I slid the present back into my pocket and turned to face Lily's mom.

Her mom wasn’t a very imposing woman. We were both short and around the same height, so I was always on eye level with her and her familiar on her shoulder; a chameleon. She was an Illusion witch like Lily was, though at a lesser level, so her hair only had a slight tint of yellow to it.

“Hello Cynthia. I just wanted to be here to show my support for Lily.” I said to her, then looked over to Lily “Sorry, but I have to go again. I’m really happy for you.”

Lily’s smile went away “Wait you’re leaving already? Can’t you stay a bit longer?”

Cynthia made sure to respond for me “Sorry honey, but she probably has to prepare for her remedial classes that start this week. Not every witch can be as strong as you are! Oh I have an idea! How about you demonstrate some of your new magic by conjuring a neon exit sign at the door for her?”

“W-why? She used to live here too and already knows where the door is.” Lily looked to me with a face telling me she didn’t want me to leave.

“C’mon, don’t you want to try your new powers out? It’s not even that hard, watch!” Cynthia raises her arm towards the door and a neon exit sign appears out of a small cloud of white smoke above the door.

There were a few snickers among there people in the crowd and I saw it as my queue to leave “It’s fine Lily… bye.” I couldn’t even look her in the eyes. It was risky to go there in the first place, let alone talk to her. Being embarrassed by her mom was something that didn’t even surprise me anymore.

Everyone’s eyes had now shifted to me as I walked out of the house with what felt like a spotlight on me. Dog looked up at me and gave another kiss on the cheek. So I brought him closer to my chest and cradled him with both arms as I walked out of the house.

As soon as I get outside and away from all those eyes, I looked up at the sky and let out a huge sigh. I had thought the embarrassment had ended, but I heard a voice call out to me before I walked off.

When I turned around, it was my dad standing there. He looked upset as usual “Evelyn, you can’t come around here unannounced like that, especially when it involves Lily’s magic.”

He was just as unimposing as Lily’s mom was. A scrawny figure and not much taller than me, when I only stood at 5’2”. He carried Fire mage characteristics, but as with all other men, he wasn’t able to use any magic. Only able to pass down his weak genes to me.

Still, it was hard to even look at him “Don’t worry, I made sure she didn’t see me until after the ceremony. I was hoping to just give her a quick congratulations then leave, but your wife had to come up and do what she does.”

He let out a sigh of frustration “Okay, well, thanks for keeping it short… so uh how is everything going?”

Sometimes he would do that, pretend like he was still a dad that was concerned for me “It’s fine. The apartment is small, but it’s not like I had much stuff anyways. And class starts this week, so yeah, everything is okay.”

The tone of his voice told me that he hadn’t actually cared “Well that’s good.” he looked down at my familiar in my arms “Maybe after some of these classes you’ll even be able to talk to your familiar one of these days. Are you still calling him Dog?”

Me and Dog both looked at each other, then I scratched him behind the ears, making him put on a big smile “Yeah. I don’t want to call him any other name until he’s able to tell me himself.”

Our conversations were always so uncomfortable. He made it so apparent that he stopped trying to hide all his disdain from me. The only reason he even talked to me anymore was out of the small obligation he felt he had as a parent. But even then, it wasn’t enough for him to care.

“You know.” he said, reaching his hand out to grab the ends of my hair “We were worried the same thing that happened to you would happen to Lily… vibrant hair color doesn’t necessarily equate to power.” he let go of my hair “But looking at it now, it’s not orange enough to be a Fire witch’s hair. It’s not even red enough to match a Blood witch’s hair, like your mother’s… who would have guessed that you turned out to be just a natural redhead.”

There wasn’t any emotion on his face the entire time talking to me. He hadn’t cared that his words were hurtful. Even knowing I was in pain, he still had no issue turning around to walk back into the house to his family. Though not without one final word “Don’t come here without permission again.”

It took everything I had in me to hold back my tears. The way he can so casually bring up my mother like that without even batting an eye. Like he never even cared about her in the first place. But I didn’t want him to know that he actually got to me. I knew I had to save any emotions until I got back to my apartment.

Only it is impossible to hide your emotions from your familiar.

Dog rested his head on my chest with his eyes looking up at me. I knew he was trying to comfort me, and it caused a few tears to come out while walking back to my apartment “I really wish that I could talk to you… I wish I could talk to anyone… I would really love to see mom again.”

The sun was setting over the small lake in the center of town as I walked on the path along the water. I could hear the sound of some Water witches playing in the lake beneath me, laughing and having fun. It was the weekend after all. A time where everyone is out with family or friends. Plenty of which were walking along the lake path around me. But even with being surrounded by people, I still I felt completely alone.

When I got back to my apartment, I turned on the one light that’s too small to even light up the whole studio. I put the present I wasn’t able to give Lily on the stack of unpacked boxes near my door and was relieved to be able to put dog on the floor. Even only being 8 lbs, he still began to feel really heavy after holding him for so long.

Days like this, I don’t feel like eating. But with having to prepare food for Dog, I was usually able to convince myself most nights to eat something, even if it’s small. That night it was instant ramen… again.

Dog would sit on the kitchen floor and look up at me whenever I would cook anything. His adorable little face while waiting for his food would always give me a small smile. Another one of the dog-like mannerisms he would display. How is he suppose to be a spirit again?

I put the plate of food down for him. The only thing that wasn’t dog like was him wanting to eat the same food us humans did. Familiars may share the same mannerisms as their vessels, but it doesn’t mean they are actually those animals. And Dog sure did love to eat pasta.

As he was scarfing down his food, I got back up to pour some boiling water into the instant noodles. And while I was waiting for it to cook, I saw my shelf with candles on it out of the corner of my eye. They were candles that I would sometimes light to brighten up the room just a bit more.

I kept looking at them the whole time while standing and eating at the counter. Even after me and Dog finished eating, I just kept looking at those candles. So after I was done cleaning the dishes, I went over to that shelf.

Dog laid down on our futon after eating and his eyes followed me as I walked to the shelf. I stood in front of the unlit candles and stared at them “Just do it how your instructors showed you.” I told myself.

Fire comes from inside of you. Breath in air to build up oxygen in your chest, then radiate it through you arms and out your fingers where you create a spark and it ignites. Internal struggle suppresses your ability to use magic. So empty your mind and find inner piece for the best results with your magic. If possible, try to meditate if you feel your magic is becoming weak.

After I had taken a few deep breaths and cleared my mind, I aim my fingers at the candle wick. I feel the heat moving out of my chest and into arms, then finally down to my finger tips where I create the spark and…

A few sparks and a small, but weak dark red flame came out of my middle finger. It was a pathetic flame that was able to stay lit just long enough for me to light one of the candles. And when the flame grabbed the wick, the dark red lightened to the orange of a well fed flame.

The fire on my finger goes out and I looked back at Dog, who was looking up at me from the bed still. He had been watching me the whole time, and I still didn’t feel anything. My fire conjuring had stayed at the same level ever since I had summoned him, never improving.

But I felt that I couldn’t blame him for it. The spirit or demon that people summon is always equivalent to the level of magic that is already flowing through your body. Your familiar is what actually gives you the ability to use that magic. So if you were born with a low level of magic, you’ll summon a low level spirit or demon.

As I watched him curl up in my bed to sleep, I chucked to myself. He may not be the strongest spirit, but I will admit that he is cute. He was all I had in the world, and I knew that he was trying his best to help me. And that’s really all I could have asked for.