Once upon a time, in a fantastical land of Lorentia, magic was widely celebrated and common. Not every village had magic. Some villages lived the everyday life within normal means. Most villages had a few Gifteds lived within that helped their villages thrive. However, in one small village, everyone who lived there was a Gifted. Not one person was able to figure out why, but all everyone knew was that if you were born and raised there, you were a Gifted. Most considered the village Luthyia a sacred place, probably blessed by some mystical force many, many years ago.
While the sight of a Non-Gifted isn’t rare, they do visit from time to time for numerous reasons, mostly for trades or seeking help. However, a Non-Gifted living in Luthyia? Incredibly rare indeed. So rare, Callista Finn is widely known for this. Coming from a widely known family, Callista was born with no Gift. The village has speculated that Callista was cursed. Most would avoid Callista as if she had an illness, but due to coming from a privileged family, most pretended to be friendly with her. The extent of her “curse” was unknown, so most villagers took precautions whenever they could. Callista knew that there was nothing wrong with her. She did not believe that she was cursed. She was just a normal person among a bunch of Gifteds in her village. She was just different.
On one fateful day, Callista was out running errands, collecting ingredients for her family’s potions. A few of the ingredients had to be foraged from the Fossa Forest. While on her trek through the forest, Callista had to veer off her normal route as several trees had fallen over and created a blockade. This path wasn’t commonly used as no clear path was visible, so Callista had to be careful with her stepping. Callista heard crack in the distance and turned to check what it was, but saw nothing. Once she deemed it was safe to continue, she took a step forward, but stumbled on a rock and lost her balance. As she tried to gain her balance, she stumbled on another rock and fell over. Seemingly, from out of nowhere, a figure has appeared behind her and caught her. Once on her own two feet again, Callista turned to the figure to thank them and was taken by surprise when she noticed the figure was completely covered in a robe.
“Callista Finn?” The robed figure asked. Callista stood still and quiet. A figure she never saw before knowing her name? She took a step back in defense. The robe figured took out their hand towards her.
“Must be.” The robed figure said confidently. “I mean no fear, but I have been searching for you. Please allow me to explain. My name is Elodie Riviere.” Callista stayed quiet, but observed as the robe figured lower her hood to reveal a woman underneath. There seemed to be nothing special about her, but there was some feeling of familiarity about her, but Callista did not know what. “We are in need of your help. Danger is on the horizon.”
“I do not know you. Why would I help you?” Callista quickly answered back. “What danger?” Callista looked around in the forest for a quick escape if needed. She was still unsure, but danger was not felt at the moment. “There is no danger.” Elodie held her hands together and focused on Callista, preparing to say her next words carefully and easily enough to be understood.
“Our magic that we use here, comes from another realm. The realm of Niameda. It was never meant for your world to get magic, but somehow it did.” Elodie explained. “At first, it was only a little, and a few people, as you called them the Gifteds, received abilities. We have tried to fix the situation, but our Goddess have allowed it under strict supervision. It has been that way for many centuries, but within the last hundred hears, the amount of magic coming through has been greater. It has becoming too much lately.”
Callista has shifted from her defensive stance to a more calm one while processing this new information. There’s another realm? This is why magic exists? Callista had more questions than ever before, and she needed them answer.
“What does that have to do with me? If magic is involved, I hate to apologize, but I am not one you are looking for. This is all I am.” Callista gestured to herself, trying to prove her non-magical abilities. Elodie stepped forward and gently grabbed her hands.
“This has everything to do with you.” Elodie smiled. “Don’t you want to know why Luthyia has more Gifteds than any other place? It is the “birthplace” of magic in your world. It was where the magic is flowing through first. The Goddess has deemed it the rightful place. Magic needs somewhere to go, it is attracted to new beings. Which is why everyone born there, becomes a gifted.” Callista tilted her head in confusion. That does not make sense. It does explain a lot about her home village, but nothing about her. Callista knew she had to ask about herself, but Elodie beat her to it. “It has come to the point that the amount of magic flowing through has become rather giant lately, to the point it gets stuck in a way. When that happens, magic is prevented from flowing through. That has only happened once, in the last twenty years, when you were born.”
There it is, the answer to her life’s biggest question. Everything has fallen into place. Callista’s eyes widened in realization. It seemed like fate, not a curse after all. From the moment she was born, her destiny has been written out. “What is that you need from me then?”
“You need to come to Niamede. The flow of magic is becoming stuck again. Unlike last time, we were not able to fix it right away. Your world is in danger of being overcharged by magic, that if it all comes out at once, it could be catastrophic for everyone and everything. We’re talking about the end of magic, and possibly the end of all things.” Elodie said without a beat, almost like it was rehearsed.
