The Space In Between 16

Disclaimers: This is a work of fiction. Any similarities between the characters in this story and real people (appearances, names, etc.) are purely coincidental. This story may contain homosexual material, including love and sex, so if material like this is illegal in your region or if it discomforts you, please leave.

It takes quite a bit of time and effort, not to mention money, to run a site like this. Even more so when the service is FREE. So please take the time to donate what you can to Nifty Here

The Space In Between - Chapter Sixteen

Sobbing, Mark called out, "Baby, wake up! You have to wake up!"

Ulysses looked to be completely healthy, no scar marred his perfect skin. But no heart beat, his eyes did not see.

"Uly," Mark cried quietly.

"Ulysses?" Kiri asked when she had teleported in, unable to feel that magical tie to her son. "Uly?"

Wrecked, Mark begged, "Kiri, you have to heal him!"

Kiri ran forward, knelt down, and sent some restoration cells into Ulysses' body.

With a shattering heart, Kiri told Mark, "There's nothing to restore. He's... he's dead."

"No!" Mark screamed. "He- he can't be!"

Wiping the rapidly falling tears, Kiri responded, "He's gone, Mark. There's nothing we can do."

"Isn't- isn't- isn't- isn't there a- a- a- a spell to revive him!? Kiri, I need him!"

After her lip trembled, Kiri said, "Mark, there isn't anything we can do. He's gone forever."

Mark sobbed, and then threw his head back as he let out the loudest, rawest, most painful scream Kiri had ever heard. Also, a giant shard of magic ripped itself out of Mark's core that sent a powerful wave out of his body that felled trees and destroyed bushes in a two kilometre radius. Mark sobbed and sobbed, brushing his fingers through Ulysses' hair. Kiri let down her shield and wrapped her arms around both Mark and her deceased son.

Kiri teleported herself, Mark, and Ulysses' body to the palace an hour later. Queen Sofi rushed over and knelt on the floor. She cried as her fingers traced over the skin of Ulysses' face.

"Wh- what happened?" Queen Sofi asked, looking between Mark and Kiri. "How did he die?"

"It's not Mark's fault," Kiri told the queen stoically.

"I should be arrested," Mark said to the queen, his voice cracking.

Kiri quickly rebutted, "It's not Mark's fault. I went through all of his memories. Possession is real. Because of soul magic."

Shocked, Queen Sofi asked, "Possession?"

"His name was Din," Mark told the queen, his voice still toneless, flat. "He was the very first practitioner to use soul magic. Din was arrested for leaving samples of his soul inside people's heads. The underground labyrinth in Hungary was the prison. King Saj evacuated the prison when he suspected that Din was leaving samples of his soul inside the other prisoners. Din was left to starve to death in the prison, unable to teleport or use anything but soul magic. He embedded the rest of his soul into a pebble that transformed it into a crystal, and Din essentially passed away with no soul left in his body. The soul was meant to transfer to the first human who touched the crystal. And that was me."

The queen nodded her head, deep in thought. She then informed Kiri that her testimony will be heard by the Imperial Jury and that Mark would be arrested pending a verdict. She told Mark that it would be just a formality, that she trusted Kiri's judgement and Mark would be free to go after the delivery of the verdict.

Sobbing, Mark replied, "But I killed him! Ulysses is dead because of me!"

"It is not," Kiri reassured and stroked her palm across Mark's back. "You were possessed. I am the oldest witch to ever exist and I had no idea possession was possible. You had no ability to use magic, so it was easy for this Din to overpower your mind. I mean it when I say that it is not your fault."

As she stepped up to the two, Queen Sofi apologetically said, "I trust Kiri's decision. You will be set free no later than tomorrow afternoon. But for now, I will have to arrest you."

"Yeah," Mark said as he tried his best to regain his composure. "Yeah. I- I understand."

Queen Sofi placed magical binding on Mark's torso, one on each arm, and one on each leg. She then created a layer over each binding that made them impenetrable.

"It's just procedure," Queen Sofi told Mark remorsefully.

"There's no need to explain," Mark responded stoically. "I'm a criminal, I should be arrested."

