The Five Realms

Thom surprisingly didn’t give another thought to the gifts. He was too busy listening to the jokes the 3-stooges were telling. The food was really good too and he enjoyed every morsel he ate. Conversation stopped though when Jake stood up, went to the pile of gifts and picked out his.

“So Lil Bro, are you ready for your presents?” Jake dangled the little package to get his attention.

“Are you kidding! He was itching to open them an hour ago!” Savyn commented on the side as the rest with the exception of Thom followed Jake’s example. Jake, looking silly as his glasses got askewed on top of his nose, stuck his tongue out at her before continuing.

“Before you start opening your presents, we have another surprise for you.”

Jake went to a shelf and took out a paper which he handed to Thom.

Thom was taken aback. The paper was actually a leaflet inviting people to join the holloween parade being held at 6th Avenue.

“We’ve all talked about this and agreed it was time to introduce you to other mystics here on earth.” Nathan smilingly interjected and moved to stand beside Thom. “This parade was actually organized by the Mystic Society of NY. The society is mostly comprised of half breeds but there’s also a few purebloods and some retired elders from the Realm. We think it’s time for you to widen your horizons.” He finished seriously.

“Most of the party goers will be humans.” Jake was also now beside Thom, opposite Nathan.” but you will know if they’re not because..” His voice trailed off as he gave Thom his present.

“unwrap it.”

Thom ripped the wrappings off. It was a red pouch commonly used to store trinkets and such. Thom quickly untied the strings and poured out the contents on his left hand. The jewelry was simple and plain. It was a necklace with a long silver chain and a pendant that had different polished stones artistically arranged around a spherical Cat’s Eye.

“The stones have powers that reveal the truth. It can be used to seek out truth from lies and unveil illusions. Until you learn more advanced magic, this will have to do as your means of unmasking glamours.” Jake brown eyes twinkled at him through his spectacles. The other Stooges were also grinning. “We know you’ve been dying to know what we are. Why don’t you try it on us?”

Thom put the necklace on his neck. The first thing he saw was a small bearded gray haired man on the place where Jake was supposed to be. He was stunned.

Jake was a dwarf! Jake was a dwarf! The thought was repeating and repeating inside Thom’s head, until he remembered there were two more to uncover. He turned to Lyle and Sven and was greeted with the sight of a very large but handsome man and another dwarf! The Giant was about 9 feet in height. He could tell it was Sven because his features were still the same. He was just enormous! Lyle looked like a kid in kindergarten compared to Sven.

Thom narrowed his eyes as he focused on Lyle. Lyle’s appearance was really familiar.

‘O yes! I got it! Lyle looks like Dopey.’ He mused after a while. ‘…And Jake does look a lot like Doc.’

“Where’s Snow White?” He couldn’t stop himself from asking as he began to laugh, his blue eyes crinkling at the sides.

The others joined in as the two dwarves turned red. It would seem that they’d been informed of their likenesses before.

“Haha! Laugh all you want! Me and Jake will find a way to get you back!” Lyle said with pretend anger as he theatrically waived his fist while the laughter subsided. “and you…” He pointed at Sven, who was still hysterically laughing with tears dripping down his face. “You are no help at all!” He then approached Thom and beamed at him before dropping his gift on Thom’s lap. “Here Lil Bro, this one does the exact opposite of that necklace. It creates glamour.”

A loud guffaw came from Sven when the word “Lil” was said. Lyle turned even redder as he mumbled. “Yeah yeah…I know he’s taller than me.”

Thom unwrapped the gift. The gift was a ring with the same design as the necklace but with a different stone in the middle. Excited, he immediately placed it on his ring finger but before he could ask Lyle for instructions, Sven came forward to hand him another box.

“This one goes with that ring. It’s a channeler and magic amplifier.” Sven’s present was a 3 stoned Quartz Sidewinder ear cuff.

Thom was muttering under his breath a he tried to figure out how to put on the ear cuff. It got detached 3 times before he gave up.

“Somebody help me put this on please.” He cast pleading eyes to his sister, who took pity on him and easily attached it onto his left ear.

“Now, can you explain how I do this glamour thing.” Thom asked Lyle.

