The wait for Tuesday afternoon had been excruciatingly long for both Ryan and Sarah, but they were finally there. They hadn’t really talked after their pause had ended yesterday. Sarah had wanted to give some space to Ryan, the conversation had obviously rattled him a lot, and Ryan hadn’t been sure what to do, opting to keep to himself, as he usually did.

One thing Ryan had completely forgotten was that he was supposed to transform during lunch break, which led to a very difficult afternoon for him. On the plus side, he'd discovered that he could hold the spell for a whole day, but that had left him completely exhausted. He'd barely made it home without falling asleep on his feet, and had ended up taking a 5 hour nap.

Now, both teenagers were standing in the forest, having found a secluded place. Ryan had been a bit worried about going there without Becker, the manticore incident still on his mind, and they had thus decided to stay close to the border, just in case.

Ryan felt beyond nervous. The fact that he'd broken just about every rule Becker had ever taught him had just hit him, and here he was, about to do it all again by showing some magic to Sarah. He was trying very hard not to remember why they were here in the first place, as the idea of releasing his transformation in front of Sarah was enough to make him faint.

“So, can you show me some of your spells?” She asked, eagerly, though trying to tame her enthusiasm down. She knew Ryan was nervous and didn’t want to put too much pressure on him, but she was beyond excited for this. She was going to see real magic ! A sliver of doubt still lurked in her mind, whispering to her that this was all an elaborate prank, but she ignored it. She would have her proof soon enough.

“Right, sorry… I’m just not sure what to start with. I guess I’ll go from simplest to most complex, and we’ll see how that goes,” he said, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. Ryan knew a respectable number of spells, though a lot of them didn’t have a visible effect. Some of them were also very boring, and Ryan didn’t want to disappoint Sarah, as she seemed pretty eager. Still, he knew a decent amount of offensive and defensive spells, and those tended to be pretty interesting.

Going through his list spells, Ryan picked a very basic one. Calling his magic forth, he conjured a simple ball of light in front of him, making sure not to put too much power into it, so it didn't blind both of them. Definitely a boring spell, but he’d said he would start with what was easiest.

When he opened his eyes again, he was surprised to see that Sarah’s were opened wide. Her face bore an expression of shock mixed with wonder. Slowly approaching, she kept looking at the floating light despite its glare, so much so that Ryan further lessened the power her was feeding the spell, worried she might damage her sight. She reached a hand towards it, before hesitating and looking at Ryan, wonder still on her face.

“Can I touch it, is it safe?” She asked in a rush, her hand still halfway towards the orb.

“Not really” Ryan answered. He quickly kept going when he saw Sarah’s expression fall “I mean you can try, but it’s just light, it doesn’t feel like anything,” he hadn’t finished his sentence that Sarah’s hand was already halfway through the light.

“It’s kind of warm,” she giggled. Strange, Ryan thought. It was the first time he’d seen someone’s first reaction to magic, and he felt a pang of happiness at seeing Sarah's childlike delight. To him, it had all become mundane a long time ago. He had a few memories of playing around with his magic when he’d first learned how it worked, but Becker had quickly shut that down, scolding Ryan for using such a power for his own amusement. Right now, however, the delight and wonder were coming back to him, happy to see how a simple spell could bring this much joy to someone. He wanted to show her more, but quickly reigned in his emotions, remembering why they were here. Magic wasn’t a toy, Becker had drilled that principle into his head, and he would not mess around with it.

Releasing the spell, Ryan let the ball of light disappear, much to Sarah’s disappointment. She looked like a kicked puppy, and Ryan felt a bit of guilt. He should have warned her before dispelling it. Thinking quickly, he decided on his next spell.

Pulling a bit of energy again, Ryan willed a rock to float. It was one of the easiest spells to use, actually, even easier than conjuring light. It was pretty taxing however, and thus pretty useless. You’d use less energy just lifting something with your hands than making it float.

None of that bothered Sarah, however, if her expression of glee was to be believed. Amusingly enough, she was sliding her hands under and over the rock, as if trying to find a string. Ryan couldn’t help it, a smile erupted on his face. She was so honest with her emotions, she didn’t try to hide how happy she was at the sight of magic. Ryan was a bit jealous, she looked really carefree, living in the moment. Yet, at the same time, he couldn’t imagine functioning like that, the thought of not planning ahead was enough to send shivers down his spine. He was really bad with the unknown.

“This is all so cool ! What else can you do ?” She asked, pulling Ryan out of his musings. Mentally going through his spells, Ryan decided it was time to get to the more interesting tricks he knew. He asked Sarah to stand back, before going for a classic.

Above his hand, flames flickered before stretching and meshing until they formed a perfectly spherical ball of fire. Unfortunately, he couldn’t throw it in a forest, it was way too dangerous. Ryan controlled the fire a bit more, moving it around and changing its shape before dispelling it. Controlling fire could be pretty useful when you needed a source of warmth, but it was also very dangerous. It was pretty tiring, too, and Ryan was swiftly reminded that part of his reserves was already being depleted by the bracelet. He’d have to be a bit more conservative with his next spells.

Ryan had kept an eye on Sarah during his demonstration, and he’d almost dispelled the fire a few times. She’d put a foot forward, and Ryan was almost sure she’d wanted to touch the fire. That would have hurt a lot.