“Absolutely not.” Callista turned. “This is not me, I don’t deal with magic! Yes, I see how I am involved in this, but it has nothing to do with me fixing it. I am not involved in that way.” Callista ran off, making sure not to trip again. This was dangerous, and she could not wrap her mind around it. It was all too much to take in at once.
Elodie frowned. She knew Niamede really needed her, even the Goddess said so. The Goddess doesn’t interfere most of the time, but when the Goddess mentions something, it is to be taken seriously. Callista was involved, Elodie knew that much. She sighed and ran after Callista. It took a few moments, but Elodie managed to catch up and grab onto Callista. “Sorry, Callista, but time is of the essence here.” Before Callista could react, Elodie threw her hands out, made a motion and a portal appeared. Callista attempted to run in the other direction, but it was of no help. Elodie just motioned the portal to move other them and brought them into another realm, the realm of Niamede.
Once in Niamede, Elodie clapped her hands together in victory. “All right, the adventure starts!” Callista looked around, everything looked more enchanting. She was in awe. So in awe, she forgot she was in another realm, until it all came back to her.
“HOW. COULD. YOU?” Callista angrily yelled. “I WANTED NO PART OF THIS.” Elodie turned to Callista and explained more of the situation and how it was actually the Goddess that got her involved. She wished she could explain more, but more would be revealed soon. Elodie said she was sorry it had to come to this and since they were already in the realm, there was no turning back.
Once Callista calmed down and have come to terms with everything, she realized she just had to go along with it. Elodie was not bringing her back and without magic, she couldn’t do it herself. Callista sighed and followed Elodie along the path to wherever she was being taken. “I guess I’m going on an adventure,” Callista mocked.
Moments later, Elodie and Callista had arrived at a palace, to which the Goddess inhabits. After walking in, Callista was greeted by the Goddess. She was in even more awe, as the Goddess was full of magic, beautiful magic. Elodie bowed and Callista followed, assuming this was how greetings were done in this realm. The Goddess shared a small laughter. “Do not speak, for the Goddess will explain all.” Elodie mentioned.
Callista spent moments looking at the Goddess, but nothing was being spoken. Once Callista was going to ask, a voice appeared in her head. She jumped, but sensed no danger for the Goddess was looking directly at her. The voice explained that she was the Goddess and she only speaks through thoughts. The Goddess has mentioned the same information Elodie provided earlier in the day, but provided new information. Since Callista was born at the unfortunate timing of the Unflowing of the Magic, as this realm called the time of Callista’s birth, she was able to help in a way that would let magic flow again, but without the sudden rush and overcharge, sort of like a magical filter. Once the conversation was done, the Goddess nodded and vanished in a quick flash of light. Before leaving, the Goddess gifted Callista the knowledge of where to go and what she had to do, but also noted that she had training to come, though suspected Callista already knew how. Callista did not know what the Goddess meant by that apparently. “Refer to your Childhood, little one.” was all the Goddess said before vanishing.
“Where to?” Elodie asked.
“The Source” Callista responded.
The path was a long one, and it took several days and nights, but it gave Callista many opportunities to prepare for this moment. There doesn’t seem to be any enemies she would have to face off, but rather the magic itself. Callista still had to figure out how she was going to do it. Elodie offered some history lessons as what was done last time to give a few ideas. Callista liked learning it all, but something told her it was not the right process. There were several times where Callista just wanted to run in the other direction. All this was new to her. She had faced trials before in her life, but nothing like this. She had to figure this all out. She was afraid, but at the same time, she kind of believed in herself. She knew she was just a normal person, but at the same time, she knew everyone had their purpose, maybe this was her’s.
After a couple of treks through woods and villages, Callista got to know the realm more and more. It felt nice, it felt like home, it also felt different. Why was it so peaceful here, and home was more, hectic? Yes, it was home and there was nice moments, but this realm, every moment seemed nice. Must be because of the magic and the Goddess, Callista believed. In this realm, things were just different. Callista wished she could speak the Goddess once more for more information. Little did she know, that was exactly going to happen that night, in her dreams.
“Wake up, little one…” a cheery voice seemed to wake Callista. It felt like she was in haze, but a warm glowing light appeared in front of her. “It is almost time, you will need to hurry.”
“But I still don’t know what I need to do.” Callista mentioned. “Elodie and I visited all these places to gather information and tried some training techniques we thought I could do, but nothing seems to be working.”
“You have always known yourself and who you are.” The Goddess whispered. “You are your own weapon. Use it. Believe in yourself.” The Goddess smiled and gave a knowingly look before vanishing. Callista thought about the Goddess’s words and woke up with a sudden realization. The Goddess has been giving her the answers all along, Callista just never listened to it well enough. Once the morning arrived, Callista explained that it is almost time, and they would have to arrive at the Source by nightfall.
