Strange magic

The world was one that was ruled by magic, if you had strong magic you were counted more important. Everyone was born with one power, and that was your spell for life. They could start using it as soon as a week after their birth, which made it hard to raise some people, but weren’t tested for it till they were ten.

Some people showed off every chance they got, while others kept it to themselves only using it when needed. Either way everyone showed up to the test and proved what they could do.

Though it was rare, sometimes a person was born without a spell, the chances were higher if you had one parent that didn’t have a spell and %100 if both didn’t. For those who didn’t have a spell, life was hard. While they had the same rights no one treated them as such.

Usually someone like Araminta who didn’t have a spell wouldn’t get to live in such luxury. While she was working to keep her house a man fell in love with her beauty and claimed he didn’t care if she didn’t have a spell. He whisked her away to his estate.

She was even blessed with twins; a boy named Vess and a girl named rivatha. And she was happy, for a while. Then the infighting at the estate started and he asked her to move back to her old home to keep safe.

They spent a few years living happily together, just the three of them. The twins made friends with the neighbor next to them, a boy named Kilo. Rivatha found him fun because of his ability to sleep standing up. She had fun finding him in new places sleeping. Her favorite was him hanging from a tree branch, she never figured out how he fell asleep like that.

When they were eight things changed though. The twins and their mother were coming back from town when a group of bandits stopped them.

The leader pointed his dagger at Araminta who moved in front of the kids. He chuckled at her “Now all you have to do is give me all your money, then you all can go home.”

Mom frowned “we don’t have any money. We used it all up on our food.” she waved to the bag Rivatha was holding.

The group laughed around them as Vess glared at them “don’t lie to us we know you have money.” he pointed over his shoulder where their house was “you don’t live in a house like that if you didn’t have money.”

Mom shook her head, “that is paid for by my husband.”

He moved over to her and grabbed her wrist. “You can make as many lies as you want” he brought the dagger closer to her. She tried to step back but he pulled her closer to him. “Now give us your money.”

“We don’t have any,” Vess shouted. He tried to use his spell on the leader. The wind came out of his hand forming a little tornado heading towards the two. His eyes went wide when it hit mom in the back, sending her forward. She cried out in pain as the push caused her to slam into the dagger.

The twin’s eyes went wide as the man pulled the dagger out and let her go. She fell to the ground holding her stomach. The leader looked her over with a growl before looking to his men “let’s get out of here.”

One of the men looked back at the group “should we worry about them sir?”

The leader laughed “don’t you know? She doesn’t have a spell, no one would care even though we left her.” The men nodded and left.

The twins moved over to her mother. Both kneeled next to her Vess’ eyes were wide and he kneeled next to her “mom…I…I didn’t…” he reached forward but not touching her.

She smiled up at them “i’m alright” she whispered to them.

Both shook their heads, Rivatha placing the bag down and moving closer to her. Vess finally placed his hands on top of hers. “I’m so sorry.” he whispered and she shook her head.

“Don’t blame yourself.” she said looking him in the eyes.

“But if I hadn’t…”

Mom removed her top hand, which didn’t have any blood on it, and placed it on his cheek. “It wasn’t your fault. They brought the dagger and you were just trying to protect us.” she looked over at Rivatha who was starting to cry then looked back at Vess “now i need you to watch over your sister. Okay?”

He placed his hands over hers and nodded “of course.”

She smiled at them and the two couldn’t do anything as they watched her slowly pass away. Even after she had done so the two didn’t move. They were found hours later by Kilo who went looking for them after they didn’t come home. He pulled them away from her and led them to his house. Him and his mom were the ones who brought them back and buried her in her garden.

That incident taught Rivatha that she could never tell anyone she also didn’t have a spell. She had two years to figure out something to keep herself safe. With their mother’s death Vess seemed to make himself busy, either working or training to become stronger.

She used the time using the only thing she had to save herself. She was very smart, smarter than most kids her age. She used that to make a way to fake magic. It was a lot of failures with very little success and for a while she thought she would never do it. A whole year went by where she would scrounge for parts; A metal tube, wires, flint, oil. She had to acquire each part one at a time and when she broke them she had to find another piece to replace it.

She finally managed to make something after a year and a half of creating. Rivatha bit her lip lightly, she touched the machine she had been working on so hard. To see it complete made her heart race with excitement and feelings she couldn’t even name. It looks weird on the table just a long tube with barrels and then the top part that was pretty much the exact same color as her flesh. She had been personally proud of that matching the color so no one would know.

With a small laugh she slid the armbands on, wrapping them tightly around her arms, having to adjust them after a bit since she was cutting off circulation. She slipped her fingers into the small bands at the very tips of the machine and marveled at how it looked exactly like she imagined. She pulled her sleeve over her arm and the machine, happy to see no one would be able to see it. She lifted her hand up trying to get a better look at it in the light. If she hadn’t known what she was looking for she wouldn’t have seen it at all. Her smile grew and she brought her hand down again.

