Flora Deschamps came from a line of empathic witches who have the ability to feel magic within the world and read auras. It allowed them to not only know a fellow witch or magical creature when they came across one, but it aided them in reading the current state of a location’s magical nexus. A magical nexus is created when a powerful witch makes a land their home, thus, creating a space prone to not only supernatural occurrences but visits from other magical creatures as well. Flora grew up in the center of the most powerful nexus across North America, New Orleans, Louisiana. New Orleans houses the most powerful of magical families and is home to a variety of creatures from vampires to ghouls and everything in between.

“Wait, you’re telling me that all of New Orleans is just made up of witches and stuff?” Kleo asked, interrupting Flora’s brief lesson on the history of magic. “Also, what does this have to do with you being here?”

The two of them were sat at the front counter of the Apothecary. Flora had the morning shift, which was why she was there to open the store, and needed to be downstairs in case someone came in. She explained that she just wanted to make sure Kleo knew everything was alright since she didn’t get the chance to after he ran off when she saw him exit the secret passageway. But, Kleo still had questions that he wanted to be answered so there he was, sitting with her as she started some impromptu lesson.

“It all ties in, I promise,” she assured him. “So, as I was saying, my family is from there and my mom was actually a friend of your mom.”

“Excuse me?”

“Your mom, Arina, is from New Orleans. Did you not know that?” She asked, her face looked as confused as Kleo felt.

“I’ve only ever known us to live here,” Kleo explained, his voice low.

“Well, from what my mom told me, Arina left the Quarter kind of out of nowhere. The Amastacia family, your family, were very well known. They were one of the coven’s heads, and people really looked up to them. When Arina left, it was really surprising, but that’s how my family got their position on the board.” she explained. Kleo was quiet as he listened. It was bizarre to him that someone he barely knew, knew so much about his mom that he didn’t have a clue about.

“Did anyone ever mention why she left?” He asked, and she thought for a moment.

“Well,” she paused and Kleo just stared at her, waiting for her to continue. “I don’t think anyone else really knew, but like I said, my mom was a friend of Arina's, and she met her before she left. My mom told me she could sense magic within her that day. It was small and new, barely a few weeks old, but it was there.”

Kleo’s eyes widened and he was about to respond when the front door chime rang and a customer walked in. Flora put on a smile as she greeted them. Kleo let this new information sink in as she cared for the customer. He tried to put on a neutral face since he was technically behind the counter but this was some surprising information. His mother left her home when she was pregnant with him? But why would she do that? And no one knew about it? Lately, it seemed that his mind was only filled with question after question about his mom and he didn’t seem any closer to finding any answers.

“You know,” Kleo started as he stood up from his seat, “we probably shouldn’t talk about this here. It’s a lot and probably just not the best topic for right now.” He certainly did think it was best to not talk about this in public, but he also needed a moment to just clear his head before his brain could run with this information and bog him down.

“Alright, you have a point,” Flora said and he turned to head back upstairs. “Hey, Kleo,” she stopped him and he turned to see what she had to say. “I can also give you some pointers, you know, with your magic?” She leaned in as she whispered that last part. “You’re having some trouble controlling yours, right? I can teach you some basic stuff to help you get used to it.”

“Thank you, I’d really appreciate that actually,” he said, smiling softly. She returned his smile with a nod and waved goodbye as he headed upstairs.

It was later in the afternoon by the time Flora finished her shift and was knocking on Kleo’s door. They were currently sat in Kleo’s room as Flora continued her explanation.

“I was actually looking into going to SHU because of their IT program, and that’s when my mom told me about the Apothecary and your mom,” she said, sat sideways in his desk chair. She spun herself a bit, looking around his room. “Your room is huge,” she said, stopping the chair. “Why do you have so many books? Have you actually read them all?”

“I mean, I’ve read a lot of them and plan to read the rest,” he answered her question before sitting on his bed. Nox joined him there, laying by his side. “Ok, so, my mom moved to Safehaven and opened the shop and some, magical field type thing just formed?” He questioned.

“A magical nexus,” she corrected him. “But, yeah. Apparently the Apothecary used to cater towards lots of magical folks and whatnot as well, which, makes sense with its name I guess.” She said. “My mom said I should check it out and so I did and ended up getting a job.” She spun again. “I could feel that a nexus was here, but it was really small. It was actually, very confusing because I’ve never heard of a nexus being that way. It felt like the magic was being suppressed and I couldn’t tell why until I met you.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I first saw you, I felt that same feeling. Like your magic was being held back and you didn’t seem aware at all. It was like there was this other presence constantly around you and holding it all back,” she rested her head on the back of the chair.

“What do you mean there was another presence on me?” Kleo asked. He was trying to be open-minded about it all and was thankful for Flora even taking the time to try and explain it all to him, but that didn’t make it any less mind-boggling.

