Differing views (3)

After parting ways with her sister, Aurelia went back to her room in a slight daze. The snowstorm prevented anyone from getting in or out of the palace so she would have no official class for the day though she was planning to self-study.

But after meeting with her little sister and seeing her talk about her fiance so fondly, that was somewhat difficult now.

Since returning home, she had yet to see her little sister's eyes shine the way they did when she talked about her fiance. The stories she told of their first meeting, and their first date almost seemed straight out of a fairytale.

"She must really like him…"

It was a far cry from how her relationship with Ivan started. And while she eventually grew to like him, her little sister liked her own fiance from the very start. 

"If… I'd been like that with Ivan… would I… be less regretful of our lack of time together, or would I be more?"

It was a question that was now impossible to answer. However, the tears forming in the corner of her eyes were more than enough. Regardless of whether or not she would be less regretful, she was certain that she would miss him.

"Damn it Ivan… Why do I have to miss you…"

Before the tears could fall down from her eyes, a small knock came from the door.

"Who is it?"

"It's me…Can I come in?"

Those words could come from anyone but the small voice that it came with only belonged to her little sister.

'Deep breaths girl, deep breaths. She shouldn't see you like this.'

Aurelia wiped away the tears in her eyes and calmed her beating heart. She wanted to show the girl that she was still the reliable older sister she had always been. She takes one last look at her room to make sure everything was in order before beckoning her little sister outside the door.

"You can come in now Mira."

Her room's door slowly creaked open and in came her little sister looking rather down.

"What's up Mira?"

The girl wordlessly walked toward her and sat down on the bed.

"Mira?"

Then without warning the girl lunged at Aurelia and trapped her in a hug. Unsure of how to respond, Aurelia slowly hugged her sister back puzzled all the while. Buried in her arms she could hear her little sister sniffling ever so slightly. 

It was clear that she was sad but about what? Though she wanted answers, Aurelia waited for the girl to calm down and tell her what was happening. She stroked the girl's long black hair as she waited.

"I heard…"

The girl released Aurelia from her embrace and looked her in the eyes.

"Hmm?"

"I heard about Ivan. I'm sorry…"

"Ah…"

Hearing the reason for the girl's actions, Aurelia's heart felt like it was being squeezed.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I… I didn't want to talk about it."

With her complex relationship with Ivan, it was difficult to talk about him especially after seeing how good her little sister's relationship with her fiance was.

"We… We didn't have the best relationship. I thought he was annoying, clingy and childish. I made it really clear that I didn't really like him but he was too in love to notice."

Aurelia looked down with a melancholic smile on her face.

"He didn't deserve that. And I… didn't deserve him."

A heavy silence filled the room momentarily before being broken by the little girl.

"That can't be true sis."

The girl looked at Aurelia with eyes filled with pity.

"What can't?"

"That you didn't deserve him."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. You're smart, kind, pretty, it's easy for everyone to love you."

"Thank you Mira."

Aurelia leaned in and embraced her sister. One of the reasons that she had avoided talking about Ivan was she was worried that her sister would see her in a different light after talking about their relationship. 

Though it was a baseless worry as it seemed that her sister cannot see her in a bad light. That was a slight problem but her unconditional support was what Aurelia needed at this moment.

"No problem sis."

The girl returned her Aurelia's embrace as they sat on the bed in silence enjoying each other's companionship. 

After some time, the girls moved to a different topic.

"Sis, can you manifest your mana?"

"Hmm? Yeah! Do you wanna see?"

The girl nodded her head at Aurelia's words. Aurelia closed her eyes and began to visualize the spell that she was most confident in. After taking a deep breath, she brings her hands close to her chest and then extends them outward.

Five button sized fireballs left her hand and floated besides them.

"This is the beginner class spell, ember lights. And as you can see."

As Aurelia moved her hand closer to one of the fireballs, it started to float away keeping a moderate distance.

"It's really only for warmth and light."

She was unsure whether the girl was listening to her explanation or not as she was slightly busy playing and admiring the embers.

"How did you do that?"

"I visualize the spell in my head and then manifest my mana to match the image. It takes some practice but once you get a feel for it, it'll be no problem."

"Hmm…"

The girl put her chin in her hands and began to think to herself.

"What did it feel like the first time you manifested your mana? Felix has been having a hard time trying."

"Is that so? Well, how in tune is his mana?"

""….""

"What?"

"Oh boy…"

Aurelia fell into thought on how to answer her sister. But without knowing how far her sister's fiance has gotten with his own training, she could only give general advice.

"After the awakening, your body starts to collect mana inside itself. Though all that mana would be out of tune because it's mana from an outside source. People have to tune the mana so that it's easier for them to use. Did that make sense?"

It was the most textbook definition she could give. Aurelia was certain that her sister would nod in some agreement but…

"..."

It seemed like there were no thoughts in her head.

"Ok, uhm let me think."

"I'm sorry I don't understand this."

"It's alright Mira. I should be able to explain it a bit better."

