DreamStoryVerse Story Arc Book 2

Concentration

Matera Shariee set one of her favorite quill pens down on her bed. She wore a very serious, determined look on her face. After weeks upon weeks of secretly practicing, she would finally make the quill levitate via magic.

According to her calculations, she should be able to do it. Her father's powers revealed themselves when he was at a young age. Both her parents were powerful sorcerers, so it only made sense she would have powerful magic as well.

Besides, practically all of her cousins were discovering their own powers and abilities at this point. At their last playdate in the Rock Candy Mines, practically everyone was showing off. Matera remembered feeling so alone, left out and maybe even a little inferior. She didn't really blame her cousins though. If she had super cool new powers like them, she'd want to use them all the time. But she was just a late bloomer. She was premature, that had to be the reason why she didn't have any supernatural abilities yet.

She looked at her little skinny digit that had been treated and bandaged after she cut her finger on a glass shard at the beach some time ago. She bet if Rose Quartz would've picked it up she wouldn't have got cut at all and even if she did, she could just kiss it all better because that's what Rose Quartzes did....or however that worked. Even for normal children, the cut would've healed quickly and vanished after a few days. But not for Matera Shariee. It seemed like whenever she got hurt it took her forever to bounce back. She shrugged, one of the perks of being sick and deformed, she guessed.

She examined her freckled hands and fingers closely. According to her father, she inherited his and her mother's nimble fingers that were made for playing instruments, mainly the piano. She knew how to play the piano but she was nowhere near as good as he was and she would likely never be. She was only 7 years old and she was already a sorry excuse for a descendant of the House of von Koopa.

She clenched her fists tightly. No, she couldn't think like that, not yet at least. She still had a chance. Her father and Bowser III both told her that some people got their powers around 13, when they began something called....called...property? No, maybe it was poverty? Oh well, it didn't matter. She was still very far away from being 13 and she was too desperate to wait that long.

She locked her eyes on the quill pen, her gaze focused and intense. Move, move, move, she commanded in her mind.

She tried waving her hands and frantically flapping her little wings, in hopes the quill would follow. She tried telling it to move with her voice but it didn't obey.

She began holding her breath, her cheeks puffing out like a chipmunk. She pressed her index fingers into the opposite sides of her head and thought harder than she ever thought before.

But the quill didn't budge. Not a single daktylos or finger, the somewhat equivalent of the modern inch.

As she held her breath, her eyes began to get stingy and they began to leak. Soon enough she began to sob uncontrollably like a big baby. She was glad nobody else was there to see her. She collapsed onto her bed, all hope lost. She would never be anything powerful or important. She was weak, helpless, and inferior to all her cousins who had supernatural abilities and perfect health. Once her father found out about her talentless-ness he would surely be disappointed in her, maybe even ashamed.

Suddenly, she heard a quiet meow. She turned to the door where a black cat was sitting, his golden eyes looking back at her.

She wiped her runny nose with the back of her arm. "Go away, Beethoven."

Beethoven entered anyway, slowly rubbing himself against Matera's leg that was idly hanging off the side of her bed. Annoyed, she moved her leg onto the bed. Beethoven easily jumped up onto the soft surface.

"I said go away, Beethoven. I'm not in the mood for cuddles." She whispered sadly.

"What seems to be bothering you?" Beethoven finally asked, beginning to clean himself and prepare to listen to Matera's sob story.

Matera Shariee turned her head to look at him. "Beethoven, you're father's familiar, yes?"

"Correct."

"What was he like before....he knew he had magic? Did he ever feel like...like he would never learn? That maybe magic just wasn't in the cards for him?"

Beethoven was quiet for a few moments. "I'm sorry Matera Shariee, but I can't answer that."

"Why not?"

"Because....the answer is...complicated. I fear talking about such things will put you in danger's path. And we wouldn't want that, would we?" He said, in a somewhat mocking tone as if he actually would want that.

"Well if you're going to choose to be difficult, then you can at least let me cuddle with you." She sighed as she scooped Beethoven into her lap and began to run her fingers through his black fur.

"Beethoven, what if I never get magic or worse, any powers at all? Oh, father will be so upset! And I'll be so weak and helpless..."

"Well, I can't speak for your father but I certainly won't be upset if you turn out to be a normie. That said, having no supernatural abilities doesn't automatically doom you to be weak and helpless. There are plenty of people who are living just fine with no powers at all! Matera Shariee, you need to stop focusing on what you don't or are never going to have and focus on what you do! You have working arms and limbs perfect for the art of swordsmanship!"

"Swordsmanship? Like, fencing?" Matera had vaguely heard of the art form before. Her father was an Olympic fencer after all. She had once made it her business to learn about her family's ancestry but unfortunately for her, both of her parents were orphans. So now, she just makes it her business to learn about her parents' upbringings and backgrounds.

Beethoven nodded. "All you need is a sword, some proper training, and you'll be good to go."

This made Matera sit up. If she learned how to swordfight, she could be more like the super awesome gladiators she saw some time ago. She would also be a super cool person in general.

"Alright," she agreed. "Sign me up!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Ludwig returned to the castle after a long day at the Imperial court, Matera immediately asked him about sword fighting lessons. Even though he was tired and all he wanted was to lie down with another glass of wine, he could tell that Matera was very serious about learning. He eventually gave in, and began their first lesson. He assumed she was probably just going to get bored and quit soon enough.

But day after day, Matera continued to train and improve. She actually genuinely enjoyed sword fighting and she even attempted to teach Euanthe, but she wasn't very interested.

And for Matera's 8th birthday, her father had a custom sword made just for her. It was a xiphos (a double-edged, one-handed straight shortsword) that had her name intricately carved in gold onto the light blue hilt. She was also given a scabbard attached to a baldric which she was free to paint and decorate to her liking.

With all of this training going on, she had forgotten all about how she had no supernatural powers.

Nevertheless, Ludwig had her examined by a specialist just to make sure she was growing properly.