The Mark of Aether

Magic lessons~Part I

I woke up by cockcrow, the magical sky of my room still inky and dark. Gleaming stars danced in it, casting sparks of light. With a slight flick of my wrist, the sky woke up, the light increasing by passing seconds.

Showering and slipping in a cerulean maxi dress, bound on the waist by a silver belt, I prepared myself. A simple breakfast was brought, most likely by Hengrid under Ramos's orders. Swallowing down the luscious croissant and cup of fruit tea, I looked around for Ramos' study.

Through my sleep, I wished everything that had happened was nothing but a mere dream. But a mere concoction of this crazy imagination of mine. But it wasn't. It was not even close.

Guided by a maid, I knocked and entered Ramos' place. Like usual, he was working.

''No wonder Leon said you always work too much. One day will come and you will truly sink in all of those papers.''

"Shall I need to explain myself once again,'' he replied, putting his quill aside. ''Besides, with your family's absence, all the work falls upon my shoulders. Until you ascend your throne, I can have no break. Well, if we are to be logical, it won't even happen after this.''

I offered him a smile. Why, I didn't know. Something in him was calming and reassuring. No wonder Mother used to love him.

"Do I look much like her?'' I asked as I took a seat.

"You look like both of them. A complete blur . In main sight, you take greatly after Elena, but your eyes are sharp and commanding. Aragon's exact emeralds. One day I will show you their portrait. But let's start.''

"What will I be learning today?"

"Concentration, as it is vital to every wielder. Mage might he be or fae. Emotions are primordial in calling for your elementals, but they can bring hell upon heaven if they take over.''

"Then what should I do?"

"You have to find the blurred lines between feelings and logic. The place where you can lose both your heart and your soul, for it is the essence of every being.''

"That's not helping much."

"Close your eyes and I will guide you.''

I closed them like I was guided and waited.

''Learn to shut the world around you. Distance yourself until everything turns to a mere whisper, a calling sound in the back of your mind. Slowly, by your own pace, shun this distribution and clear your heart and your head. When you become one by body and soul, you will find your true self.''

I tried to obey, to distance myself from the life around me, but it was hard. Hard with the questions and fears popping from every side of my mind. Maybe this was the reason I was learning this. To learn how to make my doubts bend. To clean my heart from unwanted pain and bitterness.

Several times of trying and failing, I seemed to catch the thin line of the entire idea. I've lost count of how many times I broke. How many times everything would come back like a raging storm that destroyed the ease I was trying to settle. Like a wind it was. A menacing wind shunting the frail of my frangible shelter.

Seconds trickled by slowly, everything around me turning to a blur. A rush of adrenaline coursed through my blood as a familiar feeling overtook me. The same feeling that drowned my senses after crossing the gates. Voices vanished; the wind seemed to stop as I closed my eyes. I could hear nothing. Nothing but the echo of my breathing.

And as I shot my eyes fully closed, did I see it.

I was standing in the middle of a place bathed in silver light. Enclosed by more glasses and mirrors than could be counted, I saw my reflection on every single angle.