That day had started out just like any other. I had just woken up, and I was starting to get ready for work. I was debating to myself whether I should eat a quick breakfast or wait until later -- since I worked in a bakery, I had plenty of sweets to choose from in my workplace. The bakery belonged to the Blooms, my adoptive parents, and they didn't care if I ate the products or not -- as long as I prepared others for the clients.
Shylock Bloom looked at me with disapproval. "It's time to cut your hair" he decided.
I groaned. My hair was pretty, with light brown undertones and shoulder-length curls. Besides, the Blooms didn't care about these trivial matters, unless they were angry about something else and they were trying to switch the subject. What's more, all the times Shylock Bloom had taken upon himself to cut my hair in the past, I was left with hairstyles so uneven and unflattering that I questioned if he did it on purpose.
Doris Bloom shot her husband a murderous glance. "Don't try to switch subject, Shylock. I asked you a question: how do you think he managed to trick us into making such fools of ourselves?"
I had no idea who they were talking about, but it sounded pretty interesting. My wild guess would be Marcel Bloom, Shylock's brother, who often played other people trying to gain something from them.
I knew there would be no point in asking -- the Blooms never told me anything, that was nothing that Oliver Edens needed to know. Oliver Edens being me, since they always called me with my full name.
This time though, they were both looking at me with a hateful look in their eyes. I wondered if they were talking about me -- I did nothing to trick them into anything the last time I checked, but one could never be too sure.
"I better go to the bakery" I excused myself. It was a pretty lame excuse -- we lived right above it, and it would take only a flight of stairs to get there. I wasn't exactly getting away from them.
"You stay here, young man" Shylock said. He grabbed my arm. He had never been a violent man but it made me afraid nonetheless. "We need to tell you something".
I mentally braced myself for all possibilities -- normally, a kid could be afraid his parents are about to tell him he was adopted, but that wasn't my case. I already knew I was adopted. My real parents, the Edens, had gone missing in the War. I believe the right term would be Missing in Action.
The War had lasted only a few years but it had a huge impact on the Corporation of the Kingdoms. The Corporation itself was born only after it, as a way to unite all the countries in the known world and make them allies. Millions of young people died or went missing in the War, making almost every kid my age an orphan. Of course, the economy suffered greatly from it, leading the government to establish new rules -- all the young orphans had to learn a trade and work somewhere, starting out as apprentices. Not every story was the same, however. Not every kid started working at the same age, some of them went to school while other didn't. Most of them lived in orphanages, other wandered the streets. Not all the wanderers found a job, and they were homeless.
I was one of the very few who was adopted. You see, adoption wasn't really an option at the end of the War -- there were too many kids and too little families. However, some people still decided to take orphans in. Of course, I was still just an orphan boy working in a business who needed a couple of extra hands like anybody else, but for some strange reason, the Blooms decided to raise me.
I say it's a strange reason 'cause they had never been fond of me. Most of the time, they couldn't even stand being in the same room.
Shylock Bloom took a deep breath. "Doris and I have been talking, and we have decided to fire you".
Before the shock started setting in, I remember clearly asking myself what I was going to do from then on. Working in the bakery was not only a big part of my every day life but also of my identity. Orphans had nothing but pride, and we were proud of the jobs we did.
"But, I did nothing wrong" I said in a small voice. I hated sounding weak, especially since I knew weakness was one of the many things the Blooms disapproved of.
"First of all, call me sir when you are speaking to me. Secondly, Oliver Edens, you also never did anything right. Ever, in your life".
I thought back on the fourteen years of my life, even though I always found it hard to remember my childhood. I never got along with the Blooms but that seemed too extreme -- I couldn't shake off that they resented me for a reason I didn't know about.
"Okay, I guess, sir".
"Okay, I guess? When will you start talking like a proper adult without resorting to your careless, youthful, manner of speaking?"
I didn't say anything, but I knew what my personal motto was. One day I will grow up, not today.
"What would you suggest I can do with my life from now on, sir?" I asked meekly.
"Honestly, it's up to you. Since you won't be working for us anymore, we would like to ask you to find another place to stay".
"But you adopted me..." I started off.
"Do you mean we took you in? As you know, after the War there is no way you can legally adopt someone and that's exactly why you keep your former name, Oliver Edens. We raised you and we were more than workplace bosses to you, but since you're a grown up now, we want to ask you to leave".