“Impossible” Elodie told Callista. “The Goddess doesn’t help or interfere. Everything is always left to us.” Callista could see Elodie realizing a lot of things, like things hasn’t always been as they seemed. Perhaps Callista was an exception. Perhaps, this event was the exception. Either way, Callista was grateful for the help and felt more confident than ever knowing all this information know. Callista was ready to fight. Or was it a fight? Can you fight magic itself? More thoughts for Callista to think over.
As nightfall came near, Elodie and Callista finally arrived at the source of all magic. Elodie stopped and looked at Callista. “This is as far as I will go, it is all up to you now. I know this “adventure” wasn’t what you wanted, but I can tell that you have grown from it, even if it is small. Now, save your world, no pressure.” Elodie smiled and gave a small hug. Callista turned and kept walking. It would take a few moments before Callista would arrive before a cliff overlooking a giant ball of rainbow light. She could tell it was bigger than normal. Magic was flowing in all sorts of directions, but she knew what she had to do. The cliff was high up as Callista looked down. Magic was everywhere and she hoped that if she could do her job, magic could do its part as well. She took a few steps back and ran forward, jumping over the cliff and into the magic.
Callista panicked after the jump and lost control of her fall. Her fall seemed to go on forever and ever with no stop. She thought back to the time where she didn’t even want to help and how she ran off. She thought about how everyone viewed her one way, but how she would filter all those thoughts out of her head and would replace it with her own thoughts, how she believed in herself to be no more different than any other regular human. Once she collected herself, she realized her descent has slowed down, almost as if she was floating. She righted herself and closed her eyes, focusing on the magic and its flow. She allowed herself what she wasn’t allowed at her birth. The magic flowed through her instead of the many different directions it went. She allowed herself to filter the magic, like she did all those bad thoughts and comments that other made about her. As the magic flowed through, the bigger amounts become small and continuously flowed around Callista in a circular formation.
Once Callista was done, the giant ball of rainbow light was smaller, yet still powerful. Callista appeared over the cliff again and observed the magic in front of her. Instead of many directions, the flow of magic was now in one direction flowing into the top of the sky and beyond in a winding, curved motion. It looked beautiful again. This was the source, and somewhere directly into her world, was her home village, where the magic flows to first. She wasn’t sure why the Goddess allows it if it was never meant to be, but Callista made sure to send out a thanks into the realm for the Goddess. Elodie appeared behind her and smiled. It certainly looks like magic is all normal again, with no sign of it overflowing again. Then Elodie looked at Callista’s hands.
“Your hands, Callista.” Elodie motioned. “Look.” Callista looked down. Her hands were covered with rainbow light sparkles. Then in an instant, the sparkles landed on her skin and seemed to have been absorbed. “Callista, I think you got magic now. I don’t think this has ever happened before.”
“Well, the Goddess did say I was Gifted, just never got the magic because of the Unflowing.” Callista laughed. “I guess letting the magic flow through me at the source also allowed the magic within flow as well. Amazing.” Elodie stepped forward and showed her a few small magic tricks, in which Callista was able to pull off. Callista asked Elodie to make a portal back to the Goddess’ palace as she did not want to travel all the way back. Elodie laughed and told Callista to try instead. She failed. Elodie laughed again and conjured up again and walked through this time.
At the palace, the Goddess was already there waiting for them and smiled. Callista and Elodie both bowed and stepped forward. The Goddess thanked them for a successful adventure and thanked Callista for allowing the magic to flow again. When the Goddess conjured up a Realm Portal back to Callista’s home village, Callista asked about the magic that she now possesses. The Goddess asked what she meant and that she had no knowledge of what Callista was asking of her. As Callista took one last look at the Goddess, she could have swore the Goddess gave one quick wink at her and then vanished into the light. Callista laughed, said her goodbyes to Elodie and walked through the portal. She was home again. However, she was now with a new challenge. She had to learn magic, just like everyone else.
When she arrived home, she expected everyone to ask where she has been for so long. However, she was met with her mother asking for her ingredients. In her surprise, she has forgotten about initial reason why she took off. She put her hands behind her back, did a quick motion, and gave her mother the basket full of ingredients that appeared out of thin air. She thanked the Goddess for that successful trick because she didn’t think she could pull it off. Imagine telling her family that she was pulled into another realm, had to go on adventure, saved all of magic, and then returning home with said magic without anyone none the wiser? And that it took weeks rather than the mere hours everyone else experienced in this world? Callista had a lot more to do now than before she left. How is she going to explain to everyone that the only Non-Gifted in a village full of Gifteds is now a Gifted? One adventure after the other she guessed.