With the machine complete she now had half a year to practice to make her use of it look natural. She took a slow breath before pressing on the metal circle when she removed her finger she heard a click and a hiss as the machine activated. The fire started and she watched as it slowly formed a ball above her hand. Her smile grew as it managed to make a whole ball, but it fell when it started to flicker and sputter.

She curled her hand to turn it off. She moved the circle closer to her eyes to see if there was anything stuck in it. When there wasn’t anything wrong with it she took off the machine to look over everything.

~*~*~*~

The twins were standing in front of the town leaders, normally you would have to test alone but Vess was known for training with his spell so he didn’t need to be tested, and Rivatha had been too scared to go up alone.

Vess glared at the leaders before turning to Rivatha, he clapped her on the shoulder “you got this.”

She nodded and watched him walk back to the other kids before taking a slow breath before cupping her hands together and activating the machine. She moved slowly to make sure the ball formed correctly. Once it was done she looked up at the leaders who were nodding to each other. She quickly turned it off and not a moment too soon before Vess rammed into her for a hug.

“That was so cool.” she smiled and hugged him back. “Can you throw it? Or shoot it out?”

Rivatha shook her head “not that I know of,” it was something she would have to alter the machine to do. Right now she was just happy to have passed this hurtle.

The two were celebrating at their house with Kilo, since it had been paid off when their mother had moved back with them they didn’t need to worry about losing it. They sometimes had to struggle with food but Kilo’s family always helped the two.

Their party was interrupted when there was a knock on the front door. The three looked at it before Vess moved over to open it to see a man in fancy clothing standing there.

“Yes? May I help you?”

The man smiled at him, “I’m so proud of you son.” That only made Vess frown more as he looked into the room to see the other two, “and you as well my daughter.”

“Who are you?” Vess demanded.

The man chuckled “can you not tell i’m your father?”

Vess shook his head “our father wouldn’t come here.”

“Of course I would, now that I know you two don’t take after your mother.” Rivatha dropped the fork she was holding but didn’t move. She watched Vess worried about what he would say.

Vess crossed his arms “then if that’s the only thing you want to say you can leave.”

The man frowned “I wanted to take you back home. Train you properly.”

Vess shook his head “we are home.” he shook his head “And don’t think i didn’t hear about that woman you married only a few weeks after mother died.”

Their father sighed “you have to understand, i only married your mother because of the land her parents had. But now that you two have proven yourselves you can come live with us.”

“They had land?”

Their father nodded “this town and their mines belonged to another lord but became mine once I married your mother.”

Vess was silent for a while “this town is under your control?”

“Yes.”

Vess gave a small nod, “I don’t think i’ve proven myself to you yet.”

“What do you mean?”

Vess looked him in the eyes “I want to prove myself, put me in a position to control the town and let me do just that.”

Their father was silent for a moment before nodding “I see, I can do that. Now Rivatha” he looked up at her and she flinched but Vess shook his head.

“Rivatha needs to stay here to help me.”

Their father frowned looking back at Vess “you need to work on your own so she will-”

Vess grit his teeth and used his spell to push his father away by a few steps. “She stays here. I need her here. Just get me that job.” he slammed the door closed and turned back to the two.

Rivatha shook as he moved closer “Vess?” she whispered.

He looked up at the two with a smile “well, with this job we won’t have to worry about money.”

Rivatha blinked at him, “oh…i thought…” she shook her head and then smiled “we can have snacks.”

Vess nodded and tapped the table causing Kilo to jerk awake. He looked between the two before looking back at the door. “Planning to get back everything taken from you?”

Vess’ smile turned sharp with his nod.

~*~*~*~*~*~

It had been a year since they had met their father and neither twin were any closer to him. Vess now worked in the leader’s house. He wasn’t fully in control because of how young he was but he was learning from the current leader and she knew he would eventually become the leader.

Rivatha spent a lot of time watching the town, she quickly memorized everyone and could point out newcomers giving Vess a heads up when their father would spend a spy to check up on them.

One of the days she was watching the town a boy sat next to her. She looked over at him and recognized him as Luir. She had heard he demanded everyone out of the room but the leaders so no one would see his spell. They only allowed it because they knew he had a spell, they knew he was willing to be thought of having no spell instead of showing off what he had.

She kept staring at him wondering if there was a reason he sat next to her. He looked over at her for a moment before looking back at the center. “You’re the only one who hasn’t asked me what my spell is.”

She gave him a small smile, “I’m friends with Kilo” she said with a small chuckle Luir nodded, now with how often both Rivatha and Vess were around town Kilo was getting a reputation himself for never using his spell. After that day her and Luir spent the afternoons watching the people and talking.