I wasn't as shocked as I thought it would be -- the Blooms and I never got along. I would go as far as to say we hated each other. Still, I questioned their timing. Why today out of all days? Nothing had happened, or at least, nothing I knew of.
"Fine, I'll go. But don't expect me to come back. Ever. Sir".
I was wandering around Outwoods, the city I lived in. I had decided I couldn't stay there. Too many people knew me as the boy from the bakery and it was going to be hard to change that. Besides, all the kids my age bullied me and most of the adults thought I was a troublemaker. And they were right. The only people I seemed able to bond with were the old ladies who came to the bakery. They always wanted cakes, especially for charity events.
In fact, today I was supposed to start working on six cakes. Strawberry, mint and peach. Two cakes for each flavour. I missed the comfort of my work, the relaxing aspect of it. The happiness I brought people with my products.
Outwoods was called like that 'cause it was situated just outside of the woods. I figured that if I travelled through them, there would be other cities on the other side. Maybe that was the road I had to take.
As soon as I entered the woods, however, I heard people talking. Someone was standing in the middle of the trees.
I took a look -- I meant to eavesdrop, honestly. I was alone in the world and I needed to know if those people could be a danger to my life or not.
There were two people there. Two men who looked like they were in their forties. At first glance, the smaller of the two, who looked approximately 5'7, looked older, but then I realised that it was because there was a big grey streak in the middle of his blond hair. He seemed to have some trouble balancing himself on his feet, which made me think he looked drunk. The other man was at least six feet tall, and he had jet black hair and big almond shaped jet black eyes. He looked charismatic. I am not really a religious type, but he looked like he could have been a prophet. There was something bigger than life about him.
"Are you sure we can find one of the Chosen Ones here?" the blond man asked the other.
"There are thousands of Chosen Ones in the world, if what we believe is correct, Vits. However, yes, I think one of them is in Outwoods".
I couldn't make sense of what they were saying, however it was pretty clear the smaller one was called Vits.
"Come here, boy" the one who looked like a prophet told me. I froze. I was sure they couldn't see me from where they were standing.
"I am Chaim Popov and this is Vits Sendker. What are you doing here?"
I told them my story. I had nothing else to do anyway. And besides, they didn't strike me as people who would be easy keeping secrets from.
"You said Oliver Edens? I am very sorry about your parents" Chaim told me.
My eyes widened. "You knew them?"
"We have only heard of them, we fought alongside them during the War. They were brave people".
"If you have nowhere else to go, we've been looking for apprentices for a really long time. You would be a student, however, at first. It's an art that's hard to learn, it might take a while".
"What is it?" I asked. I expected nothing special, but I would have agreed to basically anything.
"It's called sorcery, even though it blends elements of alchemy, spirituality and religion. Many people call it magic".
"I'm not particularly religious or talented at anything" I excused myself.
"You don't have to be, not as long as you have a superpower".
"I have a superpower? What is it?" I asked excitedly.
"Curiosity" Chaim replied, letting me down a little.
"How do you feel about magic?" Vits wanted to know. "Many people despise it".
Honestly, I never even knew if it existed or not and here they were, talking about it as if it was one of the most common things in the world.
"I don't know anything about magic" I confessed.
"Anything at all?" Chaim frowned. "I mean, I knew the government tries to keep it hidden but there is still plenty of magical activity and supernatural creatures in the thirty-three countries of the Kingdoms".
"Not that I knew of" I explained.
Now that I thought about it, there was one thing that I had always associated with magic growing up, but it was silly.
It was a pretty purple gemstone I found once at the Blooms. I often played with it as a toddler, and I still carry it with me for good luck everywhere I go.
I tried to see if I could feel it in my pocket, but it wasn't there. I guessed I had left it at home. That meant that I would never be able to retrieve it now. I tried not to think about it 'cause it was scary.
Surprisingly, I found that not thinking about the gemstone was incredibly easy, so easy I completely forgot about it in a few minutes.
"I'd like to come with you" I decided. "I want to find out more about magic".
"Perfect" Chaim replied. "The lessons are at my house, where you will also be living. It doesn't mean that you will be adopted though -- you know how adoption laws are and anyway, I would not be fit to start a family. Vits lives there too, and we often have friends coming over. I trust you'll like staying there".