“Just close your eyes, concentrate on the ring’s stone and picture out what appearance you’d like to be. You’ll know you’ve succeeded when the stone’s color changes.” Lyle instructed. “You can do it later inside your room in front of the mirror, and do it alone too. But take off the necklace first or you won’t see your own glamour.”

Thom pouted. He wanted to try it now but he knew Lyle was right. It’s always best to do new magic alone so that one’s concentration is better. So he got up from his seat and hugged the 3-stooges, thanking them nicely for the ornaments.

“It’s our turn!” Savyn was jumping up and down like a little kid. She looked like she was more excited than Thom. She was holding 2 boxes of different sizes all wrapped in plain green wrapper and was already getting rid of them before Thom could even touched it. She was smiling widely when she handed Thom the largest.

“Open it! Open it! It’s from me and Mel!” She squealed.

Thom rolled his eyes at her but did exactly as she told him. A two-part costume ensemble was inside.

“What’s this?” He asked as he held up the upper part of the costume. It was a high collared black tunic decorated with gold embroidery. It looked a lot like a long sleeved cheongsam with the slits starting from the waist down to mid thigh. The front hem was lined inside with 3 layers of thin white material that overlapped each other and ended just slightly above the knees. The lower part of the costume was plain black and looked like breeches.

“This is beautiful.” He exclaimed, showing them the tunic.

“ That’s a court attire from the mystic realm. We want you to wear it for the parade.” Mel took the other unwrapped package from Savyn and placed it in front of Thom. “Within are the accessories that come with it.”

Thom took a quick look inside and saw a pair of tall black formal boots as well as a porcelain mask. After examining the contents he closed the carton and kissed Mel and Savyn on there cheeks in appreciation. Mel tweaked his nose while Sav hugged and squeezed him until he couldn’t breath.

He was saved from being squeezed to death when Nathan cleared his throat and Sav finally released him from her deadly hug. A large paperbag was thrust upon his arms when he regained his breathing. He peered through the opening and found a hooded black cashmere cloak inside. It looked really soft and wanting to feel the cloth against his skin, he took it out of the bag.

Everyone gasped except Nathan, since it came from him. The cloak was reversible and when inverted it was invisible!

The 3-stooges were enviously eying Thom when he tried it on.

“Unfair! I wish there was one our size.” Lyle bemoaned.

“Well I wish there was another one of that, I don’t care what size it is,” cried Sven.

Jake, with a pitiful expression kept on sneaking glances at Thom who’s head was the only thing visible at the moment. Feeling sorry for Jake, Thom took off the cloak and lent it to him. Jake immediately wore it, showing it off to the Lyle, Sven and Sav who were clamoring to try it on too.

“So, do you like it?” Nathan came up to Thom, his red eyes searching Thom’s blue ones for a reaction. Thom shyly nodded. He was still unnerved by Nathan when he was this close. He was even more disturbed when Nathan gently rubbed his cheek while still looking deeply into his eyes. A fluttery feeling had began to grow in his stomach.

Thom raised his eyebrows at Nathan questioningly.

“You had some glitter on your face.” Nathan answered nonchalantly and broke eye contact, but there was a slight flush on his cheeks and his eyes had darkened.

“Oh…” Thom was blushing too. To stop himself from fidgeting, he started gathering the ripped gift wrappers and putting them on the waste can.

Mel, who had been observing them quietly reprimanded Thom to stop and leave the cleaning alone. He told them all to get out of the library since there wasn’t any more presents to give which meant that the party was officially over.

Thom was the first to move. He carried the box with his costume and made his way to the door followed by Nathan who had taken the carton containing the boots and mask. The rest followed as Mel clucked at them like a hen.

“You guys go and get ready for the parade. I’ll take care of the mess here.” Mel ordered as the last one got out of the room. He gave a wink to Thom as he added, “It won’t take a minute. I’ll just magic it all away. I am after, a fairy!” and shut the door on their face.

Sav run towards her room as fast as she can muttering abiut a shower and make up. Jake, who still had the cloak gave it back to Thom with a thank you and led his 2 buddies away to their neighboring rooms.

Nathan accompanied Thom to his room to drop off the package he was carrying. He deposited it on top of the table and was about to walk out when Thom’s voice stopped him.

“Nathan… Thank you.”

Nathan stopped on his tracks, gave Thom a smile that could curl anyone’s toes, and left.