"Okay, so what should we start with?" Renea began their first lesson.

Carmine shrugged. "You're the teacher. It's your call."

"My teacher started me with passive abilities," Renea replied.

"That sounds fun. Let's do it."

"Alright."

~~~

"Passive abilities."

"What are those?"

"Non-combat. Things like water walking and snowflake forming."

"Sounds like those are going to be extremely useful to me."

"Are you sassing me?"

"Maybe I am."

"They're very important skills, even if you can't use them in the middle of a battle. Even so, most people don't bother to learn much, but in my opinion that's a dumb way to go. True mastery is mastery of all aspects of your power, and the more you know the more powerful you'll be."

Renea set a glass of water down in front of Carmine. "Why don't you try freezing this glass?"

Carmine looked incredulously between the glass and Renea. "Freeze it? Like how?"

"Like whatever works for you." Renea sat down across from Carmine with her own glass. She closed her eyes and hovered her hand over it. Within seconds the water was completely frozen. 

"But like... how does it work?"

"This is why Fel should never go to Earth. Those people are obsessed with how everything works. Just visualize the water freezing. That's how it usually works." 

Carmine shot one more doubtful glance at Renea, then turned her attention to her glass of water. She imagined frost coating the surface of the water and spreading until the liquid turned solid. She played the scene over and over again in her head, each time more vivid than the last.

Maybe it was her imagination taking over her vision, but she thought the water was starting to freeze. She concentrated harder, and managed to freeze half of the water before her excitement distracted her. The water returned to its usual state.

"Alright, Miss Doubtful. That's not bad for your first try. Let's try again until you can hold it frozen for at least five seconds."

It took a few hours, but Carmine managed to do it, just barely. A few more repetitions and Carmine could take her attention off the ice.

"That's it for today. We'll move on tomorrow. Meet me tomorrow around noon at the lake."

~~~

"Carmine, this is my sister Thalassa. She's going to make sure you don't drown," Renea introduced her to a girl about the same age as Carmine. Thalassa Fanning had brown heir with hints of gold and tanned skin, both of which indicated time spent in the sun, and bright blue eyes that held boundless amounts of energy.

"How's she going to do that?"

"She's aligned with Mara, the guardian of the sea."

"Let me get this straight. Your name is Thalassa, and you're a follower of the ocean goddess?"

"Not goddess, but yes. Why?" Thalassa replied, a hint of apprehension in her voice.

"Do they teach you Earth's history?"

"A little bit, I don't see what your point is."

"Panthalassa was the sea surrounding Pangaea - 'Pan' means 'all' and 'Thalassa' means 'sea.'"

Thalassa's eyes narrowed. "You know, it's not smart to poke fun at the people who are supposed to keep you from drowning."

"I'm not poking fun."

"The tone of your voice says otherwise."

"Okay, let's move on," Renea interrupted them before they could break out into a fight. "The concept of this move is to step onto the water and have it freeze where you step. It should melt when you step away, unless you're not careful."

"And that's why Panthalassa's here."

"Don't call me that."

"It's a compliment."

"No it's not."

"Whatever you want to think."

"The more you talk, the more inclined I am to just let you drown."

"I can swim."

"Not if I'm messing with the water."

"Thalassa, be nice."

"You're telling me."

"Can we just start?"

"If you promise to be nice. Both of you."

Carmine and Thalassa shot one last glare at each other. "Fine," they said in unison.

"Good. Just so you have a reference, this is how you're supposed to do it." Renea stepped onto the lake. Where her toe touched, the water froze. The ice was apparently thick enough for her to stand on. She walked out a couple paces. Carmine noticed how the ice melted once she'd moved on. 

Renea turned and walked back to the shore. "Simple."

"Easy for you to say."

"Why don't you give it a try? You're guaranteed to fall in, but that's how you learn."

"That's comforting."

Carmine stepped up to the edge of the water. Well, this is stupid, she thought as she put one foot over the water.

Just as Renea had predicted, Carmine fell right in. Considering this was the edge of the pond, it was deep enough for her to be completely submerged, which was particularly surprising.

After a few seconds, which was longer than necessary, the water spit her out on the shore.

"Thank you, Thalassa," she heard Renea sharply remark.

"It's freezing cold in there. And surprisingly deep."

"You want to try again, or do you need a moment?"

Carmine wrung the water out of her hair. "I'm ready."

"Okay then. Go ahead."

~~~

After several hours of practicing, Carmine was soaking wet, but very proud of the fact that she had managed to create a thin sheen of ice, even if it wasn't quite strong enough to hold her up. She was also pretty certain that Thalassa was holding a grudge. 

"So how was your day? You're soaking wet by the way," James asked as she walked through the door of their shared room.

"Really? I hadn't noticed," Carmine replied dryly as she grabbed a change of clothes and walked into the bathroom. "It's been an eventful few days."

"No kidding. Hey, do you think this will get me out of homework?"

"You're thinking about homework?"

"You're not?"

"I've kind of been preoccupied by the magic thing."

"So why are you soaking wet?"

"Renea thought it'd be a good idea to start on waterwalking this early on in my training." She flopped down on her bed. "That lake is freezing."

"Who's Renea?"

"My mentor."

"Question mark?"

"Magic is a skill that needs to be taught so they gave me a teacher."

"Right..."

"So what did you do today?"

"They put me in a holding cell."

"That's a bit harsh."

"It was alright. They said they were going to talk to their superiors. Since I'm with you they decided to not send me straight back."

"That's generous of them. We'll have to see if we can find something for you to do while we're here. Aunt Ever said she talked to my mom, so she'll be here, which is good."

"Speaking of moms, I need to talk to mine."

"They can probably figure something out."

It's been a while I'm sorry.
I hope you're having fun with this because I'm having a lot of fun.
My plan is to have a bunch of chapters for this and other stories typed up as we go into the school year so the stories that are a bit better edited aren't the only things I'm publishing. Expect a few more chapters next week.
Until next time,
~Patchesmimi