Forgotten Magic

Chapter 17

"I'll take you to Sarah," he suggested. "You remember Mrs. Chance, right? Then I'll find Savannah and she'll be there too. You can stay there tonight if you want. I'm sure she'll be alright with that."

I nodded silently and let him guide me to the Chances'. I heard him knock on the door and the creak as it opened.

"Quirin! What a lovely surpri-Oh my. What happened?"

The voice was familiar.

"Sarah, I..." My dad whispered something to Mrs. Chance.

She said "Oh...I see...Mhm. Alright then. Come inside, Varian. Have a seat." A hand touched my shoulder and guided me to a couch.

I finally wiped the tears from my eyes and looked up at Mrs. Sarah. She had just exchanged some words with my dad and was closing the door. She wasn't much different than I remembered her. Her hair was longer, not shoulder length like I pictured her with. I thought I could see a few gray hairs, but maybe not. Everything else was the same, down to the gold locket she wore around her neck.

"It's been a while since you've stopped by," Mrs. Sarah started. "When was the last time? If I recall correctly, you were maybe five. Or six. Oh, you've grown so much since then."

"Uh...thanks," I whispered.

"Do you still like hot cocoa?"

I nodded quietly, smiling a bit. "Yeah."

"Same as always?"

"Mhm..."

"Great. I'll go do that. Call me if you need anything." She disappeared into the kitchen.

I took a moment to take in the living room. It had changed from the last time I'd been here. The photos were different, and everything had clearly ben rearranged several times. I got up and walked around the room to take a closer look.

There was a wedding picture. And then a family portrait. Much like the one in my dad's room. But in place of the young me, laughing happily, were two kids. One looked no older than a year with brown hair and a little smile. The other seemed barely a month old, laughing just like I had been.

And then there was a picture of two kids. One had brown hair and had an arm around his sibling who had sandstone orange hair and round blue-rimmed glasses. They were both grinning towards the viewer.

There were a couple miscellaneous pictures too. One of Mr. Parker in a guard's uniform. Another of the orange haired kid with a letter in one hand. The letter was framed next to it. And the last was of the brown haired kid in a guard's uniform, just like his father.

I could quite easily put names to the two faces. The one with glasses and orange hair was Taylor. And the brown haired one was, no doubt, Nickolas. I'd know the both of them practically since diapers. How could I not remember them?

There was a knock at the door.

"In a moment!" Mrs. Sarah called. I heard the sound of things being set down and she rushed to the door and opened it.

"Um...hi," I heard Ann's voice say. I ran to the door. Sure enough, there she was. Shaded under her usual cloak.

"Ann!" I didn't hesitate to wrap her in a hug.

"Varian!" She laughed a bit, hugging me back. "What..." She let go and held me at arms length, taking on a serious expression. "What happened." It wasn't a question. I knew.

"W-well, I-I-" I began.

"Why don't you come inside?" Mrs. Sarah suggested. "Both of you."

"Thank you," Ann whispered, grabbing my shoulder and pulling me along with her.

"Hot cocoa?" A warm mug was pushed into my hands as I sat down again. I heard Ann mutter a thank you as I took a sip. And I would soon regret that.

"What happened?" Savannah asked me. "Your dad didn't tell me anything. What. Happened? Tell me."

I choked. I'd never heard Anna like that.

"Calm down, Varian," Mrs. Sarah set a hand on my shoulder. She looked at Ann. "What happened?"

"That's the question I should be asking you," Ann snapped at me. "Your father seemed broken when he told me you were here. What happened to you?"

"Calm down, calm down," the woman insisted. "No need for fighting. Why don't you both calm down and drink your cocoa. Take your time. Once you're both done, we'll have a talk about all this, alright?"

Ann and I murmured in agreement.

We both sat in silence for a while, drinking hot cocoa and thinking. Sarah wandered in and out of the living room, and we could hear her cooking dinner.

Finally, she sat down across from us.

"Well?" she coaxed. "Where did we leave off?"

"Right..." Savannah whispered. "Well...I wanted to know what happened."

"Well? Varian?" Sarah nudged. "What do you have to say?" It was like trying to start an argument in front of an experienced mother. In fact, I suppose that's exactly what it was. She'd spent almost the last twenty years watching over two kids who...as I remembered them, liked to tease and bicker.

"I...he..."

"I'm not forcing you to tell the truth," she explains. "I just want you to answer. Preferably with truth."

"My dad and I had an argument," I whispered. "In the apple orchard."

"How? Why?"

"Ann, I think it's Varian's turn to speak freely," Sarah interrupted.

"Okay..."

I took a deep breath. "I...have nothing to say. It's fine. Go on."

Ann hesitated. "What happened?" she whispered.

"I wanted to talk about my mom," I murmured. "I wanted to talk about her. But then my dad brought up the alchemy and how I shouldn't do it. That it was a bad moment and the village could be in worse danger. That you could be in worse danger."

"I...I'm sorry," Ann spoke softly. "I shouldn't have made you do it."

"No no! It wasn't you! It was me. Or...or..."

"Here's a lesson for you both," Sarah offered. "A lot of situations have no faults. A lot of things happen because of no one. And when those things come up, you can't string blame to one particular person."

Mr. Parker entered soon after. I said 'hi' and Ann introduced herself. He was happy to see us both.

Ann and I sort of sat in silence and listened to the Chances' conversation. It wasn't eavesdropping, we just...didn't have anything to do.

"Taylor's letter got here," Parker began. "They said they'll be home soon. Very soon. They said they're excited to see us. And Nick. I..."

A soft sob.

"Sarah, you can't still be upset. He made his decision. Like Tay made theirs."

"He was my son," Sarah whispered. "Parker, he was my son. I supported him all this time. And then...and then...because of my brother...he runs off! He suddenly leaves and...doesn't return. It's like...it's like he never knew us. How...how can it be?"

"Sarah, I..." Parker sighed. "I'm upset too, don't get me wrong. He was mine too. But it was his choice. If he doesn't want to come home then so be it. If he doesn't love us, or Taylor, anymore, then that's his problem."

"How can you say that?! I-"

Something was wrong to say the least... Something was very wrong.