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“Papa, you said you’d help me today,” Max whined as he followed his father around the apothecary, grabbing this and that. The teenager was not paying attention to what it was that was being taken.
Magnus carefully placed all that he grabbed along his table in the order that he would need to put them into the boiling pot. “I know, I’m sorry, Maxie. I need to get this potion done for tonight and it needs my constant attention or it could rupture. Another day.”
“You said that last time,” Max murmured, crossing his arms over his chest.
Magnus sighed and gave his son an apologetic smile. “I’ll help you practice soon, kiddo, I promise.”
Max nodded and watched his father mix the pot for a couple more minutes before he grew bored and left the apothecary. He knows he should probably help the older warlock, it would give him practice for things he would need to know in the future, but mixing potions was not what he wanted to be doing today.
Magnus had promised to help him with controlling offensive spells, so he would be more capable in battle. At fourteen, that was something he needed to learn as he was always bent on going out and helping Alec and Rafael during hunts, even when Alec forbade him from going. If he learned control then maybe his dad would say yes to him tagging along.
He looked around the living room for something to do since his brother and Dad were at work and his Papa was busy in the other room, but found nothing. What he wanted was to throw fireballs at the wall or lightening into the air, but Magnus would scold him if he went out onto the balcony to do it without supervision.
An idea suddenly struck him. “Hey, Papa?” He called through the door.
“What’s up?”
“Can I go hangout with my friends?”
“Yeah, just be back by six for dinner.”
Max smiled. “Thank you. Be back soon!” He hollered as he created a portal and jumped through. In an instant he was in Central Park.
That was almost to easy. He felt a little bad about lying to his father, but he needed to get out. He could not just sit home and twiddle his thumbs while he waits for somebody’s schedule to open up so he could have some form of entertainment. He does not need anybody to help him practice, he could do it himself.
He walked around the city for about an hour until he found a block with a hidden alleyway behind a couple of the buildings. If he put up a sound barrier then this would do just fine. No one would hear him and no one would get hurt. Waving his hand, he did just that and smiled to himself when the sound of the city dulled.
After cracking his knuckles, he flicked his arms out to the sides, fire immediately licking up his arms from his fingertips to his elbows. He looked around and saw certain spots on the brick wall that had long cracks and bricks missing and deemed those his targets. He threw his arm back behind him as he tried to aim and threw the fire out.
It hit his target and he smiled until, instead of disappearing on impact like he wanted, it fell down the bricks and landed in the trash bins leaning against the wall. Immediately the garbage lit up in flames and Max yelled out in alarm, the fire on his arms flickering out. He tried to put the fire out, but, in his panic, he could not seem to summon his magic. The fire started spreading down the alley from something on the ground and he felt like he could cry. His father was right, he did need him to help him learn control.
Right before Max almost gave in and called his Papa, a small rain cloud appeared slightly above the fire and released a downpour of rain, putting out the fire in seconds. Relief flooding through Max and he turned to see who fixed his mistake. There was a man standing a few yards away with a small smirk on his face. He had long black hair and dark eyes and wore complete denim, which Max new his Papa would vomit at seeing.
“Are you okay?” The man asked, stepping closer.
Max was a little hesitant to answer. His parents always told him not to speak to anyone he did not know, especially if they were fellow shadowhunters or downworlders because you never know, but he is fourteen now, so he figured he would be okay. He can protect himself. He might burn down the city as he does it, but he could still do it.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” The man stopped a foot away and looked between him and the charred wall. The look in his eyes made Max a little uncomfortable, but he pushed that feeling aside and reached out a hand. “I’m Max.”
“My name is,” the man paused as if he had to think about it, “Benny.”
Max did not believe him in the slightest, but the man did save his ass, so he decided to not say anything on the matter. “Thank you for helping me. I didn’t mean to do that.”
“I figured,” Benny chuckled. “You do not have much control of your magic it seems.”
“I have control, but offensive spells I still need to work on.”
