Different Worlds; Same Pressures

Author notes: This is the drafted opening of my new fantasy book. This is the first book I have tried to write where I have a clear vision of the entire character arc and outline. This is my first draft of an opening so any notes are welcomed and encouraged!

Aiden Leclair stood alone in a crowd of people. His classmates surrounded him conjuring sparks of fire, ribbons of water, and gusts of wind. Aiden stretched out his fingers, willing something, anything, to happen, but all he managed to manifest was an embarrassing amount of sweat on his own brow. Aiden's hands were empty holding the weight of being the only living Stiflen in LaCigam.

"Try harder, ninny!" one of the Maginvoke taunted, a smirk dancing on his lips as a spark of lightning leapt from his fingers, "Come on. Show us a trick, Aiden."

Aiden ignored the jab, tried to block the assault of laughter from his other classmate, and focused inward. He was doing his best to awaken the dormant power he hoped lay within him. He extended his arms, mimicking the movements he had seen a thousand times, envisioning, forming...

Nothing happened.

"Pathetic. Face it, you'll never be one of us," a girl said, flicking her hand to send a cascade of sparks into the sky.

Aiden focused as the insult flossed his self-doubt. Still, he pictured the incantations his father had taught him, the ones his sister performed with ease, the ones his mother still tells him he will figure out someday. He whispered the words, "Luminis flexura," a muffled plea to the universe.

Nothing happened.

He repeated the incantation, louder this time. His determination was a tangible force, a blade against the suffocating uncertainty. The air around his hands seemed to vibrate, teasing him with the possibility of success. An illusion that dissipated into nothingness.

"Leave it, donkey," another sneered. "You're wasting your time. Wasting our time."

"Enough," Aiden snapped, his voice steady despite the rush of frustration. He squared his shoulders, met the eyes of those who doubted him. Aiden closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His skin felt as though it was electrifying. The power was rising so he extended his arm towards his taunting classmates, opened his eyes, and with a gesture screamed, "Tacitus nexum!"

Nothing happened.

He closed his eyes as though it would shield him from the onslaught of torturous teasing that would be thrown at him.

"Tacitus nexum? Tacitus nexum? But wait. How am I talking if you silenced us? Oh, right. You're you, and you. can't. do. magic. You're the first useless Leclair ever." Laughter rippled through the crowd with more force than any spell ever could.

Aiden's eyes snapped open, a flash of defiance lighting up the deep blue. "You don't even know me," he said, more to himself than to them. But his fight was gone for today, and his peers had already moved on to their next magical display. He left unnoticed and already forgotten.

Outside the LaCigam Learning Lab, the air stilled, as if holding its breath. Aiden's heart hammered as he struggled to make sense of the role the world has asked him to play. In LaCigam everyone had magic, the only unknown was what type. Parents eagerly awaited to see if their baby would conjure Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, Thunder, Force, or Time. Aiden's parent's stopped waiting a long time ago. Still as he stood looking back at the LaCigamson School of Refinery, he knew someday he would find his place, magic or not because even as a Stiflen, he had something to prove—not just to them, but to himself.

Aiden trudged to the outskirts of the training grounds, his boots scuffing the cobblestones that shimmered with residual enchantments. The haunting laughter of his peers echoed in his memories as a reminder of his secondary status. He leaned against a gnarled tree, its bark cool beneath his palm. He gazed skyward, where LaCigam's twin moons danced among the swinging stars, their ethereal glow a stark contrast to the heaviness carried in his chest. Aiden sat at the base of the tree – an old friend he had talked to since he was too short to reach its strong branches. The twisted bark on its trunk formed the impression of a dutiful face always ready to hear the worries of his day. If not for this tree he called Gnarles he would have simply exploded from the force of unprocessed emotions years ago.

"Gnarles, why? Why did LaCigamson even accept me? Because Elara is the greatest Maginvoke in the past 1000 years? Because my mom and dad have been loyal public servants for 40 years? Why are they tolerating me?"

Aiden pulled out a ripped sheet of paper.

"And where is the book this passage was ripped from? It is clear that LaCigam used to have a community of Stiflens living here. Where did they go? Are some of them my ancestors? Why can't I find the answers I need!"

A girl emerged from the shadows, her red hair a fiery trail in the moonlight. She moved with a grace that embodied her mastery over the elements. Her training session had ended, but the energy still crackled around her fingertips.

"Hey," she breathed, approaching Aiden with careful steps. Her gaze lingered on his face, reading the fatigue etched in his features.

"Hi, sis, I was just," his voice barely above a murmur.

"Talking to Gnarles? Hi, Gnarles, how is he today? Still pushing the boulders uphill?" she asked, her tone light, but her eyes betrayed the deep concern.

