Peaksville was a small community, tiny, really. One might say that gossip was the town's lifeblood; inevitably, everyone always knew everyone else's business. Even without telephones, word about Anthony, his powers, and what he had done to the town spread like wildfire.
More importantly, speculation about what he could do, especially if he got angry, ran rampant.
At first, a contingent of townsfolk came to politely request that Anthony put Peaksville back. Dad had not wanted Anthony present for that and sent him to his room. Just like when Dan Hollis had come over, Anthony snuck out to listen, unobserved.
Dad told the townsfolk Anthony's big lie as though it were the truth, that Peaksville was stuck. They didn't take it very well, and soon everyone was shouting. Anthony cringed back. Dad hadn't told them any of the good stuff. He hadn't told them that now they were protected from all the things they feared, like Russians and atomic bombs and World War III. He hadn't told them that they could have extra drumsticks when they had a nice chicken dinner. He hadn't told them any of that.
Dad told them all to go home. He said they needed to cool off and actually think about what Anthony's powers meant for all of them, but he hadn't sounded like that was a good thing. The townsfolk certainly acted like it wasn't a good thing. They got scared, and they said there needed to be a town meeting later. Dad promised to attend.
Feeling miserable, Anthony crept back to his room. He lay on his stomach on his bed, rested his head on the pillow, and tried not to think about anything, anything at all.
A few minutes later, Dad came and had a serious talk with him. Dad once more told him not to use magic again, not for any reason. Dad warned that people might want Anthony to do things for them, but Anthony should never do anything they asked. In fact, he told Anthony to stay away from people that asked for special magical things. Dad said it was for his own good, and for everyone else's good.
Anthony was crushed. All his dreams of helping his family and new friends were being systematically destroyed.
Dad didn't listen to any of his objections. Dad was treating him like a little kid! Worse, Dad was treating him like some ordinary kid.
But Anthony knew he was special. No one else in Peaksville could do magic. He was the only one. He should be treated differently than every day, ordinary kids.
Dad left, shutting the bedroom door behind him. Frustrated, Anthony kicked his jack-in-the-box across his bedroom. It broke against the wall.
"Oh, no. I didn't mean it," he said, going down on his knees and picking up the pieces. He liked that toy. He liked the way it played a little tune when he wound it up, and he liked the way the little clown popped up when it was done. He was sorry he'd broken it, and wished it were whole again, and it was.
"See," he muttered, "my magic is good. I do good things with it." He wound up the toy, watched it work, and wound it again. He played with it over and over again.
Dad didn't understand. Nobody understood.
He'd just have to make them understand.
He'd show them all.
Dad didn't want him to use magic. Dad wanted him to hide what he was, hide what he could do.
Anthony already knew that Dad's way wouldn't work. Yūi and Fai had already tried things that way in Valeria. They'd listened to their family and the other grownups and the other kids. They'd tried to stay hidden, or at least pretend to be "safe" for people to be around. They hadn't even tried to use their magic, because grownups told them they shouldn't, and had refused to teach them.
Everyone had feared that Yūi and Fai, as twins, were bad luck, the bringers of misfortune, that they brought bad things just by living. Even Yūi and Fai had believed it. Everyone had feared that Yūi and Fai would use their magic to usurp the throne. But Yūi and Fai had never even thought of doing that.
Well, maybe they should have! Maybe Yūi and Fai should have just gone ahead and taken the stupid throne.
Maybe things in Valeria would have been a lot different if Yūi and Fai hadn't been so afraid, so timid, and used their magic to make things better. Even though no one would teach them, they could have used magic the way Anthony was using it. They could have learned on their own, just like him. They could have shown everyone that even twins deserved to live. And if not, well, at least they could have protected themselves.
But they hadn't, and look what had happened to them.
Anthony was not going to make the same mistakes that Yūi and Fai had made. No one was going to stop him from using magic. No one was going to hurt him again. Everyone would have to be nice.
And someday, if he did everything right, maybe both Yūi and Fai could come back.