Our Mirrored World

Chapter Eighteen - Bugs

“Zarina, we’re going to use butterflies as the main subject for our experiment on teleportation living things,” Luther informed while gazing at the butterfly that he captured on some jar.

“What? Aren't butterflies related to fairies?” Zarina confusingly asked while gazing at the butterfly who looked like it was asking for her help.

“No, they are not, fairies just paint the color of their wings, just like how they do it on ladybugs and bees too,” Luther mischievously chuckled, so her eyes widened.

She watched that when she was a kid on how fairies in the Tinkerbell series painted animals coating their wings and butt.

“We have to stop this, you can’t do that to those poor flying creatures,” Zarina stood up on her couch before approaching Luther inside of her bathroom.

“If you can stop me, but you can’t because you’re there and I’m right here,” Luther laughed out loud as Zarina watched in horror at how Luther torture that butterfly with his magic.

“No!” Zarina stood up in her bed, she didn’t waste time gathering her thoughts and ran outside of her bedroom.

“Don’t freaking use butterflies!” Zarina exclaimed while running towards the bathroom and slammed the door wide open, she had a dream about Luther experimenting on how to teleport and he used butterflies.

“W-What the? Good morning human, what’s up with you this early in the morning?” Luther furrowed his eyebrows at her, she was gasping and it looks like she just woke up in a bad dream.

“Don’t use butterflies if we’re going to experiment with the teleportation thing,” Zarina closed her eyes before massaging her head.

“What? Why would I use those creatures? They’re like fairies that have no brain but to drink the nectar of the flowers!” Luther exclaimed, so Zarina sighed in relief.

“Did you have a bad dream?” Luther worriedly asked, but Wayne immediately flew to the mirror to look at Zarina.

“Human, I’m going to leave today to go back to camp,” Wayne happily informed and it immediately put Zarina into a bad mood.

She doesn't do well in the morning and she hates high-pitched voices, “I don’t care, leave and don’t ever come back,” Zarina coldly stated and left after she said those words to make breakfast.

Wayne almost teared up and slowly gazed at his master, “Why is she mean? She was good to me last night,” He softly cried, so Luther just patted the back of his familiar.

“See what I have to deal with all day? She’s like that and her vocabulary for that is this ‘Take care and come back safely’ that’s what she meant my dear familiar,” Luther comforted him, so Wayne just nodded before smiling.

“If that’s the case then I’ll go now master, I’ll try to do better so that I can immediately come back within 30 moons,” Wayne informed as he flew outside of Luther’s house.

“I’ll immediately come back, master! Bid me goodbye from the human and we’ll still have to deal with that after I come back!” He added, so Luther just sighed.

He knew that Wayne wouldn’t just let go of what he saw at their home and would probably help him deal with this mess.

“Where’s Wayne? I made him a meal,” Zarina coldly informed, her hair was tied into a messy bun and she was wearing an apron.

“Oh my wizards, they’re blessing me with such a beauty this early in the morning!” Luther happily clapped his hands, so Zarina glared at him.

“Wayne just left, he has to come back to the camp to prove himself worthy,” Luther informed before smiling at her, “I’ll just eat that myself,”

Zarina didn’t complain as she closed her eyes when a light blinked and she was given another flower, “For you,” Luther playfully winked, so Zarina just hissed while gazing at the flowers she just received.

She probably drank coffee because her mood was back to normal, Luther thought, “Don’t you have work today?” Luther curiously asked.

Zarina surprisingly shook her head, “Woah, really? That’s a first,” Luther claimed while gazing at what Zarina prepared, it looks like fried sausages, a yellow thing that looks folded, and a slice of square-like meat.

“But of course we have to work at home, the generator is still being fixed, I just read it in our group chat a while ago,” Zarina informed, but Luther was preoccupied with the dish he teleported to his place.

“What are these foods? This is edible right?” Luther curiously asked, he looked troubled at what he was seeing so Zarina furrowed her eyebrows at him.

“Sausage, omelet, and spam,” Zarina answered him without any emotions plastered on her face, “Why? Is it the first time you saw such a meal?” She raised her eyebrows, so Luther just nodded.

Zarina shook her head, “What do you guys eat there then?” She leaned in on the space between the door, so Luther gazed at her while looking at the plate again.

“Hm, our foods are colorful and not as plain as these colors,” Luther informed before gazing at Zarina, “But it smells nice, might as well give it a try again!” 

Zarina just watched Luther munch on the breakfast she made and his eyes gleamed like he tasted such a fine dish.

“Wow, you should look for a job that cooks food for people! You might also excel on that,” Luther chuckled while finishing up the rest of his meal.

Zarina then left him alone so that she could eat her breakfast, she thought what she made is nothing special since she hadn't made it herself, some of it was frozen foods.

“So what are you planning on doing today after work?” Luther raised his voice because he noticed that Zarina was eating in the dining room.

“I don’t know, maybe clean up or find some other stuff to do?” Zarina replied unsurely while washing the dishes that she used on the sink, she just finished eating.

“How about we start to experiment on some bugs for us to teleport?” Luther suggested, so Zarina was distracted from washing the dishes.

“Not butterflies or bugs that I know!” Zarina furiously yelled from the dining room. Luther wondered for a moment before laughing.

“Is this about your nightmare again? Come to think of it, you’re always grunting in your sleep,” Luther spoke while massaging his chin.

