"The ravenous fire that crackled in your souls was one and the same, stoked by repressed fear and the overwhelming desire to survive in a world that only valued material power."
In their desperate battle to survive the harsh aristocracy, the desire...
The prying moon was a witness to the many lies Hyunjin told himself as he flipped through the pages of the book night after night.
Deep in a cranny of his heart, he knew that he couldn't return it much like how he couldn't burn it. But he thought that if he said it enough times, he would convince himself otherwise. As he poured stolen sand on his desk and closed his eyes, trying to revive his Heart of Magic, he repeated that crooked lie. Just one more day, one more page...
But a day wasn't enough to stir his magic, nor were two. The voices—no, he wanted more. For all his heartbreak and misery, he deserved more than a few measly attempts at his magic.
A chilling thought ran through his mind. Why should he be obeying a mother that cared little for him, anyway?
The fifth night was similar to the rest. Hyunjin sat still at his desk, right hand settled on a small bed of sand as the world fell silent around him. He searched the remnants of his soul, scouring for the faintest trace of magic with timid hope. He couldn't permit himself more than that inkling of confidence, for he had failed countless times before.
Only on this night, he finally found something.
Folded away. Forgotten.
A flicker of light.
A whisper of power.
A pulse of another life.
He clawed at it, overwhelmed by sudden desperation. There it was. There was his Heart of Magic. Bleeding and dim, but there.
He caught a wisp of the fleeting light and pulled. At once, he saw color in otherworldly hues, erupting around him and through him, shaking his core like a tremor from the heavens above. That soothing cold washed over him again, a glorious stampede, and he dared to loosen a trapped breath.
The magic slipped out of his grasp.
No, no, no, no! Hyunjin scrambled back, grabbing at anything he could and dragging it with all the force he was able to muster. His focus had faltered for the barest moment, and that made him lose sight of his Heart of Magic. He couldn't let that happen again. Not after all the work he had done.
A chill spread to his fingers as he pulled the magic forward and outward. It was taxing, and he felt his heart beat as though it were in the heat of a duel.
Then, a sensation akin to the puncture of a thousand needles swarmed his body. Something in him locked into place with a resonant toll, and he opened his eyes with a gasp.
There, on the chalky mound of sand, was a single smiling blossom. Dull white petals fanned around its yellow center, and it embraced itself with two grey leaves.
Hyunjin's breath stilled, defying the rampant palpitations in his chest.
He had done it.
Not through an emotional outburst. Not by mistake.
He created a flower in coarse, lifeless sand on his own.
His magic, finally.
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