Empathy Cures All

Chapter 6

When Caelum started to discuss his magical abilities, Finn’s blue eyes seemed to glow with intrigue. He had the idea to give him a demonstration. He decided to perform a simple trick he learned from his advisor Solomon, he knelt by the edge of the lake where he spooned a handful of water. He closed his eyes and concentrated as droplets of the water started to rise like small crystals before joining into an amorphous blob. Finn watched in a state of stupefaction as Caelum’s eyes shut tighter creating wrinkles that framed his face, using his magic seemed harder ever since he crossed through the threads of the Meridian. The mass of water slowly started to take the shape of a perfect sphere. Caelum opened his brown eyes to see a mesmerized Finn. He felt proud, happy that something so simple could be seen as defying the impossible. “I can change the shape of it, you know, just say the word.” Finn was hesitant before he spoke “Can you make a butterfly, they're my favorite?” he inquired. Caelum had told him he had never seen a butterfly before. Finn had described it to him the best he could and told him that he could do it the next time they saw each other, he would hope that by then he would have laid eyes on one of Finn’s favorite animals in the world. That evening, after Finn had gone back to his village, he had seen one. A yellow butterfly, its wings so vibrant they seemed to be pressed from buttercups. Caelum then knew why he loved them so much. They flew so freely, without a care in the world. They could truly be themselves.