Burn In Violet

01: Redhead

Chapter 1: Redhead

“Dreams are all in your head. You can’t dream without them. That’s why tyrants behead people who dare to.” – Tamaki Tamaki.

*

For the sake of oversimplification, there are three elements that we need to understand in order to understand magic: magic, the human mind and the universe. One could imagine a triangle with one of these three elements representing one point of the triangle, each one of the three interlinked with the other two.

Here is how the trio works. Hypothetically, someone having an amount of magic approaching infinity, and in perfect magical equilibrium would find themselves understanding, no, feeling how the universe works around them. Her mind, magic, and the universe will feel inseparable. She will feel every atom, detect the flow of every nanomana of magic and at the same time can think of how to utilize all these as she wills it. It is like temporal, unearthly knowledge, a moment of epiphany. The caster can feel the movement of every stream of magic in her vicinity. Upon touching a leaf, she can discern every vein, every cell and every molecule as they make their way in the vestiges of the vegetative life form. She will be trapped in a state of enlightenment beyond the limitations of the human mind.

But if she loses all this magical energy, she would find her consciousness reduced into the mortal she was before she came into contact with magic. She will forget how every leaf cell felt, the existence of the capillaries, and so on. It’s like trying to remember everything in a vivid dream that has slipped out of memory.

The redhead girl snapped the book shut, heaving a great sigh. “Boooring! I wonder when that old hag is going to come home?” she spoke aloud.

The way she made me spent my entire life, one would think whether books are the only things in existence! I know it’s not. I know there’s a bigger world out there! And here I am, forced to be cooped in this little corner, burning away my lifespan on… books! And boring ones at that!

Holly knew that even without having the books and her guardian telling her. She had dreamt about it many times.

The library bathed in golden light had been her world as far as she remembered, since she had learnt how to talk. Lanterns hung in brackets on the bookshelves had been her sun and moon for as long as she had remembered. She was sure that the place was underground; that was what her guardian told her. The problem was that she had never experienced life above ground so she couldn’t compare much. But she had dreamt about it.

Holly was just slightly less than five feet tall; had straight red hair that fell like a curtain of water behind her, just short of reaching the small of her back; and a pair of brown eyes that rarely blinked. Her expression was solemn, bordering on naïve innocence. Her mouth was usually a straight line, but at the slightest emotional incitement, would unconsciously hang open like a half-closed door. Her lank frame was hidden in a loose-fitting pajama with long sleeves, white like a pale curtain.

Standing up from the study table, she went to the edge of the library. Her four poster bed waited like an old friend, looking as welcoming as ever under the golden glow.  She looked at the antique clock ticking on the wall.

It’s already past twelve midnight.

She opened the book and lied on her belly on the bed.

She closed it again, pressing her face against the cold cover of the book. She would not force feed Magic’s Knowledge-like Properties: A Theoretical Study of Magic and Data Correlation into her mind right now. Besides, the title was in bad taste, she thought. No one in their right minds would blame her. She had been reading for seven hours straight, and the worst part was, the books she had to read were all academic. Who in the world likes them?