After finishing breakfast, Peter, Judah, and Jay walked to the riverbank.

— How is this gonna work again? — Judah asked.

— Peter doesn’t like to make the clay dolls close to the buildings — Jay started saying. — He doesn’t know how to distinguish good material from non-good material.

— …and that means? — Judah continued.

— The building could collapse over our heads — Peter said coldly.

— Do you mean?

— When Peter makes clay dolls, he simply uses any minerals around him. By doing so, he could be using the cement from the big house and then making it weak — Jay continued. — Without the cement in the walls and the columns, the big house would go down over us.

— … — Judah kept it quiet while watching.

— Okay — Jay said, spreading his arms and breathing the fresh air. — Here we are! The river mud is pretty great for Peter’s clay dolls.

— I’m not sure about this — Peter mumbled.

— No need to worry — Jay reassured. — If something goes wrong, I’m here to unmake it.

— I’m not talking about that — Peter looked discretely to Judah’s position, moving his eyes without Judah seeing him.

— Oh! Don’t worry about that too — Jay said with a happy face. — You will enjoy this later when you realize he can be your friend too!

— Puft… — Judah made, almost holding a laugh. — A friend? Are you kidding me?

— As soon as you realize you can be the man you want to be, the real you, everything will come together! — Jay smiled. — Now Peter, show us how you make your clay dolls!

— I… — Peter stumbled.

— Have faith in yourself, Peter. — Jay put his hand over his shoulder. — You know you can do it. This is not about Judah being here, this is about yourself. You know you will need to protect the boys with all your might when the time comes.

— Okay, I know. Judah will be there, right?

— He will — Jay answered.

— Where will I be? — Judah questioned.

— On the other side, of course! — Jay said happily.

Peter took out a gold globe and Judah stared at it for a while.

“Is it… gold?” he thought to himself.

Peter started humming and then he sang a hymn of praise.

— Oh, morning glory! Oh, morning glory…

“Damn… The boy sings!” Judah thought after hearing how fine Peter’s voice was.

— Now comes the best part — Jay said close to Judah’s ear.

— Hail, oh Lord’s son! Oh Lord’s son… Bless me, bless me… Today!

From the riverbed, misshapen mass made of minerals was coming forth, as if dancing to the sound of Peter’s singing.

— Do I need to sing like him? — Judah asked.

— Oh, surely not, silly! — Jay answered. — Singing is a way to help Peter to find the nature of his magic.

— That time… You said some magic words or something. Didn’t you?

— Hahah… — Jay laughed kind heartily. — They weren’t “magic words” if that was your question. Those were ancient letters said to be used by angels and, by that, they have a deep meaning to the universe. Do you know what this means?

— Uh… No?

— Haha… Okay, it’s quite simple. The magic is something that you do, and the universe listens! Using old languages can work pretty well because the universe knows them better. But any word that you know the meaning of it can work too. Eventually, common words are harder for the universe to understand, so it takes a while.

— And that means…?

— Let me put it this way… When you know something, and the universe knows it too, magic happens faster. When you don’t know something, and the universe can’t understand, magic doesn’t happen at all.

— Interesting… Can I do the same thing Peter is doing?

— Same thing, no. You are not alike, really. But you can try finding your own way to do the same.

— My own way? — Judah asked himself.

— Bless me… Today… — Peter finished his singing and breathed in and out. — Done!

— Woah! — Made Judah, now realizing five man-sized Chinese warrior clay dolls were surrounding Peter. — When did you…

— Jay! — Shouted Peter. — Don’t tell me he didn’t pay attention when I did it!

— Well, he didn’t know you can sing so well… — Jay shrugged.

— Oh… Did you… like it? — Peter blushed.

— Yeah, shorty, you have a hell of a voice! — Judah said in his way.

Peter looked to Jay inquired the meaning of it.

— He liked it, that’s all — Jay simply said.

— Okay. What do I do now? — Peter asked and the five clay dolls got on their knees in a reverence position.

— Oh, they really move on their own! — Judah couldn’t believe himself and was surrounding them closely.

— Jay… — made Peter.

— What?

— Are you really sure he can be of help? I never saw anyone be so… so…

— Don’t worry, Judah is fine, really. He just can’t focus on things as we do.

— Wait… What do you mean? — Peter started to whisper. — Is he… — and he made a sign with his finger to ask if Judah was mentally disabled.

— I wouldn’t put it like that. Judah is learning about new things and that takes a lot from his mind. Just let him take his time.

— Move! — Judah tried shouting, calling Peter and Jay’s attention.

