(THERE ARE 15 MONTHS ON THE CALENDAR YEAR IN THIS WORLD)

POV: Zaya Shyes - 4 years old

“Hey Zaya, say hi to your new baby brother, Curtis.”

Mommy is holding a baby. Baby is my brother.

“Hewo badda.”

“This is your older sister. Say hi to Zaya.”

“Hi Zaya, this is Curtis speaking.”

Daddy is waving brother’s hand. Speaking like a baby. Daddy makes us laugh.

“Oh Owen, stop teasing… Zaya, touch Curtis’s hand.”

“It sof, mommy.”

“Yeah…”

Brother smiled.

“Owen! Owen! Did you see that? Curtis smiled! He already loves you Zaya! Your touch made him smile.”

“Weally?!”

Me touching brother makes us all happy.

“Zaya, touch him gently. Gently now.”

Me touching brother gently makes us all happy.

***

6 months later…

“Owen, Owen! You aren’t gonna believe it! Curtis is already crawling.”

Mommy is talking to Daddy on the phone. Curtis is crawling on the floor in the television room.

“I know, I know! He shouldn’t be for another few months. I was worried when I couldn’t breastfeed him, but maybe he’s just a superspeed baby. Blasting past all the important milestones.”

Curtis is crawling towards me.

“He’ll be walking in a week!”

Mommy laughs. I laugh. Curtis makes a baby noise. I hug him gently.

“I already took a video of him. I’ll send it to you. He’s absolutely adorable!”

“Mommy!”

“Yes Zay — Oh honey, Curtis seems a bit uncomfortable, can you let go of him?”

I let go. Curtis crawls away.

***

8 months later…

“Owwwwie!”

It hurts. My knee hurts. My arm hurts. It hurts so much that I have to cry.

“Zaya. Hey, Zaya. Can you tell me where it hurts?”

Daddy helps booboos go away.

“Wight…,” sniffle, “Here.”

I point to my knee and arm.

“Alright. This may tingle a little bit. Want to hold my hand?”

I nod. He grabs my good-feeling hand. I look at his other hand and a blue light comes from it. The blue light feels like a warm shower. The pain slowly goes away.

“Let’s not tell Mommy about this little accident, ok? She would feel bad if she found out that you got hurt on your new birthday bike.”

The pain in my knee and arm are gone. I brush the tears off my face. I love Daddy’s magic.

“So let’s make a pinky promise. You promise to not tell mom you got hurt today, and I promise that I won’t let go of the bike again.”

Daddy has his pinky up. I do not want mom to feel bad. I hug Daddy’s pinky with my own.

***

16 days later…

Mommy’s finger lit up the candle on Curtis’s birthday cake. For my birthday, Mommy’s finger lit five candles.

Curtis was sitting on a baby chair. The yummy-looking cake in front of him. Me. Mommy. Daddy. Nana. Papa. My best friend, Darra. We sang a birthday song to Curtis.

We finished the song.

“Mommy! Can I bwoah out dah can-deh?”

If I jump up and down in front of mom, she will listen to me.

“Can I?”

“Sure, Honey. Since Curtis can’t do it.”

“Yay!”

I put my arm’s up to let Mommy pick me up. She carried me to the white cake on the baby chair. I sucked in air to blow out the candle.

Curtis giggled.

The candle went out.

***

11 months later…

It is almost time for bed, but I hear Daddy’s voice in his study. Who is Daddy talking to?

“Mana is the invisible particles that surround everyone and everything, and are utilized in many different facets of our daily lives.”

Daddy is sitting on the sofa in his study with Curtis on his lap. A book in his hands. The study has many books. All the books stay in the large bookcases, which cover two walls.

“Most people use mana for — Oh hi Zaya.”

I was hugging the large door frame of the study. He had seen me peak in.

“What-ya doin’, Daddy?”

“I am reading this book about magic to Curtis. He walked in a moment ago, and pointed at it. It is an advanced book about mana manipulation, so he won’t understand it, but I figured I would read it to him anyways.”

Curtis shuffled on Daddy’s lap.

“Dadadadaa”

Curtis tried to say Daddy, I think.

“You want to listen too?”

I nodded as he patted the seat next to him. I climbed onto the sofa, and scooted next to Daddy. The book he was holding open had a lot of words that I did not understand. With only a single picture on the opened pages.

“Ok. So where did I leave off?”

Daddy found where he left off with his finger.

“Most people use mana for convenience, nowadays, but there are still many who use it for combative purposes. This book will encompass everything you need to know about mana manipulation, from its practical, everyday use, to the skills needed to become a full fledged adventurer. Since mana is the main source of power for almost everything, each chapter of this book is just an introduction of said topic…”

I love mana. I love mana because it makes magic. Magic that makes booboos go away, like Daddy, or light birthday candles, like Mommy.

