"They're gits! The lot of them" huffed Arthur, scooping his books hastily from the floor and forcing them back in his bag. The mess made him grimace and he blew his hair out of his face, but it would have to do until he could reach home. He set off at a brisk pace, not wanting moronic jocks who felt threatened by his intelligence to catch him off guard for the second time. He hadn't thought that they had enough brains between them to decide to pursue him when he was vulnerable. However, he supposed that their primitive brains had a certain animal instinct that activated whenever they could see that someone was weak. He had thought the human race had evolved beyond schoolyard bullying, but high school had proved him wrong again and again.

He reached the door safely- but faced another dilemma.

"Bloody brilliant!" He snapped. There was a heavy torrent of water battering the pavement outside the school building. He had left his umbrella on the kitchen counter at home, he remembered leaving it there because his sister said that there would be rain- but it had been sunny in the morning, so he decided that the forecast must be wrong. It usually was- British weather was very unpredictable.

He'd have to just make a dash for it- hopefully rain would pass soon enough. Arthur briefly wondered what it would be like to be the rain; forever changing state and visiting new places. The rain was beautiful, it was bold and daring. Visiting places that no man could possibly venture. He wondered briefly if there were a spell for it, but he knew the rules- no transfiguring humans. It could end up very messy. He'd never seen it done himself, but his tomes were very descriptive.

"Meow!"

Arthur was startled from his pondering by the loud shout of Alice, an adorable Scottish fold. The cat had been waiting for him patiently, just a street away from his home.

"Oh! Hello Alice, how did you get out here?" he asked in a very soft tone of voice, picking the cat up and gently rubbing her ears. Her presence made him smile. He was sure he had locked the front door before he left for school, but he wouldn't be surprised if the cat knew how to pick locks. Alana had probably sent it to escort him home. She was always such a worrywart.

"Meow!" Alice called, obviously exasperated. Her younger ward always had his head in the clouds, it was a wonder she ever ended up being fed at all. Arthur chuckled to himself as he continued towards his home at a leisurely pace. Nothing could spoil his good mood now; he had left all of the wankers behind at school and the cuddly cat was purring in his arms, keeping him warm against the chill of the rain.

What else could he possibly want in life?

/ / / / /

The front door was unlocked. Of course it was. It was a miracle that nobody had robbed them yet.

Arthur cursed, not this again! He let the cat down and stepped inside, leaving his shoes at the door and his bag hanging from the bannister. The house was a mess; it was almost as bad as the time Alistair had come home drunk as fuck and basically destroyed the living room. Brandon had been absolutely livid, that was certainly a shouting match that would never be forgotten. There were papers scattered across the floor, a couch overturned and a coffee table chipped. He sniffed in distaste at a tea stain on the floor, but the broken cup was nowhere in sight.

Arthur sighed; Alana had been practicing experimental magic again. She had chosen to pursue the path of druidic magic (magic that depends on balance) and always found learning about new forms of magic fascinating. She and Brandon had spent a week locked away when she first met Herakles Karpusi. Brandon wasn't here, so he was probably the one who had left the door open. He had probably caught wind of a dangerous artefact that had made its way into unsuspecting human hands. Alistair was abroad, so that discounted him, he was acting as Dylan's guardian while he completed mandatory study at the Magic Academy.

The Kirkland Clan of Witches was the most powerful of all the clans. Much stronger than the Wang Coven, or the usurping Viking descendants. The Kirkland's had even surpassed the ancient Karpusi family and was obviously easily above the mostly useless Vargas's. Though, their magic charm could entice you to obey their every whim. The grandfather was especially adept at persuading everyone around him, male and female alike.

This was a completely normal Thursday for him- Alana must have finished work early so she probably made a beeline for her father's tomes. Alana conducts the court trials for magic crimes, so maybe her finishing early was a good thing? Less crime less work…But more work kept her from making another mess… He huffed to himself, unable to decide which would be better- less crime or less mess. Whenever Alana succeeded, it helped the Clan -but he really would prefer if she could manage to confine the chaos to the Vault.

Alice meowed at him and daintily hopped down the staircase leading to the cause of the mess. Alice is his sisters familiar. Some people do consider it odd that Arthur didn't have a familiar because he comes from such as important Clan- others his age even called him defective, despite having no familiar of their own. But not everything is so simple. Witches outnumbered familiars 10-1. You have to truly connect with a familiar to create a permanent Master-Servant bond like Alana and Alice. They had known each other since Alana had turned 14.

He moved towards the stairs leading down to the vault and waved his hand to illuminate the steep descent into a room in a pocket dimension that no human can enter.

Arthur was a witch, just like the rest of his mad family- Witches were always as mad as a hatter. You can't live so long and endure so much without losing some things along the way. Arthur was only a teenager, so he was nowhere near as mad as his 500-year-old sister.

/ / / /

"So? What happened this time?" he asked as he took in the bizarre scene before him. Bookcases lined every wall of the room, but the 12-seater table had been pushed against the far wall, below the portrait of his parents in their golden frame. There was a large cauldron stationed in the centre of the room within a circle of Celtic runes. His sister was hovering anxiously over the cauldron, flipping through a text and worrying her bottom lip. She slowly turned to face her younger brother, wary of his response.

"We may… have a wee bit of a problem" said Alana with a sheepish smile.

"Does this problem relate in any way to the mess upstairs?" Arthur asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well… Dylan said that you wanted a familiar- and I thought I that I could summon you one. It was supposed to be your birthday present" she replied cheerfully. Arthur sighed; familiar magic was Dylan's specialty. He probably just wanted Alana to get the present for him- he always had been extremely lazy. It is also possible that Dylan was just curious about what would happen if Alana who does not have the aptitude for summoning managed to succeed.

He wondered for a split second if she could teach him how to turn into rain. Now's not the time for that Arthur. He chided himself before turning back to his sister who was waiting for judgement.

"What went wrong?" he asked patiently.

"Well, they- I mean it didn't like me and escaped." She replied quickly, wincing and waiting for him to yell.

"Did you bond it to me?" he asked calmly, taking a seat in his favourite armchair and picking out one of the largest books from the nearest shelf, summoning it with the flick of his wrist.

"Of course I did- it's standard procedure isn't it?" She titled her head, not understanding where he was going with this.

"Then it will come to me." He replied, engrossing himself with reading.

Alana sighed in relief, she had just dodged a bullet- she actually didn't know how many familiars she had summoned for him AND she had bonded him with ALL of them… She would be in so much trouble when Alistair finds out…

/ / / / / / / / /

Alistair sneezed, he rubbed at his nose which caught Dylan's attention.

"It's nothing lad, go back to studying- yer test is soon..."

"Is someone talking about you? Is it Arthur?" asked Dylan hopefully and Alistair rolled his eyes.

"I don't know Dyl- you can see him again when you've finished your time at the Academy. The test is soon, once that's done with we can move in with them. This is yer own fault you know; if you hadn't gotten into so many fights and fallen asleep in class you'd be back with them by now." scolded Alistair.

"Geez you sound like Alana and those bastards were asking for it! Besides if things weren't so boring without Arthur around then maybe I'd actually be able to stay awake in class!"

/ / / / /