— What are you trying to do?! — Peter shouted. — Those are mine warriors!

— I can do it too, can’t I? — Judah simply said, ignoring Peter.

— Jay! Do something! — Peter shouted exasperated, making the clay warriors get up, positioning themselves ready for battle.

— Let him find out what’s the secret — Jay suggested with a smile.

— What? No! — Peter was getting mad. — They are mine! Mine!

— Geez… Calm down, Peter. What secret are you thinking he would discover?

— No… Nothing…

— Are those… — Judah started. — Chinese?

— See? He’s very attentive — Jay smiled.

— Okay… — Peter got closer, giving Judah a chance. — Those are made after the clay warriors in my dreams. They are part of the yellow emperor's personal army.

— Uhn… — Judah simply said, still paying more attention to the warriors than in Peter.

Peter looked to Jay and he simply made a sign for him to calm down.

— How did you make them? — Judah asked.

— Okay, be simple Pete, you can do it — he said to himself, before answering Judah. — They just happen… I guess… Like you did back in the table.

— But all those details. They look alive!

— It’s because they are.

— The shorty said they aren’t alive-alive…

Peter rolled his eyes.

— Yes. They are part of me. Part of my will. I shared a part of me with them and they come to be. They are an extension of me. As long as I am alive, they are alive too.

— Sharing a part of you… and what about the singing?

— That’s how I make it come naturally.

— Oh, yes, naturally.

— Are you done yet?

— Maybe… It’s just hard to guess how I can do it…

— That’s because you still didn’t understand how you can do magic — Jay got closer too.

— And how do I do? Can I use darkness or the ground or something?

— Can you guess for yourself what your power is? — Jay suggested.

— I don’t know… What should I look for?

— Hun… Well, guess it’s hard to find something that always has been with you — Jay walked to the river surface, a dark area where his reflection was visible enough. — Come here!

— What do you want to do now? — Judah asked following him.

— Have you ever asked yourself why your eyes have such a unique kind of color?

— I guess…? That’s not really important, though I must admit it makes me very charming — Judah said full of himself.

— That’s part of your magic.

— You are kidding, right?

— Not at all. You remember that I can drain magic, right? As you wanted to say, I ‘steal’ magic.

— Yeah, I guess… Do you… want to take my eye out? — Judah got scared by that.

— Hahaha…. — Peter burst out laughing.

— Oh, noes… — Jay smile, hiding a small giggle. — But I can show the true color of your eyes.

— Will it hurt? — Judah was still shaken from it.

— Not at all. I just need to focus on one of your eyes, so you can see that only part of the magic was taken, okay?

— Will I be blind?

— No! Stop being a crybaby! I will just deplete part of your magic. It will come back pretty soon.

— Okay… I’m not sure if I want to lose my blue eyes… I’m… too young to die!

Peter was barely holding himself together. Jay just lifted up his hand for a moment and it was done.

— There. You can look into the water now.

Judah looked at the reflection and his right eye lost the bright blue that was clearly visible and was now dark.

— What did you do?! — Judah was losing it.

— Keep looking at the reflection.

Judah did as he said and soon his eye was back to shine in blue again.

— That’s crazy… That means… My eyes always have been a sign that I have magic?

— Yup! Few have as much magic power as you and people like you do. No one else here had any sign they had magic prior to their thirteenth birthday.

— Hum… — Judah looked again at the reflection. — If it’s always with me… What… What kind of magic do I have?

— So, I hope you can remember your biology classes — Jay continued. — Now you need to try and remember, how can your eyes see?

— My eyes can see… — Judah was thinking hard. — I can’t see in the dark… because… there is no… there is no… light? Is it light?

— Yup! — Jay smiled. — Your magic is light-based.

— Light-based… You can use your shadow; the shorty can use the ground… I can use the light to make something… what kind of something is it?

— That’s something a little hard to explain.

— Urgh! C’mon! I’m not so slow like that! Spill the beans! I can take it!

Jay smiled.

— I know. You are not the one who can’t understand, I am the one who can’t explain. To put it in simple words, light is the base of magic. The darkness’ property is to be negative. The earth's property is about the minerals that make the soil. The property of light is magic itself.

— Do you mean I can… do any magic? — Judah’s eyes widened.

— I can’t put it in so simply. There are limitations. Light can’t be negative like darkness or take on minerals to make them move. But, yes, light can do a lot of things. The symbol of light is power.

— I can… control everything! — Judah was going mad. — I can make everyone pay! I can do whatever I want!

