Twist paused in his narration, then he looked up at his companions. Tenacia’s misty eyes were wide open and her mouth was covered by both her hands in horror. Delphine’s eyes for once held no glare, she looked completely appalled at what she had heard.

Twist barely managed a smile.

“Well… What happened after that is probably best left unsaid. More than a little bit of yelling at me, then yelling at each other… Regardless I ran from the mansion as fast as I could.”

Directly above the city of Minvaco rested a tremendous lake, we called it Runoff Lake due to being formed from the dripping water above and whose own water dripped down into the city. Though it had also earned that name due to the fact a lot of young noctav over the years using it as a place to run away from the stresses of the city, one such child sat at the edge of the beach of this lake: myself.

“Dad… Dad… I’m Sorry… I failed you” I wept bitterly, I looked at the lake in front of him with his reddened eyes “I can’t do this… I can’t… Not without you.”

My face fell back into my hands again. For a while longer I cried. I don’t know how long I was there in reality, but it felt like an eternity.

Eventually I began to punch the stone ground around me, ignoring how much it hurt my hands. I stood up and screamed with all my might.

“Why?!” I yelled “Why? Why? Why? Why?”

“An eternal question not even higher powers can answer” said a gentle voice behind me.

I turned and saw a human man with a scruffy red beard and bright green clothing, he walked up and sat beside me.

“Who are you?” I asked dumbfounded, for that moment the sadness leaving my head. I hadn’t seen a human go this far under the surface since I was barely out of diapers.

“Paul is the name” the human said, turning his bearded face to me and giving a big grin “Paul E. Ana! Wandering magician at your service!”

“A wizard? Is that how you got down here so far?” I asked. The virulent despair in my head tried to make itself heard, but it was pushed away by my curiosity.

“Oh no! A thousand apologies my good little man!” Paul laughed, “I mean magician as in a stage magician! Card tricks and sleight of hand and all that”

I turned away, I tried to stifle my interest and let despondency reenter my mind “Well thanks, but I just want to be alone now.”

“I can understand that, but sometimes you shouldn’t be alone” Paul remarked, “Especially when your mind is so darkened. Darkness and darker thoughts are a dangerous combination!”

“And why is it your business?” I grumbled back.

“My business is helping others smile” Paul said, then he thought for a moment “Nah, that ain’t quite right… My business is helping others find hope.”

“What hope?”

“All kind of hope.”

I sighed, I figured he wasn’t leaving until he did a trick “Fine, do your tricks and leave me alone.”

Paul nodded and got out some cards, after fancifully shuffling them he offered them to me.

“Pick a card! Any card! Keep it and look at it!”

I took one of the cards and stared at it.

“I can read your mind” Paul said overdramatically, “I can see the window of your brain… And I know the card you have! It is… The five of hearts!”

“Nope” I replied bluntly.

“Ahh that’s right, I looked at it wrong… It is the eight of hearts!”

“Nope”

“Right, the six of spades!”

“Nope”

“The eight of diamonds!”

“Nope”

“The ace of diamonds”

“Nope”

“The ace of clubs?”

“Nope”

“It’s a red card?”

“Nope”

This went on for a while.

“Ok then… I give up" Paul finally said, utterly exhausted "What card did you take?”

I showed him the card he got. It had a wide-smiling jester on it.

“Joker” I said dryly.

Paul opened and closed his mouth a few times.

“Alright, I need to work on that one.” Paul said, blushing and rubbing the back of his neck.

I chuckled “Even experts make mistakes.”

“Haha you are right my young friend, that they do! Experts need to move on from those mistakes too. They must remember them, but don’t make them baggage”

Paul turned serious.

“I understand your pain more than you know Twist, but you can’t let it consume you. I won’t lie, more difficult times are ahead, and it is only going to get harder”

“How encouraging” I grumbled.

“But you have the strength, cleverness, and kindness to get through it! You are destined for some great things my boy! There is a path Chaelum has set before you and you got the stuff to pull through!”

“You are saying I should follow my heart?” I asked mockingly, "Let my dreams guide me?"

Paul gave a great clear and honest laugh “Ho ho ho NO! Absolutely not my boy! That is one of the worst pieces of advice anyone could ever give!”

He chuckled as I looked at him with my jaw down, I was completely gobsmacked.

