•Elia
'Dear journal, will I ever be able to get magic?'
That was the last journal entry of that day, but when I turn the page, the date is— 04/03/2000.
That's two years after mom's first journal entry. I turn the page back to check if I missed a page or two, but I didn't. It didn't seem like there were any thorn pages either. That means mom didn't write in her Journal after that night until after two years.
I wonder what she might have gone through, did she eventually get magic?
I shake my head in order to gather my thoughts. What was I even thinking about? Magic? Powers? They aren't real, right?
But the way mom wrote about that day, it didn't look like she was joking. It looks like she was really writing about her life. A life where everyone had magic? And she didn't?
What exactly is going on?
I look up and see that Lita is still engrossed in the book she's reading. She had almost gone halfway through the book. Wow, she really is a fast reader.
I catch a glimpse of the title of the book: 'Anodohra'
That was the kingdom mentioned in mom's journal, possibly her hometown. It wasn't my first time seeing the title, yet it was the first time it caught my attention.
"Lita, I wanna ask you a question"
"Go ahead." She replies without tearing her attention from the book.
"So far, what's the book about?"
Lita finally raises her head to look at me. Then she smiles. Lita wasn't lying when she said she loved reading, but there's one thing she loves more than reading, and that is, talking about what she's read.
She stands up with so much energy and clears her throat like she's about to give an hour long speech.
"About the book 'Anodohra'," She starts, "Anodohra is a mystical kingdom which consists of people with magic and..the unfortunate magicless people. They are referred to as unfortunate because they are treated as lowly citizens for not having magic powers. It's kinda like discrimination" She pauses.
Some pieces are starting to make sense. If this Novel is connected to the journal entry I just read, it means mom was discriminated for not having magic. But I don't still believe in all these talk about magic.
"The main character here is a girl named Iris. Iris came from a noble family" She continued, "Oh, I forgot to mention the rankings. People were ranked in the society according to their magic; The magicless ranked the lowest, those with low ranked magic came next, followed by the median class who had level 4 magic, next were the nobles who had highly ranked magic. The higher their magic level, the higher they ranked as nobles. But the ones who topped them all were the royals, who also ruled the kingdom."
"What was the highest level of magic?" I interrupt
"I haven't gone that far. But I know the Royals had level 9 magic" She answered.
"Aren't the royals the highest ranked?" I give her a confused look.
"That's what I've read so far. But I think someone else will top them." She says placing her fingers on her chin as if she's in deep thought.
"Who?" I ask
"Iris, of course. She's a noble without magic. I reckon she does have magic but it took some time to show because she's going to surpass everyone. She's the main character, it just makes sense." Lita's eyes sparkle with confidence.
I guess she has a point.
"What if the story is the kind that wants to prove you don't need magic to be strong? Or what if there's a hidden character, who isn't the main character, that already surpasses the royals?" I shoot her more questions even though her previous answer was really convincing.
If I'm getting this correctly, 'Iris' is mom. And if Lita's theories are correct, it means there's a chance mom got magic. One that ranked higher than the royals. Would that be a good or bad thing?
What am I saying? It's just a book, magic can't exist. Maybe mom was using magic as a metaphor for something else in her journal. That makes more sense, I think?
"I didn't think of that." Lita's voice brings me out of my confused thoughts. "There's always a villain, one that matches the main lead's strength. If there's a hidden character that's more powerful than everyone, it has to be the villain. And Iris would be the only one able to stop him. With or without powers"
"The only way to know is to finish reading it" I say in a low tone.
Something is telling me that everything we're reading is real. But if it's real, does that mean-
"Speaking of reading, what did you see in the journal?" Lita says, right before sitting down.
"Oh. My mom had just turned 15 and was supposed to develop magic but she didn't and it made her and her parents really scared" I say with a blank expression.
She has a puzzled expression on her face before she bursts out laughing.
"Looks like you're starting to have a sense of humour" She speaks through her laughter.
"I'm not kidding" I smile.
She goes quiet for a few seconds before she finally speaks
"No! Wait, what?!… did she-"
"Yes, she also lived in a place called Anodohra" I answer her question before she asks.
Lita bolts up from her chair with so much energy, again, but this time it's not excited energy, it's shock.
"Your- your mom had magic?!"
"You must not have heard me clearly."
I'm sounding calm, but in reality I'm also so very confused.
"Oh yeah, she didn't get magic…. But, Iris?… your mom?…Anodohra?! What?! It's all real?" She has this look on her face that leaves me wondering if she's excited, or baffled.
"We don't know for sure. I mean, magic shouldn't exist right? It hasn't been scientifically proven" I shrug
"You gonna believe science over your mama?" She arches an eyebrow.
"Okay, let's say magic does exist. That would mean Anodohra does too."
Lita gasps "You're right. And there could be a clue or maybe even a full blown map showing us where it is. That is, if you're interested in going there?" She says it more like a question.
"If it's my mom's home, of course I'd love to go there. But I don't think we're going to find any map.-" I open the pages of the journal-" Look, Mom didn't write anything else in her journal until two years after. I wanna know what happened to her in those two blank years." I flip through the last page I read and the next to show her the unusual time skip.
"And you think you might get answers in her hometown."
That's right.
"I can't find it anywhere else"
"Alright then. First mission, find Anodohra" Lita says with so much enthusiasm. "How are we gonna do that one?" Her enthusiasm dies.
"We read, Lita, we read" I point to the novel she dropped on the table, and she nods.
"Gladly" She goes back to her reading position and I follow suit.
The idea of finding Anodohra sent a nervous thrill through me. I still don't completely believe that it exists, but I can't hide the fact that a huge part of me is hoping and praying it's real.
I check the time and it's almost evening. Grandma should be back soon, but not too soon.
"Well that didn't work" Lita's says in a disappointed tone, before facing her phone towards me to show me what she's talking about.
She tried searching for Anodohra on google maps but all she got was some place called 'Andoni' in Switzerland.
"It was worth a shot." I shrug. She sighs before dropping her phone, and begins reading again.
I open the journal and push every other thought to the back of my mind, trying to focus on the task at hand.
Learning more about my mom, and maybe possibly, myself as well.