Takuya sat in one of the trees, playing with his token, muttering the supplication for protection that his parents had drilled into him from a young age. "Goddess, keep me safe from those who would do me harm, now and evermore. Goddess, keep me safe from those who would do me harm, now and evermore. Goddess…"
"Takuya!" called Kouichi across the orchard. "Please come back. I want to talk."
Takuya bit his tongue, and kept his fingers moving over the surface of his token, starting to pray silently. Goddess, keep me safe…
Kouichi came closer and stood near the tree. "Takuya, I can hear you. Will you talk to me?"
Peering through the trees, Takuya saw both him and Kouji waiting near the tree. "How can I trust you?" he asked. "You put some curse on me, made me into some creature, used your spells on me to make me trust you." He jerked back as Kouichi swung onto a nearby branch.
"No. No spells, no magic. We have not hurt you." Kouichi smiled encouragingly. "We are friends. Friends do not hurt."
Takuya glared back. "Friends don't lie either."
"Did not lie," pointed out Kouichi. "You did not ask if we were el vensu… elves."
Takuya shook his head. "Can't be coincidence that… that happened, and then I meet you two. You're unholy creatures, blasphemy. If I kill you, I get the Gods favour for doing away with creatures that think themselves gods for their magic."
Kouichi looked angry. "We know we are not gods. We do not say we are. We are the people-of-trees, el vensu. We hear the world, and understand its works, its seasons and its magic. We are helpers, healers." He looked sad. "Or most are." He smiled as Takuya watched his ears. "Are real."
Takuya reached a hand out. "Can I touch them?"
"They are ears," shrugged Kouichi. "What is different?"
Takuya ran a careful finger across the top of Kouichi's ear, to the point of it. "It's pointed."
"And yours is not," replied Kouichi touching Takuya's ear. "Your hair is brown, mine is not. Your eyes are red, mine are not."
"Okay, okay, I get it." Takuya dropped his hand back to his side. "Just because you look different, it doesn't mean anything." He looked out nervously from under his bangs. "But you can both do magic? Healing magic?"
"No, not healing magic." Kouichi shifted uncomfortably. "We cannot heal. Not all elves can."
"But other magic?"
"Yes. Like you."
Takuya nearly fell out of the tree. "A-whu? I don't have magic. I was tested for being a healer like every other kid is. Nothing. No green sparkles in the orb. They all stayed red, like everyone else's."
Kouichi tilted his head, to look at Takuya quizzically. "But you do have magic. I see it."
Takuya shook his head and dropped out of the tree, then squawked as he realised Kouji was stood next to him.
Kouichi swung down, landing gracefully and soundlessly.
Takuya backed away from them. "Humans don't have magic other than healing. That's the gift the Lady gave us, the gift to heal." He ran into the trunk.
Kouichi stayed where he was, accepting his headband from his brother, and started to tie it back on, re-covering his ears. "We will wait until you are ready. But your magic is red, like the apples."
Kouji smiled slightly and leant forwards. "Hiding from elves in an orchard is dumb," he whispered to Takuya, then he and Kouichi left.
Takuya slid down the trunk into a sitting position. They're elves. Real elves. He started to laugh. And he was right. Dumbest place to hide from an elf is in a tree. He paused. Kouji spoke. He spoke to me. I was right, his voice is like Kouichi's. They've both got that soft lilt, its just his is a little deeper. He looked at his hands. But magic? Red magic? Is that why those fires started, because of something I did? How do I know they're not just playing mind-games with me? Pulling me further into their spell? He kept looking at his hands. Fire, he commanded, and was rewarded with nothing. He tried imagining the flames, but still nothing. Finally he sighed and made his way back to the yard.
He ignored the twins the rest of the evening.
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The next morning saw the farmyard bustling with activity. Very quiet activity due to the hangovers many of the workers had. Again the cart was hitched, but now a rumour circulated that both Mathew and one of the horses was missing. While occasionally it was possible that a man was missing after the evening of Rest-day, rumours of their subsequent dismissal from the farm kept many of the men from pleading sick from the previous nights indulgences. Finally they set off in convoy, with Tony ferrying Master Farrow in the cart, along with supplies for the temple. The workers of the farm followed behind in a long winding line, some of the men still weaving in their path or supported by their friends.
