𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐈𝐂 | 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐢𝐥

o3 • the primordial entity

It is now nightfall. Today's events have... stirred something within me. Something I have never felt before. And it is all because of the One Magic. Even after all the destruction it caused, somehow, I am able to find forgiveness deep down inside my heart for it, because it has awakened a power I never dreamed of possessing. The lives sacrificed in my honour will not go forgotten. The shrine I designed for their memory is set in gold, and nothing can take that away. 

As for the rest of the villagers, I have not yet learned of their conditions. Were they, too, affected by the power of the One Magic? Has their life also been taken from them? These thoughts and more swell inside my already-habituated mind. The One Magic leaves little space for me to think as I make my way to my childhood home. 

It sits on the outskirts of Caelum, at the top of a time-ravaged hill. As I mentioned, the Pyrrhus family bloodline had been struck by an incurable illness many decades ago, and we have lived in Caelum only during that time. Throughout the years, the villagers feared us, and the possibility of contagion, and so they shunned us. But no matter what we said, what we claimed, they did not believe that the illness grew and bred inside us like a parasite, breaking down our essential organs and cells, like acid to cloth. Our bodies simply shut down one day and never restart. 

When the hill of my youth comes into view, my knees lock together. 

"What is the matter?" the One Magic inquires. 

I take a moment to answer him. "It has been many years since the last time I set foot in this place," I say, "the last being the day of my sister's burial. I did not plan on returning here today, but I realize that I must." 

I also do not plan on wearing this poor excuse for a dress during my journey. 

I have to use excessive force to open the door to my childhood home. Time has worn down the small cottage we once lived in quite a bit: The top of the door splinters and shatters from where it is nailed into the frame. I cringe from the sound the door makes when it collides with the ground. A cloud of dust explodes upwards; I cover my nose and mouth and shut my eyes to protect my face from debris.

"So much time has passed," I say, lowering my arms once the air settles. "I'll have to see what clothes my mother left behind." 

Returning here after eight years should take an emotional toll on me. Eight years ago, my sister, Verona, passed away from our family's illness, at the age of seven. Four years prior, our mother died from the same illness. And my father, as I mentioned, left to study dragons four years before that. Verona had never had the luxury of building the same father-daughter relationship that I had. The trips he used to take me on; the adventures he would create for me. The places I had seen throughout Earth Land. But I have outgrown these childhood whims. I haven't thought about them, until now. 

Pictures still line the four walls around me, save for two: One that was of my mother, and one that was of my sister, both used for the funerals I was forced to attend so many years ago. My bed still sits in the same corner, with the sheet I used as a blanket still improperly strewn across my bare mattress. My pillow hangs off the top edge of the bed, teetering on an imbalance.

In a lonely rampage, I abandoned what morals I had and left the place I called "home" a mess, before setting out on an journey of my own, one that would perhaps lead me to my reckless father. But that journey ended a year ago, after learning that my father hadn't been seen for nearly three months. Whether or not he discovered the location of the Dragons is still unknown. I would like to keep things that way, for now. From then on, I simply wandered through Earth Land without a second thought. I simply wanted to escape the pit in my heart, left to me by my family-- or, to be exact, the pit in my heart I created for my family. 

The question now is: How am I supposed to fill it? 

"Fill it by completing your duty," the One Magic's voice tells me. "Spread the knowledge of magic across the earth. Share your power with your neighbours, and the world." 

"I... understand," I say. 

 On the opposite side of the room, next to the broom closet, sits a large wooden chest, covered with the same greying knit blanket I placed there roughly ten years prior. I walk over to it, stepping over the debris from the caved-in roof and ceiling above me, and pull the blanket off. I hold my breath as the dust clears before pushing open the lid. 

"Just as she left them," I murmur. "My mother always was a simple woman. Simple clothes, simple colours." 

My mother never wore dresses, though for some unexplained reason, she would make my sister and I wear them. I would always dress up in her clothes when I had been in my youth: Loose-fitting pants and button-downs. They never fit. At my current age, however, I am sure to be able to fit my chest into her shirts, and pull her pants up past my hips and have them stay there. But just as I am about to undress, I am reminded by the One Magic's voice of its presence. 

"D-do you mind... um..." How should I even phrase this? 

 "I am a primordial entity, and you truly believe that I would be interested in your virtue?" the One Magic challenges. I wait for him to continue speaking, but he doesn't. 

So I take the opportunity to change into a pair of the aforementioned trousers and shirt. To replace my father's boots, which I had left in the meadow, I steal the pair hiding in the closet that also belonged to my mother, and pull them on over my bare feet. My toes stretch the black leather, snug against the soles. 

"Okay. I'm ready," I say. "Now, tell me: Just what do you intend for me to do with your power, One?" 

"One?" 

"It seems more natural to say than calling you "the One Magic" all the time," I reason, "but that is besides the point. What is it you want me to do with this power? How am I supposed to use it?" 

"Your task will be to spread the knowledge of magic throughout the world," One explains. "It will be your duty to teach mankind how to use their newfound abilities; to keep a proper balance between good and evil; and, to serve as a dark knight who protects her people." 

On my way out of my childhood home, I can't help but laugh at myself. 

"Then I suppose these silly clothes won't be enough for this dark knight," I say. "Which means, I must go to the Kingdom of Fiore. I know someone who can give me what I have in mind."