Miko:

The inn we returned to felt the same. Same noises, same voices, all the same smells. Yet, there was a subtle difference compared to the previous night. The same exhaustion filled our bones, and the quiet tension remained all the same. A faint drop of hope filled my mind for the first time in a long time. Hope that I can get better, or at the very least, hope that someone like myself can find something or someplace that very few others ever have. The mystery of it all throbbed in my mind as I prodded away at all the information I received in two short spans.

Majik and Kalibers, prophecies and poems, and a journey to a garden that has yet to unfold. The riddle had little emphasis vocally on ‘the garden,’ whilst the boy said ‘The Garden’ with so much more precision. What kind of place could even make a boy like him have reverence? What does this garden grow? Every garden has to produce something. On our farm, we grew all kinds of extraordinary things, and most of it was edible, but some things, like Grandma’s obsidian roses, didn’t actually provide anything for us. What will this garden grow?

Maleki filled Kallen in on what happened with the harp player despite him being right there with us. Apparently, he didn’t remember or couldn’t hear what the boy was saying at that moment. Everything he recounted was pretty fuzzy and sparse compared to what we had to share.

Kallen seemed to hold the information better since one of us detailed it with him. He was happy for us and glad we found what we were looking for so quickly, but he seemed apprehensive nonetheless. I wasn’t sure what he was in for on this layman’s quest of ours, but as of right now, he seemed to want to carry forward with us for as long as he could. Maleki and I hadn’t had a chance to discuss our new friend Kallen and share information, but I got the feeling he was just interested in where this was going and where we would end up. I didn’t mind having him around, honestly; he disguised a large amount of knowledge in that head of his in favor of appearing more disinterested. However, I could see through the guise, one that I often held up myself.

Each of us stirred in our beds, finding no luck falling asleep, yet we stayed to our own thoughts. I hadn’t much time to process the day as a whole, and now seemed like a good time to do so, but I knew a good night’s rest would go a long way. I dissected Kallen’s answers from our earlier discussion this morning and searched through my memories to find moments that would help add some context to what was said. It’s interesting the amount that people can get away with with one simple lie or by withholding a relatively small but critical piece of information.

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Now that we knew the truth that majikal blood existed, I can see why our family hid this from us. Perhaps they were hopeful that I would improve, and then they could explain things to us adequately. It must have been difficult to hide such a grand thing from us, but perhaps our ignorance of it altogether allowed us not to see the signs of it. Maleki has always been exceptionally aware, but maybe in the comfort of our farm, a lack of contact with other people allowed him to be fooled.

It’s exciting that there’s majik in the world, even though we can’t participate directly with it. Although, that boy Kaelum despised us simply for our position in this world as if we had any control over our lack of majikal blood. It was my fault for not being aware of my surroundings; I could’ve put Maleki in a dangerous situation, possibly even deadly. This damned body of mine has made it so difficult for both of us. As long as I’m like this, Maleki will have to look after me. Hopefully, tomorrow brings better horizons.

It’s odd, however. Our family exhausted every expense to try and find a cure for me, so they would have certainly consulted with a healing expert in the magical world. Although, according to Kallen’s theory, our mother was supposedly a life maji. I don’t know what that really means, but some simple math would tell me if she could control life, she would have tried to heal me with her majik as well. I’m more curious about how I never witnessed something so exceptional.

I guess there’s no sense in thinking so hard about the past. It’s already happened, so I can’t change it. Grandpa always thinks like that. “Worry about what you can change, and don’t worry about the rest.” Simple-minded but effective for a man of his lifestyle. It’s a good thought process for when in difficult times, but I can’t simply not think about my state of being. I’m hopeful I can find a way to change it, but if I ignore it I’m afraid it will swallow me whole.

My body was tired now, and as much as my mind was not ready to settle, it needed the rest even more.