Capes and Magic Hats: Chapter 6

My feet shifted impatiently underneath me as I stood on the side of the street, waiting for the bus to arrive. The bag on my back was stuffed to the brim with a random assortment of junk that I had spent yesterday repairing and even with my enhanced strength and aura, the way that the straps of the bag dug into my shoulderblades was decidedly uncomfortable.

“I might have overdone it a little.” I said out loud as I adjusted the bag for the umpteenth time. The thing probably weighed forty or fifty pounds with all the stuff that I had filled it with.

Yeah, I decided as I shrugged my shoulders in discomfort, I had probably brought a little bit too much. This wasn't the first time that I'd sold the stuff I repaired, but I might have bitten off a bit more than I could chew this time.

Oh well, it wasn't like I could take it back now. The bus was finally here.

I adjusted my bag as the bus hissed to a stop in front of me, the brakes squeaking from the effort required to halt such a massive vehicle. The doors swung open, and I wanted a moment to make sure nobody was stepping off before climbing up into the bus.

The driver gave me a practiced smile, “Fare in the box, please.” I nodded, putting my fare in the little box beside the driver's seat, “Welcome aboard. If you're headed downtown, you've got around a thirty minute ride based on the traffic today.”

That wasn't too bad. I was getting off halfway there so it shouldn't take that long anyway.

I turned down the aisles, looking for somewhere to sit. The bus was actually pretty full, not a single place to sit that was completely unoccupied. I weighed my options, looking for someone who probably wouldn't mind me sitting beside them or try to talk my ear off, and my eyes quickly locked on to a girl around my age with a hood pulled over her head, staring out the window. That'd work.

I sat down beside her, shrugging my backpack off and sitting it on the ground in front of me. The stuff inside of it clattered loudly, and I winced as the girl jumped at the sound before turning to give me a nasty look.

“Sorry. It's a little heavy.” I said sheepishly, only to blink as I caught sight of the girl's face. Her eyes widened as I pointed at her in recognition, “Wait aren't you-?”

“Shh! Don't say it!” She hissed urgently, putting a hand near my mouth. I flinched back at the gesture, stopping myself before I could say anything else.

Panacea stared at me severely, clearly not happy that I was about to blurt out her identity to everyone on the bus. My mouth clicked shut, and she slowly leaned back, looking slightly embarrassed that she had done that.

“Sorry, just… Please don't blurt it out like that. If you do, people are going to come over here and I don't really feel like having to tell someone I'm not going to get rid of their pimples or whatever other gross shit they'd probably want me to do."

I nodded slowly, still staring at her in shock, “Sure, I'm sorry. I guess I was just surprised. I didn't expect to sit next to a superhero on my bus ride.”

Panacea shrugged, and it was then I noticed just how tired she looked. She had dark circles under her eyes and her skin was extremely pale, “Yeah well, when you work a double shift and have only had coffee to eat for the past twelve hours, flying in your sister's arms isn't the best idea. At least on the bus, I can sleep.”

I winced as I realized I probably woke her up, “Oh, I didn't realize you were asleep. Uh, you can go ahead and go back to sleep if you want. I'll try not to bother you any more.”

Panacea gave me an unreadable look, “That's it? You're not gonna ask me to get rid of moles on your back or like, give you a body tune up.”

I smiled slightly, “I uh, think I'm good. Thanks.”

After staring at me for a long moment, Panacea shrugged, “If you say so.”