Queen Sofi teleported the pair of them to the magical prison in rural Russia. The queen was greeted warmly by a dozen Guard officers, and two of them helped her get Mark into a cell. Mark laid himself down on the thin mattress, and stared blankly up at the ceiling. Queen Sofi bent forward and placed a soft kiss to Mark's forehead, and that caused more tears to fall from his green eyes.

Throughout the day, Mark ignored his neighbouring inmates that were introducing themselves and asking him questions. He didn't move a muscle as a tray of food was slid through the slot in the door. Mark simply stared up at the ceiling. He felt numb, but also fearful of living a life without Ulysses. Mark let the tears fall, making his pillow wet, but he didn't care. Mark did not process any thought, did not comprehend the sunlight shining through the window or the stars that now decorated the skies.

All too soon, the door to his cell opened and Kiri sat down on the bed. She combed her fingers through Mark's hair and kissed his cheek. She told the young man that the Imperial Jury had deemed him innocent.

Stoic, Mark responded, "But I killed Ulysses. Your son is gone because of me."

"He is gone," Kiri said softly. "But not because of you. Nobody believes that you are at fault. Ulysses would want you to stop blaming yourself. He died saving you, he knew you were not acting of your own accord. I hope you can see that some day soon. Now let's go."

Mark stayed with Kiri at her cottage in the middle of a forest in Alaska. He did nothing. He laid in his bed all day long, even when Kiri had gone to work. He stared at the wall, numb, unseeing, unable to process anything around him. Tears fell from his eyes, though he was unaware of any emotions running throughout his body. When his arm and hip ached from lying on that side too long, Mark turned on his back.

"You haven't eaten in two days," Kiri said quietly but with concern. "You have to eat."

"What's the point? Uly is gone."

"But you should not be wasting away because of it. Uly would want you to forgive yourself. He would tell you that there was nothing you could do against this Din, and that he would be happy that you are yourself again. Punishing yourself is not doing Ulysses' memory any favours."

Crying softly, Mark asked, "Then what do you think I should be doing?"

While finger-combing his hair, Kiri pondered for a moment before she answered, "I think... that you should test your magical abilities. Your core was discovered because of Din, but it remains intact despite his expulsion from your body. So I think it would be wise to test your magical aptitude, and if you are adequate, join The Guard."

Mark scoffed at the suggestion and threw his head back. Before he could respond, Kiri carried on, "I think that you are very powerful. And if he were still here, Ulysses would also suggest you become an officer. He would deem it wise to help the magical community in any way you can. And a witch as powerful as I think you are would be an invaluable asset to The Guard."

Mark thought about it deeply for a moment, nodded his head, and asked, "Who would I ask to administer this test?"

Smiling, Kiri answered, "Normally it would be Isak Nilsson. But I think that it should be Sofi. Aside from me, she is the most powerful practitioner in the world, and she would want to administer the test. She will be completely fascinated by the fact that you had no detection of a magical core one day to giving me the toughest duel I've fought in a millennium."

Mark nodded and replied, "Then Queen Sofi it is. I will leave it up to you to schedule it. Now, my body is screaming at me to eat."

"There is this adorable restaurant sitting on a pier in a small town in Western Canada. They have amazing fish and steaks. Would you like me to clean you magically or would you like to jump in the shower?"

Mark elected for the shower. While in there, he could no longer fight the tears. Quietly sobbing, Mark sank down in the shower and let the shower rain down on his head as he cried.

After a few moments, Mark composed himself. He quickly resumed washing his hair and his body. When he was walking back to his bedroom, he noticed Kiri standing outside out of the corner of his eye. He looked in time to see Kiri scream and send out a wave out before herself that decimated a dozen trees. Instinctually, Mark teleported some clothing onto his body and teleported. Kiri wrapped her arms around Mark and they both sobbed, supporting each other.

After a moment or two, Kiri wiped her eyes and suggested they get going. At Dahlia's On the Pier, the two were greeted warmly and seated right away.

As the server poured wine, Mark asked, "Tell me about Uly as a child."

With a distant look in her eye, Kiri responded, "Uly was a rambunctious toddler. At the age of three, he dared to jump on the back of one of his father's goats and rode it for all of two seconds. He received a black eye from that."

The two shared an emotional laugh. They each sipped their glasses, both allowing a single tear to escape their eye.

