The rest of the school day is torture for Todd. It's long and boring, especially considering his plans with Emily. The real possibility that he can practice the aptitude test, get into a magic school, and get back his best friend is very distracting; he learns even less pointless information than usual in his classes.
Fortunately, the school day does eventually end, and Todd heads straight for the field where Emily wants to meet. He can't stop daydreaming about casting spells and slaying monsters. Everyone around him seems to disappear because he is so consumed by the possibilities being opened up. However, as he approaches the field and doesn't see Emily anywhere, his mind starts racing.
Is this a sick joke? Does she plan to show up at all? Is it too good to be true?
Todd passes by a set of bushes and enters the clearing when something grabs his leg. "Ahhh," he screams. Kicking and flailing about, he only manages to trip himself and fall over.
Luckily, this also causes whatever grabbed him to let go. Looking around, he picks up a stick lying next to him and readies it with trembling hands.
"Got you!" Emily shouts appearing from the dense bushes. She laughs and Todd remembers that he used to hide in bushes and scare her every chance he got as a kid.
"I guess you don't mess around with your revenge," Todd jokes, trying to stop his heart from racing and kicking himself for not remembering this trick earlier.
"Nope!" Emily says with a sweet smile. "We aren't close to even yet. Don't scare so easily next time."
Standing there for a moment stunned, Todd doesn't know if he should laugh or be terrified. As kids, they always teased and taunted each other. Keeping to himself so much lately caused Todd to forget what it was like to have a friend.
"Well, are you coming or not? My dad will kill you if you make me late for supper, no matter how much your aptitude for magic increases!" Emily calls from the middle of the field.
"Yeah, coming," Todd stutters, shaking off the thoughts running through your head.
Jogging over to where Emily is, he sits down next to her cross-legged in the field. She has a small, old box on her lap made from a dark wood he doesn't recognize. An old fashion brass lock keeps it securely closed.
"What is that?" he thinks out loud, reaching for the box. Emily smacks his hand before he can lay a finger on it.
"That's rude! You can't just take my box!" She scolds. Todd instinctively rolls his eyes without meaning to. "Kidding, sorta, this is my secret weapon! You have to promise not to tell anyone okay?" Todd nods in agreement, wondering what could be so important in such a small box. Emily looks relieved. "You know how the aptitude test works, right?"
"You take a special magic block and channel energy into it, making it glow bright if you have potential."
"Yes, that's right! The energy is magical energy and the block only reacts with one type of magic. If you don't know what you are doing, you just put energy into the block, and your naturally dominant type of magic will be the strongest. However, if you can control magical energy, then you can choose what type of energy you send out! So it does do what they say it does, but with some training, you can choose what blocks you light up!"
"So, you're saying rather than just channeling energy into a block, I can learn to control fire or water energy and channel only that into the block to make myself look more proficient?" Emily nods in agreement, giggling at the stupid grin that breaks out on Todd's face. "What does the box have to do with this?"
"They use blocks now, but they used to do this with magic paper!" Emily opens the box to reveal an assortment of red, blue, brown, white, and black tissue paper. "The paper works the same way as the blocks. It's easier and more fun to put energy into these, though! Magic paper is perfect to practice with each element before you use the block!"
She pulls out a red piece of paper to demonstrate. After closing her eyes and concentrating for a moment, the paper bursts into flames on the end farthest from her fingers. "See! Isn't that fu-err oww!" she gasps as the paper burns up and singes her fingers where she is holding it.
"I guess that's why they switched to the glowing blocks," Todd jokes. "Let me try!" Laughing, he grabs a piece of paper. Before he bursts it into flames, he stops to look at Emily. "Thanks for showing me this, it's cool!"
Closing his eyes, Todd focuses on the paper. Trying to channel as much energy through it as possible, he feels drained from the energy being expended. As his hands get hot, he opens his eyes out of the fear that he might burn himself as Emily did.
"Go ahead and start whenever you are ready," Emily encourages.
Todd opens his eyes to see that nothing is happening to the paper. "I did," he yells, throwing the paper down in frustration.
"Don't give up so easily. That was just a first attempt! You can practice channeling fire energy. Once you get a feel for how that is different from the others, you can channel that without wasting all the energy that isn't fire based! Or if you want, we can try all of them to see what best suits you naturally to focus on that one!"
She proceeds to pick up a white paper and concentrate, causing a small burst of wind to rush at Todd's face. She moves on to a brown one that eventually crumbles into a small pile of sand. With the blue paper and even larger effort, she manages to produce a few drops of water that fall onto the ground. She smiles at you while breathing heavily.
"That one is the hardest," she stammers before taking a few deep breaths. "My natural element is fire so that one is more impressive than the others."
"I get it! You are sure that you don't mind if I try all of them?" Todd asks. Sweating and breathing heavily, Emily manages to smile and motion for him to continue. "Here goes nothing!"
Todd focuses on a white piece of paper. The wind picks up for a second, and he looks down at the paper only to realize it is fully intact. The wind he feels is just a cool breeze passing through the field. Emily looks relieved as the breeze passes over her, and her long red hair flows behind her as if it is dancing in the wind. Todd catches himself staring at her for a moment.
"What?" Emily asks, sounding concerned and turning as red as her hair when she notices him.
