Page 14 of Gift from the Stone

The stranger wipes my stray tears and pulls me into a hug, shushing me as I break down. After a few moments of sobbing, I pull away and shake my body out.

“I hope this old dude loves me as much as you do. You’re the only person in this realm and the next who will put up with me. I know it. I’m going to be pissed if he’s a cranky bastard.”

An indistinguishable laugh bursts from the stranger, causing me to laugh and clear up my tears right alongside them.

“Language. And yes, he’s going to love you as I do. Now pay attention. This is very important. During your afternoon bliss, you need to ask him to teach you two different spells. The first is a concealing spell and the second is a dimension spell. You need to know both.”

“And what will these spells do?”

“You’ll learn that when he teaches you.”

“I just don’t understand why you could teach me Elema Lingua Vetus, how to control my elements, how to use my magic, and so much more but can’t teach or tell me why certain things have to be done a certain way.”

“Keep the faith, filia mea. It’ll all make sense soon.”

As the memory fades, I rock my chair with my feet, relaxing in the bliss of silent comfort with Gaster. A snort escapes me when I replay maybe sixteen-year-old me referring to Gaster as an old dude. If younger me knew then what I know now, she would’ve done more than argue with the stranger. She would’ve begged, pleaded, thrown an absolute tantrum to be taken away right then and there.

“What has you chuckling over there?” Gaster asks, amusement coloring his tone, making my smile widen. Gazing over to him, he’s still sitting with his eyes closed, a small smile playing on his lips.

Blissful.

“One of my memories just came through,” I say lightly.

He pops straight up, looking over at me. “Well, don’t leave me in suspense, child, get on with it.”

“I need you to teach me a spell. Well, two spells. I need you to teach me the concealment spell and the dimension spell.”

His baby blues widen at my request, his mouth opening and closing in indecision at what to say. “That’s what you saw?”

“My stranger spoke very highly of you. They didn’t say your name but gave me enough details to know it was you. They said one day, we’d be spending a blissful afternoon together and that’s when I needed to ask you to teach me those spells. I don’t believe it was a coincidence the memory came through just now.”

“No, I don’t believe so either, Willow. There are no coincidences in Elementra.” Gaster pushes off his chair and drags it over to sit in front of me. “I’ll show you the concealment spell first as it’s self-explanatory.”

Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out his small silver switchblade and lays his palm out flat for me to see it.

“Conceal,” he mutters.

The blade vanishes from my sight, and I reach out to run my fingers over Gaster’s hand where the blade had been, but I feel nothing other than his warm, weathered skin.

“Shit, Gaster, where did it go?” I ask in amazement.

“It’s still right here,” he says as he holds his pointer finger and thumb up, but there’s a gap keeping the digits from touching one another. “I can still feel it, see it, even though the sight of it is disoriented, letting me know my concealment is active. It’s only concealed from your sight and touch.” He gently grabs my hand and lays my palm flat then places the blade in the center. It’s invisible and weightless, so I just have to believe that it’s there.

“Reveal.” Gaster’s magic rubs across my hand like a gentle caress and when he pulls it back, I’m left with the cold feeling of metal and a gentle weight resting in my palm.

“Damn, that’s so cool. I wonder why I would need to know this, though. I don’t have any weapons that need to be hidden.”

I’m apparently the only one who doesn’t carry weapons around. The other night, Draken’s switchblade, which is quite larger than Gaster’s, fell out of his pants pocket when he was climbing into bed. When I interrogated him about it, he said they all always have one on them, and they all load up on them when they leave the academy, stating you never know when one will come in handy. It wasn’t comforting to me at all.

“I believe you already know that answer, child,” Gaster states, pointing at my chest where I mindlessly stroke my Memoria stone, a habit I’ve picked up every time it shows me something that confuses me.

“You think I need to conceal my necklace?”

“I do. I should’ve thought about this before now, but you keep it tucked away all the time, so the thought never occurred to me until now. Yes, I think that’d be for the best with everything going on.” He nods confidently and although I don’t like the idea of concealing it, they’ve warned me enough to know if the wrong type of person saw it, I’d be in danger.

“Okay. So what do I do?”

“Call forth your magic, grip your stone, and repeat after me.” He pauses, giving me a moment to get ready, and at my nod, he continues. “Conceal my possession from curious eyes. Only to me, you reveal its disguise.”

---