Today was finally the day! An observer had sailed into town a couple hours ago and everybody already knew. News always spread like wildfire, but when an observer is involved, especially a non-human, wildfire would be left in the dust. Helianna was especially excited as the observer was here for her this time! Well, along with dozens of other fifteen year olds, but that was beside the point. The observer was apparently a tijatan, a species never seen way out in the middle of nowhere that they lived. Their town was almost entirely human, with only a couple exceptions, but they did have non-human visitors. Tijatans, however, almost never showed up.
Tijatans were the only sentient species capable of flight. They were much taller and thinner than most other species, making them seem emaciated to many others. They had four thin arms that ended in clawed hands, with a membrane in between which they could flap using all four arms. To Helianna, this just sounded exhausting when her father had described it. She had also heard others say they could only glide, so she wasn’t certain.
They lacked hair atop their head, but they made up for it with short, but thick fur that covered their bodies. They had enormous ears sticking out of the top of their head, although not like a bunny’s, unfortunately. Her father had told her they resembled bats, but that didn’t mean much to her as she’d never seen a bat. Their hands naturally had long claws, but the length was determined by how much they were filed, which went in and out of fashion. The last thing he’d said about tijatans was that “aside from all that, they’re very human-looking!” She didn’t believe him.
Her thoughts drifted and her excitement only grew. She’d get to see what kind of magic she could use! Of course, an observer wasn’t necessary to be able to do magic and know what affinity you might have, but it was very taboo to try to learn beforehand. She heard some of her friends nervously chatting outside, and Helianna smirked before doing a giddy dance to herself. They weren’t even sure if they would have an affinity. Helianna was different.
Despite the taboo, she had accidentally used a little magic a few years ago, so she knew she had something. Of course, that didn’t mean she continued using it. She’d still never told anyone, too afraid of what they would say, not even her parents. She had no desire to push her luck. It was enough for her to know that she was guaranteed an affinity, and wouldn’t be a crafter. Of course, that also meant she couldn’t be a null, but she was fine with that. She liked her life and had no desire to go off into some crazy academy and become one of the ithrax.
The ithrax were strange people, but powerful. Most people who have an affinity are quite restricted in their capabilities due to a limited amount of attuned mana. Everybody has the same amount of mana, but it's practically useless if it's not attuned to their affinity. Ithrax, however, are always fully attuned, even beyond what a normal person can supposedly do, something that never quite made sense to her. They were also nearly unkillable, almost always being able to come back from the dead, even if they sometimes come back weaker. These ithrax cells came in groups of three to eight people, with one of them always being a null, a person completely devoid of magic. But the trade-off for all this power was that they left their families and had to serve the academy, something she certainly didn’t want.
Pushing thoughts of ithrax aside, she bounced down the stairs, her long midnight black hair flopping behind her, and called out to her parents.
“Mom? Dad?” Her dad popped his head out from their rudimentary kitchen at the bottom of the stairs, making Helianna eep in surprise.
“Yes, Anna?”
“What are you doing in the kitchen? Wait, don’t answer that yet. How do I look?” She twirled around, showing off her dress. Her long wavy hair that was near perfect black flowed behind her, exposing her pointed ears and drawing a sharp contrast to her pale face. Her eyes crinkled as she smiled, partially hiding her dichromatic brown and silver eyes.
Her father smiled in response and completely stepped out of the kitchen. He grabbed her by the shoulders and gave her a kiss on the top of her head, an easy feat due to being over six feet tall compared to her ‘measly’ five foot seven.
“You look absolutely beautiful.”
“Daaaaad, don’t mess up my hair! I just spent a long time on it.” He chuckled and passed his hand through her hair, trying to fix whatever he might have messed up.
“Noooooo, dad stop. You’re making it worse!”
“Haha, alright, alright. I’ll just get back to the kitchen then.” Helianna’s eyes widened in realization.
“Wait, what are you making? Why are you making it? Can I have some?” Her father’s chuckled evolved into a full on laugh as he looked at Helianna fondly. She pouted and crossed her arms. “What? I like your cooking.”
“I know, Anna, I know. Some things never change. I… am preparing your favorite meal. It’s going to be slow roasting all night and we’ll be having it for dinner tomorrow.” Helianna let out a shriek of joy and hugged her father as he winced for his poor ears.
“Thank you so much daddy! You’re the best! Uhhh, where’s mom though?”
