It was a bright, sunny morning with canaries chirping cheerfully just outside the window of my parents' flower shop. They bounced and bobbed so freely, untethered by familial responsibilities or traditions. Some days, I wished I was one of them, to be one with such freedoms. Unfortunately, I’d never find myself so lucky.
That morning, I was the one sitting behind the shop counter, alone, as my papa had a business meeting with new flower importers from the province of Pama and my mama was taking care of my baby brother, Maël, at home, so watching the shop fell on me, their eldest daughter. Business was slow at this time of day, so I had plenty of time to let my mind wander, and it very much did.
I had a lot to think about after all. I turned fourteen three months ago and that would mean tomorrow, the sixth of Juin, I would face the Selection Ceremony to see if I had any magical potential to become a Magician. This event, for most, brought great pride to them and their bloodline but for me, I couldn’t think of anything good coming of it. I have no interest in learning magic, though I do believe it is a wondrous and important talent to have, it’s just not for me. I have this flower shop to inherit, and my parents to care for as they grow older. If I was to get into any of the lesser magic schools, like Magielecae Academy or Deipora School, I would leave my parents without someone to watch the shop while they are out, such as days like this specifically. With no magic in my bloodline past my great-great-grandmother Erina, on my father’s side, it is very, very unlikely I would get into the prestigious Nobilitentia Academy, the only school that would take care of my family if I got in. I’ve been praying to the Anci since my fourteenth birthday that the crystals don’t even shimmer on the day of the Selection Ceremony, I want not a glimmer of hope for magic in my future.
Soon the chime of jingling bells broke my thought bubble, and someone walked into the shop. I looked over from wherever my daze had made me stare, finding myself looking upon my school teacher, Mr. Nighcowl. He was dressed up to the nines, like he was about to go pray at the temple. He wore a traditional tunic and trousers. The tunic was decorated with intricately woven patterns of pinks, yellows, silvers and blacks, the national colours of the province of Zuckxel, where we lived. The tunic reached down to his knees and the sleeves were bunched at the elbows. His trousers were a pale tan with a wide pant leg. You don’t normally see someone dressed so well, besides a wedding, funeral or the Selection Ceremony. It was odd to see him so formal in general though, after so many months of schooling with him dressed for the casually warm weather of my hometown of Kugionara. I watched him adjust his collar before moving away from the front door and spotting me behind the counter.
“Why, if it isn’t Miss Sara Deleor, how has your summer break been?” He asked, a cheeky smile across his face as he made his way to stand in front of me. His smile seemed forced, strained even.
“It’s been good, Mr. Nighcowl, a lot of part time work though. You’re here for flowers?” I asked, getting up from my stool and adjusting my oversized apron.
“I’d hope so, I did walk into a flower shop,” He joked, giving an awkward smile, “is your father around? I put in an order for an arrangement, he said it’d be in the back over the phone.”
“Papa’s out on business, so I’m running the shop today. I’ll go check in the back for your order.” I told him before giving a thumbs up and heading through the sliding door just behind my stool. There were three or four orders in the back. Most were for tomorrow, to celebrate, but one was out of place among them. It was a small bouquet of white chrysanthemums and red mums. This was a bouquet for mourning. They sat so lonely on their own table, away from the others, as if papa didn’t want their sorrowful spirits to leech onto the other, more joyful, arrangements. I felt myself hold my breath as I flipped over the tag that was tied around the vase, saying a short prayer that this wasn’t what I thought it was. This would be for someone else. This would be for anyone else. My prayer wouldn’t be heard though, as there was his name, Austin Nighcowl, written in my father’s penmanship. I guess today was the unfortunate day. Mrs. Nighcowl had been sick for most of the school year, making Mr. Nighcowl absent quite a lot. The whole class had been praying for her recovery since we found out during the winter break, but I guess that hadn’t been enough.
A lot of people have been getting unexplainably sick lately and not a lot of people from this town can afford the care to get better. Some people think something’s plaguing the water. This is I guess one of the other reasons I don’t want to be shipped off to some magic school. I want to be there to help provide for my family in case something happens, because something always happens.
