She looked down to the floor, and had to keep herself steady by keeping her back to the wall. She spoke with a trembling voice. "Sothing is happening. I don’t understand it. I don’t understand any of this. But sothing is definitely happening to you."
"It’s magic, Ma." Renan spoke softly. "I know it makes no sense, but it is."
Renatta looked up at him with wide eyes. "Show more. When we get ho, show more. I... I need to see more."
Renan took her hand into his own, looking her in the eyes, and promised. "I will."
He paused for a mont, then continued. "But for now, you have to understand, this is why I need to leave the hospital. The doctors here can’t help . They can’t fix what’s wrong because it’s not a dical issue. I already know everything that went wrong with . I don’t need to be here. I need to go ho where I can fix it."
Renatta stared at him for a few seconds, then slowly nodded. "Okay. Okay, if you say you know what’s wrong... if this is really about magic and not about dicine... then we’ll go ho. But Renan, I swear, if you’re lying to about knowing what’s wrong, I’m taking you right back. Please, please son. I just want you to be alright."
"I know." Renan said. "I promise I’m telling the truth. You saw it yourself. I know exactly what I need to do."
They left the bathroom. Renatta was shaken, but she endured it. They found Dr. Tenor was waiting in the hallway, his expression concerned.
"Mrs. Stone, I really must insist that we keep Renan for observation. The tests we’ve run so far show nothing conclusive, which ans we need to dig deeper."
"We’re leaving." Renatta said. "My son wants to sign an AMA, and I’m not going to stop him."
"Mrs. Stone, I understand wanting to take your son ho, but we’re talking about an unexplained loss of consciousness. If there’s an underlying neurological issue, leaving now could be dangerous. It could be potentially fatal."
"I understand the risks, Doctor," Renatta said. "But this is our decision. Bring us the paperwork."
Dr. Tenor looked between them, clearly frustrated. "Very well. I’ll have the nurse bring the Against dical Advice forms. I want to make it clear that that I strongly, strongly advise against this course of action."
"Noted." Renan said.
Twenty minutes later, after signing multiple forms that said the hospital wasn’t responsible if he died, Renan was free to go.
The drive ho was silent. It was too awkward to talk, and Renan thought it was potentially best that way. His soul was still damaged, and he used the ti to quietly ditate.
When they got ho, as soon as he stepped through the front door, Randy practically ambushed him.
"Renan! Oh my god, man, are you okay?" Randy ran up to him and grabbed his shoulders. "Mom said you just collapsed! Like, completely unconscious! She thought you were dead!"
"I’m fine, Randy." Renan responded. "Completely okay, but I need to show you sothing."
"Fine? You were in the hospital! They wanted to do brain scans!" Randy’s voice rose with emotion. "And it was right after using that stupid pod, wasn’t it? That thing must be dangerous! It’s new technology, completely untested, who knows what kind of radiation or electromagnetic fields or whatever it’s putting out! I don’t even know wha-"
"Randy." Renan put a hand on his brother’s shoulder and spoke firmly. "Stop. I know exactly what the issue was, and it wasn’t the pod."
Randy blinked, taken aback. "What? Then what was it? Renan, are you... Mom!"
Renatta gave him a glance. "Let your brother go, dear. There’s sothing going on, we’ll show you."
"That’s right." Renan said. "Please wait, I need to grab sothing from my room."
He left them in the living room and headed to his bedroom. He found his wand, gripping the wood in his hand. The wood was smooth, properly balanced, and solid. The difference between this and what he was forced to use earlier was night and day.
When he returned to the living room, both Renatta and Randy were staring at him.
"Why are you holding a stick?" Randy asked.
"It’s a wand." Renan said simply.
Randy looked at Renatta. "Why is he holding a stick and calling it a wand? Mom, is he okay? Like, ntally okay?"
Renan dismissed him. "Randy, just... just watch."
He turned to Renatta. "If that illumination spell wasn’t enough for you to fully believe, what should I do instead?"
"Illumination spell?" Randy repeated. "What are you talking about?"
"Conjure ice." Renatta said, ignoring Randy’s confusion. "Make ice appear. That’s impossible, right? There’s no water here, no cold. It’s not like fire, which could theoretically be made with chemicals or sothing. If you can make ice appear out of nothing, that would be... that would be undeniable."
Randy: ???
Renan nodded. "I’ll need sothing I can destroy as a target. Is that okay?"
Renatta looked around and grabbed a roll of paper towels. "Use this."
Randy was looking between them like they’d both lost their minds. "Okay, seriously, what is going on? Renan was fainted on the floor! Why are we playing gas, here? Can soone please explain?"
"Just watch, Randy." Renatta said.
Renan raised his wand, pointing it at the paper towel roll Renatta had placed on the ground. He reached for his mana again. He had enough for this, if barely.
"Frost Bolt."
Three needles of ice materialized in the air in front of his wand. The details were nearly impossible to witness, for they shot forward nearly instantaneously. The ice bolts punched through the paper towels, hitting the floor, and shattering alongside leaving a scratch on the floor.
"WHAT!?" Randy couldn’t help but scream out. "WHAT!? WHAT!?"
"What is that!? Who am I!? What am I doing!?"
He took a deep breath, looking at the damage, then started hyperventilating. He closed and opened his eyes repeatedly as if it would change what he was witnessing. Seeing no chance, he closed his eyes entirely, rocking his head like a crazy person. He stood there, frozen, then opened his eyes.
The view was still there. Then he looked at Renan. Then at the destroyed paper towel roll. Then back at the ice.
"What the fuck."
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