Zeph Malston: The Aether Mage

It was a beautiful morning. Birds were singing, the sun was shining, and the smell of bacon was in the air. Everyone was gathered for breakfast except for Zeph. Bernard told them to let the boy sleep in because he overexerted himself yesterday. Not needing to wait on the boy, everyone started eating. It was a typical breakfast conversation. They discussed the weather, how everyone was, and what plans they had today. Eventually, they started talking about Zeph. Bianca was the one to breach the topic.

"No one mentioned why Zeph is so tired," She sent Bernard an accusatory glance, almost certain he was the cause of it.

"The boy just used exhausted his magic improvising a spell yesterday. It's nothing to worry about." Bernard's left index finger tapped the table. Bianca caught the slight movement, It was something her boss did when he was hiding something or lying.

"Really, are you sure?" she questioned again.

"Chill girl, I talked to the little dude last night. Every thing's cool." Eli made a loud crunch as he bit into his toast. Bernard and Alex looked a little surprised that the two talked last night.

"What about?" Her focus shifted to Eli.

"You know, guy stuff. Can you pass the orange juice?" Eli wiggled an empty glass at the fox girl.

She filled the glass. "What kind of guy stuff?"

"Thanks," the elf took a quick sip. "You know, guy stuff. Movies, jokes, girls, that kind of thing."

Unable to spot any signs of lying, Bianca decided to leave it at that.

Bernard was still curious, "Anything important?" the old man asked.

"Well, I did give him my ch.i.p.s. It was a new bag too."

"How is that important?" Bianca was a little annoyed at the silly answer.

"A girl wouldn't understand," Eli said as if it was a well-known secret only men kept.

She turned to Alex and Bernard, only to see them nod. Crossing her arms, Bianca grumbled about boys and their stupid secrets. The other two men didn't really understand what Eli was saying but nodded anyway. Why? Because it's a guy thing.

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Zeph was lying in bed. His eyes were red from crying. Last night, the boy stayed up late grieving. While remembering his other life, he thought of the different things he could have done to stay alive. It was an exercise in futility because he couldn't even remember how he died. The kitten, bless the little thing, tried to cheer him up by l.i.c.k.i.n.g his face and nuzzled up against him. That helped, and he soon fell asleep. Now it was morning, and he didn't feel like getting up and talking to anyone.

A loud grumbling nose woke the kitten up. It was Zeph's stomach. He was feeling really grateful to Eli right now, as he picked up the bag of ch.i.p.s and started eating. Now he wouldn't have to leave his tent to go get breakfast. Picking up the tablet on the nightstand, Zeph put the kitten in his l.a.p and started watching CV shows. Sighing loudly, he started talking to the kitten. "I really should have brought my CV projector last night."

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"It's really nice of Zeph to let us use his CV projector all the time," Bianca said while watching her favorite daytime soap opera.

"Indeed, it makes the exaggerated reactions look so much funnier." Alex chuckled as an actress made a shocked and disgusted expression. She just discovered her husband's evil twin sleeping with her sister. "I bet the twist is that he isn't the evil twin." Alex liked to guess soap opera plot twists.

"Where did Mr. Malston go?" Bianca looked around the camp.

"He said he had some tests to run. The spell Zeph improvised yesterday impressed him, so he wanted to see if he could make some improvements to it."

"Really, what kind of spell could the kid have made that would impress Mr. Malston?" She turned from the CV and looked at Alex in surprise.

"It was an arrow capable of injecting the casters magic into the target. The injected magic would conflict with the target's and cause a backlash."

"That sounds pretty dangerous."

"It was, the target self-destructed, and Zeph used up all his magic."

"That sounds like a great tactic, why haven't I heard of anything like that before?"

"Well, there are several weaknesses to the technique. But Master Malston said that if it was used at the right time, it could be the deciding factor between victory and defeat." Alex then told Bianca more about the spell that Zeph managed to create.

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"Tomatoes, check. Bell peppers, Check. Purple onions, check." Eli was tapping on his tablet as he walked through the garden. Zeph had given him a recipe a few days ago. So, Eli decided to grow some of the ingredients for it. He had already prepared the herbs and cheese. He was only waiting for the vegetables to ripen.

With a basket in hand and a smile on his face, Eli walked towards the gazebo. He waved to Alex and Bianca on his way to the cooking area. The fox girl offered to help, but he was not letting her anywhere near this dish. There was no way he would give her a chance to get 'creative' with the recipe. Preparing everything he needed, Eli started making the first of many Zeph recommended dishes.

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Bernard finally put the finishing touches on Zeph's original spell. Implanting one's spell power into another creature wasn't a new concept. People just pushed their magic into something. However, Zeph's delivery method was new. The magic arrow acted as a needle, injecting magic like a syringe. Using the completed version Bernard made, a person could control how much power they wished to inject. A small amount of power, injected into the right places, would disrupt the opponents magic control. They wouldn't explode if they had strong magic control, but they could be severely injured and their spell would fail.