I picked up the bouquet delicately and brought it out to the counter. I set it down with the utmost care, not wanting to damage the fragile petals. It was hard to look up at Mr. Nighcowl, to look him in the eyes. I think he knew that I knew, though, because the exchange of money for the bouquet was quiet. It wasn’t a bad quiet, just quiet. I struggled to look up from the register until I heard the jiggling of the bells as he left, the store once again empty. Life around Kugionara had become dull over the years, but for most, there was no getting out of here without a child getting into Nobilitentia Academy.
Nobilitentia was so prestigious because it produced the Magicians that would work closely with the Empress herself, they have the most potential to be powerful Magicians and serve her well, so she makes sure they’ll have nothing to worry about besides their studies. The families of those sent to Nobilitentia are moved to Golbloxin, the province of the wealthy and gifted, their finances taken care of for the rest of their lives. Only one person from Kugionara has gone to Nobilitentia, and that was forty years ago, it’s unlikely it’ll happen again any time soon.
I would continue to sit at the counter for hours, giving out orders and selling floral arrangements, faking a happy smile, but now knowing about Mrs. Nighcowl, my mood just wasn’t the same. Papa returned from his business around noon. He held a large bouquet of flowers native to the province of Pama, I guess the discussions went well.
“Hey sweetheart, seems you didn’t burn it down,” He joked as he set the bouquet into a vase by the counter,
“Not this time, maybe the next,” I joked back as I started to untie the apron I wore, “I guess the meeting went well.” I say as I set the apron on the counter.
“Oh very well, very very well, by this time next week, this shop will have an exclusive variety of Pama flowers for sale.” He said with a wide grin, “and I don’t think there will be much of a next time, tomorrow is the Selection Ceremony.”
“Papa, no one in our family has had magic since Granny Erina, I doubt I’ll have any better luck.” I responded before helping him set the flower arrangement nicely into the vase.
“Don’t be a downer, sweetheart, there’s always a chance. Your Nana has been praying to the Anci since your fourteenth birthday, they’ll hear her, they have before.” He tells me before patting me on the head from across the counter. “Your mother said your school friends have been calling the house all morning, you should go find them, you might not see them for a bit. I’m going to look after the shop.” He says as he picks up the apron and puts the loop over his head, tying the rope around in the front.
“Yeah, I’ll go find ‘em, papa. Have fun,” I say as I head to the door,
“I won’t,” he joked, his back to me as I walked out the door, listening to the jiggle of the bells one last time.
I headed down the street towards my family home, the sun shining delicately over the dewy wet leaves of the plants that lined the sidewalk, water pearls left from the heavy rainfall the days prior reflecting the light like little gemstones. It rained a lot here in recent years, no one really knows why but it has really caused a lot of infrastructure problems. The streets and houses are flooding more, causing things to erode and break more, the fields becoming over-watered and dying, along with plenty of other things. The adults have tried going to the town council to get funds to pay for the construction to fix it but nothing has really been done, or really can be done, since it’ll still keep raining once it’s fixed. Today’s honestly the first day sunlight has peaked through the blanket of storm clouds. It's nice to feel its warmth on my face one more time before it rains again, or I disappoint my family at the Selection Ceremony. Though, maybe if I do have to become a Magician, I’ll be able to bring some money and recognition to Kugionara’s problems. Thinking positively never hurt no one, that’s what mama always says.
Time would pass and eventually I would walk through the front door of my house and kick my shoes off by the door, noticing two more pairs than there usually would be. I headed down the hall to go look for mama in the kitchen, but I was interrupted halfway by the sound of conversation in the living room. I popped my head through the door to my left, spotting my best friends Lucius and Marka, along with my mother and grandmother, all having a conversation about tomorrow's Selection Ceremony.
“Ah, my darling flower, you are home,” My grandmother said, looking over at me, “come give Nana a hug,” she added as she began to stand, her hand reaching for her cane.
“You don’t need to stand for me, Nana,” I said as I walked over, she was getting older and lived with us because mama thought it’d put less stress on her heart to have more people around the house to do things for her. I gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek before going to sit on the couch beside my friends. “We were just speaking of you, the spirits must have known and guided you here,” she said with a smile, she has a very beautiful smile.
