Toil & Trouble
^{A Story}
by Saless
Chapter 4 — A New Friend?

"No, I don't think so. But enough of that. Let's get back to your education. You did a good job with that spell, so we'll try another. Put the crystal up on the shelf while I find the spell." Charlotte replied.

"Okay." Tina said, picking up the glowing crystal by its stand and putting it on the shelf as directed. She half expected the crystal to be hot, but she couldn't feel any heat coming off of it. She hesitantly tapped the crystal with one finger, but it was cool to the touch. "How does it generate light without heat?"

Charlotte smiled, "It's magic!" Tina shook her head at her grandmother's favorite answer to questions of magic and started putting the other objects used for the spell away. The next spell called for some of the same objects, so she ended up putting many right back again. The spell allowed Tina to see someplace she was familiar with, in this case her old room at her parent's house.

They continued to try out different spells from that and a few other journals over the course of the weekend. Tina was amazed at how differently some people had approached magic, and how much more complicated many of their spells were. Charlotte was amazed at how easily Tina handled these new spells; spells she had great difficulty with when she was first learning herself. Charlotte's store was closed on Sundays and Mondays, so they had all day Sunday to practice. Monday Charlotte would work on finding some more spells for Tina to try while she was at work.

Monday Tina went back for her second day at the electronics store. A woman by the name of Sarah was there this time, who had apparently been working there a while as a guy! And she'd been attacked by a former co-worker and that's why she wasn't there Friday. Tina didn't know what to think of her at first, after hearing some of the others talk about her. But Tiffany was busy with another new hire, so it was Sarah who continued Tina's training. By the end of the day Tina couldn't see how Sarah could have ever been anything but a girl.

Tiffany was acting strangely, watching Sarah whenever she was near with an odd expression. Sure seems to be a lot of odd things going on in this place. Tina thought as she was clocking out for the day.

When she got home Charlotte had several new spells for Tina to try. They were from much more recent journals. There were a lot of odd elements, but they were largely much simpler spells. Tina found them to be as easy to use as the others, if not easier. And their effects were far more pronounced than the journals made them sound. They were still fairly subtle magic, for the most part. "Aren't there any spells that are more...obvious?" Tina asked as they were eating dinner.

Charlotte shook her head, "Supposedly, magic was once much more powerful than it is now. In those days, the kind of magic you see in books and movies was supposed to be possible. Perhaps even commonplace. However, whether that is true or not, I've never heard of anyone being able to do any magic of that kind. I think it's for the best, though. Any magic you might be seen doing can easily be explained away as a simple trick or optical illusion. Can you imagine how people would react if they knew we could do real magic?"

Tina grimaced, "Yeah, I guess it's best for people not to know. But if magic is getting stronger, couldn't that be an issue eventually?"

"I suppose it's possible. I certainly hope not, for your sake. You're already much more skilled than anyone I've ever seen. You need to be careful to keep your abilities secret. I don't want anything to happen to you." Charlotte replied.

Tina smiled and hugged her grandmother. "Don't worry," she said, "I'll be careful." With that they washed up and tried a few more spells before bed.

The next day Tina was on her own at work, which was a bit frightening for her. Sarah was working with the new girl, Kris, so Tina went to Tiffany for help when she needed it. To her surprise, that wasn't often. Maybe this job won't be so bad after all. she thought.

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