It was one day after their talk Rivatha started to head home. She only made it halfway back home when someone grabbed her from behind. She shouted but the person covered her mouth. Shestruggled against the person but their hold was to tight.

A man laughed as he walked in front of her “no point, your father wants you home. You’ll be coming with us now.”

Rivatha shook her head but they started to drag her away. She clenched her eyes thinking she would never see Vess or Kilo again. But then suddenly the man that had spoken suddenly cried out in pain. Rivatha opened her eyes to see Luir standing over the man with lightning surrounding his hands.

“Let her go.”

The man’s eyes went wide but he held onto Rivatha tighter. She whimpered slightly from pain and Luir took another step forward. “You can’t touch me, if you do you’ll hurt her too.”

Luir smirked “no one knows anything about my spell, or what i’ve learned.” he stood in front of them and reached for both. One hand landed on him and one on Rivatha. She shivered when the lightning went around her, she could feel her hair starting to rise with static. The man cried out and pulled away from Luir letting go of Rivatha. Luir pulled her behind him before bringing his hands together he pointed them together at the man causing a ball of lightning heading to him, hitting him and causing him to faint.

Luir walked over to the man and kicked him to see if he would wake up. Once he was sure that both were out he turned to Rivatha who was still shaking. “Are you okay?”

Rivatha shook her head and he came over to her. She took a small step back and he shook his head “I turned off the lightning.”

“I know you wouldn’t hurt me.” she whispered “i just…” she wrapped her arms around herself. He watched her a moment before moving closer and hugging her. She leaned into it and the two just stood there. When one of the men groaned Luir sent some lightning at them to keep them out.

Once she had calmed down she pulled away from him with a small smile “thank you, sorry for causing you problems.”

Luir shook his head, “I had seen people watching you so I assumed something was going to happen.”

Rivatha’s eyes went wide “I didn’t notice at all.”

He shook his head, “i don’t think most wouldn’t.” he kicked the one he hadn’t before “i just…” he shook his head “should we kill them?”

Rivatha gasped and shook her head “no we can’t do that.”

Luir sighed then started to drag the two men back to the twin’s house. There he collected some rope and tied them up, leaving it for Vess to decide.

~*~*~*~*~*~

It was a few years of work but finally at the age of 17 when Vess took over leadership of the town. The first kidnapping wasn’t the last so he assigned Kilo as her bodyguard and Luir as his assistant. With the town under his control Vess set his sights higher. He knew his father wouldn’t so they took a year before eventually bringing an army against their father. It wasn’t easy but eventually they had beaten him and thrown him into his own dungeon. The twins didn’t know what they would end up doing with him but for now he could stay down there till they did.

Rivatha was happy she had her brother, and her friends and no one ever doubted her and she thought everything was going to be fine until he arrived. Aldro had entered the meeting room with a bang of the doors. The four of them had been planning where next to use the tax money.

His entrance drew all their attention and seemed to wake up Kilo. Vess frowned at him “who are you? We don’t have any meetings.”

Aldro chuckled, “how can you be so cold to your sibling?”

Vess looked at Rivatha then back at him “what are you talking about?”

He chuckled “we have the same father can’t you tell?” he waved at himself but both twins just frowned. “Ah i suppose we all took more after our mothers then the connecting link.” he shook his head before starting to walk towards them. Luir clenched his sword glaring at him moving to be in front of the group.

“You weren’t invited. If you want to talk to them you should get an appointment.”

Aldro shook his head “don’t be like that. Like I said, ‘I’m family’.” he walked around Luir and moved closer to Rivatha. “Though we do have a similarity.”

She blinked at him “what do you mean?”

He smiled and brought his hand up to form a small fireball on the tip of his finger. “We have similar spells.” he let the fire go and waved at her “won’t you show me yours? No one really knows much about it since you never show anyone.”

Rivatha brought her hands close to her chest. He grabbed her hands and pulled them out to look at them. Her eyes went wide and she tried to pull away but he was stronger than her. The others tried to move over to her but his laughter made them freeze. He let go of her left hand and taped the circle in the center of her right hand activating the machine. Her eyes went wide as the fireball formed in her hand.

“What is this?” his laughter seemed to grow louder. “This is what you showed the leaders of your town. Does this mean you don’t have a spell of your own?”

Rivatha ripped her arm away and turned the machine off taking a step back. She started to shake as Aldor seemed to double over with laughter. “To think someone like you would come up with this idea to make you seem like one of us.” Rivatha took a step back and tears started to build in her eyes. Aldro opened his mouth to say something else when he was pushed back by a small tornado, it pushed him out the room past the door. Aldro stood up to glare at Vess “what do you think you are doing?”

“That’s what I should be asking you! How dare you insult my sister.”

“You actually want to keep working with her knowing she doesn’t have a spell. I would be more useful than she ever could.”