"Every single night," Mark began with a teary smile and had to swallow the lump in his throat, "Uly came to see me. No matter... no matter how tired he was or how rough a day he had. He was there. He wanted all of the cuddles and all of the kisses. He acted like affection was his life force."

"For him it was," Kiri stated with a wistful smile. "Duman showed Uly love and affection a hundred times a day every day. Duman loved being a father, he loved having a son, and he made sure that Uly felt cared for."

"Tell me about Uly's first days practicing magic."

Kiri laughed as she answered, "His first attempts at every spell were scary. His first barrier caused millions of particles in the air to crackle and smoke. His first cellular restoration on a branch was actually an accidental cellular duplication that caused limbs to grow on this branch."

Mark joined Kiri in her laughter. They both then sipped from their wine glasses. Kiri's eyes became distant, deep in thought.

Kiri wistfully carried on, "But he learned very quickly. Every single spell and curse he was learning only resulted in one mistake on each attempt. One mistake and he thought deeply, which resulted in his next attempt being unanimously successful."

"He had always seemed very proficient," Mark agreed. "Tell me about his past loves."

"None as passionate as he was with you," Kiri responded. "I am not lying, or exaggerating. Uly had never looked happier than when he was with you. When he looked at you, I could see that he would do absolutely everything to make sure you were happy and safe and loved.
"But his first love was a boy named Umutcan. They were twelve years of age. In our home, they were free to be who they were. Uly had affectionately shortened his boyfriend's name to Kane. Duman and I didn't see anything wrong with their love, but this was Turkey in the fifteen hundreds. When Umutcan's father caught the two kissing in his home, he lashed the boy. Umutcan subsequently ended the relationship and carried on with his life.
"Uly's next love came into his life when he was seventeen. Wen was the daughter of King Minsung. Whenever the king and his daughter would visit The Guard training facility, Uly would commence his training shirtless. Wen stood no chance. King Minsung was absolutely astounded that the son on Kiri the Endless was in love with his daughter. Uly and Wen were very cute together, both so infatuated with each other, and allowed each other to explore their emotions.
"At the age of twenty-one, Uly met Margaret. His first nonmagical relationship. At first, she was fine with the existence of magic, they lived together happily for about three years. Her religion got in the way, she began lecturing Uly about Hell, so he erased him from her memories.
"Margaret scarred Ulysses, he was not okay after their relationship ended. Uly stayed single for four years. But after being single for just over four years, Ulysses perfected the cellular constance spell. He fully encased every cell in his body in a time freeze. He stopped aging, he desired no food or drink, he roamed the Earth with no sleep for one hundred twelve years."

"He mentioned that once," Mark said softly. "He didn't say much about it, just that he explored the world for over a century."

"Uly always made sure to check-in with me three or four times a year," Kiri went on with a fond smile. "It was stupefying to see Uly months and months later with him unchanged in every single way. It took me about twenty to twenty-five years to become accustomed to him unable to age. But I was always so proud of him. I had taught the Executioners the constance spell, and these are very powerful practitioners, but they were all unsuccessful. So Ulysses utilizing the spell brought me to tears. I wouldn't have to stop the constance spell. I was prepared to age with my son. I was prepared to perish some day. But with Ulysses now endless just like me, we could both live forever, do what we could to keep the world safe. When Uly rejoined The Guard, Queen Lucille Danforth wanted him to become captain, but both him and I decided that The Guard would benefit more from an aging ranking officer. And we were right. Every new captain brought wonderful insights and ideas.
"Every single relationship that Ulysses had after that for the next four hundred ninety years did not last more than two or three months. Not enough time for him to truly fall in love. Nobody gave him that impression that they would be okay with him not aging, unchanging. Until you. A single month into your relationship with him, do you know what he told me? He told me that..."

Kiri had to pause because a lump had formed in her throat. But she smiled an emotional, wistful smile. Mark gave his own teary smile as he reached across the table to sit his hand atop Kiri's.

