Veronstone Senior Society Stories

Awakening

Awakening

"Mine was pretty shitty..." Ivan spoke, flipping through the pages of his notebook.

At the moment, the men had gotten together to study in the sorcerer's room. It was a last stitch effort, as usual, to retain some information before the start of pre-testing season. Their first quiz was tomorrow morning, but the study session had turned into a riveting conversation when childhood memories came up randomly.

"No one ever told me about an occult awakening." Ivan continued. "I didn't even know it was a thing at the time, so it freaked me out when it happened."

"Second puberty, they call it." Alexander chuckled from his spot on the floor. "I find it funny that none of you were aware of it when you've lived in Veronstone all your lives. I read about it in a textbook Kyle had left me, years back. So, it didn't come as too much of a surprise."

"Well, I actually didn't live here all my life." Sigmund corrected, pointing out the alchemist from his bed. "And I suppose my father didn't tell me much because of where we lived at the time. Very conservative and religious. Dabbling in witchcraft would be severely frowned upon by the people in the village."

"But they found out eventually, didn't they?" Ivan asked Sigmund.

The blonde nodded in response.

"Eventually, ja. I couldn't exactly hide it after some time. I had to practice one way or another and you know how awful it feels if you don't use magic for some time."

"Back then, yeah." Ivan nodded. "Your joints get sore, and you just feel stiff and achy all over."

"Exactly. But ja, my father didn't tell me anything about becoming a sorcerer till he realized I was one. And even then, he waited until the very last minute when he couldn't keep it to himself anymore. My hair was changing an odd color at the roots and spreading outward, just like his. There was no other explanation for that."

"What's the weirdest thing you've ever had happen?" Nicolai questioned the group. "For me, the back row of my teeth all fell out at the same time, top and bottom. Didn't know that happened to mutants. We grow in new, sharper teeth after some time. I'd been eating dinner when it happened, and I flipped out! Nearly swallowed a couple teeth!"

The men laughed towards Nicolai's dramatics and sighed after a moment to think of their own misfortunes.

"I used to go to school in a schoolhouse before my mother turned to homeschooling instead." Sigmund started up, grabbing the attention of the group. "A small, wooden shack of a school. All afternoon, I'd had this burning feeling in my chest. I figured it was gas, so I was patting my chest throughout my lesson. It was only until we finally stood up and walked out of the schoolhouse for recess that I'd finally managed to burp, but it wasn't gas. It was fire!"

"Fire?!" Kyle gasped. "Like, out of your mouth?"

"Ja! Fire!" Sigmund laughed, recalling the memory. "It wasn't bellowing out of me like a dragon, but it jumped out like a flame on a stovetop. I felt the warmth of it against my tongue. I didn't know I had magic at the time and thankfully, none of my peers had seen it happen. I was also thankful that I didn't set the place on fire! I was a small child. I thought it was all in my imagination. I'd been so dumbfounded!"

"Did any of you get those tiny stars in your eyes?" Ivan asked the group.

With a resounding gasp of realization filling the air as a response, the men laughed all over again. That was a clear yes.

"You mean like, seeing those random little twinkles when you looked around, right?" Alexander spoke. "I always thought it was normal since they were a tad like the kind you'd see if you spun around too much. But I'd see them even on a regular occasion, and they were very obvious after some time."