1. Leila

ONE

LEILA

L eila's dark determined eyes were focused on the book. If she could move it to where it had been earlier, it would be more than she had been able to do all year. And if she actually went back in time with the book, then her training could actually begin. But the more she tried, the more frustrated she grew.

An angry tear pushed into her eye. She didn't want to show just how disappointed she was. If she did, she was afraid she'd drop to her knees right there from exhaustion and disappointment.

"I can't, Xanthus. We've been trying for over a year now." Her shoulders slumped finally as she dropped her hands to her sides, letting her raven curls hide her shamed face.

She felt her mentor's hand rest comfortingly on her shoulder.

"Leila, come now. You know better than to think like that. Especially in my presence."

She let out a sigh before finding a lone stool in the now-empty conservatory.

"Maybe I don't have the abilities you think I do," she finally said after a moment. She wanted to believe in herself as much as Xanthus did, but with no progress, she was finding it hard to stay positive.

The gentle and wise sage looked at her with softness.

"You, Leila, have more power than you could ever imagine. We just need to figure out how to tap into your time manipulation." Xanthus sat across from her. She could feel his deep golden eyes daring her to say her thoughts.

"Maybe I can't manipulate time," she said finally, barely audible. "Maybe I can only do what I'm doing now. Just because I'm beyond average at foresight, doesn't mean I can wield more than that." Before she could delve further into her own self-pity, she heard a harsh scoff. Her deep brown eyes shot up at her disapproving mentor.

"This isn't like you. To toil in your own failures. You don't settle for anything less than the best, why is it so hard to expect the same thing from your powers?"

Leila was growing agitated that he believed in her so much. Too much.

She stood up suddenly, her Sorcerer Academy plum robes billowing around her.

"I know I have the means. But for the life of me, I can't access them. We have tried everything! And if you can't help me tap in and hone them in, then no one can." Her outburst had caught her off guard, but she was exhausted from their practicing and her patience was almost worn out.

Yet, Xanthus stayed calm and unfazed by her sporadic outrage.

Leila admired Xanthus for that. Well, her and everyone else in the supernatural community. He wasn't only wise, but he was a revered figure. He had a staple place in Leila's life as her mentor, as well as the university.

"How do you do that?"

A small smile pulled his gray-bearded face. "Do what?"

"That," Leila said, exasperated, sitting back down again.

"A life of practice. I wasn't always this well-mannered." He chuckled.

Leila thought about how little she actually knew about the man who had become one of her closest confidants.

"So, will I ever know as much about you as you know about me? Or do I just get riddles here and there?"

His soft gaze remained, but his eyes lost a hint of their glow. "That's what everyone else gets. I see no reason to share any more than what is necessary."

"But maybe if I knew more of your past and why you believe in me so much, I could better understand just what?—"

"I know for a fact that wouldn't help," he answered, cutting her off. It was the first time he had been short with her, catching her off guard. "I just mean that I know there will be no good of that. What you have is something I have never encountered before. Nothing I know would be of use."

Leila bit her lip, trying not to push him. Then she thought about how much he had pushed her during this past year.

"I just thought that with your knowledge of ancient magic and the hidden makings of our world that you may have forgotten something that could be the piece we need."

Xanthus simply shook his head. "I promise you, Leila. I haven't forgotten anything."

She may not know much about her mentor, but she did know he wasn't lying.

He scooted to the edge of his seat and forced Leila to look at him.

"I need you to keep believing in yourself. In me. You have so much more to give than being a divination professor."

"But I love my job," she started to protest, but he quickly held up his hand.

"I know. I'm not asking you to give anything up and I'm not belittling your work. You know, we are in the same field." He gave her a wink, which allowed her to lower her defensiveness.

"I'm simply saying," he continued, "don't give up. We will find a way to unlock your potential of past and future time manipulation. It's in you, I can sense it. You're too talented in foresight to not be able to access the actual timeline itself."