"He told me that you were the most loving, most affectionate, most emotionally-intelligent person he had ever met. Uly was truly impressed with how freely you shared your feelings and love, how unfiltered you were, and how adaptable you were. He was still fearful, however, that even the knowledge of witchcraft would be too much for you. So Queen Sofi and I advised him to wait until you were the one to confess your love before he shared our world with you. That week that you needed to become accustomed to our existence was trying for Uly. He was restless, anxious, could not sit still. His first night back together with you, after you had called him, he came to me and cried the happiest tears."

"Thank you," Mark said, his eyes still misty but his smile bigger and brighter. "Uly told me much of his past, but he didn't go into too much detail. I had no idea that I was his first real relationship in almost five hundred years. I- I am so sorry that he is dead."

Slightly shocked, Kiri responded, "That was the first time that you haven't blamed yourself for his death. That's good. I'm so proud of you.
"Now, what will you fill your days with now? Your magical core seems very powerful and isn't going anywhere despite Din's expulsion."

"I don't know," Mark answered and sipped his wine. "I had thought about joining The Guard."

Kiri nodded her head slowly and replied, "I think that would be a delightful idea. You are very powerful, very intelligent, very patient, and very impartial."

"Then... then I will join The Guard."

"Good. I will have Isak schedule a competence test. But seeing how powerful you are, Queen Sofi will want to test you as well."

"Will I be okay?"

"Yes. Undoubtedly yes. Queen Sofi knows and understands that you could not fight the possession. She holds no blame toward you. And neither did Uly. Neither do I."

Mark ascended the three steps onto the training arena where Cpt. Nilsson stood waiting. Mark stopped and stood about six feet in front of the captain, and turned to look at his left. Kiri and Queen Sofi watched with curiosity and intrigue, both anxious for this test to commence.

Out of the corner of his eye, Mark noticed Cpt. Nilsson bow at the hip. So Mark turned to face the man and bowed as well.

"I would just like to say..." Cpt. Nilsson said with an emotional pause, "that I adore you, Mark. And that I am sorry that Ulysses is no longer with us."

"Thank you, Cpt. Nilsson. I know how much you loved and respected Uly."

"You can call me Isak. I have a feeling that I will not be your commanding officer for long."

Perplexed, Mark asked, "What do you mean?"

"Let's just worry about the test. Are you ready?"

Mark gave the man a single nod of his head. Cpt. Nilsson, in a quarter of a second, fired a bolt of lightning at Mark. Mark pulled the tiniest sliver of magic out of his core and the lightning bolt disappeared into a portal. Cpt. Nilsson tore a chunk of concrete out of the wall behind Mark and threw it at him. Mark pulled another sliver from his core and the chunk of concrete turned to dust.

Queen Sofi leaned closer to Kiri and whispered to her, "He is not moving a single muscle. He is truly impressive."

Cpt. Nilsson raised his arms and fired flames into the air, making the flames soar through air into a dome around the arena. Mark summoned some water that encapsulated Cpt. Nilsson in a sphere, and also kept the man's body in place to prevent teleportation. As the captain fought to escape the water, his flames dissipated into nothing. But the captain did not give up. He pushed a giant pulse into the floor that destroyed it completely, causing himself to fall out of the sphere. But Mark remained afloat in the air, unmoving, unfazed. He pulled vines out of the ground under the captain and bound him tightly. Cpt. Nilsson groaned as the vines tightened around his chest and throat, threatening to kill him.

"You're..." Cpt. Nilsson struggled to say, "good. Very... good."

The vines began to smoke, and burned off. Cpt. Nilsson teleported, reappearing above Mark and descending on him. But the captain was unable to touch Mark as Mark had transformed every cell in his body into a gas and the captain fell through him. Upon landing, Cpt. Nilsson fired a depletion spell at Mark. A disintegration spell appeared below Mark that collided with Cpt. Nilsson's depletion and an explosion rocked the arena.

When the dust settled, Cpt. Nilsson was lying on the decimated ground, magically stitching his flesh back together. But Mark remained floating in the air, unmoving, undamaged.

"I suggest you concede," Mark said softly.

Cpt. Nilsson rose, and then bowed. Mark descended and bowed back to the captain. Cpt. Nilsson approached Mark with his arms open, and the two men embraced warmly. As they hugged, Mark rose the both of them in the air and magically repaired the arena.

Queen Sofi ascended the stairs onto the arena and asked, "Would you like to battle me, Mark?"

