“Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease—“ the choir of small children begging for Xenia to teach them broke her, though it wouldn’t take much from them anyways.

“Alright, alright,” she sighed, “what do you all want to learn today?”

A various array of answers erupted from the children, but one rose above the chaos. “Origin Story, Origin Story!”

“That’s only for the Blood Moon Festival.” She chided gently.

“Then, then” Marley scrambled up one of the older and taller’s children’s shoulders, “tell the story about Mary and Mamberi!”

Xenia winced at that, “that is a long story, and it’s late. We’d be here until tomorrow, and it’s going to get cold.”

There was a murmur of assent before someone started a chant. “Magic! Magic! Magic!”

“But I’ve told that story a hundred times,” she whined, smiling all the while.

The chant persisted. “Magic! Magic! Magic!”

“Fine, fine.” She made a high whistle. “Follow me, friends! I have a show to put on.”

The children cheered and followed her as she walked towards the Ring, dead center in Hestia. On the way, she watched out of the corner of her eye as people opened their shutters to watch in turn, as people leaned in doorways to listen, and as the curious followed the little parade of children.

The Ring was a stone circle, with shallow depressions in layers creating three layers of “benches.” In the center of it was a small circle of grass, as if ready for a tree to be planted. Yet there was none.

Xenia took her place in the center of the grass circle as the children and other curious onlookers sat down on the benches.

“Now,” she called, looking around at her new students. Out of the corner of her eye, two newcomers stumbled in later than all the others. She smiled a bit at Katsurou and his rather befuddled companion. “What is the basis of Magic?”

A girl Xenia didn’t recognize with two toned hair raised her hand. “Energy.”

“Correct!” Xenia pressed her palms together, then pulled them apart slowly and with effort, revealing a ball of white light hovering between her hands.

Oohs and ahs echoed around the ring and she grinned. “Magic is concentrated Energy. Life Energy, to be specific, the same energy that your blood carries to the rest of your body, along with oxygen and nutrients. Some people have too much energy, and so their bodies convert it into it’s concentrated form, Magic."

She twisted her hand so the ball of light was cradled in one hand while the other worked on rolling up her sleeve. “Now, what can we do with Magic?”

“You can manipulate the world around you,” said the two-toned girl.

“Correct! What is your name, little miss? I haven’t seen you before.” She wasn’t a local.

“I’m Mary. I’m here with my uncle on a trading trip.”

Xenia resisted the urge to look at the white haired man who smelled of many bloods standing besides Katsurou. Only one person could have that varied scent. “Indeed? You’re quite clever.”

“…thank you.”

Ah, Xenia blew the girl’s cover. Whoopsie.

Hopefully a bit of flashiness would draw attention away from the girl.

She exhaled slowly, staring at the ball of light.

“Now, there are an infinite amount of way to affect the world with Magic, but they tend to be divided into the Twelve Forms. This is the Tenth Form, Light.”

The light took on a red color as she flexed her fingers, then flattened them out. The light sank into her palm, and she tried her best to breathe through the sudden rush in her bloodstream. The veins in her arms bulged.

“This is the First Form, Body,” her own body shook at the effort to maintain the Magic, she had never been good at manipulating her own body. Realizing she wasn’t going to be able to hold it for much longer, she quickly pressed the Magic back to the palm of her hand, using her other hand to cup and stabilize it, converting it into heat.

She held both hands out in front of her, wrists touching so her hands created a flower shape, and a little red and white flame burst into life between her palms. “The Third form, Fire,” she thought of Iskra, of stormy nights, and crossed her arms, then pulled them apart so her palms were parallel to each other, “and finally, the Sixth Form, Lightning.” White-blue electricity crackled between her hands before she released the Magic once and for all, bending over to gasp in air.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Applause rang out and she flashed a grateful smile. She straightened and readjusted her clothing.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have much of a Bloodline to speak of. My body isn’t equipped to convert Magic into a given form like any of the Bloodlines you can think of automatically, I have to do it manually and concentrate very hard.” She glanced at Katsurou and the white haired man, inhaled, then said “but many of you do. You may not know your heritage, and it may be mixed, but you all have extraordinary abilities, children. And I’ll be here to teach you if you want to learn.”

----------------------------------------

Katsurou and the white haired man wandered to her at the center of the circle once most of the people had left.

“I’m afraid I don’t know your name,” Xenia called when they got close enough.

“Rian,” no family name was given. But by the elfin appearance and the albinism, Xenia was willing to guess Sidhe.

“What brings you to Hestia, Rian?”

“Just trade.”

Ha. Hestia wasn’t on any major trade routes, it was too small and the only thing it had to offer was apples and apple cider. And no one wanted to go into the town of misfits and oddities just to get apples.

“You must be on the search for something rare indeed. Or rather, selling something to someone rare.”

His red eyes sharpened. “I wouldn’t say that, madam.”

“Mm. Well, if you need any help, please, feel free to ask.”

“I wouldn’t dare trouble an educated lady such as yourself. Where did you learn that theory of Magic?”

She tilted her head to the side. “That theory of Magic?”

