Maravilha

Lily

"Sissy? Are we there yet?" My little brother yanks on my hand, and I smile down at him. Even though we are nine years apart, we're still very close.

"Not quite yet, Sammy. We still have about an hour left," He doesn't really understand time yet, but preschool taught him that an hour is really long . He pouts, then his whole face lights up.

"Can you do the Thing?" He asks excitedly. Since I figured out I was an enchantress, I've been trying out different tricks to divert my little brother, especially on the ferry ride to the capital.

"Alright, watch closely," I wiggle my fingers, and my left hand catches fire. Not a normal fire an elemental mage would make, but a magical fire, that goes to the center of my palm and rises about four inches. It gives off no heat, therefore safe for my brother to touch, and is every color of the rainbow.

Out of all the little tricks I've learnt, this one is Sammy's favorite. Although I can do a couple magical things, I need to wait till I get to Odeas to really start learning. Enchanter mages need wands, to help conduct their energy, or else it just produces parlor tricks, instead of real magic.

I look at my brother again, as he's trying to grab the flames, and notice his enlightened expression.

He was born a mite, a non-magical being, and will never be able to do what I can. My mother and grandmother were also mites, so when mom learnt about my magical powers, she became extremely jealous.

We moved to a big house on a huge property at the very end of Mahija. She cut me off from civilization, the day she realized I could do all the different things belonging to the specific magic types of other people.

She even stuck my hand in the fire once, to see if it was a normal hand, to see if it would burn. That was only a week after my father died, leaving me with her.

"Sissy, you have your sad face on again," my brother stares up at me, ignoring the flames dancing in my palm, which I quickly extinguish.

I've been raising my brother for two years now, and I bring him on errands whenever I can. He even stopped calling our mother "Mommy".

"Sorry buddy, I was just thinking. Hey look, you can see the shore from here!" I say as my brother rushes to the front of the boat and leans over the edge.

The beautiful city of Maith is spread before us, bigger than I have ever imagined. I've only ever been to the shops in the small town near our house, which has a population of 54. It's the busiest and most crowded place I've ever seen.

I grab my brother and swing him around, safely away from the edge of course. We fall to the floor laughing, finally free from our mother, and it feels so good.

"All passengers please collect your things and proceed to gate A for departure. I repeat, all passengers to gate A." A crackly voice tells us from the intercom.

I grab my backpack off the bench, as well as his, and carry it off the ship still smiling. Hand safely clasped in my brothers, I lead us to a convenience store on the landing, and ask for directions.

The man running the store is somewhat confused by my accent, which comes from living out in the country, but knows what I'm saying in the end. "Odeas school of magic," he says, tapping his chin, "that would be on the corner of Pine road and Krail drive. Right off Main street." "Thank you!" I say before rushing off with my brother.

We easily navigate the streets, Sammy's kind of an expert. We only stop once we reach huge rusted gates, with fainted letters in the middle. "This must be it," I exclaim, "All we need now us the password... Oh yeah, Juniper!"