One Hundred Years As An Extra

Well… some lines in life are meant to be crossed. Maybe I had acted selfishly but him agreeing to do this really made me happy. I looked at him, mesmerized. His eyes were closed and his body was wrapped in warm, golden light. It was like a halo surrounding him. I looked at him as his eyebrows furrowed leading to crease lines forming on his forehead. Maybe he was displeased with something.

Kaichen’s original wand…. I had read that Kaichen’s original wand had been big and sturdy. There was a rose bud at the end of it and the vines entwined together. It looked like a long, mystical wand. I had never actually seen it. I am sure it suited him very well. Kaichen appeared cold and indifferent but he looked like a man who looked good with roses.

Ah… but I think petals would look better on Kaichen than flower buds. I recalled the Willow House. There had been yellow rose bushes everywhere. I imagine Kaichen standing in the middle of fluttering rose petals. He looked beautiful. I imagined the yellow petals to be gold instead. Dazzling gold petals surrounding Kaichen. I smiled like a fool.

Kaichen clicked his tongue. He opened his eyes and glared at me angrily. I flinched as if I had been caught thinking about something that I shouldn’t have.

“You! D*mn you!” Kaichen cursed. He looked so angry. He closed his eyes again.

What’s wrong? I wondered. Was there some kind of problem making his wand? Have I done something? I was scared but I didn’t know what I had even done.

It’s alright, I convinced myself. Don’t be scared. Maybe other times, I am stupid and reckless and do something I am not supposed to. But this time, I had done nothing at all. I just sat here looking at him. I didn’t even move from my place. For a fleeting moment, everything flashed white in front of me. As everything slowly came into view, I realized why he had cursed at me. I knew why he was so angry.

“Wow…,” I murmured. The mana in Kaichen’s hand had lit up and manifested into golden, fluttering rose petals surrounding him in golden light. As I sat there, enchanted, Kaichen looked furious.

“What kind of things were you even thinking about?” roared Kaichen.

“I… I wasn’t thinking of anything in particular! I just…,” I stammered as I looked at those golden petals that fluttered around him. I had imagined him standing in the middle of fluttering petals. I was just thinking about how beautiful he looked! I didn’t really think it would come true!

Kaichen watched at the fluttering golden petals in dismay. He frowned at them and then rubbed the bridge of his nose. He appeared dissatisfied and embarrassed at the same time.

No way! It has come true! My thoughts! I looked at Kaichen who was still rubbing the bridge of his nose as though he had a headache. His reaction told me all I needed to know.

“Teacher… these petals… did these petals become your wand?” I didn’t know what to say to him. “Please don’t tell me that these petals have become your wand just because I… thought about them.”

“I… did I make a big mistake?” I asked. A magic wand cannot be made again unless broken. It was sort of a once-in-a-lifetime deal. For the ‘purest mana’ to be harvested and condensed in a wand, it took a lot of mana and a lot of energy. It permanently consumes the mana that could be used for something else. No one could waste their mana they had spent months accumulating.

Kaichen might be able to make another wand but even he wasn’t as reckless as to waste all the mana and break his own wand to make a new one. I was wracked with guilt. I had ruined everything. I hadn’t known this would happen otherwise I would have never…

“Teacher, I am sorry,” I said sincerely.

Kaichen looked like he wanted to give me an earful but stopped himself. His tightly clamped mouth did not open. He glared at me then got up from the sofa and stormed out of the room.

“Teacher, please… I….” I tried to grab him but my hands only met air. The golden rose petals fluttered a moment and disappeared. As the petals, and the man himself disappeared from the room, I felt empty.

But in my defense, he should have told me! He should have told me that my thoughts might shape the form of his wand. I would have been careful if I knew. I wasn’t even thinking about the wand. I had been only thinking about him!

I sat on the sofa and tried to process what just happened. I couldn’t help feeling bad about it. It was all my fault! But seeing Kaichen so worked up made me smile. I couldn’t bear it any longer, I burst out laughing.

“Hahahaha! Rose petals for a wand!” I couldn’t stop laughing. A magic wand was serious business. It was something used in an emergency when you needed more power. When I imagined Kaichen in a battlefield, wielding the powerful rose petals, I couldn’t help but laugh myself to tears.

“I am really going crazy.”