Work Text:
8 years old
Ever since Olivia could remember, her mother would say many things, especially things most adults said were advice every parent should give their children. Some of that advice was a mystery to her even after her mother's explanations, but some left no room for doubt. Two bits that had come to her mind over the last few days were that she should always clean up her messes, and that she should apologize for her wrongs and work not to repeat them.
Sometimes, Olivia disagreed with her, but there was no way she could disagree with those. Between breaking the door to Mateo's workshop and conjuring a water spirit, she had certainly messed up and done wrong things.
But to her relief and joy, Mateo had accepted her apologies - and had even impressed her when he apologized for his own mistakes, something many adults didn't do - and said she was still his apprentice.
And this time around, the magic lesson with him was being much more fun. While she was still learning basic alchemy, mixing powders and liquids was completely different with Mateo guiding her through every step and answering every question she had.
She was only sorry today's lesson was about to come to an end, she thought with a pang of sadness, as she looked at her last lesson before she went home.
"Remember," Mateo told her as he stood on the other side of her table, holding the target of her final lesson at a bit more than an arm's length from her. "Move your wrist gently, but firmly."
"Gently, but firmly," she repeated. "Got it."
Narrowing her eyes as she focused, Olivia raised her right hand, her thumb and index finger pressed together. Then, she flicked her wrist at the apple-sized cloud of blue gas Mateo held floating between his tamborita and his cupped hand, and a few grains of green dust flew into it. The cloud crunched and popped like snapping firewood as it shrunk into itself, before it solidified into a sparrow-sized sphere.
"I did it!" she cheered. "I did it!"
"Well done!" Mateo praised with a grin.
His tamborita glowed more intensely for a moment, and the sphere floated up into a glass bowl that sat at his table. As it clinked around its inside, Mateo turned back to her.
"Now give me your hands," he told her, like he had already told her whenever she touched a magical ingredient with her bare hands.
Knowing what he meant to do, Olivia extended both hands as Mateo aimed his tamborita at them.
"Malaympia!" he said as he smacked the drum.
A cloud of golden-orange specks blew from his tamborita and gathered around her hands. Olivia held back a few giggles as the specks tickled her palms. When they faded, the few bits of green dust that had remained on her fingers were gone.
As she saw that, she couldn't help a frown. Any time soon, Mateo would turn to her and say something like 'Class dismissed.' like her teacher did before recess at school. Then she'd have to go, and probably wait a few days for the next lesson with him.
But he didn't say anything. Instead, he put his tamborita into its holster, went over to his desk and ducked behind it. After a while, he rose up, holding the tamborita she had borrowed yesterday in one hand and a pillow on the other.
"What's that for?" she asked as he set the pillow down on the edge of his desk.
"We still have some time," he replied as he walked back over to her. "So how about we practice just a bit of actual magic?"
He reached the tamborita out to her, but Olivia could only stare at it, her eyes so wide she worried they'd push her glasses off her nose. Despite the mess she had accidentally started, she had loved casting magic, and had been sad at the idea it could take months before she did so again. To actually be allowed to do it the day after her first time seemed like a dream.
"Really?" she squeaked out.
Mateo gave her an encouraging smile..
"Really."
"But you said I wasn't ready for that yet," Olivia whispered, sure this had to be some kind of dream and she would wake up and find out her lesson with Mateo still hadn't started after all.
"Well, after yesterday, I think you're ready to try out some spells, with the proper guidance," Mateo explained. "And as you said the main reason you took the tamborita yesterday was because Señor Whiskers got stuck on a tree, I thought we should make sure you can get him down more safely, in case it happens again and I'm not around."
This really wasn't a dream then. Mateo really was letting her do magic, and actually wanted to guide her through it.
And she needed it, she realized. When she had used that summoning spell yesterday, she had accidentally caught both Señor Whiskers and the branch he was clinging to, and had felt like she was dragging a whole cart when she tried to get him down safely, and had only managed to put him on her father's head before losing her hold on the spell. While Señor Whiskers didn't get stuck up trees that often compared to other cats, it would be much better if next time she could get him down more safely.
And the faster she started training, the faster she'd be able to do it.
"Would you like to try?" Mateo offered, bringing her out of her musings.
Olivia took the tamborita he offered.
"Let's do it."