“Must’ve taken you for a detour if it took you this long to get back,” Lucius said, nudging my side,
“Hey, hey, I was just enjoying the sun,” I explained, swatting away Lucius’s hand, “papa’s back, he had a giant bouquet of Pama flowers, so I’d say his meeting went well.”
“That’s very good,” Mama said before she looked at my friends, “now, I know you few want to go out and about, but family’s coming over at four, so Sara has to be back by then.”
“Don’t worry Mrs. Deleor, she’ll be back on time, our families are sorta doing the same thing anyhow.” Marka explained, scratching the back of his head. There was a moment of silence before the three of us got up from the couch. “We’ll bring her back in one piece,” Marka added with a thumbs up,
“Be safe, don’t get in trouble, and don’t go bothering the Magician’s in the town square.” Mama says as we head towards the door,
“No promises, Mama,” I say before heading a little faster towards the door, slipping on my shoes alongside my friends and dashing out the door.
We ended up having a race down to the small park at the end of the street, Marka won, but of course he did, he was on the school's track and field team. He was great at just about everything. It was a little past noon during summer break, so the park was pretty occupied with little kids and parents, but we got ourselves a spot sitting on top of the monkey bars at the back of the park, near the forest. There was plenty of noise, listening to the children around us giggling and playing and falling and crying, but we had enough silence where we sat to have a moderate conversation.
“So, which school do you think you’re going to get into?” Lucius asked, swaying their legs and looking up at the overcast that began to appear,
“I’m obviously going to get into Nobilitentia,” Marka said with a cocked grin. It was a cocky response, sure, but both his parents were Magicians, and both his older siblings were too. There was a chance for him to go to Nobilitentia since, as far as I remember, his grandfather went to Nobilitentia. His family doesn’t live in Golbloxin because his dad moved here to be with his mom, or something like that.
“Yeah, of course you are,” I said, sticking my tongue out at him, “I’m probably not going to get into any school,” I added with a sigh.
“Hey, don’t say that,” Lucius said, leaning forward to look at me past Marka, “everything will be fine,”
“Of course it will, but I still doubt I’ll end up with magic, no one in my family so far has it,” I explained,
“But you’re the fourth generation without it,” Lucius added, almost in a whisper, “has no one told you?”
“Told me what? Wait, what’s going to happen if I don’t end up with magic?” I asked, now a little worried,
“You’ll be sent to the Downwalds, since people will say your bloodline’s magic has dried up,” Marka explained, looking at his hands. I could barely muster an answer, or anything to say for that matter. The Downwalds was, for most, a death sentence. No one agreed with its existence, but how could anyone argue with the Empress and her almighty magic? She was a terrifying woman, so most just ignored the existence of the Downwalds. I didn’t know that if your family went four generations without magic that you’d be sent there, this changes… everything.
“I didn’t mean to sour the mood,” Lucius says, “but I thought you knew…”
“No, it’s fine, Lucius… I needed to hear that, it does make me nervous about tomorrow though,” I explained with a soft sigh, “let’s just hope the Anci have heard my Nana’s prayers…”
“I mean, we could always go to the temple, I’m pretty sure it’s open all day,” Marka said with a slight shrug.
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“I thought you hated the temple,” Lucius said with a slight grin, “or do you just wanna chat with that cute priestess that stands by the door.” They wiggle their eyebrows in Marka’ direction, making Marka blush bright red. “By the Gods, I’m so right,”
“Well whatever, Sara should be praying she gets into Deipora School at the least anyways,” Marka grumbled, still flustered.
“He’s right though, Lucius, I should be praying for some chance of getting magic tomorrow.” I said before hopping off the monkey bars, onto the not-so-soft pebbled ground, before turning up to look at my friends, “First one there gets into Nobilitentia!” I called before running off in the direction of the temple, my footsteps sounding like miracas as I ran, giving myself a head start.
I would miss these two if we all got into different schools, but with our backgrounds that was the most likely outcome. I’m in the worst trouble if tomorrow goes south, maybe I shouldn’t have been praying every night to end up magicless, though it’s not like I knew. No one had me. I’m not even sure what would happen to my parents if I end up being the end of my family’s magic bloodline, what about my baby brother, would Isiah still get a chance on his fourteenth birthday, would I be around to see his fourteenth birthday. My thought on this whole Magician thing has been selfish, I thought I was thinking of my family, but I was only thinking of me and having an easy life. I hope the Anci hear me now, if at any time in my life. I need the Gods help this time.
