File 0001.7: The Fantastical Tale of Mr. Edinger part 5
He waited but nothing happened. He knocked again. He looked at Arthur who shrugged. He pushed the door and it opened very smoothly.
“Edward Edinger, do you always open doors before you are invited?” A female voice spoke from the dark. Edward was taken aback.
“Eh..I…eh…I..”
“Yes?”
“I…eh…thought you might not have heard me,” he stammered.
“I heard you perfectly, I was testing your patience,” the voice said. A figure stepped into the light. It was a brown skinned young woman with dark hair which was mostly hidden by a hood. The hood was attached too a long cloak which was over her shoulders. She smiled.
“And obviously you failed that test,”
“I’m sorry?” Edward asked. He hated to be put on the defensive so much.
“Don’t be sorry Edward, be careful,” she said. “You might not know who is testing your patience next time. They might not be as good natured as I am, I’m Brianne by the way,”
“Nice to meet you?” Edward said, he could not resist making it a bit of a question.
“We’ll see,” she said back with a grin. She invited him to sit down. Arthur had come inside in the meantime and settled in the window catching a bit of sunshine. He closed his eyes and fell asleep.
“Tea?”
“Why not,” he said. Tea seemed to be relatively normal. He could do with normal. She took a kettle, hung it over the fire place and waved with her hand. A small flame shot out of her hand below the kettle.
“Woaah,” Edward said involuntarily.
“Arthur did mention that I could do magic right?” Brianne said.
“Eh yeah…he did..listen today has been very weird, I’m suddenly “transported” to another dimension with talking cats and apparently wizards, I might have a concussion or I’m going crazy but currently I mostly just want to go home…can you help me?” he said in very quickly suddenly running out of breath. He felt like he was having a panic attack.
“Take it easy…everything will be alright,” Brianne said softly. Edward calmed down. He grew suspicious.
“Did you use magic on me?” he asked sharply.
“Naturally, I’m a sorcerer,”
“So this calmness is fake,”
“I’m a sorcerer, not an illusionist, although I do know some illusion spells…what I do is real, the fire under the kettle, real, your calmness, also real,” she said calmly. “I’m not your enemy, Edward,”
“I’m sorry…like I said…today has been very weird,” he said suddenly feeling ashamed.
“Don’t be sorry…be careful,” she replied. The water boiled and she made tea.
“I’m surprised you cannot make tea with simply a wave of the hand,” he remarked taking the offered cup.
“Magic doesn’t work like that…at least not here…in this realm. We can’t conjure up food or drinks out of nowhere,” she said. “Are you feeling better?”
“Yes, a lot better,” he said and he meant it. Just the act of sitting down and drinking tea made him more relaxed than he thought was possible.
“Good, so I’ll make you a deal, I will help you if you will help me,” she said. Edward looked at her with raised eyebrows
“What could I possible be help you with?” he asked.
“Research! I want to know if a human from your Earth can learn magic, I know magic normally doesn’t exist in your world and I would like to know if it is possible to teach you magic and when you get home if you can still use it,” she said enthusiastically. Edward thought it over for a moment.
“Will this take long?” he asked.
“Not that long. Especially from the perspective from your Earth, timing works differently…I don’t know the exact details but hours, days even here, take only minutes or hours there,”
“It almost sounds to good to be true,” Edward said skeptically.
“I know…and I know you have no reason to trust me but I am currently your only way home,” she said matter-of-factly
“About that…”
“So you agree to help?”
“Can you get me home?”
“Yes”
“Then okay…I will learn magic to see if it works on my Earth or realm,”
She smiled. “Good good good! This will be fun! Let’s start immediately!