Earth and Shadow (read desc)

Fundamentals Of Magic

"To my kind, and any with angelic qualities, if we have our wings cut off it won't grow back unless a burst of magical energy allows it. It's the worst kind of pain anyone can go through. It was often a way of finding deathrow prisoners if they escaped. They would cut off their wings."
"Magical energy?"
He nodded.
"Yes, magical energy."
I had never heard the term before. Seeing my confusion, Nightmare continued.
"To us our powers are only limited by our will, and our level of control. The more powerful you are, the more difficult it is to control your powers. If you lose control for even a second your powers will react, thus doing things normal people cannot. Scratch and I are good examples."
"So like flying and stuff like that?"
He shook his head.
"More extreme things. Like breaking ancient enchantments, destroying massive objects or areas, regrowing lost limbs.. Like wings. One person who lost control managed to bring someone back to life. Others, like me, have changed themselves completely without meaning to. I turned my own flesh and bone to particles, which is why I am half alive now. My soul lives on, but without a real functioning body."
I blinked, amazed.
"That' actually sounds really cool."
He smiled and put a finger up to make a point.
"It usually is, but there's a catch. There always is for breaking the law of nature."
"Breaking the law of nature...?"
"Take my scythe for instance. It's a powerful weapon which can cut through anything, enhance my abilities, and even steal someone's remaining life force and turn it into my own. However, it makes me have more dark magic then I need, and so every time I lose my temper I have to be cautious. Everything has a catch. All the greatest heroes who tried this usually ended up getting cursed, or morphed, or just had plain bad luck. very few escaped unscathed."
"It sounds cool, and dark and risky, but still VERY cool. I wish I had that kind of magic.."
"This magic is very unpredictable, Rain. The more power you get, the harder it is to control. I was born with a more then average amount for my race and time. Look what happened to me."
I looked down, "Guess I didn't think about that..."
"Just be happy with what you have Rain. It's certainly a lot safer then mine."
"Alright..."
To be honest, I was jealous of Nightmares power. It was so strong, and- just- AMAZING. But it made sense now why he never used it...
He seemed to sense I was feeling down, because he put a wing around me.
"Let me show you what my magic looks like."
I blinked.
"How are you going to do that?"
He went behind me, then held my hands in his so my palms were facing upwards. I blushed a bit from the contact alone, we were pretty close.
"Watch," he whispered.
Then I felt it. There was a jolt, and something came from Nightmares hands and went through my own. It felt cold, dark.. Rushing like a winter tide. But within it I felt something different. I felt a strong, curiously emotional side along the edges of his power.
I felt the power gathering above my hands. I looked, and soon enough a dark orb appeared, floating. It looked completely pitch black, and shone as if it were polished. As I watched, it slowly spun around.
I couldn't help it, I gasped, my mouth opening slightly. It looked so.. so...
Nightmare smiled.
"I can't make many things with magic, its a destructive type. But that's what its like having my power."
"I-it looks amazing."
I felt more Icey power rush through my hand. I could FEEL it taking form, changing, growing and pulsing with a surprising amount of delicacy. Smaller black orbs popped into existence, circling around the larger one. It glowed with a black light, bathing my hands in its color.
"Keep your hands like that, stay perfectly still."
I nodded, still staring at the orbs, "Alright."
He slowly took his hands away from mine, but I still felt the dark magic rushing through my veins. On either side of me he snapped his fingers. The orbs flashed, and suddenly a bunch of different colors wrapped around the orbs, changing it. It looked almost like a imitation of our planet, but more refined.
Then Nightmare blew on it, and clouds swirled across the miniature planet. It looked so beautiful I smiled. The orbs floating around the planet turned into moons. While we had only one moon in reality, this version seemed to make it more beautiful.
"WHOAA-"
"Careful, you don't want to lose it. keep it hovering over your palms like that."
"Got it!"
"This is one of the million things you can do with magical energy. it's what helps you stay awake, run, jump, and fight. but if you take a piece of yourself you can also turn it into something beautiful. My magic is supposed to be half light and half dark, but with circumstances its more dark then light. This is all I can do with the light magic I still have left."
"It's beautiful," I whispered, "What are you going to do with it?"
"Whatever you want. It's a bit big but if you really want we can find a bottle or something and keep it in there."
"Whatever I want? But don't you need this?"
He shook his head.
"Light magic is different then dark magic. Once you finish making something it disconnects I guess. So we can keep this miniature planet in a bottle if you would like. Just don't touch it, or you might break it. I'm a lot weaker with this stuff then I would like to be."
I smiled, "I would love that."
He nodded and smiled back.
"Its your now. You can do whatever you like with it. Don't worry, there's no animals or anything living on the planet. Just plants."
My heart soared. If there was anything I loved it was my plants. I hugged him tightly.
"Thank you!"
He hugged back, looking a bit embarrassed. Or was that blush? I'll never know.
"Your welcome, it was my pleasure."
I smiled more and pulled away.
"Can I see the jar? I need to find a safe place to put it."
"Of course." He handed me a jar, and I gently slipped the planet into it. I took it and looked around for a safe place. Finally I saw a stand made out of fake tree roots, gilded with gold. I set the jar on it gently.
"Perfect," Nightmare said.
I nodded and smiled, "Yep!"
"It should live on its own as long as it gets some sun at least once a day. After all that's what the sun is, light energy."
"Not a problem I open the windows every day for my plants."
"Then it should be fine." He ruffled my hair. I giggled and smiled. Then he stopped and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Hey, I'm going on a little quest later today, and I was wondering if you would stay with Scratch and Blaise while I went. Mostly cause I'm worried about your safety what with all these aliens running around."
I was touched, and I felt my curiosity rise. I wanted to go with him, but I figured that it would probably be best if I stayed safe, like he suggested. Besides, he's pretty strong, no doubt I'll just get in the way.
"Sure, I can."