"Nothing," he stammers, looking back down at the box. "I was just trying to decide if I'm better off trying earth magic or water magic."
"Sure," Emily agrees with a giggle. "Try water! I'm bad at that one, so I would be impressed if you could do it!"
"Yeah, the water school would be cool! Not very many people get in, so it's like the most exclusive type of magic!" He picks up a blue paper and concentrates.
Nothing happens. Channeling more energy into the paper, his vision begins blurring from the strain. Sweat pours down his back.
"Come on," he mutters through gritted teeth.
Eventually, the very end of the paper shimmers a bit. A single drop forms before absorbing into the rest of the paper. Exhaustion from the effort causes Todd to collapse.
"Hey, that was better!" Emily says with a smile, which Todd returns with a glare. "You should take a break. Then, maybe, we can try channeling water energy to see if you can improve!" She reaches for the box.
"No!" Todd grabs the box. "At least let me try the last one!"
Fumbling around in the box, he plucks a dark brown paper out without looking at it closely. Emily's eyes widen, and she reaches out to stop him. Not wanting to give up on his lifelong dream, he concentrates on the paper and pours as much energy as he can muster into it before Emily can stop him.
"Stop!" Emily cautions as Todd's vision blacks out.
He doesn't feel more tired than he did before, so he doesn't believe that he is passing out. Then, he hears Emily wail, "Help I can't see!"
"Emily, have you moved?" Todd calls out to her.
"No, does that mean you can't see either?"
"Yes, I don't know what happened."
Suddenly, the darkness subsides. Todd and Emily's vision returns, and they see the darkness in the field acting like water going down the drain. Above them is a clear blue sky. Below them, now at shoulder level, is what looks like a pool of darkness lowering by the second. The two kids stare at each other.
"What was that?" Todd yells. Emily looks so scared that he doesn't want her to answer.
"That... You... It," Emily stammers before composing herself. "You didn't grab a brown paper."
"What are you saying?"
"This box is from the time before Dark magic was outlawed over one hundred years ago. My ancestor was a master of fire magic, and this was what they used to see what kind of potential new apprentices had. The box was passed down through the generations. Your aptitude for dark magic is insane." Her blue eyes widen with wonder and fear.
"That can't be right!" The hairs on the back of Todd's neck stand up. There is a long silence during which he and Emily simply stare at each other.
"So, should I try earth?" Todd offers to break the awkward silence. Emily passes him the box without a word. Careful to pick up a brown paper, not a black one, he focuses on it. After a minute or so, a few grains of sand form on the outer edge of the paper.
"It's a start!" Emily says with a shaky voice and weak smile. "Do you want to try focusing on a specific type?"
"Yeah, which one do you think I should pick?"
"Well, the earth and water were your best. Earth has a bigger school, so maybe that one?"
"Let's do it!" Holding up the same brown paper Todd had barely managed to get sand out of, he double-checks that it is still brown to be safe. "What now?"
"You need to meditate, and feel the energy flowing through you. Air energy should feel like its light and restless. Fire feels hot and energetic! Earth is heavy and stubborn. Water, well, I don't feel water energy that much, so I can't describe it," Emily explains as Todd closes his eyes to meditate.
"What do you feel?" Emily asks with anticipation after a moment.
"None of my energy feels like that," Todd states.
"What does it feel like?"
"Dark, like a shadow alive and dancing without any light at all..." He opens his eyes to see Emily staring at him with wide eyes. "What?"
"Nothing, that's just very creepy." Emily sighs.
"Gee, thanks." Todd rolls his eyes.
The next few hours are spent with Todd meditating and slowly getting better at turning brown paper into sand. Before too long, he can turn an entire sheet into a small pile of fine sand.
"That's so much better! You might pass the aptitude test with that alone; not everyone can manage that much," Emily points out. "I have to go, though. Why don't you take a few of each and practice at home? It's not like I need them all."
"Are you sure?" Todd asks with a hand hovering over the box.
"Yeah, but you owe me." Emily winks at him.
He grabs a few brown papers before she can change her mind. The original white, red, and blue paper are still clutched in his other hand.
"Oh, if I show you one last thing do you promise not to tell anyone?" Emily adds. Todd nods, wondering what else she could have to show him.
"Lesser Fire Ball!" Emily shouts, pointing at a tree. Fire shoots from her fingertips and explodes on the tree, leaving a very small black mark. Looking closer, Todd notices the same mark on almost every tree in the clearing.
"When you get good, you can do that," Emily says with a mischievous smile.
"Wow, that's awesome!" Todd marvels. Emily grins, giving Todd the impression that she was fishing for a compliment. "You are a prodigy!"
"Lesser Dark Flame," a voice hisses.
"What?" Todd asks, assuming Emily had said it. "Why did you say it all creepy like that?"
"Huh? Said what?" Emily questions.
"You hissed 'Lesser Dark Flame'," Todd repeats, gesturing towards Emily.
Black flames shoot from his hands. One hand is pointed at the tree Emily marked, which explodes into dark flames. The other hand is pointed towards the ground and causes the dry grass to erupt with black fire.
"Todd, what is happening?" Emily cries. Her blue eyes lock with his—wide with fear—and the flames start spreading quickly.