"I do not," Mark answered as he landed back onto the floor. "I have no desire to be king, Your Majesty."

"Then do it to appease my curiosity," Queen Sofi responded. "I beg you. I have not been bested since I was eleven years of age."

"Then I will make this quick. Have any of you heard of the perception pulse?"

Kiri, Queen Sofi, and Cpt. Nilsson all shook their heads no in answer. Mark ascended into the air and suddenly, rings of white light came out of Mark's body, rotating and twisting. Then pulses emanated from each ring, and all three witches fell to their knees in utter pain. All they could feel was their blood boiling and their organs disintegrating. They could see nothing but black. The only thing they could hear was static.

"I concede!" Queen Sofi cried out.

Mark immediately stopped all magic. All pain disappeared, Queen Sofi could suddenly see. She stood back up, laughing in astonishment as she rose to her feet.

"Din was working to perfect that piece of magic," Mark told them. "He couldn't. But I was watching when he was not keeping me distracted. I learned. It alters your perceptions, all senses, into thinking you are experiencing pain. It's a variation of soul magic.
"I am going to ask the three of you a favour. Do not mention this battle to anyone. I do not want the throne."

Queen Sofi rebutted, "But the ruler of the magical world should be the most powerful."

"I will not. To ensure this, I will immortalize myself."

Kiri was surprised to hear this. She stood, watching Mark. Mark stood still, his eyes open but unseeing as he pulled a giant sliver of magic to envelop his body.

"This is weird," Mark stated, his eyes flitting back and forth. "I do not feel tired. I have no desire to drink or eat. How long did it take you to feel accustomed to this?"

Smiling with pride and utter joy, Kiri answered, "It stopped feeling new for me after four days. Not feeling taxed and fatigued by the everyday seemed unable to end. But it does become ordinary to you. For Uly, the newness lasted nearly four days."

"Another thing Din was trying to create was a human duplication spell," Mark said with apprehension.

All three of the other witches simultaneously asked, "What?"

Mark shrugged and clarified, "Yeah, he was trying to duplicate both my body and his mind. He successfully duplicated my body, and its organs were functional, but it had no consciousness to speak of. None."

Kiri nodded her head expectantly, and asked, "So did you learn from Din's mistakes again?"

Mark slowly nodded his head and replied, "I- I think so. I didn't want to test my theory without the queen's permission."

Queen Sofi and Kiri both looked to each other. Their eyes held confusion and wonder and intrigue. Kiri lifted her shoulder in answer to the queen. Queen Sofi sighed softly, but she looked back to Mark and nodded her head once more. Mark nodded his own head, and closed his eyes. A string of lilac dim light seeped its way out of Mark's temple, pooling into a bundle in the air.

"This is a copy of my consciousness," Mark told the witches. "My theory to successfully cloning a human is building the body around the consciousness. I think that weaving the mind into the body somehow sedates it permanently, or damages it beyond repair."

Kiri watched as the tiniest, thinnest streams of blood appeared swirling around the millions of tiny branches from the consciousness. Flesh of grey-white began to form around the consciousness as well. A tear fell from Kiri's eye as pride washed over her, beyond impressed as a brain was formed.

Queen Sofi shook her head softly and said, "I knew this magic would be developed some day, but not in my lifetime. It... it is beautiful."

Pretty soon, bone began to form around the brain, along with blood vessels and nerves. As the spine formed, so did the flesh on the fully formed skull. Kiri could not fight the urge to reach out and stroke her finger lightly on the clone Mark's face. Kiri whispered her astonishment as another tear fell from her eye.

When the entirety of the body was formed, Mark gasped with both the fatigue of magical expenditure and the relief that came from the severing of the stream of magic. The clone of Mark remained afloat, unconscious, looking peaceful.

Dumbfounded, Mark laughed and told the two witches, "He's conscious. He's... he's pushing my magic out. He's floating on his own."

Just a moment later, Clone Mark's eyes opened. It startled both Kiri and Queen Sofi. And they gasped upon realizing the irises of the clone's eyes were purple.

"To signify that I'm a clone," the clone stated. "It worked, Mark."

"Yeah," Mark responded with a laugh. "How- how do you feel?"

