.”
Lumen wa
s confused again.
“They hadn’t seen me? I was in the last stall.”
“That's what they thought also. They said they got to your stall, and no one was in there. Blake said he swore he saw you walk in there. Didn’t know how you got out without anyone seeing.”
“Blake was awfully generous telling you all of this.”
“Oh, I had to nudge him a little bit to get answers,” Alec said, smiling.
“Okay, so where’d you find me?”
“Well I figured Allister or Janis got you. They didn’t tell me last night was the night, so I had no idea.”
Lumen fell off the couch.
Chapter 6 - Bonumalus
“Whoa there, dude, you okay?”
Lumen popped up off of the ground the second he hit it.
“What did you just say?”
Lumen grabbed Alec by the shoulders until his face was just an inch away from Alec’s face. Alec put his hand on Lumen’s chest and gently pushed him away. He picked up his water and drank the whole glass.
“I said I had no idea last night was the night. Allister and Janis didn’t keep me in the loop.”
Lumen tried to find the words but couldn’t think of anything to say. Lumen looked at Alec, his eyes narrowed with skepticism.
“Sorry, it was really hard to keep this all a secret, but Al and Janis thought it was best for you to find this all out on your own. Which didn’t end up happening. So close though, can’t believe it’s taken this long,” Alec said with a surprised tone.
Lumen felt offended.
“I thought you were my friend.”
Alec’s face went long.
“We are friends, Lu. I was in your position not too long ago. Very confused. Didn’t know what was going on. Then one day, it all made sense. Now I am on my way to being an Eauge, and I have been lucky enough to protect you as well as make a new friend. I wish I had someone like me before I found out everything.”
This didn’t make Lumen feel any better.
“To protect me? From what? And what was that you said, an Oosh?” Lumen asked angrily.
“An Eauge, someone who masters the element of water. Allister said he briefly went over the elements. I am still learning. I have trouble controlling water in this world, hence the sweating.”
Alec chuckled. Lumen didn’t find it funny.
“Okay, welp, looks like I’m lost in my head. I can’t believe this all happened so fast. My mom, I hope she’s okay and can find me . . .” Lumen whispered quietly to himself.
“Hey!” Alec yelled at Lumen.
“You need to cut that out. The sooner, the better. You’re not crazy. This is all real. I know it is hard to accept, but your brain couldn’t make this up. You’re smart, Lu, but you’re not that creative.”
Lumen just looked at Alec, thinking.
“What can I do to prove that this is real?”
Lumen sat thinking again.
“Uh, I don’t know . . .” Lumen laughed nervously.
“Here, I got an idea.” Alec went to the kitchen and filled a glass up with some water. He walked back to the living room and sat down. “Wrigley!”
Wrigley came running over to Alec.
“Good boy, now sit down.”
Wrigley sat down. Alec picked up the glass of water and poured it in front of Wrigley. As the water fell to the ground, Alec quickly snapped his fingers twice, and the water instantly froze into two pieces. Wrigley picked one up and trotted to the other side of the room to lick and chew on it.
“Allister just taught me that one, only he can do it without the glass of water on this side. I don’t get how he does it.” Alec seemed enthralled thinking about the trick. He looked at Lumen who was staring in disbelief at Alec, then at the ice, then back at Alec.
“Oh, right. Alice!” Alec called Lumen’s mother into the room.
“Yes, dear?”
“Hey, I think the freezer is still broken. Looks like Wrigley has some more ice.”
“Oh my goodness, I can’t believe that repairman didn’t fix it! I will call them back right now to get back out here.” Alice walked out immediately to call the repairman.
Alec looked at Lumen, nodding his head at him for approval.
“What? That doesn’t prove anything, Alec. It just means I have been crazier for longer than I realized,” Lumen said fiercely.
“No way! That proves everything, dude! It is impossible for you to have been hallucinating all those times! You even took the medication at one point, and you saw the ice afterwards!”
Lumen sat thinking and did remember when that had happened.
“I guess that’s right, I still don’t know if I can believe this . . .” Lumen seemed nervous. He began to bite his nails.
“Lu, look, for a long time you have been pushed down, bullied, looked at funny . . .”
“Making me feel a lot better, Alec.”
“My point is that you’re not just some weird crazy kid. You’re more powerful than anyone you have ever met before last night; you just didn’t know it.”