“… two types of mana. Living Mana, which is mana currently possessed by any living or non-living things, and Ambient Mana, when it is floating dormant in the atmosphere. Ambient Mana is invisible, and useless, until converted into Living Mana…”

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I do not understand everything that Daddy is reading, but I want to. I need to if I want to use magic.”

“... discovered ambient mana —”

“Daddy.”

“Yes, sweetie?”

“When wih I get mag-yic?”

Daddy smiled and then laughed. Curtis giggled, too.

“Oh, is my little girl getting a little impatient?”

“No.”

I do not know what that word means. I just want magic now.

“It will come soon enough. The manucible usually finishes developing for kids around your age.”

“So soon?”

Daddy smiled again. I like when Daddy smiles. It makes me feel happy.

“Yes, soon.”

“Yay!”

I am excited now, so I am jumping up and down on Daddy’s sofa. I am going to get magic soon. But then Mommy peaked her head into Daddy’s study.

“Zaya, honey. It is time for bed.”

“Noooo. Pwease, Mommy! Can Daddy wead tis to me a bit longah?”

Curtis made a baby noise. Mommy was silent for a little.

“Oh, alright, but only for a few more minutes.”

Mommy sat next to me. Daddy continued reading.

“In order to effectively convert Ambient Mana to Living Mana, one needs to…”

***

1 year later…

“Hey honey, how was school today?” Momma asked.

I jumped into the backseat of the car. Closed the door. Then, hopped on my booster seat behind Momma's driver seat. Curtis was also in the car using the baby seat behind the passenger seat. He waved and said, “Hewo”.

“Helwo… It was gud.”

I lied. School sucks. Everyone makes fun of me because I still can’t use magic. Except Darra, my best friend. She doesn’t make fun of me, even though she got her magic a few months ago.

“What did you learn today?”

“In maph, we did addi-shin, but I know sub-taction and timesing al-weady, so it was e-zy. I also wead a few sen-tences in weading. The teachah said I wead weally well.”

“That’s great, honey! You’re really smart for your age, you know that. You could probably skip a year.”

“But Daw-wa is in my class. I don’t want to leave Daw-wa.”

“I know, honey. Your Dad and I won’t force you to do something you don’t want to do.”

It was silent for a little bit.

“We also had mag-yic contwol class, today, but I did not paw-ticipate.”

“Oh, that’s alright, honey. Your teachers know you don’t have your magic yet.”

I nodded, and then looked out the window. I wish I had my magic. Everyone in my class already does. It isn’t fair. Why am I the only one without it? What would happen if I never get it? That thought always made my body shake.

“Don’t worry about not having magic yet, Zaya.”

Did Momma read my mind?

“The doctor said that your manucible is healthy, so it is just a matter of time before it is able to convert Ambient Mana to Living Mana. Also, it is common for kids to have a late developed manucible and it is extremely rare for it to never function. And, no matter what, I will always love you.”

That made me feel a little better, but I still really want magic. There must be something I can do to get it sooner. I thought about this for a while, until I got distracted by the park we were passing by.

“Oooooo, the pawk. Can we go today Momma?”

“Can we?”

Curtis also asked. We both really like the park.

“No, not today.”

Momma said that quickly.

“Why not?”

“Because Nana and Papa are coming over for dinner tonight.”

***

4 hours later…

I love Nana and Papa. They are both elves, like my Daddy. They say I am a half-elf, though, because Momma is human. Papa looks like Daddy, but he has white hair, and a cool gray beard. Unlike Daddy, who has light green hair and no beard. Papa always makes fun of my less pointy ears. He has a special type of magic that allows him to find a coin behind my ear whenever he sees me. He says that he could pull out two coins if I had longer ears.

Nana is always really funny. She tells stories about Daddy when he was a baby, and Daddy gets embarrassed. She also puts on amazing shows using magic to create floating figures. Momma says that Nana has really good mana control. I asked Nana if she could teach me once I got my magic and she said she would. Although, it took her over ten years to master it. And it could take even longer depending on what my first elemental affinity is. If it isn’t water, like Nana, then I would have to learn water as my second elemental affinity. Or at least, that is what Nana said.

Right now, we are eating dinner at the dinner table. I am sitting between Nana and Curtis. While Papa, Daddy, and Momma are on the other side of the table. Momma made my favorite mac n’ cheese for me and Curtis. Nana cooked soup for everyone else to eat.