“Hoho! Let me explain; emotions are strong to be sure, they are what helps push us through our darkest hours… But they can just as easily create darkness in us! The heart is a dreadful leader my boy, if you listen to your heart's desire, you will end up doing foolish and selfish things! Dreams are no better! Let dreams inspire you, to be sure, but if you follow them you'll just run off a cliff!"

He tapped a finger gently on my head.

“Let THIS do the leading Twist, your mind!” he said “Let your logic and wisdom guide you, whilst letting a heart full of love and dreams be the engine that pushes you forward! Use them well and do not let them rot, for our hearts and minds are some of Chaelum’s greatest gifts”

Paul gave me a wink.

"And if both heart AND mind lead you astray, trust in Chaelum and He'll get you back on the right path!"

Paul handed me his cards complete in their package, he also took off his top hat and placed it on my head.

“A fresh deck and a veteran hat for the aspiring magician. Go out there and make us proud!” Paul said.

I was confused, I felt a lot better thanks to his words, but I was still completely confused. My confusion grew when I realized something.

“I never told you my name, yet you know it!” I exclaimed, “Are you sure you aren’t a wizard? And what do you mean by us?”

Paul just smiled, stood up, and walked away.

“Hey! Answer me!” I shouted as I rose up and ran to Paul, who had reached a surprisingly long distance in only a few steps.

“You’ll figure it out! Just add it to the pile of mysteries you already have” Paul laughed as he vanished into darkness “Chaelum be with you, my boy!”

I just stood there, Paul’s final words echoing around the cave and his cards in my hands. I then took off and examined the top hat that Paul had given him.

It was Cadenza’s. Paul had given me my father’s hat.

I looked back at the place where Paul had vanished, and stood there for a long time. My mind was once again aflutter with thoughts, though these were much brighter. I turned and looked out at the lake one last time, putting my father’s top hat back on my head. As I walked to the tunnel that led back to Minvaco, a familiar purple clad noctav ran out to me.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Twist!” Largo said in relief, smiling widely as she saw me. Then she glared at me ferociously with eyes that could probably scare a eurynomos. There was a lot I wanted to tell her, but all I could do right now was shrug nervously. Then, in an instant, Largo tightly embraced me.

“You reckless bat!” Largo cried, “Don’t scare me like that… My dear brother…”

“I’m sorry sis, I was real sad but now I am… I think I’m still sad, but I am still a lot better. It wasn’t my fault” I said softly, tightly embracing her in return.

Largo sighed deeply “Oh Twist, of course it wasn’t” she said, tears going down her face, “I can’t believe mother thinks… Oh Twist”

We hugged one another for a long time, both of us crying. Chilly tears fall onto my hat as I cried into my sister’s comforting bosom.

Eventually we ran out of tears to cry, she then let me go and we held hands as we walked back to Minvaco.

“Please promise me something” I said seriously as we walked on.

“Anything little brother” she replied.

“I’m probably going to be doing some really crazy stuff soon. I no longer want to help mother with her research… It is time I went down my own road, I am going to become a wandering entertainer” I said.

Largo gasped and looked at me in surprise.

“I am sure everyone is going to be upset at this, I am sure they are going to be thinking I am being a reckless fool” I said clearly “And I can’t blame them… But I am thinking this through, I am not just doing this because it is what mother doesn’t want. I think I know what I need to do now. Can you please help support me?”

Largo’s eyes glowed and she nodded determinedly.

“Of course I will”

Twist once again paused in his story for a moment. He rubbed his tear-filled eyes.

“I’m… I’m sorry, I just need a moment” he said.

“D-don’t worry! Take your time” Tenacia squeaked, she made no attempt to hide the tears going down her own face.

“Oh, I am most sorry Tenacia! if you would like me to stop with my story I can-”

Tenacia lurched forward and gave Twist a huge hug. Twist smiled and returned it.

As with Largo’s hug, it brought him great comfort.

Though it was also rather painful as Tenacia was far, far stronger than Largo.

After about a second of windpipe crushing, Tenacia quickly sat back, her freckled face bright red.

“Sorry! I got a strong body, but a soft heart” she murmured embarrassedly.

Twist chuckled “Nah, I think you have a strong heart.”

Tenacia smiled.

“I must say, it is tragic what befell your family” Delphine said softly, looking at Twist with an expression that had no contempt, it seemed she was capable of that when she actually tried “Though I am surprised they didn’t think of the supernals, to a family so familiar with time I would think it was obvious that the Halls of Time would be guarded”

“Unfortunately, our own research was lacking in that area” Twist remarked “Many of the Houses made the decision of sorting supernals into the section of myths and legends ages ago. As far as we knew, the Halls Of Time had nothing in it other than its doors and windows through time itself. Even then, I agree we should have assumed such a place would be guarded and taken measures for such an occasion. Or better yet, just not have entered it at all!”