“She had to go out and get a new dress, remember? She doesn’t have any nice clothes that fit her right now.” Helianna wrinkled her nose as she thought for a moment.
“It still feels weird to me. I’m fifteen! Everyone else’s siblings are close in age, not fifteen years apart!”
“I know, Anna. But don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll love them regardless, right?” Helianna paused to contemplate and her father leveled a stern look in her direction. “Oh, don’t give me that, you will! You’ll see.” He struggled to keep his lips from tugging into a smile as he changed the subject. “You excited for the feast tonight?” Helianna rolled her eyes before responding.
“Not really. I won’t even get to hang out with my friends much. It’ll just be all the adults that don’t know me acting as if I’m their kid's best friend. That’s how these always go. And besides…” She gave him a cheeky grin. “Your food’s better.”
“Hah! You bet it is! Well why don’t you go hang out with your friends for a bit beforehand since you won’t be able to tonight. But don’t get your dress dirty!” he called out as she was already walking out the door.
The next few hours went by in a blur. Helianna was a bundle of energy, too excited to be of any use in preparations and barely managing to keep her dress clean. Her mother came home, and all of the parents spent their time making their personal preparations before heading to the main square and helping with the feast.
The time finally arrived for the ceremony, if it could be called that. All the parents of the children gathered in the square or in the surrounding buildings so that they could view the proceedings. It was packed to the brim as an observer hadn’t come for an entire year. A single path was left from the northern corner to the dais that had been set up along the northwestern side and to the western corner. All of the kids that had turned fifteen got into a line that extended out the northern corner. Helianna was far from the first and she settled in for a long wait.
Before too long however, she was able to hear each kid’s affinity announced in wuuvish, with only a few seconds between each kid. She was surprised to hear it as the last few observers used Alarian, which was the world standard. Wuuvish was a more common language throughout this continent, even if that still wasn’t the native language here in Caglach.
Apparently, this observer wasn’t much for show and wanted to get through all the kids quickly. She sat and she listened - “Ice, natural… craft, definitive… ice, natural… craft, robust… dark, limited… fire, nominal… fire, definitive… ice, paltry… light, potent… dark, nominal… liminal, poor… craft, definitive… light, definitive… ice, robust…”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
She could at least see the observer now. He towered over everyone nearby, likely close to nine feet tall, but she had to agree with what she heard. He looked way too thin to be healthy, but it was supposedly natural. He had to hunch down for each kid and with his splotchy colored red and gray fur, he cut a decidedly non-imposing figure despite his height. For a brief moment, she was slightly disappointed as the last observer that had come had been a gorgeous and powerful looking man. Instead, she got a tijatan, which was definitely cooler.
The last few people seemed to be agonizingly slow, despite only a few seconds between each person. “Fire, natural! Craft, natural! Fire, limited! Craft, robust! Craft, nominal! Ice, nominal!” and finally, her turn. She walked up to the man and stood in front of him. She braced for it, having been told that being scanned felt foreign. Everybody described it differently, but it was never comfortable. She had heard many different descriptions ranging from ants crawling over their whole body to being dunked in ice water. But she didn’t feel anything. The observer paused, seeming to observe her again.
“Young lady, you haven’t been observed before, correct?” he asked shakily with a higher pitch than he’d been announcing with. She nodded and he slowly nodded in response before announcing out loudly, “Null!”
The icy plunge she hadn’t felt at his observation hit her now with the force of a sledge hammer, and she staggered in shock. The man winced.
“Sorry young lady, I just yelled that in your ear didn’t I?” completely misunderstanding why she had stumbled away from him.
“What’s your name and place of residence? I’m going to have to check with you when this is done.” His words didn’t register with her and she looked down at her hands.
“B- but that’s not possible! I have magic… I can’t be null.” The square around her reached a crescendo as she spoke, none of them hearing what she had said. A jet of fire was shot into the air above the observer and the crowd silenced. He then shifted one of his arms and pointed it at Helianna. “Wai-” she tried to protest, but a jet of fire flew towards her. She screamed, expecting to be burned to a crisp, but all she felt was a minor tugging sensation in her chest. Her screams died down and she opened her eyes. When she looked down, she saw only minor burn marks on her dress, everything else intact.
“Will the parents of this young lady please step forward!” Both of her parents stood up, fortunately near the front, so it only took them a couple of minutes to reach her. They spoke quietly to the observer for a minute, but she didn’t pay attention, still reeling from the discovery. She knew she had magic as she had done it by accident before. If she focused, she could even feel it within her, ready to be unleashed. But the observer had also just proven that she was a null. Nulls were the antithesis of magic. Any and all magic they encountered would simply be absorbed, therefore making it impossible for them to have any magic. Then how did she have it?
