The trip to school was thankfully uneventful. It didn’t stop Ryan from worrying, however. His heart was still heavy, churning thoughts and worries taking more and more space in his mind. Nothing had gones as he'd expected in the past two days. First the manticore, then the bracelet, and now his parents. Ryan felt a bit like the world around him was falling apart, like things had suddenly stopped making sense. He’d been carrying heavy secrets since he’d turned 8, when his magical potential had awakened, but this time was different. Even in the worst moments, he’d always felt more in control than he did now.

Because people had such a hard time noticing magic, Ryan had always felt like he had a failsafe in case he made a mistake, something that would keep everyone from noticing he was different, but this wouldn't help him now. Even if people were bad a discerning magic, if the event was big enough they would probably figure out something wasn’t right. That was one fact that Becker had thoroughly hammered into his mind: People coulnd't notice, or his life would be over.

Sitting down in his classroom in a daze, Ryan took his books out of his backpack. Delving back into his thoughts, he considered going to Becker. The professor knew a lot more about magic than Ryan did, and now that Ryan had a tiny bit amount of control over his transformation, Becker wouldn’t have as much hold over him. Still, if Becker decided he wanted more from Ryan, he’d have a lot of leverage. Ryan didn't believe the professor would threaten to revel his secret, that wasn't how he did things, but the idea still made him shudder.

Looking up, Ryan quickly realized that class had started. He’d been too lost in his thoughts to notice. Worse still, he’d somehow gotten the wrong books out of his backpack. Mentally cursing, he tried to switch them for the right ones without bringing too much attention to him. The last thing he needed was for people to notice he was acting weirdly.

Getting the right books out of his backpack out, Ryan surreptitiously glanced around him, and found a girl to his left looking at him, though she quickly looked away once she noticed his gaze. Other than that, he was in the clear.

With the correct books out, Ryan cleared his mind and focused on his work. Or, at least, he tried to. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get himself to focus on his work. His notes were lacking in quality, and he even found his mind wandering several times.

Ryan spent the whole morning struggling to focus on his work. He'd sometimes manage to focus for a few moments, only to feel the bracelet brush against his wrist, or for something else to distract him and bring his worries back to the forefront of his mind. It was maddening, and the lunch break couldn't come fast enough.

Sitting in the school cafeteria, alone at a small table, Ryan was finally able to relax. No longer having to juggle between his internal conflict and his work, he could finally let his thoughts wander, mindlessly eating the sandwich he’d bought. He thought about the bracelet, what it was capable of, and what he was supposed to do now. What were his options ? Creating a second identity might be useful, that way he’d be prepared if he ever got stuck in a situation in which he was unable to turn back. That, however, meant finding a name and creating an even more complex lie, which he didn’t like. Ryan tried to lie as little as possible. If he wasn't consistent in his fabrications it’d be easy for inconsistencies to be spotted, after all.

Looking down at the bracelet, Ryan frowned. It was possibly the biggest mystery he’d ever come across. He couldn’t risk casting his vision spell in the middle of the cafeteria, even if the chances of anyone noticing were really low. He’d have to wait until he got home to study it.

Now that he had relaxed a little bit, Ryan realized the spell keeping him from transforming felt different. What had initially felt as a faint connection between his spring and his bracelet had turned into a more insistent pulling. It was still far from straining, but now it was noticeable. He didn’t need to focus to sense it anymore.

The little stress Ryan had managed to get rid of came back with a vengeance. The spell was requiring more energy. Frustration piled up on top of the already present anxiety. Why couldn’t he catch a damn break ? Nothing had gone his way, absolutely nothing, ever since he’d found that manticore 2 days ago. Ryan had to do something, he decided. He couldn’t keep going as he was. He’d barely lasted half a school day and already his nerves were fraying. He’d go see Becker after school and damned be the consequences. He needed to talk about this to someone.

“That’s a very pretty bracelet.” Said a voice, coming from in front of him. Glancing up, Ryan saw a girl was standing in front of his table, looking at him with a small smile. She had a bright face, the kind that was used to grinning, long locks of dark auburn hair flowing past her shoulders and ending above her hips. Ryan recognized her soon enough. She was Sarah, and she was in the same class as him. Why would she come talk to him ?

