Reaching Venus

Hope

Ian

I promised Venus I could help her but only if she got out of the tub, dried off, and got a good night sleep. I hoped she would listen and asked her to meet me at my house the next afternoon. My parents would not be around so it would just be Molly and me. Molly would step out if I asked her to. I wanted Venus to be comfortable.

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When Venus showed up she was wearing leggings and a sports b*a. Her hair was piled up on her head in a bun and she had dark circles under her eyes. Clearly she had not slept well.

Now I was not going to say I didn't enjoy how Venus was dressed but it was completely unnecessary. I had seen Amber perform magic before. When elementals performed magic it tended to be a very physical thing, like something out of avatar the last air bender.

Faeries were much more subtle with their magic. When a faery did fire magic the most movement was in their eyes. I assumed it was the same with Venus since she had been able to set my jacket on fire just by glaring. Since I wasn't one hundred percent sure I figured it would be best to see her do the other types of magic.

"HI V. Glad you made it. You want to just jump into this?"

Venus nodded, "Yeah, I do. I really appreciate it Ian."

"Alright. I'm going to need you to trust me. Which means no fire magic just yet. I would like you to show me the magic you are most comfortable with" I told her.

I watched as she bent down and untied her shoes. She kicked them off, pulled her socks off, and tucked one gently in each shoe. She rocked back on her heels then curled her toes in. As she did so the ground underneath her dropped out. I approached the hole and saw Venus standing 10 or so feet below. She shifted her weight to the right and a tunnel open up to her side. She slid through it leaving me to wait until she popped out. About 2 minutes later she shot up, closing the hole underneath. She moved to sit down and as she did a rock rose up to meet her as a chair.

A small smiled flickered across her face as she asked "OK now what sensei?"

All of the sadness and insecurity had dropped out of her voice. I wanted to keep it that way so despite having just confirmed for myself that Venus used magic like a faery would I suggested she show me the other 2 elements she was comfortable with.

I could see Venus connect to the elements before she performed magic. That was the most major difference between faeries and elementals. We connected to the elements deep within ourselves and acted one with them, which is why only miniscule movement was necessary. Elementals imposed their will on the world around them.

After displaying her magic Venus plopped down in the grass and tucked her legs in. "I guess its time..." She mumbled.

"Slow your role there V. I'm glad you're so enthusiastic about it..." I stated sarcastically.

I took a seat in front of Venus and continued, "To do magic you have to understand it. Clearly you have a deep understanding of earth, water, and air. But we need to break down fire. When you do fire magic how do you feel?"

Venus furrowed her brows as she said," I don't know. It's not like I think about it. Not until I'm panicking that I settle wrong thing on fire anyway"

"Well you need to think about it. If you don't even know what you're doing you have no hope of controlling it. Think about what you felt just before you set my arm on fire"

Venus huffed out a breath, causing the trees around us to shake. Realizing what she did she took a quick intake of air then slowly released it, calming herself and the air around us.

"I was angry with you I guess. I was just thinking how you were blowing Amber off to spend time with me, when clearly you had plans with her first. Amber always talks about her amazing boyfriend. And I was thinking how pissed off I would be if this guy I thought the world of didn't even respect me enough to honor plans we had made."

As Venus talked the ground beneath her started to smoke. I snapped my fingers in her face to draw her attention back to me. I knew there would be some singed grass underneath her but now wasn't the time to address her opinion of my relationship with Amber. Honestly it was kind of endearing that she cared that much about Amber's feelings.

Of course there was a side of fire that was angry and raw and destructive. But if that was all she knew there was no way she could control it. I wanted her to see what fire magic could feel like. I directed her to hold her hands out flat I front of her with her palms up and close her eyes. Then I placed my hands on top of hers and created a small fire ball.

"Tell me what you feel." I said.

Venus paused for a second before saying, "It's warm. And comforting....like a hug from a close friend. I feel safe and loved. I feel like there's been something missing for a long time and I've finally found it"

"Perfect. Hold on to that feeling. It's time to practice"

We kept at it for almost an hour. Venus would get nervous, I'd remind her of that feeling she had described, and she would get a small controlled fire started. But then as she looked at it, without fail, the fire would grow and she would lose control, forcing me to put it out, and she would get frustrated all over again.

At the hour mark Molly poked her head out the window and told me she was making lunch. Venus whipped her head in Molly's direction. Her cheeks turned a bright red, realizing we weren't alone any more.

"I should get going anyway. Um thanks for your help Ian" She said.

I placed a comforting hand on her arm," We will keep trying V. You're going to get this. I'm sure of it"

"OK yeah. That sounds good" she smiled at me before walking off