Her ruminations continued as she felt hands guiding her away. She wasn’t paying attention to where she was going, nor did she listen to any of the other people that were being observed behind her. Before long, she found herself sitting down in her living room, where her parents were guiding her. She wasn’t knocked out of her reverie until she heard the commanding tone of her mother.
“Baby girl, look at me.” Her thoughts halted as she looked up at her mother, who was crouched in front of her. “I know this isn’t what you wanted. I know you wanted to stay with us, but this could be a great thing. You’re going to be working with some great people, including your own group of ithrax. As the null, you’ll be the backbone of the team, and I know you’ll be able to stand strong and hold them up. You’ve always been reliable that way. And besides, it’s not like you won’t see us again. We’ll still be here for you. Chin up baby , let’s start getting you ready to go.”
“W-wait, when am I leaving?” Heianna asked with wide eyes.
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Wait, but this isn’t possible. I have magic. I know I do.” Without giving anybody a chance to respond, she held one of her palms facing up and a golden light emitted from her hand. Both of her parents looked at her in shock as she looked back expectantly. “So?” Her father was the first to react.
“Tha- that’s not possible. Did the observer make a mistake?”
“No,” her mother responded. “We both saw him shoot her with his fire and she absorbed it just like a null should.” Her mother shot her father a glance before crouching back down in front of Helianna. “You're very special, baby girl. We've always known that. Now, we just have magical proof. I don’t know what magic you have, but being a null while having magic is absolutely incredible. It means you have the opportunity to do something absolutely incredible. But you need to be careful. With your powers, people won’t understand and will want to use you. You need to pay attention. And if you can do that, you can really make a difference. I know that’s always what you wanted, even if you were only thinking about changing our own town. This just means that your scope is a little bigger than it used to be. And while we may not be able to talk quite as often, we’ll be right behind you, always ready to support you.”
She embraced Helianna, not letting her see the tears that were starting to form in her eyes. After a solid minute of hugging, Helianna finally started to push out of her mother’s arms.
“I should probably start packing, shouldn’t I?” she asked dejectedly.
“Probably. Would you like some help?”
“Not really, but can you…” she trailed off and sighed. “I’m not ready to leave you guys.”
“We can hang out with you, even if you don’t need us to help with packing.” Helianna simply nodded.
The rest of the evening was spent in Helianna’s room with Helianna packing and her parents trying to distract her from thoughts about the future. She did her best to enjoy the night, knowing it would be her last night with her family for a long time, and she did remarkably well. Her laughs still felt hollow despite how hard they all tried and when she went to bed that night, she slept fitfully.
In the morning, she woke up to the feeling of her mother rubbing her back.
“Morning sweetie.” Helianna simply groaned in response.
“I know, but it’s time to go.”
She once again refused to respond, instead snuggling into the blankets. It took a few minutes of coaxing to get her out of bed, resulting in Helianna quickly dashing around her room to make herself presentable.
She eventually made her way out of the house, where a nice carriage sat waiting for her. The observer stepped out to help her throw her luggage in the back.
“You might want to say goodbye to your parents for now. But don’t take too long, we don’t want to waste daylight.”
Helianna rushed to her mother and gave her a crushing hug. When she spoke, it was muffled by her mother’s dress.
“I don’t want to go, mama.”
“I know, baby. I know.” They stood in each other’s arms for a minute before her father wrapped them both in a hug. The family all remained that way for several minutes before they heard the observer clear his throat.
“I’m sorry for interrupting, but we really must go.” They untangled themselves from the hug and her mother gave her a kiss on the forehead.
“Here.” She took off a necklace with a large diamond at the base of it and handed it to Helianna. “This is for your gugachadokk. I don’t know if you’ll have someone to do it for you, but I want you to be ready.”
“But I’m not,” Helianna whined, barely able to hold back her tears. Her mother cupped her cheek with her palm.
“I know, baby. But you will be. We love you, always. Now go be amazing.” Helianna simply nodded, unable to respond without bursting into tears again. She got on the carriage and the observer didn’t say anything as they began to pull away. She turned in her seat, her eyes never leaving her parents and the home she wasn’t sure if she’d ever see again. When the carriage finally disappeared from sight, both of her parents collapsed in tears.