"Feels more like pushing mountains into an ocean," Aiden admitted, managing a wry smile. He straightened up, rolling his shoulders to shake off the weight of his trials.

"Mountains are scalable," she said, nudging him gently. "With the right tools."

"Tools I don't possess, Elara." His hand unconsciously flexed, reaching for a power that wasn't there.

"Maybe not," Elara conceded, "but you have others. Tenacity. Courage." She paused, her expression softening. "You have me."

"Thank you, sis," he said. In the cool night air, her support wrapped around him like the Maginvoke cloak he will never earn.

"But I do have to go back. My 'Hero' training session is about to start, but tomorrow is a new day," she murmured, her voice carrying the weight of doubt cloaked in optimism.

"New day, same battle, same..." Aiden stopped short of admitting his future defeat. Together, they walked away from Gnarles, Elara headed back to her destiny, and Aiden moving towards his home and the faint hope of a place where Aiden could belong.

Adien didn't go straight home. He wandered around the city trying to imagine what his life would be like in 10 years when he was a LaCigam adult with no magical powers. Where or how would he contribute to a society that relies on magical efforts to thrive? After he felt fully defeated, he found himself standing in front of his family's front door.

"They only want what's best for you," he whispered to himself just before opening the door to a home cooked dinner waiting for who knows how long on the table. And despite being hours late, his parents smiling, waiting to greet him. He manifested his last ounce of determination and forced a smile as he sat down for dinner.

"Elara has hero's training tonight."

"Right, of course," Cassian said as he glanced across the dinner table, his gaze lingering on Aiden's defeated demeanor. Beside him, Selene gently set down her fork, the clink of metal against porcelain slicing through the herding the tension closer. Their concern for Aiden was a thick blanket suffocating the possibility of conversation, but Cassian knew something needed to be said.

"Another tough day?" Cassian inquired, his voice steady despite the worry that creased his brow.

"Yeah, dad, another tough day. Same as every other day," Aiden snipped, pushing his food around his plate with little interest. His shoulders were hunched, the weight of his failures heavier than the hunger his stomach was signaling.

Selene reached out, her hand hovering just above Aiden's. "We just want you to be happy, Aiden," she said, her voice tinged with an emotion she fought to keep at bay.

"Happy?" Aiden scoffed, looking up with piercing blue eyes. "In LaCigam? How?"

His words hung between them, sharp and raw. Cassian's heart clenched. He had no answers for his son. The truth was a bitter, jagged pill. Aiden was unique in a way that this realm simply could not – would not – embrace.

"Your mother is right," he said instead. "We love you. And as long as we are together there will always be a path to happiness. That path is not always visible, but I know – I believe – it is always there."

"Your daughter, Elara, my sister is the first Maginvoke in a thousand years to command all 7 elements, and I – well I'm the first LaCigam in that same amount of time to be a Stiflen. No magic. None!" Aiden snapped back, exposing his family to the anger seeping through the cracks created by the outside world. "And you tell me there's a path to happiness? Sure. As soon as I figure out where I actually came from and what happened to all the other Stiflens that used to live here. I do that, and I can find the road straight out of LaCigam, then – only then – will there be a 'path to happiness,' dad. No matter how much you hope or believe love will never change what I am."

"Maybe not," Selene whispered, "But it can give us strength to face what comes."

"Us strength? What strength do you need? Oh, right the strenght to bare the embarrassment that comes with creating the only reject in living history!"

Elara stepped into the house unnoticed and watched the exchange, her chest tight. She felt the sting of helplessness and responsibility. Her talents cast a long shadow, one Aiden constantly fought to escape.

"I am so sorry that my very existence makes it awkward at your board meetings and parties and grocery shopping, mom! I am so glad that love gives you the strength you need because the only thing love has ever given me–"

"Enough!" Elara said suddenly. "Aiden, please, don't say anymore words you will regret tomorrow. Ma, Pa, you've done enough worrying for one night. Why don't you go on upstairs. Aiden and I will clean up dinner."

The siblings gathered the dishes as Cassian and Selene slipped away silently, Aiden and Elara's movements synchronized—a silent dance of solidarity. Aiden’s frustration simmered beneath the surface, but Elara saw the gratitude in his glance. It was brief, fleeting, yet it fortified her resolve.

"Thanks," Aiden murmured as they scraped leftovers into the compost.

"Always," Elara replied, nudging him with her elbow.

"That hero training must be working."

"I don't need training to be there for my brother. Honestly, if I could spend all my time focused on our family, I would be, well, happier, I guess." Elara knew tomorrow would bring more challenges. But tonight, they both found comfort in the ritual of cleaning up, the ordinary task grounding them amidst the chaos of their lives.