“I can show you two more, I think, but the fire trick was pretty taxing,” he said, already knowing what he wanted to go for. His happiness had dimmed a bit by now, mostly because he’d remembered he still needed to explain his curse to Sarah. The thought made him pretty anxious, and he wished he’d kept more energy for other spells, so that he could have more time to prepare himself. He knew delaying would only make things worse, but he just couldn’t help it.

Ryan closed his eyes again, needing all of his focus, while Sarah quietly watched a few steps away. Lifting a hand up, motes of light started accumulating above it, slowly forming a cluster, before solidifying in a sphere of white pulsing light, not unlike the fireball from before. Ryan opened his eyes, looking for a nearby tree. Finding one, he poured more magic into his spell, and the ball of light arced through the air, leaving a trail of light behind it. It sailed across the forest, before finally hitting the tree and violently rocking it back, the dull thud of the impact echoing across the forest, the shockwave strong enough to be felt by both teens. The tree swayed slowly for a while before becoming still once again. A faint scorch mark was visible on the tree’s bark.

Sarah was astonished. That spell had seemed very dangerous, she didn’t want to know what it would do to a living being. She was feeling a bit more respectful now, thinking back about Ryan’s story. He had said he regularly used his gift to prevent monsters from coming out of the forest, but among the throng of information she’d received at the time, it had barely registered. Now, though, she realized magic wasn’t just a toy, but a very powerful tool.

Ryan, unaware of Sarah’s inner musings, was himself lost in thoughts. He was getting pretty tired, and didn’t want to use up too much of his energy, just in case he needed it. They were alone in the Eriz forest, after all. He would show her a basic shield, a variant that wasn't too taxing, but then he’d have to get to the serious part of their conversation, the bracelet. He thought about using more of his reserves to delay that conversation, but reigned in the feeling. He couldn’t afford to make reckless decisions just because he was scared. That wasn't like him.

After a minute, both teens had snapped out of their thoughts. Sarah was watching Ryan expectantly, a small comforting smile on her face. With a sigh, he started to weave his last spell. He didn’t want to talk about the curse, but he also didn’t want to show that he was stalling.

Unfortunately for him, Sarah had realized he was getting anxious again. She didn’t want to push too hard, but she needed to know about the curse. It was why they’d come here, after all.

All around them, white light began appearing. Streaks of vivid white slowly surrounded them in a bubble. Sarah watched, mesmerized by the beauty of it all. It didn’t last long, however, barely half a minute, before Ryan had to stop, lest he got too exhausted. Silently, he cursed his bracelet. It had been draining him steadily more ever since he’d woken up this morning. Without it, he’d have been barely winded by now.

With the light show over, Sarah looked at Ryan, a kind expression on her face. He was breathing slightly hard, the sound of his respiration slightly audible amidst the noises of the forest. They both stared at each other, Ryan taking a small break and trying to relax a bit, and Sarah patiently waiting.

She was about to speak up when Ryan finally gathered his courage. Looking at his feet, he sighed.

“It’s…I don’t know. The curse isn’t dangerous but I don’t… It’s really surprising to see, I-“

“Ryan,”

He looked up, his terrified gaze meeting hers. She was smiling, compassion written all across her face, her expression doing a lot for his nerves. Reaching out towards him, she put her hand on his arm in an effort to reassure him.

“It’s alright. Just show me. I promise I won’t get scared, or angry, or anything. Whatever it is, you can trust me.”

Ryan stayed silent, adverting his gaze once more. She really couldn’t be sure of that, he knew she was just trying to get him to calm down. Still, it’s not like he had a choice, he’d told her too much yesterday, and his little magical demonstration had all but condemned him. He had to show her, and, before he could stall any longer, he did so, quickly dispelling the energy in his bracelet. It was done, the spell was gone. He’d done it. It was over. He didn’t dare look up, however, and with the transformation, his panic had come back even stronger. It was out of his hands now.

Sarah wasn’t moving. She’d been bracing herself, thinking Ryan would show her something truly horrifying that would shake her to her core. She was still very surprised, but definitely not terrified. She stood a few moments in silence, looking at the small girl in front of her, wearing her too-big clothes, trembling while looking at the ground, her vibrant ginger locks framing her face, cute little freckles dotting her visage. Sarah was still coping with it when she realized Ryan was on the verge of tears. He - she? Sarah wasn't sure - was trembling even more now, and water was pooling in his eyes.

Sympathy flooded Sarah. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what that kind of transformation must be like, to suddenly find your identity fundamentally challenged, and to have to talk about it to anyone sounded like a true nightmare. Now feeling a bit guilty as well, she stopped thinking and embraced the frail girl in a hug. Ryan flinched at first, before hesitantly returning the embrace.

Soon, Ryan couldn’t hold it anymore. He started sobbing. It had all been piling up for almost a week now, and this had been the last straw. Clinging to Sarah, he cried harder than he’d ever had. He hadn’t cried in years, come to think of it. All the while, Sarah held him in her arms, Ryan’s head resting on her shoulder. She rubbed his back soothingly, determined to not let go until Ryan calmed down.

They stayed like that for longer than they could count.