The clone looked down at his body, and answered, "I feel the same as our memories. You even copied your magical core the same."

"You have Mark's memories?" Queen Sofi asked.

The clone nodded his head and replied, "Mark cloned his consciousness. With it came memories, and perspectives, and ideals, and morals. Also modesty. I- I need some clothing."

After clothing materialized on the clone's body, Kiri asked, "So you know who you are?"

"I am Markus Jeffrey Lillico."

"And who am I?"

"You are Kiri the Endless. Mother of Ulysses Duman Erdogan. First and only regent to the sovereigns of the magical community."

Queen Sofi asked, "And can you perform all magicks that Mark is capable of?"

To prove that he had the same capabilities of the original Mark, the clone floated into the air. Rings of white light shot out of the clone's body. When pulses emanated from each ring, all four witches fell to their knees and groaned and screamed and cried. But the perception pulse was cast for a mere second and a half.

Queen Sofi laughed a breathless laugh and voiced her astonishment. Her eyes filled with tears, tears of pride.

"That fucking hurts," the original Mark stated with an amused laugh.

Before anybody else had a chance to respond, a purple string of light crept its way out of the clone's head. In record time, blood and nerves formed, and then the skull.

"Wait, wait, wait," Kiri pled. "Are you- are you sure?"

The clone did not pause his duplication spell when he replied, "This was just a thought that the original me had. But to me, it makes perfect sense. Multiple Markus Lillicos will better protect the world."

"I have some reservations about this," Kiri stated. "How many clones do you plan to create?"

With the new clone's body now ninety-percent formed, the first clone simply said, "One hundred. No more, no less."

Cpt. Nilsson said, "That seems like too much."

"Try to stop us," the original clone said plainly.

Cpt. Nilsson was perplexed for a moment, but then looked to his side. He saw the now familiar stream of consciousness peeling itself out of Mark's head.

"You are certain that all clones will abide by our laws?" Queen Sofi asked.

"Yes," the original Mark answered easily. "I will telepathically check in on each clone each day."

When the newest clone was done forming, Mark groaned as he ended the stream of magic. That clone opened his purple eyes and took in Mark, his creator. The clone descended to his feet and gave Mark a hug.

The newest clone leaned back and grabbed Mark's neck in his hands, and said, "We are going to do amazing things."

Fifty Years Later

Mark pulled a sliver of magic out that connected his mind to ten of his clones, whom were all awaiting his instruction as they stood all along the west coast of the United States and Canada. Mark telepathically instructed them to begin. He and his clones telekinetically grasped at nonillions of hydrogen particles in the Pacific Ocean, and flew through the air as they guided a gargantuan wave of water through forests and woods and meadows.

Mark and each clone kept their consciences receptive to other consciences in these areas. When they detected campers and travellers and tourists, they masked their presences and magicks from these people's minds, they were none the wiser. Each witch made sure not to put out camp fires, and to avoid power lines, power plants, and transformers. They even created shields around animals and nests and dens and warrens.

Five hours later saw the sun rising. Mark and each clone had successfully soaked whole forests, and all plant life across hundreds of thousands of kilometres was fully safe from fires. Mark and the clones shot the sea water up into the skies and pushed it back to the Pacific.

"This place is always a pleasure," Mark told Kiri as he sat his empty wine glass on the table. "Dahlia's On the Pier. It's been- what, sixty years since the first time you took me here?"

"Just over fifty," Kiri rectified with a wistful smile. "Time is a funny thing, isn't it?"

"Visiting here once a decade is not enough. No matter how much time passes, the food and the service is always stellar."

"Oh," Kiri said in surprise, feeling a coin pendant bracelet warming on her wrist. "The king is requesting my presence."

"I'm going for a walk before I head home," Mark responded with a soft smile. "Possibly visit the farmer's market."

Both witches stood and kissed each other on the cheek. Kiri masked her presence from every person in the vicinity and teleported out. Mark left two fifty dollar bills on the table and walked off of the restaurant's patio. During the fifteen minute walk to the farmer's market, Mark enjoyed the scenery. A few clouds scattered across the skies, the early evening sun colouring them beautifully. A small murder of crows flew above the trees.

