Mischief & Magic

1 · Magic/Ordinary

What awaits Nathaniel Bright after seven years is a house on fire, his parents arguing, the twins killing each other, and his baby sister almost drowning at the pool.

"Should I have expected this?" He mutters to himself for even considering of living under the same roof with the Brights again. He shakes his head, slamming his temple on his palm. Nate groans at the mess he isn't supposed to clean.

Despite the lack of motivation and determination, he whiffs his hand out of his pockets and snaps his fingers. At the sound of the click, he utters out, "Revertatur sole indomitus."

If he is still the same boy he was ages ago, he would've casted out a spell through his own language. However, upon entering the last of the magical academies, he learns how Latin enforces a much more powerful notation than the ordinary.

Red smoke coats the mansion, scanning for broken parts to fix, erasing all that's troublesome. The twins clap their hands but he isn't swayed by the compliments. Nate doesn't twitch a smile at the spectacular performance he presents. More importantly, he isn't even liking his welcome party.

The baby has been raised from the pool, sorcery disrupts the arguments between his parents, the twins are pulled away from one another-far where they can't reach their other half. Cracks stitch up back together, and the fire has been sucked by a whirlwind of enchantment.

With the foreign language, only a minute passed by to place everything back on track, fixed and clean. The red smoke sweeps the floors, brushes the walls, and sprinkles tiny bits of sparkles all over the place. It takes three words to do what's impossible in the given time. That's the wonder of magic, something Nate has to remove from his life. Probably forever.

He frowns as the smoke slowly dissipates. One day his power too has to go the same way, being ceased from existence. To prepare himself, Nate leaves the academy to venture upon the normal human life and begin to live out their daily routines. With no spells to help him, no magic to fascinate him.

He doesn't show it much, but Nathaniel absolutely adores having such power. He's practically named a prodigy ever since he was a kid. Now, that all ends after the discovery of his failure and conclusion of his mistake.

"Nate, that's amazing! Teach me how to do that," she exclaims. Cassidy's amber orbs glint with amusement.

"That's not fair. He has to teach me first. I'm the oldest, ya know?" Corian wrinkles his nose, shoving his twin away from Nate.

Cassidy squints, sticking out her tongue. "Using the age trick to get what you want, huh? Coward."

Nate steps back. The sense of aggravation from Corian tends to bubble in lava. He walks away, unheard and quietly, while he isn't noticed. While opening the doors of the grand estate, nostalgia overwhelms him with bittersweet memories. He imagines himself chilling out in his old room, smiling from the responsibilities he has been unlatched. But a fragment of his heart dares not say the same as it crunches the surface, burning his eyes in forming tears.

He sniffles, reaching for the wooden railings attached to the stairs. Before his hand could touch the polished oak, a woman stops his gawking. Marian's fair skin glimmers under the chandelier, matching with her red dress flawlessly. Unfortunately, the beauty she possesses doesn't work on her first born. But it does on her husband.

Aries brushes her ebony hair with his fingers. A smile as wide as the Grand Canyon opens up as he places an arm around Marian. With his free arm, Aries lifts it up and initiates a hugging spree that Nate hates every single time. Not only him though, even his younger siblings.

"Nathaniel," Aries beams. As his extroverted side doesn't seem to influence his son, the man with four children convinces himself to retain an optimistic smile plastered on his face.

Nate scowls as brows furrow. Even if positivity is a good thing, he doesn't get why there's the spark of anger in his chest. It ignites like seven years ago. The annoyance in him stirs up more blazing fire, one that's larger than what was burning the house down a while back.

It constantly reminds him of why he chose to attend a school half across the world. His parents take up the space in most of the reasons. It brings Nate to the past wherein he finally figures out the origin of that hostility against his own father.

What's seen on the outside, doesn't mean the same on the inside. Nate gulps, having to realize the terror in nostalgia and memories.

Aries Bright was the main reason he finalized his form that day. He was the reason the eldest son changed. Nate promised never to return to the household again, but due to his circumstances, the future begs to differ.

"How are you, all?" He says straightforwardly, ignoring the musk of the strong mixed emotions depicting fright and rage.

"Never better," replies Marian. Though a hint of arrogance towards her husband gives away the fact that they've been fighting again these days. She takes a side step, removing his arms from her shoulders. Then, her brows knit in worry. "How are you holding up, with all of these?"

"I can endure," he lies. Of course, he can't just from thinking about it. Since Nate was born a pure blooded sorcerer, how else could he remove magic from his life so easily? But it was for the good of his family. He has to give up the legacy Nate once wishes to inherit.

"You'll get over it soon. I know you can." From afar he looks encouraging, but as the boy who grew up digging deeper into words and the stories behind it, Nate knows better that that's not the words to enlighten him. Behind the act of innocence, hypocrisy insists on lingering.

Nate raises the edge of his lips. "Hopefully."

He evades the gaze of his parents, marching up the stairs, en route to his room. Nate shuts the door quickly, removing his bag from his body.

He has a month left before magic will be forcefully taken away from his life. Before his true self dissolves into ashes and dust. Before his own magic could consume his entirety.

Hopefully, he muses to himself, plopping on his bed to close his eyes and sleep the drowning thoughts away.

Hopefully he'll be fine.