“I don’t really know how to explain it. I haven’t seen anything really like it before, but, it was as if there was someone else there, arms around you at all times.” Kleo was getting chills from the visual her words formed in his mind. He tried imagining himself walking about with ghostly arms draped over his front, holding on tight. It made him uncomfortable to think about.

“Do you mean, like a ghost?” He asked and she shook her head.

“No, ghosts are definitely different. They’re like shadows of a person, stuck to our world. They're always so sad and depressing and they give off this lonely aura. It's horrible to deal with. Your thing was honestly quite the opposite, actually. It felt almost sort of nurturing, which was weird since it seemed to be suppressing your powers. However, it was gone on the morning of your birthday. I first noticed when you walked in after class and thought maybe I was mistaken, but I was sure of it when you stayed to help and it never reappeared.”

“That’s so strange,” Kleo said with a sigh and Flora shrugged. “But thanks for explaining it all.

“It’s no problem, really. It must suck to walk into it all blind, you know, the whole magic thing. I’d want the help if it were me in that situation.”

“Well, I do appreciate it.” He said, gently petting the sleeping Nox beside him. “I’ve had Nox so far, and he’s been doing his best to help me get used to it all. He’s had to put up with a lot from me, I'm sure,” he chuckled.

“Have you told anyone about it?” Flora asked and he shook his head.

“Nox said to be sure I trusted someone before I did.”

“Do you not have anyone you can trust?” She asked and Kleo glanced up to see a look of skepticism on her face.

“It’s not that,” he started to defend himself.

“I mean, it’s not my business really,” she quickly said. “Humans in the quarter grow up knowing so it’s not really a secret there unless you’re dealing with tourists. I haven’t had to make that choice, so I don’t know how difficult it could be.”

Kleo looked away, his lips pulling into a straight line as he felt his own personal frustration with the situation start to bubble within him.

“I’m just,” he had to think of how to explain it. “Alexei’s my best friend, ok. I want to tell him more than anything, but I’m scared of somehow messing things up.” He said, not meeting her eyes.

“Are you sure the magic is the thing you’re afraid of telling him about?” She asked and he could feel the embarrassment pooling on his face.

“That-,” he opened his mouth but didn’t know what more to say.

“I know it's not my place,” she said in a gentle voice. “But, I suggest you really think about it.”

“I have thought about it.”

“And?”

Kleo closed his eyes and breathed in. It had been almost a year since he realized his feelings for Alexei, and in that time, he thought he had successfully kept them under wraps, but it didn’t seem like that was something he could hide very easily.

“Is it that obvious?” He questioned and she shrugged.

“A magic user’s emotions greatly affect their magic, so yeah, but that’s because I can see that stuff. Your aura literally goes pink when he’s around you.” She said and he felt somewhat relieved. Kleo didn't know what to do about it, honestly. He wanted to tell Alexei so much, but he couldn't just confess to him out of nowhere. The last thing he wanted to do was to make things awkward between the two of them if he did tell him about his feelings.

"I can't risk telling him," Kleo said with a sigh, lying back on his bed. He stared up to the ceiling, waiting for Flora to say something but he realized she must have been waiting for him to continue. "I don't know. No, that's a lie. I do know." He said. Alexei was a constant in his life that he didn't want to lose. "I've known him since middle school. I was never really great at talking to people when I was younger. I was the definition of a bookworm and I didn't really mind it. I was fine, until one day this kid from my English class walks up and sits at my table at lunch. I was so dumb," he chuckled. "I didn't know what to say, it was so sudden, but then he asked me about my book and actually seemed interested. I guess we were friends after that." He smiled as he thought back on the memory. "He wouldn't leave me alone after that, and I really enjoyed it. He was confident and always spoke his mind. He didn't give a shit about what anyone said, and he's still like that. He's always been so sure of himself and of what he wants." His voice trailed off as he spoke.

"Sounds like a pretty cool dude," Flora spoke up.

"Yeah, he is. He's also a total nerd," he smiled and moved so he could look at her as the words continued to tumble out of his mouth. "He signed up for every science fair and even made me do it with him. I hate science, ok, and we weren't even in the same grade! Somehow he got our teachers to be ok with it and that went on for like, 3 years in a row."

Flora just smiled at him knowingly and he could feel his cheeks getting warm.

"I just," he started and his smile faltered. "We're there for each other through anything and I'm afraid I'll mess that up,” he says, quieter now. "I can always depend on him and he knows just what to say or do to when I'm down. Hell, just him being there makes me feel better at times. I don't want to ruin that."

"What if it didn't ruin anything?" She asked him and he didn't know what to say. He was so scared of what could happen, he didn't know how to see it turning out alright if he did confess.

“I can't confess to him just yet, but, I’ll tell him about the magic soon,” he declared. “I just really need to figure out how.”