Chapter 7

The potion was bitter. More bitter than a life experience. "Are you trying to poison me?" Hansel asked angrily as he gagged, trying to throw up the potion he was forced to swallow.

"Stop being overdramatic," Nathan said cupping his face and forcing him to look at him. "Your temperature has gone down already," he said. "It's only a matter of time before you are better," he said releasing Hansel's face. "Now we can go on our date."

Hansel looks outside and realizes it is still as bright as before he went to sleep. He was confused by this. "What's the time?" he asked.

"Twelve-fifteen, noon," Nathan replied.

"What day?" Hansel asked in surprise.

"Still the same day."

'Then how?' Hansel thought quietly.

"I froze time," Nathan replied. "It's a fairly easy spell," he said.

'If I remember correctly, the world turns grey when time is frozen,' Hansel thought. 'Why is the sky as bright as day?' he thought. 

"Can we go on our date now?" Nathan asked him.

'How much is he anticipating this?' Hansel thought and sighed. "Fine," he said. "Where are we going?" he asked. 

The wind blew gently against Hansel's hair, and the sound of the trees rustling as always brought comfort to his heart because the forest gave him the protection he needed in his last life as a child.

In front of him was the beautiful sight of a lake and the moon reflecting on it, fireflies flew around him and he took in a deep breath.

"You like it?" Nathan asked walking closer to him.

He was dressed casually in his hoodie and cargo shorts, while Nathan was dressed in a dark blue dress shirt and a pair of black trousers.

"Yes," Hansel replied. This isn't their world as every place of beauty is usually surrounded by people who would destroy its beauty.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"A little pocket dimension I created," Nathan replied.

"For our date?" Hansel asked, Nathan simply smiled at him and Hansel blushed a bit.

"Aw did my thoughtfulness touch you?" Nathan asked teasingly.

"Shut up," Hansel said in annoyance, trying not to blush.

"You can keep it as your haven if you want," Nathan offered.

Hansel wants to accept this offer. He really does. But he doesn't fully trust him, this could be used against him. "No," he said. "But it's appreciated though."

~~~~

Jamie was surprised that Hansel was better by the time he woke up, he didn't even know how he slept off. 'What kind of sorcery did Nathan do?' he thought looking at Nathan intensely as he lovingly took care of his brother in front of him.

'Was he faking his sickness?' he thought looking at them suspiciously. 'No... His temperature was too high for it to be faked.'

'Why is he looking at us like that?' Hansel thought looking at his brother blankly. "Why are you staring at us that way?" he asked raising an eyebrow at him.

"Nothing," Jamie replied. "I'm just happy you are much better," he said.

Hansel smiled softly at him and Jamie looked at Nathan with a bit of appreciation in his heart. "I don't know what you did to my brother to make him feel better before the day ended but thank you," he said.

"I only did what I wanted to do," Nathan said. 'And that is take him on a date,' he thought quietly. To be honest, though, he doesn't like Jamie. Why? Well, Hansel puts all his attention on him.

He constantly has to remind himself that Jamie is Hansel's younger brother. Someone Hansel cares about deeply.

"So when are you returning home?" Jamie asked politely which earned himself a cold look from Nathan, who received a glare from Hansel.

"In an hour," Nathan replied.

Jamie didn't ask questions or try to convince him to leave. After all, Hansel looks comfortable with him.

He nearly cries. 'I always believed you would fall in love someday,' he thought looking at them.

'Why is looking at us like that?' Hansel thought weirded out by the various expressions being expressed on Jamie's face.

'He needs to learn how to control his expressions,' Nathan thought, then looked at Hansel who was looking at Jamie with his nose scrunched up. 'Most definitely siblings.'

~~~~

The next day...

Hansel is working and in front of him are the five he had made his familiars glaring at him. They were all wearing school uniforms belonging to the school Jamie goes to.

The only girl in the group with black hair and dyed purple tips, she has several piercings on her lips, ears, and brows, with pale makeup, the cat eyeliner design with black eyeshadow, fishnet gloves, and black platform goth boots. Clearly a gothic girl.

There were four boys behind her. One of them was wearing glasses with braces, very average overall, plus the extremely proper dressing and gelled hair, obviously a nerd.

The second boy was taller and muscular, he had shaggy blonde hair with brown eyes, and his uniform was not as neat as the nerd or the goth, showing he's been fighting.

The third boy is wearing a plaid hoodie and holds a skateboard. He has brown hair and brown eyes, he's a wannabe skater boy, there's no experience in this body.

The final boy is a black-haired boy with hazel eyes, he's the smallest, even shorter than the goth who is five feet five, he stands at five foot three. He's even more properly dressed and is wearing designer shoes and a watch. A rich boy.

To be honest, he thought the mages were fully grown, not teenagers.

They had bought a lot of things meaning they wanted to talk to him.

They are taking a long time to speak though.

"We want to talk to you," the girl said.

"Uh-huh," Hansel replied, concentrating on scanning the products they had bought.

"Cain is a dangerous being--"

"So am I."

"This is serious."

"And I am doing my job," Hansel said looking up. "That would be five hundred and ninety-six," he said blankly, "pay up and get out."

"Ho--"

"You spent more time creating unnecessary suspense rather than speaking immediately," Hansel said blankly then smiled. "Have a nice day."

The four left the grocery store angrily. "We must find a way to get out of this familiar contract before our time in these bodies is up," the girl in the group said, and then she held her head in pain.

"Let's return to where we belong to discover a different way to get out of the contract."

Immediately, the souls of the mages left the bodies and the original souls took control.

"They left faster than I thought," the girl said, her voice changed from bold and confident to that of a teenage girl.

"So a contract with the souls of mages," Hansel said behind them.

They all jumped in surprise and stood defensively, but their stance was pathetic. "I'm not planning on killing you," he said blankly.

"Lies... Claudia said you would kill us when you get what you want from us," the girl said defensively.

Hansel looks at them blankly and walks to them and they take a step back. He walks past them and towards Jamie who is walking towards them.

Jamie ruffled his hair. "Sup," he said smiling at Hansel and then noticed them. "Hey," he said with the same friendly smile and a slight wave.

"Let's go," Hansel said grumpily.

Once they leave. The girl fell to her knees. "He said 'hey'," she said.