Aurelia put her hands on her chin and thought a bit more on the topic. As she was racking her mind, she spotted an empty fireplace and a stack of firewood in the corner of her eye.

'Perfect.'

"Here this should work."

She motioned toward the unlit fireplace.

"Imagine that the body is this fireplace. And the firewood we collect is the mana. When we first collect the wood it'll be slightly wet because of the snow and won't work as intended."

Aurelia grabs some damp wood and tosses it into the fireplace. She then reaches for the matchbox on top of the fireplace, lights one up and tosses it in. Though it burned for a second, the fire from the match quickly fades as it fails to light the wood.

"See? But if you take the time to prep the wood."

Retrieving the log from the fireplace, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Held ember."

After a brief moment a small blaze came from her hands. 

Aurelia held the wood over her fire for a couple of minutes, then after being satisfied with her progress, threw it in the fireplace and lit another match. This time however, the now dried wood easily caught fire and began to exude a warming gale.

"It'll be easier to make use of it."

Aurelia dispelled her ember lights as she turned to her little sister.

"It's basically the same with mana. If you don't tune the mana, it'll just remain that way but if you do, it'll be easier to manifest it outward."

Aurelia crouched down in front of the fireplace and warmed her hands. Shortly after, her sister joined and outstretched her hands in front of the fire.

"Did that make sense?"

"Yeah… I think I get it now. Felix has to tune his mana before he can manifest it properly. But he should already know that. He awakened more than a year ago."

"Is that so?"

It was certainly an oddity. His parents were rather accomplished mages so he should be aware of such a basic requirement to manifest mana. The rather surprising thing was her sister was asking about manifesting mana instead of awakening.

"I'll bring it up with Felix next time."

Her thoughts were focused solely on helping her fiance with his problems. Aurelia chuckled at the thought that entered her mind.

'Just like Ivan.'

The actions of her sister overlapped with her deceased fiance. Always thinking of someone else, neglecting their own issues. Though she was thankful, Aurelia had a bad feeling that her sister would wind up like Ivan.

"Mira, it's alright to care for others, but don't forget to take care of yourself alright? I'm sure that Felix is grateful that you're looking to help him but you should also think on how to help yourself. Don't you want to awaken yourself?"

"I do…"

The girl's head hung low as she responded to her sister. 

'Damn it.'

That was a stupid question for Aurelia to ask the girl. Of course her sister of all people would look into awakening as a mage. She was the one who looked forward to it the most so there was no reason for her to not do so.

"Did you have any luck?"

"Kind of. The books all said that you needed to be surrounded by the correct type of mana. It said the same thing about manifesting too but it didn't help me or Felix."

Her voice gained a sad tone as she lamented her and Felix's predicament.

"Hmm…"

It was saddening to hear how disheartened her little sister was. There was little that she could do to help Felix with her limited knowledge of him, but helping her sister should be possible.

"You were planning on spending the day in the library right? Let's go together. There should be more things that you could do to increase your chances of awakening and help Felix too."

She gave her sister a smile to try and lighten her mood. And seeing that she returned her smile, it seemed to work.

"I'd like that."

"Alright let's go."

The two stood up and fixed their attire.

"We should put that out first."

The girl pointed towards the crackling fireplace.

"Yeah we should."

"Is there a bucket in your bathroom?"

"There shouldn't be. Why?"

"Well, how are we going to put this out then?"

"With ease."

Aurelia closed the cover of the fireplace and after a few seconds of having the air flow cut off, the fire died out on its own. The two began to walk towards the library after the crackling sounds of the fire faded.

"So it was that simple?"

"Yeah, how do you normally put out the fire when you light up the fireplace in your room Mira?"

"I haven't really used it too much recently. Though when I do and I want to put it out, I open my window and collect some snow using a bucket, then I toss the snow onto the fire."

"That's certainly one way of putting out a fire. But why aren't you using it?"

"I just haven't been feeling cold lately."

"That's not good Mira. You may not feel cold but your body still probably does." 

"Is that so? I really haven't felt anything."

"Didn't you just get better from a cold?

"I mean… y-yeah."

"Then that means your body still feels the cold even if you aren't aware of it."

There was a stronger tone in Aurelia's voice that made her sister immediately agree. 

"Ok. I'll use the fireplace."

"Good. It's important to keep warm so that you don't get sick. With how cold it's been recently and how much colder it'll get, you should make a habit of lighting that fireplace every night."

Her sister looked at her with a questioning gaze.

"What?"

"How do you know it'll get colder?"

"Count Terain told me."

"How much colder can it even get?"

"According to him, much more. This is just the start. We'll have a brief period where it'll be warmer but afterwards he said it'll get super cold."

"How does he know that?"

"It's part of his other job."

"Your teacher has another job?"

Her words perplexed Aurelia.

"Of course he does. He works with Count Syrias too."

"Teacher has another job too?"

"Do you two not talk about anything other than your lessons?"

"I don't really remember much about him."

That dismissive remark irked Aurelia the wrong way. She flicked her little sister's forehead and gave her stern advice.

"You should listen to him more."