With his left hand now holding two paper bags of fresh produce, Mark rifled through scarves of silk and cashmere. The colours and patterns were stunning, the lengths were perfectly to Mark's liking.

"All handmade," a male voice said.

"You made these?" Mark asked.

Mark looked up to the man standing on the other side of the table. His eyes widened in utter disbelief and shock. The man staring back at him was the spitting image of Ulysses. This young man had black hair that hung in soft waves down to his shoulders. His complexion was perfectly toasted marshmallow, a smattering of freckles across his nose. The only difference between Ulysses and this man were the eyes. This man's eyes were a pale, pale green.

And then Mark noticed the expectant expression on the man's face. "Sorry, what?"

The man laughed and repeated, "My mom makes these. She makes everything we sell."

"Hi," Mark said, uncertain of what else to say.

The man laughed again and said, "Hi."

"Sorry," Mark said and shook his head, "I- my name's Mark."

"Kai," the man replied and held his hand out.

Mark reach for the man's hand, and Kai's pupils dilated as they shook hands. Kai offered Mark a crooked smile, their hands remaining connected for a few moments too long.

"Boys," an older gentleman greeted as he walked up to the table with a box.

Kai finally released Mark's hand and greeted, "Dad. Hi. This is Mark."

"Hello Mark," the older man said. "Why don't you boys... go shopping. I can watch the table."

With a slight pink tinge to his face, Kai asked if Mark would accompany him. Mark laughed at the adorable expression adorning the young man's face, but agreed with zero reservations.

"My dad thinks he's so smooth," Kai stated with a ton of embarrassment. "I'm so sorry about him."

"I'm not," Mark responded with a crooked smile. "I'm happy to spend some time with you."

"You can laugh if you want but I have to say it," Kai told the witch. "You feel familiar. I get the instinctual tingle that I know you. I don't know from where, but I do. Is that weird?"

Giddy with joy, Mark replied, "No, absolutely not. When I first saw you at your parents' table, I was pulled into this sense of... intimacy."

Kai stopped walking, so Mark stopped as well. Kai held heavy contact with Mark, his pale green eyes dilating slightly. Mark smiled softly, unsurely, as he reached forward and grabbed one of Kai's hands. Kai leaned forward and captured Mark's lips in a tentative kiss. Mark smiled as he kissed back, and deepened the kiss. Kai smiled as well, but kept his lips and his tongue dancing with Mark's.

"Uncle Kai!" a little girl's voice called with excitement.

Upon detaching his lips from Mark's, Kai crouched down just in time to open his arms and catch his four-year-old niece.

"You was kissing that man," the little girl said, amused.

Kai and Mark laughed, and Kai responded, "Yeah, I was. Alianna, this is Mark. Mark, this is my niece Alianna."

Kai's sister and brother-in-law soon joined them, and Alianna was transferred into her mother's arms. Mark shook hands with the girl's parents and exchanged pleasantries. But then Kai told them all that he was going to take Mark for a walk in a park. Mark quickly teleported his car into the parking lot and told his date that he would put his produce in the trunk.

Entering the park, Mark grasped Kai's hand and requested, "So tell me about yourself."

Kai smiled as he gave Mark's hand a gentle squeeze, and regaled mundane details about himself. But Mark remained smiling as he listened, undeniably transfixed. To Mark, the only thing in existence other than himself was Kai. No other words would ever heed meaning, nothing else held beauty.

Laughing with both humour and self-consciousness, Kai asked, "What?"

Mark shook his head and answered, "You. You are just so stunning."

With a face tinged a deep red, Kai leant forward. Mark leant forward, and their hearts soared.

I hope that you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I had been working on this series for about two years, it is so new to me. It was definitely a challenge trying to convey this type of witchcraft from my head to the page. Anyway, thank you so much for sticking with it until the end, I immensely appreciate it. Listed below are my other works of fiction if you are interested.

Car Radio
Connected
Do Not Go Gentle
Near Wild Heaven
The Other Half of Me Unknown
A Quick Fall
Some You Give Away
Somewhere a Clock is Ticking
Strawberry Wine
Tearing Me Apart
You Call It Madness
You Don't Mean to Hurt Me

tyler.christopher36@yahoo.com