The Odd Wizard

It was a normal day for Adrian Miles. He had just gotten up and was finishing up one of his last cases. It was quite a rough one, being a spiteful ghost following around a child. He was just getting lunch started up when there was a loud, demanding knock on the door. It was something that couldn't be mistaken for anything else. It was a warden at his door.

It was never a good thing if a warden was visiting someone. They were the guard dogs of the wizard's council, and normally visiting someone meant it was a swift swing of a sword and that someone's head was normally on the floor, but Adrian hadn't done anything illegal recently. If anything he's only done good recently.

He came up to the door, murmuring the protective wards down before unlocking the 3 locks and opening it. Like he thought, a large, burly black man in a storm gray cloak with a silver sword on his back stood in the doorway opposite of Adrian. He puts on his best smile saying, "Gordon. Who do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"

Gordon's voice came off like he was gargling gravel, "Wizard Miles. You've been given an assignment from the high council," He then took a step to the side and revealed a woman who was standing behind him. She was much smaller than him, very thin, with dirty red hair. She couldn't be much older than 20. Her clothes were stained with dirt and grease, she was definitely in Gordon's custody for a while now, "This warlock had broken the rules of magic. The council decided instead of summary execution they decided to put her into rehabilitation. You will be her rehabilitator."

Adrian looked at the woman, then back at Gordon. He sighed, "How long do I have to rehabilitate her?"

"One year and a day," He responds tersely, "I know you understand the ramifications of failure."

Adrian nods then looks at the woman, with a small smile he says, "You can come inside kid."

The woman jumped when Adrian looked at her, but she walked over, crossing the threshold and standing next to Adrian. Without another word to Gordon, he shuts the door on Gordon locking it back up though that was more for dramatics as Gordon could probably kick the door down. He pulled his wards back up before turning to the woman that was now in his house. He went to the adjoined dining room and grabbed a chair. He asks, "What's your name?"

The woman stood stiffly in the middle of the small living room saying, "Mia. Mia Edwards."

"Age?"

"21."

Adrian put the chair next to her, across from a second hand recliner that had several repair patches on it. He motions to it and Mia sits down in the chair, sitting on the very edge of it.

Adrian had to make sure that the council didn't just give him a bomb that would eventually reoffend. If she was to reoffend not only would the council kill her, Adrian's life would be forfeit as well. Also if she was going to live with him for a while then he would have to do this anyways. He sits down in the recliner and leans forwards asking, "Have you ever heard of a soul gaze?"

Mia shook her head before saying, "Well I guess yes, I've read about it, but isn't that dangerous?"

Adrian thought about it. Dangerous was a bit true. A soul gaze is when a wizard looks into someone's eyes. To normal people, staring into each other's eyes was still abnormally intimate. When a wizard of high enough power does it, they can take a peek behind the curtains and see into the soul of the recipient, and they were able to look back on the wizard too. The good part is that they couldn't hide anything from the wizard, but they also wouldn't be able to forget what they saw there. No matter how long it would still be there in fresh memory.

"It's the only way I'm taking you in. It'll happen eventually," Adrian says softly.

Mia nods a bit and says, "Alright when you're ready then I guess."

Adrian looked at her, her emerald eyes slowly meeting up to his. It took a moment, but then he could feel it working. It was like a sinking motion as he felt himself falling into those emerald eyes. He could see himself fall into them and soon he was standing in a hall of emeralds, each section of wall reflecting Mia and her psyche. It showed her at college, studying hard, being with friends, As he walked further he found a darkened part, he gazed into the memory.

She was walking down an alleyway at night. She was being followed by one of her guy friends. He cornered her in a dead end. She put her hand out and a gout of fire engulfed him. He panicked and flailed around and eventually fell into a dumpster. He died there, and she broke the first law of magic, thou shall not kill. He looked at the memory's space. The area was darker, but it wasn't spreading either. She wasn't going insane from the dark magic she had enacted. She was safe for now.

With that he felt himself being pulled out of the soul gaze. In real life they only last a few seconds, but when actually doing it feels much longer. Mia sat back as he came out of her soul and she panted softly. A small headache spread through both of their heads. He sighs softly saying, "Well that's a good sign."

"What is a good sign," Mia asks?

"The black magic you used isn't corrupting your soul. You aren't going insane," Adrian responds.

"I-insane?"

"Yeah, when doing black magic it poisons your soul. You'll eventually not know anything but black magic. Then you get your head chopped off."

"O-oh, but I didn't mean to practice this black magic. He was going to attack me! You know what college guys like that will do."

"Yes I understand, and honestly if I was in your place too."

"So I was right to do that?"

"I'd say so, the council doesn't say the same though, but me and the council never got along all the time."

Mia opened her mouth to retort, but couldn't come up with anything. She then asks, "Well what are we going to do while I'm apparently here on house arrest."

"No no, you aren't under house arrest. Think of this like a mentorship. Now this could go one of two ways. Either you give up magic, and just like any other skill it'll wane into nothing, or you can stick with me and I will teach you the ins and outs of magic, and make you a powerful witch," Adrian says seriously, waving his hand as all the candles in the house flicker to life, a small effort from him but none the less impressive.

Mia gasped looking around at the dozens of candles coming to life, it was so amazing. She could barely get one candle to light up with intense effort, and this man was able to spark all of them without even a bead of sweat. She looked around a little bit more before turning it to him and nodding. She says, "I want to continue to practice magic."

"Good," Adrian responds, getting up, "Follow me and I will show you your room."

Mia got up and actually took a moment to look around the room. The main room was just one large box, divided by a swath of rugs and carpets that looked second hand. A small kitchen housed an old oven, no refrigerator or dishwasher, a sink, and just enough counter space to cook most normal things. It is divided away by the outcropped counter top that overlooked a small circular table that had just two seats at it. Connected by a mass produced, ugly, red rug was the living area. It held a couch that had its cushions stuffed to the point of being lumpy but it looked comfy enough. The aforementioned recliner looked well taken care of, and also overstuffed. Lining the walls were shelves filled with paperback novels that had not gotten that much love. Many of them had unreadable titles due to many breaks in the spines of the books. He led her down a hallway that was just wide enough to fit the two in a single file line. Two doors on the right, one door at the end of the hallway and one on the left.

He points to the door on the left saying, "That'll be your room, the bathroom is right next to it," He says pointing to the door at the end of the hallway, "And I'll be there right across the way," he then points to the furthest right door.

He pointed to the door that was closest to them and was about to say something before the phone rang. He stops and says softly, "I have to take that. Go ahead and get yourself settled in."

Adrian squeezed by Mia pressing her against the wall and he slipped into the living room again. Mia went to her room. It was a barren room, just a bed with white sheets and a dresser made of a rich mahogany. She came up to the bed where she saw the wooden bedframe was engraved with intricate pictures of snowflakes and fairies. She sits there for a moment before getting up and walking out of the room. She went up to his door tempted to open it and look inside, but she decided against it. She went to the final door that wasn't introduced. She opens it up to find that it leads down to a basement. It was dark and she couldn't see any further than a few steps down the stairs. She looked back down the hallway where Adrian had left. He was still busy on the phone.

She turns back to the basement stairs, gathering up the courage to go down the stairs. Before she could though Adrian steps back into the hallway and says, "Hey sorry to interrupt your settling in but I've got a case, so you're coming with me."