The creasing and crinkling of paper rippled through the air, the muffled sounds of Kimmi-Ka sketching away breaking past the door and into the hallways. Listening to the noises, Mya sat by the door leading to Kimmi-Ka's bedroom, her stare almost a daze as she teetered on blanking out and entering a daydream.
"Maybe the sketchbook is cursed," Mya uttered as she continued staring at the bedroom door, fear evident in her voice.
"There's no need to be worried, Mya," Aliceia said calmly, sitting beside her sister and equally close to the door. With her sister's remark, Mya broke free from her daydream before slowly turning her head towards her sister, a dumbfounded and annoyed expression on her face as she looked at Aliceia.
"Sis is the one who made the tent," Mya muttered, gesturing to the makeshift tent behind Aliceia. As her face turned slightly red, Aliceia remained silent, bringing her arms into a cross formation as she scooted across the floor until she blocked Mya's view of the blanket tent. Mya frowned at Aliceia's attempt to hide the truth, contemplating if she should push Aliceia into the tent but decided not to, knowing Aliceia would easily overpower any attack from her.
"Now now, there's no need for any scuffling," Feina remarked cheekily as she walked past the duo.
"But Gran-Gran, Kimmi-Ka has been in there for days and only leaves for food," Mya murmured sombrely, waving her hand to the bedroom door. Feina stopped, briefly processing the girl's words and wondering if she should get involved, before turning around after deciding she should.
Inside her room, Kimmi-Ka led on the floor, no longer surrounded by a sea of paper but instead towers of paper organised like outposts. Her eyes blazed with excitement and pride, the tip of the pencil in her hand drifting across her newest sketch as she applied all the knowledge she combed from the recording and the hardback book, titled: Spectra Basics.
"For a book about the basics, it sure has a lack of info on how to use the magic...". Kimmi-Ka turned to the last page, her eyes gaining a twinkle of disbelief, believing she received punishment at the hands of a certain being from above for her snarky remark. The final page informed Kimmi-Ka that the next book in the series was called Spectra Basics: Application, leaving Kimmi-Ka to drop her cheek onto her fist in a pout as she realised she'd need the next book to learn how to use Spectra magic.
However, before her annoyance could fester into a plan, a light knock at her door caught the girl's attention. With a mental groan, Kimmi-Ka summoned one of her tails, pressing it against the floor before having it slowly drag her lazy body across the room as she clung to her sketchbook with her newest Spectra particles formation sketch.
Upon reaching it, her tail bumped into the door before instantly slinking back into Kimmi-Ka as she crossed her legs. In one consecutive move, Kimmi-Ka flopped onto her back with a thud, refusing to release her sketchbook, followed by her deeply inhaling and swinging her torso upwards. She only managed to get a few centimetres off the floor, body wobbling, struggling to keep herself up before she slumped back to the floor and banged her head against the floor. Her eyes soured into a violent one as the wavey rouge red, snow white and golden energy coating the back of her head faded away. She glared at the ceiling in silence, placing her sketchbook to one side before clambering to her feet.
"Great... I went and used my mana," Kimmi-Ka mentally uttered, disappointed in her lack of self-restraint. As the sketcher crouched down to pick up her sketchbook, Mya bursted into the room and tackled Kimmi-Ka to the ground, incoherently screaming for her not to touch the sketchbook while saying it would curse Kimmi-Ka into another three-day seclusion session.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
"Mya dear, what did I say about being rough?" Feina asked endearingly, although with an undertone of sternness. Despite hearing her grandmother's words, Mya refused to release Kimmi-Ka from her clutches, proclaiming she wouldn't allow Kimmi-Ka to fall into the sketchbook's clutches again. Although expecting such a reaction, Feina was mildly surprised by Mya's outburst but also felt a sense of joy in the same moment. The elder decided to capitalize on the situation, using it to segue into a different topic.
"Reading is good for a growing mind, but being active outside is equally important for keeping that mind fresh," Feina remarked earnestly, leaving Kimmi-Ka to defeatedly look to the side as Mya tightened her hug against Kimmi-Ka.
A little bit later, Kimmi-Ka found herself outside but strategically situated under a tree by the single-storey house, basking in its shade as Mya and Aliceia ran laps around the house, each trying to overtake the other. With the fingers of her hands locked together and supporting her chin, Kimmi-Ka mentally sighed, closing her eyes and pressing her chin into her hands.
"What an unforeseen roadblock, not much use fretting over it though. It's not like the next book will drop into my lap," Kimmi-Ka remarked quietly, briefly going silent before opening one of her eyes and taking a peek at the sky.
"Thought that would've worked," Kimmi-Ka muttered aloud, catching Aliceia's attention and bringing her to an immediate stop.
"What worked?" Aliceia asked as Mya hurried over to Kimmi-Ka. Grabbing her hand, Mya tried to pull Kimmi-Ka to her feet, but despite her efforts, Kimmi-Ka didn't budge, remaining firmly planted in place as Mya's face turned red from exertion.
"Come on, come play with us!" Mya pleaded in a grumble, her voice mildly strained from her physical exertion. Kimmi-Ka huffed defiantly, displaying her displeasure for doing such a thing, but refused actively resisting, giving Mya the impression she wasn't entirely opposed to the idea. As her sister continued to whine, Aliceia awkwardly rubbed the back of her head, wondering why Kimmi-Ka acted like those boring noble kids who bark about going to an academy or something when they're older. The thought caused her a small amount of grief before she shook her head, finding it rude to compare Kimmi-Ka to such brats but the thought did bring an idea to Aliceia.
"Say why don't we head to the capital...," Aliceia offered, her voice trailing off as Kimmi-Ka showed no interest. Feeling at an impasse of getting Kimmi-Ka attention or angering Mya, Aliceia felt like she needed to think of something before Kimmi-Ka decided to go back inside the house.
"...and maybe we can check out the library there?" Aliceia uttered weakly. Even though it was slight, Aliceia noticed Kimmi-Ka slightly alternate her gaze from Mya to her, giving Aliceia a sense of relief as she brushed her hair out of her eyes. Mya snapped her head at her sister, her eyes primed to shoot daggers at Aliceia if they could, and she released her grip on Kimmi-Ka before falling backwards and crashing into the grassy ground.
"Perhaps, you should also choose a spot to show Kimmi-Ka, Mya," Feina remarked cheerfully through an open window, deciding to speak to keep Mya from crying again. Mya shot her eyes open, realising her grandmother was giving her an out to save Kimmi-Ka from any more evil books, and shot to her feet with a playful grin.
"Then, I think we should go to Sparkle Pond!" Mya proclaimed. At hearing the name, Kimmi-Ka placed a hand on her chin, mulling over if the name referred to the pond being crystal clear or something to do with Spectra Particles; whatever the reason, Mya felt a pride-fueled smugness at seeing Kimmi-Ka having a bigger reaction to her offer than Aliceia's suggestion.
"Hah, looks like my idea is better!" Mya stated boastfully, nudging Aliceia in the leg to accentuate her words. Aliceia rolled her eyes, only the smallest amount of annoyance building in her from her sister's verbal and physical jabs.
"But won't those noble kids be there?" Aliceia grumbled. Abruptly pausing mid-nudge, Mya froze before she frowned, the devastation of such a glaring issue with her idea being made apparent, and slumped back onto the ground.