Memory Blooms

Deep Freeze

Okay... That. Sucked. Way more than it should have.

Getting rid of the ice proved to be a bit more difficult than originally anticipated. Simply getting to the well was time consuming and nearly sapped you of all your energy, leaving you just aching to take another nap. Numerous times you had been pulled under the surface of the swamp, gasping and grasping desperately for any kind of solid object or ground, numerous times you had held onto the docks for dear life as hands yanked at your ankles. Determined on dragging you down to join them within their own soggy hell.

And top it off, you'd think that a simple fire spell would be enough to melt an iced over well and logically speaking; it would be. Provided you were actually able to cast the spell in the first place (which you weren't). It was disappointing, but nothing new, as history had reminded you time and time again of your inadequacy regarding spells other than basic cantrips, or your birthright magic. It was just a matter of time and practice, a lot of practice. Luckily, there were other means of going about completing your task.

By the way, did you know exploding cherries are apparently a thing that exist?

You trudged back to the village, backpack firmly locked in one hand, and your soaked-through clothes dangling in the other. Thank god you had brought extra clothes with you, as soaked garments wasn't really your ideal choice of fashion. Or comfort.

You dropped all your items on the ground upon reaching your destination, eyes firm and focused on the problem ahead of you. As tired as you were, you raised your wand at the ice-clogged river gate. There were cherries nearby, sure, but you felt this would be as good an opportunity as any to practice your powers. How else were you going to survive on your own?

"Of inner radiant, light conjure forth..."

Frustration settled in your stomach as the hushed words fell from your mouth. A result of the incantation, of course. Magic fed off of the deepest emotions within one's heart, the intensity of the feeling determining the fallout of the magic. Which, for any untrained magic wielder, would manifest in the form of their birthright magic. No matter how repressed or well controlled.

Of course, you wouldn't need to repress them if you just had been raised by a normal family who didn't constantly badger you of the so-called "potential" wasted on you. So what if you could only do cantrips, low level spells and your birthright? Wasn't that enough for them? Was it not enough that you trained nearly every day under that roof? Or spent countless hours in the library reading your life away on meaningless techniques and shortcuts, so as to finally achieve that fantasy of living up to their expectations? Of course not! Nothing was enough! Nothing was ever enough!! Now here you were being pushed to extremes by both your family and some wannabe evil lawyer poltergeist with no volume control when all you came here to do was to find a fucking flowe–!

"Whatcha doin?"

A voice interrupted your spell, snuffing out the raging intensity burning in your chest, leaving behind only a dull ache in your heart and a faint wetness in your eyes.

With a shaky inhale, you spun around, ready to scold the subconite who had startled you.

Except, it wasn't a subconite. It was a kid, a normal one, an alive one, staring at you curiously through big blue eyes. Sporting a comical purple top hat with a matching outfit... Did you recognize her?

"Hat... kid...?"

She smiled at the sound of her name. "That's me! You heard of me?"

'Heard' was an understatement. You were all too aware of the commotion this little one had caused all over the planet only three months ago. At the time, you were still living with them, so you hadn't been able to see much of the disaster first-hand. But boy, did it make for some interesting morning news.