“I’ll help you.” The man motioned for Max to face the wall.
“Oh, no, that’s okay I-”
Benny gripped his shoulders and physically turned him to face the bricks. “Oh, none of that. When you need to learn you need to learn.”
“Um, okay.” Max shrugged and brought the fire back to his arms. “Lay it on me.”
“Well, first you need a target, so pick where you want it to hit.”
Max’s gaze zeroed in on a hole in the wall and nodded for Benny to continue.
“Now, there is a couple different ways you can attack with fire. The first it to spread it, which is what you did. It does not require to much concentration and is the easiest thing to do. It is also the most dangerous as you saw it spread very fast.”
Max nodded. “Yeah, I don’t like that.”
“It can be scary seeing everything going up in flames, I suppose.”
He supposes?
“Another is to have it cling to the target or to have it disappear on impact when it’s not a flammable surface. If it hits a person it will set them aflame, but if it hits the brick then it will vanish right after the fire touches it, but you can also use it as just a projectile. To hit someone and launch them back without setting them on fire.”
“Okay,” Max nodded shaking his arms in excitement at finally learning how to use fire. “How do I do that?”
“It’s simple, young one. Just think it.”
Max turned to him with a raised eyebrow. “What?”
“Just think it. It is like any other magic you use. You have to have control in your mind before you have physical control. Your magic, regardless of what type of magic you are using, is just an extension of you and will abide by what you want.”
“My Papa always told me that,” Max smiled. “Just think it.” He thought about the fire, about how it spread and how, if he was not in the alley, it could have seriously hurt someone. He did not want someone innocent to get hurt. The only people he wanted hurt were the people he might possibly be fighting.
Setting his sights back into the hole in the wall he cleared his mind. He thought about the fire sticking to the wall and how he did not want it to move from that spot and threw his hand out again to throw the fire out. He wanted to close his eyes because he was afraid of the outcome, but he kept them open and watched as his magic hit exactly where he aimed and stayed there for a moment before vanishing into thin air.
“I did it!” Max cheered and jumped up and down excitedly.
“Well done, Max.” Benny smiled at him with something close to pride in his eyes. It was a weird look to give a kid he did not know, but Max assumed it was from his advice working more so than Max being able to do it.
“Thank you, Benny,” Max told him, genuinely. “I really needed the help.”
“It was my pleasure.”
He stared intensely at Max as if he was waiting for something and it made Max uncomfortable. He decided to leave before the older warlock got any ideas. “Well, I should get home. I promised my father I would help with dinner.” He did not promise that, but Benny did not need to know.
“Of course. Have a good day.”
“You too.” Max turned away and made his way further into the alley to be able to go around the corner and make a portal. He did not want to do it in Benny’s vicinity because he did not want the man following him. The last thing he needed was a stalker following him home and his Papa finding out he used fire unsupervised. He jumped through the portal without a second glance behind him to the empty living room.
“Max?” His Papa called out, sensing the portal. “Is that you?”
“Yeah.” Max went back into the apothecary and sat in the chair next to his Papa. Once again watching him toss things into the pot and stir.
“Are you okay?” Magnus asked his youngest. “You were only gone for two hours. Dinner isn’t for another three.”
“I got bored, so I wanted to come home.” He hated lying to his parents and, when his Papa just nodded and did not ask any further question, Max felt guilt eating at him. It seems all he did lately was lie and he did not like it. He made a promise to himself to try and be honest more. For his parents peace of mind as well as his own.
“Okay, kiddo,” Magnus lowered the long metal spoon he used to stir and smiled at Max. “Since I couldn’t help you today I’ll let you choose what we have for dinner. What will it be?”
Max smiled. “Can we make pizza?”
“Of course.”
*
Beelzebub stared at the spot the teenager disappeared into and smiled. His son was growing well. A couple more years and he will be ready. He hated how the men who took the boy from him are not even teaching him properly, but that is fine. He will do it once his son was back with him.
He just needed more time.