“Is everything alright? You were frowning, and you seemed really agitated in class today.” She said when Ryan kept quiet, looking at him with what might have been faint concern, or maybe curiosity. A thought struck him. She’d been the one looking at him this morning, when he’d switched his books for the correct ones! He’d made a mistake, and now people had noticed something wasn’t right with him today. His heart sank a little bit more at that thought.

“I’m fine,” he answered after a slightly too long pause.

“Can I sit down?” She asked, an unsure smile on her face.

“Sure, I guess.” Ryan said, a bit warily. What did she want suddenly? They’d never really talked before, maybe a word in passing, but that was it. Why would she suddenly want to talk? Did she know something more?

Wordlessly, Sarah pulled out a chair and sat at the round table, across from Ryan. She still had a small, genuine smile on her face. Ryan couldn’t make sense of the situation, and something was nagging at the back of his mind, like he was forgetting something important, but he just couldn't pinpoint what.

“I know you usually like to keep to yourself, but you really seemed out of it today. You already looked disturbed yesterday, though definitely not as much.” She said. That threw Ryan in for a loop. She’d been watching him yesterday already ? His face must have betrayed his thoughts, because Sarah’s face then took a worried expression.

“I’m sorry, I swear I wasn’t spying on you! I’ve just always been really good at reading people and I’m pretty attentive and it just struck me” She said in a rush, worry etched across her face. The explanation was enough to appease Ryan at least a little bit.

“As I said, I’m alright, but thanks for worrying I guess,” he said, not unkindly. “I need to go grab my books, see you in class,” with that, Ryan got up, gathering his belongings, and left. Sarah didn’t say anything, just giving him a small nod and a small smile.

That confirmed it. Ryan really needed to go see Becker. Sarah might not know anything about his situation, but it was already too much for him. He couldn’t take any chances.

After having gotten his books, Ryan made his way to his afternoon classes. Sarah was there, but he didn’t acknowledge her any more than he usually did. His mind was still occupied, but he made a bigger effort to conceal his anxiousness. He didn’t want anyone else to notice, one person was already too much.

As the hours went by, the spell holding back his transformation got more and more taxing. By the end of the afternoon, Ryan had to consciously keep casting it, which definitely didn't help him keep focused on his work. It also worried him, what if he became unable to cast the spell?

Once classes were over, Ryan quickly made his way to Becker's office. They both knew each other’s schedule, for situations like this one. I didn’t take him long to arrive. Becker was sitting at his desk, looking over what must have been students’ homework. Ryan knocked on the opened door and made his way inside. Becker gave a quick glance up to see who had entered before going back to his copies.

“Ryan. What do you want?” He asked in a bored monotone.

“I need to show you something I’ve found, but we need to go somewhere more private. It’s really important.” That instantly got the professor’s attention. He looked up sharply, his expression turning serious. His gaze wandered towards Ryan’s wrist. He opened his mouth, but thought better of it and wordlessly gathered his copies before standing up.

“Let’s go. We can take my car.” With that said, they both set off towards the school’s parking. Ryan was nervous, he didn’t know how much he wanted to tell Becker, and was even more worried about his reaction. Still, it was too late to back down now. Becker would have ended up noticing the bracelet anyway.

They quickly arrived in the parking and got into Becker’s car. Ryan knew where they were going. The forest. Because it was such a magically charged environment, most people overlooked it, as if it weren’t a place they could go to. Everyone knew it was there, but it was as if no one ever considered going there, like the idea never crossed their mind. Occasionally, someone would get close to the edge, but the presence of magic made it progressively more difficult for them to go any deeper. They’d think about something else or decide they didn’t want to. This made it a really useful place to practice magic and talk without worrying about being interrupted, especially the outskirts, which were usually devoid of dangerous creatures.

They didn't wander too deep into the forest, opting to go to a small clearing that wasn't far from the edge. Becker didn't lose any more time once they were settled, opting to stare at Ryan's wrist “What is that bracelet?” He asked. He looked very serious now, and Ryan was certain he was also extremely curious. Magical artifacts weren’t common, especially powerful ones.