I was the first to make it to the temple, jumping onto the first step and raising my hands above my head, victorious. This was an almost impossible outcome, Marka always won, most times even if the rest of us got a head start. I was about to turn around to brag about my win, but as I lifted my head and looked through the temple doorway, I saw it… a white rabbit. Now, that wouldn’t be such a strange thing to most, our town is majorly surrounded by forest, of course there’d be critters running about, this one was different though. To the province of Zuckxel, white rabbits were a sacred animal and to most people, will decide your magic or if you got it at all. It’s even a whole event during the Spring Equinox, kids under the age of fourteen run around looking for white rabbits. If they find one and it approaches you, you’ll be a Pink Magician, if it runs away, a Black Magician, if the rabbit simply stares at you, a Yellow Magician, and if it turns around but doesn’t run, a Silver Magician. I’d never found one during the festival, Marka and Lucius always did though. This is just another reason why I never thought I’d be a Magician.
But there it was, a white rabbit, it’s fur plump and soft and white as the untouched winter snow, there was something off about it though. Normally, white rabbits had red eyes, or black occasionally, but this one's eyes were like honey, golden and even glowing I’d say. It wiggled it’s little nose at me before hopping forward, approaching. At this point, time seemed to freeze, I couldn’t hear the cicada’s buzz, or birds chirping, or even the leaves of trees bustling in the soft wind. My eyes were fixed on the rabbit’s stare, I could not turn around, I could not look away. My whole body seemed to shiver, goosebumps running up my arms, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end, but I don’t know why. I could only stand and stare as the rabbit hopped closer and closer, until it was at the edge of the top step. Then I heard it, well, I heard someone. Their voice was new to me, and they only said two words.
“I’m sorry”
It was then I seemed to snap out of this trance, as my shoulder was pulled back, making me spin on the spot to face Marka and Lucius. Lucius seemed completely out of breath, because they always were after a race. Marka had been the one to turn me around, even he was a little surprised I’d beaten him, I could see it all over his face. Time seemed to restart, the sounds of nature around me finally reaching my ears. I didn’t really have time to process what had just happened with the rabbit as Marka spoke.
“I can’t believe you beat me,” he said as he moved his hand off my shoulder, crossing his arms like a pouting toddler who was told no.
“You think the Anci will uphold that race?” Lucius joked as they caught their breath, standing up straight. I’d completely forgotten about that when I’d said it, but it was just a rather superstitious thing, no way the Anci are going to uphold a tiny thing like this. They’re the Gods’ messengers after all. They wouldn’t bring something so foolish to the Gods. They’ve got to be busy with, you know, important God things. Though, with what just happened, the thought of it would be in the back of my mind for a bit.
“I doubt it, Marka is definitely the one getting into Nobilitentia,” I said before glancing over my shoulder, seeing that there was no rabbit in sight. “Come on, let’s get this over with so none of us are late home for family dinner.” I say as I turn around and walk up the steps, entering the temple. I’d have to forget about the rabbit for now, I was probably just making it up in my head to think I have a better chance tomorrow.
As I step foot through the temple's entrance, the wafting smell of orchids and daisies hit my nose. These were flowers of celebration and congratulations, these were the flowers that made up the rest of the bouquets in the back. By the smell I could tell they were incense rather than fresh flowers, well, entirely fresh flowers. The floors of the temple were a polished hardwood, hickory wood probably, they creaked slightly with age as I walked along them, the walls were also wood, it was built sort of like a log cabin.
Kugionara didn’t really have the money to put up a fancy temple like in the bid cities, so the town's craftsmen worked together to put something up when they got tired of the days of travel it took just to pray properly. Now the entire town put in their own time for the upkeep, everyone pitched in here and there. My family normally helped with the flower arrangements at the base of the statue and with cleaning, and Nana would also sometimes hold sermons since she used to be a travelling priestess.