We went deeper into the woods until we approached a big clearing. A haunting looking house which totally resembled a castle was built in the middle of it, surrounded by a beautiful garden.
"You didn't strike me as the type to live in a creepy castle" I mused.
"Is it what it looks like?" Chaim sounded hurt. "Anyway, thanks. Believe it or not, years ago I used to live in a very nice mansion with a garden and a beautiful view on the sea and people always complained to me that I was too odd to live in such a nice place. I think they were right, to some extent. I feel better embracing my weirdness, even though a lot of people don't mean to compliment you when they point it out".
We entered the gates and Vits started talking. He showed me the garden of the castle. It was luxurious and well-kept. You really couldn't tell how great it was from afar, you had to be there to see all the nice details in person.
"In the garden Chaim grows many marvellous fruit. Especially pomegranates. They're his favourite one".
In fact, they looked glorious.
We finally entered the castle. It had many rooms and all of them were covered by strange objects and books. Contrary to the popular belief of the kids back home, I always loved books. I was so amazed by them that I stopped paying attention to Vits completely. I didn't feel too bad about it: he was becoming very boring and I had the feeling that Chaim would have spent at least my first week there trying to explain everything to me again over and over.
Of course, there was a library as well. It must have contained at least a thousand books, if not more.
Then they showed me my room. The Apprentice Room. For the first time, a thought hit me. Was I one of the Chosen Ones they were talking about earlier? But no matter how many existed in the world, I was the only one living there, with such a beautiful room all to myself.
The Apprentice Room was as big as the bakery. It was full of exercise books, strange looking stones, ampoules and so on. The bed was big and it looked comfy. Too big for me. I remember hearing horror stories about orphanages. One of them was how happy the people who work there were to fit as many children as they could in only one bed. Maybe I wasn't the only apprentice. Maybe they planned to get many more and to stuff all of them in that room. I decided that if that happened, it would be my duty to scare the other children away.
The walls were painted blue and there were dark curtains with some stars printed on them. If people knew where I lived, they would have thought I was a fitting apprentice for Chaim: an odd baby wizard.
I noticed a mirror and I looked in it. I saw myself, obviously. I was a bit of a let down though, I hoped it was a magical instrument. Instead, there I was, with my curly brown hair and my light green eyes. Even though people at home didn't like me, a lot of them used to tell me I was good-looking. I wondered if anybody would ever care about that now.
"Do you like it?" Chaim asked. As a matter of fact, I did. It was definitely bigger than the room I used to have back at home. It was kind of cool too.
"I do" I smiled.
I noticed that Chaim really cared about my opinion. It was a bit strange, since I wasn't used to it, but it also made me feel better about myself.
The rest of the day went by pretty fast. Vits prepared our dinner and managed to eat three bowls of soup. For what it seemed like hours, Chaim and he talked about boring political stuff. I tend to space out and stop listening. Usually, I feel bad about it but it seemed like the right thing to do in that circumstance, and so I did.
Around midnight, Vits announced it was time for me to go to bed, coincidentally right after he and Chaim seemed to stop enjoying making small talk and were getting around to more important matters.
I normally would have argued and defended my right to stay up late, but I decided it wasn't the right occasion. It was my first day with them and I needed to impress them, not to mention the fact that I needed to be rested if I wanted to be a good student.
Like most of the orphans kids I knew, I only went to school for a year when I was six, where I learned how to read and do simple maths. Nothing else seemed to be required from us, so I had no idea of what kind of student I could be when things would get harder.
I was right. Chaim spent the following week explaining the same stuff over and over again. The house had twenty rooms, so I decided to write down everything I needed to know about each of them.
The Library: It is the biggest room and, much to my disappointment, I am forbidden to read most of the books there. The only ones I can read are called Alchemy Vol 1, Magicians Rules 101 and The Power of Words (and in that one I have to stick to the parts that Chaim underlined for me).
The Apprentice Room: It is my room and I already knew quite well what was important about it, but I had to write it down otherwise the count of the rooms wouldn't add up to twenty.
The Kitchen: It is where people prepare the meals we eat during the day. Sometimes it's Chaim, sometimes it's me, sometimes some friends passing by and guess who is actually there the most of us all? Vits! He is actually a very nice and warm person and a good cook.