He was then shocked with some lightning as Luir pointed his sword at him “you should leave if you don’t want to end up like your father.” Aldro glared at them but when Luir started to charge up another shot he turned and left.

Luir wanted to go after him but instead the three turned to Rivatha who was crying and looking between the three of them. Vess moved over to her “are you okay?” he grabbed her hand to look over the machine when she gasped he looked up at her with a frown.

“You…you know about it?” she whispered.

Vess smirked “you kept falling asleep while working on it. How else do you think you got to bed those nights.”

“i…I didn’t walk myself?”

Vess shook his head and pulled her into a hug “no, but thankfully my training meant i could carry you.”

“You…you don’t hate me?” she whispered.

“I could never hate you Riv.” he said, rubbing her back. With that she cried fully pulling him close to her. Kilo and luir left the room to give the twins some privacy to talk. Kilo took guard at the door while Luir went out to see if he could hunt down Aldro; he wouldn’t be able to sleep until he had checked the base over at least three times.

Once Rivatha had calmed a little he picked up Rivatha and moved over to the couches that were set up in the room. He placed her down in the one she always claimed as hers since it was her favorite. He tried to move to the other one but she didn’t let go of his shirt. He chuckled and sat next to her wrapping his arm around her and let her lean on him “You really don’t hate me?” she said, she didn’t look up at him but the grip on his shirt seemed to get even tighter.

Vess shook his head “in truth you and mom were the reason i wanted to take over from father. I wanted to make this an area where those without spells won’t be looked down on.” Rivatha nodded but didn’t say anything but also didn’t seem to relax. He frowned as he rubbed her back “it’s my job to keep you safe”

That got him a weak chuckle as rivatha followed up with her usual reply “what a reliable younger brother you are.”

He rolled his eyes but knew their usual play argument was not what she needed right now. “It’s what I promised mom,of course I would follow through.”

“She would be so proud of you.”

“You as well.”

Rivatha sighed “I don’t think she would.” She bit her lip “I was just a coward.”

Vess shook his head and pulled her a little closer “are you kidding? How is keeping yourself safe being a coward? It’s being practical, and in such a smart way of doing it.” He tapped the shoulder “know that you know I know about it could you tell me about it?”

Rivatha started to nod but stopped when her eyes landed on the door and she frowned “do you think the others would want to know? It might be easier to tell you all three at the same time.”

Vess nodded, “hey have asked me about it before so probably?”

Rivatha’s eyes went wide and she looked up at him “I could get how you saw it but how did they know?”

Vess frowned “luir is paranoid, when you would hug him in greeting with less strength from you left arm he started to freak out you were getting ready to stab him.” Her eyes seemed to get even wider and he patted her shoulder. “Don’t worry I convinced him otherwise.”

She looked out the door with a frown, Luir was the type of person to check the locks on a house three times and then set an alarm for every three hours to check them again. She looked back at Vess “you sure?”

He chuckled “you think he would stay around if I didn’t?” She shook her head “so one of the days when you were sick I showed him it, and pointed it out you were wearing it when I could. Eventually he got used to looking for it himself.”

“And Kilo?”

“He’s known us since we moved here as babies. He would notice you suddenly suddenly switching to do everything with your non-dominant hand.”

She bit her lip “I didn’t know what would set it off so I didn’t want to do stuff with my left but I didn’t trust myself to get it right if I wore it on my right.”

Vess nodded, “let’s get the other two in here okay?” He waited till Rivatha nodded before sending a small wind tornado at the slightly opened door. It banged into the wall and the two heard some shuffling, a sound they recognized as Kilo waking up.

In the years that they had known him he had only gotten more and more sleep prone. The two checked on him every day since they were worried if they didn’t he would sleep 24 hours straight.

Eventually he poked his head around the door to look at them, “we’re having a group discussion.” Kilo nodded and entered the room. “Where is Luir?”

“Hunt,” that was another thing they had gotten used to, as they got older he used less words when not working.

Vess frowned “it would be good if he manages to find Aldro.” Kilo nodded, moving to a chair across from the twins curling up on it, soon falling asleep. They knew eventually Luir would find them so Rivatha followed Kilo’s lead and closed her eyes, Vess rubbing her back helping her fall asleep against him.

Vess smiled down at Rivatha when her breath started to even out. “Okay?” Kilo asked without opening his eyes.

Vess sighed “she will be, we’ll make sure of it.”

It took an hour for Luir to join them back in the office. He looked between the two sleeping forms “sorry I couldn’t find him.” He whispered.

Vess sighed, “we’ll find him,” he held Rivatha a little tighter, “I doubt he will be able to keep away.” Vess had seen the type before, thinking they were owed everything.” The two were silent, each thinking until Rivatha woke up. Once she was up Kilo, and luir reassured her that they didn’t hate her they all sat down and finally got to ask her questions about the machine she made.