“As far as I know, it’s a focus,” Ryan replied, protectively grabbing the piece of jewelry with his other hand. He’d had the whole ride to think about how much he wanted to reveal, but he still wasn’t certain.

“A focus,” Becker echoed. “Where did you find it?”

 “I’m not sure,” Ryan said, “Someone gave it to me, but the memories are very blurry,” he said, omitting part of the truth. "But that doesn't matter much. I need to figure out what it can do, and how to take it off."

“You mean you can't take it off?” Becker seemed enthralled by the bracelet. He was staring at it with a very faint glimmer of hunger in his eyes, an expression Ryan had rarely seen on his mentor's face.

“No, and it’s very complex from what I could figure out.”

“And what exactly could you figure out ?” Here came the difficult part of the conversation. He’d probably have to show Becker what happened if he took the spell off.

“The bracelet can’t be taken off by regular means. It’s attached to my magic, and when it attached itself to me, it… it changed me.” Ryan didn’t want to mention the spell that allowed him to see magic. For once in his life, he knew something magical Becker most likely didn't, and the idea was strangely appealing to him.

“Stop dancing around the subject, Ryan. Tell me what you mean by change,” Becker asked impatiently.

Quelling his nervousness, Ryan took a deep breath and released his spell. Instantly, his body changed, turning back into the girl he’d become the night before. It actually felt relieving, the strain of holding the spell gone. Looking up, Ryan got the privilege of seeing Becker slack jawed, his usually stoic expression nowhere to be seen.

“I have… I have a spell that allows me to turn back, but it becomes harder to hold the longer I cast it” Ryan stuttered, not waiting for Becker to get ahold of himself. It was the first time Ryan had heard his voice in that state. It was a really soft  and gentle voice, and fairly high-pitched. Hearing it coming out of his mouth felt really weird to Ryan. It sounded really angelic, really innocent, in stark contrast to his personality.

Becker didn’t stay stunned for very long, his previous expression now replaced by one of intense curiosity, and a small amount of wonder. He studied Ryan in silence for a few seconds, making the transformed teen very uncomfortable, both because of the silence and the eyes studying him, before finally speaking.

“Where did you find this?” He once again asked, this time with more emotion in his voice. Ryan wasn’t sure he liked it; Becker had always been a very stoic man. Seeing him so put off was sending warning signals in his brain.

“I told you, someone gave it to me. I don’t remember where or whom. It’s as if the details hadn’t stuck inside of my brain, no matter how hard I tried.” Ryan was worried. The professor had approached and grabbed his wrist while he’d been talking. He was looking at the bracelet, turning it left and right, as if hoping to learn something from it. He kept on observing in silence for a minute before releasing Ryan’s grip with a sigh.

“Do you think you can figure out how it works?” Asked Ryan.

“Of course, but that will cost you a favor,” Becker said. Ryan had expected it, and yet he still felt himself getting furious. How dare he, after everything Ryan had had to put up with, ask him for compensation ? His temper surprised even himself.

“You get to learn about a weird magical artifact. I get to control it better, maybe get rid of it if everything goes perfectly. This is the deal, take it or leave it. even if you refuse, I can still hide its effects by myself, and study it alone. I’m not agreeing to any more of your favors.” He said, practically spitting the last word.

Becker stayed silent for a few moments, studying Ryan, before simply nodding. “Very well, that will have to suffice, I suppose. I’ll need to think about how we’re going to do this, and I’ll also need some tools. Meet me at my house on Sunday, we’ll come back here and see what we can learn.”

“Alright,”

Everything that needed to be said for today had been said, and thus the duo made their way back to Becker’s car. Ryan reluctantly reactivated his transformation spell, the pulling sensation coming back weaker than it had been before, but still stronger than this morning. They drove back in silence, and Becker dropped Ryan off at a bus stop. Without anything else to do, Ryan went back home, at a reasonable hour this time, and spent some time in his room. Thankfully, his parents didn't say anything to him. After having locked the door, he transformed back, the pressure of the spell going away. Ryan smiled. With a bit of luck, everything would be back to normal in a few days.