"Cha'. Except for my own." Leila had an idea. "Do you think if?—"

"When."

"When," she corrected, "we figure out whatever it is that's holding me back, would that unlock my power to see my own future any clearer?"

"The future is tricky when looking at it for ourselves. I've never known another Seer, or anybody for that matter, that could clearly see what would lay in store for them."

Leila felt a little better knowing that at least she wouldn't have the temptation at her fingertips. She knew from observing that it was better to just expect the unexpected and that was as specific as anyone should get.

Xanthus's voice drew her out of past clients' experiences.

"We just need to find what drives you into that box you have hidden away."

"You could be wrong," she said, finally voicing her fears and on-setting belief. "It's been a year. I should have had something come from all of this work we have been doing. Shouldn't I have?"

"Not necessarily. We're close though. I know we are. And Leila," he raised his heavy dark gray eyebrows at her, "when have I ever been wrong?"

She was comforted in knowing that Xanthus believed in her, but she just didn't understand why.

"Here, stand back up. We have time for one more try before you have a divination class."

Leila tilted her head back dramatically like a teenager would after being told the chores they had to do.

But, like an obedient student, she stood. Leila took a deep breath and faced the book that sat there motionless, taunting her.

Xanthus must have sensed the weariness in Leila as she scooted her stool back.

"Actually, we've been working hard. Maybe a break would do us good."

"What? Now?" Leila wanted to, but there was a bigger part of her that needed to succeed. That was just how she was, and she knew, even if she didn't believe she could do this, she'd find a way because she wasn't going to back down. Especially with one of the world's most esteemed sages guiding her.

"Rest may help you take a step back and see what may be missing."

"No. I've got this. One more time, like you said."

"But if you don't believe, like you said earlier, then?—"

"No. I've got this. Let's do it."

The familiar, knowing smile crept back onto Xanthus's weathered face. He knew Leila well enough now that he had her play right into his hand.

She smirked, admiring the way he always made her play against herself for encouragement.

"Now, listen to me."

Leila loosened her body as she widened her stance and found a space between concentration and nothingness as she took in her mentor's chant.

"You are an extremely powerful sorceress. You have proven it time and time again. You have this ability and there is no need to fear it. Think about how you feel when you use your gifts. Now, explore that feeling more deeply. Not wanting anything from it but to know it."

Leila did as she was told. It was an intoxicating, familiar state of mind. Her body hummed with her powers right below the surface as she just rode the magical high of supremacy.

"Now, hone that feeling. And focus on not seeing the past, but moving to that place. Just the book right now, nothing else. Your body will follow the timeline."

Subconsciously, her right hand went out toward the book and she thought about where it was an hour ago. Sometimes she could restore things to as they were if ruined, but to travel back in time with the object was something not just anyone could do. In fact, it was one of the rarer things in their world. But if Xanthus thought she was powerful enough to do it, then dammit, she was going to do it.

She just needed a sign that she was capable. Anything really, at this point.

After a long-strained silent moment, Leila's arm dropped and her body shook.

Xanthus rested his large hand on her shoulder.

"That's more than enough for now. I think rest is a good option, as I said earlier. Take the time. Even the best of us need a break."

She didn't trust herself to respond. Just grabbed her schoolbag and slung it across her shoulder with a nod.

Leila wanted to cry again. Frustration was getting the best of her.

Xanthus gave her a fatherly look of expectation. "Give yourself some credit, Leila. You have a lot on your plate. I'll see you next week, same time. Enjoy the rest. It's well-deserved." He strolled out of the door, his white robes billowing around him in a hidden wind.

"It doesn't feel well-deserved," Leila mumbled, agitated with herself.

She headed to her classroom for her next divination class, her mind preoccupied.

There was something missing when she tried to manipulate time. Something she needed in order to access these powers of time travel. She could feel that much.

The answer she needed was what was missing ?