You're Annie Harrison's child, right?" Dax was struggling to keep up with the sub (Geoff is what he'd said his name was). He'd just told Dax to follow him, and Dax had followed.
"Uh… yeah. That's my mom. She… passed away a while ago, though." Dax noticed Geoff wasn't really using the cane the way a blind person would. He was more using it as a walking stick than anything.
"I know." Geoff nodded, his breath catching. "She was my sister. Guess that makes me your uncle, kid."
Dax blinked. His mother had never mentioned having a brother, but then again, considering what had happened today, he didn't see a point in being skeptical about things anymore. "Alright."
He accepted that quickly, Geoff thought. "You know your father?"
"No."
"You don't have one."
"Huh?"
"You know Jesus?"
"Uh… yeah?"
"You're like that."
"...huh?"
Geoff sighed, holding himself back from groaning. Did this kid understand nothing? "You don't have a father. None. Nada. He doesn't exist. Biologically, your mother is your only parent."
"How… how is that possible?"
Geoff stopped walking for a moment, pausing to gaze at the sky and stretch out his arms. "Majik."
"Magic?"
"Majik."
"It sounds like we're saying the same word but I feel like you're saying something different."
Geoff groaned internally as he began walking again. This was the worst part - explaining. It was impossible to know for sure what needed to be explained right away and what could be saved for later, and each student was different. He absolutely hated it. "Majik, spelt M-A-J-I-K, is a sort of… energy. It's all around us. In the plants, the clouds, the ground. It is the energy of life. You said the sun is green, yes?"
"Yeah."
"That is because you, for whatever reason, have begun absorbing Majik. The sun outputs tons of Majik constantly, so once you become able to interact with it, the sun looks green. See, Majik is around us, but most humans can't access it, can't tap into it. Some people, like you and me, are either born with or, for whatever reason, become able to access the energy of life. We are known as Warlocks. Every Warlock manifests Majik in a different way, so we all have different abilities. Those abilities are what's known as magic, spelt with a G and a C. That's the difference."
Dax nodded. "Okay… so everyone has Majik, but only some people can use Magic?"
Geoff shook his head, chuckling. "No, it's the opposite, kind of. Every human is born with the potential for magic. This potential, in normal humans, manifests in their hobbies, their personality, their fashion, and their identity. If a human becomes able to access the energy of Majik, that is when they become able to use Magic."
"So… if someone is really good at soccer…"
"Chances are, their hidden Magic ties into soccer in some way. There are many, many, many different styles of Magic, so it's not possible to tell what someone's Magic will be until they tap into the energy of Majik, but that's the basic idea."
"Huh. Okay." The kid nodded, and Geoff smiled. Most people fought back against the concept, or had more questions. This kid just accepted it.
Geoff stopped. They were standing near a playground, on the side of the path they'd been following. The swings creaked as they moved slightly with the wind, and the slide had paint peeling off it.
"Alright. Listen up kid. That thing back there? That was a Golem. Golems are a type of summon."
"Summons? Like in magic the gathering?"
"Don't know. Never played it."
"Neither have I."
Geoff just stared at him for a second. Why did he bring it up if he'd never played it? "Anyways, summons are creatures made of Majik. They manifest, and are summoned, by negative emotion. Not just the emotions of humans, but also the emotions of animals, nature, and the Majik itself. Since humans have no way to access Majik, they can't see summons. If that Golem had killed a human, to other humans, it would've looked like any other number of random accidents, all having to do with rocks in some way or another."
"Like in Percy Jackson?"
"Haven't read it."
"Neither have I."
"Stop doing that."
"Okay, sorry."
Geoff sighed, tapping his cane against the ground. "Warlocks exist as the barrier between summons and humans. Summons are made of negative emotions, and so they have no rational thought. They just want to kill and destroy. We exist to stop them from doing that. We keep the Majik in balance."
"I feel like you're building towards something."
"Great intuition, kid." Geoff tapped his fingers on his cane as he started. He changed his mind, explaining Majik was easy compared to recruiting. "See, you're part of the Majik now. That can't be changed. Now, you have two options. You can either go back to having a normal, boring life, or you can learn how to use Magic and become a Warlock, risking your life everyday, fighting Summons and protecting humanity.."
Dax paused. This was a lot to take in at once… but it wasn't like there was much of a choice to make. He didn't exactly love his life. He got up, went to school, went home, and went to sleep. That was everyday. He wouldn't mind losing it. "Okay. I'll do it.
Suddenly, Geoff put one finger up, signaling Dax to be quiet. Around them, rocks started to rumble out of the ground, coming together and forming hulking figures. Within seconds, they were surrounded by about 30 golems - and each one seemed about 10 times stronger than the one Dax had fought.
Geoff tapped his cane on the ground, once.
A shockwave of blue energy echoed from the point of impact, stretching out around them. When the blue energy touched any of the golems, they exploded in a shock of power. Within seconds, they'd all turned to dust.
It had taken Dax the strongest punch he'd ever thrown to kill one of those things… and Geoff had just killed 30 effortlessly.
Then - Geoff sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't usually do this, but… well, I have my orders. Sorry about this, kid."
Dax felt a tap on the back of his head and everything went dark.