“That blood is what carries Magic.”

“Oh. Is this not the accepted theory?”

“It’s… an outdated one.”

Oh, she hadn’t known that. Whoops.

She shrugged, “it’s just was my siblings taught me.”

“Siblings. Not your parents?”

“No, I’m afraid I never really knew them. For all intents and purposes, my siblings were my parents.”

“How many do you have?” Katsurou asked the question this time.

“Siblings? None, now. I’m afraid they’ve all passed on.”

“O-oh.” He looked stricken, as did Rian.

“Oh, it’s quite alright, they were all quite old. I was the youngest.”

“Right. I was just asking because your house is small,” Katsurou said quietly.

“Oh, right. Well, I suppose you can consider my ‘house’ my room. My siblings were all scattered in the Forest.” She shrugged.

“Anyways, yes, that’s what I was taught. Can I ask why it’s outdated?”

Rian shrugged, still looking uncomfortable. Really, people were too uncomfortable with the one constant in life.

“The current theory is that Energy and blood are separate.”

“Oh.” Xenia waved her hand. “Of course they’re separate. No, you see, blood is simply the catalyst and carrier of Energy. You need a specific kind of blood to even try and refine that energy into Magic. It’s just a bit difficult to explain biology to children. And for adults, people seem to not like being aware of what’s gushing around inside them.”

Katsurou shuddered. “Yeah, and I’m one of them. Let’s switch the topic please.”

Rian glanced to him. “Really? You don’t seem like the type.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“Katsurou here became unfortunately acquainted with his liver yesterday.” Xenia said at the same time, then realized she should probably not blow Katsurou’s cover as well. The Sidhe and Akuma, though not enemies, weren’t exactly friendly. Almost none of the Bloodlines were with each other. “This is why you don’t go into the Forest, Katsurou.”

He bristled, reminding Xenia more of a cat than a crow. “You are not one to talk, lady, you live there!”

“You what?” Rian asked, aghast.

“Yes, but I’ve lived there for so long I’m an honorary tree at this point, nothing is going to hurt me.” Xenia rolled her eyes.

Iskra, who had been lurking at the corners for some time now, came up to throw an arm around Xenia. Or, attempted too. Xenia wasn’t exactly tall at 5’3”, but Iskra was still shorter by her by a good three or four inches. Still, her amber eyes and iron gaze made her seem taller than most men.

“I don’t like you, Katsurou, but if you help me get her out of the Forest…”

“Oh for goodness sake—“

“The Equinox is coming,” Rian interrupted. “The days will only be longer and darker.”

“You believe in the shadow creatures?” Xenia asked.

“If they’re anywhere, they’re going to be in that Forest.”

“Oh come on, that’s got to be a story…” Katsurou’s words faded out to noise as Xenia studied Rian. His jaw tensed, his throat worked as he became more and more uncomfortable under her stare.

“Oi, Xenia,” Xenia blinked out of her trance to look at Iskra when she nudged her. “What did we say about prolonged eye contact?”

“Oh.” She turned back to Rian. “Sorry, I spaced out.”

“It’s fine, your eyes are just a bit… unnerving.”

“Ah, yes, I get that a lot.” She shook her head. “Anyways, summer is when you want to worry about the shadows, that’s when they’re longest.”

“What—“ Katsurou started, but Xenia clapped her hands suddenly, remembering something.

“Speaking of the Equinox, Hestia holds a little festival for each season on their equinox or solstice.” She turned to Iskra. “It’s next week, isn’t it?”

“…yes. Yeah, it is. And it’s a full moon, so.”

“Can we go back to the shadow monsters—“

“You mentioned that you perform on the Equinox,” Rian cut Katsurou off, and Xenia was starting to feel a little bad about it.

“The… Origin Story?”

“Oh, that. It’s just a story I tell the kids.” Xenia laughed. “It’s very dramatic, that’s how my siblings told me, and all that. Whether it’s true or not, I wouldn’t know, I wasn’t around for it, you know?”

She glanced at the two men, decided to take a risk. “I’m sure you two have things to do, but if you’re around and free next Wednesday night, I believe.”

“Xenia.”

“Oh, hush, what are they going to do? Reveal the fact we have the best apples on the Continent?”

“I’m sure that Mary would enjoy it tremendously.” Rian said quickly. “We’ll be sure to stop by.”

“I’ve got a kid sister, I’ll ask if she wants to come.” Katsurou grinned. “Now, shadow monsters, spill.”

“Maybe I’ll tell at the Equinox.”

“Ugh.” Katsurou turned. “I should get back, my family is probably worried since I’m coming in a day late.

“Your injury?” Rian asked.

“Yup. Don’t worry though, Ms. Xenia here patched me up alright.”

“Are you sure? An injury that exposes a liver—, me and my niece would be happy to escort you to wherever you’re going.”

“Ah,” Katsurou blushed a bit. “Thank you, but I’m quite alright. Right, Xenia?”

“As long as you don’t push it.”

“I won’t.”

“Very well, if you’re sure.”

“One week,” Xenia clapped her hands together, smiling. “Don’t forget.”