Delphine nodded “Nevertheless, to create AND hold the portal open by yourself at such a young age… Most impressive”

“Ehh, just the perks of being the seventh son of a seventh son. Some spells just work more easily” Twist said, shrugging, “But even then I still have a lot to learn, you both know what happened with that reversal spell from before”

“Indeed” Delphine noted “When you reversed time to save Tenacia from falling to her doom down that crevice, all that happened was you aging several years.”

“What do mean ‘all that happened’?” Tenacia asked incredulously, “What would have happened if he wasn’t a seventh child of a seventh child?”

“I probably would have been reduced to dust” Twist answered.

Tenacia paused

“Y’know what? Magic is freakin’ scary, it can do so much good but then In the blink of an eye it ruins everything it just fixed!” she said.

“You just summarized nearly a millennia our world’s history!” Twist laughed.

“Speaking of summaries, keep up the story” Delphine said impatiently” I don’t want it to end on the note of you losing your dad”

Twist smiled “But of course! I still haven’t explained my whole purpose of leaving my city, have I? After that whole debacle, I was more determined than ever to be an entertainer, a bard, a showman. I had experienced despair firsthand, now I wanted to be one who could relieve it from others.”

With help from Largo and some ally houses, namely the houses of presentation, toys, sleight of hand, and escape, I began my training as a stage magician. For years I kept this training up, ignoring the disapproval of much of my family. My mother especially was angered at my path, and she would scold me for it.

“Why are you wasting your life on this?!” she would shout “You are an ungrateful child for not listening to your mother!” and blah blah blah… Stuff like that. It never deterred me though; I was quite confident in the path I took. My goal was to show the people of my city my trade, to prove my act could work. Once I was convinced of that, I would make my trek to the surface and become a traveling entertainer!

After many years of training, it was time. The day came for my grand opening…

Largo washed the dishes diligently, whistling to herself.

“Hey Largo, I’m off!” said I said quickly as I darted across the door to the kitchen. I was a grown noctav now, having this impressively spindly body you see before you.

“Twist” Largo said firmly in a voice that would have caused an ogre to stand to attention. My nervous white furred face peeked out from behind the door, knowing my sister had something she wanted me to do and I had no say in the matter.

“I know this is a big day for you Twist, you also need to pick up Piana from the academy”

“Hmm very well” I responded “Though is there a reason why? I would think her father would be available.”

“Normally yes, but Kouros is busy at the House of Alchemy”

Oh I should explain: Largo was married to Kouros, one of the head noctav of the House of Alchemy. Their marriage was an arranged one, as an alliance between our Houses. Thankfully it was one of those rare arranged marriages that worked out as the two quickly got close. And I as mentioned earlier, they also had a kid. They named her Piana.

Either way I gave Largo a thumbs up, this would not be a problem.

“Certainly Largo. I will be sure to make my act shorter and pick up Piana, you can count on me!”

“I know I can” Largo said warmly.

I then sped off, nearly colliding with my brother Duolo. He gave me a grim look.

“Break a leg out there Twist” Duolo he mumbled as he walked past.

“Thanks Duo!” I called out, already out of the house.

“Duolo! That was such a mean thing to say!” Largo barked, coming out of the kitchen.

“It’s an expression Largo” I laughed as I left.

“So Duolo supported your ambitions?” Delphine asked.

Twist scratched his chin “Not really, he never approved of it and would not so subtly let me know he thought I was wasting my time, but he never tried to stop me.”

“What about Vivace?” Tenaci asked “She sounded really nice.”

Twist’s smile turned sad “Ahh I am afraid she wasn’t on board with my ideas. She was never rude about it… Well at least not directly. She was as bubbly and jolly as ever, but something changed between us after my father was gone. ‘Are you sure this is something you should do?’ and ‘You know Twist, no one has ever done this’ she would say, to the average listener those might sound like concern, but I could always feel a coldness in her voice… But anyway”

So there I strode with my black cape and tall black hat on the cobblestone paths of Minvaco, holding a my ebony staff with a violet crystal at the end in one hand that had been made for me by the city’s best staffcrafters. In my other hand I held a big box. I confidently made my way to one of the busier streets of Minvaco, where multiple districts met, resulting in a lot of traffic.