I kicked off my shoes and placed them on one of the shelves by the door before entering the main prayer area, where I was greeted by a young priestess. She was the one Marka really liked, even though she was three years older than us, it was a rather childish infatuation. She had long, beautiful black hair, intricately braided down her back with flowers interwoven with strands of her hair. Her eyes a shiny brown like a perfectly polished copper coin, they held a gaze that could calm a raging storm or tame an angry tiger. Her skin had a rippled colour to it, like the wings of a majestic and powerful golden eagle, spots of browns and beiges on her face, neck, arms and hands shown proudly and with confidence. The flowy summer dress she wore was a pastel pink and decorated with embroidered flowers of all sorts. Daisies, roses, lilies, carnations, all embroidered in either a pink or white, from the top of her shoulder down to the floor where the dress reached. The whole design of the dress, and how she wore it, was so soft, so feminine and radiated such an aura none of us could ever put a name to. She truly was a beautiful girl.
“Hello,” She said sweetly, her voice making even my cheeks flush red when she noticed me, and I didn’t even like women that way. Well, I don’t like anyone that way. I guess I could maybe understand where Marka’ infatuation with her came from, but that didn’t mean I had to stop making fun of him for it. “Here to pray to the Pink Anci for good fortune in tomorrow's ceremony?” She asked, a smile across her lips.
“Ah, I, ah, yes…” I muttered, for some reason struggling to speak. It was then she took my hand, placing something in my palm.
“May the spirits guide you to your proper path, it seems your destiny has shifted.” She said in a soft tone, leaning down slightly so that only I would hear her words. What a strange thing to say. What does she mean that my “destiny has shifted”, does this have to do with that rabbit? Or the race? She curled my fingers over the thing she placed in my hand before sending me on my way into the temple. I walked down the center of the room until I stood directly in front of the statue of the Pink Anci. I stared up at the complexly carved citrine statue before looking down at my hand, deciding now would be a good time to look at what the priestess had given me.
In the palm of my hand sat a small wooden carving of a bleeding heart flower. It was childishly carved, definitely not done by someone with skills in this sort of craft, the colours it was painted were weathered and worn, like this trinket was old. I also didn’t really recognize the wood it was carved from, which was the even weirder part, since I had an almost encyclopedic knowledge of plant life, thanks to papa. The wood smelt like a mix of nutmeg and peppercorns, which I still didn’t recognize. Maybe papa could tell me later, he knew plenty more than me. The fact that a priestess gave me a bleeding heart, though, made complete sense.
Let me explain. There are twelve Anci, the Anci are ancient warriors from two hundred years ago that fought alongside the Empress and defeated a great evil, the success of that resulting in the Empire of Nei-Dios, the place I live today. No one knows the Anci’s names, so they were assigned colours instead. All twelve Anci have what is known as a Great Anci Relic, a powerful item or tool they used to defeat this great old evil . This temple here is for the Pink Anci, like the priestess had said. The Pink Anci’s tool was a stem of bleeding hearts, known as Virtues of Ambrose. Ambrose is an Anci word, a part of an ancient language no one today can translate, so no one truly knows what the virtues of ambrose actually are. Nobody knows what the Great Anci Relics do either, but it is said that they’re kept at Nobilitentia. That could just be a rumour though.
So that’s why it made sense for her to give me a bleeding heart, it is a symbol of the Pink Anci, the one who watches over this temple and the people who pray in it, the one who brings our prayers to the Gods. The Gods and the Anci are two different existences, but they are honestly pretty intertwined so it’s easy to mistake the two as the same. Maybe this wooden charm was so I could carry my prayer with me for tomorrow, so my prayers would be heard better, or something like that. I decided to slide it into my pocket for now, just in time for Lucius to walk up beside me.
“You know, you sorta look like the Pink Anci,” they said out of nowhere, standing beside me with their hands on their hips. The comment came out of left field so I didn’t really have a response, just staring at them. They seemed to notice my gaze because they decided to add to their previous statement. “I mean your hair, you wear your hair the same way as all the depictions of the Pink Anci.”