Chaim's Room: I don't know why I even bothered to write it down. It's a complete mystery to me and it doesn't look like I'll be finding out anytime soon. I guess it's just full of wizard stuff. And old men boring stuff.
The Bathroom: Chaim may have given people what they wanted when he moved to a creepy looking house, but all his old crazy wizard disguise goes down the drain when you enter the bathroom. It looks like a beauty salon. There are like ten toilets and showers, at least. I mean, I know that Chaim has a lot of friends, but come on.
The Alchemy Room: It's a like a super cool school science lab where you actually want to be in. It's where Chaim takes me to work on alchemy stuff, but we actually almost never exercise because it sounds like everything is too complicated or too dangerous for me to try out.
The Meditation Room: It's the room where you meditate. I know the names are pretty self-explanatory already, but it's how I call them in my head to remember what they are, it's not like the rooms have actual names. Anyway, I'm not very strong in meditation yet, so I just go there sometimes to space out a bit.
There are four guest rooms in the house which sometimes is not enough for all the friends that visit Chaim, but some don't mind sleeping on the floor or not sleeping at all.
Esh Guest Room: Before you think I'm tripping, the guest rooms have actual names that I do not know the meaning of. This guest room is the smallest and the walls are grey, which, compared to all the other rooms in the house, makes it pretty boring. It's probably one of the smallest rooms in the house and that is the main reason why a lot of Chaim's friends don't like it.
Mayim Guest Room: This guest room is pretty nice and it's not boring at all -- in fact, the walls are covered in green wallpaper with a ridiculous design of zebras and coyotes on it. Vits once said that the guest rooms are the worst rooms in the house and I must say that I agree. The idea of having people in our house that sleep in such horrendous rooms doesn't even make me that much jealous.
Aer Guest Room: This guest room is my favourite, since it's the biggest. It's so big it has two beds in it. There are a lot of windows and even a small terrace. I guess it's Vits' room because he's just that clever, although I wouldn't know because I'm always fast asleep by the time he goes to bed.
Adamah Guest Room: This guest room is pretty wild, I mean it's got cactuses in it. But I have to say, the bed looks very comfy, it's a futon. You know, these Japanese beds that are like a mattress on the floor. Chaim told me that he wasn't initially sure about this, since it's not a part of his culture, but a friend of his, a Japanese wizard and architect helped him come up with the idea, and he was in love with it.
Now, let's go back to the rooms that aren't guest rooms...
The Dining Room: One of the biggest rooms in the house for sure. Since it's the room where we eat our meals and where all the guests gather most of the time, it's always super clean and bright, even in the night there are thousands of candles burning. And I don't want to sound cheesy but it's beautiful.
The Gym: It's your typical gym, and it's there because Chaim believes in keeping fit. It's quite good for your mental health too.
The Spa: Yeah, exactly. Just like I said, it's a creepy old castle only on the outside.
The Planetary: It's a really nice place and I love it. You also get to learn a lot of cool stuff about planets and space.
The Old Room: Chaim told me that this room used to be the first Meditation Room then something went wrong. Nowadays it's pretty empty except for a creepy looking statue that someone (probably Vits) hid there.
The Forbidden Room: It's just up the stairs and I can't go in there. If you want to know why, all I can do is roll my eyes in response like Chaim did when I asked cause it's the only appropriate answer I know.
The Exercise Room: I can't do all the kind of magic practice I need in the rooms already mentioned, it seems. I spend a lot of time here and I like it.
The Basement: It's quite spooky and it has Halloween vibes. I am starting to go there more often because I always have to fetch stuff for the potions. Vits loves it and likes spending time there pretending to be a ghost or whatever.
The Attic: It's very big but it's also very nice, the walls are painted sky blue and it is a very quiet place where you can just chill. It's my favourite place to be in when I want to listen to some music.
So, that's it. I already spent about two weeks at Chaim's house, and I am starting to consider it my own house. It's really lovely how he cares about me even though he doesn't always show it, I can just feel it. I began fantasizing about having friends my age with whom I could play and talk and have fun in a lot of ways that adults wouldn't comprehend. Last night I was practising some mental magic where I had to wish really hard for something and I wished for a friend. I can't wait to see if my wish comes true.
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