Takuya walked with Jeb and the twins just behind the cart, welcoming the safety that came with being close to the farm owner. Many of the workers blamed the twins for Mathew's disappearance, as they were well known for remaining on the farm on Rest-day. Takuya himself worried slightly about that, wondering if their 'not-healing' magic meant they could make a grown man disappear just for threatening them. Neither of the twins had spoken to him since yesterday, and Takuya was starting to worry that he'd hurt their feelings. He fell back slightly from Jeb to walk beside them, and reached a hand out to brush Kouichi's, idly wondering if it was some elf taboo that made Kouji shy away from his touch. He smiled as Kouichi's hand brushed back.
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The Temple of the Green Lady was a solidly built stone building containing cloisters for those learning the craft of the healer. A huge awning jutted out from the side of the building, creating a covered area where the altar and ceremonial burners were set up. The smell of herbs filled the air, both from the burning herbs in the braziers, and from the herb garden that surrounded the other three sides of the building. As the cart drew up to the courtyard many grey-robed initiates came forwards and started to unload the cart.
Takuya looked around with great interest. The temple in the village he grew up in had only been a small affair, not the grand centre for learning that this was. He found his eyes lingering on the huge braziers, and instinctive started to move away, scare of what he might do.
He backed straight into Kouji, who looked angry at the invasion of his personal space. He gripped Takuya's arm, and moved to stand nearer the flame, dragging an unwilling Takuya with him. They stood together, with Kouichi on Takuya's other side, through the service, but Takuya heard very little of it, giving the responses by rote.
The warmth of the fire made him feel better, and the thick smell of the herbs made him drowsy. Something in him stirred, and he started to feel warm from the inside out, all while the flame flickered hypnotic patterns. He was disrupted by a sharp pain in one of his arms as Kouichi pinched him.
"What did you do that for?" he hissed at Kouichi, coming back to himself.
Kouichi looked back. "You got lost." He shrugged. "Your magic controls you."
"No magic," replied Takuya. "I told you, I was tested, didn't have any."
Jeb coughed pointedly behind them.
They were quiet again, until the end of the service. Then Jeb turned on them.
"I didn't know you lads could talk. Scared me to see you nattering away like that."
Kouichi shrugged. "We learn slow, but we do learn. Takuya helped much."
Jeb nodded slowly. "Anything else ye be telling me?"
"No," replied Takuya quickly. "They talk, that's about it, yup."
Jeb didn't look convinced.
******************
Hiding out by the river in the early evening seemed wise when Takuya said he wanted to see what the twins called magic. After all, Takuya still wasn't sure what their magic was, and thought the running water would make a barrier. It was either elves or goblins that wouldn't cross water, just wish I could remember which.
Kouichi and Kouji sat nervously, watching Takuya fidget.
"You keep moving, you won't see," said Kouichi.
Takuya sat glumly. "You said it wasn't healing magic. You're not going to set things on fire, or hurt me or anything, are you?"
Kouji smirked. "Maybe."
Kouichi laughed. "No. You cannot see what I do, but here…" He held a hand up, with what looked like black flames dancing on the tips of his fingers. "I see truth. In peoples hearts, in water and mirrors, in dreams sometimes. Things far away, or the future." The flames on his hand disappeared. "Kouji hears me too. I can use magic and he hears me here." He tapped the side of his head.
"Wow," said Takuya. "And you both do that?
Kouji shook his head. "No." He got up and walked along the river a way, before his hand darted to the riverbed and picked up a small, smooth stone. He then walked back to them.
Takuya looked at the stone curiously. "I don't get it. You like stones?"
Kouji held the stone in the palm of his hand and flexed his fingers slightly. Slowly his hand began to glow white, then the stone slowly raised itself off his palm to float in the air. "I move things."
Takuya waved a hand under the stone, puzzled. "How's it staying up?"
Kouji rolled his eyes. "Magic."
"And this is elven magic? Like healing?"
Kouji's glow stuttered and the pebble dropped back into his hand.
Kouichi smiled. "What about you? How do you feel about your own magic?"
"I dunno." Takuya ran a hand up to his neck, rubbing it. "Are you really sure I have magic, and that it's not just a really weird coincidence? Humans aren't supposed to have magic."
Kouichi sighed. "Then you are still not ready to learn, even though you almost burnt the temple."
"I what?" asked Takuya. "Nothing happened at the temple. I just got kind of daydreaming."
The twins looked at each other, but let the subject drop.