Love Is A Flower [Side Quest 2]

Let me start at the beginning. In the year 1817, when I was born a Lesser. What is a Lesser? Those not blessed by the power of Magic by the Fae. What are the Fae? Those Divine Entities unseen, likened to living gods. I was the sickly younger sister to my awful Fae-Touched brother, Galloway. Sweet Galloway. Dashing Galloway. The boy who could do no wrong in my mother's eyes. The pride of my Father. And I? Well, I was as loved as a rag in a rubbish bin by the both of them. Even less so by my torturous brother. He would wrap me in thick, spiked vines and command his Magic to spin me, twist me, twirl me upside down until I was sick and dizzyingly disoriented. He would pepper me with insults, a constant reminder that I was unwelcome, undervalued, and most certainly unwanted. When I was five and he was ten, his Magic had reached a level of maturity that caught the eyes of Vanalyth. An imperial academy, overseen by King Granit, a master of Stoneite Magic, for The Fae-Touched to sharpen their skills and reach for the stars. I was excited to see him leave after recieving his prestigious royal letter. I was bursting with heart-pounding hope that my mother and father might dare to give me scraps of affection in his absence. Remnants of the love they held for him and him alone. 

But alas, my heart beats were wasted when I learned we'd be moving on campus. Literally. Granit permitted us, at Daddy's request, to use his power to lift our home from the foundation and place it neatly into the neighborhood on the outskirts of the academy. My not-so-dear brother grew to become Greenhouse Galloway, a maverick of Earthen Magic. He had many successful businesses regarding plant life. Such a beautiful gift I felt was severely undeserved of a terror like Galloway. But my misfortunes as a Lesser did not end with my brother's ascension to greatness. Oh, no. It was immediately after his first success that I was forced into a fully unreciprocated arranged marriage in 1840. I was twenty-three when we wed. "Practically out to pasture," as Donovin would say. My husband's was the blackest of Black Magic. And I hated him for it. As if abusing me with his words weren't enough, he often delighted in beating me with hexes and curses as well. Shadowy hands would rise from my bed and inflict inhuman pain upon me. He would order our maids to erase the bruises but leave the pain deep under my skin. The maids could not disobey, for they too would be beaten into submission if they tried. It was a blessing and a relief that we never had heirs. Those poor children would be doomed from the start. Either being born a Lesser or being beaten into the perfect soldiers. Magical little puppets for my husband to break at his leisure. Those who had a hand in my misery inevitably met their own miserable ends. My husband, in a gambling duel to the death by a Lightning Wizard with slightly quicker hands. My brother, due to a late developing allergy to plantlife of all kind. My parents, married but long out of love and miserable without their beloved boy, died of heartache and old age.

Though resentful of their treatment, I still attended each of their wakes out of respect. And at last I found myself on a bench in 1900, wearing a thick, black mourning gown and a pointy Witch's hat. I was a Lesser, but my hope still lived deep inside me, even then. "Who in this world has ever truly loved me?" I was asking the reflection of myself shown in the window of the shop across from where I sat. "Well," I said with a sudden urge to sit up a little straighter and have a conversation with my inner child. "I suppose I love myself. The little girl that waits, the dreamer still sleeping. I've no one else to depend on, after all. So there, then. Do you hear, O Mighty Faefolk? I love myself with the force of a thousand suns! My love is an eternal and overflowing garden--!" 

Suddenly, I felt a warmth radiating above my right palm. There I was, an old woman with a glowing, golden daisy floating in her hand. A Fae-Touched. Lesser no more. With a startling °pop° there stood a cherubic young wizard before me. He extended a sealed piece of parchment toward me, "The Board of Vanalyth has sensed the most powerful Magic in you, Miss Gabby." He held the letter out to me. I could do nothing but stare, tears drowning my vision. He extended the letter further toward me, "It's never too late to recieve your letter."

And so it was true. I, Gabriella Rodrick, enrolled into the Vanalyth Academy of Extraordinary Magics at the ripe old age of 82. My Magic turned out to be Eterna Magic. The only of its kind. No record of it has ever been traced, even in the most ancient of texts. In simple terms, it is the power to live forever. With the added bonus of youth and vibrancy. A power that would have appeared much sooner with the power of Love. It had stayed dorment for obvious reasons. I was allowed to use my abilities on plantlife, much like my envied brother used to. I was ordered to keep the truth of my Magic hidden for fear of greed and corruption. But I was unhindered by my beautiful secret. There was freedom in realizing I was never °less° than anyone else. There was a lightness in knowing that my power had always been there, just painfully neglected by all. 

How many unawoken Mages and Enchantresses had gone spiritually malnourished, emotionally dehydrated and physically uncultivated like myself? Those poor, wilting daisies awaiting full bloom. But I could not bring myself to dwell in those thoughts for long. I was too busy living the life I'd always dreamed of, hoped for. I studied all variations of Magic like mad, I found each and every type as fascinating as the other. I was also proficient in many of them. A rare experience, to be Multi-Magicked. Only a handful of souls were able to use more than one gift throughout their lives. I was publicly decreed a Magical Miracle and affection and friendship from my many teachers and peers found its way to me like a magnet. 

My time at Vanalyth was fleeting and precious. It was the best year of my life. It was the last year of my life. As I lay dying in bed one day after receiving my impromptu graduation papers, I realized I'd never experienced joy in my youth and thus wished to remain as I was as I entered into the unknown. For it was only in the twilight of my life that I felt such splendor as to be graced by the gift of Magic. In that state, I was joy personfied. The Sage Doctors urged me, King Granite's granddaughter, Princess Gravelin came by word of that adorable little messenger boy to persuade me by royal decree...but after decling to drink the golden elixer from the stem of my lovely Eterna Flower, I dove into my next adventure beyond the nothingness of post-existence. I now grace these halls with my presence in death. A happy haunt, forevermore.

The End.