The Blood Moon Twins
Chapter 93

REMY

Cain was standing in the middle of the open space in the center of the village by the time we got there. There were several sorcerers standing around the edge of the circle, and as we approached, I felt all of their eyes turn towards me. I froze, not realizing there was going to be an audience for this training session. "Are you okay?" Blade asked, placing his hand on my lower back.

I glanced at him and frowned. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea."

He looked around, rubbing small circles onto my back. "It'll be okay. I'm sure these people are all just curious about who we are. I don't think any of them knew Cain had a daughter, let alone a granddaughter."

"You can do this, Remy," Harper encouraged. "Just show them you are not someone to mess with. We'll be here cheering you on."

I swallowed hard and nodded, continuing to walk forward on my own. I wanted to show them I was skilled with my magic and that I was a capable sorcerer, but I also knew that I still had a long way to go before I could say I had mastery over my magic.

I stopped a few feet away from Cain and took a deep breath, trying to calm my racing heart. It didn't do me much good, though.

"Don't look so nervous," Cain said. "They are just curious. We haven't had any werewolves or vampires, let alone hybrids here before."

"News spreads fast here," I commented, trying to count how many people were watching. I didn't even realize there were this many people in this village, and I knew this wasn't everyone. The settlement was much bigger than I had realized if this many people lived here. I had never been a fan of crowds, and this was making it hard to focus on Cain.

"Ignore them," Cain said. His voice was authoritative, which drew my attention back to him.

"Can't we do this somewhere more private?" I asked, unable to slow my heartbeat.

"No," Cain said simply.

"Why?" The more I thought about it, the more I worried that I wouldn't be able to control my magic with this much pressure.

"Because one day you'll get into a situation where there is more pressure to perform your magic than you ever thought. If you only ever practice by yourself, you won't be able to control it when you are around others," Cain explained. "Plus, I want my people to see what you are capable of."

There was no way around this. This was my only option if I wanted Cain to teach me how to control my time magic.

"Let's get this over with then," I said, feeling even more nervous. I didn't have a lot of time to be able to learn from Cain, and I started to worry that I wouldn't be able to accomplish what I needed to and would choke. Too much was riding on my shoulders, and I didn't know-

Cain snapped in front of my face, stopping me mid thought. "Stop doubting yourself. I can feel your magic panicking. That's not going to do you any good. You are the granddaughter of the great sorcerer, Cain. You have the strength and ability to take down a member of the Council of Magic, so start acting like it."

I stood up straight and pulled my shoulders back. I lifted my chin and looked into Cain's eyes confidently. He was right. I was the Daughter of Moon and Magic. I was destined to change the world. I couldn't let my self-doubts stop me from even trying. Even if the doubts were simmering beneath the surface, I had to push past them.

"That's more like it," Cain praised. "Now let's get started. The first thing I want you to do is focus on the magic inside of you. Imagine it like a little ball of light that you can brighten or dim. Magic is like a muscle. It takes practice, but eventually you can make it do things one never thought possible with the proper practice and training."

I closed my eyes and imagined what the magic sitting deep within me looked like. At first, nothing came to mind, but as I continued searching for it, I saw a small, purple, dim light. I tugged on it with my mind, and I could feel it flare up within my body and brighten as a result.

"I can see it," I said, keeping my eyes closed. "What does it look like?" he asked.

As I focused on looking at the magic inside of me, the rest of the world began to fade away. The magic seeded within me drew me into it, and it felt like nothing else mattered. "It's a lilac purple," I described. "It's maybe the size of a pea, and something about it is calming."

"Excellent," Cain described. "Now I want you to practice making that little ball larger and smaller. This is something you should do for at least fifteen minutes a day until it comes naturally to you. Knowing how to control how much of your magic you are using will make you stronger and much more in control of your powers. For now, I want you to try it just a few times before we move on, since we don't have a lot of time."

I did as Cain instructed, and it surprised me how well my magic listened to me as I commanded it to expand and shrink at will. It was working with me, not against me. It seemed to like the gentle commands I was giving it. "You're a fast learner," Cain noted. "Now, how often do you talk to your familiar?"

I opened my eyes, losing the grip I had on my magic. "Not very often. Actually, I don't think I have talked to her since my magic awakened." As I said it out loud, I suddenly felt ashamed. I hadn't really tried talking to Eva since our first meeting. I had just assumed she would talk to me when she needed to, and I hadn't even tried talking to her.

Cain hummed, and I could feel his concern in the way he started circling around me. "You're going to have to work on that relationship. The dynamic between a sorcerer and their familiar is essential. A familiar has magic of its own, so it can strengthen you if you call upon it. Some sorcerers can even manifest their familiar in a physical form if they have a strong enough bond."

"How can you do that?" This idea intrigued me. I knew Ginger and my mom had familiars, but they didn't talk about it very often, and they hadn't ever manifested it in front of me, so this idea was new to me.

Cain's lips pulled up in the corner. "Ask your familiar. She'll tell you if she feels like it."

I pulled my lips into a tight line. I didn't like his answer, but I understood where he was coming from. Even from these few minutes, it was clear that I was missing some very basic knowledge about controlling my power, but we didn't have time to waste on that. Ginger seemed to know what she was doing when she taught me magic, and I heavily contributed to the success I had with my magic with the tips she had given me over the years. However, Cain's approach was different. I didn't think that made Ginger's approach bad. This was just another tool in my belt.

"Now that we've gone over the basics, it's time to actually practice your time magic," Cain said.

"But I haven't practiced what you said or spoken to my familiar," I said. I was expecting more practice before diving into the meaty part of the training.

"Normally, I would have you spend weeks if not months working on those basics, but you don't have time for that," Cain explained. "You may not be successful with looking into the past today, but if you continue practicing what I instruct you to do on your own, you'll be able to do it eventually."

Eventually wasn't good enough, but there was only so much I could control. "Okay, so how do I do this?"

"Taking a look into the past is both simple and complicated, depending on what you are looking at. If you are looking into your own past, it is simple. The magic can easily follow your own timeline. However, if you are looking into something you weren't involved in, it's tricky. If you don't know exactly where and when the event happened, it can be hard to replace. Do you remember the line I drew yesterday?"

I nodded along.

"Imagine every single person has their own timeline like that. A single moment in time has billions of points of view you can look through. You have to guide your magic to the right one," he explained.

Imagining the timeline with all of the different perspectives suddenly made time a lot more complicated, which made more sense to me. Cain's explanation yesterday seemed too simple and easy, which it was when looking at it from a single perspective. Adding the perspective of every person on this planet was what made it tricky and complicated.

"So how can I do that?" I asked, unsure of how I was supposed to replace the right moment in time to replace the information I was looking at.

"Find out as much as you can about the specific point of time you want to see. It can help guide you, but it's never a guarantee. We'll start with having you look at your own past, and then we can try having you look into my past. Maybe you'll be able to replace my forgotten memories." Cain pointed to his temple. "Now, I want you to think about a memory you want to revisit. Try to remember as many details as possible while willing your magic to jump through time to that point. If you can look into your own timeline, practice it as much as possible. It'll make it easier to look into other timelines, and then you'll have a chance to replace your answers."

Cain's explanation made it seem simple, but something about it told me that it wouldn't be that simple. I glanced back at Blade and Harper, trying to figure out what memory to start with. Harper gave me a thumbs up, and Blade smiled at me. As I looked at them, I suddenly knew the perfect memory to look at.