I strode to the side of the street and popped open my box, I reached in and pulled out a wooden box that was bigger than the case I carried. I placed the box down and stood on top of it.

“Good people of Minvaco! Young and old, lend me your attention!” I called.

Most of the noctav ignored me and carried on their way, though a few stopped and stood to attention.

“I am the great Twist of Fate!” I boisterously shouted, “I am a magician of the likes you have never seen before, and if you desire to see my magic just come and watch.”

“Intriguing, what information do you want in return?” asked a dark brown noctav with a beard.

“Only your smiles good people!” I said, my smile going from one ear to the other. Something I had been practicing since I was a kid, “Though I will say this is magic so strange I am confident in sharing it without worrying about anything taking it!”

Some of the noctav murmured in curiosity, personal spells were often incredibly expensive given almost every noctav in Minvaco was an accomplished magician in some way, making it easy to figure out how to cast a spell just by looking at it. Some onlookers were still unimpressed, a few others stepped forward to watch me.

I reached into my pocket and got out a deck of cards. I shuffled it once, then again in a more fanciful manner, and once more whilst doing a dance. I then opened the cards like a fan and leaned to one of the onlookers. A female noctav in a white dress.

“Pick a card, any card, madame!”

The female noctav reached for a card and kept it. I then convulsed back as if an arrow had hit me “Ahhh it speaks to me… The voice of your card” I yelled dramatically.

“The card you have madame… It is the Six of Clubs!”

Everyone turned to the card holding girl, who only nodded, quite unimpressed “Yup, it sure is” she said sardonically as she gave the card back, “Is this really it Son of the House of Fate? If so, I have someplace to be”

“Oh? Not impressed?” I said in faux confusion to the indifferent audience.

“Of course not, mind reading magic is easy if you are trying to read the thoughts of something someone just saw” remarked another noctav.

“So you think I read her thoughts with a Mind spell?” I asked, everyone nodded in response.

“Ah ha good people… You are wrong!” I shouted, my smile large and almost manic. Some noctav were surprised, though most were still decidedly unimpressed.

I tipped his hat to them and stepped down to my box, I pulled out the Thaumic Detector. Many noctav gasped.

“I’m sure you bright people know what this is right?”

“Of course! A thaumic detector!” said a noctav in the back excitedly “Those are hard to come by and even harder to make! What do you want for it?”

“Sorry my friend, but it is not for sale!” I chuckled “This is here to illustrate… A revelation”

I placed the thaumic detector on the stage, I then dropped my staff off the stage.

“Oops! I do have such butterfingers, let me get that.”

Twist reached towards the staff and said firmly “Reverse!” The cane then quickly flew back up into my hand, as this happened a large filament on top of the thaumic detector glowed a distinct violet (a similar shade to the crystal on my staff). This caused a small bit of applause.

“Hmm! A Reverse spell! Nicely done, basic Time magic but still impressive” murmured the noctav with a beard.

I tipped my hat to him “Thank you sir, but this was just the example. Making sure you all see that my wonderful machine works! As I do my act again, keep a close eye on it!”

I shuffled my cards extravagantly again and once again offered them to the noctav before.

“Once again your card speaks to me…” I thundered lowly.

She took the card.

“Your card madame is… The Ace of Spades!” I shouted triumphantly.

This time the girl was at a total loss for words, she looked at her card, then at the thaumic detector, and back at me a few times. “Y-yes it is!” she finally mustered. Every single noctav watching now their mouths agape. They had watched the thaumic detector like hawks, not turning away for a second.

Yet, there hadn’t been even the slightest bit of light from its filament during my act.

I took off my hat and took a great bow.

“This is the magic of which a spoke of, a twist of fate… From Twist of Fate!”

Most of the noctav now clapped energetically, including a few passersby who had noticed the hubbub. Many them threw praise at me.

“That was amazing!” said some.

“Incredible! Unbelievable!” said others.

“How did you perform such a feat without using any magic?” was what was mostly said.

I put my hat back on and waggled my finger. “Ahh a magician like myself does not reveal his secrets I’m afraid.”

“Please Son of the House of Fate! Tell us this spell!” said a noctav in the back.

“It is no spell my friend, at least not a normal one… If I may, let me fill your heads with more mystery!”

There were some cries of annoyance, but an older noctav laughed “Oh calm down my friends! I want to see this noctav do more, even if his methods remain a mystery!”

There were many sounds of affirmation, so I went on with my act.