“Oh… yeah, I guess you're right. My Nana braids my hair like this, it’s how she used to wear her hair when she was a travelling priestess.” I explained to them. The back of my hair was done in two thick braids, the ends of the braids reaching my knees, my hair is very long. At the bottom of the braids, preventing them from unbraiding, were two gold clasps that were engraved with the image of a bleeding heart flower. Even with my long braids, the front of my hair was cut in a more wispy way, like the ruff of the mane of a wolf. My bangs are getting sort of long, though, I’d probably need to cut them shorter soon. They were right though, I wore a very similar style to the Pink Anci’s statue. “It’ll probably get difficult to deal with my hair on my own, in the case that I get into a magic school…”
“You figure it out, you were really good at braiding my hair when it was long,” Lucius said before they ran a hand through their short cut hair, “I’m thinking of growing it out again, but I haven’t decided yet.”
“Well, if Marka takes any longer to get over here, your hair will end up just as long as mine,” I said with a sigh, glancing over my shoulder, spotting Marka still chatting with the Priestess. He stared up at her with that infatuated, doe eyed stare, but she simply looked down at him like a sister talking to her blabbermouth younger brother. He really saw more there than there really was. This is why we make fun of him.
“You could say that again…” Lucius agreed, sighing softly before looking up at the citrine statue, “you ever wonder how a branch of flowers actually helped in a fight against some giant evil god-like being?” They asked, once again asking obscure questions out of nowhere. Some of our teachers hated them for that, Mr. Nighcowl would encourage it sometimes though, when the time was acceptable for Lucius to go off on some strange tangent. They could talk for hours, but so could I. I’m surprised Marka has put up with us for so long.
“Nah, I’ve never really thought about it much, but, to be completely honest, a lot of the ancient relics wouldn’t be very good in a fight.” I decided to answer, “Like sure, Rylan’s Honour is a dagger, but it's a stone dagger with a dull blade. Echo’s Forge would probably be the best in a fight, since it can make just about anything but the other relics.” Lucius simply hummed at what I’d said, as if they were deep in thought about the topic.
“Hey, what are you two standing around for?” Marka said as he strolled up to us, far too casually for being the one holding us up.
“We’ve been waiting on you, lover boy,” Lucius said, sticking their tongue out at him, “let’s get to this, shall we?”
“Yeah, not like we’ve got all day, though, does anyone else notice how strangely empty the temple is today? I’d expect it to be packed with people trying to get into Nobilitentia.” I say as Marka walks over to stand beside Lucius.
“Maybe we just got here at a really good time?” Lucius says before shrugging, “it does mean we get to stand directly in front of the statue though, so it doesn’t really concern me.”
“I heard a lot of people saying they were heading to the city, so they could go to a fancy temple with an actual mystic. That’s where my parents are.” Marka explained, “the number of people actually getting into Nobilitentia has been dwindling over the years, after all, so there’s such a small chance to get in nowadays. I heard only five people got in last year.”
“You think they’ll have to lower their standards soon?” Lucius asked, “maybe I’ll be able to get in this time around,” they joked.
“It’s the opposite, actually, apparently the Empress is making the criteria to get into Nobilitentia stricter, like, to the point where your magic better be so off the charts you break the crystal.” Marka said with a sigh, this was the first time I saw a look of worry wash over his face.
Marka’ family has always been super strict, about his grades, how he performed in sports, his reputation around town, even who his friends were. It took him tutoring the two of us every weekend for our grades to get high enough for his parents to let us hang around him. I’m grateful he did that. I've never been so good at studying before, or school in general, but now I’m one of my class's top students and I have no problem studying for tests on my own. I am just a little surprised he decided to tutor us instead of being friends with the kids of his parents’ high class friends, like his parents had wanted. He always acted like he wanted to take the easy route for everything else, so it was just a little weird, really nice, but weird.
“Only one person has ever broken the crystal during the Selection Ceremony, and he’s the Master Librarian, the man who knows everything and anything. He knows more than the Empress herself.” Lucius said, clearly surprised by the new criteria for getting into the prestigious school.
“Looks like we’re all out of luck,” I said with a slight laugh, “but maybe that means we can all go to Deipora School together.”
“Yeah, that’d be fun. Way to look on the bright side,” Lucius says as they nudge me in the ribs.
“Okay, okay, less talking to each other, more praying to the Anci that the Gods answer us.” Marka said, the smile returning to his face. We all then turned to face the statue, closing our eyes, holding each other's hands, saying our prayers in silence, hoping they'll be heard.
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