Done experimenting for the day, Bernard made his way back to the recliner he sat in last night. He poured himself a glass of brandy, leaned back and pressed a button on the armrest. Alex didn't know, but these chairs had a few extra features. A soft humming noise could be heard as the recliner turned into a massage chair. "Aaah, that's the stuff." Bernard waved his hand and the stereo system started to play some smooth jazz. Closing his eyes and taking a sip of his drink, Bernard let the music take him away.

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A potato chip was floating in the air and teasing a kitten. It was just out of reach, and the little thing kept swiping its paws at it. Every time the poor thing got close, Zeph would yank it upward with his magic. When the kitten finally settled down and waited patiently, the boy would reward her by saying, "Good girl" and gave her a chip. He did this while laying down in bed The tablet hovering in the air, so he could watch shows without sitting up. A lack of appetite and a bag of ch.i.p.s let him skip lunch. Most of the day was spent relaxing like this, while he sorted out his feelings.

While his mind kept him from experiencing overpowering negative emotions, it didn't seem to help much last night. Zeph had a theory about that. Eli's advice made Zeph want to confront his feelings, so his emotional limiter didn't affect them. The sudden rush of emotions was jarring. His mental fortitude was strengthened, so he would recover faster than a normal person. Though, it would still take some time.

His healing factor was also on his mind. He had an amazing ability, and he had no idea that his body was capable of it. The evolution of his body without his notice was worrying. Bernard could help him monitor his changes, but he couldn't help wonder what he was turning into.

Suddenly, a paw bopped him on the nose and woke him from his thoughts. There, staring into his eyes was the kitten. "What is it, girl?" Her ears twitched, seemingly annoyed. He grabbed the kitten and finally sat up. Struggling, the kitten motioned towards a floating chip. Zeph had forgotten to give it to her when he was lost in thought.

"Sorry," he made the chip float to the kitten. "I'm getting pretty good at the telekinesis spell. It works when I'm not paying too much attention to it now."

As the chip approached, she meowed in satisfaction. When Zeph was watching the kitten happily chew, his tablet beeped a few times. Someone sent him a message.

~Hey little dude, dinner almost ready. If you're not feeling up to it, I can swing by your tent and bring you something.~ It was sent by Eli.

Zeph got up and checked himself in the mirror. Crumbs were scattered all over and he didn't look great. Luckily, Alex told him what the correct cleaning spell was a few days ago. Closing his eyes, Zeph cast the spell and was surprised when he opened them. His hair was combed, clothes cleaned and face looked washed. "God I love magic! C'mon kitty, I can't mope around in here forever."

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Everyone was at the gazebo. When Zeph didn't show up for lunch, Bianca nagged Eli. He had to tell everyone about what he and Zeph talked about last night. Bernard sighed, at his lacking ability as a grandfather. 'Guess I've got a long way to go' he thought, remembering what Alex said last night. The dwarf had similar thoughts to Eli concerning Zeph's emotions. Since Zeph wouldn't be coming, they all sat and ate.

Eli messed up his dish so they had to eat something Bianca prepared. When they all saw it, they wondered if they should have skipped lunch like Zeph. Chili dogs aren't supposed to be bright pink. After they managed to eat the weird dish, they decided to take some time for themselves in the afternoon to relax. Bianca and Alex watched more CV. Bernard took a nap, and Eli spent the afternoon perfecting the dish he tried making for lunch. Time passed by quickly and it was almost time to eat dinner.

They were all thinking about how they should act around Zeph when they saw him coming from the direction of his tent. Without that carefree smile and demeanor, Zeph looked smaller and even more childish. Bianca couldn't help herself and hugged him when he stepped into the gazebo. The boy was surprised at first, but the hug warmed his heart. So, he didn't complain.

'Maybe she saw the video where I fought the ape. This is much better than her scolding,' he thought.

Then he smelled something from the table, and it was very familiar. He tried to escape the hug, but it seemed the fox girl wasn't done. She continued to gently pat his head. Looking to the side, his eyes pleaded Bernard and Alex for help. They pretended not to see anything, afraid of interrupting Bianca's nurturing mood. But that familiar smell was getting stronger, and he really wanted to know what it was. "What's for dinner, it smells awesome."

"Good, I hope it tastes just as awesome. Now let the little dude go. You're gonna suffocate him if you keep it up." Eli said, not answering his question.

"Fine!" she grumbled. "If you want to talk or need anything, you can always ask me. Okay?" Bianca hated being left out and was still holding a grudge about Eli's 'guy thing' excuse.

"Sure thing." Zeph finally escaped and looked at the table. "Is that what I think it is!" His eyes widened and a smile graced his face for the first time today.

"Sure is. I followed your recipe as close as I could." Eli gestured to the dish proudly.

"What is it called?" Alex was staring at it, breathing in the rich aroma.

"It's one of the greatest foods ever invented," Zeph's smile grew wider, "Pizza!"

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