He thought about giving her a dreamcatcher that catches good dreams all the time. Would she like it if he did that? Luther thought but he just shrugged.

Luther flinched when Zarina slammed the bathroom door open again, “Oi! Are you trying to destroy your things, human?” 

“Are you watching me sleep?” Zarina coldly asked, so Luther bit his lower lip. He knew if he didn’t answer her he would be in big trouble.

“Luther,” Zarina called in a warning tone, so he flinched.

“I-I just find it fascinating especially when I hear you snore!” Luther raised his hands in defeat, so Zarina glared at him.

“I’m not doing anything! It’s just that your snores are too loud, making it hard for me to sleep!” Luther lied, Zarina slept quietly unless she had a dream.

“I snore? I didn’t know about that,” Zarina whispered while crossing her arms against her chest.

“S-So well! Forget about that, shall we proceed with experimenting on some bugs? I know some bugs that you probably haven’t seen yet,” Luther summoned a book related to bugs and revealed it to Zarina.

“Though are you sure you want to send in some unknown bugs in your apartment? You may not know how to deal with it when it crawls to you,” Luther informed, so Zarina stopped as she didn’t think of that.

“You’ll be there to help me, right?” Zarina coldly claimed, so Luther just playfully smirked before nodding.

He didn’t know why he felt giddy just by thinking that Zarina would always count on him when it comes to trouble.

“Of course!” Luther happily answered, so Zarina left him alone to study teleportation as she focused on finishing her part of work.

It wasn’t a while until lunch came by as they decided to eat and rest, “By the way, thank you for helping Wayne release his emotions, how did you do that?” Luther curiously asked when Zarina settled in on his front.

She prepared her table again and chair right in front of the bathroom, “I didn’t do anything special,” Zarina coldly commented before thanking the heavens for her meal.

“No seriously human, thank you, I think you boosted his confidence and lessened the pressure he’s been piling up on his shoulders,” Luther sincerely said while Zarina was raising her cutlery.

“No problem, I guess?” Zarina mumbled before remembering Wayne, she wished him luck inside of her mind while eating her meal.

“So I’ve already decided what bug we should experiment on,” Luther proudly shared while teleporting his part of the meal and exchanging a drink for Zarina.

“Yes? What bug is it?” Zarina raised her eyebrows before scooping a bite of her lunch. She watched Luther lift some books and reveal to her the pictures inside of them.

“This bug, Splinters, they’re not harmful to humans, but they’re um pests in the gardens of Wizardia,” 

Zarina gazed at the picture that Luther was pointing at inside of the book, so she thought it was little because of its appearance but it’s similar to small spiders she sees around that they have here in her world.

“Is that a spider? Because if it is, I don’t like it,” Zarina stopped eating, it’s not like she hates spiders, she knows how helpful they are in her apartment since they kill small bugs especially flies.

But it’s not good if they started to multiply, “Eh? Then how about Weevils, they’re similar to splinters but a little bigger, also not harmful, but a pest in the gardens?” Luther flipped the page, so Zarina immediately agreed with what she saw.

“That’s fine, where can you find that in your place?” Zarina curiously asked, so Luther laughed out loud at her question.

“Why would I look for it? If these bugs can come to me,” He proudly stated before coughing as he prepared his wand.

“I summon the bugs of the garden, answer my call for I will be using you to do something phenomenal,” After Luther said those words, a blinding light appeared as Zarina covered her eyes using her hands.

“Why did you call them now, Luther? We’re still going to eat lunch, right?” Zarina furrowed her eyebrows as Luther’s eyes widened.

“Holy wizards! That’s right! I forgot about that! Ahh!” Luther screamed after his house was filled with Weevils.

“Luther!” Zarina worriedly called, Luther used his magic to make all of those pests in the garden disappear.

“Huhuhu! I wasn’t thinking when I just felt this urge to gloat how great I am to you!” Luther honestly admitted, so she just squinted her eyes at him.

“You’re sick in the head and that’s what you get,” Zarina coldly stated before casually eating her lunch in peace.

“Huhuhu! Can I get another batch of your homemade lunch, human?” Luther pleaded while clasping his hands against each other.

“Fine,” Zarina stomped her way towards the kitchen to give Luther his other bowl of the meal, it wasn’t a while until those two finished eating their lunch and proceeded on experimenting on the teleportation of living things.

“So have you summoned Weevils?” Zarina coldly asked while leaning on the space in between doors.

“No, hah! I used my magic to keep a few in this jar,” Luther raised a small transparent jar, so Zarina just nodded at him. So he uses his head sometimes huh? Zarina thought while smirking playfully.

“Woah, that’s a new expression...” Luther tilted his head at her, amazed that she could make up another expression aside from her cold face, so she just shrugged before gazing at him.

“Well go on, I’m waiting to see what you can do,” Zarina demanded, so he didn’t know why he suddenly felt pressured for a moment.

“A-Alright, alright, let’s try this,” Luther bit his lower lip before taking out one bug, it’s the moment of truth for the both of them.

“Are the repellents that you were telling me about are ready just in case?” Luther asked for the nth time, so Zarina just sighed before nodding.

“Yes, now would you just proceed on trying one first?” Zarina placed a ballpen on the table; it would be exchanged if Luther used the word switch or transfer.

“Alright, ‘switch’,” Luther chanted and after that, Zarina was amazed again at the light that was surrounding not just Luther’s wand, but also his whole body.

To be continued...