Lumen turned an ear to the sound of that. He thought about what he could do with powers like Allister’s to Blake. Maybe he could drop some water on his head whenever he was talking to a girl, or set his hair on fire, or make him trip on a tree root whenever he walked by him. Lumen was warming up to the idea.
“Okay, well what now?” Lumen appeared more confident. He was sitting up more straight than usual.
“Well, we’ll need to get you back to Bonumalus and start some classes. Most the others are ready to start also,” Alec said.
“The others? There are others like me?” Lumen said with a disappointed tone.
“Well yeah, and you are all going to start classes soon. You’ll be learning to be an Eauge. Hopefully.”
Lumen felt a bit deflated by this.
“Oh, so I’m not the only one who can see the lights?” Lumen asked.
“Don’t be ridiculous; though we are very rare, there are others who can see the lights too. Like I said, I was like you a couple years ago. Now here I am.”
Lumen was quiet for a moment. He didn’t know how he would like learning with others.
“Do we all learn together, or is it more of a one-on-one thing with Allister and Janis?” Lumen asked curiously.
“Janis won’t be teaching you to be an Eauge, though he will teach you about the Aeris people and what it means to be one.”
Lumen put his hands up to signal for Alec to stop.
“Slow down, a what?”
“An Aeris is someone who mastered the element of Air. I know they have weird names, but it becomes more normal the more you are in Bonumalus.”
Alice walked into the room, and both Lumen and Alec quieted down.
“I am just checking on you, boys, you have been talking for a while! I think it is my turn to hear about your night!”
Alec did most of the talking as he lied about Sofia and Lumen dancing most of the night. Alec explained what Sofia looked like and what she was wearing to Alice.
“When do I get to meet this young lady, Lu?” Alice exclaimed.
Lumen quietly said he wasn’t sure. “We never really talked before last night, so I am not sure you will.” Lumen was cherry red.
“Well, by the sound of it, this Sofia seems to be interested in you! You should invite her over for dinner next week!” Alice stared at Lumen until he answered.
“Um, I’ll see if she can. Can you order us some pizza right now? We are pretty hungry.”
Lumen looked at Alec for assistance.
“Right, yes pizza would be great Miss Haaken. We are starving from last night.”
Alice stood up with a big smile on her face.
“Of course, I will call it in and go pick it up now.” Alice walked out of the room, called the pizza parlor down the road, and took off a few minutes later. Alice yelled that she would be right back and closed the door. Lumen immediately turned to Alec. His face was still red.
“Why
would you lie to my mom?” Lumen asked bitterly.
“Would you rather have me told her how you traveled through your lights and met two men, one of which is a talking cat, and they live in this place called Bonumalus?” Alec asked sarcastically.
Lumen calmed down after hearing that.
“Well no, but did you have to tell her I danced with Sofia? How am I supposed to get her over for dinner? My mom will never let it go!”
Alec laughed at Lumen.
“Guess you’ll have to step out of your shell and talk to her.”
Lumen turned bright red again at the thought of talking to Sofia.
“She won’t come over; she was with some boy last night. I’m sure that was her boyfriend or something.”
Alec scoffed at Lumen.
“Are you stupid? That was not her boyfriend, just some kid that she is friends with, trust me. They talked for a few minutes, but she mostly sat by herself for the rest of the night. I went and talked to her. She asked about you.”
Lumen almost fell off the couch again.
“Wha- what di-. . . did she say to you?” Lumen couldn’t find the words.
“She just asked where you were. She hadn’t seen you since she arrived and wondered where you went. I told her I didn’t know where you were either. She seemed disappointed.”
Lumen felt as if his heart dropped to the floor. Sofia thought about him. He couldn’t believe it. If only he had stayed on the dance floor, he could have avoided this whole predicament. Who knows? They could have talked, danced, and had a great time. Lumen got lost in his thoughts for a moment.
“Wait a minute, what do I tell my mom, and the school? I can’t just drop everything and leave to learn to be an Oosh or whatever.”
“An Eauge, say it right, sheesh. They don’t take kindly to the ignorant. And you won’t have to drop anything. You might have less time for homework and going on your little runs, but you’ll have plenty of time to go to both. You’ll go to Bonum after school and on weekends for classes. I know you hardly have to try in school here, so you should have no problem keeping up.” Alec said.