He looked at the warriors and got closer to them.

— Stay away from my warriors! — Peter shouted. — They are mine!

— Move! — Judah shouted at them and they didn’t obey. — Wait… I can’t control them…

— No! You can’t! They are mine!

— But… what about you? — Judah looked at Peter and smiled. — Maybe I can control you!

— No, you can’t! — Peter shouted, making the warriors move. — Stop this at once or I will hurt you!

— Move! — Judah tried.

— Take him! — Peter said and the warriors were ready to beat Judah.

— You can stop now — said Jay, putting his hand on Peter’s shoulder and the warriors turned back into a shapeless wet mass on the ground.

— Jay! — Shouted Peter, making the mud explode, falling all around.

— F___ — said Judah, his face full of wet mud. — I was just kidding! I remember I can’t control people if I can’t break their will!

— You forgot about something simple, Judah — Jay said, cleaning his face and hair from the mud.

Peter fell to his knees, almost crying seeing his warriors turned back to nothing again.

— Was there more? — Judah asked.

— There are always more — Jay got closer to Peter. — Our friend here had a hard time facing the powers of the other. They always tried to trick him. Andy loves to leave thumbtacks on people’s chairs. Si loves to see things burning. Matt likes to blow things away. And Nate… Oh, Nate. He looks nice, but sometimes he follows other people’s intentions a little too well…

Peter looked at Jay with pledging eyes, still holding up his crying.

— Please, don’t…

— Nate can control water. And what Si, Matt, and Andy thought it was a good idea to do?

— Water… a prank… Something… evil? — Judah tried to think.

— Yes, something evil. Simple, and yet, it destroyed Peter’s trust in the others that day. They used Nate to make Peter pee on his bed while sleeping.

— Magic… can do that?

— Obviously, it can do. Or worse. The major reason why we are here, in a church, is that following the Lord’s son path, to take his suffering, when he was the greatest saint of them all, doing only good, as a proof of what happens to us when we misbehave can be way worse.

— The priests weren’t kidding… magic is a weapon! — Judah realized.

— Yes. If you don’t want to die, you should remember that, if you have a weapon, everyone here also has one. If I couldn’t stop Peter like that day, you probably would be a mash of blood and bones by now.

— What… — Judah swallowed dry. — What happened that day?

— People laughing at Pete who couldn’t understand how that happened… He obviously wanted to kill them. I wasn’t so aware of it and I almost couldn’t stop him. Andy, Si, Matt, and Nate almost lost an arm or a leg if Phil couldn’t help them in time. By the way, Phil is our special healer here. He is still trying his best to keep us together and all, but he’s still too weak for that. That day we lost a part of the big house too because Pete’s power ruined the building.

— So, is that why you didn’t want to make those dolls back there? — Judah asked.

— … — Peter looked away. — Don’t… don’t call me Pete peepee… Or I swear you will be no more…

— I got it! I got it! F___! — Judah’s heart was beating faster. — What can I do then? Light is not something that we can hold or something…

— That’s where you are mistaken. Everything holds a little of light — Jay continued. — Now that Peter can’t control the mud as his will was shaken, you can try controlling it yourself now.

— Really?

Judah looked at it and took a portion of mud in his hand. He brought it to Peter.

— I’m sorry dude, didn’t want to scare you so bad… I don’t wanna die! I… I… don’t know how to make those cool warrior dolls or anything but…

Judah tried his best to concentrate on something light and easy to make. He got on his knees too and put it in Peter’s hands.

— A bird? — Peter thought the piece of mud was hardly a bird.

— I’m not good at doing this s___, okay!

Peter looked at Jay and he nodded positively. Peter closed his hands and formed a little bird with better features.

— You can try to make it alive too — Peter suggested.

— Should I? — Judah asked.

— Yes. But this time, instead of trying to go mad controlling everything, try to make its inner light shine.

— Its inner light… — Judah positioned closer to Peter and they held the clay bird together.

Both felt something moving inside their hands and when they opened it, a bird float away.

— Did us… — Judah was puzzled.

— Did we make a real bird? — Peter asked Jay.

— Can’t say it was a real bird… But souls aren’t from this reality, and when people see a ghost, they think they went mad. Eventually, souls are just a little different from matter and they are just as real as they should be.

— This means yes? — Asked Judah.

— Yes, you can say you both made a real bird.

— Yay! — Judah made and hugged Peter. — I made a bird, world! — And he started screaming it to the trees.

— Is he okay? — Peter asked.

— He’s better than ever — Jay smiled.