She then turned back towards the window, seemingly content to ignore me for the duration of our trip, while I turned my own gaze towards my lap, settling in for the most awkward bus ride of my life.

~~~

“So why’re you throwing out all of this stuff anyway?” The owner of the pawn shop asked me as I took my payment, “It all looks brand new. So did the stuff you brought in the other day, now that I think of it.”

Not really expecting the question, I hesitated before shrugging, “Uh, we just had a bunch of stuff in storage. We're cleaning out the basement and I figured there was no point in throwing all of this stuff out since it's perfectly good. Might as well get some cash for it, you know?”

“Uh-huh.” I could tell he didn't really believe me from his tone, but I didn't say anything, tucking the money into my wallet. It wasn't much, just a little over two-hundred dollars, but that was two-hundred dollars more than I had a few minutes ago so I wasn't going to complain.

I shrugged on my backpack, putting my wallet away, “I might be back again with some more stuff depending on what we find. Is that alright?”

The man gave me a look but nodded easily, “If you find some more stuff like this, then you're more than welcome to bring it here. This all will probably sell really well.”

Yeah, he was suspicious. He probably thought I was stealing all this stuff or something. I'd have to figure something out so he didn't call the cops or, god-forbid, the Prt on me.

Now much lighter than before, I left the pawn shop and made my way home, happy to have a bit of pocket change even if I didn't really have any idea what to spend it on yet.

I could start buying things for my eventual costume, but what would be the point? I still had a ton of stuff to do before I felt even slightly ready to actually go out as a cape, and my magic training was only a part of that. It would probably be better to just wait on that front. There was literally no downside to saving, as my dad always said.

Since I wasn't carrying fifty pounds worth of crap on my back, I decided to just jog back home. It was a nice day and the foot traffic was pretty sparse. I could probably make it back faster than the bus did.

The run also gave me a chance to come up with a solution to my newest problem. That being the pawn shop and the owner who was definitely suspicious of me now. That was the only pawn shop that was even a little close to my house, and it was also the biggest one in the city. It would suck if I just couldn't use it anymore, so I needed to figure out some way to keep going there without raising suspicion.

Maybe there was a spell that could help me. If I had to guess, something like that would probably be in the Illusion section. I was already planning on learning a few more spells today so I could just add that to the itinerary.

Making my way into my house, I went about my usual routine of putting my things away and changing into some more comfortable clothes, before climbing on top of my bed and closing my eyes, concentrating deeply.

When I opened them again, I was standing right outside of the Archive, surrounded by peace and tranquility once more.

I sighed happily, taking a moment to enjoy the incredible view provided to me by my power and the calm that it induced. It was amazing to have such a place available to me at literally all times, and the best part was, I had it all to myself.

“Actually, I wonder if I could bring Dad here. I'm sure he'd appreciate the chance to destress.” I said aloud as I walked up the steps to the Archive, “I'll have to look in the directory later.”

For now though, I had some studying to do.

~~

The spectral hand in front of me floated serenely, bobbing gently up and down as my gaze followed it in interest. With a thought, the first two fingers on the hand curled inwards while the rest splayed outwards in a motion I would have trouble replicating with my real hand. It seemed that despite being modeled after my own limbs Mage Hand was much more flexible than I could ever be.

I'd admit I'd gotten a little sidetracked in my task. My search for a spell that could help me out had been out on hold for the time being as I experimented with other spells that caught my eyes, but that was fine. It wasn't like I didn't have the time for it.

I looked over at the nearby table and, with a mental flex and a small gesture, I sent the spectral limb forth. It was much more intuitive than I thought it would be to pick up the book laying on top of the table. Depth perception barely mattered. I wanted to pick it up and the hand did with little issue.

I commanded it to float back towards me, pulling the book alongside it. It hovered in front of me, and I reached out, grabbing the book from its spectral fingers.

“Guess now I won't ever have to get up to grab the remote.” I joked as I turned the hand around, looking at it from all sides.

Outside of everyday life, I could easily see this having all sorts of practical applications in my future cape career as well. I could open windows that I couldn't reach or do the same with locked doors in case I needed to be somewhere I shouldn't be. And the best part was, magic didn't leave fingerprints.

‘Although, I wonder…’

An idea came to my mind, and I couldn't think of any reason not to try it. Concentrating, I pushed my magic to my fingers, before throwing my hand towards the nearby stone wall.

A bolt of orange flame erupted from my fingertips, flying forward to crash against the wall in a spray of bright embers. Firebolt was another cantrip that I had been practicing alongside Mage Hand and by this point I had mostly gotten the hang of it. I figured it would be useful for simple things like lighting fires or even just making a distraction if I needed to, but now I was wondering if it could be used for something much more interesting.

Putting my theory into action I concentrated, focusing and trying to replicate the feat I had just performed, only this time using the Mage Hand as a catalyst instead of my own hand.

Nothing. The magic making up the spell didn't shift in the slightest to obey my command or if it did, it was such a minute change that it didn't matter in the slightest. It looked like my theory was wrong, or at the very least, beyond my current capabilities.

Well that sucked. It probably would have been super useful to be able to cast spells through another spell. I could see so much utility for something like that.

“Guess I'll have to stick with the fully manipulatable disembodied hand.” I said magnanimously, not really all that disappointed.

As I stared at it, the spectral hand suddenly began to fade, the magic holding it together breaking up and fading away as the spell came unraveled. I watched as it disappeared, staring at where it had been in slight bemusement.

Right. The spell only lasted one minute. That could actually be pretty limiting depending on the situation. Still, I wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Having it for a minute was better than not having it at all.

Clutching the book, I put it back on the nearby shelf, slotting it neatly into place among its fellows, before making my way out of the current section.

I had a bit of time left. I should stop putting it off and go see what I could find in the Illusion wing.