Magic for Dummies

"Why did you want to talk to me, Yume?" Kendren asked.

The small, white cat with ruby-red eyes looked up. "Hello, Kendren. I wanted to give you something." A small book floated towards Kendren.

" 'Magic for Dummies'?" he asked incredulously. "Are you serious?"

"I am quite serious," the cat said, sounding insulted. "It was not I who invented the title. This is a spell book that I think you are ready for. Remember not to cast any spells unless I am around. I just want you to become familiar with them."

"Okay," Kendren said, opening the book. Dust flew out, making him choke.

"It has not been used for a while," Yume said. He flicked his tail as he added, "I am going somewhere - where doesn't concern you. I will be back tomorrow; do not - and I repeat, do not try to cast any of these spells on your own. They may have dangerous consequences. Remember what I have said to you. Goodbye." The little white cat was suddenly gone.

Kendren stood there holding the book. "I better get to work," he sighed.

Kirana was walking down the hall with Maho-Ryu on her shoulder. The small dragon was purring loudly with his tail wrapped around her neck.

She was just about to knock on Kendren's door to see if he wanted to go for a walk when it opened. "Hi, Kendren," she said. He was wearing his reading glasses and holding a book. "What's that?" she asked.

"It's just something Yume wanted me to read. It's a book of spells, but I can't try any of them until he gets back from wherever he went," Kendren answered.

Kirana's eyes lit up. Wow, a real spell book! "That is so cool," she said. "Can I see it?" Kendren handed the book to her.

"Magic for Dummies? What kind of spell book is that?" she asked.

"Don't ask me. Yume can be pretty weird sometimes," Kendren said, shrugging. Then he added, "Well, I'm going to try to read this in the library. You can join me if you want," Kendren offered.

"No, that's okay. I was just going for a walk anyway," she said. "I'll be in the garden!"

Kendren waved and walked towards the library.

Kendren was reading a "how to turn humans into animals and vice versa" spell. It sounded really complicated.

"Hi," said a voice. Kendren looked up into a pair of emerald eyes.

"Oh, it's you Priire. You scared me," he said, putting the book down.

" 'Magic for Dummies', huh?" Priire said, reading the cover. "Did that cat make you read it?"

"Yes, Yume said I could read it but not try any of the spells," Kendren said.

Where is he?"

"He had to go somewhere, but he wouldn't tell me where," Kendren replied.

"You know, since he's not here, it wouldn't really hurt to try a spell," Priire said.

Kendren could tell she was bursting with curiosity. "But Yume told me not to! He said, 'the consequences could be dangerous,' or something like that."

"You're not getting it - he's not here! He won't have to know! I just really want to see!" Priire pleaded, trying to look as sincere as possible.

Kendren sighed. Sometimes she could be so manipulative! "Fine, I'll try one thing. Let's see..." He opened the book to a random page and began chanting without bothering to see which spell it was. "O pa talla lo ma yo wa nete e kasa..." All the while, he was thinking of Yume and wondering how he would explain if something went wrong.

Priire waited anxiously as Kendren read the spell. His eyes were closed, so he couldn't see what he was doing. She wondered if that was a bad thing.

Suddenly, a blue-green light washed over Priire. "Huh?" she said in confusion.

Kendren's blue eyes snapped open behind the glasses. "Priire? Where are you?" he asked.

"Down here," said a very annoyed voice. Standing in Priire's place was a small cat, with blond fur the color of Priire's hair and green eyes just like hers.

Kendren gasped. Oh, no! He turned Priire into... a cat!

"Priire? Is that... you?" Kendren asked in horror, taking off his glasses and kneeling down to get a better look.

"No, I'm her new pet, Priire-neko. OF COURSE IT'S ME, YOU BAKA!" the cat screamed.

A young padawan walked by, giving them an odd look. "It's... um... I..." Kendren stammered. The girl just shook her head and muttered something about "crazy people here lately".

"What am I going to do?!" Kendren whispered fiercely to himself. He pressed his hands to the sides of his head. "Think, think..."

"You could turn me back," Priire said irritably.

"Don't you think I would if I could?" Kendren asked. "But it doesn't say how! I knew something would go wrong!"

"Kendren?" asked an incredulous voice. "You look ridiculous sitting on the floor like that."

He looked up to see Ippin. "Aw, a new kitty! Where'd you get it?" she asked, reaching down to pet Priire.

"Hey, don't pet me! He turned me into a cat, Aster! It's me!" Priire yelled.

"That is so cool," Ippin squealed. "How'd you make it?"

Kendren, still sitting on the floor, replied. "I didn't make it! That, unfortunately, really is your sister. I sort of... turned her into a cat."

"It's true," Priire said unhappily.

"Can you turn her back?" Ippin asked. Kendren could see the corners of her mouth twitching, as if she was trying not to burst into laughter.

"I don't know how! Maybe I can find someone to help," Kendren said desperately.

"What about Mika? She can turn into a cat and has turned people into cats before. Maybe she can help," Ippin suggested.

Priire, meanwhile, was trying to bite Kendren. "Bad kitty!" he cried.

Mika was reading when the two breathless humans and one human-turned-cat ran up to her.

"Mika, Kendren accidentally turned Priire into a cat. Do you think you can turn her back?" Ippin asked.

"Maybe - what did you do to turn Priire into a cat?" Mika asked.

"This," Kendren said, handing her the "Magic for Dummies" book.

" 'Magic for Dummies'?"

"We know it sounds weird. But that's why Priire is a cat! Please help her before she gets fleas," Ippin said.

"Hey! I don't have fleas!" Priire cried.

"I can't reverse magic," Mika said. "Sorry. I'll guess you'll have to find another way."

"No..." Kendren knew what this meant. He would either have to do it himself or wait until Yume came back.

"Kendren, you have to try," Ippin said.

Priire, who was swatting a butterfly with her paw, looked up. "Please try. I'm feeling the urge to chase my tail. I promise I'll never call you that nickname you don't like or ever make fun of your hair again... well, almost never."

"I'll try," Kendren said. He turned to the "how to turn humans into animals and vice versa" page and read the "vice versa" part, hoping it would work.

Nothing happened. "Hey! Why didn't it work?" Priire gasped.

"Maybe you have to be in the same place you turned her into a cat," Mika suggested.

"To the library!" Ippin cried.

Kendren and Priire positioned themselves right where they were before. He read the "vice versa" spell and thought of human Priire. A blue-green light washed over her and...

"It worked!" Priire said, relieved.

"Now I won't be in big trouble," Kendren said happily.

"Yes you will." They turned to see the padawan girl from earlier. A red light washed over her, revealing her to be... Yume!

"Oh no," Kendren sighed.

"I saw what you did! You should be ashamed of yourself," the white cat said.

"So, you weren't really going anywhere, you just wanted to see if I could be trusted?" Kendren asked.

"Yes," Yume said. "Although, it seems as much this young lady's fault as it is yours. But do not ever try anything like that again," he warned.

"Don't worry, I won't," Kendren said.

"Good." The cat teleported out of the room.

"So, did you have a boring time?" Kirana asked, walking into the library. Kendren nodded.

"Yeah, nothing happened at all," said Priire, who was absently licking her hand like a cat would lick its paw. Her eyes widened.

Kirana began to back slowly out of the room. "I don't even want to know..." she said.