Past Memories ~ Julian Devorak

Captiolo 3

The days following that were all the same. I would wake up right after sunrise, help my father with his shop, and then I would go to an area called "The Flooded District" with Aunt Miley to practice magic. She's started taking me back there less and less, however; she's saying I'm getting better than her and soon she can't teach me anything. While I've noticed the end is true, because of how many new magic books she's gotten for teaching material, I overheard her telling my father that it's getting too dangerous to practice around there.

"Harley, I cannot help them anymore, or at least not there. I need to take her outside of the city-"

"No! I don't want them leaving the area. You're lucky I let you take them out of this district."

"Harley, please, if you want Charlie to protect themself then you have to trust me on this. It's what-"

"It's not what she would have wanted!" My fathers voice lowered to a whisper, almost like he didn't want to cry, "if she were still here... Charlie wouldn't need to learn magic at all. We wouldn't have had to move. Everything would be normal." I heard him stomping towards the door and I rushed back to the counter. He slammed the back door open and looked at me. There was a sadness in his eyes I've never really seen before. He quickly looked down and went upstairs.

Aunt Miley didn't follow him in. After that they didn't talk for a couple days and I was left alone with, who I found out to be my familiar, Prospero.

Dr. Devorak soon became a regular customer and a friend of my father. Once he found out I was a magician, he didn't really talk to me. It was just light, casual conversation between a clerk and their customer after that. Not that I was upset or anything, I was happy with my new best friend Maddi.

When Selasi was stuck at the bakery and Aunt Miley would stay to help him, I would go over to Maddi's and teach her all the magic I learned from the day. She took a quick liking to herbal magic so we would focus on that during our meetings.

It's been a few months since we've been in Vesuvia and I've been surrounded by the same faces everyday. Whenever there are travelers that enter our shop, my father sends me either upstairs or with Aunt Miley. He doesn't like when I venture by myself, even though I'm almost 17 years old.

I finally decided that on my birthday I would venture out, maybe go to town square and look  at the architecture. Maybe go out of the city with Aunt Miley to practice magic in the fields we camped in so many nights ago.

I waved goodbye to Dr. Devorak as he left the shop, and my father stood next to me behind the counter. Prospero hopped onto the counter in front of me and flopped over. I tried my hardest to focus on him as I finally asked my father for my birthday gift. "Dad, I know what I want for my birthday."

"Oh really, what do you want? Perhaps some Prakran spices? An herbal trader is rumored to be visiting soon-"

"I want to leave the city," his face immediately fell and I quickly finished my request, "or travel with you and Aunt Miley to the city square. Maybe go... on a gondola... ride?"

He watched Prospero as I mindlessly rubbed his stomach. The rabbit sensed the tension and got up to sit next to me. "I guess a gondola ride through the city won't hurt. Just stay with us and don't wander off, okay?"

"Yes sir!" I said excitedly. I picked up my rabbit and ran upstairs. My birthday was only a few days away and this was going to be the first time since I moved to Vesuvia that strangers were going to see me. I planned out my outfit and laid it all out in the closet for when the time comes.

this is just a teeny weeny filler chapter so that my brain can actually form a full, thousand word chapter as per usual later on, but hey it's a double update lmao-