Staff

A couple days have passed since Leo had become Antonio's "manager". Though he was given the title manager, he didn't really do much. He mainly just accompanied Antonio throughout the day. It wasn't much different than working with Mr.Coleman, but Antonio was so much more of a flirt. Antonio would always wink at Leo across the room, place his arm around his shoulder, or get to close to his face.

What Antonio did the other day really ticked Leo off. While they were in the car going to the film set, Antonio put his arms around Leo's shoulders and blew on his ear.

For whatever reason, Leo had sensitive ears and he always hated himself for it. If someone were to blow on them or even talk next to them, Leo would get shivers all over his body. He never understood why his body reacted that way, all he knew was that it was a curse.

When Antonio blew on his ear, Leo shuddered and his face turned bright red. He tried to push Antonio away from him, but when you compare the two's physical strength, Antonio won by a landslide. In fact, the more Leo pushed against him, the more fun Antonio was having. He laughed, smiled and held onto Leo without letting go. Eventually, Leo stopped struggling and just let him since they were almost at their destination anyway.

Even though he surrendered, it pissed him off and he was still upset. Thankfully, it was Leo's day off where he could spend the day to himself.

As Leo drank his morning coffee, he heard light tapping on the glass door, leading to his porch. He looked at the door and saw the crow from before, sitting there peacefully, almost expecting and waiting for Leo to let him inside.

Leo walked over and opened the door for the crow. As the crow entered, it hopped cheerfully before flying up to the counter.

Leo groaned, "And what do you want? It's my day off so make it quick. I don't want to deal with all this."

"Please, you must train," the crow pleaded.

"Train? Why should I do that?"

"You've already used your powers before, but both times, it wasn't on purpose. When you attacked those men who were hitting on you, and when the tree was about to hit the car you were in."

Leo went wide eyed, "Wait!? Have you been stalking me?"

"Well...no. My duty is to look after you and your well being. So, I keep a watchful eye on you."

Leo leaned back and sipped his coffee with narrowed eyes.

"You must train. Use your powers and try to learn how to use them properly. If you don't, you could expose yourself and hurt someone which would be bad.....Look, I won't ask you to come back, just please, train."

The crow pleaded to Leo, asking him over and over again to train and cultivate his powers.

He eventually gave in, "Fine, fine, I'll train today just answer my question. How and why do you know how to train me?"

"I used to train you when you were a toddler and as a child. That's why you know how to use your powers to this extent. There is so much more than you can imagine then just moving vines. You can create weapons, sentinels, or even shake a whole forest. You have so much potential, there is much more for you to know. As for how, we will start small then work our way up to things more and more difficult. Now get properly dressed and grab a plant."

Leo did as the crow asked and got dressed. He threw on some jeans and a hoodie, and grabbed one of the potted plant from the porch.

Once everything was set, the crow started talking again, "Now, every tree spirit has a staff. This staff is important and unique to each carrier. It will manifest and concentrate your magic making it more manageable and powerful."

"Okay, so how do I do that?"

"You must stretch out your hand and hold it out as if you wanted to grab something. Face your hand towards the plant and create your staff."

Leo did as the crow instructed and held out his hand towards the pot. He focussed on the plant, though he didn't know exactly what, and tried to summon his staff. Seconds turned to minutes, but no avail. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't do anything.

Leo put his hand down and sighed in defeat, "I can't do this. This isn't something I can do."

The crow hopped towards him, "You can, just try to focus on the roots rather than the leaves or you hand. Give it another try, after all with practice, you should become a natural."

Leo sighed and tried again. He did as instructed and tried to focus on the roots of the plant. Feeling them soak up water and nutrients from the soil, feeling them growing in the dirt. Twisting, turning, getting bigger. Soon, roots started growing out of the ground and reaching towards Leo's palm. As if they were yearning and longing for him.

They grew and grew, eventually creating a staff in Leo's hand. When the staff was fully created, it snapped off of the plant, hardening and ceasing to grow.

To Leo's surprise, the staff was light and flexible and was easy to carry. The staff looked like many branches swirled together, then creating an intricate pattern at the top of it.

Leo peered at the staff at awe. Beside him, the crow hopped and cheered.

Then, the crow said, "Now try letting go of it."

Leo did as it said and when he let go, the staff turned to dust and ash, then disappeared without a trace.

Leo exclaimed, "Woah wait, where did it go!?'

The crow cawed, "Only the specific wielder can hold that staff. Without the wielder, the staff ceases to exist. No one is able to hold that staff, other than you."

----------

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed

Please comment I love hearing from my readers