23 Two girls on the road (1/2)
Part 1
Ashley suddenly woke up while hearing strange noises coming from somewhere close by. She left out a lazy yawning sound and tried to look for the source of disturbance. After spinning her head she noticed Evlin standing in front of the lake screaming 'Why won't you work you stupid thing??'at it as if the lake was picking a fight with her. She stretched her neck and came closer to figure out what was going on.
”Good morning Evie... What did the bad lake do to you this time?”
”... Morning... Why are you talking like the lake and me are some kind of mortal enemies...? Also... 'Evie'...?”
”Well, you did say you wanted to be my sister right? Sisters give nicknames to each other!”
”I said i could be your sister... Don't make it sound like you are granting me a favor or something...”
”Come on Evie... No need to be shy!”
”Oh good... Now you're starting to sound like my actual sister...”
”Well anyway, what are you doing?”
”I'm... Trying to learn water magic...”
”I see... And the reason you are screaming at the lake is...”
”I'm not screaming at the lake, I'm screaming at... Myself i guess...? For some reason i can't seem to get a grasp of it...”
”Why do you want to learn water magic...?”
”I just wanna learn any magic to be honest... Ever since i became a mage i was never able to develop more than three types of magic... And... Well...”
”...?”
”I saw your brother in my dreams last night...”
”Oh... Ah! I see... So that's why you want to learn water magic... I see... I guess you are at that age after all... You don't need to be embarrassed thought... This is a very normal physical reaction, but if you just need help to wash your clothes you could just have told me.”
”What...? No... No!!! Not that!! He literally appeared in my dreams using his stupid tracking spell last night!!”
”Oh... Ohhh... Sorry, sorry! My bad...”
”Ugh... He said he's going to fight me for real next time... If i want to beat him i will need more than my usual three kinds of magic...”
”I always wondered about that... Why did you never tried to learn more kinds of magic...? Is this one of those 'I hate magic' things you were talking about earlier?”
”I wish... for some reason earth, healing and modeling were really easy to get... But whenever i tried to get something new it never worked out... It was never a huge trouble in the past but i don't think i can keep up with this for long...”
”I wish i could help... I don't know a thing about magic...”
”Same here... Dalla tried to get me some books to study but i was focused on doing jobs for the guild that i never found time to read any of them... And when i did find time i would usually be so tired that i would have no energy left to read anything...”
”Mmmm... That's a problem... Say... How did you learn earth, healing and modeling to begin with? Did Dalla teach you?”
”Kinda... She told me that to make magic you needed to get a good grasp of the shape you wanted to create... So every time i tried to use magic energy i would picture it in my head what i wanted it to look like...”
”So how did you picture healing magic?”
”I pretended i was a vase that was broken into a bunch of pieces and tried to put myself together...”
”I... See... And for earth?”
”I would imagine a small grain of sand that would join with other grains of sand until it formed a mountain...”
”So you just have to imagine the thing and you can do the thing?”
”Not exactly... I also need to have some kind of understanding of it. With healing, i was trying to fix myself after falling from the castle's window, and with earth i was going through a phase where every time i left the ground something would happen making me join with it against my will...”
”Huh... So... If you want to learn water magic you should try to jump on the lake...? While thinking about the rain or something...?”
”I tried that... Many times... I tried swimming on the lake, i jumped from a house, i was even stupid enough and tried to burn myself with a candle once... But i never got another element for some reason... I don't know why everything else just felt like...”
”Like...?”
”Like it wasn't part of me...”
”Maybe... Maye mages just have some kind of strong points and weak points...”
”Eh...?”
”Maybe the reason my brother keeps using thunder, water and wind isn't because he likes it... Maybe it's because they are his natural elements...”
”Natural elements?”
”Yeah! Maybe... Maybe there are some elements that work with you better than others.”
”... Maybe? But... There must be a billion types of magic... How will i know which ones work best with me?”
”Mmmm... Try one by one?”
”Are you serious??”
”You have a better idea? Miss 'i don't like magic but now i need to learn magic'?”
”Ugh... Please don't bully me... I've been having a rough week...”
”He he, sorry...”
Evlin kept wondering about Ashley's last remark for a second. Could it be that their talk yesterday had upset her? Maybe talking about not liking magic while being regarded as one of the most promising mages of her time was a little insulting to someone who could never get the hang of it, like a basketball player going 'Man... it sure is tough being so tall...' to someone who was half its size. That made Evlin feel a little bad.
”Hey Ash...?”
”...?”
”Sorry about whining so much yesterday... I think i got a bit frustrated and left it out on you without realizing...”
”... That's ok... That's what sisters are for after all...”
”Thanks!”
”You know... I was kinda relieved a bit to be honest...”
”... How so?”
”I always felt like magic was this amazing thing that could solve all your problems and grant you instant happiness and all... I always dreaded the fact that i was one of the unfortunate people that could never get good at it... I would sometimes look at my brother and think 'Why couldn't that be me?' every now and then...”
”...”
”But then you said all these things... And in my eyes you are a much more amazing mage than my brother ever was... You were everything i always wanted to be... And yet you still kept saying how much you hated being a mage and all that... It made me think... That maybe the thing i was missing wasn't such a huge loss after all...”
”I see...”
”I still wish i could use it thought... But... I just feel like i can be a little bit more happy with who i am now...”
”Well... I don't know if it means anything... But I'm sure you would have been a great mage...”
”You think so?”
”Of course! All the other mages i met were rude, selfish people... And you are one of the nicest friends i have! There is no way you would become a corrupted mage like them!”
”Thanks!”
While the two were sharing this 'family bonding' moment both of their stomachs started to make huge noises that could probably scare any wild beast close by. Evlin gave another look at the lake and decided to give a break to her water magic attempts.
”Could you start a fire? I will try to get some fish...”
”Alright... Would be nice if you could learn some food magic by the way...”
”Agreed...”
Part 2