All the grown-ups are talking about stuff that I do not understand. But I am too distracted by Nana’s magic to listen anyways. She is using her magic to create a plane that scoops up and brings a spoonful of mac n’ cheese to my mouth. And while I am chewing, she does the same thing for Curtis. It makes the mac n’ cheese a little wet, but it still tastes good.

“I wis I had my mag-yic so I could do tis.”

My mouth was full of mac n’ cheese, but I needed to tell everyone about my desire to have magic. Again.

“Oh, don’t you worry sweetie. You’ll get your magic soon enough, and you’ll get big and strong. Eventually you could even become an adventurer like your mom was.”

Nana covered her mouth. Her magic plane disappeared. Dropping the scoop of mac n’ cheese it just picked up.

“Oops, I shouldn’t have said that.”

Did I hear Nana right?

“Momma was an ad-ven-tuw-er?”

Why did she never tell me this? Even Curtis looks shocked. I looked at Momma, and she looked kinda mad. I have seen the look before. The one where Momma’s brown eyes turned a little red.

“I am sorry, Ilene, I didn’t mean to say that.”

Nana looked worried.

“It’s alright. I know it was a mistake. They would have found out eventually, but I was hoping for that to be when they were older.”

Mamma sounded a little mad.

“Why you not want to twel me?”

Mamma’s face calmed down.

“Well I was worried that if you knew, you would want to become an adventurer, like I was. It is very dangerous. I got really hurt on my last mission, and I would never want that to happen to you.”

“How you get huwt?”

“I — I’ll tell you when you are a bit older.”

I wonder why Momma won’t tell me now. She doesn’t have to worry. I already have decided that I want to be a doctor, like Daddy. Even if I can’t do his special healing magic.

“Okay.”

The dinner table was silent for a few moments. It seemed like it would stay that way until Curtis dropped his fork on the ground. The sound was really loud.

“Oopsies.”

Everyone laughed and talked for the rest of the dinner.

***

1 year and 2 months later…

“Want to build a fort?” Darra suggested.

Darra and I were able to convince our parents to have a sleepover at my house today. She is my best friend because she is not mean to me about still being magicless. I like spending time with her because the fun helps me forget about it. She also doesn’t use her magic around me to make me feel better.

We just finished playing with our dolls, and are trying to figure out what to do next. And a fort sounds like it would be fun. Darra always has the best ideas.

“Yea, let’s do it!”

“Where should we do it?”

“Hmmm… Downstairs in the living room?”

“Yea! Oh, and we could ask your brother if he wants to help.”

“Oh yeah, I guess. He is probably reading one of my Daddy’s books, but we can try to convince him.”

“Your brother can read?”

“Well, no. I don’t think so, but he likes looking through the books. I do too, but sometimes there are really big words that I don’t understand. There are a few pictures though, and those help.”

We got up to leave my room.

“Oh ok… Well, for the fort, we’re gonna need chairs, blankets, pil—”

BOOM!

A deafening explosion came from downstairs. Darra and I both collapsed to the floor. Screaming our heads off. What was that? Why was it so loud? It made the entire house shake. I am too scared to get back up. My ears are ringing.

“Curtis!” my Momma’s voice squeaked from downstairs.

Oh no! Momma and Curtis were downstairs. Are they okay? With my fear now replaced by worry, I ran down the stairs as quickly as I could. Leaving Darra behind. There was a lot of fog in the air making it hard to see.

“Mommy!” I yelled. “Where are you? Where is Curtis? What happened? Are you guys okay?”

She didn’t reply.

“Mom—”

“Zaya, everything is alright. Be careful and follow my voice. Actually, wait. Is Darra with you? Bring her here too. Tell her everything is alright.”

I did as Momma said. I ran back upstairs and grabbed Darra. She was crying a little bit, but I told her everything was alright. We then went back downstairs and followed momma’s voice through the fog in the house. Why was there fog in the house? Was it from the explosion?

When we got to Momma, the fog was a little bit lighter and we were able to see the cause of the explosion. Standing in the middle of Daddy’s study was Curtis. Arm outstretched towards a huge hole in the wall leading outside. Which the fog was using to escape the house from. A bookcase had fallen over and many other books lay scattered on the ground. I was speechless.

“Curtis!” Momma yelled. Although, she did not sound mad, just confused. We are all probably wondering if what we are seeing is true.

Curtis turned slowly around. He looked just as shocked as I felt. Once he was looking completely at us, a small smile formed.

Putting a hand to his short, blonde hair, and closing his eyes, he said, “Oops.”

I then realized what had happened. Somehow. In some way. Curtis, my little brother, had used magic.