Aramora

Chapter 20: Memories

Beautiful artwork made by Randompeephere <3

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Lavern sat beneath the low-hanging willow tree that reached out to the pond only a few feet away. In his hands, he held a wilting flower. With a deep breath, he held his full attention on the withering petals and shriveling stem before closing his eyes. As he exhaled, he imagined the air leaving his lungs and breathing life into the plant, but as he opened his eyes back up, he saw that no color had been restored in the flower's bleak form.

With a growl, he tossed the flower into the pond and leaned his back against the base of the tree with his arms crossed. With that test, he had his conclusion. No Mind Magic. No Summoning Magic. No Elemental Magic like his big sister had. And now he had come to accept that he also did not possess Life Magic.

He didn't get it. Why did Ana get all the magic, and yet there was nothing special in him? What was wrong with him? What was he doing wrong?

Shattering his frustration and self-deprecation, he heard footsteps approach but didn't bother turning his head. "There you are, Lavern. I've been looking everywhere for you," Ana said with a teasing snide in her whiny voice.

Lavern kept his attention on anything but her. Seeing his stubbornness to not look at her, Ana stepped around the tree and crouched at his side. Lavern finally looked at her and was not one bit surprised to be met with her infuriating cocky smirk worn about her face. "What do you want, Ana?" he grumbled and rolled his eyes. His older sister never wanted to talk to him unless she was planning on annoying him or getting under his skin somehow. He had been hoping to spend the day alone with his thoughts, not being bombarded with irritation.

Ana snickered and her eyes darted to the dead flower floating atop the surface of the pond's crystal-clear water. Turning her gaze back to her brother, she sighed with feigned innocence. "Oh, I just overheard Mother and Father arguing again and thought I'd let you know what the fight was about," she said.

"They fight all the time. What does it matter?" Lavern glared at her, seeing the malicious intent in her eyes and not wanting to deal with whatever she had planned.

Ana tried to mask her grin with mock compassion. "It matters because this time the fight was about you, baby brother," she said and pat his shoulder.

He shook her hand off and scooted an inch away, deepening his glare. "Me? Why?"

His sister's brows tilted upwards, but the corners of her mouth twitched as they tried to resist forming a sinister grin. She sighed again and sat down, leaning her back against the tree right beside him. "Nothing really surprising... Only the fact that you're apparently a bastard child," she said and cocked her head to the side to watch for his reaction.

Lavern's eyes widened and he rotated his body to face her straight. He searched her eyes, knowing better than to believe whatever his sister tells him without reading her demeanor first and making sure she's not lying. He noted how her eyes held no lament. Her face reveals no signs that she was saying this simply to get a reaction. Maybe that was part of it, but as far as he could tell, she seemed more delighted in the situation presented.

"That's not funny, Ana. Knock it off," Lavern stated. Regardless of how good he was at reading people, his heart refused to believe what he could tell this time. He wanted her to be lying.

Ana chuckled and stood up, daintily crossing her hands behind her back and standing over him with a smile. "It's true and you know it, Lavern. This explains why you have no talent with any school of magic. Because you weren't born from my mother, but instead you come from an ungifted tramp from Balmoral," she sneered.